Update Time: 2014-02-12
“Shengun!” Tifa’s voice suddenly rang out, and Lin Zheng just remembered that the team channel had been left open! Damn! Could it be that they heard everything he just said?
“What’s up?” Lin Zheng asked with a hint of wariness!
“Shengun! Quickly call over that girl of yours who’s even more popular than Sun Yu!” Long Ya howled in the team channel. Damn! It’s because you’re here that I’m wary! Lin Zheng exclaimed in his heart!
“Go to hell! If you dare to lay a hand on her, I’ll skin you alive!” Tifa said with a chilling tone. Immediately after, Long Ya’s miserable screams continuously reached Lin Zheng’s ears, making Lin Zheng shiver! He couldn’t imagine what kind of torture was happening on the other end. Once Long Ya breathed his last, Tifa seemed to be in a much better mood. She happily said to Lin Zheng, “I’m the first president of the Cute Girl Fan Club! Quickly bring over my little sweetheart! I miss her so much!”
Fate is truly incredible! Good heavens, the Cute Girl Fan Club actually exists, and someone he knows is even a former president! Is this some kind of massive secret organization?!
Lin Zheng found Youxi and Xiao Meng in the forest. Seeing Xiao Meng constantly on Guard, as if she were fending off thieves, Lin Zheng found it amusing. He went up and met with the two of them. After a brief explanation, Xiao Meng and Youxi followed Lin Zheng to Tifa’s leveling spot. After their triumphant reunion, Xiao Meng excitedly rushed towards Tifa! “Sister Tifa!” Well, they knew each other too!
“Good girl!” Tifa gently stroked Xiao Meng’s head and said, “You came to play and didn’t even contact me, you really deserve a spanking!”
“It’s not that I didn’t know your ID, hehe! Also, I finally pulled Youxi in! Look!” Saying that, Xiao Meng pushed Youxi, who was behind her, forward as if presenting a treasure! The few big men stared at Youxi, who had been pushed forward, and were all stunned. This! This! How could there be such a pure-feeling girl, so fresh as if they had seen a beautiful snow lotus, and those eyes, like the most beautiful and pure gems in the world, stunningly beautiful!
“Hiss~~” The three big men gasped. She was truly a world destroyer, no wonder her popularity could even surpass the international superstar Sun Yu! Almost simultaneously, the three of them turned their gazes to Lin Zheng’s face. Was this guy Mu Tou? Such a beautiful girl, yet he wasn’t moved, and even had the expression of an elder brother doting on his younger sister! Oh right, he was Youxi’s Qingmei! Instantly, all sorts of envy, jealousy, and hatred surged into the hearts of the three. Lin Zheng suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He looked up and saw the three of them staring intently at him with eyes spitting fire. “When did I offend these three guys!?” Lin Zheng was utterly depressed.
“Youxi!” Tifa happily hugged Youxi, “I missed you so much, big sister! Let big sister have a look! Hmm—still so cute! Youxi is the cutest!”
“Are you sure you’re not treating Youxi like a very cute toy?”
“Of course not!” Tifa vehemently denied, “Where is there a toy as cute as Youxi!” Well, it turns out she was treating her like a toy after all!
Sighing, Lin Zheng looked at Youxi’s emotionless, delicate little face and asked, “Youxi, are you happy?”
Youxi’s clear eyes gazed at Lin Zheng for several seconds, as if the question was difficult to answer. Everyone also quieted down and watched Youxi. The always taciturn Youxi, what was her mood like? Youxi might not understand what everyone was expecting, but she would always answer the question seriously. Under the attention of several people, Youxi gently nodded, blinking her eyes and saying, “Mm! Happy!”
“Is that so!” Hearing Youxi’s answer, Lin Zheng smiled with relief, “That’s good, as long as you’re happy!”
“Yay—!” Xiao Meng and Tifa cheered, and the three big men next to them also breathed a sigh of relief. They probably felt that making such a fresh and refined girl unhappy was a great sin!
After the joyful reunion, it was time to level up properly! But now another problem arose! A team leader below level 50 can only form a six-person team. Currently, there are 7 people, and Xiao Miao will be joining later, making it eight! In this case, they had no choice but to split into teams. Xiao Meng and Youxi would definitely be together, and so would Tifa. Then, according to Tifa’s preference, Xiao Miao would definitely be pulled away by her as well. Four males and four females, it seemed to be like that. However, in the end, Xiao Meng, citing that the girls’ strength was not comparable to the boys’, pulled Lin Zheng away. Under the furious glares of three pairs of fiery eyes, Lin Zheng joined the girls’ team. No choice, among them, Lin Zheng was the one the girls felt most at ease with.
At ten past two, Xiao Miao came online and was unexpectedly pulled into the team by Tifa. Those without a healer, like Ba Wang, were in tears! But it was good, after all, they were all leveling together. When Ba Wang was low on health, Xiao Miao would run over and heal him, preventing Ba Wang from being ganged up on and killed by monsters!
Although the girls’ team didn’t have a Guard, there wasn’t much danger. The key was their powerful output! After Tifa changed her weapon, her output was right behind Lin Zheng’s. With Lin Zheng and Xiao Meng, they could easily wipe out a small group of monsters cleanly, and they didn’t lose much health, not to mention Xiao Miao was healing them. Youxi’s method was very unique; she actually held a book in one hand while continuously casting spells with a magic staff in the other. What was speechless was that her spells never missed!
