‘Solo’ was whispered to be an ancient and hallowed act, its predecessor perhaps known as a ‘duel’.
In simpler terms, it was a one-on-one challenge, often accompanied by a chuckle (TL Note: ‘233’ is Chinese internet slang for ‘lol’ or ‘haha’).
Upon hearing Nan Shi’s words, Yan swiftly returned his long spear to its rack, then spun around and dashed towards his home.
The pair had often engaged in such antics on the old server, finding immense joy in these solo duels.
While Nan Shi wasn’t as utterly engrossed in gaming as Yan, he had, through Yan’s ‘friendly exchanges’ and tutelage, blossomed into a formidable expert, not to be underestimated.
For Nan Shi, a player of such caliber, to suggest a solo duel on the old server could only signify one thing.
He had already established an account in the new server, and his level was unlikely to be low.
After all, RPGs were inherently asymmetrical competitive games; a significant level disparity would render a solo duel utterly pointless.
It would simply devolve into a high-level player mercilessly slaughtering a low-level one.
Pondering this, Yan had already reached his room, where he reclined on his bed, a faint smile playing on his lips.
‘It appeared Nan Shi intended to spring a surprise, registering an account and grinding levels in utter silence, only for the first thing he did upon finding Yan to be a challenge for a solo duel.’
‘Well, I can only hope my absurdly high stats won’t utterly shock him,’ he mused. ‘I should probably go a little easy during the solo later.’
With a soft smile, he settled the full-dive helmet onto his head.
“Companion Divine Realm! Activate!”
****
“Good evening, Alice.”
Yan’s eyes fluttered open to the sight of Alice, serene and composed, seated at a wooden table in the coffee shop, a gentle smile gracing her features.
“Good evening, Yan.”
Alice’s luminous eyes met his.
“Didn’t we already bid each other goodnight? What brings you online this evening?”
Yan sheepishly scratched his head, acknowledging that he had indeed intended to stay offline for the night.
“Well, it’s a bit of a special circumstance…”
A smile touched his lips.
“An old friend from the previous server has also joined the new one, and he’s challenged me to a solo duel.”
“Oh?”
Alice tilted her head, intrigued.
“So, where is he at the moment?”
“Didn’t ask.”
“And his ID?”
“Didn’t ask.”
“Did you tell him your ID, Yan?”
“No.”
Upon hearing this, Alice pressed a hand to her forehead in a gesture of exasperated helplessness.
“Then how will you find him, Yan?”
“Oh, there’s always a way.”
Yan smiled nonchalantly.
“Knowing that guy as I do, he’s undoubtedly still using his old server ID.”
As he spoke, he raised a hand to conjure the friend interface, navigating to the ‘add friend’ option to search by ID.
“Nan Shi.”
Yan typed in the familiar characters.
“Ah, just as I thought.”
The search yielded a player whose avatar displayed a character model unmistakably crafted by Nan Shi.
Indeed, the Nan Shi Yan knew was precisely the kind of lovable fool who would use his real name, unaltered, as his game ID.
‘Though, to be fair, his real name does rather sound like an online handle anyway,’ he mused.
Yan shrugged, then clicked to dispatch the friend request.
“You and your friend must share quite a close bond, Yan, to be able to guess something like that.”
Alice regarded him with a hint of astonishment.
Yan simply smiled, a silent affirmation of Alice’s observation.
Truly, he and Nan Shi were friends of such deep familiarity, possessing an unspoken understanding that allowed them to locate one another even without a single word.
*Ding-dong! Ding-dong!*
The friend request was accepted instantaneously, and Nan Shi, clearly impatient, had already fired off a message.
[Is that Yan?]
‘Well, it’s always good to confirm,’ he thought.
[It’s me.]
Yan typed out his reply with a faint smile.
[Your ID is truly foolish.]
Another instant reply. Reading Nan Shi’s words, Yan’s brow furrowed in mild confusion.
His ID, “Yan,” which Tian Jiu had once lauded as pleasant-sounding, was now deemed “truly foolish” by Nan Shi. ‘Such is the way of a true ‘bad friend’,’ he mused.
[Where are you?]
Nan Shi queried.
[The coffee shop.]
Yan responded.
[I’ll be right there.]
Observing these words appear in the chat box, Yan simply smiled and refrained from replying further.
Shortly thereafter, the coffee shop door was pushed open, a gentle chime announcing the arrival of a dual-wielding player who entered Yan’s line of sight.
It was a dual-wielding player, strikingly handsome with an almost European aesthetic: fair skin, sharply defined features, and a head of refreshingly styled golden short hair.
His碧蓝色 (TL Note: Refers to a blue-green or jade-blue color) eyes scanned the interior of the shop, before his gaze locked with Yan’s.
“Nan Shi, over here.”
Though Yan was loath to admit it, Nan Shi was, in reality, every bit the dashing, popular figure (TL Note: ‘现充’, xianchong, refers to someone who lives a fulfilling life in reality, often used with a hint of envy), inspiring a mix of admiration, envy, and even a touch of resentment in others.
Yan immediately recognized him as Nan Shi, and Nan Shi, reciprocating the recognition, turned and walked directly towards him.
“You scoundrel, you’re not even playing a greatsword?”
Nan Shi approached him, his gaze falling with a hint of confusion upon the long spear slung across Yan’s back.
