46. Team Training

“Ahem.” One of the laws of stories: a perfect moment will always be interrupted.

However, it wasn’t I_Am_A_Poor_Man this time. He was busy sighing over the innocent little white rabbit that’s about to be gobbled up by the evil big black wolf.

HereticKing let go of XiaoYu and unhappily looked over to where the sound came from. The sight made his mood worse. Well, if it wasn’t GloryOfTheWorld who’d been poking at him before? And his forever follower, LittleZhuGe.

“Is there something you need?”

“I’m here to say hi. We won’t come for Prole-3 next time.”

“Hehe. Are you afraid we’ll go for Serica next time?” I_Am_A_Poor_Man replied for HereticKing. He knew Chief wasn’t in the mood for it then.

“Well, Mr Glory, what did you learn from your grand tour to Prole-3?”

“It’s easy to defend but hard to attack. If the Heretic Demons conquered it, we’ll have no chance at it. But since Prole-3 is so important to you guys, we won’t come barging in.”

“The great Glory giving up so easily? We are so honoured.”

“Serica is the Wings’ main battlefield. We only went to look at all the number 3 fortresses. It wasn’t a wasted trip. We were able to go toe-to-toe with the great Heretic chief himself. However, it still doesn’t feel enough. Why don’t we go for a spar at the PvP Arena someday?”

“Sure.” This time, HereticKing replied. He’d welcome anyone who wished to be beaten up. His poison wasn’t on his weapon that time. He could tell that GloryOfTheWorld also held himself back. He was somewhat looking forward to the match.

“Hey, LuckyCat. I didn’t realise you succeeded your job change. Congratulations,” LittleZhuGe greeted XiaoYu.

“Thanks,” XiaoYu politely responded with the tiny cat in his arms. The moment HereticKing released XiaoYu, the small cat had taken advantage of the situation to cling onto the XiaoYu’s pants and ask for hugs. Just as it thought, its owner’s hugs are the best.

“Congratulations, LuckyCat. Pardon us.” GloryOfTheWorld left with a wave, along with LittleZhuGe.

“You know them?”

“Mn. I bumped into them the time I was going to become a Chef.” XiaoYu retold a brief summary of eating at the same table at the restaurant.

“I see.”

“It’s getting late. Sleep early,” HereticKing said.

“Mn. Goodnight.” XiaoYu walked off yawning in search of the Portal back to the capital. Which free hotel should he sleep in tonight?

When XiaoYu was some distance away, I_Am_A_Poor_Man let out a cold chuckle. “Would they ever be that desperate as to sit with another party? Looks like the Wings are eyeing up Xiao-Yu, Chief.”

“Tell Egg_Tart to keep an eye on it.” The higher-ups of the major guilds rarely interact and what the other people said about the Wings’ higher ranks differ so much. HereticKing wasn’t completely sure why Glory and ZhuGe struck up a competition with XiaoYu. If it’s for a good motive, then that’s great. If there’s a chance XiaoYu could be hurt, he won’t just stand by and watch.

**********

Under the bright and dazzling midday sun of Sunday, Hei QiYao and Lin Qiong was on the land of another country. Meanwhile, XiaoYu was looking for the party he’d be training with under the directions of Egg_Tart.

“This is the new guy, LuckyCat. Take good care of him.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Just let his pet collect the loot.”

“Oh.” The unspoken rule in Heretic Demons’ parties had always been letting the healer pick up most of the loot. The others would use this time to continue grinding. Another mob killed was more experience gained. A pet picking up the drops would be even better. The healer could focus on their health and buffs at all times.

“LuckyCat, once group training sessions are over, you can just hand everything to the party leader, Desireless. He’ll split them,” Egg_Tart directed to XiaoYu.

“Okay. I look forward to training with you,” XiaoYu said.

This was a very normal grinding party. The only difference between them and XiaoYu’s former party was his party consisted of players within the same 10 levels of each other. Every job was basically there. If they worked together, they’d have no trouble clearing up all monsters below Level 65.

For the whole afternoon, XiaoYu followed them around in the Maze Forest. As the name stated, the moment one entered this forest, there was no way for them to differentiate north from south, east or west. The mini-map was shrouded in fog. The game had been out for a long time, yet no a single player could confidently say they could walk out of this forest. The way out was either to tear up a Return Scroll, through a Portal or through death.

Honestly, the Maze Forest was very much like a large-scale dungeon. Parties of different levels would encounter different monsters. The mobs would never be over 10 levels higher than the highest party member, they would also never be over 10 levels lower than the weakest party member. For example, XiaoYu’s party. The monsters they encountered in the Maze Forest ranged from Level 41 (XiaoYu was now Level 51) to Level 70 (Desireless was Level 60).

While it seemed like a great grinding zone, not a lot of parties truly went there to train. That’s because even though the mobs were within a safe level range, that didn’t mean the game won’t spawn a frightening number of mobs at them. If the party didn’t have all the basic jobs, good equipment and coordination, the moment they flashed into a group of mobs so packed together they seemed like a dense, buzzing flock of locusts, their only choice was to wait for death.

However, as one of the training grounds of Heretic Demons, everyone other than XiaoYu had been here before. As long as their Sir Healer didn’t fool around, the chances of getting wiped were extremely low. Fortunately, XiaoYu was very patient. He wouldn’t zone out just because of the dry, repetitive motion of buffing his teammates. He kept a close eye on every member’s buff timer the whole time. He even listened to the party leader’s orders and suggestions.

A serious child would always be easily accepted by everyone. No one wished to work with a layabout. Therefore, while the other party members might’ve been rather distant at the start, they were now acting like his best buddies. They’d even chat while looking for more mobs.

“Lucky, where did you catch your kitten?”  When the monsters crowd around, the ground would be covered in random items when they die. If they were to pick all of that up, bending over every time would be so very troublesome. If they didn’t, there might be a chance they’ll miss something rare. Pets that pick up loot were common, but their speed would sometimes be so much slower than the player picking the drops up themselves. For example, the slime pet. Just watching it slowly inch and slop around like a ball of playdough towards items on the ground…It really made one’s skin itch.

In comparison, look at how the tiny cat moved. In the beginning, everyone in the party was worried they might accidentally hit it. After observing it a few times, they realised its speed was godlike. It’s likely not even the big Guild Leader himself had such high agility. So, everyone just let this ball of black shadow dance around them without worry. With their time freed from picking up loot, their efficiency skyrocketed.

“It’s a gift from a chest,” XiaoYu said.

“You’re so lucky. No wonder you’re called LuckyCat. Beckon some luck for us.”

“Okay. I’ll try.” Every time XiaoYu encountered a question about the small cat, he would always be worried. But when he saw that everyone was just asking and didn’t really care, he couldn’t help but berate himself for being slightly too petty.

Suddenly, the ground shook as if something gigantic was walking somewhere close.

“A boss.” An archer’s sharp vision is a necessity in the thick woods. “It’s a black bear. FaHai’s Monster Records.”

“Ding. Big Black Bear (Boss), Lv 55, HP: 82745, EXP: ???”

“Its health isn’t high. It probably has a HP recovery skill. Be careful. Lucky, fire buff.” Desireless quickly arranged the battle formation and also reminded XiaoYu for additional buffs.

Elemental buffs were a skill healers obtained when becoming a Priest. They could add some magic elemental damage to other player’s attacks for a short amount of time. If the monster just happened to be weak to that element, the damage would be increased. Of course, if it was the wrong element, there would be a damage penalty. However, XiaoYu wasn’t that proficient at that skill yet. So, the additional damage wasn’t that obvious. However, any additional damage was better than nothing. One cannot let down their guard when going against a boss monster.

In the Maze Forest where roads twist and turn and merge, no one knew just where and when the boss would spawn. Hence, a boss encounter required plenty of luck. At the sight of his happy teammates, XiaoYu began to get excited. His voice quivered as he chanted his buffs. This can be considered his first time challenging a boss in its range with everyone else in his party. He must calm down. He can’t make a mistake.

Fire elemental buff. AoE heal (for 60 seconds, 1% HP is recovered every 5 seconds); ah, got to cast Slow (reduces its movement speed) and Leaden (reduces its attack speed) on the bear; have to check on the Blessing for close-combat members (additional physical damage), keep an eye on the archer’s Saint’s Seal (increase critical rate)…While the others were gathered up, clashing and bashing against the Big Black Bear and its minion bears, XiaoYu was kept busy at the back throwing out all sorts of support spells he could think of. Obsecro’s chant took too long. He couldn’t just use it willy-nilly. There was only one Bible left anyway. He couldn’t use it. He hadn’t used Incremento before. Let’s try it out.

Without anyone paying heed to XiaoYu, he cast one of his special skills. XiaoYu’s stats weren’t high in the first place, so a mere 5% didn’t feel that obvious.

Just as Desireless predicted, the Big Black Bear had a self-healing skill – drinking honey. Afterwards, it seemed to have raised its Attack.

“Shoot his honey pot.” Lord only knew how much honey the bear had on it. If it kept downing honey, this would never end.

“The leader is the leader,” said the archer, Robin, as realisation dawned on him. He changed his aim to the tiny pot in the bear’s claws.

In a blink, the Big Black Bear was robbed of its replenishment. The small bears standing guard by his side were nearly gone. It was furious! It bellowed and waved its huge paws high in the air. It wanted to swipe away these annoying flies right now.

“Lucky, keep healing us up. All of you, be ready to down a potion at any moment.” They only had one healer with them – XiaoYu. He’s also the one with the lowest level in the party. Desireless didn’t know if he could place all his hopes for keeping the party’s health up on XiaoYu.

As if to prove Desireless’s words correct, the bear slammed its paws down on the ground. With a rumble, the fragile earth let out a moaning shriek and violently trembled. Near or far, every player’s health was dropped by at least a third. Those who stood closest to the bear were down to half-health immediately.

Thank goodness for Desireless’s reminder beforehand. After the shockwaves, the party quickly chugged on their health potions. XiaoYu didn’t have time to heal himself. He threw spell after spell at his teammates the moment they went off cooldown. In what little time he could spare, he’d take a swig of his potions.

Single-targe healing spells, an AoE healing spell that slowly healed everyone plus potions meant the health shaken away by the bear was quickly filled up once more. This enraged and depressed the boss even further. These weren’t flies. They’re a freaking bunch of cockroaches!

Thus, the little cockroaches exhibited their excellence at being immortal to the max. The Big Black Bear was slowly, unwillingly, tormented to death and into a mountain of loot.

By the time the party killed off the bear, it was already past 5 pm. Desireless made the decision to end their training there and returned back to the city.

The party sat down by an isolated little corner and XiaoYu poured everything from the tiny cat’s pockets before Desireless to be split up.

“We’re quite lucky today. We actually bumped into the boss.” As everyone watched their leader separate the mountain of junk as he always did, they chatted.

“Some of the mobs before that dropped gear too. Did the game suddenly found its kindness today or what?”

“It can’t be because we have a lucky cat? Let’s train together next time, Lucky.”

“Okay.” It looked like XiaoYu really had the ability to beckon luck for his party. At the thought of him, the lowest levelled player of the group, being able to contribute something, XiaoYu gleefully smiled. His cute little canine tooth glinting.

“We’re finally free of the awkwardness that is no healer.”

“?” XiaoYu didn’t really get what they were sighing in relief about.

“We were all busy with work before. Although we were in the guild way before the limit of Second Job Change, we could only watch as the kids who came after us speed past. Especially the healers who were near our levels. They always had someone to carry them. Soon, we weren’t able to grind in the same party. So, our grinding sessions would include a healer one day, then none on the next, and so on.”

“You’re co-workers?”

“Yes. We opened up a company with Desireless here. The company’s not big, but it’s slowly getting there.” This was why they didn’t have time to log on and train before. It was a surprise Egg_Tart didn’t kick them out. But upon consideration, they didn’t go against any of Heretic Demons’ rules. They just didn’t log on frequently due to work. If they were kicked out, that would be indicate a problem.

“We can at least guarantee attendance to the weekly group training sessions now, and we can take turns working and logging on to grind. Finally, we don’t need to live in the topsy-turvy days from before. How wonderful.” Robin stretched himself out and sprawled out on the ground, happy as can be.

“Oh dear. Thank you for your hard work.” The sentence drifted over from Desireless who was still sorting.

“Ah, no. No, you’re the one who worked hardest.” Robin hurriedly sat up, the image of a good student waiting to be taught.

Before long, Desireless was done and handed a neat pile over to each member. No one cared who had what and no one argued. They just dumped the items into their Inventory.

“You had decent technique. You were also very logical in your skill usage. But the next time you’re hurt, remember to heal yourself first,” Desireless said to XiaoYu. During the boss fight, he’d noticed XiaoYu’s health being the last to be filled up the entire time.

“Yes. What will we do if you’re hurt, Lucky?”

“I know. I’m sorry. My AoE heal is still too weak.” XiaoYu never used it before because he was mostly alone.

“Silly boy, that can be slowly trained up. We all have potions.”

“Our buffs never ran out the entire day. You did your best.”

