“You three certainly have a wonderful bond, don’t you?”
Alice materialized from seemingly nowhere, her gaze playfully settling on Yan.
“Speaking of which, Alice, where did you run off to earlier?”
Yan asked, a note of puzzlement in his voice.
Only now did he realize that Alice had been missing since the afternoon; his attention had been entirely consumed by Tian Jiu and Xuerou’s birthdays, leaving him completely oblivious.
“Ah, about that…”
Alice tilted her head, her delicate brows furrowing slightly, as if debating whether to reveal her whereabouts.
“Is it about this event?”
Seeing her expression, Yan guessed roughly seventy to eighty percent of the truth, prompting his question.
“Oh, right… Yan already knows, doesn’t he?”
Alice puffed out her cheeks, a hint of disappointment coloring her features.
“Hey, so you were trying to keep us in suspense, weren’t you?”
Yan grumbled with a helpless laugh.
“Well, it’s not really a secret that needs guarding anymore; rumors have already begun circulating among the high-level players.”
‘Eh? So it wasn’t a secret after all.’
Yan recalled the Dual-Blade Player who had first informed him of the news.
Xiao didn’t seem like the type to spread such information widely. Perhaps someone else had learned of it through different channels and disseminated the news?
“The arena’s event stage has been set up, so I went to take a look.”
Alice explained with a smile, detailing her afternoon activities.
It seemed new maps for events like these held an irresistible and fresh appeal for her, despite her intimate familiarity with every corner of this game.
“You truly are free-spirited.”
Yan chuckled, a touch of resignation in his tone.
Alice, in this world, lived as a girl who followed her heart’s every whim, much like an unfettered little sprite.
“So what exactly are you two talking about? What event?”
Qing Bai anxiously interjected, her face a mask of confusion as she looked at Yan, seemingly annoyed by the cryptic exchange between him and Alice.
“A week from now, the new server will host a large-scale monthly event, synchronized with the old server’s schedule.”
Alice, still smiling, provided everyone with the precise details of the event.
“The event is a series of arena challenges, with a total of five stages. The players who ultimately occupy these stages will secure the top five ranks and receive a special grand prize. Ranks beyond the top five will be determined by the number of stages occupied, from highest to lowest. The top ten will receive a first-class prize, the top thirty a second-class prize, and all other participants a third-class prize.”
“PVP (TL Note: Player versus Player) ?!”
Qing Bai’s eyes lit up, her face blooming with an eager expression, clearly thrilled by the prospect.
“Hold on, you’re a mage! You won’t have any advantage in PVP, will you?”
Yan retorted, a hint of exasperation in his voice.
“What do you know! This young lady’s mage is no ordinary mage!”
Qing Bai proudly lifted her chin.
“Hmph, just you wait and see this young lady shine brilliantly in this event! Hahaha…”
Her laughter abruptly ceased.
“Oh, wait…”
She turned her head to look at Tian Jiu.
“What about the Priest class?”
“There’s no need to worry about that.”
Yan explained.
“For this event, support classes like Priests and Tanks, who are at a disadvantage in player-versus-player combat, can opt to report their class and receive a second-class prize for being in the top thirty without even participating.”
“That’s right, exactly so.”
Alice affirmed Yan’s explanation.
“Ah, that’s good then. I was worried little Tian Jiu would be left out!”
Qing Bai smiled with relief.
“Sister Qing Bai…”
Realizing Qing Bai’s concern, Tian Jiu leaned closer and gave her a gentle hug.
“Thank you~”
“Honestly, little Tian Jiu is just too adorable~”
A strange maternal feeling, akin to caring for a cute little animal, swelled within Qing Bai, and she couldn’t resist hugging Tian Jiu tightly, raising her right hand to ruffle Tian Jiu’s head.
“Hehe…”
Tian Jiu obediently lowered her head, letting Qing Bai’s fair, tender hand caress her pink hair tips.
In truth, she didn’t even need to lower her head; her petite frame still resembled a child’s in the arms of the nearly 1.7-meter-tall Qing Bai, allowing Qing Bai to easily reach her head with a slight raise of her hand.
“Let’s hold off on the *yuri* (TL Note: A Japanese term referring to a genre focusing on romantic relationships between female characters) antics for now, Qing Bai. Didn’t you say you were going to shine brilliantly in the event?”
Despite the alluring sight of two beautiful girls embracing, Yan found himself compelled to remind her.
“The experts on the new server are already close to level forty. After the event news goes public, most players will probably rush to level forty-five or so, wouldn’t they?”
