Is this an illusion? Is this a dream? No! It’s reality!
More seriously, I’m really sorry, guys, I had a hard time taking care of this, B1G1F, and real life all at the same time. The good news is that since I dropped B1G1F, I won’t have to worry about releases for that anymore. The bad news is I’m still going to be busy even though that won’t be an additional issue.
I also have a bunch of shorts I’ve had to put on hold for a while and one is even Korean! More on that when I get that far, hehe.
I know this is really irresponsible of me, but I can’t seem to only work on one project without burning out quickly, so I’ll be doing a few teasers on the side. I plan to somewhat regularly (ish?) update one of the teasers with an additional chapter when I can, but I don’t think I’ll officially pick anything up until I’ve finished up GG, simply because I’ve found I’m extremely fickle about projects.
So, for now, I hope you enjoy the teasers (when they come out) and this lovely chapter that took forever!
Changes:
Jewel Excavation changed to Jewel Extraction
“Blacksmithing” skill changed to Equipment Forging
剑侠 (Censorship’s character classification) changed from “swordsman” to “wanderer” because 剑客 also exists, apparently. It also was “wandering swordsman” for a while, but hopefully not too many people read it as that.
Slight changes in naming of the Healer Job Classes (took out “The” from “The Classic of Herbal Medicine” because it works better as a job class name).
In-game currency changed to “gold” because this translator is a noob and doesn’t always read properly T^T
TL: Mandarin TLC: Queen, Piroton, Juzi (partial) Editor: TwilightEmpress, Qwaztop
Then, A Beautiful Chance Encounter!
One week after Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO went offline, «Myth»'s closed beta system shutdown, and the nearly three month-long summer vacation finally ended.
At long last, Ning Xin could proudly step through the entrance of T University while under constant nagging from her parents.
Although Ning Xin's dorm room was a double, the roommate she'd heard about didn't report to school on the first day. Since they didn't show up, Classmate Ning Xin unrestrainedly turned T University's Building 13, Residence 5, Room 201 into her own little fiefdom!
It was a bit lonely living alone, but there were also advantages! At the very least, her gaming wouldn't disturb others.
Soon after beta-testing ended, the game entered its official phase of operation. Since the server queue never went under 4 digits day-by-day, Ning Xin understood clearly just how successful «Myth»'s marketing was. Despite the game recently opening two new servers, Ning Xin's server, Youluo Fantasyland, was still at max capacity. As a result, she always had to wait at least an hour to successfully log into the game.
What was the first thing to do after logging in? Of course it was to look at the changes since she last played.
In the first place, she was a young level 45 Spiritual Pivot who hadn't switched out of Beginner's Equipment, even after all this time. On top of that, her broken attribute and cultivation point distributions still hadn't been fixed by the system. Actually, only the originally neat friend interface had changed, becoming even more organized than before.
Xiao Yudi's name was greyed out, and Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO had already disappeared from both her friend and master-disciple lists.
The official game required a cellphone message for verification now, since the beta had ended. Without a verification number, the system would automatically delete your account after a month.
At first, she thought that Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO had only gone offline temporarily out of anger and that he'd be back after he got over it, but who would have thought that the master would really abandon his own character so coldly and ruthlessly?
As for the Imperial Edict Divine Scroll that Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO had given her before he left, Ning Xin had been keeping it in her storage. Since she'd start to miss the original owner whenever she saw it, she never took it out and had planned to return it to him when he came back. But now, it seemed that Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO had thoroughly cut himself off. She was afraid that their master and disciple relationship had already reached its end.
Looking inside her storage at that glittering golden Imperial Edict Divine Scroll, Ning Xin quietly sighed in admiration and right-clicked it to study it.
Ning Xin was unable to inherit Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO's great skill. However, since he had left behind this rare book, how could she waste it so carelessly? Thinking this far, Miss Ning Xin once again embarked upon the glorious path of digging up things and harvesting resources.
Health was constantly being reduced and recovered slowly, meaning that herbal medicine was essential for survival. People would definitely kill for it!
Ning Xin made her plans very straightforwardly and thoroughly.
Health is lacking, can't attack, and low defense that is just like a small piece of brittle leather. I can't attack, and I can't defend, so I may as well play a war of attrition! To begin with, now that she learned how to gather herbs, she could make her own products and then sell them herself without wasting anything. If I can't defeat you, I'll take medicine until you die!
