“Haha, Yao Yao, don’t worry, no one will bully you; I’ve got your back!” Liu Changsi was satisfied watching Su Yao create a new level 1 character named “Red Medicine Hall,” with the profession… Su Yao saw the four major classes of the mage system: Holy Priests, Summoners, Elementalists, and Dark Sorcerers; then the four major classes of the warrior system: Silver Moon Warriors, Dragon Braves, Knights of the Round Table, and Dual-Blade Berserkers; and finally, the four major classes of the wanderer system: Hidden Thieves, Shadow Assassins, Lone Rangers, and Playboys. After much deliberation, Su Yao chose the inconspicuous Hidden Thief.
“Oh, Yao Yao, why didn’t you choose a mage? Mages are so popular now, everyone wants them in dungeon runs. Change it, don’t pick a thief. The game is still in its first version, and the class balance hasn’t been adjusted yet. Thieves are the weakest… Look at the teams waiting at the dungeon entrances; they all say they need people but not thieves…” Su Yao paid no heed. She thought thieves were cool, low-key, and mysterious, especially liking the term “Hidden.” Who cares about class balance? Sometimes, people fall in love with things for strange reasons. As Liu Changsi sighed, the semester soon passed. “Flowing Thoughts” reached level 140, which was quite impressive at the time due to the game’s low monster-to-player ratio and slow leveling.
And Su Yao? Still on the cliff, leveling up by shooting birds. Liu Changsi turned to look at Su Yao’s screen and cried. “Red Medicine Hall,” level 200, max level. The first Hidden Thief in the entire server. Sometimes, the more you try to stay low-key, the more fate pushes you onto the opposite path. Su Yao was distressed; she didn’t want to appear at the top of the level leaderboard, but her ingrained habits as a professional player for ten years made her instinctively kill monsters, level up, and engage in PvP to exchange combat techniques.
The game had low experience from monster killing, but to cater to players with violent tendencies, the developers allowed for experience gain through PvP, with exponential increases for defeating higher-level opponents. However, losing meant a significant deduction. Some players dropped from over a hundred levels to the eighties overnight, which would take months of monster killing to recover. Thus, the game company boasted to authorities about promoting youth harmony and discouraging violent PvP, seemingly forgetting about professional players like Su Yao, a former WCG competitor. Six years hadn’t dulled her skills much; she effortlessly challenged and defeated players much higher in level and better equipped, gaining their experience and blood. After thousands of matches, she hadn’t lost once.
While Liu Changsi struggled with dungeon runs and leveling, crying out in frustration, Su Yao easily reached max level. That year, she met Ji Canghai.
“Yao Yao, have you seen the rankings? On the ‘Human World’ website, the voting just ended, and your and Cang Hai Ge’s photo album topped the charts as expected, hahaha! Congratulations! Send over the celebratory sweets and red envelopes! The whole Tianya City is celebrating for you two! Why not take a day off work and log into the game to check it out!” Liu Changsi’s excited voice came through the phone, interrupting Su Yao’s reminiscing.
“What’s the rush? The wedding isn’t until next week,” Su Yao’s mood improved significantly, and she jokingly scolded, “Your aunt has already visited three times this month; if I pretend to be sick again, my boss might just kick me out!”
Chapter Three: Luo Zishang Luo Zishang, the top strategist of the Great Yan Kingdom, was previously known only for his profound strategies, extensive foresight, and his ability to orchestrate plans from afar, making him a national treasure who needed protection.
Beneath these mountains lie numerous small states, with the largest being the Great Yan Kingdom. The origins of its establishment are lost to history, only mentioned in folklore as being founded by a mysterious player. While others were struggling to rebuild, this player used some mysterious method to instantly gain wealth that would have taken other nations years to accumulate. Other players complained to the game company, which found no evidence of cheating after extensive investigation and could only inform the public that “without evidence, player assets cannot be arbitrarily confiscated.” After founding the nation and creating a scepter named ‘Rule Over the World’, this mysterious player vanished and never logged back in. The scepter was handed over to another player and eventually ended up in the hands of a rich second-generation student named “Pai Shan Dao Hai Nan Bo Wan,” who, like Ji Canghai, enjoyed wielding power but had no clue about governance. Fortunately for Nan Bo Wan, he had Luo Zishang as his strategist. Under Luo Zishang’s guidance, the Great Yan Kingdom prospered, with robust military power and winning the hearts of its people. Meanwhile, the Great Xia Kingdom was in disarray, with many of its citizens fleeing to join the Great Yan.
Luo Zishang was thrilled; he would sit atop the Acacia Building daily, distributing equipment to newcomers, and with his eloquent tongue, he would charm the throngs of smitten girls gathered below at the largest tavern in the capital of Great Yan, Yanjing City. Luo Zishang had a dream to win over all the women in the game, making him beloved by female players from every nation. Unfortunately, his dream seemed a bit out of reach—no one had seen his real face. Luo Zishang never spoke of his real life, unlike Nan Bo Wan or Ji Canghai, who often posted their selfies online to attract fans. When girls asked about him, he would only deflect with sweet nothings, seemingly not wanting to mix his real life with the game. But Luo Zishang didn’t mind, continuing to distribute equipment, silver, and ingots daily from the Acacia Building. This time, the national expedition southwards was a long-planned operation by Luo Zishang. Before the attack, he made a military pledge that he would not consider himself worthy of the title of top strategist until he brought the foolish nation of Cang Hai Yi Sheng Xiao under control. His calculations were not wrong; the Great Xia was on its last legs, and they had already penetrated deep into its territory, soon to breach the capital, Tianya City.
However, unexpectedly, the Red Medicine Hall appeared halfway, giving the remnants of the Great Xia a boost. Now, Luo Zishang had a headache. Although the Red Medicine Hall alone wasn’t a threat, the frenzy of the empowered citizens, who were recklessly spending money on their accounts to buy revival potions and high-level drugs, posed a real challenge. Faced with a group of mad players, Luo Zishang wasn’t sure he could win this fight—he never fought a battle he wasn’t sure of winning, yet retreating seemed too shameful. Perhaps it was time to test his own skills, thought Luo Zishang, as he posted bold, red letters in the world channel. Thus, the battle between the Red Medicine Hall and Luo Zishang by the White Dragon River became a memorable event for players for years to come. Luo Zishang lost… but it was acceptable. When he fell, the Red Medicine Hall only had a third of its health left. Luo Zishang was frustrated, unable to understand his miscalculation. He had seen the Red Medicine Hall’s technique when they killed the knight captain and thought it was nothing special. He calculated that he could win by expending two-thirds of his health. But alas, a hero’s one mistake cost him everything.