As the crowd chattered on, XiaoYu suddenly felt that it was a good choice to join the Heretic Demons. From the main guild, Yao, Big Brother Poor and Below_The_Moon; from the subsidiary guild, the leader Egg_Tart, guildies who discussed lucky charms with him and the teammates who grinded with him – they were all so nice to him.

Translator’s Notes:

1. White Rabbit vs Black Wolf: Yes. It’s a pun/play on their surnames. It might just be because “big bad wolf” just translates to “big grey wolf” in Chinese. Since black > grey, the author might’ve gone for the more logical (Chinese-wise).
2. Desireless: The proper translation is an idiom for “fulfilled, no wants or desires”.
3. Slime pet: Technically, jelly pet. Aka Poring (and its numerous recolours) from Ragnarok Online.
4. FaHai’s Monster Records: The sorcerer from Madame White Snake, inspired by a real-life monk from the Tang dynasty who’s born to a scholarly/aristocratic family.
5. Elemental buff: Also known as the alternate version of Bendedicto Sanctissimi Sacramenti, a buff only for players standing near the caster.
6. AoE heal: Likely referring to Sanctuary which healed all in an area, monsters and players alike.
7. Blessing: Blessing. It’s sort of a copy-paste from RO. The RO version increases STR, DEX and INT. This version merely adds damage to each attack. For those who know Tree of Savior, just like the Blessing from that game instead of the RO version.
8. Saint’s Seal: Aka just the DEX portion of Blessing from RO. As critical rates were determined by DEX along with hit rate etc, there wasn’t a spell from the healer’s section that just raised the critical rate.
9. Commas and semi-colons in the spell dump: Punctuation from original text kept as it might help show just what XiaoYu was thinking in sequence and what might’ve been going through his mind minutes after the last “sequence”.
10. Cockroaches: The Chinese slang/common word for cockroach is the most apt name you’d ever find – “Little Strong (One)”.

◄Previous •Index• Next►

45. Hug

On that night, not even an hour into the event, a completely unforeseen server-wide announcement rang out.

“Congratulations, Guild I Die For Riches, on conquering Sakura-3.”

“Guild I Die For Riches has been awarded an additional reward: Guild Reputation +5,000.”

“One of the Four Great Seals of the battlefield has been unsealed. Keep it up, brave players!”

I Die For Riches was one of the rising stars among the many guilds in Asgard Online. One look at their name would tell all they’re related to money. Thus, most of the players within that guild were paying players, especially since there were no conversion restrictions after Level 100. The amount of cash they sunk into the game per month was a very substantial number.

The medium- and small-sized guilds instantly turned their attentions to the remaining “3” fortresses. The reward for participating in Guild Wars was 100 Reputation per event. The reward to having a fortress to the end of the event was 1,000 Reputation. The additional reward announced was so much more enticing. It’d dramatically reduce the gap between them and the big guilds. The battlefield was also a large-scale battle. They could throw out their skills and attacks however they pleased and their guildmates won’t be hurt. It wasn’t completely impossible for them to sneakily conquer a fortress among the confusion. Otherwise, just being able to cause more trouble for the big guilds was better than anything else.

The guild chat of Suicide Squad, a subsidiary of the Heretic Demons, was silent. During the event, only the guild leaders and urgent messages could go through the guild chat. No one was allowed to just chat on it. Each party had their own party chat anyway. There was also a special channel between the party leaders that they had applied for in the game. Any orders could be swiftly sent and received. (It’s akin to a temporary party. Anyone could join, enabling communication between different parties and guilds. The game would charge the players according to the amount of time the channel was used and the number of members in it.)

As the piloting healers were only responsible for opening portals to their destinations at their designated spots, a major Teleport shift notice was done through the Acolyte Squad Leader’s private messages. Hence, they didn’t need to take up a spot in a party. There were only so many that could fit in one party. And so, XiaoYu was unable to know the details of the battlefield even after officially joining Heretic Demons. However, he could still feel that their plan for conquering Prole-3 wasn’t going as smoothly as they wished.

Because XiaoYu had just joined the guild during the day, a lot of Suicide Squad members still remembered him. At the start of the event, they would wave at him and said hi before running through his Portal. A few of the female players even blew kisses at him. XiaoYu felt so awkward. But ever since the announcement about the fall of Sakura-3, all of them would rush into his Portal with serious faces. They had no mood to even say hi. (A black triangle would float above the heads of guildmates. A red triangle above fellow party members. Gold triangles for friends. It was so players could easily find their own people in a crowd. Players could also choose to hide them.)

All XiaoYu could do was pray for everyone in his heart.

“Xiao-Yu, open up 30 Portals now and hurry over through the back door of the NPC Item Shop.” Out of the blue, XiaoYu heard I_Am_A_Poor_Man’s voice. He didn’t ask any questions. Soon, a series of portals were opened up and squished together in a tiny space. Then, XiaoYu ran straight into the back of the Item Shop as ordered. The NPC shopkeeper who was sleeping on the counter was frightened out of his wits.

Through the back door was a dark, dank alley. This time, XiaoYu was the one being scared out of his wits. HereticKing, Poor_Man, Below_The_Moon and Egg_Tart were all there.

“Here.” I_Am_A_Poor_Man was too lazy to bother with the transaction interface. He dropped five dictionary-thick books into XiaoYu’s arms. Those were the Bibles he’d found in an entire afternoon. For now, this little thing was seriously hard to get.

“Use them now?” asked XiaoYu.

“Yes, for all four of us. Eggy is one of us. He won’t spill. Don’t worry.” It wasn’t in the plan to get XiaoYu to use the special Bishop skills, but there were nearly double the number of players in Prole-3 after that public announcement. The rather messy battlefield had turned into a free-for-all.

No matter what, the Heretic Demons can’t let any other guilds, much less some unknown little guild, take down Prole-3 before they could. Thus, they decided the Guild Leader would head into the battle with a few elites. The elites HereticKing was bringing along weren’t just the people in here, but there weren’t enough Bibles. So, he only chose four to go with him to be buffed up. One was left behind for emergencies.

As for why they were in such an eerie corner, XiaoYu’s level was so low that he had no way to protect himself at the moment. Because of that, HereticKing requested Poor_Man to ensure XiaoYu’s safety at all times. They must not risk exposing him. If not, HereticKing would rather go without those buffs.

“Come, eat this pill.” Below_The_Moon shoved a blue pill into XiaoYu’s mouth. This was a rare recipe he got during a special mission. This pill would grant a buff that’ll decrease chant times by 5% for 5 minutes. It’s not very useful and he didn’t make a lot. But when faced against Obsecro that had require a whole minute of chanting, it’s kind of helpful.

The pill didn’t taste like anything. XiaoYu swallowed it down, opened up a Bible from the pile in his arms and began chanting. One after another, he chanted nonstop. Four players, four minutes. Minus 5%, it was twelve seconds less. Just the three-plus minutes of chanting had him panting in exhaustion. Admiration rose for the wizards who had to chant for those top-tier spells. Chanting for over ten minutes would be enough to split one’s mouth sideways.

“Be careful.” Before stepping into the portal I_Am_A_Poor_Man opened up for him, HereticKing patted XiaoYu’s head. Then, as if he suddenly realised that there was no one safer in the event than a piloting healer, his hand froze.

“Good luck.” XiaoYu didn’t notice the frozen hand. The only thing that filled his mind was hoping everyone would be safe and that the Heretic Demons would win. Also known as he was filled to the brim with team spirit.

“Mn.” HereticKing felt so honoured by XiaoYu’s words. He could tell that XiaoYu was sincerely wishing them luck from the bottom of his heart. As he vanished into the light of the portal, he was determined to work harder. He didn’t want to let the boy worry.

“Relax. Chief’s current motivation level is at 200%.” Last to disappear into the portal, I_Am_A_Poor_Man flashed a wink at XiaoYu.

XiaoYu didn’t really get what the other meant. All he could think of was how he must hurry back to maintain his Portals. If the flight he was in charge of stopped, he’d be committing a major offence.

A rush of wind blast past the store counter and the NPC shopkeeper was once again stunned awake. He really felt like flipping a table then. Will these players just let a guy nap?

XiaoYu was back at his position the instant he left the shop. No one really paid attention to XiaoYu’s disappearance for five minutes. All they cared about was whether there were enough portals left behind.

XiaoYu really hoped the Heretic Demons could conquer Prole-3, but the gods can’t always be on his side. All the way through to the end of the announcement, he never heard any indications of their victory.

He was rather disappointed. His fellow guild members around him looked disappointed too. Still, he knew the most disappointed of them all would be HereticKing and the gang. Fortunately, Prole-3 didn’t fall into the hands of other guilds either. They could continue the fight next week.

“Xiao-Yu, come to the Storage in the North-West District of the Town of QingHe.” A message from I_Am_A_Poor_Man reached XiaoYu, who was packed up and ready to head back to the capital. Wasn’t it time for the higher-ups’ meeting? Why was he being called over? Despite the strangeness he felt, his feet had already begun their trek to his new destination.

“Is there something you need, Big Brother Poor?” he asked.

“These are for you. I’ll be on a four-days trip to Japan tomorrow. I’m scared I’d forget about it all due to all that work.” As I_Am_A_Poor_Man said so, he transferred an array of flowery items to XiaoYu: Teleport Vouchers, Tasting Coupons, Tier-1 Fire Arrow Scrolls, Tier-1 Ice Arrow Scrolls, etc. XiaoYu was shocked at the sight of the Transfer tab. (Magic Scrolls: The player could use the spell engraved once. The attack power will vary according to the user’s stats.)

“T-There’s so many.”

“They’re just some toys. Once my Storage Box is full, I’ll be throwing them out anyway. Might as well let you use them,” came the reply.

“Thank you. Don’t you need to go for a meeting?”

“No. Chief’s going off on the trip tomorrow too. We’ll do a debrief after we’re back from Japan.”

“The battle just now…Is Yao okay?”

“You’re so biased, Xiao-Yu. You’re not even worried about weak little me. I’m of a lower level.”

“My bad. I’m sorry.” A sweat drop formed on XiaoYu’s forehead.

“Chief didn’t die, but he was stabbed a few times by GloryOfTheWorld.”

“The Wings?” XiaoYu was shocked. Yao got hurt?

“Yup. Who knows what’s wrong with them? They actually came over to Prole-3 to cause trouble. Looks like they think the Serica region’s too boring for them.” They were finally able to take control of the situation. They were slowly making their way to the Crystal Room. In the end, they bumped into the elite team from the Angel Wings led by GloryOfTheWorld. Thus, a grand battle was had between the two troupes of top-tier players.

Glory must’ve had some special buff or equipment. In the duel between the two leaders, I_Am_A_Poor_Man only saw sparks of metal clashing and debuff after debuff on HereticKing. While they didn’t affect HereticKing much, randomly getting slowed down and silenced time after time would’ve thrown anyone off their beat. Hence, an accidental step meant he was stabbed by GloryOfTheWorld’s spear. Of course, HereticKing’s stats were rather insane. Glory was slashed a couple of times. No one had the clear upper hand.

After such a long struggle, all the way until just before they were all ejected from Prole-3 at the end of the event, the two parties were duking it out. Slashing, stabbing, dodging. All tangled together and unwilling to stop.

I_Am_A_Poor_Man’s description was enough to fuel XiaoYu’s imagination. He could see the chaos that happened. If he had been there, he might be panicking and lost.

“XiaoYu?” When HereticKing reunited with I_Am_A_Poor_Man after repairing his equipment, he saw a familiar figure. It was getting dark though, so he wasn’t certain.

As soon as XiaoYu turned around, he spotted HereticKing walking over. It was probably due to the chilling and chaotic description before; XiaoYu sprinted over to HereticKing and inspected the other from head to toe. Occasionally, he brushed his hands against the other man’s chest and shoulders as if trying to confirm any injuries.

HereticKing was stiff with shock at XiaoYu’s actions. Then, he saw I_Am_A_Poor_Man’s goofy smile and the hand guiltily scratching at his cheek. A blabbermouth had told XiaoYu about what happened in the battlefield.

He looked down at XiaoYu’s worried face. Suddenly, he felt a strong urge to hug this silly billy. Could the other have forgotten this was all a game? Once his health recovered and his armour repaired, he’d be all fine?

HereticKing had always been more about actions than talking. The moment he pondered about all that, his arms were in the middle of circling around that lanky body and pulling it against his. He leaned low and whispered into XiaoYu’s ear, “I’m fine. I’m all healed up.”

XiaoYu stood there and allowed HereticKing to embrace him for as long as the other wanted to. He wasn’t scared or shocked. He just thought the other might need some comfort after all that disappointment. He closed his eyes. Just fill in as a plush toy for now.

Down by the feet of the two men was a tiny cat, circling round and round. Despicable humans. It wants a hug too >o<.

◄Previous •Index• Next►

44. Holiday

“Ah, right. LuckyCat, remember to open the guild chat,” messaged Egg_Tart to XiaoYu who had just finished looking through his new skills and was being dragged through the roads and alleyways of Prole by HereticKing.