↖(^ω^)↗↖(^ω^)↗↖(^ω^)↗
Although the road was complicated and the course was difficult, the prospects still looked bright!
However, one hour later, Ning Xin found that her strategy had more or less failed.
First of all, even though she had learned to gather herbs, she didn't know how to make medicine! Couldn't she just swallow the raw ingredients for health? Unfortunately, the GMs had prevented this.
Secondly, when it came to the idea of taking medicine to restore health and keep the monster from killing you. . . well, it wasn't as if the monster would wait for you to take medicine. As a result, wouldn't the screen just fade to black and white, forcibly sending you to the Yellow Springs1?
In the end, Ning Xin could only come to a bitter and distressing conclusion.
Despite studying Herb Gathering, she still hadn't ensured her own life. If she fought people and killed monsters, it wasn't certain that she'd remain uninjured.
What was a tragedy, what was a disaster; after all, she, Ning Xin, was the system's biggest joke!
Though the road is long and there's no end in sight, I shall continue on.
The revolution has yet to succeed, so we all must continue to work hard.
For once, after Ning Xin reflected on her painful experience, she finally believed that she understood it clearly.
Fighting monsters to level up was pointless; gathering herbs was the true path.
To level up or fight monsters, you need equipment. Where does equipment come from? Blacksmithing!
To raid instances or act as a support in fights, you need protective gem talismans. Where do protective gem talismans come from? Gemcrafting!
To PK or attack a city, you need pills. Where do pills come from? Herbalism!
Thinking to here, Ning Xin had an inner revelation that finally brought peace to her heart.
Who doesn't kill monsters? Who doesn't level up? All of you will have to rely on me later.
If you can't be the vanguard, be the rearguard.
If you can't be a warrior, then at worst you could go into logistics.
In any case, the present Ning Xin had found her place in the game, and she strode on a glorious path towards her future with her head held high.
As a result, Miss Ning Xin decided not to repent in the end, completely abandoning the thought of levelling up, and put her heart and soul into developing her own path of excavation.
The Ning Xin at that time still didn't know that it was, in fact, already too late for her to reverse her fate as a crafting enthusiast, and had been too late before she even set foot in Myth's initial launch.
After all. . . who let her be such a natural fool?
In reality, in a game, there is no lack of crafting enthusiasts. They aren't fond of levelling, they don't like PKing, and they are happiest when doing their own thing, relying on business to survive. However, it was common for these people to only do so for the sake of accumulating astonishing wealth, as they hoped to become the God of Wealth.
However, Ning Xin was a stubborn child in the end. She wasn't in it for the fame, for the benefits, or for the money.
Who could have known that «Myth»'s future number one ranked God of Wealth, a first-rate manufacturing expert that had maxed out every skill, had initially only relied on mining to comfort her heart after it was broken by the GMs at the time.
When someone asked the first-rate manufacturing expert how she had walked on this path of no return, Ning Xin was very calm.
[Recent] Ning Xin: Because I couldn't kill the monsters by the road and just died and died and died, I could only turn my sorrow and indignation into energy for excavation.
Naturally, all of this came later.
Today's Ning Xin was the most unremarkable out of the many invisible players.
Everyday that she went online, her plan went like this:
Mining ore——extracting jewels——gathering herbs.
Gathering herbs——extracting jewels——mining ore.
In a continuous cycle, doing this over and over again.
One day, Ning Xin opened the crafting skill interface and a group of astonishing numbers appeared:
Ore Excavation rank 99 (highest rank 100)
Jewel Extraction rank 99 (highest rank 100)
Herb Gathering rank 90 (highest rank 100)
And her character's status was as follows:
Character Level 75, Defense 0, Strength 0, Dexterity 0, Luck 0, Vitality 0, Wisdom 125
HP: 750, MP: 13000 (Base MP: 500; for every additional point of Wisdom, the Healer's MP would increase by 100)
Such a confusing list of numbers!
While the amount of HP would determine a player's survivability, MP was undoubtedly their ammunition supply. Other than those professions that relied on physical attacks, all other professions viewed magic as the lifeblood of their craft and relied on the MP they had. When all of your MP was completely exhausted, no matter how much health you had, you'd still be sadistically made into fish food by someone else.
