This should be far enough, shouldn’t it?
Leading Alice, Yan had already ventured into the third, and deepest, underground level of the Bit Lava Region.
The monsters in the vicinity ranged from level 43 to 45, marking the highest tier within this particular area.
Unslinging the spear from his back, he prepared to fully commit to grinding monsters and leveling up, a task he hadn’t undertaken with such intensity in a while.
Yan didn’t believe anyone on this new server, which had only been active for just over a week, would have managed to reach level 40 and come here to level up; thus, he wasn’t concerned about revealing his strength.
Yet, just as this thought crossed his mind, a sharp battle cry echoed from behind a red rock formation that jutted above the lava surface nearby.
“Ha!”
A crescent-shaped flash of white blade light shot out, striking a Fire Elemental minion not far away.
Upon being attacked, the Fire Elemental let out a monstrous shriek, “Gah!”, and turned its head, advancing towards the player hidden behind the rock.
However, before it could even reach the rock, three more flashes of blade light materialized in the air, striking it with precision. The Fire Elemental’s health bar emptied, and it disintegrated into shimmering fragments of light, gradually fading away.
At that moment, the unfamiliar player emerged from behind the rock, scanning the surroundings for new monsters.
Yan observed the person, surprised to find it was a female dual-sword player; her soft, black hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her delicate face was framed by sparkling eyes that darted about, searching for signs of monsters.
Yan was somewhat taken aback; not many players in this game chose black hair. After all, Companion God Realm (TL Note: The name of the game, referring to a world that accompanies or is born with the player) offered character customization (TL Note: Literally ‘face sculpting function’), much like a major RPG. This rare full-dive VR game felt like a second world, so most players opted for different hair colors, seeking a unique experience.
Even Yan himself had chosen gray hair, while Qing Bai sported fiery red curls befitting a tempestuous young lady from a fantasy world, and Tian Jiu embraced a dreamy, girlish pink.
‘Well, setting these trivial matters aside, Yan first needed to figure out how to leave this place. With someone else present, he couldn’t solo grind (TL Note: A Chinese gaming term, ‘danshua,’ meaning to defeat monsters alone, typically for experience or loot) the monsters here without revealing his true strength.’
As Yan scrutinized the dual-sword player, she, too, noticed him. Her already unreadable expression grew even more serious; her left hand subtly rose, a tightly gripped pristine longsword held defensively before her, while the white longsword in her right hand remained taut at her side. She stared fixedly at Yan.
This was the opening stance (TL Note: A gaming term, ‘qishoushi,’ referring to the initial posture or move in combat) for dual swords, implying that if Yan showed even the slightest intent to attack her, she wouldn’t hesitate to engage him in battle.
“Ah, ah, don’t be so tense,” Yan quickly waved his hand. “I’m not here to PK (TL Note: Player Kill, a gaming term for attacking other players) and steal equipment.”
In Companion God Realm, players who died from outdoor PK would drop one piece of equipment from their inventory. This served as a sort of PK reward, which was why many players enjoyed camping (TL Note: A gaming term, ‘dunshou,’ meaning to wait in ambush) in wilderness areas, lying in wait for high-level players who ventured out to level up. After all, striking it rich with a dropped treasure would be an immense gain.
With enough luck, they might even get a Companion-grade piece of equipment to drop. This was precisely why such bandit-like behavior, despite being scorned by many, remained incredibly popular.
Although this trend hadn’t fully taken hold on the new server yet, the vigilant demeanor of the dual-sword player before him suggested she had likely encountered such situations before.
Upon hearing Yan’s words, the wariness on her face subtly receded, and she lowered her defensive stance. It seemed she was a friendly player after all; merely Yan’s declaration that he wouldn’t attack her was enough to dissipate her caution.
However, her expression remained somewhat clouded, as if she were trying to suppress something.
She nodded, then turned towards the passage behind Yan that led to the upper levels, apparently intending to leave this map.
“Hiss… hah.”
As she passed Yan, her tightly sealed lips couldn’t help but let out faint, pained breaths.
‘Ah! Could it be that this person hasn’t found any dishes that can resist the high temperatures of this map yet?’
“Wait a moment.”
Yan turned, calling out to her.
“Hm?”
The dual-sword player turned her head, looking at Yan with a puzzled expression.
“Here, take this.”
Yan retrieved a [Camphor Berry Smoothie] from his inventory and offered it to the dual-sword player.
“Oh? What is this?”
She accepted the smoothie with a hint of confusion.
“A dish? And these stats…”
“Immunity to high temperatures for 30 minutes!?”
As she examined the dish’s attributes, a realization dawned on her, and she looked at Yan with astonishment.
“It works against this map’s high temperatures?”
“Yes.”
Yan nodded.
A spark ignited in her eyes, but despite this, she still shook her head.
“I can’t accept it. It must be something very valuable, right?”
‘It seemed she was aware that Level 5 proficiency dishes randomly yielded recipes, and she was slightly misunderstanding the situation…’
“No, no, no, this is just a dish sold by an NPC named Aielxi in Wind Star City. It’s very cheap.”
Yan offered a slight smile.
“If you come here to level up again, you can buy some to bring along. They’re quite useful.”
“…Thank you.”
She accepted the dish with a mix of doubt and belief. As the smoothie touched her lips, the previously unbearable heat was repelled, and her expression visibly relaxed.
‘So, she had indeed decided to leave this map because she couldn’t endure the high temperatures any longer? Having consumed the dish and no longer fearing the heat, Xiao (TL Note: The character’s name, ‘ç±’, which is pronounced ‘XiÇŽo’ and means ‘small bamboo’ or ‘slender’) no longer continued her ascent.’
“You’re welcome.”
As Yan spoke, he watched her sheathe both swords behind her back, then extend her fair right hand towards him.
