A series of chimes heralded a new friend message, prompting Yue Mingyan to instinctively swipe open his chat box. To his surprise, it was none other than the young lady, Qing Bai, who had come online.
“—When exactly did you get online?—”
“—How are you leveling up so quickly?—”
Even through the chat box, Yue Mingyan could vividly picture Qing Bai’s astonished expression. He offered a helpless smile, lifting his gaze to the team interface which clearly displayed his current level: 28.
While monsters might be sparse in the Golden Flowing Sand River region, their high levels and substantial individual experience yields more than compensated. After slaying dozens of River Poison Frogs, his level had climbed steadily, almost without his notice.
A helpless chuckle escaped Yue Mingyan’s lips. He decided it was best not to reveal that he had been leveling in a level 30 area all this time; explaining that would prove impossible.
“—Don’t worry about that for now.—”
“—I just arrived in the level 30 Golden Flowing Sand River region, ready to level up.—”
“—Do you want to come over?—”
Yue Mingyan was already level 28; surely, venturing into a level 30 area to grind shouldn’t seem too out of the ordinary now?
‘Perhaps?’
“—Hmph, if that’s the case, this young lady will reluctantly teleport over to leech some experience.—”
“—It’s… it’s not because I want to play with you or anything.—”
‘A textbook tsundere, wasn’t she?’
Imagining Qing Bai’s perfectly tsundere expression on the other side of the chat box, Yue Mingyan couldn’t help but chuckle. He promptly activated the team teleport function.
A flash of cerulean light heralded Qing Bai’s arrival, her figure materializing before Yue Mingyan, courtesy of the team follow function.
“—Perfect timing.—”
“—Take a look at the properties of this potion.—”
Yue Mingyan displayed the stats panel of the [River Frog Magic Potion] before Qing Bai.
“—Let me see, hmm… River Frog Magic Potion, Poison attribute damage +5%… Cast speed +700!!??—”
Qing Bai’s expression slowly morphed into one of profound shock. By the time her eyes landed on the ‘Cast speed +700’ at the very end, her composure utterly shattered.
“—This potion is so powerful!?—”
Witnessing Qing Bai’s utter astonishment, Yue Mingyan felt a pang of satisfaction, nodding with a pleased smile.
“—Not only that, but did you catch the final bonus attribute?—”
“—’Has a certain chance to restore 300 Mana.’—”
“—While 300 Mana might not be a huge amount for mages in the late game, Mana-restoring potions are incredibly scarce in this game. In an emergency, this potion could even double as a Mana recovery item.—”
“—Is the chance of Mana restoration high?—”
As a seasoned player hailing from the old server, Qing Bai was, of course, keenly aware of the extreme scarcity of Mana recovery potions in this game. Hearing Yue Mingyan’s words, her eyes gleamed with eager anticipation.
“—Hmm… how should I put it?—”
Yue Mingyan drew out his words, a mischievous grin playing on his lips as he intended to prolong the suspense. Yet, witnessing Qing Bai’s expression—so utterly eager and beside herself with excitement—he relented, revealing the probability without further ado.
“—You’ll probably trigger it about once every two potions you consume?—”
“—Please, you absolutely *must* sell me this recipe!—”
On the spot, Qing Bai performed a ninety-degree bow towards Yue Mingyan, her request imbued with utmost sincerity.
“—Although I might not have enough Divine Coins right now, I promise to pay you back in full once we reach the late game!—”
“—It’s not that it’s unnecessary…—”
Yue Mingyan waved his hand with a helpless smile, finding himself somewhat unable to process the young lady’s sudden, complete 180-degree shift from her usual tsundere demeanor.
“—However, I can’t give you this recipe right now.—”
“—Why?—”
Qing Bai anxiously looked at Yue Mingyan.
“—If you don’t care about Divine Coins, I can give you cash.—”
“—What’s your bank account number?—”
Yue Mingyan helplessly rubbed his forehead. He had already gifted her a companion-grade equipment; why was this young lady still insistent on settling matters with money?
“—It’s not about the money.—”
“—If you distrust me that much, I can give you the recipe right now.—”
Yue Mingyan adopted a cool, indifferent expression, a hint of genuine displeasure coloring his features.