As for Ning Xin's present state of affairs, she was undoubtedly a weakened armory. She was stuffed with ammunition, but had no way to make use of her abilities.
Not only that, but for the average player around this point in the game, their highest ranked crafting skill would be 50 at the most. However, what made people speechless was that Ning Xin had already seen the horizon of the highest rank possible.
What made her want to cry was that, after going through great difficulty, she had finally seen the horizon of a maxed-out crafting skill, yet the fraudulent system had pointed out that she needed special raw materials to upgrade her skills. On top of that, it wanted her to complete the related max-rank quests.
Where were these special materials? They were in a special BOSS's nest!
What were the related max-rank quests? They were chain quests that involved hunting monsters to gather items!
As she gazed at the last hurdle between her and the final ranks of Ore Excavation and Jewel Extraction, she felt as if she might as well just let herself die under a monster’s claws.
Being unable to rise in rank, and unable to dig, Ning Xin felt helpless.
The GMs had even stripped her of her final joy. Originally, she had hoped to muddle along until her crafting skills were at max rank and prove that her journey within «Myth» wasn't in vain at the same time.
But it was a pity that the system wasn't fair, the GMs weren't benevolent, and the game developers cruelly destroyed Ning Xin's final hope for the game.
Confusion came and went. Ning Xin's little character on the screen exhibited a fixed posture of raising it's head at a 45 degree angle, it's bright and beautiful face laden with grief as it looked at that bundled up pile of gathered raw materials. Her young soul that was injured by the system felt hesitant about whether or not she should learn from her master and stay far away from this game that broke her heart and made her cry.
Considering it from many different angles and finding each one impossible, Ning Xin was really at a loss. But, without waiting for her to decide, the system abruptly pointed out that she had died. Once again, her screen was monochrome.
What, is this, the Will of Heaven? It has to be!
When stuck at a fork in the road, the Heavens will guide you!
Ning Xin's Spiritual Pivot's particularly graceful way of dying was to lay down on the ice-cold ground, gazing blankly at the red name that appeared before its eyes.
The present Ning Xin was quite dejected, pretty distressed, and very indignant.
She had been pecked to death by the village chief's domesticated chicken, snouted to death by a wild boar, and scratched to death by a forest black bear. In every case, she had been killed savagely by a monster.
Yet, aside from that time when she had been Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO's disciple and was PKed by Green River Grass, this was Ning Xin's first time being sadistically killed by a person with a red name.
Her thin armour and lacking health made it easy for her to die, so she had always avoided red names by running. Besides, wasn't she still a peaceful amateur?
Originally, because Ning Xin believed that it was better if there were fewer complications, she had that kind of "keeping the peace" temperament. Since she was only killed by monsters, at worst, she'd just resurrect again. So, since she was unable to defeat people, couldn't she still avoid them?
But, this was the first time. Her hand had paused over the button to return her to her soul flag. (Don't be skeptical; the only skill that Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO gave to his darling disciple was this one. I reckon that if Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO knew of this, he'd be able to die content.)
In the Recent Chat, someone sent a message.
[Recent] Fighting Spirit: Where's that low level? They died somewhere around here!
[Recent] Beauty Under the Moon: Little Spiritual Pivot, what are you doing, just lying here dead? Didn't you see our red names?!
Ning Xin sighed internally, Who chose to be a low level that can't even protect themselves? Forget it, forget it, quickly walk away. Consequently, when she was about to once again click to return to her soul flag, the system flashed to notify her first.
[Mo Shang] wants to use a Resurrection Pill to save your life, would you like to accept?
Resurrection Pill! That's a thing! Resurrection Pills were the cash shop's costly soul revival item; just one pill was worth 10 RMB.
Generally speaking, resurrection was dependent on the three healer professions: Spiritual Pivots, Basic Questions, and Classics of Herbal Medicine. Since they could revive people on the spot, who would bother with spending ￥10 on resurrection?
However, at this moment, a complete stranger was using one of these items on Ning Xin. As a result, Ning Xin felt overwhelmed by this favor. As she trembled and swayed, she clicked "Accept." Immediately, she saw a resplendent lotus hover above her body and her exquisitely cute little Spiritual Pivot gracefully leapt up, safely resurrecting.