XiaoYu looked through the list of channels to find the words Guild Chat, which was greyed out for him previously. He changed his settings so the Guild Chat would show up and immediately a long screen that went from his head to the ground appeared. The Guild Chat.

[Guild Notification]: Welcome, LuckyCat.

SleepEveryDay: Welcome, new friend. *claps*

WorkEveryDay: Clap clap clap.

Winnie: Lucky cat? Lucky charm?

CrazinessLeavesScars: Bearie, are you worried about your place as our lucky charm?

Winnie: No. I gladly welcome him to take my place.

Flute_In_The_Wind: Why don’t you two just combine? Then, our guild’s lucky mascot will be the panda.

 Broken-Winged-Angel: Good idea. Fuse up!

Winnie: Shoo. I should be retiring. LuckyCat, please take over the baton.

CrazinessLeavesScars: Bearie, you can’t force them.

Winnie: You guys forced me to at the start!

Flute_In_The_Wind: You’ve all scared them. The little one’s too afraid to speak up.

SleepEveryDay: They probably forgot to turn on Guild Chat.

WorkEveryDay: Agreed.

LuckyCat: Hi, everyone. I’ll be in your care from now on.

CrazinessLeavesScars: Aah. I found LuckyCat’s profile. So cute! Give me a kiss.

SleepEveryDay: 囧

WorkEveryDay: 冏

Winnie: Oh, that avatar. You’re the healer who flew the Prole-3 flights, right? I recall you have a pet cat.

LuckyCat: Yes.

Winnie: That’s it then. From now on, you and your pet cat are our lucky charms.

LuckyCat: Ah?

Flute_In_The_Wind: Don’t listen to him, LuckyCat.

Winnie: Hey, why does everyone bully me?

Broken-Winged-Angel: Because we love you. Haven’t you heard? To love is to bully.

SM_Queen: Whipping in agreement.

CrazinessLeavesScars: Why are you ignoring me, LuckyCat? I’m so sad.

LuckyCat: I’m not. Hello.

CrazinessLeavesScars: Good boy.

Winnie: This is double standards!

Flute_In_The_Wind: Yes. We treat you so well, yet you’re not satisfied.

Winnie: Bleurgh.

XiaoYu happily laughed as he read the bustling guild chat. That made HereticKing who’d been ignored for a long time very unhappy. The tiny cat was also hanging off XiaoYu’s shoulders, napping. HereticKing felt that if he sold these two cats right now, they wouldn’t react to it. Perhaps the small cat might gleefully help him count the money out.

“What’s made you so happy?” asked HereticKing.

“Ah. The guild’s very lively,” replied XiaoYu.

“Uneasy about it?”

“No. I like this atmosphere.”

“That’s good.”

“Where are we going?” It was only then that XiaoYu realised he was on a big ship.

“Selling you off.”

“Haah?”

“I’m joking.” The goofy sight of XiaoYu’s dazed and frightened form turned HereticKing’s mood from stormy grey to the refreshing blue sky that appear out after the storm has passed.

“Oh. Hehe.”

“What’s with the foolish chuckle while staring at me?”

“I didn’t think you’d crack that kind of joke.”

“Should I have a poker face on all the time? Like this?” HereticKing put on a serious and sombre face.

“Pfft. You look weird.”

As they laughed and joked around, land began to emerge from the horizon before the boat.

“We’ll be there soon.”

“This is Holiday Island?”

“Yes. That’s the nickname players gave it. San Raphaelus is its official name due to Raphaelus, the Level 110 mer-prince boss in the underwater city beneath the island.”

While the lower depths of the island were filled with strong monsters, the island’s surface and beaches were still safe. The only worry was an aggressive Level 100 mer-soldier. It was a soldier sent from beneath the sea to patrol the island surface.

However, Asgard Online players have long figured out the rules it acted on. It would only patrol the beach near the sea. A full patrol of the island took 10 hours. If one saw it, walking slightly inland would be enough to avoid it. Furthermore, the average Level of AO were much higher now. It’s not hard to just kill it.

There were no Revival Points on the island and this place couldn’t be marked with Teleport. Thus, the main mode of transport to the island was through a scheduled boat trip which takes an hour. Of course, players could sail over themselves. As long as they’re not afraid of getting lost and stranded in the middle of the sea.

The moment they stepped out of the small port, the unique tropical scenery of the island enveloped them. The crystal blue seawater, the white sandy beach, and a thick forest which only grew thicker the closer they got to the heart of the island.

They walked along the beach until a row of identical tiny cottages appeared before their eyes. The houses were built along the border between the beach and the forest. Available to the visiting tourists as a place to dine and stay, players could also rent equipment here.

Not many players would choose to be at this island early in the morning. HereticKing and XiaoYu looked around for a less crowded plot of beach, rented some beach-related gear from the shop behind them, plopped their beach umbrella down, unfurled their beach chairs, and changed into bright and colourful swim shorts. They were the very image of holidaying humans.

Those garish swim shorts really must be given the limelight here. As soon as they were put on, all other equipped gear would be automatically taken off, including the singlet players wore under their clothes at all times. Wasn’t that extremely dangerous? No, it wasn’t. Once a player equipped them, they would be “Protected” by the game. That meant they couldn’t be PvP-ed. They could still be attacked by mobs. Of course, since there’s only a mer-warrior on the whole island, there wouldn’t be any other mobs appearing next to the player unless they were so bored as to wander over 100 meters under the sea levels. Additionally, these swim shorts would self-destruct once they were 10 nautical miles away from the island.

As XiaoYu never tweaked a single modifier for his avatar’s physical form, the game rendered a very realistic version of his own body. His skin was quite pale from rarely being bathed by sunlight, but his figure wasn’t sickly. Before he entered Asgard Online, XiaoYu didn’t just sit around and game. He worked out. Hence, even if he didn’t have obvious ab lines, he wasn’t as thin as a stick that’d go flying away at the slightest breeze.

Nevertheless, when compared to HereticKing, XiaoYu still looked rather thin and tiny. There was nothing to be done about that. His bone structure wasn’t as big as HereticKing’s. He also didn’t have special sports equipment in his home. No matter how much he exercised, he’d never be able to achieve the kind of muscles that adorn HereticKing’s body – solid yet not overwhelming.

XiaoYu snuck a few glances at HereticKing’s body. As a male, XiaoYu was naturally very envious of the other. He pinched and twisted the flesh on his own body and let out a sigh. There was no hope for him to get that kind of body through training, but there was still some hope if it was done through diet.

HereticKing knew XiaoYu was secretly looking at him. He was rather confident in his own body. Conversely, in his eyes, XiaoYu’s figure was considered malnourished. It really made him wonder if this kid’s real-life diet was the same as his in-game diet – bitter and hard carrots all the way through.

While this was a game, one still had to warm up before swimming. If a muscle cramped up, they’d start losing health and risk drowning. The tiny cat, unwilling to just be a bystander, mimicked them. It bent and twisted and stretched, just like an actual human warming up. An accidental glance at it made the two, who’d been solemnly bending over in a stretch, instantly crumble with mirth.

“I bow down before your kitten. It really loves mimicking you,” HereticKing commented.

“Hehe. It’s probably due to the high Intimacy score,” XiaoYu chuckled.

“It’s been high since the Newbie Village?” Intimacy levels usually rose with a snail’s pace. It would take at least ten days to half a month to get a pet’s Intimacy score maxed out. The first time HereticKing saw LuckyCat, the other must’ve been playing for two days at most.

“Its Intimacy score was maxed as soon as it was born…Huh? Newbie Village?” XiaoYu was really curious as to how HereticKing knew the small cat was with him at the Newbie Village. It made him recall a particular embarrassing moment back then…

“Yes. A rare trip back to the village showed me two cats swearing they’ll work hard to earn money at the sky.”

“That…The one who laughed was you?” XiaoYu couldn’t believe it.

The “Yup. That’s me” look on HereticKing’s face showed him otherwise.

“Vwoom!” XiaoYu’s face was as red as a tomato. Aaaah…He really wished he could just bury his head into the sands under him and pretend to be an ostrich. Such a humiliating moment was actually witnessed by someone he knew.

HereticKing could never grow tired of poking fun at XiaoYu. Perhaps it was because he’d been constantly teased by his older brother growing up. He’d always been hoping for a younger brother he could protect and “bully”. Perhaps it was because XiaoYu felt different to his other friends. Whenever he’s with XiaoYu, his mind would unwittingly relax.

“Alright. The two cats can go play now.” HereticKing ruffled XiaoYu’s hair. Just as he expected, it felt so much nicer without the headdress.

“Mn.” XiaoYu scooped the tiny cat into his arms and hopped into the water. He needed the cooling sea to help cool him down.

Don’t judge that tiny shop they rented their equipment from by its ratty appearance. It had everything a shop like that should have. XiaoYu took out an inflatable miniature rubber boat from his inventory and placed the little cat on it. Then, he let the boat loose to sway with the waves.

The tiny cat wasn’t afraid at all. It crouched down on the swaying float and stared wide-eyed down into the water. Once in a while it’d splash and tapped at the water as if it spotted numerous fishes. XiaoYu stroked its head to remind it to take care not to flip the rubber boat. Who knew if it really understood him? It squinted its eyes in comfort and lightly meowed.

XiaoYu took it as the little one’s acknowledgement and let himself loose. Leaning back, he drifted on the water beside the boat, swaying to and fro with the waves.

The memory of his father teaching him how to swim when he was still a child floated to the front of his mind. Back then, he looked just like a little kitten. Just like a cat, he was deathly afraid of water. He refused to enter any bodies of water. Whenever his father had spare time, he’d drag XiaoYu to the swimming pool for training time after time with infinite patience. He even promised XiaoYu that once he knew how to swim, the whole family would go for a holiday at the beach. Teeny XiaoYu didn’t understand what going on a holiday meant. All he knew were there’d be a lot of tasty food, no school and sand to play with. He forced himself to hold the fear in and learn how to swim. Finally, he overcame his fear of water.

The two cats were both floating safely in the sea. While XiaoYu looked somewhat like a drowned corpse, the smile hanging on the corners of his mouth, as if he was recalling something pleasant, made HereticKing let go of his worry. He walked slightly further away from the two drifters and dove into the sea.

Time flowed along just like the white fluffy clouds hanging in the sky. Slowly yet surely.

As afternoon arrived, more and more players started trickling into the island. Beautiful bikini-clad players filled the area. The sight made the blood of the male players who came here for a hunt thrum. All of that however were none of the two men’s and a cat’s business. HereticKing and XiaoYu had long waded back to shore. They lay on their little chairs, sipping the colourful specialty drinks of the island, watching the tiny cat pouncing and playing on them, lazily chatting, enjoying a luxurious and carefree afternoon. Unbeknownst to them, there were many lady players with blazing eyes secretly taking pictures of them. Through an unspoken agreement, those pictures were all named “Family of Three”.

In this era, homosexual relations were legal globally and were extremely common. Still, gossip and curiosity were natural parts of a female, especially when it involved attractive humans. Immediately, ten thousand different kinds of stories about love and hate were being written out in their minds. It made one squirm with excitement. The top with mouth-watering, perfect body and face, plus the sweet and pure bottom with that cute smile, along with an adorable pet cat; they were the ultimate source material for a few perverted fantasies.

The sun descended down west. The crowds on the beach gradually left, especially the high-level players. No one had forgotten that today was Saturday – Guild Wars day.

HereticKing and XiaoYu changed back into their gear and packed up. Just as they were about to return the hired gear back to the NPC shop, two bikini-clad sexy women arrived. They’d ran over from another part of the beach. The moment they saw HereticKing’s equipment, they knew he was a high-level player. Their eyes gleamed.

“Mr Knight, the mer-soldier is here. Can you help us kill it?” they asked.

“Sure.” HereticKing thought it was a good opportunity for XiaoYu to practice his new skill – Holy Light. With XiaoYu in tow, he headed towards the direction the two players pointed to.

The mer-soldier was currently marching along the beach with its small trident, as calm as if it was just taking a leisurely stroll. Occasionally, it’d stop and surveyed his surroundings. The ideal model of a serious soldier doing his duty.

“Try using Holy Light. I’ll tank. You attack.” HereticKing threw a Taunt to attract the mer-soldier’s attention. XiaoYu began chanting Holy Light. As his Proficiency was low, the chanting took three long seconds. But with a tank, there was no danger.

Thus, the few female players on the beach were able to witness the mer-soldier’s most unsatisfactory death ever. In times before, it had always been able to die a glorious death after a magnificent battle against a crowd of players. Yet this time, its health was slowly and forcefully ground down to nothing by the Holy Light of a healer half its level while it kept attempting to stab at an agile knight who evaded every poke it tried.

Translator’s Notes:

1. Looking through new skills: The phrased used here was “learn all the Priest skills”. This was probably a typo on the author’s part as A.O. lets you have all the skills with the usual Proficiency levels. Traditionally, one would have to gain skill points and assign them accordingly. Ragnarok Online was a game that one had to plan their skills carefully as there were more skill levels available than there were skill points per class/job. Hence, this phrase has been translated to mean XiaoYu read through the skills that weren’t listed previously (i.e. he looked through his Priest skills). This meant that Bishops were basically Priests with 2 extra skills – Incremento and Obsecro.
2. Panda: Bear (Winnie) + Cat (XiaoYu) = Chinese for panda.

