We arrived at Beijing Workers’ Sports Complex before 10 am.
We saw a couple standing in front of the MIX club. They were of course Little Piglet and Shangguan Wan’er. They looked a little weary even though they had deleted their accounts and freed themselves from their demons. Some injuries stay with you forever. Perhaps the only way to heal them was to vanish from the world itself.
When we were less than ten meters away from the couple, I greeted them with a smile, “I thought I wasn’t ever going to see the two of you again!”
Little Piglet turned around to face me. He was wearing a black windbreaker and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “We shouldn’t. Wan’er and I had made up our minds to never—”
I knew what he was trying to say, so I interrupted him before he could finish. “How about we find a place to sit down and have a drink before we get into the serious stuff, yeah?”
“Sure. There’s a coffee shop over there.”
“Let’s go!”
……
As the five of us walked side by side toward our destination, I asked Shangguan Wan’er, “Long time no see, Wan’er. How are you doing lately?”
She smiled back and responded, “It’s okay. I’ve been living together with Little Piglet. We haven’t really planned out what to do after we deleted our accounts, and we’re still in the middle of discussing the details.”
I nodded. “I see. Still, Little Piglet must’ve saved up some money during his time as the king of the outer lands, right Little Piglet?”
The man in question raised five fingers and answered, “Yep. Fifty million.”
“Good, good. Assuming you don’t live too luxuriously, you won’t need to worry about basic necessities anymore.”
“Of course, it’s important to be frugal…”
It wasn’t long before we settled down at a table and ordered our respective drinks. Lin Yixin, He Yi and I sat together on one side, and Little Piglet and Shangguan Wan’er on the opposite side of the table.
“Ahem…”
I let out a cough before starting, “You two have no idea how pained, no, agonized I felt when you deleted your accounts.”
Shangguan Wan’er looked at me and asked, “Do you actually mean what you say, Lu Chen? Do you really think of Little Piglet as a friend?”
I nodded. “Of course. I was agonized that a great talent and account went poof just like that. It is a loss for the entire China server. At the same time, I was also agonized by the loss of the Heaven Suppressing Necklace. It’s 100% lifesteal, man. That’s a stat even I salivate over in my dreams. Excluding Candlelight Shadow’s Dragon Tooth Arm, the Heaven Suppressing Necklace is probably the best item of the Seventy-two Ghost Armaments!”
Little Piglet wasn’t sure if he should laugh or cry. “Fuck, it’s the Heaven Suppressing Necklace you were agonized over, not me!”
I took a sip of coffee before continuing, “That being said, losing the Heaven Suppressing Necklace is probably the best decision you could’ve made at the time. Otherwise, the world will surely hound you for the equipment no matter where you escaped to. Now then…”
Beside me, He Yi shot me a glance, snickered, and whispered to Lin Yixin, “Here comes the main point…”
I smiled awkwardly before continuing, “You’re both probably past the line where you need to work hard to make a living, but isn’t it a shame to abandon an excellent game like Heavenblessed just like that? Therefore, I would like to formally extend an invitation to you both. Come to Ancient Sword, Little Piglet, Wan’er. It doesn’t matter to me what level you are at, and how strong your equipment is. I promise you that Ancient Sword will be your unbreakable shelter.”
Little Piglet looked surprised. “But… we’ve already decided to quit the game.”
Shangguan Wan’er said quietly, “Oh really? Then why have you created a new account to run around on?”
Little Piglet: “I…”
I smiled a little before motioning for Little Piglet to elaborate. “Why don’t you tell me about your new accounts?”
Little Piglet let out a cough before starting, “We created our new accounts the same night we deleted our existing ones. We made sure to alter our appearance so that most people wouldn’t be able to recognize us. However, our plan was just to fool around the starting village and slay some Green Praying Mantises and pass the time.”
I grimaced a little but resolved myself to say, “In that case, you definitely should come to Ancient Sword. We are friends, aren’t we? Also, you’ve left a piece of equipment with me…”
“Huh? What?” Little Piglet asked in confusion.
I lifted my arm. “The Crimson Dragon Arm, of course. With it, it will not be a matter of chance whether you’ll get top-tier equipment, only a matter of time. If you join Ancient Sword, then it will be my gift to you. It was yours in the first place…”
“Oh right! The Crimson Dragon Arm…”
Little Piglet looked visibly excited. “I had thought it was stolen by that bastard, Candlelight Shadow…”
Lin Yixin put a hand on my shoulder and declared proudly, “Candlelight Shadow’s looting skill is nothing compared to this guy’s!”
I chuckled. “Again, I would like you two to join Ancient Sword. We will prepare the skill books, the Ascension Proofs needed to ascend and become a Famous General, the items needed to become a Divine General and so on. We will do our best to return you to your former strength. In fact, I can even make you one of our five corps commanders. When the time comes, all you need to do is to point the finger to wipe out anyone you want. I shouldn’t need to tell you, but any one of our armies can roll over Purgatory Mad Dragon’s remnants like nothing…”
It didn’t take long before the silence was broken.
Pa!
Little Piglet slapped the table and declared, “Screw it! Let’s do it! I’ll join Ancient Sword if only for your personality and strength!”
Shangguan Wan’er smiled. “What a relief… Whatever happens now, he won’t be brooding inside his head anymore.”
I asked, “What are your new IDs? I’ll add you two the moment I get back.”
Little Piglet answered, “My ID is ‘Piglike Opponent’, and Wan’er’s is “Godlike Teammate’. I’m a basic warrior, and Wan’er is an archer. Yeah, she changed classes. She said she wanted to try out Beiming Xue’s style of one-shotting opponents from superior range…”
I exhaled. “Great IDs. Alright! I’ll go find you in your starting village this afternoon after I grab your equipment. I’ll also return you your Crimson Dragon Arm; just remember to throw it into your warehouse until your level is high enough to use it again. By the way, do you guys want to go for a drink later at noon?”