“Hmm, I grew a bit tired of it. A change of pace isn’t bad.”
Yan offered with a smile.
“You, on the other hand, are still wielding dual swords.”
His gaze drifted to the twin blades sheathed across Nan Shi’s back.
“Naturally! Dual swords embody the very romance of RPGs!”
Nan Shi declared with an air of absolute conviction.
Indeed, among melee combatants in such RPGs, dual-wielding players were overwhelmingly the most common. It seemed that ever since the iconic black-clad swordsman in a certain popular work ignited this trend, countless players had been inspired to emulate him.
More importantly, the dual-sword class was undeniably stylish and remarkably potent.
Within this game, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to call it the developers’ favored child.
As was widely known, the stat bonuses provided by Companion-grade weapons in *Companion Divine Realm* were monumental.
The vast majority of weapons, however, required two hands to wield. Yan, for instance, could only equip a single Companion-grade long spear; there was no way to equip more simultaneously.
Yet, the dual-sword class could astonishingly equip two Companion-grade one-handed swords simultaneously.
It was utterly nonsensical.
Nevertheless…
Yan’s gaze settled upon the two swords sheathed at Nan Shi’s back.
They still appeared to be ordinary swords, likely drops from level 40 bosses. Perhaps Nan Shi had simply been unlucky, never stumbling upon a hidden quest that would yield a Companion-grade one-handed sword.
‘Qing Bai, on the other hand, truly possessed incredible luck,’ he mused. ‘Mere days after the server launched, she’d already heard rumors of a Companion-grade weapon for agile mages, and had successfully acquired it.’
As for Yan’s own Companion-grade long spears? One had been brought over from the old server, and the other was the [Weakening Spear] bestowed upon him by Alice…
‘It seems my own luck isn’t much better,’ he thought, a wry smile touching his lips.
Yan’s thoughts brought forth a bitter smile.
“So…”
Nan Shi steered the conversation back to their primary objective.
“Arena or the wilds?”
This was a question regarding player-versus-player combat.
Currently, the game offered two distinct methods for player-versus-player combat.
One was arena PK, a one-on-one duel conducted within a circular arena spanning 100 yards in diameter.
The other involved initiating a PK request on any map outside of a designated safe zone, requiring mutual agreement from both parties.
Of course, one could always opt to activate ‘all-attack mode’ and engage in a chaotic free-for-all, though this carried the risk of becoming a ‘yellow name’ or even a ‘red name’ player, subsequently marked as a wanted criminal.
The last time Qing Bai had activated ‘all-attack mode,’ she hadn’t turned ‘yellow name’ for two reasons: firstly, because Qing Bai and Yan were friends, the system had automatically classified it as mischievous behavior, thus withholding punishment; and secondly, Qing Bai hadn’t actually managed to kill Yan.
“It’s up to you. Either works for me.”
Yan stated with a confident smile.
“Well, if that’s the case, let’s head to the arena. Since we’re both melee, there’s no need to worry about positioning.”
Nan Shi reached his conclusion.
In the unspoken etiquette of PK, a wilderness duel was typically chosen when one or both combatants were ranged classes, such as archers or mages. The arena, after all, was a circular, open expanse 100 yards in diameter, utterly devoid of visual obstructions or cover. In such an environment, a ranged combatant, once engaged in close quarters, would find victory exceedingly difficult to achieve.
Yan and Nan Shi, however, were spared such concerns; both being melee fighters, a duel within the arena promised a more satisfying and pure test of skill.
Yan nodded in agreement. Together with Nan Shi, he produced a teleportation scroll, and they returned to the “City of Beginnings.”
The arena was situated in the northwestern quadrant of the “City of Beginnings,” its exterior resembling a Roman coliseum, capable of seating a multitude of spectators. Yet, with countless skirmishes occurring between ordinary players, not every match unfolded within the same grand amphitheater. Instead, after players applied for a PK match at the NPC stationed at the arena’s entrance, both combatants would be instantly teleported to a shared arena map.
The two of them, having soloed countless times before, effortlessly navigated the PK application process, intimately familiar with every step.
A soft, ethereal blue light shimmered and rose from their forms.
“Good luck, Yan.”
Alice, with a warm smile, offered words of encouragement to Yan. Since Yan hadn’t formed a party with Nan Shi, Alice remained invisible to his friend.
“Mm.”
Yan offered a faint smile, and in the blink of an eye, his form materialized within a vast, circular arena.
Approximately forty yards distant, Nan Shi stood, his intense gaze fixed directly upon Yan.
“Don’t you have anything to say?”
Meeting Nan Shi’s ardent gaze, Yan called out across the expanse.
“You scoundrel! To think you’d abandon us, your brothers of the ‘Blazing Dragon’ Guild, and abscond to the new server by yourself!”
Nan Shi’s voice, laced with a playful indignation, carried across the distance.
“You truly are a cad!”
“What was I to do? I was a victim in all of this as well…”
Yan shrugged, a gesture of helpless resignation.
“Whatever the reason, you’re going to pay! Prepare to die!”
With that declaration, Nan Shi unsheathed the twin blades from his back.
“If you believe you can, then by all means, come.”
Yan’s lips curved into a smile. He unslung the [Weakening Spear] from his back, executed a swift, elegant twirl, and gripped the weapon firmly in his right hand.
Further words were futile.
A fight was all that was needed!