◄Previous •Index• Next►

43. Joining the Guild

“Congratulations,” HereticKing and I_Am_A_Poor_Man said as the golden glow signalling a successful Job change dissipated from XiaoYu’s body.

However, XiaoYu didn’t respond at all. He kept staring at the pop-up dialogues. He had been knocked off guard by the long string of notifications.

“Congratulations, player LuckyCat, for becoming the hidden class of the Acolyte class – Bishop.”

“System Reward Chest +1.”

“Stat Point +1.”

“Weapon, The Saint’s Bible, +1.”

“Bishop special skill, Incremento, obtained.”

“Bishop special skill, Obsecro, obtained.”

“Do you wish to hide your class?”

“XiaoYu?”

“Huh…yeah?” XiaoYu’s mind was snapped back to reality by HereticKing’s voice.

“Yes.” XiaoYu hurriedly selected “yes” on the last dialogue box. He had always been one to lay low.

“What is it?”

“I should’ve turned into a priest, right?” The forums clearly said he would be a Priest, then a High Priest.

“Hah? Of course. There’s no need to question that.” Curious, I_Am_A_Poor_Man opened his Friends tab and looked at XiaoYu’s Job. “Priest” was written. “You’re a Priest, aren’t you?”

“No. I hid it,” XiaoYu replied.

“Could it be…a hidden job?” Poor_Man’s eyes gleamed.

“Mn.” XiaoYu shared to the party the true Stats tab that only he could read.

“So the hidden job of the healer class is the Bishop,” I_Am_A_Poor_Man mused with a hand on his chin. Hidden jobs were an open secret in Asgard Online. Since the public announcement of the first hidden job being discovered, the Paladin, no other hidden job discoveries would be announced server-wide. So only the ones who discovered a hidden job would know what exactly they were and what made it special. “But I am curious why you could become a Bishop. Was it because of the 500 kill counts?”

“A Bishop must be somebody who can offer their services up to all citizens without gripe or hate. Player LuckyCat didn’t complain about paying the fine,” said the priest. The sudden answer to I_Am_A_Poor_Man’s question frightened everyone. With a disparaging side glance thrown at Poor_Man who had been whining about the cash-grabbing game systems, the priest continued, “He showed no signs of anger or regret at the multiplication of quest goals. Such dedication to the priesthood had moved us. Thus, the Church decided to allow player LuckyCat to attain the secret job. We hope you can stay true to your beliefs and work, for the Church and for humanity.”

“I see. Xiao-Yu, do you have any special skills?”

“Yup.” He opened up his Skills tab and shared it with the party too.

Incremento: Increases all stats by 5% for 24 hours. Consequently, all stats will drop by 3% afterwards for 24 hours. Casting time: Instant. Cooldown: 48 hours. Can only be used on caster. Levels up according to Proficiency levels. Max increase: 20%. Max decrease: 15%.

Obsecro: After prayer, all stats will increase by 10% for 3 hours. Casting time: 1 minute. Requires Bible x1. Can only be used on other players. Levels up according to Proficiency. Max increase: 50%.

“Bible…I think the human Elites and Bosses from the Dark Cult would drop that,” muttered I_Am_A_Poor_Man. The bible mentioned was an item, not a weapon. As no player knew what it was used for, everyone either sold it to the NPCs or kept them as souvenirs.

The Dark Cult was a major enemy in Asgard Online. As such, Dark Cult mobs ranged from Level 90 to 150. Elite mobs were usually as powerful as normal mobs 10 levels higher than they were. Minions and small packs of monsters followed them around. They were akin to a mini-boss. Thus, the number of Bibles one could collect just from the marketplace was rather limited.

“Change our training grounds,” HereticKing said.

“Yes. I was thinking that too. I’ll discuss it with the other party leaders later.” Of course, Poor_Man wouldn’t tell the others why. The more who know, the more troublesome things get.

“XiaoYu, I’m glad you believe in us but don’t just tell others, got it?” solemnly said HereticKing with a hand on XiaoYu’s shoulder. It wasn’t because he wanted his own guild to be the only one to have use of the Bishop’s special skills, but because he didn’t want XiaoYu to be harmed anymore. There were too many in the world he couldn’t destroy who were weak to envy. BattleOverlord was only one of many.

“I know.” XiaoYu only told HereticKing and I_Am_A_Poor_Man because he truly trusted them from the bottom of his heart. He couldn’t really say why.

“Sorry I’m late.” In walked a male wizard with a knock on the door.

“Just in time, Eggy! Xiao-Yu just finished his Job Change. Yay!” I_Am_A_Poor_Man was immediately struck by a bolt of lightning. Fortunately for him, PvP was banned in the capital. Thus, I_Am_A_Poor_Man only felt a slight tingle and not be turned into a puddle of blood and gore.

“Call me that again and we’ll be in the PvP Arena,” said the wizard.

“Meanie,” Poor_Man pouted.

“Hi, Chief Heretic,” the male wizard greeted, getting a small nod in return.

“Hi. My name is Egg_Tart. Suicide Squad Guild Leader, a branch guild of Heretic Demons.” Egg_Tart stretched a hand out to XiaoYu.

“Hi. I’m LuckyCat,” XiaoYu replied with a handshake.

“Ding.” A dialogue box popped up before XiaoYu’s eyes.

“Player Egg_Tart has invited you to join the guild, Heretic Demons: Suicide Squad. Would you like to accept?”

“Yes.”

Another beam of white light shone on XiaoYu. The bloody wing logo of Heretic Demons appeared on XiaoYu’s left arm and the light slowly faded away.

“Welcome to the clan,” said Egg_Tart.

“Mn. I’ll train hard.”

Why not just join the main guild? Because the minimum requirement for the main guild was Level 85. Then, there were interviews with all the different leaders. If they broke the rules just because they wanted to, then there was a chance anger and gossip would spread in the guild about XiaoYu. It’d be hard for XiaoYu to have a calm time in there. HereticKing wanted to XiaoYu’s prowess to be acknowledged by everyone and not just the few higher-ups. He believed that XiaoYu’s character would make him liked by all.

“When do you play? We start group training 12 pm every Sunday. It’s best that you can join us,” asked Egg_Tart.

“I’m free every day. I only need to go to sleep right before 11 pm,” XiaoYu replied.

“Then there’ll be no problems. From this Sunday onwards, you’ll start training with one of the parties. I’ll introduce you then.”

“Thank you, Mr Egg.” Egg_Tart’s face twitched at the name XiaoYu decided to call him.

“Pfft. Leader Eggy,” Poor_Man blurted.

“You. PvP Arena with me later.” Egg_Tart pointed his staff, topped with a red gem, at I_Am_A_Poor_Man. Frankly, the two had fought each other countless times over the “Eggy” nickname. However, Egg_Tart had never been able to fry Poor_Man to death. (He’s a lightning wizard.) And so, I_Am_A_Poor_Man held no fear and would happily call out “Eggy” every time they met up.

“Chief, do you need to train today?” After throwing another glare at Poor_Man, Egg_Tart turned to HereticKing.

“No,” HereticKing replied.

“Then, could you lend me this guy?” This guy meaning I_Am_A_Poor_Man.

“Sure.”

“Chief, you can’t abandon me. I don’t want to be chased around by lightning!” Although Poor_Man knew Eggy couldn’t kill him with his lightning, the sight of lightning bolts striking down at him was still scary. A single mistake and his clothes would be burned to a crisp.

“He’s yours.” HereticKing pulled XiaoYu out of the Acolyte Job Change room and ignored the lively fellow behind him.

“Where are we going?”

“It must’ve been tiring grinding for days straight. Let’s relax at the Holiday Island.”

“Oh.”

Translator’s Note:

Jjwxc finally fixed the coding loophole where one could read the “unlocked” chapters of a “locked” novel. Good for them, bad for us. That means if there were any extras, amendments or author notes which are usually not copied over by pirates, there’s no way to read them anymore. The main issue seems to be the words, or words related to, “chrysanthemum”, “bullying”, “killing”, homosexual/phobic jokes like raping the other in the butt, and many more that I couldn’t decipher. The bots went through it in waves. Unless someone has the full and comprehensive list of keywords they’re scanning for, we’ll never know why a PG-rated web-novel, with all the homosexual/phobic jokes a typical shounen/shoujo would have, is now under fire. If it’s about the sexuality, then hurray for…less homophobic jokes? Because the word “rape” is still okay by the censors (for now).

◄Previous •Index• Next►

42. Blessing in Disguise

It’s so different with someone carrying. Even if XiaoYu’s spells didn’t do much damage, the increased experience – the monsters were nearly double of XiaoYu’s level – was astounding. Thus, before it was time for the sweet baby to go to sleep, the one level XiaoYu had lost was back.

“Why is the Job Change Quest still greyed out?” Locked quests had grey text. Unfinished had white. Completed quests had bouncing red text.

“Try deleting it? Then wait before accepting it again,” Poor_Man suggested.

“The game says I need to pay 100 crystals to delete a locked quest,” XiaoYu replied after tapping on the greyed-out box.

“Huh? What do we do then?” I_Am_A_Poor_Man had never encountered something like this before, of course. Almost everyone could pass their second Job Change quests in one go.

“Let’s ask at the Job Change Hall.” HereticKing wasn’t sure if that would work. When he failed his third Job Change quest, it auto-deleted itself.

The trio teleported over to Prole’s Job Change Hall. Awaiting XiaoYu was still that expressionless priest.

“Father, I’d like to ask about my Job Change quest. Why can I still not complete it?” XiaoYu asked.

“Hello, little Acolyte. Your quest is currently locked. You’ll need to pay 20 crystal coins to unlock it,” replied the priest.

“Deleting requires 100. Unlocking needs 20. Is the game trying to commit highway robbery?” I_Am_A_Poor_Man griped.

“Do you have enough on you?” HereticKing didn’t bother commenting on the prices and just turned to XiaoYu.

“No,” XiaoYu said with a shake. Ever since he dropped all that money from being killed, he never carried more than 1 crystal on him.

“I’ll lend you some,” HereticKing replied.

“I have it in my Storage. I can just go get it.”

“It’s rather far from here. The earlier you’re done, the better. Isn’t it nearly bedtime for you?”

“Yes…Thank you. I’ll return it to you tomorrow.” XiaoYu had considered it. It was a reasonable suggestion. A trip back and forth would take up quite some time.

XiaoYu handed 20 crystal coins over to the priest. The priest flipped open his bible and as he chanted, a gentle white light descended onto XiaoYu. After the light faded, XiaoYu looked at his Quest tab. The Job Change quest’s text had turned back to the ordinary white colour.

“Huh?”

“What is it?” Neither HereticKing nor I_Am_A_Poor_Man could look at XiaoYu’s Quest tab.

“The number of mobs has changed. It was 100 each. Now it’s 500 each,” XiaoYu replied in confusion.

“Why are there so many?” Even with them high-levelled players helping, it’d be a hard quest to complete. It’s definitely not something they can finish by tonight.

“Father, is there something wrong with the quest?” XiaoYu remained as polite as ever when he questioned the priest.

“Nope.”

“Oh.”

“Little Acolyte, if you think it’s too much hassle, I can delete it. No charge,” the priest kindly suggested upon witnessing XiaoYu’s good manners.

“It’s fine.” It’s killing monsters either way. The more he fought, the more the tiny cat could collect. It’s better than changing the quest to a fetch quest. He wasn’t in a rush. He just needed to be more careful during the quest to avoid being killed again.

“Gods. It’s a total of 1500. Just when will you grind until?” exclaimed Poor_Man.

“It’s fine. I can slowly hack at it. I can also help you collect more ingredients,” XiaoYu replied.

“Ugh…” I_Am_A_Poor_Man peeked at HereticKing over XiaoYu. The other had a highly unreadable expression on. “I’ll help you out.” A single secret quest, some ruckus, and he’d forgotten all about that. He should be punishing himself in the Zombie Cave.

“We’ll start tomorrow. Go rest up.” HereticKing looked at the time and realised it was getting late. Might as well get XiaoYu to sleep early. They’ll start grinding away at the mobs like bots tomorrow.

“Chief, I think there’s a meeting with the HengXiang Group tomorrow,” Poor_Man commented.

“I know. Remember to stay safe tomorrow, okay?” It was clear the second sentence was directed to XiaoYu.

“Mn. I’ll be careful.” The penalty for dying after Level 10 was too high. He never wanted to experience it again.

The trio left the Job Change Hall. I_Am_A_Poor_Man who was walking at the back of the group then received a message from HereticKing.

“How’s the kill squad organising going?”

“Relax, Chief. He definitely won’t bump into that knight from tomorrow on,” Poor_Man replied.

“Good.”

“Well, I’m off to sleep. Thank you for today,” XiaoYu said.

“No problem. We’re all friends.”

