Part 1: ProfilesMomoCatt: Welcome to my talk show. Today we will be interviewing five characters from the novel Haven Online, but before I bring them out to meet everyone let"s look at their character profiles:
Yin Xinya
Age: 18
General physical description: Standing 5"6 with white creamy skin, he has an aloof feel about him. He has friendly brown eyes and his short, wavy, black hair. He usually wears plain clothes that are fitted.
Hometown: Guangzhou, China
Type of home/ neighborhood: Rich neighborhood
Relations.h.i.+p status: single
Current family: dad/stepmother/baby brother
Friends: Wei/Jun
Other close relations.h.i.+ps: Qiang
Relations.h.i.+p with men: not at the moment
Relations.h.i.+p with women: never
Job: gamer
Dress style: casual
Favorite pastimes: Cooking
Hobbies: Learning different languages
Favorite sports: none
Favorite foods: Spicy Pork and Spinach Dumplings with Soy Dipping Sauce
Strongest positive personality trait: Protective
Strongest negative personality trait: Modest
Sense of humor: Wit-Wordplay
Temper: mild
Consideration for others: He is always thinking of others.
How other people see him/her: someone who they can depend on.
The opinion of him/herself: He knows your limits, he has a clear idea of what he is capable of or how good he is.
Other traits, especially those to be brought out in the story: confident, loving, kind
Ambitions: To make enough money live nicely for the rest of his life.
Philosophy of life: There are times when even to live is an act of bravery.
The most important thing to know about this character: He has been reborn.
Pan Wei
Age: 19
General physical description: Standing 5" 6" tall, and slim with flawless skin, she has an enthusiastic feel about her. She has mysterious brown eyes and long, straight, black hair with a messy fringe. She usually wears casual clothes that are well-fitting.
Hometown: Guangzhou, China
Relations.h.i.+p status: Working on it.
Current family: mother
Friends: Xinya/Qiang
Other close relations.h.i.+ps: Jun
Relations.h.i.+p with men: Working on it.
Relations.h.i.+p with women: None
Job: Gamer
Dress style: Casual
Favorite pastimes: Watching dramas
Hobbies: Reading
Favorite sports: None
Favorite foods: Gingery beef lettuce wraps
Strongest positive personality trait: Loyal
Strongest negative personality trait: p.r.o.ne to feeling inadequate
Sense of humor: Observational
Temper: none
Consideration for others: Only for those, she cares about
How other people see him/her: Someone who is helpful
The opinion of him/herself: self-critical, she notices and talks about her own mistakes and bad qualities
Other traits, especially those to be brought out in the story: sweet, caring, witty, self-a.s.sured
Ambitions: To show her mother that she can make money while doing something she loves
Philosophy of life: The need to raise itself above humanity is humanity"s main characteristic.
The most important thing to know about this character: She is Xinya"s best friend.
Nam Zixuan
Age: 24
General physical description: Standing 6" 5" tall, and muscular with tanned skin, this man has a controlling feel about him. He has deep brown eyes and his medium-length, thick, dark brown hair is un-styled. He usually wears practical clothes that are modest.
Hometown: Daegu, Korea
Type of home/ neighborhood: Nice home
Relations.h.i.+p status: Single
Current family: Mother/Father/Cousins
Friends: Jun/Xafnir
Other close relations.h.i.+ps: not as yet
Relations.h.i.+p with men: definitely
Relations.h.i.+p with women: nope
Job: Gamer/Designer
Dress style: Casual
Favorite pastimes: Blacksmithing
Hobbies: Designing
Favorite sports: Soccer
Favorite foods: Bulgogi Beef
Strongest positive personality trait: Devoted
Strongest negative personality trait: Difficult to understand
Sense of humor: Dark
Temper: Mild
Consideration for others: It depends on who they are.
How other people see him/her: Someone who is capable
The opinion of him/herself: He stands on his dignity, he makes it very clear to someone that they must treat them with respect.
Other traits, especially those to be brought out in the story: Strong, Calm, Sweet, Helpful
Ambitions: To help his family.
Philosophy of life: Man"s greatness comes from knowing he is wretched: a tree does not know it is wretched.
The most important thing to know about this character: He is the main lead
Yoon Jun
Age: 14
General physical description: Standing 5" 4" tall, and slim with fair skin, he has a naive feel about him. He has friendly brown eyes and his medium short, curly, black hair is styled. He usually wears high-end clothes that are modest.
Hometown: Daegu, Korea
Type of home/ neighborhood: Good neighborhood
Relations.h.i.+p status: Single
Current family: Brother/Father/Cousin
Friends: Zixuan/Xinya
Other close relations.h.i.+ps: Qiang/Wei
Relations.h.i.+p with men: Nope
Relations.h.i.+p with women: Yup
Job: Gamer
Dress style: Casual
Favorite pastimes: Playing
Hobbies: Reading
Favorite sports: Soccer
Favorite foods: j.a.pchae
Strongest positive personality trait: Lovable
Strongest negative personality trait: Easily bored
Sense of humor: Bodily, fart jokes are funny.
Temper: Small one
Consideration for others: Ofcourse
How other people see him/her: Sweet, kind, adorable
The opinion of him/herself: He thinks he"s wonderful.
Other traits, especially those to be brought out in the story: determined, self-a.s.sured, loyal, caring
Ambitions: To work and have fun
Philosophy of life: Many who have learned much possess no sense.
Shu Qiang
Age: 25
General physical description: Standing 5" 9" tall, and strapping with fair skin, this man has a likable feel about him. He has lovely brown eyes with short, thick, black styled hair. He usually wears perfectly pressed, sensible clothes that are loose-fitting.
Hometown: Taipei, China
Type of home/ neighborhood: Nice Neighborhood
Relations.h.i.+p status: working on it.
Current family: None
Friends: Wei, Xinya, Jun
Other close relations.h.i.+ps: Lots
Relations.h.i.+p with men: Nope
Relations.h.i.+p with women: Yup
Job: Singer/gamer
Dress style: Casual
Favorite pastimes: Singing
Hobbies: playing the flute
Favorite sports: nope
Favorite foods: Egg Foo Young
Strongest positive personality trait: Popular
Strongest negative personality trait: Insecure
Sense of humor: Observational
Temper: none to little
Consideration for others: always
How other people see him/her: fun, wonderful, brilliant
The opinion of him/herself: self-proclaimed
Other traits, especially those to be brought out in the story: determined, sly, sincere, funny, loving
Ambitions: To do things his own way.
Philosophy of life: Between the meanings of consciousness and reality there yawns a veritable abyss.
The most important thing to know about this character: He"s Wei"s sweetheart.
Part 2: Talk Show
MomoCatt: Now that we saw their profiles, let"s bring them to the stage to introduce themselves.
Audience: Claps loudly
*Five people walks out and sits down across from MomoCatt*
MomoCatt: Welcome everyone!
Xinya: Thanks for having us here.
Wei: Nice to meet you.
Zixuan: It"s a pleasure.
Jun: Hii!
Qiang: Good to see you.
MomoCatt: Let"s get down to it, shall we? Question time!"
*The audience screams loudly in glee.*
MomoCatt: First question, super easy what is everyone"s favorite color?
Xinya: blue
Wei: yellow
Zixuan: red
Qiang: green
Jun: black
MomoCatt: What are your favorite animals?
Xinya: Cat
Wei: dog
Zixuan: dog
Qiang: bunny
Jun: snake
MomoCatt: Wow, Jun you"re quite brave aren"t you?
Jun: I"m sure am!
MomoCatt: So Xinya how did you first meet Jun.
Xinya: A monster was chasing after him.
[FlashBack]
One thing that should be known about Haven Online is that the monsters change at night. In the literal sense. They became bigger, stronger and a lot more aggressive. Even the beginner town, where a player expects everything to be easy, was affected. So, as Xinya walked on the main road, back to the center of town, hearing someone scream this late at night was to be expected, seeing someone run towards him with two monsters on their tail, was a whole other thing.
As the person who was running got closer, Xinya saw that it was a young boy, around 13 or 14. He wasn"t surprised by this since people over 13 are allowed to play with parental supervision and a guardian inside the game. Most of the poorer families encourage their children to play at a young age, so they could bring/generate extra income for the household.