“—Mm…—”
Upon seeing Yue Mingyan’s stern expression, Qing Bai seemed to grasp her misstep. She closed her mouth, emitting a soft, adorable hum.
Seeing her crestfallen demeanor, Yue Mingyan found his irritation completely melting away. He offered a helpless, wry smile as he spoke.
“—Think about it carefully,—”
“—this recipe is a new one, randomly generated only after reaching Cooking Proficiency Level 5.—”
“—Without that level of proficiency, you wouldn’t be able to craft it even if you possessed the recipe.—”
“—Oh…—”
Qing Bai responded with a dejected ‘Oh…’ before a sudden realization struck her, causing her to look at Yue Mingyan with renewed surprise.
“—So you’re saying your cooking level is already five?—”
“—That’s right.—”
Yue Mingyan suddenly realized he had exposed a crucial detail. Fortunately, cooking proficiency was relatively straightforward to raise, provided one dedicated enough time. He hastily moved to rectify his slip.
“—I’ve been diligently cooking myself to raise my proficiency since the new server launched.—”
“—Just now, my cooking level reached five, and this item appeared during my very first random cooking attempt.—”
“—You should really marvel at how lucky you are.—”
Indeed, if Yue Mingyan’s words held true, the sheer variety of randomly generated recipes was immeasurable, being a product of the system’s unpredictable algorithms. For the very first random recipe to yield such a perfectly stat-optimized dish for a nimble mage meant Qing Bai’s luck was truly beyond belief.
Alas, this elaborate tale was a fabrication. Yue Mingyan had carried over max-level cooking proficiency—Level 10—from the old server. He had already acquired over a dozen rare, premium recipes, including the [River Frog Magic Potion]. He had simply prioritized this particular potion because it offered the highest benefits for nimble mages, and its ingredients were conveniently dropped by the very low-level monsters he was currently slaying for experience. In essence, he had simply whipped up this potion while leveling.
‘In short, he made it as a byproduct of leveling up.’
“—Well, thank you then.—”
Qing Bai offered a slight smile, thanked Yue Mingyan, and then, with characteristic swiftness, reverted to her familiar tsundere demeanor.
“—Speaking of which, it’s impressive that you managed to raise your cooking proficiency while still leveling up so quickly.—”
“—You, you’re not some kind of shut-in who only ever plays games, are you?—”
Pinching her chin, she meticulously scrutinized Yue Mingyan, a mischievous grin spreading across her face as she spoke.
“—Perhaps, once upon a time.—”
Yue Mingyan spread his hands helplessly. He had, after all, resolved to meticulously plan his daily routine. Just this morning, for instance, he had completed his morning run and enjoyed a proper breakfast before logging in. Later, when he logged off at noon, he intended to dedicate time to spear practice.
“—Oh ho ho, it seems this young lady was right after all.—”
“—Someone who only plays games can only achieve this much, huh…—”
Watching the utterly triumphant Qing Bai before him, Yue Mingyan felt several ‘black lines’ (TL Note: A common East Asian visual trope signifying exasperation or annoyance) appear on his forehead. Slowly, he raised his hand.
“—Ow!—”
A hand chop, delivered at light speed, connected with Qing Bai’s forehead, eliciting a muffled yelp. She immediately raised a fair, delicate hand to cover the spot, glaring at Yue Mingyan with a trace of indignation.
“—Say another word like that, and I won’t make you any more dishes.—”
Yue Mingyan’s threat proved remarkably effective. Qing Bai could only let out a terse ‘Hmph’ before snapping her mouth shut.
“—Here’s a stack for you, I just made them.—”
Saying this, he handed a stack of magic potions in his hand to Qing Bai.
“—Can your current stats kill the monsters here?—”
Upon hearing his question, Qing Bai lifted her gaze to the River Poison Frogs that had just spawned nearby. After a moment, she nodded.
“—With the magic potions, it won’t be an issue. I recall these monsters don’t possess high magic resistance.—”
“—Alright then, I’ll go pull the monsters.—”
With those words, Yue Mingyan dashed directly into the midst of a cluster of River Poison Frogs.