“Um…Yao, I will pay you back tomorrow.” It was the first time XiaoYu called QiYao out loud by his name. It made XiaoYu feel rather embarrassed.

“No rush.”

“Good night.” The two cats waved their paws, then XiaoYu turned and walked down another path.

“Wait. Where are you going?” If memory served him right, the only place that path led to was…

“To sleep in the hotel.” XiaoYu found it strange that I_Am_A_Poor_Man would call out to him.

“But over there is…”

“Mn. The poor district. The hotels there are really cheap.” It cost only 1 silver a night, although the beds were rather hard and the room rather plain.

“Xiao-Yu…did I accidentally put in 100 silvers for your payment?” I_Am_A_Poor_Man was feeling rather dejected. He shouldn’t have selected the wrong currency, right? So why would XiaoYu need to sleep in the ratty hotel of the poor district?

“Nope. You did give me 100 crystals. Because I kept spending money when I entered the game, I found the cheapest hotel in the city. I’m used to sleeping there now,” XiaoYu replied.

At once, both I_Am_A_Poor_Man and HereticKing felt a sense of guilt. The former because he asked for so much materials in return for nothing, yet he never realised XiaoYu was on the brink of poverty. The latter because he recalled the letter that was sent over to him late in the night. He really did hit the nail on the head with that wild guess. XiaoYu had worked hard late into the night just to have enough silvers to mail that.

“Is there a problem?” XiaoYu didn’t understand what the two were brooding for. His wide catlike eyes filled with question marks.

“No. Ah! Right. Wait here for me.” I_Am_A_Poor_Man casted a Rush at himself and quickly disappeared from XiaoYu’s view. (Rush is a skill that’s unlocked once Haste reached 500 proficiency. It can only be casted on the spellcaster. Triple the Haste boost for 5 minutes with a cooldown of 5 hours.)

“???”

“You have money now. Why not treat yourself better?” HereticKing ruffled XiaoYu’s hair.

“It just needs to be a sleeping surface. I’m not very picky.”

“Then how about treating your kitten better? Otherwise, it might really run away with me.” HereticKing stroked the tiny cat’s head. He knew just how important the small cat was to XiaoYu. Perhaps going in from the kitten would persuade XiaoYu. Ah. This kid was good in all ways but he’s somewhat stubborn and dense.

“Yes…true.” XiaoYu thought about it. The little one always slept curled up by his side. While it never complained, even he thought the bed was too hard.

“At least find a softer bed. Poor should be bringing something interesting back.”

“Dun, dun, dun! Take a look at this.” With Rush, I_Am_A_Poor_Man came swaying back not 10 minutes later. He waved a thick wad of paper in the air.

“Free Hotel Coupon…?” XiaoYu squinted at the vouchers in his hand and read the name out.

“That’s right. You can stay 1 night for free in any hotels that aren’t 5-stars. Luckily I recall not having thrown out the prizes from the Labour Day event.” His interest was piqued. He wanted to sleep in all the beds in A.O. So, he snatched away all the coupons the guild members bought with their points. His interest waned fast and there were still plenty of coupons left, just gathering dust at the bottom of the chest.

“Those will last you for two months straight at least. Here, take them.” As he said so, he stuffed them all in XiaoYu’s hand.

“Thank you.”

“No need to be a stranger. Remember to tell me where the best beds are.”

“Okay.”

******

The next morning, XiaoYu returned to the old days of camping in the Zombie Cave. One by one, the mobs shuffled over. One by one, they died. The only change was the decrease in how often XiaoYu was poisoned.

I_Am_A_Poor_Man, HereticKing and even Below_The_Moon would come help out, but not for the entire day or together. After all, they still had their own jobs to attend to and their own grinding to do.

By the fourth morning, the grand mob massacre drew to an end.

“Xiao-Yu, I really admire how you just immersed yourself in this place for days on end before. It’s really tiring to one’s tastes.” I_Am_A_Poor_Man mimed putting on an eye mask and exercised his eyeballs.

Stepping into the Job Change Hall once more four days later were XiaoYu with his previous companions, I_Am_A_Poor_Man and HereticKing. Both of them wanted to witness the moment he succeeded turning into a Priest.

“Congratulations, player LuckyCat, for succeeding in becoming a Bishop.”

B-Bishop? Shouldn’t it be “Priest”?!

Translator’s Notes:

1. Something interesting: Ever wondered why Asians always use the word interesting? That’s because the common Asian counterpart to that phrase means “of note”, “fun”, “peculiar/weird in a good way” or even “kinky” (if used along with certain connotations) all at once. Bear with us poor translators as we all struggle to decipher the exact English equivalent in that line and find something that’s not just “interesting”.
   I couldn’t decide if HereticKing meant XiaoYu would like what Poor would bring back, or if he was talking about how Poor would be bringing one of those special effect items that XiaoYu might be interested in, or if he just meant Poor would be back with a thing.
   
2. Bottom of the chest: Not a phrase I’d translate usually as it’s a saying from days of yore that doesn’t really apply to modern life. As one might guess, it’s from back when banks didn’t really exist. You’d keep all your valuables and money in a single chest somewhere in the house. The more valuable it is, the less likely you’ll use it (or it’s a useless valuable that you shove in a corner and forget about). Hence, it’d be relegated to the bottom of the box.
   It’s also why the saying, “lining the bottom of the chest”, is used to refer to items/cash that are the last line of (financial) defence. Without that lining, there are no more cash to spend. All you’ll have are immovable assets like the house and farm. Even then, those will likely be gone because land deeds would be in that chest of treasures.
   
3. Poison by zombies: The original text state the rate XiaoYu got poisoned was higher, however it should be lower with his new necklace’s +30% Poison Resistance. Perhaps the author’s referring to how reckless he was being. We’ll never know because this chapter also got “locked” by the new jjwxc censorship bots. Hurrah.
   
4. Bishop: This is not an actual class in RO. Its special skills will be revealed in the next chapter. I’ll discuss more on why this name was chosen even though the direct translation would be “High Priest”.

◄Previous •Index• Next►

41. Everybody Join In

When I_Am_A_Poor_Man arrived at the West Gate of Serica, he saw XiaoYu hiding in a corner from the sand blowing through the air. Perhaps it was just a trick of the mind, but he somehow saw two ghostly wisps floating above XiaoYu’s head. Was he still upset over what happened yesterday?

“You’re here really early, Lil Lucky,” I_Am_A_Poor_Man greeted.

“Mn. You’re here early too, Big Brother Poor,” XiaoYu replied.

“What is it?”

“Can Profession NPCs go on holiday?” After taking hits on both his Job and Profession, XiaoYu had given up and just set up a stall on the streets the entire afternoon. He also browsed the forums the whole time.

“Huh? How can that be? You went over to Yang Yue’s Restaurant?”

“Mn. The manager said Chef Zhao was on leave due to some business back home.”

“Something like that actually happened? It’s probably because there are too few newbies. He’s gone home to tend to his farms. You can try asking around if there are any other Chef Profession NPCs.”

“Mn.”

“Hey, Lucky, can I call you Xiao-Yu just like Chief does?”

“Sure.”

“Hee-hee. You’ve actually been calling me by my name since the start. My name is Qiong,” saying so, he wrote down the character on XiaoYu’s palm.

“I see.”

“What are you doing?” HereticKing saw Poor_Man talking and holding XiaoYu’s hand from a distance. He ignored the slight upset he felt at the sight deep down.

“Hey, Chief. You’re here pretty early too,” Poor_Man said.

“Meow.” Waves paw.

“Morning.”

“Morning. Why do you look so down? Did you eat a proper meal?” HereticKing asked.

“I did. It’s just I couldn’t find the Profession NPC.” XiaoYu briefly retold his attempt to learn a Profession.

“It’s fine. Perhaps you might encounter a hidden Profession.” HereticKing recalled back when he didn’t care about Professions. There would be plenty of everything in the guild anyway. He didn’t think that dragging the choice out would let him meet the Poison Maker NPC.

There was still some time left before the hurricanes ended. The trio sought a shaded alcove to continue their chat.

“Xiao-Yu, which city are you in?” I_Am_A_Poor_Man asked as he recalled the gathering he mentioned wanting to organise during the day.

“S City.” XiaoYu replied.

“Oh? What a coincidence. We’re in the same city. We plan on organising a real-life meetup once we take down Prole-3. You’re always free on the weekends, right?” Even if they weren’t in the same city, public transportation was so developed that just going across the globe would only take mere hours.

“…”

“What is it? You have plans?” Poor_Man asked.

“No. I…can’t leave the house.” That’s right. He can’t leave the house. Any and all activities to do with the outside world has nothing to do with him. He admitted it. He’s very weak on this aspect. However, it’s an instinctive reaction. Unwittingly, his legs would wobble and soften into noodles at the sight of an automated vehicle. No matter how many times he worked himself up and how much advice he poured into his mind, nothing worked.

“Oh. Then, forget it.” I_Am_A_Poor_Man knew that pushing further would be infringing on XiaoYu’s privacy. He shouldn’t ask anymore.

“I’m sorry.” They specifically invited him, but he rejected. That was something XiaoYu felt regrettable.

“It’s fine. It’s no big deal.”

Once the hurricanes ended, they put a halt to the awkward conversation. They stepped out the gate and towards the Pyramids.

The goal of this trip was the Level 85 Undead Elite of the Pyramids – the Rampaging Mummy. HereticKing was in charge of attracting aggro. I_Am_A_Poor_Man took care of XiaoYu’s safety and also acted as the main attacker when there were too many mobs for XiaoYu.

There was also a special Level 80 mob in the area. It’s a Mummy Hound. It’s a passive mob, but it had a habit which made players hate it to the ends of the earth – looting. When the players finally, after a lot of hard work, kill an elite and the loot dropped, it’ll come sprinting over and pick the loot up. If the players were then distracted by other Mummies and couldn’t kill it straightaway, by the time they reacted, perhaps that particular Hound would already by killed by other players. That meant whatever loot they initially had was just given away to other people. If it was someone with an explosive temper, a great PvP war might ensue.

However, this was not a problem XiaoYu’s grinding party faced. When competing on the speed one picked up loot, no one would dare call themselves the best if their tiny cat called itself second best.

Thus, any players passing by this party would witness a strange sight. The moment a Mummy fell, a black shadow would instantly flash over. Before anyone could take a look at what was dropped, they’d vanish int thin air. The Mummy Hound that galloped all the way over would be pouncing on nothing. The upset Mummy Hound would bark at the black shadow and the shadow would gently meow back. Then, it’d stride over back to an Acolyte with dainty, elegant steps.

“Woof! Woof!” Bastard! That’s mine!

“Meow.” Who cares?

“Woof! Woof!” Damn you!

“Meow.” Come hit me.

Of course, none of the by-passers understood what they said. If they did, blood would go flying from their mouths. The Mummy Hound was pissed and frustrated and frazzled and furious. It was deemed as a passive mob. These three players were clearly ignoring its existence. They just kept whacking at the Mummies. It was depressed. Dejected. Enraged. It…went and looted other players’ drops.

“I was wondering why that Mummy Hound was working so hard today. It’s because it’s met its match,” said a female voice near the grinding party.

“Witch. Why do I meet you again?” sighed Poor_Man.

“Tch. Do you think I want to bump into you? Such a violent healer that’s not at all cute. LuckyCat is still the cutest,” said Chrysanthemum as she threw a flying kiss at XiaoYu. According to her habits, she should’ve pounced on XiaoYu. But with HereticKing’s protective levels over XiaoYu, she’d most likely couldn’t have touched a single thread on XiaoYu’s robe.

“Hi, Chrysanthemum,” greeted XiaoYu.

“Hi. Good. LuckyCat is still the one with most manners,” she said.

“Did you come to grind?” he asked.

“Yup. I’m carrying a few kiddies along the way.” Chrysanthemum pointed to the Wolf Clan’s cubs who had automatically melded into the background.

“Bye-bye, hag.” I_Am_A_Poor_Man took out a small white handkerchief from his Inventory and waved it in an exaggerated fashion. Gods know that his bag had all sorts of toys and tricks.

******

“Hey, witch,” Poor_Man messaged.

“What is it? I won’t help revive you if you died.” Chrysanthemum who was grinding away with her little kiddies in another corner suddenly received a voice call from I_Am_A_Poor_Man.

“What if it’s LuckyCat who died?”

“What? You actually let the cute LuckyCat drop dead!” Then, something struck Chrysanthemum. “No. With Chief Heretic around, how can there be any issues? There aren’t any Boss monsters here.”

‘I recall that the rule regarding PvP with ill intentions was to have their arses burst open, right? How long has it been since it was last used?”

“A very long time. The kids these days are just too ob- wait. You mean LuckyCat was PvP-ed by someone with bad intentions?”

“Very clever.”

“When?”

“Yesterday. Within an hour after we finished splitting the loot. There were two big slashes going down his back and numerous tiny gashes.”

“Good. Very good. They’ve got the nerves to bully a healer. Do they think we’re all fakes? ID and class.”

“I’ll tell Moon to transfer the picture to you later. Right. Leave some for us. Chief has decided to gank him all the way down.”

