Outer Chapter: I Am Ouno Yeko

This side story was written by the book lover [Xiaoyao Sheng - Oyez].

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Bored, so bored—what’s wrong with these online games lately? They’re so dull. I shouldn’t have become a professional gamer in the first place. Let me search, search again, and keep searching!

Hmm? What’s this? A Three Kingdoms themed game? Good, I like that. This one it is!

On the day of public testing—

“Virtual game ‘Rise of Cities in the Three Kingdoms’ open beta countdown: 10, 9, 8... 1, 0, launch.”

At the moment of “0,” Dongfang Yu tapped her fingers to enter the game’s start screen. The Three Kingdoms system’s beauty, Xiaozhao, appeared. She set up her account, password, fingerprint, and retinal scan, then entered her usual favorite game character name—“Oyez.” Confirm. Haha, registration successful! It took only seven seconds.

The beautiful Xiaozhao said, “Welcome, player Oyez, to ‘Rise of Cities in the Three Kingdoms.’ The current time is Eastern Han, Guanghe year 180. You have ample time to build your city.”

A flash of white light, dressed in simple cloth, holding a bronze knife, level 0 civilian player Oyez appeared at the edge of a forest. The trees in the woods were dense, teeming with birds and wild beasts.

Oyez checked the map and found that Wuwei City was only a dozen miles away. Without a second thought, he strode toward Wuwei, thinking, “Wuwei is a key stronghold in Western Liang. I wonder what it looks like?”

He dodged level 4 and 5 wild boars, walked for most of the day, and finally arrived at the gates of Wuwei City. He saw: thick, long city walls, towering fortifications, Han banners fluttering atop the city tower, guards standing watch with gleaming halberds—though he couldn’t tell their levels. At the city gate were twelve sets of barricades and dozens of fully armored soldiers wielding heavy spears.

“Hmm, impressive, very grand. These things no longer exist in reality,” Oyez mused.

“Who dares trespass upon the city? Show your travel permit immediately!” shouted the NPC guard.

“What’s a travel permit?” Oyez asked.

“A travel permit is a pass. Do you have one or not?” the NPC explained.

“A travel permit? If I had one, I’d have shown it already!” Oyez thought, then said aloud, “Uh, NPC brother, I won’t go in then. Bye.”

Oyez looked around: It was already afternoon, and some players were approaching from not far away. The area around Wuwei City was all countryside and wasteland.

“Hmm, it’s getting late. I won’t go back to the forest. I’ll check elsewhere!”

Actually, Oyez hadn’t planned to build a city—after all, he was a professional player: he had time, energy, but no money. Though playing this game didn’t require money, making money wasn’t easy. He had no ambition to dominate, either. From his name, it was clear—he admired Ouyezi, so he took the name Oyez.

Oyez headed in a direction away from the forest, circled around Wuwei, and discovered a mountain ridge a few miles away. “Let’s check that out!”

And so, walking and leveling up along the way, he arrived at the foot of the ridge. The monsters here were all below level 5, perfect for Oyez to train. There were very few players here, only a handful.

“China Region System Message: Player Xiaobai has established the system’s first village—Xiaobai Village. Location: Western Liang. This is hereby announced to all, and Xiaobai Village is awarded the title ‘First Village Under Heaven.’”

Three seconds later.

“China Region System Message: Player Silent Sword has established the system’s second village—Silent Village. Location: Central Plains. This is hereby announced to all, and Silent Village is awarded the title ‘Second Village Under Heaven.’”

One minute later.

“China Region System Message: Player Xiaoye has established the system’s third village—Xiaoye Village. Location: Shu. This is hereby announced to all, and Xiaoye Village is awarded the title ‘Third Village Under Heaven.’”

“Whoa, not even a day has passed, and I’m only level 3. That’s fast. Hmm, that Xiaobai has potential, and he’s right here in Western Liang. I’ll check it out when I have time.”

Five days later.

“Ah, what a wonderful place,” Oyez sighed.

This mountain ridge was perfect for leveling up: the higher you climbed, the stronger the monsters, and the better the chance for equipment drops. Focused on leveling, Oyez reached level ten, so busy leveling that he hadn’t even changed professions yet.

“Let’s go up and see.” Now braver due to his higher level, Oyez climbed the ridge and found it was vast. Although not tall, you could see far from the top. The deeper he walked, the less formidable the monsters, but it seemed easy to get lost. He walked on and on, not knowing how many days had passed, leveling up twice more, wandering and resting, feeling dizzy. Suddenly, he spotted a small thatched hut and rushed over, ignoring his fatigue.

“Hey, is anyone there? Please open the door.”

No answer for a long while. “Uh, seems like no one’s home?”

Oyez pushed open the door. “Ah, what’s this?” Inside was only a bed, a table, and a chair. On the table lay a book.

Oyez hurried to the table for a closer look. “Wow! A skill book, ‘Large Machinery’? What’s this?”

He opened it.

“System prompt: Congratulations, player Oyez, you have learned the weapon crafting skill! Conditions met—converted to hidden profession: Large Machinery Craftsman. For details, see system help.”

“Uh, am I the legendary protagonist? Such luck!”

Looking down at the book, Oyez saw just a few big characters: Weapons (siege machines) can be assembled according to the book, with success rate determined by skill level. (Materials and methods follow the diagrams.) “Whoa, that’s way too simple!” The skill book vanished after being read.

But Oyez preferred this kind of system.

“What now? I’m a craftsman now, so I don’t need to fight monsters. Looks like I just need blueprints!” As a professional player, he quickly adapted and threw himself wholeheartedly into the noble craft of manufacturing.

Mid-February.

Gradually, Oyez became famous around Wuwei. After all, a hidden profession was hard to keep secret. Now Oyez had two skills: crossbow and catapult. He made crossbows for nearby players for free (as long as they provided materials). If they wanted to pay, he’d accept, so his skill had reached intermediate level, almost advanced.

One day, while gathering materials outside Wuwei City—

Suddenly, “Excuse me, are you Mr. Oyez?” (I forgot to mention, he’s 25 years old.)

“Yes, that’s me. And you are?”

“Oh, I’m Xiaobai, the village chief of Xiaobai Village.”

PS: The following plot will be continued by Baili Dada. Haha, Oyez has entered the story at last!