Xinya saw that the two monsters that were chasing the boy, were Avaha"s, they were a cross between a dog and a snail, fast but slimy and the grossest looking monster in all of the beginner town. They were blind but had keen hearing, the slightest movement could set them off. As long as a person stayed completely motionless, Avaha"s aggro would disappear.
Glancing around, Xinya saw that there was a tree nearby, if he could get to it he could use his Dryad racial skill of being one with nature to blend in with the tree, to be unseen, but it felt wrong just letting the boy die. After pondering for a bit on whether or not he should just leave the kid to those monsters, he decided to save the boy. Picking up a nearby rock, he threw it at the nearest dog, sprinting forward he grabbed the kid and then ran as fast as he could towards that tree, activating his racial skill.
Covering the boy mouth so that he couldn"t speak, he watched as the Avaha"s prowled around the tree, where they were hiding, for a couple of minutes before wandering off. Xinya stayed motionless in that position until he couldn"t see the shadows of those dogs anymore.
After two more minutes pa.s.sed, Xinya thought it was safe enough. Canceling his skill, he pushed the small boy away from him. Getting a better look at him, it turned out that he was a beastman, a wolf hybrid to be exact. Xinya felt an urge to pat his head because of how adorable the boy looked but didn"t think the boy would appreciate that.
"Thank you for saving me, I would have been a goner if it weren"t for you." The boy said cheerfully.
"You"re welcome, but can you tell me why you were fighting here, alone, at night?" Xinya asked.
Rubbing the back of his head in embarra.s.sment, the boy said, "Well I was playing with my older brother earlier, but I had to stop playing to do a bit of real-world stuff and when I came back, my brother had already left beginner town."
"Alright, but that doesn"t tell me why you"re out here at night," Xinya said, exasperated.
"I"m getting to that. I wanted to catch up to my brother and, you know, the monsters give 2x experience at night. I just didn"t think that they would become that strong."
"There"s no such thing as a free lunch, you know." Xinya laughingly replied.
"You can say that again, by the way, I"m Melting Snow and you?"
"I"m Drifting Cloud, it"s nice to meet you," Xinya said, smiling.
Getting closer to him, Melting Snow started inspecting Xinya everywhere. Getting fl.u.s.tered by the invasion of his personal s.p.a.ce, Xinya pushed him back.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Xinya asked confused.
"Oh sorry, I just realized that you are a Dryad. I wanted to make one too because they look so cool, but my brother told me not too because they"re the most worthless race in the whole game."
Even though Xinya knew that wasn"t going to be true soon, his whole entire being suffered damage points when Melting Snow said that, but he just sucked it up and brushed the insult off because he knew that there would be a lot more of them until the update comes, especially when he picks his cla.s.s. Xinya just gave Melting Snow a strained smile and left it at that.
Melting Snow knew he goofed up, he called the guy who saved him a piece of c.r.a.p, well his race anyway. Laughing awkwardly he tried to think of something to segue to another topic.
"So… what were you off to do, before you had to rescue me?" Melting Snow asked.
"Well, I was just going to check out the General Store to see what kind of items they had there. I heard it was cheaper than the ones you get when you leave for one of the starting cities." Xinya replied.
Tilting his head in confusion Melting Snow said, "Really? I never read anything like that on the forums."
"Oh...well, my friend told me about it," Xinya said.
"I see, well, I don"t want to try grinding anymore tonight, so I will come with you if you don"t mind."
"Sure, come along," Xinya replied with a smile. Suddenly, a notification box popped up.
Melted Snow has added you as a friend, do you accept?
Yes or No
Clicking on yes, Xinya and Melted Snow made their way to the general store. As they walked, or rather as he walked while Melted Snow skipped excitedly, talking a mile a minute by his side, he had to wonder if he made a mistake by saving the kid.
MomoCatt: Are you happy you met him?
Xinya: Yes, he is a dear friend to me.
Wei: Aww
Zixuan: That"s sweet.
Qiang: I agree.
Jun: I knew you loved me.
MomoCatt: Jun, how did you like your first adventure with him?
Jun: It was awesome, I always have the greatest fun with Xinya.
[FlashBack]
"So, do you mind telling me why your weapons are a knife and fork?" Melting snow asked, looking very curious.
"You"re asking me that now? We are about to go into battle." Xinya replied, huffing.
"Right…" Melting Snow said, regaining his focus. "Tell me afterward."
They started to walk deeper into the cave very cautiously, so far they have seen neither the Lapis nor the spider. The farther they went inside with the absence of anything, the more creeped out they felt. The only good thing good about this situation was that the cave wasn"t dark, as one would have expected, it was illuminated by mushroom type plants that were growing all around. Xinya made a note to himself to gather some on his way back.
After walking a few feet farther, they both started hearing strange noises coming from up ahead. Walking towards the sound, what they saw made Xinya relieved while making Melting Snow disappointed. Surrounded by Lapis gems, there was a blue and white gem-covered spider, the size of a cow, walking across the biggest spider web that they had ever seen.
"Hey, I thought you said it was going to be a giant spider?" Whispered Melted Snow.
Looking at him in disbelief, Xinya said, "Is your definition of giant different from mine or something? What do you consider a giant?"
"I don"t know maybe the size of a bus or something."
"Let"s just kill this "small-sized" one first," Xinya said while shaking his head. "Since you have more HP than me you will gain its aggro, don"t tank it, just run around and hit it when you can. I will hit the spider from the back while you"re doing that."
After fine-tuning the plan a bit, they were ready for action. Melting Snow picked up the nearest rock, turning the spiders aggro towards him. The spider quickly scuttled towards him, all the while Melting Snow used his beast-like speed to dodge the spider"s poisonous fangs. Xinya could tell that he was a very good player, he stayed out of the spider"s reach at all times, only getting close enough to launch an attack on it. There were a few times where he was just an inch away from the fangs but he would always dodge just at the right time. He knew that wasn"t luck but pure skill, he gave Melting Snow a thumbs up in his mind.
Meanwhile, Xinya had already sneaked up behind the spider and started using his giant fork and knife against it, doing significant damage to it. He wasn"t an expert in combat but did his best to slice away at the spider, like it was a roast chicken. Between his and Melting Snow attacks, the Spiders HP was dwindling exponentially.
When the spider HP was down to 10%, it went into berserk mode. Its eyes turned red, it"s aura started to pulsate around it and it started making a strange screeching sound. Xinya saw that the sound had already put Melting Snow off guard. The spider attacks had become faster and stronger. It caught up with Melting Snow"s fast movements and was landing attack after attack on him. Melting Snow"s HP was going down fast, Xinya knew that if he didn"t do something soon, he would die and lose a level in the process. Thinking fast, Xinya screamed at Melting Snow, telling him to fall back and, in turn, took the spider"s aggro onto himself.
After Melting Snow was far enough away, the spider turned his attention onto him, Xinya saw Melting Snow pull out an HP potion and chug it down to restore his health, once it was full again, he started running to rejoin the fight. The spider came for Xinya, looking completely enraged. Gathering his courage, he waited until it was close enough before quickly jumping on top of it, jamming his fork in its eyes and, in the process, completely draining the last of the spider"s HP.
Once it died it burst into a million little particles and only items was left behind. The two boys looked at each other, their eyes gleaming with happiness. Melting Snow started jumping up and down in excitement.
You Have Leveled Up!
"I can"t believe we did it. I wish I had thought of recording it, so I could show it to my brother. I was so bada.s.s." Melting Snow excitedly exclaimed.
"Says the boy who almost died at the end." Xinya jokingly replied.
Sticking out his tongue, Melted snow said. "Whatever. So, what did the giant bug drop anyway?"
They both scanned the items to see that there was a sword with poisonous effect, a piece of armor and some miscellaneous items, such as coins, spider meat, and potions.
"I call dibs on the sword!" Melting Snow exclaimed. "To be fair you can have the amour."
Xinya just nodded his head since that"s what he wanted in the first place. "Okay, sure. We can just split the other stuff."
They split the coins, each of them getting over 500 bronze coins; Melting Snow took the potions while Xinya took the spider meat.