“Hello, my name is Xiao.”
Yan smiled, extending his right hand for a gentle shake.
“Yan.”
“Yan… mm, I’ve made a note of it.”
A light sparkled in Xiao’s eyes as she spoke with a soft chuckle.
“As thanks for the dish, how about we team up and level together?”
Yan felt a flush of embarrassment; it was just one dish, there was no need for such elaborate thanks.
“Without sounding conceited, I believe I’m the highest-level player on this new server,” Xiao added, seeing that Yan didn’t seem inclined to team up. “Leveling with me will yield twice the results with half the effort.”
Xiao glanced at Yan’s expression, noticing he didn’t seem to have any intention of leveling together, so she added.
“Besides, since you’ve made it all the way here, you must be an expert around level forty, too? If we team up to fight, wouldn’t leveling be much faster?”
‘Here it came. Yan’s greatest fear was being invited to a party, only for his true level of 34 to be exposed.’
Players not in a party couldn’t see each other’s levels, but once they grouped up, their levels would be revealed.
How could a level 34 Lancer possibly explain being in a level 40+ area to grind?
“No, I was just curious and came to take a look,” Yan said, turning his face away and forcing a bitter smile as he spun a lie. “I’m actually leveling in the topmost area, around level 38.”
Yan turned his face away, forcing a bitter smile as he spun a lie.
“Ah, the monsters here are too strong; I can’t defeat them. I’d better go back to the first floor and level up slowly.”
With that, he turned, intending to slip away.
“Please wait a moment!”
Xiao’s clear voice rang out from behind him, causing him to turn his head back, looking at her with confusion.
“Since we can’t team up, let me repay you by sharing some information.”
Intelligent light gleamed in her eyes; she seemed to understand that Yan didn’t want to party with others and didn’t appear the least bit annoyed.
“Repay me for what… it was just a dish,” Yan said, smiling wryly.
Yan smiled wryly in exasperation.
“Perhaps that’s true, but if you hadn’t told me, I might only have discovered this dish after struggling through this entire map…”
‘It seemed that even without finding this dish, she would have stubbornly pushed through this map anyway, wouldn’t she?’
‘Just like his past self on the old server.’
Yan offered a helpless smile, spreading his hands as if in surrender, and looked at Xiao.
“Alright then, what news do you have for me?”
“In about another week, Companion God Realm will be hosting its monthly large-scale event,” Xiao said, tilting her head and smiling.
Xiao tilted her head, smiling as she spoke.
“Before then, you’ll really need to boost your level. Most players will probably reach around level 45, right?”
“If your level is too far behind, you’ll be at a significant disadvantage in this event.”
“Eh?”
Yan was somewhat surprised.
“But hasn’t the new server only been open for less than a month?”
“It’s calculated by synchronizing with the timing of the old server’s first event.”
“Oh, I see, so that’s how it is,” Yan nodded in sudden understanding.
“Is this event a player-versus-player (PK) battle?”
Most events on the old server involved opening up regional dungeons or similar activities. Was Alice truly right? This game was gradually shifting from Player vs Environment (PVE) to Player vs Player (PVP) gameplay.
“It’s not just player PK.”
Xiao smiled, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
“It’s an arena battle (TL Note: A Chinese gaming term, ‘leitai zhan,’ referring to a martial arts challenge on a raised platform or ring)!”
“Arena battle?”
Yan was confused.
“There will be a total of five arenas, each initially occupied by an NPC. Players can choose any arena to challenge, and the players who ultimately occupy the arenas will receive the top five rewards, which are all identical.”
“Then how are the rankings determined for places beyond the top five?”
Yan was somewhat puzzled.
“That’s simple,” Xiao chuckled nonchalantly. “It’s ranked by the number of times a player successfully occupied an arena, from highest to lowest.”
Xiao chuckled nonchalantly.
“Then this competition isn’t very friendly towards Tank players and Healer players…”
‘If it’s an individual PK battle, even if Yan wanted to boost Tian Jiu’s ranking, he wouldn’t be able to…’
“Indeed. That’s why the GMs (TL Note: Game Masters, administrators of the game) will automatically award the top 30 event rewards to all Tank and Healer players who cannot participate in this competition.”
‘Oh, in that case, it makes sense. After all, Tank and Healer players usually level up slowly and find it hard to form parties. This arrangement could be seen as the GMs showing some care for the weaker classes in the early game.’
“Is this information true? How do you know?”
Yan looked at Xiao with curiosity, seeking confirmation.
“I happened to overhear this news during a visit to the Divine Wind Group.”
“Ah, really?”
Yan couldn’t help but wonder about Xiao’s real-world identity. Why would she be visiting the Divine Wind Group, the company that operated Companion God Realm, the world’s most popular full-dive VR game?
“As for whether it’s true, you can just ask Alice. It’s not some top-secret information,” Xiao said, spreading her hands.
Xiao spread her hands, indicating that the news she had inadvertently overheard wasn’t classified, which was why the Divine Wind Group wouldn’t stop her from sharing it.
Yan turned his head to glance at Alice behind him.
Alice nodded with a soft smile.
“Thank you for telling me this news. I’ll make sure to level up quickly.”
Yan turned back, smiling as he thanked Xiao.
“Now that we’re even,” Xiao said with a peculiar, mischievous grin.
Xiao broke into a peculiar, mischievous grin.
“If we meet in the arena, I won’t hold back, you know.”
“Then please, have mercy on me…”
Yan forced a bitter laugh; he certainly didn’t want to be targeted by the highest-level expert on the entire server.
“Seriously though, I’m really looking forward to a duel with you, Yan.”
“Because you look incredibly strong.”
“That’s just your imagination…”
Yan was left speechless, unable to defend himself.