“Wow. Chief Heretic’s really mad. Is this what they call rushing for glory in the name of lust?”

“Shoo. It’s what should be done. Oh, yes. By the way, that guy even used Taunt to keep LuckyCat in PvP for four hours just to torture him. You can imagine what it was like.”

“Frick. Leaving him alive would just be polluting the air.”

“Hey, remember your image.”

“Ahem. So that’s why you guys are grinding with him today?”

“Mn. Also, to make him get some fresh air and destress. But looks like he’s stronger than we thought.”

“That’s good.”

“Oh, and don’t tell LuckyCat about this. He never asked us for help.”

“Got it.”

Voice call ended, I_Am_A_Poor_Man’s mood brightened considerably. As he buffed his party, he hummed and sang. It made HereticKing and LuckyCat look at him in confusion. As expected, it’s better when everyone’s in on evil schemes. Especially when needing plenty of ways to torment others. Merely killing was so meaningless.

******

Meanwhile, BattleOverlord who was grinding bandits with his girlfriend deep within the forest felt a sudden chill and shivered.

Translator’s Note:

1. Ghostly wisps: Ghostly wisps = ghostly balls of fire. Not quite sure where this particular reference came from. The meaning is roughly akin to growing mushrooms in the corner. Implying the person is dejected/depressed over something (an incident, a problem) that’s haunting them.

2. Yang Yue’s Restaurant: This has been previously translated as Yang’s Restaurant and Yang Yue Restaurant. It’ll be switching around a few times. The meaning’s the same, just phrasing. It’s a restaurant (usually considered high class. It’s the kind that’s a few floors high – the whole building belongs to it and it alone.) where the owner/founder named it after himself.

3. Morning: I’m as confused as you are. The meetup was supposed to be 6 p.m. and XiaoYu had been busy the entire afternoon (it wasn’t really confirmed if he ate lunch or breakfast in the last chapter. It was assumed lunch/brunch). There’s a chance this is a gag. Unfortunately, this chapter has been “locked” (taken down) due to reasons unknown. So we have no chance in confirming what the original really was. Not-piracy to the rescue again.

4. Mummy Hound: aka Verit from the original RO.

◄Previous •Index• Next►

40. Having a Meal

When XiaoYu woke up the next day, he found himself lying in the bed of a hotel. He recalled that warm, safe embrace from yesterday and suddenly the world didn’t feel that bad after all.

There was a note pinned down on the table in the room.

XiaoYu,

               Wait for me at Serica’s West Gate at 6 p.m. today.

P.S. Do not ever turn off private messaging again. Don’t munch on carrots either!

               – Yao

A soft laugh escaped XiaoYu’s lips. The note was just like the type his mother used to leave for him on the dining table just before she left the house. It had been a very long time since anyone cared so much about him.

XiaoYu scooped the tiny cat into his arms and snuggled with it for a while. He’d given himself an unproductive day off yesterday. He must get up, cheer up. He shouldn’t let others worry anymore.

Ask his friends to help take revenge? That’s not something XiaoYu would do. After yesterday’s PvP, he knew that if he kept a level mind and keep all his skill cooldowns in check, and if no accidents happened, that knight would never be able to kill him. So, XiaoYu needed to grind. Once he passed his second Job Change, he’ll have an attack spell with Holy Light. Even though its damage would be reduced and it’d be very hard to actively kill anyone, at least he wouldn’t be stuck without any chance of hitting back when attacked.

He dropped quite a lot of cash yesterday. His heart ached. He must remember not to bring that much cash with him when he’s out of the city. T-T

He lost his staff too. The mission at hand was to find a weapon. Acolytes can equip books, wands, hammers, low-levelled daggers etc. But most prefer wands and staff because these weapons have more magical attributes. He’ll take a walk around the market after he finished repairing his gear.

******

“Chief, Yue (Moon) is done investigating. It certainly was the swordsman who tormented LuckyCat last time. He’s now a Knight. Level 55. Dual-wielding Agility build,” Lin Qiong (Poor) said. He tilted his head to look back at Hei QiYao who was sitting at the backseat with his eyes closed. With the help of a sophisticated A.I., there were no problems with some slight multitasking when driving. In an emergency, the car will automatically hit the brakes.

“Deal with it according to the guild’s top grade ill-intent PvP rules.” XiaoYu might not be in the guild yet, but QiYao already thinks of XiaoYu as one of his own. New grudges, old vengeance. They’ll all be factored in equally. It’s not an unfair way of taking revenge.

“Gank him back to Level 1? He should count himself lucky. He’s the first player to enjoy such treatment.” Heretic Demons had all sorts of detailed internal rules and regulations. Thus, when conflicts arose, they could just hand out punishments or rewards accordingly. No one would be unjustly treated, and the guild wouldn’t accidentally go overboard. According to BattleOverlord’s mean-spirited actions towards LuckyCat – tormenting him for four hours straight and duelling a healer with absolutely no offensive powers – he should certainly die.

“6 p.m. West Gate of Serica.”

“Osiris in the Pyramids?” Qiong’s mind instantly jumped to the nearest region boss.

“Depends. Mainly to help XiaoYu get back his levels.”

“Hey, Chief, what’s LuckyCat’s full name?”

“I don’t know.”

“Huh? Aren’t you calling him Xiao-Yu already?” They’re already so affectionate with each other. How can QiYao not know the other’s full name? He wanted to call LuckyCat Xiao-Yu too. He’ll definitely discuss it out with LuckyCat tonight.

“Because his name is XiaoYu. I haven’t gotten his surname yet.”

“Then…why don’t we organise a meetup after we conquer Prole-3? The pack of brats in the guild have been going on and on about getting your autograph.” If they used Prole-3 as a reason for a real-life gathering, perhaps they’ll get some unexpected effects. It can even help LuckyCat blend into Heretic Demons faster.

“…”

“What is it?”

“Have you ever witnessed XiaoYu going offline?”

“…no.” Upon close scrutiny, every time Qiong looked at his Friends tab, LuckyCat’s icon was always lit up. Even if he didn’t look at it, the mountain-high pile of materials appearing before was proof that LuckyCat rarely, if ever, went offline.

“He doesn’t want to go offline.”

“You mean there’s something he doesn’t want to face in real life?”

“That’s a possibility.”

“Mn…Put a hold on the gathering idea. I’ll see what Lil Lucky thinks first.”

******

Since XiaoYu was now Level 49, which did not meet the Job Change quest’s level requirements, the Job Change quest was greyed out for him. It could not be completed. That meant even if XiaoYu went out and killed Zombies and Jiangshi now, the kill count for the quest will not change.

“Meow…” Hungry.

“There, there. We’ll get food once we find a restaurant.” XiaoYu knew that Yao’s not online now. There’s no way he could check whether XiaoYu ate carrots, but he was so concerned for XiaoYu. It’d feel rather rude if XiaoYu still crunched down on carrots. Furthermore, XiaoYu had a slight craving for cooked food.

YueYang Restaurant wasn’t hard to find, after asking a few NPCs who happily pointed the way out. It was lunch time. Crowds of players and NPCs flowed in and out the restaurant door. Standing at the doorway, XiaoYu hesitated.

“This way, sir. Just one?” Having spotted XiaoYu hovering at the doorway, a server NPC ran up and greeted him with a friendly smile.

“Uh. Yes.”

“Downstairs is all full. Please follow me upstairs. Do watch your step.” The server swiftly led XiaoYu up to the third floor. In a single glance, it would seem as if the place was packed to the brim. There was only a lonely empty table in an isolated corner. However, it certainly wasn’t a good spot. There was no way one could look out at the streets from that table.

“We sincerely apologise. This is the only table we have left. If you’re not happy with that seat, I could ask around if anyone’s willing to share their table.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind. Thanks.”

XiaoYu sat down and started reading through the menu the server handed to him. The prices for every dish was written down beside the name. XiaoYu secretly stuck his tongue out. At least it wasn’t too expensive. This place was so much more suited for the public mass than the place XiaoYu went to with I_Am_A_Poor_Man.

After ordering a few of his favourite dishes, not forgetting the specialty grilled fish for the tiny cat, XiaoYu considered which quest he should accept next while sipping on barley tea provided by the server.

“Little Acolyte, do you mind sharing tables?” A voice rang out above XiaoYu.

XiaoYu looked up and found a player dressed in the normal Assassin garb standing before him. As the Assassin outfit allowed the player to conceal their face, XiaoYu couldn’t tell what the other looked like at all. (Of course, the player could choose to not conceal their faces.)

When XiaoYu kept silent, LittleZhuGe pulled down the cloth concealing his face and asked once more, “Can I?”

“Yes. You can.” XiaoYu was an easy-going person. The hesitation from before was because he was examining LittleZhuGe’s mask. It was the first time he could take a close look at an Assassin with their face covered up. NonMeta, who was also an Assassin, disliked covering his face. So, he never used the cloth mask.

“Thank you.”

XiaoYu didn’t know that he’d actually met this person before. It’s understandable. On that day, LittleZhuGe was dressed in a top-tier Assassin’s outfit with his face covered up. Only those who knew LittleZhuGe well would be able to recognise him.

“What a cute kitty. Can I pet it?”

“Yes, if it doesn’t mind.”

“Here, kitty. Let me pet you. Please?” As LittleZhuGe said so, he slowly stretched a hand out for the small cat’s head. Upon receiving no objection, he began to stroke it.

“Meow~” Comfy. The tiny cat squinted its eyes in comfort as it enjoyed LittleZhuGe’s caress. It wasn’t afraid of this stranger at all, due to the scent of gold on him.

“Does it have a name?”

“TinyLuckyCat.”

“What an interesting name. Ah, right. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is LittleZhuGe.”

“I’m LuckyCat.” The name ZhuGe sounded familiar but XiaoYu couldn’t not remember where he heard of it before.

“Huh…Pfft.”

I’m used to it. =_=

As the two chatted, XiaoYu’s dishes arrived. Thus, LittleZhuGe retracted his hand. As he drank his tea, he watched the battle between the two cats and the food before them.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Upon hearing an unfamiliar voice, XiaoYu and the tiny cat looked up at the same time. This face was rather familiar…XiaoYu definitely knew he’d seen this man before, but when and where?

GloryOfTheWorld looked down at the two cat faces which were daydreaming while staring at him. “Pardon me,” he said, “for disturbing you from your meal.”

“This is my friend, LuckyCat. We were going to eat together.”

“Oh, right. Please, sit.” XiaoYu shuffled his dishes to a corner until he felt like the space he cleared was enough for the two’s dishes later.

“Thank you. Hi. I’m GloryOfTheWorld,” he said as he sat down.

“I’m LuckyCat. Ah. You’re the Guild Leader of Wings.” Realisation dawned upon XiaoYu. This was the guy they bumped into two days ago. He remembered that red horse. It was rather handsome.

“Yes. We met two days ago,” Glory replied.

“Yes.” XiaoYu left the conversation there and continued burying his face in food.

When XiaoYu and the small cat were all done, Glory and ZhuGe were only halfway through. With a satisfied kitten in his arms, who let out a fulfilled burp, XiaoYu raised his hand to call for the bill.

“Let us pay. Think of it as thanks for sharing your table with us,” Glory said.

“It’s fine. It’s what I should do.” It was rather wasteful for XiaoYu to hoard an entire table to himself. XiaoYu paused. “Thanks for the offer.”

“Let’s add each other.” As the suggestion was being made, Glory and ZhuGe both offered their name cards.

“Okay.” XiaoYu handed his own name cards in return, paid for his meal, gave a polite farewell to the other two, and left.

“Hehe. What an interesting newbie,” Glory said. They had ordered a jug of alcohol and were slowly enjoying their meal with it.

“Thank goodness I followed him when I saw him in the city. It’s not a waste of your time, right?”

“But this seat is so bad.”

“I can’t do anything about that. Luckily, he’s not a picky one. Otherwise, we’d have no chance to meet him.”

“Are you really sure yesterday’s update was because of him?”

“It should be. I saw him hand a Peco Peco egg over to a group of Peco Pecos. Then, the game announcement immediately popped up. There was a Knight in their party who looked very happy as he looked up at the announcement in the air.

“I wonder what the rewards were.”

“It should be good. I heard HereticKing is already Level 102.”

“Really? Then I must work hard. I can’t let him overshoot me. Let’s go to the Ancient Ruins afterwards.” GloryOfTheWorld. Level 102. Tank build, one-handed spear-wielding Knight.

The conversation on this end then shifted from Bai XiaoYu to the monsters in the Ancient Ruins. On the other end, XiaoYu was completely dejected over the news that the chef in charge of teaching cooking skills was on a holiday back to his hometown.

Translator’s Note:

1. Yue and Qiong: As some might have noticed, these characters’ in-game names are homonyms of their own names.

2. Jug of alcohol: There are times when alcohol is one of the worst terms to translate. Depending on the developers, this jug of alcohol could be a jug of beer or a pot of liquor (usually rice wine/bai jiu). The ancient Chinese used pots to store/age their alcohol as wooden barrels, thus jugs, weren’t really a thing for Chinese breweries.

