Chapter Forty: The P Battle

(1/3)

"Shanshan..."

"Hmm?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No!"

"Good."

"What's so good about it?"

"Nothing, I just like to say 'good,' that's all..."

...

The exact same conversation echoed through KFC. Murong Shanshan, holding a straw, was smiling as she toyed with the ice cubes in her cup, watching a couple nearby. She asked, "Lin Fan, I mean, if—if that day the Berserker had ambushed someone else instead of me, would you have still offended him for our sake?"

"What kind of question is that?" I frowned, then said, "I was paid for that job, of course I had to do what I was hired for. Nothing more to say."

"Idiot!" Murong Shanshan grumbled resentfully.

I chuckled and went to the counter to buy a cup of coffee, setting it down in front of her. "Today must be my unlucky day, running into someone like you who goes out without money. Just a while ago, you insisted on treating me to ice cream, but now I even have to pay for your bus fare home..."

"Hmph~ I just forgot my money, that's all. You should feel honored to treat me to food~"

"Enough, it's already four o'clock, time to head back. I should've reached level 23 by now."

Murong Shanshan nodded, picked up her coffee, and followed me home.

Her school was on the way. In front of the campus, students were coming and going, and it was obvious many recognized her. Quite a few people greeted us, though the way the boys looked at me always felt a bit odd.

(2/3)

"You're not going to walk me all the way to my dorm?"

"Please, I'm not really your boyfriend. Don't waste my precious time!"

"Alright then, see you in the game!"

...

By the time I got back to my place, it was already five in the afternoon. Everyone was starting to log off for dinner. Xuehan was just coming out of her room, rubbing her eyes.

"Back from dinner with Murong Shanshan?" Xu Lin adjusted the front of her blouse, revealing a patch of snowy white skin beneath.

I sat down, picked up a cup of tea from the table, and took a sip. "Don't mention it. That crazy girl dragged me all over downtown just for a meal—I'm exhausted!"

"Did you bring enough money for a hotel room?"

"Uh, we didn't get that far..."

Xuehan, pouring tea, accidentally knocked over her cup. Xinyu breathed a sigh of relief, patting her ample chest but saying nothing.

Although I’d eaten a bit at KFC, I was still hungry. I didn’t stand on ceremony, grabbing some chopsticks and eating a little as I greeted everyone, then prepared to head back to leveling. Just then, Xuehan called out to me:

"Lin Fan, did you know? This afternoon, two groups fought at our city gates for nearly half an hour! Lots of people died. The leaders were ranked second and third on the leaderboard! But they both dropped two levels and are out of the top ten now..."

I was shocked and turned to ask, "Was it Berserker and Little Ant on the Leaf?"

"Yeah." Xuehan nodded, her beautiful face flashing with surprise. Clearly, she hadn’t expected me to be interested in this.

"Do you know why they fought?"

Xuehan shook her head, but Xinyu chimed in, "I heard it was because of some quarrel between their underlings. At least dozens of high-level players died at the city gates—the scene was spectacular. So much white gear dropped!"

(3/3)

I was at a bit of a loss for words, muttered "I'm off to grind," and went into my room.

When I logged in, I appeared in town and checked the leaderboard. Ye Qiu and Berserker were both out of the top ten. The second and third places had already been taken by Xuehan and Murong Shanshan, with Murong Shanshan having been squeezed down to third because she hadn't logged in for half a day. Xu Lin and Xinyu held sixth and seventh, while the spots in between were occupied by two mages.

Most of the quests available in town were already completed. I was doing pretty well, at least having picked up a few unique quests. At this point, nearly 90% of players could only access public quests; many tough newbies didn’t even know how to get quests at all.

My two blue pieces of equipment were rewards from quests, showing just how important they were. Most players hadn't gotten quest gear yet. Without good equipment, it was impossible to kill monsters above your level; if you couldn’t do that, the odds of getting drops were even lower. This vicious cycle was making the majority of players miserable.

According to the official forum, each beginner town had monsters up to level forty, meaning players could reach at least level forty there. After the four main cities opened, higher-level monsters would spawn in the starter towns—those who liked the hustle and bustle could go to the main cities, those who preferred quieter leveling could stay behind. This would also help relieve pressure on the servers, which were at risk of crashing due to the ever-increasing number of players.

To the west of Plague Cemetery, it seemed there was still an unexplored area—there should be the monsters I needed to grind. The level 24 Skeleton Warriors were no longer enough for me; I could two-shot them, but at level 23, the experience gained was now less than half of what it used to be. If I didn't find higher-level monsters, I probably wouldn't be able to keep my top spot in town for long.

I bought some more health potions at the exchange, and realized to my surprise that everything I’d consigned had sold out again. The Specter Dagger had fetched 1,000 RMB, and the rest—white gear and low-level green items—had netted over 2,000 more. In other words, my efforts over the past two days had earned the studio nearly 12,000 yuan, and I would receive a third of that.

After repairing my equipment, it was time to head out and grind. Under the massive gates of Hurricane City, players came and went—a scene of utter peace and harmony.

"Hey, there’s something going on up ahead, let’s go check it out!" A few players hurried past me out the gates. Something seemed to be happening outside.

I jogged over and found a crowd gathered on the open ground outside the city. About a dozen people were facing off, weapons drawn, and among them was a familiar face—Berserker. He was now wearing bright silver armor, wielding a large green sword that gleamed in the moonlight.

Standing opposite him was a male mage with a withered wooden staff, the name "Little Ant on the Leaf" floating above his head. Only then did I realize Ye Qiu had chosen the mage class!

Players around me were discussing, "Wow, these two groups are at it again. Didn’t they get enough this afternoon?"

I gripped my sword. If possible, maybe I could lend Ye Qiu a hand!