Yan quickly calculated, arriving at his conclusion.
“This is still an RPG game, after all. A level 40 greatsword player specialized in Strength deals more than double the damage of a level 30 greatsword player. The level gap is simply insurmountable.”
“With attribute specialization as a core game element, even the strongest unspecialized player can’t compare to a specialized one. Isn’t that common knowledge in this game?”
“Therefore, the most urgent task now is to quickly level up, reaching at least level forty-something before the event, and then undergo attribute specialization.”
“Hmph, of course this young lady knows such trivial matters…”
Qing Bai turned her face away, speaking with an indignant air.
“If you know, then why aren’t you hurrying to find a place to level up?!”
After scolding Qing Bai, Yan glanced helplessly at the levels displayed in the party list.
Yan: Level 35, Qing Bai: Level 29, Tian Jiu: Level 25
‘What a massive level disparity in this party…’
‘To get everyone to level forty within a week? It’ll be a bit difficult without exposing my bug-like abilities…’
‘After all, I can’t exactly one-shot monsters with a spear in front of Qing Bai, can I?’
Therefore, whenever they had recently teamed up, he had taken on the role of aggro-puller and casual participant.
Lost in thought, Yan’s expression grew troubled.
“Yan.”
Alice noticed his expression, gently patted his shoulder, and called out to him.
“Come here for a moment.”
“Ah? Oh.”
Yan, feeling a little confused, followed Alice out of the coffee shop and into a deserted alleyway nearby.
“This is for Yan.”
Alice waved her hand, and a piece of equipment appeared in Yan’s inventory.
“Hmm?”
Yan frowned in confusion.
‘When did Alice start giving players equipment? Or did I unknowingly trigger some quest?’
‘Well, whatever the reason, I’ll check the equipment’s stats first.’
“Companion-grade Weapon: [Weakening Spear]
ATK +30 points, Accuracy +20%, Critical Rate +20%…”
‘Holy cow! Companion-grade?!’
Yan grew excited, quickly checking the Companion-grade weapon’s inherent ability.
“Inherent Ability: STR attribute effect from attacks reduced by -75% when equipped!?????”
“What kind of cursed spear is this?”
He looked up, casting a bewildered glance at Alice.
“Also, why do these stats—ATK +30 points, Accuracy +20%, Critical Rate +20%—look so familiar?”
“Isn’t this a complete copy of the [Dominator’s Spear]?”
“Blehh~”
Alice playfully stuck out her tongue.
“It’s to prevent you from bullying others too much during the event.”
“Ah, indeed.”
Yan suddenly understood.
With his current stats, participating in the event would simply ruin other players’ game experience.
After equipping this spear, his damage would be comparable to that of a normal attack-specialized spearman. While his other two specializations—HP and Agility—were still somewhat unfair, at least it wouldn’t be as outrageously overpowered.
“If it’s for game balance, why not just delete bugged accounts like mine altogether?”
Yan asked, a hint of confusion still lingering.
“Oh? So it seems Yan really wishes for me to do that, does he?”
Alice pouted, casting a sidelong glance at Yan.
“Apologies, just pretend I said nothing.”
Yan immediately backed down; he certainly didn’t want to start over from scratch again.
“*Companion God Realm* itself doesn’t really have any game balance to speak of…”
Alice tilted her head slightly, a serene smile gracing her lips.
“Even with your abnormal stats, Yan, you’ll still encounter equally powerful players.”
“These players can achieve the same effects as a bug simply by relying on their companion skills and companion equipment, so your existence isn’t all that strange…”
“That’s true.”
As an old player from the previous server, Yan had naturally encountered the powerful players Alice spoke of, and thus he understood.
In this game called *Companion God Realm*, there truly were some utterly unreasonable companion skills and equipment, and that was precisely the most captivating aspect of the game.
Everyone was unique and powerful; in this world, anything was possible.
“Well, at this stage, Yan is still too abnormal, so this spear is needed to balance things out a bit.”
Alice’s tone suddenly shifted, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
“I’ll be sure to supervise Yan closely, to make sure you wear the [Weakening Spear] properly before participating in the event.”
“Hmph, even if you don’t supervise me, I’d still do it.”
Yan chuckled.
He, too, looked forward to a fair duel with powerful players.
After all, that was the true fun of the game.
“With this spear, Yan can now level up by grinding monsters in front of others like a normal player.”
“Oh, right.”
Yan suddenly realized.
“This way, leveling up for Qing Bai and Tian Jiu will be much easier!”
Yan could finally officially join the fray and participate in monster grinding for leveling up!