After that, Xinya started to collect all the Lapis gems that were needed without incident. Once that was completed, they started walking back out the cave, Xinya gathered the glowing mushrooms on the way out, simultaneously, the two boys talked to each other reflecting on the battle. "I think after I turn in this quest, I will reach level ten." Melting Snow said sadly. "It was fun hanging out with you, can you tell me which region you are going to pick?"
"You"re not going to the region your brother is located in?" Xinya asked.
Shrugging, Melted Snow said, "I think I would have a lot more fun hanging out with you."
"Well, I guess either the region of Utak or Ziam, since they were close to the ocean," Xinya replied.
"Really? Ziam is where my brother went to. Please, go there."
Remembering certain details about Ziam, Xinya agreed with Melting Snow, saying that he would go there when he reached level ten. The two of them continued talking about random things back to town.
MomoCatt: Wow, you fought a giant spider?
Jun: Yeah it was awesome!
Xinya: Only for you.
Jun: What are you saying, you know it was cool.
Xinya: Sure, sure.
MomoCatt: What about you Wei, how was your first experience with Haven online?
Wei: It was great, I had a dream of playing for so long and when I finally did, I felt so happy and excited.
[Flashback]
Wei was standing in the character creation screen not knowing what race she wanted to be, well actually she did. She had it all planned out months in advance, she was going to play it safe, she would choose the beastman race because they are light on their feet and good hunters.
She would hunt small animals and sell the fur she gains to tailors, ama.s.s a small fortune, and then in a couple of years use that money to fund her dreams of becoming an explorer. Once she is an explorer, she would find tons of different kinds of treasures, which she would sell and become super-rich, so rich that she and mom would never have to work for anyone ever again.
That was her plan, but after hearing all of Xinya"s adventures in Haven Online, Wei started to doubt if she was choosing the right path. Xinya did what he wanted, Wei knew that he must have researched the game, she could tell by the way he explained things to her while they talked about his adventures, but he still chose to be a dryad even though it is the most useless race, he chose to level up cooking and potions even though they are useless skills, he became an artisan that focuses on potion-making and cooking, which everyone steers clear from, he did all the wrong things but he already made 9 gold coins.
Wei always told herself that she wanted to be an explorer because that was a safe option, on the forums it said even a complete novice could turn a profit by being an explorer, so she settled for that because it would be a good way to make money plus it was similar to what she really wanted to do. Although, after seeing Xinya follow his gut, breaking the rules players set of what not to do, she too wanted to break the rules and follow her dream of becoming a treasure hunter.
Treasure Hunter is one of the branches from the adventure cla.s.s the other one being Explorer. Unlike, explorers who search for ruins and excavate treasures, a treasure hunter is different. Treasure Hunting originated from a mischievous little elf who had a thirst for knowledge and adventure. Upon researching different old tomes, the elf found there was an abundant amount of hidden dungeon all over the world of Haven.
Determined to go inside of one of the dungeons, the little elf became proficient in survival skills and threw away his bow and arrows to specialize in dual-wielding guns. He soon became known as the greatest treasure hunter.
Treasure Hunters take full advantage of their exceptional instinct, intuition, athleticism, perception and survival skills; putting them to use as they delve into their dungeon exploration. While a Treasure Hunter stands out in any crowd because of their unique looks, it almost impossible to track them down due to their nomadic lifestyle and sage-like knowledge of survival.
Wei knew that to go down the treasure hunter branch, she had to make an elf and from little information about the cla.s.s there is on the forums once she becomes one her appearance will change. It will lose the softness and gracefulness of a normal elf becoming more hardened and seductive. After thinking about it, Wei decided to take the chance and chose the elf race. For once she will follow her heart instead of her head.
After changing the appearance a bit so that it didn"t look exactly like her, Wei moved on to her starting stats. She knew that she could just let the fairy choose for and perhaps get some rare stats but she felt that she was already going against everything she sought out to become and didn"t want to push it.
Since she only had 20 starting stats points she decided that since elves have low defense she would put ten stat points into health, since the higher a player"s health was the higher their defense would be. For the other ten points, she would split them in half, five into stamina and five into dexterity since those are the stats needed when using dual guns. If there was anything she got from the 0.3% of players that are playing as a treasure hunter is that stamina would be her best friend. It seems the skills of the dual guns use up a player"s stamina, so the higher it was the better she will be.
After checking over her stats once more, Wei decided she was ready to begin her adventure in Haven now. Just as she was about to inform the fairy she paused, she started worrying if she was making the right choice. If she goes down this path there was no turning back, but then she thought about Xinya, he went through so much, had nowhere to fall back on, but he wasn"t taking a safe road.
Although he said he would make coins through fis.h.i.+ng, she didn"t believe him, she knew he had something planned and was probably scared to tell her in case it fails, but one thing was for sure he was taking chances and she wanted to take one too. With that in mind she told the fairy she was finished and in a flash of light, she appeared in one of the many beginner towns.
MomoCatt: So Wei, did you have any learning experiences, when you first started playing?
Wei: Yeah, I learned a valuable lesson about trusting people to easily. It was something early on in playing Haven Online.
-Flashback-
Before he could finish his sentence a scream was heard, Xinya and Wei turned their head towards the sound only to see that it was a woman wearing white running out the woods that was near their camp being chased by Phaseflyers. Something about this situation seemed odd to Xinya but he couldn"t put his finger on it. Storing away the map, Xinya just watched the woman being chased as if I was some sort of entertainment.
"We need to help her!" Wei said.
Xinya just looked at her and asked, "Why?"
"What do you mean why? If we don"t help her she will die." Wei said looking at Xinya as if he was crazy.
"So what. This is a game, even if she dies she will just lose some experience a few items, that all. Why should we help her?" Xinya responded while looking at the woman trying to fight off the Phaseflyers with mild interest.
Wei knew that Xinya logic was sound and she also knew that besides her and maybe her mom Xinya didn"t give a d.a.m.n about any other woman but she couldn"t watch the player die. She knew how hard it was to gain experience, so she felt that it was only right to help the girl.
"If you won"t help her then I will," Wei said drawing her guns running to the woman to help her out.
Xinya just shrugged and kept watching, there were only two Phaseflyers, plus they were only level 11 monsters, he knew Wei could handle it. Turning his attention back to the woman he finally knew what was odd her robe and weapons was very expensive items also they were something that only a level 20+ player could wear. Xinya had to wonder why a level 20ish player was pretending to be scared of level 11 monsters. As he was thinking the woman started running towards him.
A disgusted look appeared on his face as she got closer. Those eyes were the same as his stepmother when she looked at him full of want. As for what this girl wanted, he didn"t know but Xinya wasn"t going to let his guard down.
The girl ran towards him with a Phaseflyer trailing close behind her. Xinya knew her type, either she was leading the monster over to him to kill him, which was highly doubtful with how low the monster was or she was putting on some kind of play, which Xinya thought was more likely.
There were some players, mostly girls, who pretend to be a white lotus to lure in men. Once these men and in some cases women are under their control, they will bleed them dry until they don"t have any coins left. As to why this woman wanted to target him, well he had an idea.
She must have been around when he was having the map restored. Anyone could tell that Wei is a Treasure Hunter, but for him to need an NPC to restore the map must mean that it was a high tier map. The higher the tier the better the treasure and better treasure equals a lot of coins. Xinya had this woman all figured out.
"Help! Help! Save me!" The woman shouted running towards Xinya at breakneck speed.
Just as she was about to reach him, Xinya got up and moved away at the last moment causing her to crash to the ground face first. The Phaseflyer caught up to her and started attacking her from behind while Xinya watched in silent amus.e.m.e.nt.
Wei had already finished killing her monster and was running over. "What are you doing?! Help her!"
"Help her?" Xinya tilted his head as if he was confused with what Wei was saying. "Why do I need to help her? The monster damage to her is only 1 point."
Wei paused her actions, in which she was about to scold Xinya and looked down at the woman who was screaming b.l.o.o.d.y murder while fighting off the monster. It was indeed only damaging her by only -1 point. Wei felt confused about what was going on. That"s when a message from Xinya popped up.
DC: She playing us, she knows about the map.
