003. Show You Around
Although he was still unable to truly get along with the other man, but to be able to meet an old “acquaintance” online, He Jin couldn’t help but felt a little happy in his heart. He typed: “This game seems to have changed a lot.”
The reply to his casual remark came in the form of a red pop-up box on the screen –
「Fire Ruthless」 invites you to “ride together”, please choose “reject” / “accept”.
-And one sentence: “Come on, I’ll show you around.”
Without him noticing, a beast with black and red furs had appeared at the other man’s side. The beast’s whole body was covered in flames, making it looked like it was burning. He Jin eyed it for a second before clicking the “accept” option.
Tsing Yi automatically climbed on the beast, weakly leaning on Fire Ruthless’s body.
He Jin: “...”
On the screen, the sight of his petite and commoner-like character, sitting together with the other’s tall and mighty figure... how to look at this ah. (= _ =)
After all, eight years ago they both were still small children, even if they got married later on, it only felt like they were playing house. But it’s different now, in the view of He Jin’s twenty-two-years-old self, he was 100% male, so he couldn’t possibly become someone else’s “wife “. So, to be hugged from behind by another man... it felt a bit awkward.
But in the end, this male-female sitting posture was the system default in this game, there was nothing he could do.
The “sacred animal” who carried them began to run, and not long after, its four legs began to take off the ground, flying straight to the sky, as if it was aiming at the clouds.
He Jin tried to find something to talk about to get rid of his embarrassment: “What is this mount? It looks handsome.”
Fire Ruthless: “Poor Flames.”
Xiao Sin A Jin: “What is it called?”
Fire Ruthless: “Blazing Soul Rosefinch”
Xiao Xian Jin: “How do you have wings behind you?”
Fire Ruthless: “It is the Wings of Magic.”
Xiao Xian Jin: “...”
He Jin did not speak again. Although hearing about those things gave him a very cool feeling, but he had never heard of them. Asking about them so much might makes him seemed a bit silly.
Fortunately, the scenery around them was nice, so he could distract himself with them.
They soon left the Flower Valley, and entered a mountain path. There were green grasses all along the way, with a few flowing flowers here and there.
The feeling the game gave off was very real now. The computer hardware’s technology was up to date, so there would be no data lag, machine problem, and other phenomena. The game scene details were comparable to fantasy movies, with each frame showing a very beautiful picture.
He Jin put on his headphones, and heard the simulation sounds coming from the game – the wind blowing through the leaves, birds chirping as if they were singing. The sound of Poor Flame when running was so soft, but with an occasional hisses, which somehow made his adrenaline pumped up.
Xiao Xian Jin: “So beautiful ...”
Fire Ruthless: “After the holographic version comes out, it will be even more beautiful. Aside from seeing the scenery, you will also be able to feel them... Right, that holographic helmet lottery, are you joining it?”
Xiao Xian Jin: “Yes, I entered it before.” He Jin was a bit excited about the lottery game’s results.
Fire Ruthless: “Oh...”
While talking, Fire took him to a village with an antique entrance- wooden pillars with letters written on them: The Novice Village.
Fire Ruthless: “Do you recognize this place?”
He Jin glanced around, hesitated and asked: “Here is... The Novice Village?”
Fire Ruthless: “Yes.”
Beside the ancient looking village’s gate, he also saw many villagers cutting firewood on the edge of the mountain’s forest. They were the NPCs who would be giving out novice tasks in exchange of medicine Dan to mark the players’ step of entering the door of immortality. Seeing these familiar scenes and NPCs, He Jin’s memory slowly began to brighten!
Although the impression he had now was not as strong as when he first started playing years ago, but every newbie players surely had some kind of feeling towards this village.
Here was where He Jin first learned to roll and jump, his first time to do tasks and missions, first time to learn to buy things, to take medicine to recover his blood, the first time to find ways to chop things, and then gain experience, to have achievements, to get more powerful equipments... Each growth and upgrades left him with a full sense of accomplishment.
He Jin felt his mood changed back to become a bit similar with those of eight years ago- it was a feeling of freedom, as if he was finally broken free from a cage; like flying among the clouds, so at ease, free, and happy. The corner of He Jin’s mouth unconsciously curved up into a smile.
Before, he said that even if he logged in back into this game, it did not mean he would start playing again. But now he felt a little shaken.
Fire Ruthless took him around the village, and to the back of the mountain. There, they saw many mountain monkeys scratching on rocks and slopes on the hill.
Fire Ruthless canceled their riding status. After they landed on the ground, a monkey suddenly appearead not far from where they were standing, rushing over and trying to scratch them. He Jin instinctively wanted to counterattack, but while he was still scrambling to find the skills key, Fire Ruthless already let out a stream of blood like-ripples skill to the center of the monkeys. The ripples quickly spread everywhere. The monkeys tried to escape, but they couldn’t!
At the same time, He Jin’s screen was also flashing rapidly –
〖System〗: Your husband Fire Ruthless kills 1 monkey, you gain 1 experience .
〖System〗: Your husband Fire Ruthless kills 1 monkey, you gain 1 experience .
〖System〗: Your husband Fire Ruthless kills 1 monkey, you gain 1 experience.
〖System〗......
***
Two seconds later, the whole mountain finally fell into silent, and the hundreds of monkeys had been turned to ashes in an instant.
In just a moment, Tsing Yi suddenly gained hundreds of experience points: “...”
Fire Ruthless stood calmly in front of He Jin, his sword already placed back hanging by his side, and his clothes free of any blood, as if the monkeys slaughtering incident had nothing to do with him.
The man had a speech bubble floating above his head: “This place we are now, do you have any impression of it?”
