Volume One, Chapter 12: Stirring the Forum

Exiting the game, Lin Yu glanced at the time—it was exactly a quarter past nine.

At the same moment, Lin Xin had also finished playing, but he was absorbed in browsing some webpage, his expression intensely focused. He didn’t even notice Lin Yu approaching from behind.

“What are you looking at?” Lin Yu asked curiously, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Whoa!” Lin Xin was clearly startled by the sudden touch, nearly jumping out of his seat.

Only after recognizing Lin Yu did he roll his eyes with a hint of grievance and lightly pat his chest. “Yu, could you walk with a bit of noise next time? You scared me half to death! You know scaring someone can actually be fatal, right?”

It was obvious that Lin Xin was quite shaken by Lin Yu’s unexpected action.

“Sorry about that. I’ll be more careful next time,” Lin Yu said awkwardly, scratching his head. He hadn’t expected Lin Xin to be so engrossed.

Quickly changing the subject, he asked, “What are you looking at so seriously?”

Aside from gaming, Lin Yu rarely saw Lin Xin so focused on anything.

Of course, that excluded short videos.

“Oh, I’m on the Mythic Realm forum,” Lin Xin replied, turning his body to reveal his computer screen.

He then spoke with evident excitement, “Everyone’s talking about this game! No one thought it could be made so realistically. Honestly, I’d believe it if someone said this was a second world.”

Lin Xin was somewhat of a gaming expert, dabbling in all sorts of games.

But an immersive experience like Mythic Realm was his first encounter.

Lin Yu smiled silently at this, thinking to himself that this truly was another world.

However, he dared not reveal the truth and instead steered the conversation elsewhere. “By the way, Lin Xin, what level are you now?”

In his previous life, Lin Yu had joined Mythic Realm several months after its launch, coincidentally around the time Lin Xin’s family troubles forced him to drop out of school for a while.

So he was unaware of Lin Xin’s achievements in the game.

“I’m already at level 7. I even completed a special quest and earned an A-grade talent. Pretty impressive, right?” Lin Xin’s spirit brightened as he spoke about the game, proudly beating his chest.

“An A-grade talent?” Lin Yu asked, genuinely happy for him.

In Mythic Realm, an A-grade talent was quite remarkable. To obtain one on the first day was a sign of great fortune.

Not everyone was as lucky as Lin Xin.

“Yu, what about you? What level are you at now?” Lin Xin suddenly turned to Lin Yu, curious about his progress since it was his first time seeing him play.

“I was a bit slow leveling today, only at level 5, almost 6,” Lin Yu answered honestly.

“Only level 5? That is a bit slow,” Lin Xin frowned slightly.

According to the strategies on the forum, even if a player hadn’t reached level 7 on the first day, they should at least be close to it to meet the basic requirements.

Some top players were already at level 8.

Of course, Lin Xin hadn’t expected much from Lin Yu, since he hadn’t played much before.

After a moment of silence, Lin Xin laughed and patted his own chest. “No worries, Yu. I’ll carry you through when the time comes!”

He saw it as helping Lin Yu move past the shadow of Su Yao.

Lin Yu smiled quietly in response.

If Lin Xin knew Lin Yu could single-handedly defeat bosses, he probably wouldn’t have said that.

“By the way, Yu, which newbie village are you in?” Lin Xin suddenly asked, as if recalling something.

In Mythic Realm, each newbie village was separate. If players weren’t in the same village, they couldn’t team up for leveling, and sometimes not even add each other as friends.

Hence, Lin Xin was curious about Lin Yu’s village number.

“Village 332. How about you?” Lin Yu answered without hesitation.

“331…” Lin Xin replied, clearly a bit speechless. They were only one village apart.

“No worries, Yu. Once we get to the main city, I’ll take you along,” Lin Xin said with a hint of helplessness before quickly brightening up again.

Lin Yu shrugged indifferently, unfazed by the small difference.

Leaning toward the computer screen with curiosity, he asked, “By the way, Lin Xin, did anything big happen in the game today?”

As a reincarnator, Lin Yu was naturally curious about whether there were differences between the two versions of the game.

After all, it was crucial to know if his rebirth had altered the course of history.

Lin Xin was definitely an expert in gathering game intelligence, making him the perfect person to ask.

“There definitely were. The forum has been buzzing about two major events,” Lin Xin answered without hesitation.

“Oh? Two events?” Lin Yu raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

“Yeah,” Lin Xin nodded, then explained, “The first is about Xiahou Qingqing awakening the divine-level talent ‘Divine Protector.’ Apparently, she’s the only one publicly known to have awakened a divine-level talent on the game’s first day.”

Lin Xin’s eyes shone with envy. Divine-level talents were the pinnacle of abilities in the game.

Those who awakened them were extraordinarily rare.

Of course, the fact that this was public meant there were others, like Lin Yu, secretly developing theirs.

“Not everyone wants to reveal their hand,” Lin Xin added.

Lin Yu narrowed his eyes but wasn’t surprised.

In his previous life, Xiahou Qingqing had also awakened ‘Divine Protector’ on the first day, so this was expected.

“And the second event?” Lin Yu asked.

“The second one, Yu, you’ve probably heard about it in-game: the first boss kill today. It’s causing quite a stir,” Lin Xin said.

“The hype is even bigger than Xiahou Qingqing’s awakening. People are speculating that the player who killed the boss may have also awakened a divine-level talent.”

“Right now, many top players are investigating the first boss killer. Some have even posted a ten-million annual salary offer on the forum to recruit him.”

“Wow, ten million? If it were me, I’d jump at the chance.”

Talking about the first boss kill, Lin Xin became animated, especially at the mention of the salary. Even though his family’s business had grown over the years, they couldn’t afford that kind of money.

Lin Yu’s expression darkened slightly. He hadn’t expected his first boss kill to cause such a sensation.

It had even overshadowed Xiahou Qingqing’s divine talent awakening.

Thankfully, he had concealed his identity at the time, or it would have brought him serious trouble.

He had no intention of drawing attention to himself now.

Calmly, he said, “Since the others choose to hide their identities, they probably don’t care about such hollow fame.”

“Heh, although he’s hiding his identity, it might not be so easy to keep it secret,” Lin Xin suddenly put on a mysterious look.

“How so?” Lin Yu frowned, his heart quickening.

“Because the big shot who killed the Ghost Scorpion King sold the Ghost Scorpion Armor he obtained from that boss. It’s currently up for auction in the marketplace. Whoever buys it can get the buyer’s info through the transaction record, which could expose the player—unless the seller hid their nickname.”

“Damn it, I completely forgot about that!” Lin Yu’s face turned grim.

Due to the rush, he hadn’t remembered to hide his nickname.

“Hopefully, no one will find out,” he thought helplessly but soon regained composure, silently praying for luck.

His online time was up, and he couldn’t change anything now; all he could do was rely on that elusive fortune.