RW: Are you sure? How does she know about it?
DC: I"m sure. Plus when we were getting it restored we weren"t discreet at all. We should have been, we are lucky more people didn"t notice.
RW: What should we do about her than? What if she tells more people and they come hounding us.
DC: Just ignore her, we don"t need to waste our time on her. She doesn"t know are names and we are leaving this town anyway. She won"t be able to find us.
RW: We need to leave this town? What for?
DC: The place on the treasure map is in Errinisworth.
RW: Errinisworth? Isn"t the monsters around that town around 20-25? I think I should lvl up before going there.
DC: Don"t worry, it will take 4-5 days to get there. You can level up along the way.
RW: Alright.
Closing the chat, Wei was a little irritated, not at Xinya but at herself. She should have just listened to Xinya in the first place and not get involved. Who knows what would have happened if Xinya didn"t catch on as quickly as he did. Seeing that Xinya already begin she immediately followed him but she couldn"t help but look back once.
The woman was so immersed in her acting that she didn"t even notice them leaving. She was screaming and batting at the monster like a damsel in distress. After five minutes of doing this, she realized she couldn"t hear anyone talking around her. Opening her eyes she realized she realized she was all alone. Confused she pushed the monster off and with a quick motion, she stabbed it, killing it instantly.
Putting her blade back she stomped her feet in irritation and said, "Where the f.u.c.k did they go!
She couldn"t figure out how any man would leave a beautiful frightened woman alone like herself. The only reason she could think was he was putting up a front because his girlfriend was there. After thinking about it more, she felt that was the only reasonable explanation.
A nasty smirk appeared on her face, she would just have to make the guy believe that his girlfriend isn"t worth his time…, "and then all his items will belong to me."
After the woman left, Xinya and Wei appeared in front of a tree that was three feet away from where the woman was. Xinya knew that Wei probably would be feeling some doubt even if she said that she believed him, so using his Dryad skill he camouflages them against a tree, so they could watch what she would do.
"That b.i.t.c.h! Urg… I feel so stupid." Wei angrily said.
Consoling her, Xinya said, "It"s because you have a kind heart, but remember, although this is a game, it"s also a way to make lots of money, and when it comes to money people will do anything. So be careful with the people you try to help from now on."
"I will." Wei took Xinya words to heart, she wouldn"t rush into anything until she examined the situation. This one event made Wei become more careful about everything in the game.
Qiang: That really happened?
Xinya: It sure did.
Wei: I still couldn"t believe how much that girl fooled me.
MomoCatt: Xinya, what was the first real adventure you took Wei on?
Xinya: I remember that well, hehe. It was murkmouths.
Jun: Murkmouths what kind of monsters are those?
Wei: Disgusting ones.
Xinya: Especially the transformed ones.
-Flashback-
After clearing up their campsite, they entered the swamp. Once they entered the scenery changed, they sky turned dim and there was fog all over the place. The ground was muddy and hard to walk in and every couple of steps they had to walk through a bit of swamp water. Xinya thrived in this environment, but Wei was having a hard time.
All around them was tall trees, Xinya recognized some of them as trees that could be seen in the real world, there are different varieties of the cypress tree. Such as the pond cypress, swamp cypress, and red, yellow, white and black cypress. There was also the water tupelo, also known as the cotton gum or swamp tupelo, but unlike their real-world counterparts each tree gave off an aura.
The older the tree was the stronger the aura it gave off, swamp trees were the best to make boats with. If a player made a boat out of a swamp tree the boat would be extremely faster and durable than any other wood-based boat. If a player needed to cross the sea being on a fast boat was better than being on a slow one.
Xinya and Wei were walking for a while before Xinya motioned for her to stop. " The level fifteen monsters or just ahead. We are going to use them to gain experience."
"Level 15… are you sure that I will be able to handle them?" Wei asked a little worried.
"Don"t worry I will draw them to me, you just shoot them from behind until you level up enough that you can kill them yourself."
Seeing that it was a good plan, Wei said, "Alright, let"s go and get me some levels."
As they kept walking they came upon the level 15 monsters, they were called Murkmouths, they were shapeless mud monsters that only had a giant mouth for a face. They used that giant mouth of theirs to attack players. Once a player was grabbed by the monster"s mouth, they will be incapable to move and the Murkmouth monster would eat them up.
Xinya knew how dangerous these monsters were and from the look on Wei"s face, she did too.
"Are you sure we will be able to handle these monsters, I read on the forums that a lot of players died while fighting them."
"Don"t worry I have a theory and if it is correct, these monsters will be a piece of cake to kill," Xinya replied.
Wondering what Xinya theory was, she watched him with guns ready as he opened his gloved hand and a fiery potion appeared. She watched as he tossed it in the air a few times before throwing it at the nearest Murkmouth monster.
The Murkmouth monster was consumed in flames but it still ran towards Xinya with a roar, Wei was worried and wondered why Xinya wasn"t throwing more potions until she realized the Murkmouth monster was slowing down until it couldn"t move at all. The mud had hardened.
"I guess my theory was correct," Xinya said with a smug smile. "Shoot it."
Wei aimed her guns at the now statue-like monster and used a skill called Blazing Bullet at it. The shot hit and the Murkmouth monster just crumbled, causing her to gain a lot of experience. She was astounded by what happened, what she read on the forums seem like a lie right now. She felt as if she was seeing the beginning of something, she just didn"t know what.
Looking at Xinya with eyes filled with disbelief, then watching as the Murkmouth monster disappeared into nothing she smiled widely at him saying, "Do it again."
"Alright," Xinya said a tiny smirk appearing. Once again a fiery orange potion appeared in his hand.
Xinya and Wei spent the whole day repet.i.tively killing Murkmouths by the time it was almost nightfall, Wei leveled up three times. While Xinya did get some experience from these monsters it was barely a drop in the bucket with how much he needed to advance to the next level.
Although, on the upside, Xinya did get some nice coin from fighting the Murkmouth monsters all day, and some sellable items. The items themselves weren"t anything great, they were things like the tooth of a Murkmouth, a mud ball from a Murkmouth, these monster didn"t seem to drop anything worthwhile but Xinya knew that the NPC"s would buy these items so he kept them anyway.
After reaching level 13 Wei felt confident enough to start killing the Murkmouths on her own without Xinya a.s.sistance. So for quite a while the two of them had been fighting separately. When Wei saw that it was almost night, she finished killing off the Murkmouth monster that she had been fighting and went over to Xinya who upped his killing spree from one Murkmouth monster at a time to two.
"Xinya it"s almost night shouldn"t we leave?" Wei asked.
Killing the two monster off, he said, "We should, but I think we should try fighting one at night."
"Are you crazy? These things will get 3 times stronger at night!" Wei looked at him as if he lost his mind.
"It will be fine," Xinya told her.
Wei didn"t understand why he appeared to be so confident, "Really?"
"You probably didn"t notice but as we were fighting these monsters we were moving forward," Xinya said. "The swamp"s exit is right next to us."
Wei turned around to where Xinya was looking and saw through the swamp trees glimpses of a road. Now she understood why Xinya was so confident if something happens while they were fighting a Murkmouth at night than they could just hightail it out of there.
Turning back towards Xinya she gave him a smirk, "Alright, I"m game. Let"s try and if we fail we"ll just have to get stronger."
"That"s the spirit," Xinya said, but he felt a little bad, he only wanted to try fighting them at night because he remembered something.
In his past life, he once read about a group of players who were traveling through the Galling Swamp and didn"t make it out before nightfall because they were fighting Murkmouths. When night fell the Murkmouths transformed, bugs from the nearby trees swarm the Murkmouths making them stronger and faster.
That wasn"t the most interesting part though, the interesting part was that when they killed one of these transformed Murkmouths, it dropped the bugs. These types of bugs were great for farms, they had the ability to allow a player to get double the harvest.
These bugs were called Glimmering beetles and if a player could get a male and female of the species they could breed them. After breeding them, a player can either sell them to farming NPC"s for some silver coin or to other players. After the update, once it gets out what these bugs could do they would be worth around 50 silver for a 100.
