A pack of ferocious wild wolves stood guard on the hillside. Their fierce eyes, burning with menace, were fixed intently upon him.
Yue Mingyan swallowed hard.
The vivid, lifelike imagery exerted a palpable pressure on him.
In a real-life scenario, he likely would have faced an inescapable demise.
Yet, within this realm, things were decidedly different.
Yue Mingyan, brandishing his long spear, charged towards the wolf pack.
His resolute gaze locked onto the alpha wolf leading the charge.
Pivoting his body, he thrust the spear forward.
Although the sharp tip of his spear was still a distance from the alpha, the weapon suddenly glowed with a crimson light.
Yue Mingyan’s form flickered momentarily where he stood.
In the very next instant, both he and his spear had lunged forth, the keen tip plunging deep into the alpha wolf’s body.
With nothing more than a simple, straightforward thrust—the most basic auto-attack for a Spearman—it instantly obliterated the health bar of the Level 15 field boss, renowned as the “Wolf King of the Plains.”
In a mere single encounter, Yue Mingyan had dispatched it.
“Congratulations on achieving [First Formidable Foe]! You have gained 2 attribute points.”
‘Formidable foe’?
Yue Mingyan chuckled wryly.
Perhaps the GM (TL Note: Game Master, referring to the game administrator or developer) intended this field boss to be the first obstacle for new players.
Yet, Yue Mingyan had effortlessly surmounted it.
The remaining wild wolves were nothing more than ordinary mobs (TL Note: common monsters in video games) below Level 10.
Yue Mingyan easily dispatched them one by one using the same method.
“Oh, you’ve already reached Level 8, haven’t you? As expected of Yue Mingyan! Congratulations, congratulations.”
Once Yue Mingyan had finished clearing all the mobs before him, Alice spoke, a faint smile gracing her lips as she sat on the nearby grass.
“With stats like these, it’s impossible to level up slowly…”
Yue Mingyan said with a bitter smile.
A Level 5 Spearman instantly killing a Level 15 field boss.
Anyone witnessing it would surely be terrified.
Fortunately, in the game [Accompanying Divine Realm], players’ levels are not publicly displayed.
Only teammates in the same party can see one’s level.
Otherwise, wouldn’t he be exposed in an instant?
“Speaking of which, that spear of yours is incredibly practical, isn’t it? It must be an Accompanying-tier weapon.”
Alice pointed at the long spear he held in his hand.
“This one,” Yue Mingyan replied, planting the spear into the ground and tracing the faint patterns on its shaft.
“It actually belonged to a friend from my previous guild.
I remember he grinded that ‘Doomsday Instance’ event five times over just to get it.
But then he quit the game for some real-life reasons, and in the end, it fell to me…”
The spear’s attribute panel materialized before Yue Mingyan’s eyes.
Accompanying-tier Weapon: [Spear of the Dominator]
ATK +30, Accuracy +20%, Critical Rate +20%
Innate Ability: Upon equipping, the first attack against an enemy unit will be a lunge and will always hit.
Obtained by slaying all monsters in the Version 150 event instance, [Doomsday Dominator].
That unnatural instantaneous movement just now was indeed the spear’s innate ability.
Truly, it couldn’t be more convenient or practical for grinding monsters and leveling up.
“Oh? That’s quite rare, isn’t it? It’s uncommon for someone in this game to give away an Accompanying-tier weapon to another player.
After all, Accompanying-tier items are incredibly scarce; almost everyone keeps them for themselves.”
Alice regarded Yue Mingyan with a hint of surprise, then, as if realizing something, she rose from the grass with a smile.
“It must be because you had such a good relationship with everyone in your previous guild, Yue Mingyan.
Only a truly capable guild leader earns the affection of their members~”
“Hmm… perhaps,” Yue Mingyan mused, “though I don’t feel like I did anything special…”
He recalled the myriad moments spent with his guildmates in the past.
Perhaps it was his profound love for the game that led him to nurture the guild as if it were a true home.
And perhaps, it was precisely for this reason that his relationships with everyone gradually deepened.