3. Hei QiYao: If you were to MTL this name, it might give you Kurosaki Yao instead. This is because 黑崎 (Hei Qi) are the characters for Kurosaki from Bleach.

◄Previous •Index• Next►

39. Comfort

XiaoYu had never thought he’d be hated as much as he was by that swordsman. While his clumsy social skills meant he didn’t have many friends, his gentle and persistent personality along with his cute kitten-like face meant no matter how much his classmates ignored him no one would bully him.

However, today showed him there was someone in the world who hated him so much they wanted to kill him every time they met just because of a rejection. Even the tiny cat was a target. Is this what they called the ugly face of humanity? If they can’t have it, they’ll destroy it?

The air suddenly felt cold. A If a player wasn’t in a special zone, they weren’t meant to feel any noticeable temperature changes in the air. Still, XiaoYu felt a numbing chill spreading from within his body out to his skin. He closed off all chat channels. He hugged his knees tight against his chest. He won’t cry because he was killed, but he needed some time to calm his emotions.

“…meow.” The small cat paced round its depressed owner. It knew he had lost a lot of blood when protecting it just now. It looked so painful, likely even more than when it had hit its head against the table. But it didn’t know what it can do to help.

****

“…In conclusion, Prole-3 should be the hardest to conquer but the easiest to defend among all the number three fortresses. Sakura-3 will probably fall during the next battle.” The players from Heretic Demons had yet to leave the room they booked for loot splitting. They still had the room for a while longer. Just enough for them to chat and have a mini-meeting.

“Also, we have our usual meeting tomorrow afternoon, Chief. I’ll be at your place around ten tomorrow morning. Is that okay?” asked I_Am_A_Poor_Man.

“Mn,” HereticKing grunted in reply.

“Yosh.” I_Am_A_Poor_Man stood up and stretched. “I wonder what Lil Lucky’s Level now. I have a few beginner recipes for him that I forgot about just now.”

As he said so, he pulled up his Friends tab and looked for XiaoYu’s icon.

“Ah. What a shame. One more level and he could go for his Job Change quest too.” Upon noticing the tiny 49 showing beside XiaoYu’s icon, I_Am_A_Poor_Man sighed with pity.

“Impossible!” HereticKing exclaimed.

“Why would I lie to you?” I_Am_A_Poor_Man replied.

“How can it be…?” It was near impossible for someone to die during the first two Job Change quests. All that’s required was time, especially since healers were a naturally weak class. Thus, their Job Change quests were simpler than any other class’s. How could XiaoYu have lost a level?

“What’s going on, Chief?” HereticKing’s reaction felt rather strange to I_Am_A_Poor_Man. His gut was telling him there might be some issues with LuckyCat’s current Level.

“I just reminded him to do his Job Change quest an hour ago,” came the reply.

“… You’re saying Lil Lucky has died once in the past hour? How is that possible?” As a healer himself, I_Am_A_Poor_Man knew for a fact the second Job Change quest was not a difficult quest. That meant…

“He was killed by another player?” I_Am_A_Poor_Man voiced out his guess.

“Chief, look at the guild chat,” Below_The_Moon who had been sitting quietly to the side suddenly piped up. When the meeting concluded, he had reopened the muted Guild Chat channel and started reading through the previous messages. He was thinking of finding a few bored guildies to help him collect materials for his traps.

……

Terminator: Rawr. Does anyone have the Cursed Abyss marked in their Teleport? Help me out at the capital’s North Gate.

ProfessionalNanny: 10 crystals each.

Terminator: Aah, we’re all in the same guild. Don’t be a vampire.

TeenyTinyWhisper: Speaking of healers, I saw a little Acolyte at the capital just now. He was covered with blood and gashes. He looked so pitiful.

ShootYourAs: PvP?  Who’s that cruel guy?

Just_Singing: No way. Who’s suicidal enough to kill a healer? Aren’t they afraid of the Alliance?

Trainman: It’s probably a newbie who stumbled into the wrong zone and was xxx by a high-level monster.

Thundering: I saw him too. His back was dripping with blood. Why didn’t he heal himself?

TeenyTinyWhisper: I think it’s another player. Those wounds are clearly from a sword.

ProfessionalNanny: That’s a sympathy point in my books. Hey, person who uses a sword, 30 crystals to Cursed Abyss.

Terminator: Hey! I’m not the one who killed him!

……

HereticKing: Where is that healer now?

Terminator: Hi, Chief!

Trainman: Hi, Chief!

Tiramisu: Blub. Greetings, Chief!

…….

HereticKing: Stop! Whisper, Thunder, where is that Acolyte now?

TeenyTinyWhisper: I saw him at the Old Cathedral.

Thundering: I was near the vegetable stalls when I saw him walking west. But that was a long time ago. He’s probably somewhere else now.

“Haste!” HereticKing commanded.

I_Am_A_Poor_Man reflexively threw a Haste spell out upon hearing the command. All he saw afterwards was a shadow dashing out the door.

“It can’t really be LuckyCat, right?” Below_The_Moon questioned.

“Moon, let’s go look for him too. I’ve got a really bad feeling.” Shockingly, I_Am_A_Poor_Man didn’t pick a fight with Below_The_Moon. He tried messaging LuckyCat but was informed by the game that the other had closed off his communications. This had never happened before.

“Mn.”

HereticKing pulled up the map of Prole. Amidst the myriad of locations marked, he pinpointed the locations of the Old Cathedral and the vegetable stalls. Then, according to the possible revival points, he quickly drew up a rough estimate of where XiaoYu could be then. It was somewhat far from where HereticKing was standing right then. If mounts weren’t banned in the city, he would’ve summoned his horse as soon as he left the doors.

XiaoYu had closed off all communications. This was something HereticKing tested out the moment Poor_Man said XiaoYu was Level 49. Be it in text messages or via voice mail, the game rejected them all. This was absolutely not the norm.

Before this, HereticKing’s mind insisted XiaoYu was not some weak little girl. He had some strange stubbornness inside. If HereticKing waltzed over and did everything for him, he’d feel bad. However, HereticKing was starting to regret not going on the quest with him. How HereticKing wished for a Friendship skill that could teleport him straight to XiaoYu. Then, he wouldn’t have to buzz around the streets and alleyways like a headless fly.

Upon another close look at the area he marked down, HereticKing suddenly felt a sense of familiarity with one of the alleys marked. It was a narrow and quiet little alleyway. Few people realise this was a shortcut which led straight to the Guild Mission Board. It was also where he first met the two lucky cats.

While he couldn’t be sure if XiaoYu was at that spot, HereticKing still felt as if he needed to go take a look first. If he really can’t find XiaoYu, only then will he use the power of the massive guild he led.

When HereticKing spotted that familiar tiny shadow in the distance, his heart slowed down its racing by half. But when he got closer and saw the sword gashes decorating XiaoYu, his heart felt as if it was being strangled. It hurt. The game had washed away the blood, but HereticKing could imagine just how bloody XiaoYu was.

“Meow! Mrrow!” When the tiny cat spotted the familiar Mister from before, it immediately ran over and clawed at HereticKing’s trousers, frantically pulling him over to its owner.

HereticKing bent down and petted the small cat’s head to signal he had received the kitten’s message. He softly walked over to XiaoYu and knelt down before the other. He gave the other a light pat on the head.

XiaoYu slowly raised his head. Then, he slowly buried his head back into his arms. After a pause, a solemn and low whisper reached HereticKing’s ears. “I’m fine,” XiaoYu said.

“I know.” Thank goodness. He wasn’t crying. HereticKing knew just how stubborn XiaoYu was deep inside.

He sat down beside XiaoYu and pulled XiaoYu’s tremoring body into his arms. He didn’t say anything, just gently patted XiaoYu on the back, as if he was slowly transferring strength back to the quivering XiaoYu.

“I’m…really okay. I just need some time.”

“I know. I just want to be with you.”

“Ah. Thank…” you. XiaoYu didn’t continue his sentence. He was afraid if he said any more, all the sorrow and tears would burst out of his body. He wasn’t one who liked complaining and venting.

Thus, the two sat there quietly side by side. Oh, plus the tiny cat which was still leaning against XiaoYu’s feet.

“Let’s go. I think I know who did it,” I_Am_A_Poor_Man said. Below_The_Moon and he merely stood some distance away and observed the two men and the kitten.

“Do you need help?” Below_The_Moon might only have known XiaoYu for a day, but he was just like Poor_Man. He really did like this honest and emotionally-stilted child.

“Help me look into a swordsman. He might be a knight now. The name’s BattleOverlord.” Poor_Man clenched his fists. If his memory served him right…

“Okay,” Below_The_Moon replied.

“Poor, you mentioned a swordsman who bullied XiaoYu before,” HereticKing messaged.

“Yes, Chief. I’m investigating him now,” Poor_Man replied.

“Let me know as soon as you get anything,” HereticKing replied.

“Yes,” Poor_Man said.

HereticKing closed his messages and continued to quietly comfort XiaoYu. He knew any and all words were useless right now. What XiaoYu really needed was just someone to be by his side.

Translator’s Note:

Headless fly: Headless chicken + fly (because they buzz and wander in little circles).

◄Previous •Index• Next►

38. Hateful People Are Everywhere

CopperPlate and NonMeta had evening classes. As soon as the celebrations ended, they rushed off with a hasty goodbye. The entire party had a long day, so those who needed to log off logged off.

Bai XiaoYu was tasked with the duty of selling off the pile of random objects, since he now had a skill to increase gold received from selling.

“Remember to go for your Job Change afterwards, XiaoYu.” Just as XiaoYu was pouring out the items to be sold to the NPC, a message reached his ears. That deep and rich voice of HereticKing was so very soothing.

“Why?”

“Hehe. I knew it. Look at your levels.” While HereticKing can’t see XiaoYu then, he could already imagine that befuddled expression.

“Huh? 50! Already?” XiaoYu was stunned the moment he opened up his stats. How did his Level rise so quickly?

“The last two quests gave us 400,000 EXP.” HereticKing had done a quick calculation. It should’ve been enough for XiaoYu to level up. A quick tap into his Friends tab proved the guess to be correct.

“I see. I’ll go now.” XiaoYu accepted the bag of coins the NPC held out to him, politely thanked the other, then followed his memory to where the Job Change Centre was.

“Do you still remember our promise?”

“Mn. You’ll be the first I notify.” While XiaoYu was always a klutz when it came to matters regarding himself, he’d do his very best when it’s something he promised others he’d do. That’s one of the Bai family rules.

“I’ll wait for your good news.”

******

The second Job Change quest wasn’t hard at all. It’s just as troublesome as the first Job Change. Only, the type of monsters he needed to kill increased. 100 mid-tier Zombies, 100 high-tier Zombies and 100 mid-tier Jiangshi.

However, XiaoYu was very glad it was a kill quest. He’d rather kill some monsters so the tiny cat could pick up some items than a fetch quest or a chain of errands.

He knew the Zombie Cave like the back of his hand, so much so he could walk from the capital gates to the cave entrance with his eyes closed. Not that he’d be that bored as to try that out. The moment he stepped out of the South Gate, he summoned his Peco Peco mount and head straight for the Zombie Cave. The journey which previously took 15 minutes of walking would now take an approximate of 7 minutes. It’s so convenient having a mount.

Just as that thought went through XiaoYu’s mind, he heard hoofbeats coming from behind. He didn’t bother turning around. It’s probably some player who’s also in a rush. Thus, he nudged the Peco Peco to the side and made way for the person coming up behind him.

Never in his wildest dreams would XiaoYu have thought this subconscious polite gesture would help him dodge a direct hit to his back.

Even though he avoided a critical hit, the swift blade still scored a wound on his arm. Bright red blood instantly gushed out. -200.

“Player BattleOverlord attacked you. PK mode activated. Your ID’s colour will not change if you attack any other player in the opponent’s team in the next 10 minutes.”

The same old scenery. The same old notification. XiaoYu thought time would dull the ache, but it seemed like he was just being way too naive. A classic example of forgetting the pain once the scar healed. XiaoYu laughed at how foolish he was.

“I said I’d kill you every single time I see you!” When BattleOverlord was reorganising his Storage near the South Gate of Prole, he saw the player who humiliated him over a month ago. The pet cat on his shoulder even had an accessory now. From memory, it could battle and it could pick up items. Hmph. He’s furious just looking at a low-levelled noob having a special pet!

And so, BattleOverlord geared up and snuck out after XiaoYu. If it was a quick hit-and-run, who’d be able to save him then?

If XiaoYu was still in a party, all his teammates should be receiving a message stating “Player so-and-so from Party such-and-such attacked your teammate. Hurry and go help,” or something like that. But their party was too famous. The announcement was still floating up in the air, reminding everyone of the upcoming server maintenance. Thus, they split up as soon as they were done.

XiaoYu was all alone. He didn’t put any hope on the game notification system saving him anyway because he knew this swordsman – no, he’s now a Knight – was really in a crazed frenzy now. There was no use complaining and pitying himself. Only by relying on himself can he be saved. XiaoYu quickly stood up. He put his Peco Peco away, buffed and healed himself. The series of actions flowed smoothly together without a single hitch. The time he spent watching videos of high-levelled healers wasn’t a waste after all.