Different people, different place, different words.
However, the scene with the monkeys had opened He Jin’s dust-laden memory ...
He asked somewhat uncertainly: “Are you in lower grade than me?”
Fire Ruthless: “Yes.”
He Jin remembered, this guy had to be that – take a blunt sword to the mountains and then died numerous times – mortal rookie? (= _ =)
Mortal (human race) couldn’t use any spells until they took the step into immortality. They could only use knives, swords, stones and other tools, or even bare handed, to fight. Therefore, the lower-level human race died easily.
At that time, He Jin passed here and saw a fierce rookie, who turned out to be Fire, being fooled around by the monkeys. He gave him a little help, and after that, they got acquainted with each other.
Back then, meeting new friends on the internet was also a very new experience for He Jin. Moreover, since he was older, He Jin felt somehow rensponsible to take care of the other boy.
Although he was originally brought to play by his classmates, He Jin could not keep up with their pace in leveling. Over time, he was finally casted aside, leaving him with only one person to team up with, Fire, who he had gotten to know in the game. So He Jin naturally began playing with the other boy more and more often.
Finally understanding the mystery behind this ‘Fire Ruthless’, He Jin was surprised: “So it is you!”
However, this guy was originally called “Fire” and not “Fire Ruthless.”
Xiao Xian Jin: “Why did you change your name to Fire Ruthless?” No wonder he did not recognize him before!
Fire Ruthless: “Why do you think?
The other guy’s response made He Jin felt a bit confused. Fire Ruthless saw him thinking, and said, “You leave eight years ago. How can I still have a heart?”
[T/N: Qin Yu’s name in the game can mean either Fire Ruthless or Fire Heartless.]
He Jin thought he was joking, so he also followed with a joke: “Why, is it hard to divorce in this game if the two people are not online at the same time?”
A cold wind blew, and then silence.
On their side, Blazing Soul Rosefinch flapped it’s wings with a shrill cry: “squeak – ah!”
That sounds a bit weird, like the beast was saying: “fool ah ...”
Ten seconds later, Fire sent only one sentence: “Whether it’s in the Spirit Fairy or Demon God, only the proposed person have the right to dissolve the engagement.”
He Jin blanched, thinking that he must be the one being proposed to before, which made Fire Ruthless unable to divorce him.
HeJin felt a little guilty: “I’m sorry ah, to have delayed you for so long ... Why don’t you take me to the place where we can dissolve the engagement??”
Blazing Soul Rosefinch: “Squeak ...”
He Jin: “...”
Fire Ruthless’s hands seemed to stiffen at his side, but there was still no action from him. He Jin was going to ask again, when his screen began to flashed repeatedly.
〖System〗: You are attacked by “Fire Ruthless”.
〖System〗: You suffered 1650 damage.
〖System〗: You have died.
... And so he died again for the second time...
***
※ Spirit Fairy – Past ※ (two)
He Jin looked at his character level on the upper left corner of the screen – “Half-Demon (10).”
Finally rose to level ten, from simply a “spirit” he had turned into a “half demon”! ~ (≧ ▽ ≦) / ~
His character image had changed from the seven or eight year-old child it originally was, into a ten-year-old appearance with grayish-white hair. Although, the gender still couldn’t be determined, but his body had grown much taller and his running had become faster!
He Jin excitedly went to get the next task – collecting herbs.
This was a simple task. He Jin ran to the mission’s location, entered the mountain, and saw a figure killing mountain monkeys.
The task of killing mountain monkeys was a norm in Spirit Fairy. Many new players had been defeated here, especially the low-level “mortals” whose only form of attack was at close range.
He Jin was brought to play this game by his classmates, so in the beginning he had someone to help him , and did not experience any suffering. Not to mention he played the “Spirit” race, capable of using long-range magic attacks, although the power is not big, but he still could use a flying attack to kill, so he has no deep resentment towards the monkeys.
On the other hand, the “mortals” kept on dying, so a lot of them began to complain, saying that this was a system bug. Monkey’s lethality is so high, simply unscientific!
Unexpectedly, the official gave an answer: The purpose of this task is to let everyone experience the rugged road to Cultivation ...
The players felt bitter, but also helpless. Over time, “when killing the monkeys, teaming up is a must” had became everyone’s consensus.
When He Jin saw that figure called Fire in the mountain, the other boy surprisingly had been killed by the monkeys for who knows how many times!
Originally, he thought after Fire realized how powerful the monkeys were, he would go to the world channel shouting for people to team up with, but He Jin miscalculated. This stupid mortal was actually a man looking for death!
... what a good dedication. (= _ =)
In the game system settings, when a mortal male character died, there was a very heroic action that they’d do – one hand covered their chest, knees kneeling, body bloody, before falling straight down and died
He Jin had seen other people’s death before, but when he saw this man dead, somehow he could not stop himself from laughing.
After a character died, the player could choose to rebirth at the nearest resurrection point, and the body on the ground would disappear.
But this guy, after his death he had been lying there for so long, without any movement!
Is he too depressed after being killed? Haha!
He Jin collected herbs around the mountain, and when he went back, he saw that the boy from before had repeated his process of dying numerous times once again. Is he a fool ah?
However, this time, when he had only a little blood left, the man sent a bubble box containing a call for help to He Jin: “99999999 ...” The next second after the bubble appeared, the man was attacked by three monkeys at the same time.
Once again, one hand covered his chest, knees kneeling, body bloody – die!
Fire: “...”
He Jin finally could not help but laugh out loud!
He sent a friend request to the man and said: “Let’s team up, I’ll help you.”