Xinya wasn"t planning on breeding them so he could sell them but he did want to use them for his own purpose. He will tell Wei to hold on to them and save some for Melting Snow, after the update they would understand how much money they could make from them.
Night fell and the whole swamp became even more creepier than ever, the fog permeated their surroundings, hoots of owls echoed from above, but the worst part was the loud growls of the Murkmouths. The sounds they made was enough to make a person"s hair stand on end, and Xinya knew that if he wasn"t inside a game he would be.
The Murkmouths bodies cracked as they all transformed, they became bigger in size and body, the trees around them lit up with the glow of thousands upon thousands of Glimmering Beetles that took flight landing on different Murkmouths merging with them. The newly transformed Murkmouths now glowed with an eerie green light. They looked terrifying.
"They look like something that nightmares made…" Wei whispered as she moved closer to Xinya.
Xinya had to agree with Wei description of the monster"s, he felt a little creeped out just by looking at them. "Let"s move closer to the exit just in case."
"Okay," Wei responded already walking to where the exit was, Xinya figured that she was more scared than he thought.
As they moved closer to exit, Wei stepped on a fallen twig that was on the ground causing it to snap. The noise alerted the two Murkmouths that was nearest to them, letting out a loud roar the two Murkmouth started charging towards them with their mouths wide open.
"Oh s.h.i.+t!!" Xinya said while bringing out a potion. Wei who had her back turned, quickly turned around when she heard Xinya. She readied up her guns and prepared to do battle.
The transformed Murkmouths were almost upon them, Xinya threw a mini fireball potion at one of them while Wei attracted the aggro of the other to herself. Wei tried to keep her distance away from the MurkMouth as she fired her gun at it, but she was barely doing any damage to it even when she used her skills.
Xinya, on the other hand, was bombarding the Murkmouth with his mini fireball potions, it took six potions before the monster hardens instead of one like it took when he was fighting the monsters in the day. Giving a sigh of relief he took out one last potion and threw at the monster causing it to crumble.
[You have gained 4000 experience from killing a monster at night!]
After seeing that notification, he now understood why players took the chance to fight at night, the experience was amazing. Xinya was about to go check out the items that the monster dropped but then he heard Wei scream, it seems her level was a bit too low to handle a transformed Murkmouth on her own.
"Xinya help me!" Wei shouted as she ran. She had long given up on trying to shoot at the monster, she was barely doing any damage to it anyway.
Xinya sprinted over to her with a potion bottle in hand and threw it at the Murkmouth monster that was chasing her. The Murkmouth suddenly stopped moving it was as if it had fallen asleep. Wei looked at the Murkmouth that suddenly stopped chasing her and then at Xinya in amazement. She wondered how he got the monster to stop so quickly.
"Wei come over here near me," Xinya told her, he didn"t want her to alert anymore Murkmouths that was in the area.
As Wei ran over to him, Xinya threw a mini fireball potion at the Murkmouth doing double the damage on it because of dreaming dust potion he used before, after three more potions the Murkmouth monster was dead.
"Xinya, what potion did you use on the monster? The first one you threw?" Wei asked curiously.
"It"s the dreaming dust potion, remember I told you about it before," Xinya replied. "It makes a monster fall asleep instantly and the first hit you do on it while it"s sleeping will have double the damage."
Wei felt a little speechless after hearing the description of the potion, she knew that it had to be a very rare one, "If you had such an awesome potion like that, why haven"t you been using it?"
"For two reasons, one, I only have a small supply of them right now, deducting the one I just threw I only have 17 left. Secondly, I don"t have the ingredients to make more right now." Xinya straightforwardly said.
"No wonder you weren"t using it," Wei said, she really hoped that he could find the ingredients he needs for that potion because she felt that it was a very helpful potion to have and with it, n.o.body could look down on his cla.s.s.
Xinya went over to see what items that the Murkmouth dropped, there wasn"t anything special, just more of the regular items and a few of the Glimmering Beetles which was all-female for some reason. Xinya tried to give some of the bugs to Wei but she didn"t want anything to do with them.
He tried to tell her that they were sellable to NPC for some coin but her bug phobia was too big, so he just kept them all, once the update happens and they become really valuable he would give them to her than he would see which was greater coin or her bug phobia.
Looking around the swamp he saw the other Murkmouths was grouped up into threes and fours, "Wei do you have a sniping type skill that makes no noise when you fire it?"
"Yes, it"s called Tranquil Bullet. It lets me fire from very long distances and it"s silent." Wei told him.
"That"s great! Here is what we are going to do…" Xinya explained his plan to Wei, he wanted to do this as simple as possible, so that they both would get a lot of experience and not be swarmed by four Murkmouths at a time.
The two groups of Murkmouths were about ten feet away from them, Wei backed up a bit and aimed at the closest one and then used her Tranquil Bullet. The one that was. .h.i.t let out a primal roar and started charging their way but the other monsters weren"t affected.
Once it was about four feet away from them, Xinya spammed hit it with mini fireball potions, while Wei tried to help, shooting her gun at the monster, before it was even close enough to see clearly it was dead.
"Your plan worked, as long as we keep luring out one at a time we can get a lot of experience by morning," Wei said excitedly.
"I think so too, as long as nothing goes wrong," Xinya replied.
Xinya and Wei continued luring the Murkmouths out one by one and killing them all throughout the night, getting a ma.s.sive amount of experience.
Jun: Wow, that must have been awesome. I want to fight at night with you too.
Xinya: Hehe, maybe we will do it sometime.
MomoCatt: Qiang, how did you meet Xinya and Wei?
Qiang: Now that was a funny story.
-Flashback-
Once they exited the swamp, Wei became more cheerful, well after poking Xinya a few times with her guns anyway. The road they were on now would lead them straight to Baldahurh forest. It would take them a day and a half to reach it if they didn"t rush and Xinya didn"t feel like rus.h.i.+ng and neither did Wei.
After a couple of hours of walking their surroundings changed a bit, glancing around they saw that there were two roads, the one that they were on and another one that would let a player bypa.s.s entering the swamp to reach their position. That was the road Xinya was going to take before deciding that Wei needed to level up.
There were also a lot of tall leafy trees to the left of them, the trees gave the impression of a wall because they couldn"t see what was hidden beyond them. To the right of them was an open field covered with colorful flowers. Most of them he had seen before, these colorful flowers were mostly what tailors used to make dyes.
Wei squealed when she saw all the pretty flowers, she felt that the scene was something out of a beautiful dream. Leaving the road she ran over to the flowers intending to get a better view. "Hey, Xinya. Let"s pick some flowers."
"They are not worth much," Xinya said with a smile, but he was also curious about the different types of flowers that were over there.
Rolling her eyes, Wei replied. "Who cares, I will just use them as decorations for my house when I save enough to buy one."
"I didn"t know you want to buy a house," Xinya said surprised.
"Well I didn"t before but as a treasure hunter, I need a place to store the treasure I want to keep," Wei replied.
Xinya just nodded, "Sure, that makes sense."
Wei wasn"t sure if Xinya was being sarcastic or not, so she just carried on picking the prettiest flowers she could find. Xinya on the other hand was just looking around he had the Ingredient Hunting skill so he could just pa.s.s his eyes over the different types of flowers to tell what they are.
Suddenly a blooming white and gold flower caught his eye it looks as if it was a mixture between a lily and a carnation. It was slightly glowing and swaying back and forth. Xinya tried to identify what sort of flower it was but couldn"t he just a.s.sumed his Ingredient Hunting skill was to low.
Going over to it Xinya tried to pick it but couldn"t, for some reason it was strongly rooted to the ground. Using all his strength Xinya pulled at the flower with all his might, there was a loud pop and the flower was uprooted only it wasn"t a flower at all.
At the end of the stem wasn"t roots but a Floret Bun. A Floret Bun was a bunny-shaped monster that was made out of flowers and lived underground. They were basically harmless unless they are disturbed then it would let out a cry which would alert its kin. Hundreds of Floret Buns would than gather and pull the unlucky players who disturbed them underground to die.
"Wei hurry back to the road!" Xinya shouted throwing the Floret Bun in his hand away from him.
Holding numerous flowers in her hands, Wei was just about to ask why when the ground began to shake. Sensing danger Wei ran as fast as she could, back to the road.
