Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Wei Chen opened his spatial backpack again. His mind swept across the inventory slots, his gaze landing on the icons representing poultry and livestock meat. Below each icon, a glaring number was clearly displayed—999.

This is the maximum number of items that can be stacked in a single backpack compartment. Chicken, duck, goose, goat, and pork—the five most common types of meat—have already filled all five compartments, reaching the storage limit.

"Sigh, what a happy problem." Wei Chen shook his head helplessly. This meat would be nothing more than cheap stuff worth a few copper coins in the space general store.

He focused his mind on the newly caught meat that he couldn't pick up because his backpack was overflowing, and selected "automatic vending." A few faint white lights flashed, and the number representing money in the corner of his backpack jumped a few times, adding a few insignificant change.

"Looks like from now on, I'll just sell these low-level monsters to the shop after I'm done with them, so they don't take up space," Wei Chen muttered to himself.

These mountains of ordinary meat were almost never taken out of the space, except for the occasional treat in the hunter's cabin kitchen to satisfy a craving.

Given the scarcity of resources in the real world, he dared not easily take out such a large quantity of meat of unknown origin, as that would be tantamount to asking for trouble.

Before the joy of the upgrade had faded, Wei Chen keenly noticed two new entries at the bottom of the attribute panel: [Pets] and [Life Skills].

"Oh? A new feature unlocked at level 5?" Wei Chen's eyes lit up, his fatigue vanished, replaced by intense curiosity and a desire to explore. He immediately pushed open the door of the hunter's hut and strode towards the center of the beginner village.

The starting village remained quiet and peaceful. Wei Chen headed straight for the "pet shop" he remembered—a small hut with a crooked wooden sign bearing the word "pet" hanging on the door. He went inside; there were no NPCs, but trading was possible. As long as Wei Chen spoke, there was a response, but this didn't work outside the shop. Wei Chen felt as if the game had mutated, as if the NPCs had been eliminated.

"Want to get a pet baby?" Wei Chen asked tentatively.

"Brave hunter! Congratulations on reaching level 5 and becoming our valued customer! This is a loyal companion gifted to every new hunter by the system—a 'pet baby'! Happy hunting!" With the system notification, an egg emitting a soft white light appeared...?

It was an oval object slightly larger than a goose egg, pure white, with a faint, flickering light on its surface, like the light of breathing.

Wei Chen took the warm "egg" with some surprise: "This... how do I use it?"

"Simple! Call it with your heart, give it a name, and it will hatch and become your most loyal companion!" Another notification sound.

Wei Chen was skeptical, but he held the glowing egg in both hands, focused his mind, and silently said, "Wake up, little guy. From now on, you will be my loyal comrade-in-arms."

The moment the thought landed, the egg suddenly burst forth with a brilliant yet gentle golden light! The surface of the eggshell instantly became covered with spiderweb-like cracks, and with a soft "crack," it shattered completely!

The light faded, and a fluffy, round little creature appeared in Wei Chen's palm.

It was only the size of a palm, with fluffy, soft, light yellow fur. Its wet little nose was pink and tender, and its two big, dark eyes looked up at Wei Chen with a bewildered and curious gaze. Its little tail shook wildly as if it had a motor, making a soft but dependent "whimpering" sound.

"A Chinese rural dog?"

Looking at the adorable little puppy, Wei Chen couldn't resist gently tapping its wet nose with his fingertip. The little guy immediately stuck out its pink tongue and licked his finger affectionately; it was ticklish and warm.

[Ding! You have obtained a pet: Chinese Rural Dog (Puppy Stage) Lv.1. Please name it.]

[Named successfully: Rhubarb.]

The [Pet] section of the attribute panel immediately lit up, displaying basic information about Big Yellow. Wei Chen had a thought and put the little guy into his pet space—a special dimensional slot attached to his backpack.

Leaving the pet store, Wei Chen quickened his pace, heading straight for the "Skill Shop." It was a quaint little hut filled with various scrolls and tool models.

"Young hunter. Congratulations on unlocking the Life Skills System. For your first selection, you can learn one basic life skill for free." A notification sounded as you stepped into the skill shop.

Looking at the scrolls hanging on the wall behind him, each emitting a different faint light, he continued, "Please choose carefully; it will accompany you throughout your long hunting career."

Wei Chen's gaze swept over the dazzling array of scrolls: [Gathering], [Planting], [Fishing], [Cooking], [Carving], [Woodworking], [Peeling], [Leathermaking], [Medicine Making]... there were dozens of them! Each one seemed to represent a skill that could provide for one's livelihood or assist in hunting.

His gaze lingered on the [Planting Technique] for a long time. The thought of being able to grow crops in this magical space... considering the potentially difficult future the real world might face, the allure of this skill was simply irresistible.