Little Piglet smiled. “Sure, why not? By the way, what are you guys doing in Beijing? I thought you all lived in southern China?”
“We had to come here for some important top secret business that we are in no capacity to tell you…”
“Fine, I shall not be prying into the affairs of my guild leader, vice leader and Beauty Lin, heh…”
……
When it was noon, we went to a restaurant to eat lunch and enjoy some alcohol. Little Piglet and I had deleted a bottle of Maotai liquor almost single-handedly. It was ridiculously expensive, and I couldn’t even write it off as expenses. On second thought, I was now a core member of Eternal Moon Corporation, and I could even make myself the CEO if I wanted to. I could probably really write this off as an expense, but I supposed it would be too shameless[1]…
When the time ticked past 1 pm, when we returned to Eternal Moon China headquarters, I saw Xinran holding a small umbrella and waiting for us to return at the entrance. The moment I returned, Xinran walked up to me while Xu Ning supported her and said in a near sobbing voice, “Where did you go, big brother?”
I hurriedly went up to her and supported her. “I went out for some business. Have you eaten lunch yet, Xinran?”
“Yes…”
“Let’s return to our rooms then. It’s windy and raining outside…”
“Okay!”
After I calmed down Xinran and made her go online, I returned to my own room and logged into the game.
……
Swhoosh!
After I appeared in Dark Moon City, I repaired my equipment, replenished my potions and sent Chaos Moon a message: “Sister Moon, I got a question for you!”
Chaos Moon responded, “What do you want to know, Brother Chen?”
I asked, “What is the best equipment for a Level 50 swordsman and archer right now?”
“Oh. A Level 50 swordsman should have a Level 50 Gold-grade Fire Wolf[2] equipment set and a Level 50 Spirit-grade sword. Level 50 archer should have a Level 50 Gold-grade Clear Shadow equipment set and a Level 50 Spirit-grade bow. What’s this about, dear?”
I coughed once before saying, “Please get me these items within an hour then. Actually, please get me the strongest equipment for a Level 100 warrior and archer as well.”
“No problem. It’ll cost you some money though.”
“How much?”
“Around 50k gold.”
“Okay. Just grab it from the guild warehouse and put the expenses under my account.”
“Okay. Vice leader big bro is majestic…”
“Go get spliced already, you!”
“Oh? Who will be my bridegroom? You?”
“Nah, you should marry Chengfeng. He’s been lusting over you since forever…”
“Nonsense, we all know that his one true lover is Gui Guzi.”
“You know too much. Be careful, or they may silence you to hide their shame.”
“It will be fine. You will protect me, right?”
“Sure, sure, now stop dilly-dallying and go grab those items already!”
“Okay!”
……
Chaos Moon was an even faster worker than I expected. Less than 20 minutes later, she appeared at the territory hall with the Dihai Blade in one hand and a bag in the other. “It’s done. It so happens that the sets were sold at the auction house, and I got them all for a total of 47k gold. I’ve already taken the gold from the guild warehouse.”
“Nice job.”
After I received the equipment from Chaos Moon, I said, “Thank you. I knew this, but you really are better at this than I am. It would’ve taken me at least an hour to gather everything I need.”
“I gladly accept your praise, but what do you need these items for? You’re aware that our guild doesn’t accept super low-level newbies, right?”
I nodded. “I know, but I’m the one who makes the rules, aren’t I? Naturally, I have the power to break them as well.”
Chaos Moon squirmed in mock embarrassment. “So manly. What else are you going to break? Maybe…”
“Do not utter another word, you shameless woman!”
I patted Chaos Moon once on the shoulder before walking past her. “Grind hard and ascend to become a god as soon as possible, okay? Only then will you be able to unleash the Dihai Blade’s true power. Anyway, I’m going now!”
“Kay!”
……
After I exited the city, I searched for the IDs “Piglike Opponent” and “Godlike Teammate” and added them both as friends. Then, I asked Little Piglet, “Which starting village are you at, bro?”
“No. 177 within Floating Ice City borders. Are you coming right now?”
“Yep. Coordinates?”
“We’re at (19,383, 52,656).”
“Okay. Wait for me!”
I accelerated to top speed and broke through the clouds in no time, leaving behind a supersonic shockwave in my wake. Because my Scarlet Dragon Armor, Cloak of Divine Fervor and even my Asura God divine powers looked as red as blood, I sometimes wondered if I looked like a devil to a random player.
Less than five minutes later, I glided downward and landed steadily at a forest clearing.
Not far away, I saw a couple of Level 7 Green Praying Mantises screeching at a newbie warrior and swinging their blades at him. The warrior easily zigzagged between the attacks and struck one of the mobs three times in quick succession. Unfortunately, the iron sword’s Attack was so low that he only dealt 10 damage per hit. Behind him, an archer with excellent figure shot the mobs accurately and methodically. Tsk tsk, their cooperation was pretty good considering that Shangguan Wan’er was learning a new class…
I helped Little Piglet wipe out the Green Praying Mantises by dropping an Ancient Seal on top of them. The guy immediately turned around and joked, “What the fuck, some high-level dog came to steal our food!”
I guffawed. “You’re the dog! I’ve come with the equipment I promised.”
1. E/N: Lu Chen, you do realize being the CEO of Eternal Moon doesn’t mean law doesn’t mean jack shit to you, right? Being CEO doesn’t change anything ☜
2. T/N: I think this set was mentioned a looooooooong time ago between two random players actually, what a callback ☜