"What"s going on," Wei asked as she ran, turning around to see the dirt opening up and hundreds of bunny-like monsters started to chase them. "Why are these cute little monsters trying to kill us.
Running next to her, Xinya let out a sigh, "I f.u.c.ked up okay, I let my curiosity overrule my brain."
"Well, at least we can say we died by the cutest monster in the game," Wei said trying to cheer him up.
"I don"t plan on dying today," Xinya said with confidence. "Especially not by Floret Buns that would be a lame way to go."
The Floret Buns were about a few feet away from the road when Wei tripped over something and fell face-first on the ground. When she fell the nearest Floret Buns swarmed her and started dragging her to one of the newly formed holes that they made when coming out from the ground.
"Xinya, help me!" Wei screamed while struggling against the ma.s.sive amount of Floret Buns that was dragging her.
Xinya turned around when he heard Wei scream, he could have sworn that she was right next to him a couple of seconds ago, he really wanted to know what could have happened in those couple of seconds that caused the situation to become like this.
He was about to pull out a dreaming dust potion and throw it at the Floret Buns that had Wei, but before he could a couple of Floret Buns caught him by the feet throwing him off balance causing him to fall.
Suddenly he was swarmed by the Floret Buns and started being dragged to his death, his gloved hand was still free so he summoned a mini fireball potion and threw it at the Floret Buns that was on him causing them to go up in flames.
Lucky the Floret Buns were only level 11 monsters or he would have a harder time killing them. Getting back up he was about to go save Wei but more and more Floret Buns started coming at him. He knew that even if spammed potions at the Floret Buns he wouldn"t make it to Wei in time.
"What to do?" Xinya frantically thought as this situation became increasingly out of hand. He didn"t want Wei to die but there was nothing he could do to stop it. The only thing he could do was kill as many as possible and try to make it over to her in time.
Just as Xinya was about to start to besiege the Floret Buns with potions, a bewitching melody was heard from nearby and suddenly all the Floret Buns stopped as if they were in a trance and started going towards the music.
Turning towards the sound, Xinya saw that there was a male siren standing twenty feet away from him holding a flute to his lips. He was an extremely handsome man, with long bluish-grey hair a cla.s.sically defined face and a body that could do no wrong.
Moving towards Wei, Xinya pulled her up from the ground and together they watched as tons of Floret Buns walked in a line towards the guy. Wei in a mild stupor and Xinya with a slight fascination.
"How is he doing that?" Wei asked as she watched.
"It"s a racial skill that most sirens have called Beguiling Song it allows him to entice nearby monsters or players if it"s PVP. Once enamored, the monster or player will mindlessly follow the music, wherever it goes." Xinya replied.
"The skill sounds so overpowered," Wei said, but Xinya could tell that Wei was in awe of it.
Xinya just shook his head, "It"s really not…"
Before he could finish the siren stopped playing his flute and looked towards them, " The music will wear off in 30 seconds please kill them quickly."
After he said that Xinya and Wei quickly got to work killing all the Floret Buns. With them all, in a trance, it was super easy to take them all out quickly, especially with the use of Xinya mini fireball potion. Although it only damages two monsters at a time once thrown but the flames spread to the surrounding monsters that are in close proximity and does damage over time.
It took less than a minute before all of the Floret Buns were destroyed and a whole bunch of items littered the ground. Wei walked over towards the siren and said, " Thank you so much for your help, if it wasn"t for you I would have been a goner."
"She"s right, we really appreciate your help back there," Xinya said with a smile. "Would you like some of the items for your help?"
"That"s alright, none of these items would be of any use to me." The man said expressionlessly.
Xinya looked down at the items that dropped and agreed silently with the man, for most people they items were useless but for Xinya they weren"t. The items that the Floret Buns dropped were flowers and seeds. Picking one up a notification popped up.
[ *Dancing Girls has been added to your plant collection tab.]
Opening his plant collection tab, besides Glowing flowers he saw Dancing Girls clicking on it he read:
[Dancing Girls: A perfect flower to liven up your home, these flowers once full grown will be able to dance attracting bees and b.u.t.terflies to your garden. It"s not just a mere decoration, it is also an ingredient for a special type of combat potion.]
After reading that Xinya busied himself picking up all of the flowers and seeds that dropped while Wei and the siren talked.
"Your friend must really like flowers." The siren said as he watched Xinya pick up every single flower and seed that dropped.
"You can say that," Wei said sheepishly. "By the way, what"s your name mine is Roaming Wind and his is Drifting Cloud."
"It"s nice to meet you, my name is Wandering Sound." the siren said with a smile.
"It"s nice to meet you too," Wei said, blus.h.i.+ng a bit at his smile. Seeing that Xinya was almost done picking up the items, she asked, "So where are you heading?"
"I"m going to Errinisworth." Wandering Sound replied.
"Really, we are going there too. Want to join us?" Wei asked.
Xinya who had just finished picking up all the items heard her asked this of the unknown person they just met and gave her a look that said, "Didn"t we just had this conversation about not being too trusting of others."
Wandering Sound who saw the look said, "I don"t want to intrude..."
Seeing the dirty looks Wei was giving him, Xinya relented, "It"s fine, you can come along with us."
"If you don"t mind then I will." Wandering Sound said.
Jun: (laughing loudly) You got schooled by bunnies.
Xinya: You didn"t see them, they were evil.
Wei: I would like to see you handle them. -sticks her tongue at Jun-
Qiang: I"m grateful for those bunnies, if it wasn"t for them I wouldn"t have met Wei.
MomoCatt: Xinya what was your favorite food to make in the game?
Xinya: There are so many to choose from, but if I had too than I would choose the first meal I made in the game.
Jun: was I there?
Xinya: In fact you were. Do you remember the Bellyborg stew?
-Flashback-
Xinya and Melting Snow made it back to town just before it hit nightfall, they headed to a small camping ground where players who can"t afford or don"t want to pay for an inn can hang out at for the night. It was by a small lake so most people, either would catch fish or just catch up with friends, it was also a well-known trading spot.
When they arrived there were only a handful of people, of course, since this was a town for low-leveled players it wasn"t strange that there were only a few people hanging around here. Once he starts heading to the outer cities he knew that campgrounds like these would be packed during this time of day. Guiding Melting Snow over to a secluded spot, Xinya registered a camping spot for himself. A registered spot can only be used by himself and his party members, although there is no need to register a spot if a player does register they will get a pa.s.sive buff, that allows them to gain a 1% experience increase in fis.h.i.+ng, cooking and gathering for a short period of time. The player would have to sit at their campsite for 10 minutes to obtain the buff.
Melting Snow starting to set up a campfire so they would have some light to see what they were doing, while Xinya pulled out his portable stove, a couple of pots and pans, utensils, and the ingredients he would need to cook the dish. His skill was still a novice and he never made Bellyborg stew so he figured it would take him a few tries before he could make a 2-star dish.
As Xinya was checking the recipe Melting Snow came over looking at what he was doing curiously. " Do you need my help any with anything?"
"Nope I"m fine, but thank you," Xinya said with a smile. "You can just relax and wait to eat something delicious."
"Relax? I don"t know that word. I think I will go fis.h.i.+ng while you cook. I got the skill, I will get my revenge on those fish who made me look like an idiot last time." Melting snow said with a grin.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Xinya said, " Alright, I hope you catch something this time."
"Just wait and see, I will catch the biggest fish you ever have seen!" Melting Snow yelled while running towards the lake.
Smiling Xinya went back to looking at the recipe for Bellyborg Stew, to double-check that he had all the ingredients needed to make it. Most of the ingredients he needed he already had but some couldn"t be obtained from just gathering, so on the way to the campsite, he stopped into a grocery store to get all the things that he didn"t have. Using the wooden table that was near him, he prepared his ingredients, making sure to separate them for every attempt he planned to make.
Once his ingredients were prepped he pulled up the directions, like the minimap the screen was quite see-through so he was able to follow the directions while cooking the food. The first thing he needed to do was marinate the bellyborg in one of Bellport"s cla.s.sic green wines, bay leaves, and thyme for a couple of minutes but the longer it marinates the better it will taste.