However, when his gaze finally fell on the fishing reel, combined with his newly acquired identity as a "purchasing agent for Red Star Steel Mill," an idea instantly became clear to him.

"The purchasing agent...getting some unplanned catches is perfectly reasonable! The source of fish and shrimp is much easier to explain than grain appearing out of thin air!" Wei Chen made his decision instantly, "I choose [fishing]!"

"A wise choice, hunter. The harvest in the water is often unexpected."

After the notification sound, the [Fishing] scroll instantly transformed into a soft blue stream of light, like a living stream, and suddenly disappeared into Wei Chen's brow!

"boom!"

A massive flow of information exploded in Wei Chen's mind in an instant! Countless pieces of knowledge about fish (common freshwater fish species, habits, habitats, and activity patterns), knowledge of fishing tackle (fishing rod materials, fishing line strength, fish hook types, float principles), and fishing techniques (adjusting the float, baiting, observing the float's movement, timing of lifting the rod, and techniques for playing the fish)... were deeply engraved into his memory like a brand.

At the same time, a strange warm current flowed into his arms, waist, abdomen, and even fingertips, as if it had formed a solid muscle memory after years of honing.

At that moment, he felt like a seasoned angler who had been immersed in this art for many years, with a thorough understanding of all kinds of fish conditions, water conditions, and techniques.

"This is... skill empowerment?" Wei Chen clenched his fist, feeling the familiar sensation lingering on his fingertips, as if he were holding a fishing rod, and was deeply shocked. The wonder of this space far exceeded his imagination.

Without delay, he immediately spent a small amount of silver coins at the general store to buy a basic but practical fishing tackle set: a resilient bamboo hand rod, a spool of strong hemp line, several iron fishhooks of different sizes, a few simple floats, and a small jar of bait that smelled of grain.

Having done all this, Wei Chen habitually headed towards the entrance of the beginner village, intending to end his space journey for the day as usual. However, when he reached the two tightly closed, heavy wooden doors covered in vines, his steps suddenly stopped!

The gate to the beginner village, which had always been like a spatial barrier, indestructible and immovable, was now silently...open!

A fresh scent, mingled with the fragrance of earth, grass, and wildflowers, wafted in through the open doorway! Outside, the familiar, hazy mist had given way to a bright and open new world!

"The door...is open?" Wei Chen's heart suddenly raced, an indescribable excitement and desire for exploration instantly gripping him. Without the slightest hesitation, he took a step forward!

With your feet firmly on the ground, the scene before you instantly changes.

Behind me lay the familiar boundary of the starting village, as if bound by an invisible dome. Ahead of me stretched a narrow, gravel-paved country road, barely wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side, winding into the distance.

On both sides of the dirt road were vast expanses of flat, fertile black soil, exuding the unique earthy aroma of the soil! These plots of land were neatly divided into squares by ridges, but at this moment they were empty, exposing the moist, dark brown soil.

Wei Chen walked curiously to the edge of a field, instinctively reaching out to touch the fertile soil. However, just as his fingertips were about to touch the earth—

[Ding! This area requires the skill of Planting (Lv.1) to perform farming operations.]

A cold, emotionless mechanical voice suddenly rang in his mind!

"Planting technique?" Wei Chen's hand froze in mid-air, his face instantly showing immense frustration. "Damn it! If only I had known..."

A wave of intense regret washed over him. If he had chosen the [Planting] skill in the skill shop just now… wouldn't this boundless expanse of fertile black soil before him instantly become an inexhaustible granary? What a precious treasure that would be in the difficult years to come! He couldn't help but slap his forehead hard.

"Forget it! Now that the space has unlocked a new area, there must still be opportunities!" Wei Chen took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the regret in his heart, and cast his gaze into the distance.

Beyond the vacant farmland, lush meadows stretched out on both sides of the dirt road. The verdant blades of grass swayed gently in the breeze, and glistening dewdrops clung to their tips.

In the grass that reached above their calves, a dozen plump, sturdy old oxen with glossy coats were leisurely swishing their tails and grazing on the green grass! Above their heads, a red cursor, visible only to Wei Chen, indicated that they were ready to attack!

"New monster: Yellow Ox?" Wei Chen's eyes narrowed, and he drew his hunting bow from behind his back. It seems the "map" of the space has indeed expanded after the upgrade!

He didn't act immediately, but continued along the dirt road. After walking about a hundred paces, the grass on both sides became denser, and there were occasional rustling sounds and flashes of colorful feathers—these were flocks of brightly colored pheasants, larger and more agile than the domestic chickens in the beginner village! They cautiously foraged in the grass, their numbers far exceeding those of the chickens in the beginner village.