The damp scent of moss mingled with the crisp aroma of pine needles. Sunlight, filtered through a canopy that blotted out the sky, scattered into fine specks of light, casting shimmering gold leaf upon the rich humus below.
The steady TAP-TAP-TAP of a woodpecker echoed from deep within the forest, startling a few small, emerald-colored birds that fluttered past an oak tree entwined with vines.
Umbrella-shaped mushrooms grew on a rotting log. Their scarlet and bright yellow caps stood out in the gloom, and a viscous fluid slowly dripped from their gills, seeping into the damp earth.
Qin Feng clutched his swimming head as he shakily pushed himself up from the soft forest floor, his eyes filled with bewilderment.
"Lord... World?"
As if in answer to his question, a faintly glowing prompt materialized before him. Unlike the cold, mechanical interface from before, this one radiated a sense of mystery and solemnity.
[Welcome to the Lord World!]
[Here, so long as you continually develop your territory and improve your army, you can obtain power, wealth, and authority—even the chance to become one of the Deities!]
[And you can bring it all back to the real world!]
[To live or die, to wear a crown or be reduced to bones, to become one of the Deities or a demon!]
[The choice is yours!]
...
[Beginner Tutorial Quest (I) has begun.]
[Quest Requirement: Select a suitable location, place your Lord's Stone, and summon the Lord's Hall.]
[Completion Reward: Residential Building Blueprint, Woodcutter's Hut Blueprint, Farmhouse Blueprint, Mine Cottage Blueprint, Militia Camp Blueprint, 20 units of Food, 50 units of wood, and 5 villagers.]
[Note: The Lord's Hall is the most vital core building for every Divine Chosen Lord. When a Divine Chosen Lord falls in battle, their soul will return here to have its body reconstructed... But if the Lord's Hall is destroyed, you will lose your status as a Lord, retaining only the status of a Divine Chosen One until you can find a new Lord's Stone!]
Qin Feng's pupils shrank.
"What is this?"
"The main base from an RTS game?"
As a Transmigrator who had been obsessed with strategy games for years, Qin Feng instantly realized. It seemed that because of the small stone known as the "Lord's Stone," he had been plunged into a mysterious Plane akin to a Lord Game, becoming a Lord Player who wielded Extraordinary Power.
And soon, Qin Feng realized something else: his missing sister must also be a Divine Chosen Lord who wielded Extraordinary Power.
She had entered this world long ago, fighting her way through blood and fire in pursuit of Divinity Ascension.
At this thought, Qin Feng gave a wry smile, his fingers unconsciously caressing the black stone. Memories of his sister's sweet smile and gentle reminders came flooding back.
In the next instant, however, Qin Feng's brow furrowed. He ruthlessly locked away those warm memories and the bittersweet feelings that came with them, slamming them shut in the depths of his heart like an iron gate.
'Now... is not the time to be reminiscing.'
The roar of a War Axe smashing into asphalt still echoed in his ears, and the crimson eyes of the Death Knight from the Real World felt as if they were still searing his back.
Compared to indulging in memories, finding a suitable location to establish his city was the key to survival.
With that thought, Qin Feng took a deep breath of the damp forest air, kicked aside the thorns in his path, and strode forward, clutching the Lord's Stone tightly.
Unfortunately, his path led only through dense, overlapping layers of verdant forest. Gnarled vines draped down like curtains, towering ancient trees blotted out the sky, and a soft carpet of decaying leaves lay underfoot.
There wasn't a hint of open plains, nor any sign of rolling hills.
Only this endless forest, like an inescapable green net, had him completely trapped.
He had no other choice.
Qin Feng was worried that there might still be dangerous monsters in the woods.
He could only pick a random spot for now, thrust the precious Lord's Stone into the damp soil, and, following the Lord System's instructions, summon the mysterious power hidden within.
Instantly, a blinding golden light erupted. The earth trembled violently as an Obsidian hall, covered in reliefs, burst from the ground and shot skyward. Its dome shattered through the canopy, and startled flocks of birds blotted out the sun like a dark cloud, swallowing the last vestiges of daylight.
[You have summoned the Lord's Hall!]
...
[Building Name: Lord's Hall (Not yet named)]
[Level: 1]
[Blood Volume: 50,000/50,000]
[Function: Provides 10 recruitable villagers per week, determines the level cap for other buildings, allows you to spend resources to summon villagers, and provides Shelter for all subjects under attack. If the Lord dies outside, their soul can return here to have its body reformed and undergo Resurrection.]
[Recruitment Cost: 10 units of Food / 1 villager / Requires 1 unit of Food per day]
[Recruitable Count: 10/10]
[Villager Gathering Efficiency: 1 unit of a chosen resource/day]
[Upgrade Requirements: 500 units of wood, 500 units of Stone]
[Note: Villagers can construct buildings and gather all types of basic resources, but their efficiency is extremely low. They also possess some combat ability, but they are very weak and not suitable for outward expansion.]
...
[You have completed Beginner Tutorial Quest (I) and received your rewards: Residential Building Blueprint, Woodcutter's Hut Blueprint, Militia Camp Blueprint...]
[Beginner Tutorial Quest (II) has begun.]
[Quest Requirement: Spend 50 units of wood to construct a Woodcutter's Hut, and consume 20 units of Food to train two Woodcutters.]
[Completion Reward: 50 units of wood, 20 units of Food, 2 villagers.]
...
Qin Feng gave it a quick look. The rewards from Beginner Tutorial Quest (I) were just enough to cover the cost of building a Woodcutter's Hut and training two professional Woodcutters.
No more.
No less.
This precise resource allocation was clearly a carefully designed beginner's package.
It wasn't hard to deduce that the subsequent quests would be interlinked, like the gears of a fine machine, progressively guiding newcomers to master the laws of survival in this "Lord Game."
Having cleared his thoughts, Qin Feng looked at the five earnest villagers before him. He pointed to a patch of woods not far away and said in a calm, steady voice:
"Find a suitable spot nearby and build a Woodcutter's Hut."
"Can you do that?"
The five villagers replied in unison:
"No problem."
"Lord."
With that, they turned and began to measure the land, their movements so practiced they seemed to have rehearsed it thousands of times.
Once they had pinpointed the location for the Woodcutter's Hut, all five villagers whipped out small Stone Axes from behind their backs and hurried into the dense forest.
With flashes of cold light, the axe blades struck the tree trunks with precision, sending wood chips flying like a sudden downpour.
In just a few moments, felled logs were piled high, and a wide clearing had been forcibly carved out of the woods.
And amid the swirling wood chips, the basic framework of the Woodcutter's Hut was already taking shape.
'Looks like...'
'These villagers are quite intelligent.'
'They aren't the rigid, generic kind of NPCs that you have to prod just to get them to move.'
'But...'
'They build so fast.'
'This absurd construction speed, combined with all these dazzling system prompts... it really feels more like a Lord Game...'