Time flew by, and in a blink of an eye, it was evening. Lin Zheng had leveled up a few times and was now level 19. Aside from Lin Zheng, everyone else had gone offline to eat, as they had more regular lives, unlike Lin Zheng, who was practically a professional gamer.
After hunting alone for a while, a red light flashed in his vision. Lin Zheng checked and found that his equipment's durability was almost gone. There was no other way; he had to return to the city. He couldn't continue grinding without armor.
Equipment repair required going to an equipment shop or blacksmith in the city. However, since the equipment shop was closer to the city gate, most players went there to repair their gear.
When Lin Zheng arrived at the equipment shop, it was incredibly lively. Players were constantly coming and going, hurrying about, mostly to repair their equipment. The equipment shop had two counters, one selling armor and the other selling weapons. The items looked good, but unfortunately, they were mostly common-grade and ridiculously expensive! No one would be foolish enough to buy equipment here. Of course, this was in the early stages; it was rumored that in the mid to late game, the equipment shop would occasionally feature rare equipment, and whether one encountered it depended entirely on their luck.
Each counter had four attendants. Repairing equipment was simple: you approached and talked to an attendant, and an interface would pop up, allowing the player to select which part of the equipment to repair or use a one-click repair option for convenience and speed! In total, an equipment shop with eight attendants was usually enough for players to repair their gear, but at this moment, there seemed to be a shortage of staff, and he actually had to queue up! Well, fine! He'd queue up then!
Lin Zheng waited boredly in line, his eyes involuntarily scanning his surroundings again. The equipment shop's decor wasn't particularly exquisite, but its simple style was quite comfortable! After a while, Lin Zheng's gaze landed on the shopkeeper, a seemingly shrewd, fat shopkeeper. He looked somewhat troubled, perhaps he had a quest? Hmm! In fact, Lin Zheng wasn't the only one who noticed; several players had also spotted the issue and were gathered around the shopkeeper, trying to trigger a quest. Seeing that none of them had any success, Lin Zheng didn't think he would get some amazing quest just by walking up. However, Lin Zheng lost interest in the fat shopkeeper, but the sword decorating the wall behind the shopkeeper caught his eye!
It was a very beautiful sword. Its golden hilt was inlaid with blue enamel gems, forming a symmetrical and beautiful pattern. The golden sword spine shimmered, and mysterious inscriptions were vaguely visible on it. The Sword Blade gleamed with cold light, seemingly proclaiming its invincibility! After seeing it, he had only one thought: “This sword! It’s so cool!” He immediately wanted to buy it. As for whether he could use it, that was not within the scope of consideration! So, after repairing his equipment, Lin Zheng walked towards the shopkeeper, pointed at the sword on the wall, and said to the shopkeeper, “Shopkeeper, I want to buy this sword. How much is it?”
As soon as Lin Zheng spoke, the surrounding players gave him scornful and mocking glances, treating Lin Zheng entirely as a clueless game noob and a spendthrift! Currently, the equipment in the equipment shop was basically either White-grade or Black Iron-grade. Not to mention their impracticality, the price was the first major issue! Often, the price of one piece of equipment in the equipment shop could buy a player several identical ones elsewhere! With that being the case, who would still buy equipment in the equipment shop? Only noobs would! And the person in front of them was definitely a noob among noobs, actually wanting to buy a decorative sword! It was too hilarious!
Lin Zheng ignored the other players' teasing glances and simply waited for the shopkeeper's reply. The fat shopkeeper looked at Lin Zheng with some surprise, seeing that he didn't seem to be joking. He couldn't help but say, "I say, customer, this sword is for decoration and not suitable for combat. Moreover, you appear to be a Swordfighter, so you don't need a sword! If you need a weapon, look! The counter over there has Sword Blade Bows specifically for Swordfighters. If you buy one, I can give you a discounted price!"
"I appreciate the offer! But I'm not lacking weapons; I just want to buy this sword purely because I think it's very good-looking!" Lin Zheng said with a smile. Immediately, a player nearby quietly cursed, "Spendthrift!" The game had just started! Whose money wasn't carefully budgeted? This guy actually wanted to spend money to buy a sword that was only for show and couldn't be used. "Money isn't spent like that, you idiot!"
“Oh!? Is that so!” The fat shopkeeper grinned, stroking his fleshy palms, and said, “So the customer enjoys collecting! To be honest, I quite like this sword too! I bought it from a traveler from the West, but because it has some flaws, it wasn't expensive! If you want it, for 15 gold coins, I’ll sell it to you!”
Damn! That expensive! Lin Zheng's eyes widened. It was just a decorative sword; was it really necessary? It wasn't that Lin Zheng didn't have enough money; he had given Yang Qi 40 gold coins, spent 10 gold coins on refined iron ore, and still had 20 gold coins and some loose change himself. The key was that money shouldn't be spent so carelessly! Uh! Although buying a decorative sword also had the suspicion of spending money carelessly!
"Hehe! Buy it! It's just 15 gold coins anyway! Maybe it's a divine artifact!" A player nearby laughed maliciously. As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately chimed in, "Exactly! Look at that design, tsk tsk! Nine times out of ten, it's a divine artifact!"
Listening to the playful remarks of those few guys, Lin Zheng didn't get angry. He just curled his lip in disdain. Did he need them to point fingers here about whether he bought it or not? It was just 15 gold coins anyway! He really would buy it! And he'd still have 5 left over for potions and equipment repairs!