This aspect of a Full-Dive VRMMORPG (TL Note: Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, where players immerse themselves fully in a virtual world) was also incredibly appealing.
The interpersonal interactions felt indistinguishable from real life—perhaps even more relaxed and genuine.
‘Well, even if I’m starting from “zero” now,’ Yue Mingyan thought with a bitter smile.
“Let’s find a new spot to keep leveling up,” Yue Mingyan said to Alice.
“Mhm.”
****
The two of them proceeded to an area populated by Level 15-20 mobs.
“Coming here to level up at Level 8, you might just be the first player in this game to do so.”
Alice stepped over the gnarled tree roots crisscrossing the forest floor, casting a playful, teasing smile at Yue Mingyan.
“If it weren’t for the ‘experience correction’ limitation, where monsters more than ten levels above or below your own stop giving experience, my current stats would let me tackle areas around Level 50 without an issue.”
‘Yue Mingyan could instantly kill Level 50 monsters now…’
“That’s true.”
This place was indeed an excellent spot for leveling.
Although the monsters were a bit lower in level, the endless stream of plant-type creatures emerging from the bushes caused Yue Mingyan’s level to skyrocket.
“Wind Spear Wheel!”
It was simply too tedious to kill them one by one.
Thus, Yue Mingyan resorted to one of the many AoE (TL Note: Area of Effect, referring to a skill that damages multiple targets in a given area) skills he had learned in the library.
Yue Mingyan’s wrist flicked, rapidly twirling the long spear.
His hands alternated, tracing a circle with the spear above his head.
Aided by the game system, a powerful blade of wind surged outwards, sweeping away all surrounding monsters.
‘Well, despite being a rather weak AoE skill that only consumed 1 Mana (TL Note: “蓝” or “lan” often refers to mana or energy points in games, typically represented by a blue bar), under the terrifying boost of Yue Mingyan’s attributes, instantly killing these Level 17 plant-type monsters was still quite simple.’
“Congratulations, player, you have reached Level 10! The Colosseum has been unlocked.”
‘Hm?’ Hearing the system prompt in his ear, Yue Mingyan paused for a moment.
Yet, the movements of his hands didn’t cease, as he continued to wield his spear, harvesting vast swathes of plant-type monsters.
“Alice, what’s this ‘Colosseum’?”
“Oh, that? It’s a unique PvP (TL Note: Player versus Player, referring to combat between actual players) arena in this new server where players can engage in PK (TL Note: Player Kill, a common term for players fighting each other to the death in games).
There are also various duel-like event quests announced there.”
“Player PK?” Yue Mingyan asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.
“Isn’t that something you can do outside safe zones by requesting a duel, and then both parties agree to PK?”
“Well, yes, in previous versions of [Accompanying Divine Realm], PvP gameplay, including player-versus-player combat, wasn’t the main focus of the game.
But it’s different in this server.”
Alice smiled mischievously, tilting her head back, her sparkling eyes meeting Yue Mingyan’s gaze.
“The GM is currently trying to shift the overall gameplay of [Accompanying Divine Realm] from simply grinding monsters and leveling up (PVE (TL Note: Player versus Environment, referring to combat against computer-controlled enemies)) towards player-versus-player battles.
From now on, there will be more and more player combat events.”
“The establishment of this Colosseum is simply meant to encourage players who excel in player-versus-player combat.
After all, many Assassins and other classes aren’t particularly suited for the monster-grinding style of leveling.”
“That’s a fair point.”
Yue Mingyan considered it for a moment before responding.
“In that case, these player-versus-player battles must also offer generous rewards, right?
Players would only be on board if the benefits were comparable to what they get from monster grinding.”
Yue Mingyan found it hard to believe that unrewarded player-versus-player combat could entice players away from the highly efficient PVE method of gaining experience and monster drops.
“Well, of course, the GM has taken that into consideration.
Player battles in the Colosseum won’t yield any less experience or materials than monster grinding.”
“Oh, I see…”
To be honest, Yue Mingyan was slightly tempted.
‘But if a “bug” like him participated in player-versus-player combat, wouldn’t it leave other players with no chance?’
