Her stats were very low—even lower than that little archer boy from yesterday.
But when Bai Qiu compared their shooting accuracy, he still felt that Zhang Shiyao had far greater talent.
Aside from the first shot she had intentionally missed, her second arrow had struck right in the center of the target.
Even her movements with the bow were becoming noticeably more fluid.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Shiyao obediently drew her bow again and fired.
The arrow once more hit the Dragonfang Soldier in the abdomen—only about two centimeters away from the first shot.
Though her arrows were weak, two consecutive hits to a vital point were enough to kill the level-4 Dragonfang Soldier, even though she was far below its level.
Bai Qiu's heart leapt with joy.
His hunch had been right—Zhang Shiyao truly had a natural talent for archery.
For a beginner, hitting a target from ten meters away was already quite a feat, let alone for a thirteen-year-old girl suffering from long-term malnutrition.
As a faint white light shimmered around her body, Bai Qiu knew—she had leveled up.
That was only natural.
Killing a monster three levels higher than herself, combined with the fact that early leveling was always faster, and that she had absorbed all the experience by herself—it made perfect sense.
Then he looked at the drops.
Loot:
Common Dragonfang ×2
Rare Dragonfang ×1
Enhancement Card (E-rank) ×1
Secret Realm Blueprint (E-rank) ×1
"Damn it!" Bai Qiu couldn't help but curse under his breath.
He hadn't expected that the very first monster Zhang Shiyao killed would drop something he had never seen before.
After spending the entire night slaying Dragonfang Soldiers without rest, the sight almost made him dizzy with frustration.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Zhang Shiyao asked timidly as she walked over, noticing the dark look on his face.
"Ahem—nothing. Take the drops for yourself. I'll catch another Dragonfang Soldier in a bit so we can test how far you can shoot." Bai Qiu forced his irritation down.
Though he was unlucky, he wasn't the type to take it out on a child.
He was in good health and at the prime of his strength—well-suited for fighting in this new world.
"Okay."
Zhang Shiyao nodded softly, collected the loot, inspected it carefully, and stored it in her inventory card.
Then she followed behind Bai Qiu step by step, a single question lingering in her mind—
Why were there so few monsters left?
Many others within a ten-kilometer radius shared the same question as Zhang Shiyao — why had the monsters suddenly become so few?
Even so, a few Dragonfang Soldiers still flew in from other areas, or simply respawned out of the interdimensional rifts that occasionally appeared.
Bai Qiu slowed his pace so Zhang Shiyao could keep up.
After about five minutes of walking, they finally found another Dragonfang Soldier.
Dragonfang Soldier – LV.5
Strength: E
Magic: F–
Endurance: E
Agility: E
Trait: Flight is faster than running.
By midnight the night before, most Dragonfang Soldiers had already reached level 4, and around an hour before dawn, a few level-5 ones began to appear.
Even so, Bai Qiu still only received +3 experience points per kill.
He easily captured the slightly larger Dragonfang Soldier again and stood about twenty meters away from Zhang Shiyao, instructing her to shoot.
"Swish!" The arrow cut through the air and struck the Dragonfang Soldier's wing—slightly off target.
Bai Qiu nodded slightly.
That level of accuracy was good enough.
With a bit more practice, she'd master it quickly.
There was no need to waste an item card slot on Precision Shot at all.
He stepped back another meter. "Good. Keep going."
Zhang Shiyao looked uneasy, but she still followed his instruction.
After taking careful aim for a while, she released another arrow.
"Swish!" Once again, the arrow hit the Dragonfang Soldier's wing—only about two centimeters away from the first wound.
That surprised Bai Qiu, and a strange thought flickered in his mind: Is she holding back? Or… something else?
He said nothing, merely telling her to continue shooting.
"Swish!" The third arrow flew—but this time, it didn't hit the Dragonfang Soldier.
Instead, Bai Qiu caught it cleanly with his bare hand.
"Crack!" With a snap, the arrow broke in half.
Bai Qiu tossed the pieces to the ground and said firmly, "What are you afraid of? Aim right at its belly! Don't worry if you miss—you can't hurt me! Keep going!"
Zhang Shiyao was both startled and a little frightened.
Bai Qiu was normally gentle, but the moment it came to combat, he became stern and unyielding.
Still, seeing him catch her arrow bare-handed erased her fear.
Her third and fourth shots soon followed, both hitting the Dragonfang Soldier's abdomen.
Bai Qiu even increased the distance to more than twenty-five meters.
At that range, her arrows were already starting to dip downward—she could probably only manage about forty meters at most.
After that, Bai Qiu stopped increasing the distance, and Zhang Shiyao no longer hesitated.
In total, she killed more than a dozen Dragonfang Soldiers, reaching Level 3.
Unfortunately, she still couldn't draw the bow to its full strength.
The Archer class's starting weapon had the highest potential range—but also the lowest base performance.
It required both training and a certain level of physical strength.
For example, while Zhang Shiyao's accuracy was impressive, her strength was far too low.
Bai Qiu had used the same beginner's bow before—its effective range was about 120 meters, and its maximum range could reach 150 meters.
With her thin arms and legs, he had no idea how many levels she'd need to reach before she could fully draw it and hit that range.
Her luck with drops, however, was outstanding—on average, one card dropped for every three monsters she killed.
Even the Secret Realm Blueprint she'd gotten at the start had dropped again just now, bringing her total to two.
By this point, they were already close to the safe zone.
But instead of heading straight there, Bai Qiu brought Zhang Shiyao to the small apartment he had rented.
The reason was simple—
To wash up and take a bath.
Upon arriving at his single-room unit, Bai Qiu went straight into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and began cleaning the grime and blood from his armor.
Once he'd washed and wiped it dry, he stored the armor in his inventory card.
Then came brushing his teeth, washing his face—and finally, taking a proper shower.
He usually never spent more than fifteen minutes washing his hair and showering, but today was an exception.
After an entire day of fighting — the mixed smell of potion applied to bite wounds, the stench of sweat from last night's monster hunt, and the strange grime secreted from his body after rapidly increasing his attributes — all of it combined into an unbearable odor.
It wasn't too bad when he kept his armor on, but once he took it off, the foul stench that poured out was overwhelming.
Even Bai Qiu himself couldn't stand it, so he immediately turned on the shower and began rinsing off.
The clothes he had been wearing were beyond saving...
Zhang Shiyao curiously looked around Bai Qiu's place.
For a single room, it was actually quite spacious — about twenty square meters.
It had all the essentials like an air conditioner, wardrobe, desk, chair, and bed, though there was no kitchen.
He probably relied on takeout most of the time.
The place was fairly tidy, likely cleaned up recently.
There were no clothes in the wardrobe, no bedding on the bed — the whole room felt empty, except for a few pieces of exercise equipment set beside the cabinet.
About twenty-five minutes later, the sound of running water from the shower finally stopped.