Lucas Kane discovered that the village was filled with buildings made of wood and stone, simple yet sturdy.
Of course, indigenous peoples also existed here.
What surprised Lucas Kane was that the skin of these natives was silver!
There were no people with silver skin on Metastar!
Were they not Metastar humans? Could they be humans from another planet?
As for whether these were NPCs without intelligence, Lucas Kane doubted it.
After all, this so-called universe game was far too strange—even its NPCs might have their own personalities.
Like many other players, he tried communicating with these silver-skinned natives.
However, no matter what anyone said, the natives showed no interest in responding. They simply cast indifferent glances and went about their work as if the players didn't exist.
One impatient strong man tried grabbing a native by force—only to be slapped into a pixelated blur.
"…"
The crowd fell silent instantly.
Forget about triggering quests—they couldn't even start a conversation!
Aside from shop owners who sold equipment, potions, and supplies, no one was willing to talk to the players.
Even those merchants grew hostile when he refused to buy anything, kicking him out immediately.
Others tried too, all failing miserably.
Lucas Kane figured it must be due to insufficient reputation or missing prerequisites.
With no other option, he decided to hunt monsters and level up first.
The village had four exits, each leading to the east, south, west, and north.
Being an Easterner, Lucas Kane naturally chose the east gate.
When he arrived at the entrance of Silvermoon Village, he saw vast farmlands stretching beyond the walls.
Various crops grew there—some familiar to Metastar, others entirely foreign.
Among the fields, large black rats the size of dogs scurried about, their scarlet eyes glowing and sharp teeth flashing menacingly.
Many players were already fighting them, and the battlefield could be summed up in one word: tragic.
At the entrance, shouts filled the air—
"Team up to hunt Demon Rats!""Someone help me! These rats are too tanky!""Priest looking for a team! PM for group!""…"
Lucas Kane walked calmly out of the village and cast Detection.
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[Demon Rat (Normal)] Level: 1 Health: 100 Attack: 5 Introduction: Originally an ordinary rodent, it was corrupted by demonic energy and transformed into a violent, bloodthirsty Demon Rat.
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Demonic energy?
He suddenly remembered the black fog he'd seen before arriving on this continent—and the rules mentioning that when demonic energy invades reality, monsters will appear.
So this was it.
The sight of the Demon Rat sent a chill down his spine.
This demonic energy seemed… terrifying.
But for now, it didn't concern him.
He rubbed his hands together and opened the Drop List with anticipation.
"Let's see if there's anything good."
The list unfolded before him—items arranged from high to low rarity, with white items at the top and gray below.
There were dozens of entries.
The gray items were mostly Rat Teeth, Rat Eyes, Rat Fur, and other junk.
The white items were better—some pieces of equipment stood out.
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[Rusty Greatsword (Common)] — Attack +5 Required Level: 1 Drop Rate: 0.8%
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Much stronger than the Worn Iron Sword in his hand.
But… only 0.8% drop rate?
"What kind of broken game is this?"
Other white items included bits of debris—but one caught his eye:
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[Small White Bag (Common)] — Increases storage space by 10 slots Drop Rate: 0.09%
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"Now that's a good find."
He noticed his initial backpack only had 20 slots, with limited space.
Thankfully, the inventory had four bag slots that could expand capacity.
If he equipped four Small White Bags, he could gain +40 slots of extra space.
As for the drop rate…
Lucas Kane sighed.
"Yeah, broken game indeed. You'd need god-tier luck to get one."
He didn't choose the item yet but checked other Demon Rats.
Each had similar loot tables, with slight variations—some had gear, others didn't.
Over half didn't even drop bags.
Worse, even gray items only had a 50% drop rate—meaning half the time, you'd get nothing but XP.
"Who designed this punishment simulator?"
Still, he noticed something interesting—he could specify which item to target.
"Well, that's something."
Since the Demon Rats were low-level, he could only specify one item at a time.
"Figures," he muttered. "Let's go for some gear first. Easier to grind that way."
He selected a Demon Rat and the Rusty Greatsword, then charged forward with his Worn Iron Sword.
The battle felt too real—he could feel the pain of every bite. The rat even dodged his swings!
Its razor-sharp teeth made him question life choices.
With only 90 HP, he barely survived—but thanks to his 10 Attack (from 9 Strength + 1 weapon bonus), he managed to outdamage the creature.
Still, he lost 70 HP before finally slaying the Demon Rat.
A white light ball floated above its corpse.
Nearby players gasped—
"A white item dropped?!""No way! Lucky bastard!""You've gotta be kidding me—I've killed ten and only got fur!"
The drop rate was so low that many had never seen a white light ball before.
Jealousy brewed.
If not for Peace Mode, they would've swarmed him instantly.
Lucas Kane frowned under their envious stares but stayed calm.
As long as Peace Mode remained active, no one could touch him.
By the time he left the Novice Village, with his luck, he'd already be far ahead.
And in reality?
According to the rulebook, player identities were protected by the Universe Server to ensure privacy.
Unless a player exposed themselves, no one could trace them.
"Good," he murmured. "Then there's nothing to worry about."