“Well, even if you can’t join the player-versus-player battles, you can still participate in the class-specific Colosseum events.”
Alice seemed to have divined his thoughts, offering this consolation.
“After all, the opponents in those events are virtual NPCs (TL Note: Non-Player Characters, controlled by the game’s AI), and the reward for clearing them is an Accompanying-tier skill!”
!
“You said the reward is an Accompanying-tier skill!?”
“That’s right~”
Yue Mingyan was utterly awed by the new server’s audacity.
It turned out that everything mentioned on the forums was true: in this new server, one could quickly acquire several Accompanying-tier skills.
Unlike his past experience, where he only had two Accompanying-tier skills even after reaching max level.
‘Speaking of which, did only one Accompanying-tier skill, “Heavy Attack,” remain from his previous account?
The other one…’
‘Never mind, he should be content with this much,’ Yue Mingyan thought with a wry smile.
“Yue Mingyan, aren’t you going to participate in the event?”
Alice watched him, a hint of confusion in her gaze, as he didn’t move with the excited haste she had anticipated.
“Hmm… Alice, when does this event end?”
“Oh, this event is permanently open in the Colosseum.
After all, they need to accommodate the continuous influx of new players into the server.
However, each person only gets one chance to participate.”
“I thought so…”
Confirming his suspicion, he nodded and smiled at Alice.
“Since it’s always open, there’s no rush.
I already have two Accompanying-tier skills, so for now, I’d rather not be too ostentatious.”
“Oh? I didn’t expect you to be so composed!
Many players teleport back to the main city on the spot the moment they hear the words ‘Accompanying-tier,’ completely overcome with excitement, you know?”
Alice, surprised, raised an eyebrow at him, a playful laugh escaping her lips.
“Haha, you flatter me.
It’s just that my situation is a bit too unique.”
Yue Mingyan scratched his head self-consciously.
He continued deeper into the forest, brandishing his spear, seeking higher-level monsters to grind for experience.
The monster spawn rate in this area was incredibly fast.
The depths of the forest teemed with two types of magical beasts: Blood Monkeys and Cuckoo Birds.
Their abundant numbers allowed Yue Mingyan to level up with astonishing speed, and in the blink of an eye, his level soared to sixteen.
“Whew, it’s probably time to go fight the first boss.”
“Let’s see, the attribute points from leveling up and the rewards from minor achievements… Hmm, a total of 153 points.
I’ll just put them all into SPD (TL Note: Speed, a common attribute in RPGs that affects movement and attack speed) Agility.”
Gazinge at his maxed-out Strength, Yue Mingyan gave a bitter smile, knowing there was no more room to increase his attack power anyway.
Yue Mingyan twirled his spear once, then slung it across his back.
He and Alice walked out of the forest together.
Basking in the bright, warm sunlight outside the forest, unobstructed by the tall trees, he couldn’t help but stretch languidly.
The sun’s warmth gradually permeated his body from the surface, making every pore feel utterly comfortable.
“Mmm~ That feels good!
Let’s continue our adventure, then!”
With these words, Yue Mingyan naturally took Alice’s arm, pulling her along as they ran down the empty mountain path outside the forest.
“Hey, hey, Yue Mingyan! Slow down a little!”
Yue Mingyan’s sudden pull, urging her to run, left Alice a little breathless.
She cried out in alarm, then, with a helpless smile, gave in.
Unaware of the mountain wind lifting the blue strands of hair from the back of her head, the world reflected in her crystalline eyes consisted solely of the azure sky, the winding mountain path stretching ahead, and the boy who pulled her along.
Such an adventure, it seemed, was quite wonderful.
Alice remembered.
Since his previous account, Yue Mingyan had always been this way: he loved this game, he loved adventuring in the full-dive world, and he loved adventuring with her.
It was as if he regarded her as a true friend, a genuine companion.
Alice thought, a soft smile gracing her lips, a faint blush coloring her delicate face.
Her serene expression, like this beautiful world itself, was wondrous, exquisite, much like…
A miracle.