Sitting in the last available seat, he mechanically turned on the computer, opened the game. This magnificent world, from the vast Shennong Labyrinth in the East to the radiant clouds in the sunlight, all were products of his countless sleepless nights of creativity. And now, listening to the rain outside, he knew this familiar yet strange world was forever out of his reach. From now on, he was just an ordinary player. He logged in for less than five seconds before silently logging out of his max-level summoner account.
Where should he go? Wang Shenmu didn’t know.
His countless unfulfilled dreams were shattered in that KTV. He loathed this noisy world — “Are you buying my account or not, are you buying it or not, are you buying it or not…” “No.” “Then go home and play with your inflatable doll!” Wang Shenmu heard the argument from the couple in the next booth, instinctively frowning. Wang Shenmu put on his headphones with disgust. The familiar music from the login screen of “The Human World” was the only thing that could cheer him up. With nothing to do, nowhere to go, and no one to care about, Wang Shenmu, feeling utterly hopeless, picked up the mouse, quickly created a new character. Gender: Male, Class: Summoner, with a default ‘idiot face’, nickname? He randomly mashed the keyboard, entering a jumble of English letters, not even knowing what it meant. His mood was just like this string of letters, chaotic and frustrating, even though he still chose Summoner, his proudest creation. — With the power bestowed by gods, summon creatures that do not exist in the human world, to fight for you, my dear wise one. Thus, we have Wang Shenmu, with a string of letters for a name and a default ‘idiot face’, wandering around the Summoner’s Village, then leaving the village to hunt monsters in the woods.
After killing a circle of snails, he leveled up to 3, and one snail dropped a sword. He picked it up and checked its stats, which were better than the recommended weapon for Summoners, the flute. He discarded the level 1 beginner flute given by the system, picked up the greatsword with both hands, and began to chop trees. He needed to vent.
At this moment, our Holy Priest, Mary, had already reached level 10 under the guidance of the Longevity Palace. On Su Yao’s screen was a dark city with a ghostly glow, the famous Nether City in “The Human World,” where all the scarce mineral veins on land could be found, along with unique dark creatures of the underworld. Countless monsters, mountains, rivers, grasslands, valleys, and waterfalls surrounded the Nether City, which was as large as half of Daxia. This is the territory of Changsheng Palace, and the entire underground world boasts landscapes and legends that are in no way inferior to those on the surface. More precious still, it has almost preserved its primitive appearance—Changsheng Palace cherishes this place so much that he does not allow any citizen from any nation to come to his territory to fight monsters or explore.
His world welcomes only solo players like himself, without any organization or affiliation, including those who have killed their enemies on the surface and are now being pursued by a large force. They can run freely, fight monsters, mine, and live their lives to the fullest, while Changsheng Palace lives alone in this vast city, as their protector—the underground city of Rebirth, where intruders are killed without mercy. At that time, Su Yao, who had been the national teacher of Xia for many years, felt that the underground world was enchanting, with its primitive and rough beauty. She looked up to the white round moon in the purple night sky, with the grassland and the gigantic city in the moonlight behind her, and the wind sweeping across the grasslands to the mountains on the horizon. She even vaguely heard the sound of waterfalls and streams striking the rocks among the mountains—until much later, she would learn the true origin of the “Seven Times in One Night” legend of Changsheng Palace, and then she would understand the obsession and terror of the man by her side.
“From level 10 to level 20, doing quests is faster than leveling up,” Qin Chuan said leisurely beside Su Yao, not telling her that this was the first time he had taken someone to level up.
Before, people wanting to see him had to wait bitterly on the grasslands outside Rebirth City, and even those with national affiliations were not allowed to step into the entrance of the underground world—intruders would be sent back to level 1.
Su Yao returned to the Mage’s Novice Village, taking on all the quests at once. After finishing, she glanced over the quest list. The simplest one was to collect ten bird eggs from the forest outside the village—this was to train the jumping skills of new players. The bird eggs were on the trees, naturally requiring coordination between jumping and picking skills to retrieve. Su Yao wondered who designed it with such consideration. She had previously only focused on PvP and monster hunting, never really paying attention to these interesting little designs—this was her first time collecting bird eggs.
Our level 10 Holy Priest, Mary Next Door, confidently headed towards the forest outside the village with her novice staff in hand. Huh? Where are the bird eggs? Or rather, where are the trees?
Looking around, she was met with nothing but stumps! Who would be so bored as to cut down an entire forest?! Su Yao was flabbergasted! Finally, a tree respawned. Excitedly, she ran over, but before she could jump, a person popped out from behind a nearby wooden house, wielding a giant sword, and with one swing, chopped down the tree. Another tree respawned, and again she tried, only for it to be chopped down by the same person. After several trees respawned, Su Yao hadn’t managed to collect a single bird egg. Damn it! Her bird eggs!
She checked his name, a string of nonsensical English. She looked at his face, a default idiot face from the system. She looked at his weapon, a giant sword. The class that uses a giant sword is the Silver Moon Warrior, and Su Yao had no good feelings towards Silver Moon Warriors right now. Without another word, Mary Next Door raised her staff, aimed at that idiot face, and—Bam! She threw a Holy Light Ball at him.
Chapter Twelve: The Unwanted Couple
Wang Shenmu was frustrated! How could someone kill him just for chopping a tree?! Oh, and the attacker was a level 10 female priest. He couldn’t counterattack, nor could he flee; he still needed to chop trees!
Wang Shenmu never fought with others; even when he was playing his max-level Summoner, he never got into conflicts or appeared much in public. His PvP record was 0, perhaps the only player in the entire server to reach max level without ever engaging in PvP. He could spend all his time appreciating the light and shadow-rendered world, every blade of grass, every tree, even squatting down to touch a roadside stone for half a day—only humans were the one thing he was unwilling to waste time on.
Facing the aggressive magic attack, Wang Shenmu merely shifted his body slightly, allowing the Holy Light Ball to graze past without retaliation, turned around, and continued chopping trees. One Holy Light Ball after another smashed near him, which he didn’t bother to dodge, focusing on chopping trees to vent. Her skills were too poor, Wang Shenmu thought; at such close range, even without dodging, she couldn’t hit him. He glanced at her nickname, Mary Next Door, interesting, but he wasn’t interested. Wang Shenmu lowered his head and continued chopping trees.
“Damn it! Are you blind or something?!”—Wang Shenmu, wearing headphones, could still hear the woman’s curse from the next compartment. He shook his head; humans, such an irritable species.
Su Yao never messed around like this—her bird eggs!!! Qin Chuan was amused by her reaction, leaning over her chair to watch her screen.