He halted before five of the creatures. Just as Qing Bai was sipping her magic potion, fully expecting Yue Mingyan to meticulously draw them one by one, he abruptly plunged the tip of his spear into the earth.
“—Shockwave!—”
A searing white light erupted from Yue Mingyan, radiating outwards in a ring to assail the River Poison Frogs from all sides.
“—Pfft!—”
Qing Bai couldn’t stifle her surprise, inadvertently spitting out about a third of her magic potion. Thankfully, the effect had already been generated, rendering the complete consumption of the potion inconsequential.
“—Hey, hey, why did you learn the mage’s Shockwave skill already!?—”
Qing Bai exclaimed in disbelief. This particular skill was a mage’s area-of-effect damage and buff ability. While its damage output was negligible, especially against bosses, it remained a skill almost every player in the game eventually acquired.
The reason was singular: the skill’s primary benefit lay in halving the Mana cost of the very next ability cast after its activation. For every class, their Tier 4 skills invariably demanded five or more Mana. Given that Shockwave itself only cost two Mana, utilizing a two-Mana Shockwave to then cast a five-plus Mana skill at half its original cost was an undeniably colossal gain, regardless of how one calculated it.
Yet, Qing Bai simply couldn’t fathom why Yue Mingyan would learn Shockwave at this juncture. He shouldn’t possess many high-Mana cost skills right now; even before the incredibly high-damage ‘skill’ he had unleashed previously, she hadn’t observed him using Shockwave. Thus, Qing Bai had surmised that that particular ability must have been a special skill with a long cooldown but a low Mana cost.
In truth, Yue Mingyan had merely stumbled upon the fact that all the skills he had acquired in the previous game version had, against all odds, been retained. The only caveat was the inherent weapon and equipment restrictions; most of his greatsword skills, for instance, demanded the actual equipping of a greatsword to be cast. However, a select few abilities, like Divine Speed and Shockwave, remained unfettered by such limitations.
“—What’s wrong?—”
“—Learning it now, better safe than sorry, isn’t it better to save it for later use?—”
As Qing Bai stood there speechless, Yue Mingyan continued his mad dash, unleashing Shockwave repeatedly as he moved, and had already attracted over a dozen small monsters.
“—Slow down with the pulls!—”
“—If there are any more, I won’t be able to handle them!—”
Qing Bai finally snapped back to reality, hastily applying her Divine Speed buff and frantically shouting to halt Yue Mingyan’s reckless monster-pulling spree.
“—Alright, then we’ll stick with these.—”
Yue Mingyan shrugged, moving back towards where he had initially pulled the monsters. With a swift turn, his right hand snatched the long spear from the ground where it had been plunged. Holding it behind him, he ran back towards Qing Bai.
Trailing behind him were twenty River Poison Frogs, all in hot pursuit.
‘Hoo~’
Hugging her grimoire to her chest, Qing Bai closed her eyes, exhaling softly. When she opened them again, her gaze sparkled with bright excitement.
“—Storm!—”
A small, verdant whirlwind erupted from behind Yue Mingyan, sweeping all the small monsters that had been chasing him, along with any lingering nearby, into its inescapable center, rendering them utterly immobile.
This was a mage’s area-of-effect crowd control skill. Although it couldn’t control bosses and its damage was low, its ability to group monsters made it a fundamental skill for mages clearing small mobs.
And for a mage player, these gathered, helpless small monsters were nothing short of material and experience packages!
“—Lightning Strike!—”
After a brief channeling period, a bolt of lightning surged from the magic book in Qing Bai’s hands, striking the small monsters at the center of the storm.
A series of crackling electrical sounds filled the air as [Lightning Strike] cascaded through the monsters, which were tightly clumped together by the storm, ensuring they all received the maximum 120% damage.
Yet, even after the lightning assault, the monsters still retained two-thirds of their health bars. After all, these were level 30 monsters; it would be quite embarrassing if a level 20 Qing Bai could instantly obliterate them with just two hits.
At this moment, the storm’s effect was nearing its end, and the twenty-odd small monsters, tightly controlled in its core, were on the verge of breaking free and lunging towards the two players.
For Qing Bai, even a single touch from one of those River Poison Frogs would mean certain death from its potent poison damage.
Unfortunately, she was a nimble mage…