Grinding Stats in a Western Fantasy Game

After the academic exams ended, a player who had spent years buried in her studies decided to put her textbooks and practice questions aside for a while and make the most of the long vacation to relax.

While searching for a game to play, she unexpectedly received an invite to the beta test of the Western fantasy game The Travels Across the Continent of Deng'erweng.

It was an unreleased new game focused on freedom and worldbuilding, with beautiful art and an expansive world. According to the developers, players could experience all kinds of different lives in the game.

After struggling through 99 introductory questionnaire questions, the player was thrilled to receive her game number: 77. She officially began playing.

The character the System assigned her was a silver-haired, golden-eyed human woman named Sybil, who perfectly matched her tastes, even though the character was only three months old.

But that was no problem!

Looking at the baby in the game and the pitiful single-digit stats on the status screen, the player confidently rolled up her sleeves. Starting from zero and seizing every bit of time and every opportunity was the way to unlock infinite possibilities!

Some time later, a friend who had joined the beta test with her asked how far she had gotten in the game.

The player proudly showed off several pages of max-level skills, a long list of talents and titles, 100% map exploration, and status values that had shot up to terrifying levels.

Her friend fell silent. After a long pause, they asked, "I thought you played games to relax? Why are you grinding so hard with your character, too?"

Thesis: Take life seriously