Chapter 006 Retribution

The Mage's Legend

As the red-and-blue orb-shaped health jar, bitten by the toad down to half, suddenly refilled its red half in an instant, Lin Jia and their leader leveled up to seven, one after the other, and learned Fireball and Healing. Lin Jia tried casting Fireball at the toad, and the creature that previously required dozens of strikes to kill was flattened in just two shots.

“Awesome!” Lin Jia shouted in delight, but unfortunately, the blue liquid representing mana was quickly depleted. The three of them hurried together toward Biqi City, hoping to buy some minor mana potions. But just as Lin Jia crossed the bridge over the moat, marked by four towering magical lampposts, a guard wielding a long blade suddenly blinked out of sight. The next thing Lin Jia knew, his character lay sprawled on the ground, surrounded by a jumble of dropped items—small health potions and some gear looted from slain monsters.

Startled, Lin Jia quickly opened his inventory, only to find it completely emptied! Thankfully, gold coins were not lost, nor was his equipped gear. He watched helplessly as a crowd of players trampled over his character’s body, grabbing everything they could, and cried out in anguish, “What the hell just happened?!”

Their leader and Fourth Brother, busy trying to recover whatever loot they could, were equally baffled. They had been running ahead of Lin Jia, so why had the blade-wielding guard only attacked him?

“Did you hit the guard with a fireball?” Fourth Brother asked, looking at Lin Jia in disbelief.

Lin Jia, frustrated as he clicked to respawn, replied, “No, I didn’t even move…”

Their leader frowned and grumbled, “That’s the weirdest thing! All that effort wasted, just to feed those freeloaders!”

“How was I supposed to know… Wait?” Lin Jia, after clicking the login button, found his character not in Ginkgo Village or Biqi City, but in an unfamiliar place. Eyes wide, he exclaimed, “Where is this? How did I end up here?”

A few other young men playing “Legend” in the internet café crowded around. One shirtless, greasy-faced fellow interjected, “Looks like another map. The homepage mentioned something called ‘Alliance Stronghold,’ right? That’s a high-level area! How did you get there?”

Lin Jia replied, dumbfounded, “I have no idea. I just got killed by the blade guard and ended up here. How do I get back?” The others were amazed at his character’s arrival in a high-level area, but none were familiar with the map—most hadn’t even managed to leave Biqi, let alone heard of Alliance Stronghold. The official website had precious little information beyond basic introductions and map coordinates. With everyone focused on leveling up, who had time to study the official site?

Fourth Brother, seeing a player in pale blue light armor run past, became anxious. “Forget it! Why don’t you just train there for now? I’ll take the boss to the Skeleton Cave and level up, and when we figure out how to get to you, we’ll come find you!”

Lin Jia felt utterly unlucky—not only did he not spawn in the same village as his friends, but now he’d inexplicably ended up in an unfamiliar high-level zone. The crowd of curious onlookers soon dispersed to focus on their own leveling, leaving Lin Jia to control his character alone in a barren map, far more desolate than Biqi. The only resident in the tiny village was a solitary NPC vendor, selling only high-grade healing and mana potions at double Biqi’s prices.

For Lin Jia’s level-seven mage, those potions were a luxury. With his inventory wiped, he had no choice but to venture into the unknown with an empty backpack. Perhaps because no players had yet reached this advanced area, wild monsters filled every hill and valley outside the safe zone—armored beetles, multi-horned bugs, wolves, sheep—all offering much more experience than the deer and scarecrows near Biqi, easily yielding fifty or sixty XP apiece. Most importantly, there was no competition for kills. Lin Jia couldn’t help but laugh as he glanced over to see his friends struggling to find rare protected monsters in the overcrowded Skeleton Cave, and he doubled down on his attacks.

The only drawback was that his mage was fragile, with little health or defense, and potions were prohibitively expensive. With all his supplies lost, once his mana ran out, he had to resort to melee, risking his life against monsters, then casting fireballs again whenever his mana recovered—a painfully slow process.

With unyielding perseverance, Lin Jia finally reached level nine, by which time their leader had hit level eleven and donned light armor, while Fourth Brother had reached fifteen. Their swift progression was thanks to their initial fund of fifty thousand gold coins, far wealthier than most players and never short on potions. Their balanced team, with both offense and support, could storm the third level of the Skeleton Cave, carrying only stacks of mana potions. At that level, most players were at least level eleven and well-equipped; otherwise, they wouldn’t survive long amid the rapidly respawning monsters. In many cases, it was more efficient to hunt weaker monsters outside than waste time and money inside.

Massaging his sore, stiff fingers after an afternoon of frantic clicking, Lin Jia looked up and was startled by the crowd in the internet café. At some point, the place had filled with young people waiting for computers, and eight or nine were standing behind him, watching his “Legend” session with fascination. One of them, seeing Lin Jia turn around, struck up a conversation. “Hey, bro, how’d you get to this place? Everyone else is in Biqi! The XP here is amazing!”

Lin Jia chuckled, “I don’t know how I got here. Got killed by a blade guard this afternoon and just ended up here!”

Their conversation caught others’ attention, and soon more players crowded around to peer at Lin Jia’s screen, exclaiming, “Damn! The XP’s insane! So many monsters? Man, I’m fighting for every kill, and here you are with no competition!”

His cry sparked a frenzy, as young men jostled to ask how to reach Alliance Stronghold. The excitement and chaos of the scene left Lin Jia flustered, and he shouted, “I don’t know! I just got killed by a blade guard and ended up here!”

He spoke without thinking, but those desperate for monsters took his words to heart, each dashing back to town to seek out the blade guards. Soon, the internet café echoed with cries of frustration. Yet, despite their losses, none of the players managed to reach the monster-filled land they imagined; instead, they simply respawned at their starting points.