Volume One, Chapter Three: Farming Monsters While Lying Down

Shortly after leaving the novice village, Lin Yu spotted quite a few level-one Redfeather Chickens nearby. Around these chickens, many players were sharpening their blades, creating a chaotic scene that felt like a chicken-and-dog scramble.

In the early stages of the game, there were only limited ordinary monsters. Once another player got there first, you had to wait patiently for the monsters to respawn. Therefore, most players showed no mercy—if they could kill two chickens, they wouldn’t settle for just one.

However, Lin Yu did not join the fray. Instead, he quietly skirted around the crowd and headed toward a dense forest up ahead. There, he knew, was another Redfeather Chicken spawn point, though it was so hidden that almost no one knew about it in the early game.

Guided by memories of his past life, Lin Yu pushed through the thick woods until he reached a clearing. Compared to the previous spawn area, this place was noticeably quieter. Before him, a few Redfeather Chickens pecked at the grass, scattered about, and no one else was in sight.

Though the number of chickens here was small, the seclusion made it an ideal spot for Lin Yu, who possessed Absolute Defense. Early on, his counterattack ability made him stand out too much when farming monsters, easily drawing unwanted attention from other players. To avoid trouble, he preferred to keep a low profile.

As Lin Yu approached the chickens, their status panels appeared in his vision:

[Redfeather Chicken (Ordinary Monster): Lv1
HP: 100/100
Attack: 10
Defense: 5
Skills: None
Description: A wild chicken from the novice village outskirts. Maybe good for mushroom stew.]

In this game, ordinary monsters at the same level had only about 80% of the players’ stats, so unless you were reckless, killing them posed little challenge.

Yet, strangely, when the Redfeather Chickens saw Lin Yu approaching, they behaved abnormally. Instead of fleeing, they all lunged at him aggressively.

This was unusual because, under normal circumstances, monsters do not initiate attacks unless a player damages them first and triggers threat. Clearly, these chickens were far more irritable than those at other spawn points.

But Lin Yu seemed prepared for this. Rather than retreating, he met their charge unflinchingly. Then he did something that left every player watching utterly dumbfounded.

Calm and unhurried, he simply sat down on the ground, then laid back leisurely, basking in the sun.

Though level-one Redfeather Chickens weren’t particularly strong, they still posed a significant threat to a level-one player. Especially when surrounded by so many, even a level-five player would find it tricky to fend them off.

Therefore, to most observers, Lin Yu’s behavior was nothing short of madness. If he wanted to show off, this was certainly not the way.

Yet, despite the chickens attacking furiously, Lin Yu remained calm and even yawned leisurely, as if unaffected.

Above his head, a bizarre scene unfolded.

“Miss!”
“Miss!”
“Miss!”

Red numbers in deep crimson repeatedly appeared on the attacking chickens:

“-2”
“-2”
“-2”

In other words, Lin Yu was unharmed by the barrage and was steadily whittling down the chickens’ health through counterattack damage.

If other players had witnessed this, they would be stunned beyond words. Could this be the legendary Flameguard Randri, where attacking him only hurts yourself?

Of course, this absurdity wasn’t due to cheating but stemmed from Lin Yu’s precise understanding of the World of Gods and Demons’ damage mechanics.

According to the game’s rules, if a defender’s defense is more than twice the attacker’s attack, the attack is considered ineffective and registers as a “Miss.”

Lin Yu’s defense was exactly twice that of the Redfeather Chickens’ attack, right at the threshold of being impervious.

This explained why he dared to face the chickens’ assault so fearlessly.

As to why he chose to lie down instead of fighting like others, it wasn’t for showmanship but for two main reasons.

First, his goal was to stack the passive skill “Absolute Defense” to its limit. Actively attacking would shorten the chickens’ lifespan, which was counterproductive.

Second, and most importantly, his attack power was far too low. His damage output barely exceeded the counterattack effect, and with slow attack speed in the early game, actively attacking wouldn’t improve efficiency much.

Thus, he preferred to relax and let the chickens attack him.

After all, his nerves had been on edge for five years. Now that he could finally unwind, he wasn’t about to waste the opportunity.

Meanwhile, as the chickens attacked wildly, Lin Yu’s defense steadily increased at a snail’s pace.

“Defense +0.02!”
“Defense +0.02!”
“Defense +0.02!”

Four hours flew by in the blink of an eye.

Whether from the exhaustion of reincarnation or the leisurely pace, Lin Yu had dozed off during this time, only waking when a notification sounded.

[Ding! Congratulations, player Ji Yu. Your talent “Absolute Defense” has successfully upgraded to Lv2.
Effect 1 (Extreme Defense): Each time you are attacked by an enemy, your defense permanently increases by 0.05. (Note: This effect only applies to monsters; damage from players does not trigger it.)
Effect 2 (Counterattack): When attacked by an enemy, reflects damage equal to 15% of your maximum defense as true damage.
Proficiency: 0/50000]

“I didn’t expect to fall asleep...” Lin Yu stretched and rubbed his eyes, feeling a bit embarrassed after realizing four hours had passed.

In the early days of the World of Gods and Demons, time was crucial. Players able to afford sleep like this were a rare breed.

Still, it wasn’t entirely his fault. Who wouldn’t get drowsy when farming monsters lying down?

Though he had accidentally napped, the gains were plentiful.

Not only had Absolute Defense reached level two, but he had also leveled up to three.

Moreover, his backpack now held 328 copper coins.

In other words, he had defeated 328 Redfeather Chickens during this time through counterattack alone.

While not a huge number, compared to ordinary players, it was quite respectable.

Recalling his past life’s knowledge, this farming speed placed him at least in the mid-to-lower tier on day one’s progress charts.

Though his leveling was slow, Lin Yu didn’t mind.

His main purpose was to stack the Absolute Defense passive, and this progress was already very satisfactory.

Once that passive reached its peak, farming monsters would become effortless.

“Absolute Defense truly is a divine skill. Now my defense even surpasses that of a typical level-ten knight,” Lin Yu marveled as he opened his status panel and gazed at the staggering defense stat of 126 points after maxing level-one Absolute Defense.

That was terrifyingly high—comparable to many unequipped knights at level ten or beyond.

This underscored how formidable Absolute Defense was.

After his moment of awe, Lin Yu snapped back to reality and allocated the 20 free attribute points he had gained from leveling entirely into attack.

His attack rose from 7 to 37.

Only by raising attack could he improve his farming efficiency.

Though he mainly relied on counterattack damage now, higher defense was always better.

But since Absolute Defense’s passive stacked without limit, his defense had no cap, making these points less impactful.

It was better to enhance attack to boost his initiative.

After all, sometimes counterattack alone wasn’t enough.

“Huh? Where did this new skill come from?” Lin Yu suddenly froze as he prepared to close the game panel, noticing an unfamiliar skill had appeared in his skill bar.

[Taunt (Active Skill, S Rank) Lv1
Description: Awarded because you are the first to remain calm and even sleep while being attacked by monsters. This skill belongs to you alone.]