Since he had four Bellyborgs prepared he decided to do this with the rest of them also, that way once he gets finished with the stew that he is preparing now, the other attempts of his would come out better. After he was finished that he saw that the next thing he needed to do was cook the bacon over low heat in a pan. When it"s crispy, he would remove the bacon and then turn the heat up to medium. That was simple enough the portable stove had a function where it will ding once a portion of food is cooked perfectly.
After the bacon was finished he needed to pat the Bellyborg pieces dry and brown them in bacon fat. Xinya made sure to take his time, doing it slowly but surely. It took around 5 minutes before they were perfectly brown and then he removed the Bellyborg pieces and put them into a bowl.
Then he proceeded to brown the onions and mushrooms. Once they turned color, he added the carrots and garlic and let it cook for another two minutes. Once the two minutes were up he sprinkled flour over everything and stir to combine. He had to stir often, until the raw-flour taste cooks away, which took about ten minutes.
Afterward, he poured in some Jitterwrinkle sauce that is made from a duck type monster of the same name, which was a red-colored sauce and extremely flavorful, and stir it in to incorporate it. The stew started to become very thick, so he added some of the green wine from the marinade, and stir that in, too. Returning the Bellyborg to the pot, along with any juices that have acc.u.mulated. He then stirs in the herbs.
First, he brought it to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. He let it cook for at least 30 minutes, which was a way shorter time than it would be in real life, then he started checking to see if the legs and thighs are tender. Since the directions said they should almost to the point of falling off the bone.
When the meat was tender, he removed it, along with the mushrooms and onions, and put them in a bowl, putting a plate over them to keep them warm.
He then turned the heat up to high in the pot. Boiling down the liquid by half until it has thickened to the point of being a sauce or loose gravy. Returning the vegetables and meat to the sauce the dish was done.
Xinya tasted it, although it was good it could be better. He didn"t even get one a half a star on this attempt. Although he knew this would happen he did feel a little down, cause he was a great cook in real life, not even getting a half a star was a knock to the ego. Looking over at the lake where Melting Snow was trying to catch a fish with his hands, with a determined expression on his face, made Xinya feel determined, he swore he would make a two, no three-star dish tonight.
On his third try, he got a two-star dish but on his fourth try, everything went beyond his expectations. Somehow he made a four-star dish. Checking the ingredients it turned out that he took out the S grade Bellyborg meat by accident. Better quality ingredients make better quality food, so everything makes sense. Giving the stew a taste, he almost moaned in pleasure. The flavor hit his taste buds hard leaving him wanting more. It was incredibly delicious he could hardly believe that he was the one that made it.
After putting some of it in a container and storing it in his spatial inventory where it will stay nice and warm, he cleaned up once everything was nice and tidy he called Melting Snow over to eat.
Jun: That was a delicious meal.
Zixuan: I hope one day you can make a meal for me Xinya.
Xinya: (blushes) Maybe you will one day.
MomoCatt: So Xinya, what was the most emotional quest you had so far?
Xinya: For me, it was the one where we saved Christopher from his abusive lover.
Wei: That quest did strike a chord with me. I was so happy we set him.
Xinya: I was too. When I learned what was at stake I knew I had to save him.
-Flashback-
Xinya couldn"t help but stare at the sight that was in front of him, he had read the lore about this forest but never did he once expected to see the truth of the matter up close and in person. After rubbing his eyes twice he still had doubts about what he was seeing, right in front of him in this decrepit forest stood a picturesque cottage that wasn"t in the slightest disrepair.
It was extremely out of place in this setting, to Xinya it seemed that even as time moved on and everything changed this one place would forever remain untouched. He was a little in awe and slightly fanboying. This was the place he read about, he still could hardly believe it. After taking a picture of the cottage for his personal collection, he messaged Wei and Wandering Snow in party chat.
DC: Guys guess what I found!!
RW: WHO CARES, WHERE THE h.e.l.l ARE YOU!
WS: Roaming Wind don"t shout at him, I"m sure he didn"t mean to wander alone in the forest where he could die.
DC: Your sarcasm is not wanted Wandering Sound, and I just saw something on the map that I wanted to check out.
RW: And you couldn"t stop and inform us before going?
DC: I saw that you two were busy talking so I didn"t want to interrupt you.
RW: So what if I"m talking, interrupt me all you want, just don"t go off by yourself in dangerous places. If you die it would take days before you can level up again and you know that.
WS: Drifting Cloud she is right, if it was anywhere else it would be ok but in these woods the monsters are dangerous and we don"t want to see you lose experience and coins because you didn"t want to bother us.
DC: Your both right, I promise from now on, no matter what you two are doing If I want to do something I will bother you.
RW: This boy….
DC: That"s what you want right?
WS: I mean, only in dangerous places.
DC: Well I"m hereby informing you that I"m in a very dangerous place right now.
RW: What!?! Where are you?
DC: Remember the lore of this forest…
WS: Don"t tell me...
DC: Yup I found the place.
RW: What place? What are you two talking about?
WS: Roaming Wind I will tell you on the way to him. Drifting Cloud mark you coordinate!
DC: I already did and be very quiet on the way here as to not alert anything.
WS: Alright we are on our way we be there in about 20 minutes. Sit tight, and don"t die!
Closing the party chat, Xinya thought about waiting for them to arrive but he really wanted to get a closer look at the cabin. He remembered what he read in the forums, how everyone who saw it died, but in all of those accounts when the players stumbled upon it, they were either fighting or fell and accidentally discovered it. Either way when they discovered the cottage they were making a lot of noise at the time or so they said.
After coming to that realization, Xinya took the stealth approach as he made his way over while towards the cottage. As he was getting closer the only thought that pa.s.sed through his mind was, "I"m a ninja, I"m a ninja."
Xinya finally made it to one of the windows that were on the side of the cottage after a couple of minutes of panic-inducing fear of being caught and killed. Sneakily he looked into the cottage to see that it looked quite normal, practically homely considering two undead people who lived there.
Suddenly there was a noise and two men exited from the side room, they weren"t what Xinya was expecting them to look like at all. Besides the slight greying of the skin, they really didn"t look dead. The taller of the two was muscular with prominent features that made him look strikingly handsome, while the smaller one had a softer edge to his features, but he didn"t look feminine at all he was as handsome as the other. The only thing was that his eyes held a doll-like quality, it was like his body was there but his mind wasn"t.
As Xinya watched the two men embrace, Xinya couldn"t help but wonder if the mage became a victim of Stockholm syndrome. He really felt bad for the little mage who had been stuck for centuries with a man he despises without any means of escape. Maybe after all this time he broke and started playing along with captor.
Xinya didn"t want it to be that way, he wanted the little mage to fight to be able to get away as he did. Xinya stared at the little mage hoping to see that there was some fight left within him, just as he was thinking that the little mage abruptly looked straight at him. As their eyes connected the gla.s.siness of the little mage"s eyes started to fade and Xinya could see hope bloom.
[Quest Triggered]
The muscular man pulled away from the embrace and said something to the little mage, although Xinya couldn"t hear what was being said, he could read the body language. The muscular man was leaving and was saying goodbye to the little mage.
Xinya ducked down when he saw the muscular man turning to leave, moving over to a nearby tree he used his racial skill to camouflage himself against it. He watched as the muscular man left the cottage door then walked around the perimeter of the cottage a couple of times before heading deeper into the woods.
Luckily it wasn"t in the direction that Xinya friends were coming from, letting out a breath that he didn"t know he was holding Xinya undid his camouflage. Rus.h.i.+ng back over to the cottage, Xinya suddenly felt a sense of urgency because he knew this would be the best time to save the little mage.
When he got to the window the little mage was already there looking at him, when seeing all of the desperation and hope that the little mage was feeling at that moment aimed at him it hit him so hard that he felt like he couldn"t breathe for a minute.
The feelings of desperation and hope that someone would come and save him he remembered them well. How he wished that someone would save him from that house, from her but n.o.body ever did. If it wasn"t for his stepmother being cornered and his father being an idiot he knew he would still be there.