On the other hand, this BattleOverlord was clearly not a new player. XiaoYu was not given a single chance to catch his breath at all. While XiaoYu was busy buffing himself, he slashed and sliced away. One could tell he was a very experienced player before Asgard Online.

XiaoYu’s Agility was extremely low. Even with a speed-boosting buff and a speed debuff on BattleOverlord, he still found it hard to keep dodging the constant attacks from a Knight who’s built towards high Agility. XiaoYu was able to use the trees around him to block some of them, but it was still a frazzling experience for him. Streams of red began to blossom on his body. Still, he focused his all in dodging the heavy sword before him. It might not be a complete dodge, but merely avoiding critical hits was better than nothing. Right now, a single split second of inattention could lead him to instant death. Hence, even if XiaoYu planned on calling for help, the moment he tried opening the messaging tab, he’d be struck down.

This was not the same as dodging attacks from a one-handed Agility knight like HereticKing. BattleOverlord was a two-handed Agility Knight. The broadsword was a two-handed sword. It had a higher attack compared to a one-handed sword of the same tier. The downside was the user can’t use a shield. When trying to avoid being hit, the player must dodge or they’d be hurt. It’s a playstyle which sacrificed defence for strength.

Thus, XiaoYu cannot be hit straight on by that sword. The level difference between the two had decreased. It was rather impossible for XiaoYu to be killed in one hit, but a critical hit would make most of his health disappear in a blink. The dizziness from the resulting blood loss would very likely throw XiaoYu off his beat and the next hit would kill him for sure.

BattleOverlord didn’t think XiaoYu would be so resilient this time. The health he knocked off weren’t as much as he thought he should. Even if the other grinded hard without sleeping or breaks for the whole month they’ve not seen each other, XiaoYu couldn’t be more than Level 40 right now. How could he have the same buffs and debuffs as a Level 55 Knight? They could hurt each other, and XiaoYu’s health would hover around near full during the time between skill cooldowns. He would never be heavily injured at all… (As opposed to the PC game where hovering one’s cursor over the other player could show their health and level, one would need to rely on pure observation in VR games. What kind of equipment the opponent had, the effects of skill used, and rough estimations based on the increase and decrease of the HP bar above the other’s avatar. The only additional display for Friends was what Level the other was.)

Could it be this brat had some kind of special equipment? As the thought flashed through BattleOverlord’s mind, his greedy gaze swept over XiaoYu’s body. Average leather shoes. Average healer’s robes. Ratty old headdress. Only that staff looked special, but he recognised that staff. His girlfriend was a wizard. That’s a Level 25 Silver Crystal Staff commonly used by healers. It didn’t look any special at all…Wait! Is that a necklace?

Several long slashes marked XiaoYu’s long robes, allowing a tiny bit of the necklace hidden to shimmer through. Thus, BattleOverlord’s blade swooped faster and harder. Frick! How could this puny brat have a necklace too? He didn’t even have one yet! I’m going to burst your arse open!

XiaoYu did not understand just why BattleOverlord was hitting harder and faster all of a sudden. It was probably due to impatience from not having killed him yet. Perhaps he’ll find a chance to escape onto the main road then. If he was lucky, some high-level players passing by might help him out. There was no hope for XiaoYu to win this duel, because his only way to attack non-Undead were to just whack the enemy with his staff.

It’d be a lie if one were to describe BattleOverlord as relaxed and unworried at the sight of XiaoYu slowly inching towards the main road. His nametag was currently grey. Anyone could kill him. What should he do?

Suddenly, BattleOverlord’s eyes spotted the tiny cat on the floor. It had been sticking close to its little owner’s feet. Nervous, irritated and angry, but it couldn’t attack the hateful knight before it at all. Even if it could break through the game’s limitations, its puny attack would deal as much damage as a light scratch.

BattleOverlord’s mind whirled. His sword turned midway through the air and slashed down at the small cat. It was so fast that the tiny cat who’d been staring at its little owner in worry couldn’t react in time. The sword was flashing right before its eyes. Any moment now, it’d be split in two.

“Aah!”

-768 (Critical). Finally, a critical hit. That was mainly because a critical hit was easier when it’s a hit to the back.

Mouth spurt from XiaoYu’s mouth. Thank goodness. The little kitten wasn’t hit. As seen in life, humans would always be able to exceed the game’s limitations when in danger. How else would his measly slow pace be able to make it?

XiaoYu held the tiny cat tight in his arms, protecting it from the knight. He didn’t care that his back was now completely exposed to the other. To XiaoYu, the tiny cat was the most important existence of his life. He’d rather die than let any harm come to it.

-690 (Critical).

 “You have been killed. Would you like to revive in the last recorded checkpoint, Prole?”

“Yes.” XiaoYu didn’t hesitate for a single second. He can’t let the tiny cat be left alone before that knight. Who knew what cruel things he’d do to it? Upon revival, pets will follow their owners back to the checkpoint.

“Death Penalty: -1 Level. Dropped: 10 Crystal Coins, +4 Silver Crystal Staff.”

Covered in blood, XiaoYu ignored the strange looks he was getting and trudged towards the alley he’d hidden in before. He buried his head between his arms, quivering.

◄Previous •Index• Next►

37. Chests Will Also Have Nice Things

To be fair, the game wasn’t just fooling around with CopperPlate. According to the game notifications that came later, that was a stack of items: 10 Frightening Chests.

Frightening Chest: Account-bound. Throw it out during battle at the enemies and they will be frozen with fear for 10 seconds. Agility -5 for 30 seconds. Cooldown time – 10 minutes.

When going against highly skilled players, even a second of hesitation could mean life or death. Within ten seconds, that player could be dead several times over. So, this was quite a nice item. If nothing else, it can be used when escaping a life-threatening situation.

“Okay, okay. It’s all right now. Who’ll go next?” As soon as I_Am_A_Poor_Man saw the tiny cat hopping around again, he was eager to see what would be revealed next. As expected, the game had the same tastes in pranks as he did.

“I’ll go,” Ice_For_Miles said. Everyone looked over to where the voice came from before discreetly and unanimously shifting far away from him. Who knew what kind of ridiculous items would be revealed next?

With steady hands, Ice_For_Miles took out his chest and opened it.

Nothing jumped out of the box this time. It was only when Ice_For_Miles held up the item that they saw it was a megaphone. According to the game notifications, it was a stack of items too: 10 Voice-Changing Megaphones.

Voice-Changing Megaphone: Account-bound. Use it to imitate an enemy’s voice and they’ll be charmed for 5 seconds. Critical rate decreased by 10% for 30 seconds. (Can only be used once per enemy.)

“Pffft…” The game did not disappoint. At the thought of Ice_For_Miles using that megaphone to change his voice, I_Am_A_Poor_Man clapped his hand over his mouth in an attempt to hold his laughter in.

Ice_For_Miles looked at the crowd trying hard to not laugh. Still, he put the item in his inventory with calm hands and said, “Next.”

Chrysanthemum was rewarded with a mysterious cucumber. It was very mysterious indeed because nothing was written in its description. The crowd thought and guessed it might be a quest item, but then Chrysanthemum started cackling and muttered, “Cucumber fits a chrysanthemum. Good. Good.” The party’s minds then prayed and hoped it was not an important quest at all. They don’t want to be a participant in that. =_=

NonMeta got three microphones. Using them will create a shrill shriek. Everyone in the area (except for those who’d blocked their ears beforehand) would be confused for 20 seconds. However, everyone in the room suspected it would never be used by NonMeta.

Below_The_Moon got something more normal – an Apothecary’s recipe. But upon reading what the recipe was for – Sleeping Potion – his mouth twitched. He forced himself to learn it either way.

Poor_Man was rewarded with a recipe as well, but this time it’s a cooking recipe – the Imperial Manchu Feast. After looking at the amount of luxurious ingredients needed, he was sure he’d never ever be so bored as to go collecting them.

“Chief, let’s get a poison recipe.” With two recipes out already, it was a sign. Poor_Man stared at the chest in HereticKing’s hands with starry eyes. It’d be great if it contained an XXX recipe. The kind that will kill anyone who even touches it.

“Mrrow!” The tiny cat was still playing in HereticKing’s arms. When it saw him take out the mean chest that scared it before, its claws scraped on it in rage.

Three large scratches were etched into the chest. As if it was alive, the chest shivered and sprung open with a clack.

(⊙o⊙). That can happen too?

A shimmering golden glow came from within the chest. It was the small cat’s favourite colour. Thus, its rage towards that dratted box reduced. It clambered on it, hoping to see with its wide eyes just what was glowing. In the end, it accidentally slipped and fell into the chest.

When HereticKing plucked the kitten from the box, they found a gold coin in its mouth.

“No way. It’s just a gold coin?” I_Am_A_Poor_Man’s beautiful dreams were crushed.

“Why’s there a cloth band on the coin? It’s not some crest or seal, is it?”

“It’s a gold coin.” HereticKing had heard the game’s notification. He shared the item’s description with the party.

Lucky Gold Coin: Businessmen’s favourite shiny gold coin. Every purchase by the owner from NPC shops will have a 20% discount. Every item sold to NPC shops will have a 20% increase in price. Pet accessory. Account-bound once equipped. (When equipping, the Intimacy level must be 100. When Intimacy is less than 100, it will automatically be unequipped and placed in the owner’s Inventory.)

Silence reigned.

“Are the RNG gods sleeping? They actually gave out something this valuable?” Buy low, sell high. So many players have tried bargaining with NPCs, and they’ve all been mercilessly rejected.

“But the conditions are quite strict. Who could be sure their Intimacy would be 100 at all times?”

That was true. Be it a bought pet or a captured pet, its Intimacy levels mostly never exceeded 20 at the start. It was only through feeding and care that it slowly rose. The pet getting hungry, dying, being sold off, or being kept in the Pet Space (except for when it had to return to the Pet Space due to the owner going offline. That didn’t count as it would automatically pop back out when the player logged on.) …actions like these were all deemed to be uncaring actions. It’d cause the Intimacy levels to drop depending on several factors. As with almost everything, it’s easy to lose Intimacy but so very hard to raise it back up again. However, since the players only know that when Intimacy reached -100 the pet would run away, no one knew what other use this stat had. Hence, no one would really maintain high Intimacy levels with their pet out of the blue.

“XiaoYu, here. For you.” HereticKing took out the Lucky Gold Coin in his inventory and stuffed it into XiaoYu’s hands. Along the way, he returned a certain greedy cat who’d been hanging off him for way too long back to its true owner.

“But…” This came out of HereticKing’s chest. How could he just give it to XiaoYu just like that?

“I don’t have any pets,” came HereticKing’s reply.

“…” XiaoYu was still thinking on what to say when a finger pressed over his lips.

“Shh. If you feel guilty, then if I ever need to buy anything in the future, I’ll come looking for you. Okay?” As if mesmerised the sight of HereticKing’s gentle eyes, XiaoYu nodded.

Time seemed to have stopped. Everything was silent.

“Ahem.” I_Am_A_Poor_Man’s cough awakened the group up. As expected, people who are too handsome can’t be so gentle either. Otherwise, who could escape that alluring draw. They touched their gently burning cheeks. They had nearly drowned in that gentle ocean.

Meanwhile, Poor_Man and Below_The_Moon unanimously turned their faces away with tears streaming down their cheeks. They had been with Chief for so many years, but they’ve never known he could be that gentle and kind. That voice, that expression…they were all so darned sexy. No wonder people kept falling for him and prostrating themselves before his suit pants. If Chief treated them like that every day, they’d do the same too.

“Lucky, can your cat equip it?” CopperPlate who had snapped back to reality tried his best to shift everyone’s attention away. His heart actually pounded and leaped around like a fawn frolicking. It’s so humiliating that everyone, especially NonMeta, saw just how lovestruck he could be.

“…Yes. Its Intimacy has always been 100,” XiaoYu hurriedly replied. He said it in a serious tone, but his flushing cheeks and ears betrayed their tiny owner’s pretence. XiaoYu didn’t know why his heart skipped either, but he didn’t hate that gentleness in HereticKing. It recalled the warmth he felt from his departed family.

“Quick. Put it on.”

XiaoYu equipped the Lucky Gold Coin on the tiny cat. The ribbon on the gold coin shrank and adjusted itself to suit the small cat’s neck. Shiny gold coin on dark, black fur. It’s a different but nice kind of aesthetic.

“Meow~” I’ve got a gold coin to wear now. So happy.

“Tch. It’s asking for a beating. It’s like it’s terrified the whole world doesn’t know it’s a greedy cat.”

“Why don’t we just change its name to GreedyCat instead?”

“Hahaha.”

Finally, XiaoYu opened up his own chest. 10 potions shimmering with a menacing and colourful glow.

Lucky Potion: Account-bound. Extra, extra bitter potion. Once used, it increases drop rate by 5% for 3 hours. Cooldown time: 48 hours. (P.S. It’s really, really bitter.)

This game and RNG are so freaking perverted.

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