Although he couldn"t save himself he will save the little mage even if it kills him. Xinya was about to try to open the cottage window to try to talk to mage but he was stopped by the little mage shaking his head telling him no.
Holding up one finger, as if to say wait one minute the little mage ran as fast as he could to the side room that he just came out from with the muscular man earlier. Coming back out from the room the little mage held a small square chalkboard for writing.
Hurrying back to the window to where Xinya was waiting. The little mage started writing something quickly on the chalkboard before showing it to Xinya:
( Do not try to enter the house, it"s been spelled.)
"Spelled how?" Xinya asked quietly but he could see that the little mage could understand him.
Wiping off the chalkboard, the little mage wrote:
(I can not leave and if someone other than "him" tries to come inside he will know.)
Xinya knew helping the little mage escape wouldn"t be as easy as breaking in and grabbing him and leaving, but he wouldn"t give up he will still save the little mage from his possessive ex-lover.
Seeing the determination in the young dryad eyes made the little mage tear up, he finally had some hope that he might be able to escape from this prison of love that he was in. He wished for this for centuries, but n.o.body ever came close enough to rescue him.
The people who wandered by were always killed by "him" before they could even see the cottage in its entirety. Over time the little mage just gave up and learned to separate his mind from his body. That"s how he survived this long without having a mental breakdown, but now there was hope.
The little mage once again wiped off the chalkboard and wrote:
(Will you help me escape from this place?)
"Yes, of course. Just tell me how to get you out of there." Xinya said.
[Quest has been created!]
The mage Christopher in desperation used black magic to get away from his ex-lover Wyatt, in doing so he made the Baldahurh forest become a place of the undead with his ex-lover Wyatt as a conduit. The only way to rescue Christopher is to kill Wyatt. Wyatt being the conduit of the spell is very powerful and can make anything inside of the Baldahurh forest do his bidding. Once Wyatt is truly dead, everything in the forest will return to its normal state including Christopher. *Quest is shareable
Reward: 1000000 exp / 20 gold coins / Special Item for player cla.s.s
The little mage basically just reiterated what Xinya read on the quest notification with some extra details about where Wyatt"s weak points were and the best tactic when trying to kill him. After they finished talking Xinya promised the little mage that he would kill Wyatt for him.
Christopher broke down when Xinya said that and starting mouthing thank you over and over again. As he did Xinya could see that part of his tongue was bitten off, he finally realized why Christopher didn"t speak. Xinya told Christopher that he would see him soon and went off to find Wei and Wandering Sound.
Jun: Man, I wished I was there to help.
Xinya: Well you know me, there will be another great adventure like that.
Jun: Your right! It"s fine than.
MomoCatt: How did it make you feel when saved Christopher?
Xinya: It made me feel good inside like I was helping myself.
Zixuan: What do you mean by that?
Xinya: I rather not talk about it.
-Flashback-
Xinya led them back to the cottage, where Christopher was at, the walk there wasn"t long and in no time at all they arrived. The first thing they saw was a lovely young man with slightly grey skin standing just outside the cottage door looking at the sky in wonder.
It was as though he hadn"t been outdoors in a very long time and was basking in the scenery that he once again got to experience. A small smile graced Christopher"s face as the wind blew over him, he had finally got a taste of freedom after years of being trapped in the cottage and he liked it.
Hearing a twig snap, Christopher tensed up for a minute, thinking that it was Wyatt, but he knew that couldn"t be. The only way he could be outside like this was only if Wyatt was gone. Turning his head to see who was there, he saw that it was the boy he asked to help him and two others he didn"t know.
When he first saw the boy, he finally felt that he had some hope, for the first time in decades. When the boy said he would save him he didn"t really believe him but he had hoped, and when he felt the barrier around the cottage go down he knew that his hope had come true.
He wanted to run and hug the boy and thank him profusely, for what he has done for him, but for some reason he couldn"t move farther away than the area around the porch. Christopher could only think that the dark magic is still in effect, but even so, just being able to leave the cottage and not having to worry about Wyatt was more than enough.
~
Xinya couldn"t help but smile as he saw that Christopher was able to leave the cottage now but knew that it wasn"t over. Xinya walked those last few steps until he was close enough to speak with Christopher. He didn"t really know what to say in this type of situation, so he merely said, "I"m back."
[Yes...yes you are.] Christopher wrote on his mini blackboard. He gave Xinya a grateful smile because he knew what the latter was trying to convey. [Thank you so much. I had almost given up, thank you for saving me.]
Wandering Sound and Wei thought it is best to stay a little ways away from Xinya and Christopher as they talked, but they could still see and hear everything. Wei couldn"t help but tear up, she was so happy that the mage was going to be free.
On the other hand, Wandering Sound felt a little worried about Roaming Wind, all throughout this quest her emotions had been unsteady. Wandering Sound had to wonder if something like this happens to her. Even thinking about it made him upset, he really hoped it wasn"t true.
Not noticing the turmoil his friends were in Xinya continued speaking with Christopher, "I"m sorry to say it"s not over yet."
[What do you mean?] Christopher wrote, eyes wide with worry. Bad thoughts started to appear, he even started questioning if Wyatt was even dead.
Knowing where Christopher"s mind was going, he quickly a.s.sured him that Wyatt was really dead. Opening up his inventory he took out Wyatt"s brain and showed him. "For it to be truly over, and for you to be free, you need to destroy this."
The amount of dark magic that pulsated from the item in the boy"s hand frightened Christopher, but to escape this place and this life he knew he had to be brave. Taking the item he realized what it was, it was Wyatt"s brain. This was the place where his chaotic dark magic entered that night centuries ago.
Determination welled up in him handing the item back to the boy he rushed into the house but not before writing that he be back on his chalkboard. He ran into the bedroom and quickly went through the items in the closet until he saw it, his staff.
The last time he saw it was when Wyatt brought it back for him on one of his daily outings. It was another of Wyatt"s little ways of trying to please him, but he never touched it. He was scared of what else his magic could do, even now he was hesitant in touching it but he knew this was the only way to end this mess he caused.
Grabbing his staff, he gripped it tight and walked back out of the house where the boy who had saved him was waiting. Xinya who saw Christopher come back out of the house, staff in hand, held out the brain for him to take.
Christopher grabbed the brain and placed it on the ground, he looked at it thinking about all of his years of suffering from pain and humiliation at the hands of Wyatt and knew once he got rid of the dark magic he would never have to think of it again.
Raising his staff high he started casting the lightest spell he knew, suddenly a bright white light shot from his staff into the sky and made dark grey clouds appear in the sky. Thunder could be heard before a light struck down and hit the brain dead center destroying it to pieces.
As the brain shattered into pieces a dark smoke escape from inside of it and dissipated into the air. Immediately, everything around them started to change, the forest that was full of death became alive. The trees became lush and green. The foliage around them started to bloom, the red sky turned blue and for the first time they could see the sun.
Wei stood there in awe at the changes that were happening around her, she grabbed Wandering Sound hand and smiled at him. Wandering Sound just squeezed her hand and continue to watch with a big smile on his face.
Xinya didn"t pay attention to his surroundings but watched Christopher, he watched as Christopher grey skin become more human-looking. He watched as he touched his heart to feel it beating, he watched as Christopher inhaled, breathing in the air around him and he watched as tears gathered in his eyes as he kept mouthing thank you at him.
[Quest has been completed!!]
[Reward: 1000000 exp / 20 gold coins / Special Item for player cla.s.s]
[You have leveled up!]
[You are now level 21!!]
[You have gained Death Flower Seeds]
[You and your party have gained the t.i.tle Saviors of Baldahurh Forest!]
"What are you going to do now that you are free?" Xinya asked.
[I want to see if any of my kin still lives, if not I will pay my respects at their graves. Then I want to see the world, see what I missed] Christopher wrote.
"Do you want us to escort you out of the woods?" Xinya asked. "We are heading to Errinisworth."
Smiling Christopher wrote, [If you don"t mind that would be perfect.]
After introducing everyone to each other, Christopher packed up his stuff and the four of them left the woods, not knowing that their names were now broadcasted on the game homepage as the saviors of Baldahurh Forest.
Zixuan: I"m glad you were able to save him.
Xinya: Yeah, me too.