After Ning Xin resurrected, the first thing she thought was to express her thanks to the other. She hadn't even finished typing out the words, when a message popped up in the Private Message Chat.
[PM] Mo Shang: Quickly run, it's dangerous here.
First he used a Resurrection Pill on her, and now, this short, five-word order made Ning Xin's heart grow warm. Her entire body, from head to toe, was filled to the brim with an indescribable emotion.
As she watched, the nine high-leveled characters on her right and left, who seemed to be around level 150, besieged a white-clothed mercenary. Silently, Ning Xin deleted her message of thanks and typed a new message.
[PM] Ning Xin: Don't want to. I'll stay and heal you.
After sending that message, Ning Xin pulled out her several lifetimes of untouched skills, adjusting her healing and various support skill rotations until she was completely comfortable with them. Not waiting for Mo Shang to reply, she used the two skills that had already been thrown onto him every five seconds: Universal Mercy, for restoring health, and Unrestrained Life, for buffing stats.
Originally, Mo Shang had only helplessly smiled when Ning Xin chose to stay. After all, a low-leveled account at level 75, couldn't do anything besides die with him. However, after Ning Xin's Universal Mercy and Unrestrained Life covered him, Mo Shang was shocked.
The amount of health Universal Mercy restored every time was calculated using the skill's grade. This skill had 5 grades in all. The first grade healed 1 x the user's wisdom stat and, with each grade increase, the stat correction increased by one point. In other words, the highest grade of Universal Mercy restored 5 x the user's wisdom in HP.
Generally speaking, even a level 150 Spiritual Pivot who added a lot of points to wisdom was unlikely to surpass 80. After all, in «Myth», every attribute point was indispensable. Stacking up all your points in one place was undoubtedly suicide.
A Spiritual Pivot with 80 wisdom and a maximum grade skill would only heal 400 HP, yet, before his eyes, a level 75 Spiritual Pivot's single Universal Mercy, thrown down every 5 seconds, was restoring 625 HP. Not only that, but her Unrestrained Life increased all of Mo Shang's attributes by 72 points for a short time.
So, Mo Shang's eyes dulled, How is this a low level, this is nothing less than a god's level!
After Mo Shang did some rapid calculations in his head, he typed out a short message to Ning Xin.
[PM] Mo Shang: Stay behind me and follow closely.
Ning Xin finally felt like she was helpful, so she happily complied with the order, unflinchingly following after this hired hand Mo Shang, whose clothes were white like snow.
The opposing nine individuals were unconcerned that a single little level 75 Spiritual Pivot had joined in. Instead, they tried to kill Mo Shang, who had just popped up. Very quickly, they realized how grave an error this decision was.
Damn, after that little level 75 Spiritual Pivot joined, Mo Shang's health was constantly at 90% or higher. How was that little Spiritual Pivot a tiny milk bottle, she was nothing less than a giant milk jug!
Discovering their mistake, they made an adjustment, shifting their focus to that annoying little Spiritual Pivot.
To their misfortune, it wasn't until then that the attackers discovered the existence on the same level as a War God, Mo Shang, was standing in their way. They couldn't even touch a single hair on the head of Ning Xin's Spiritual Pivot. On top of that, the mercenary had already cast a skill on Ning Xin that allowed him to transfer his companions' injuries to himself, so it didn't matter if Mo Shang's defense was imperfect or if they were able to finally land a hit on the little Spiritual Pivot.
This was the kind of thing that made people want to violently cough up blood!
There were only two people opposing them: a mercenary and a Spiritual Pivot.
However, this mercenary was like an instrument of war, slaughtering them on a large scale!
War God Mo Shang was ranked first in everything, except for wealth and infamy, and both his mechanics and weapons were top-notch. Standing high above the clouds and free to go wherever he pleased, he was the legendary Great God Mo Shang.
The one behind him was so lacking in comparison that she was practically invisible, but the fact she could constantly heal him almost completely made them shudder. Not only that, but there was that awe-inducing support skill.
They were fighting a god that was being followed by a large mobile blood bank.
Well, the course of events was cruel, and the conclusion was merciless.
Nine people attacked two, and the result was. . . those two people stood tall without falling, and those nine people unwillingly collapsed. It was the two-man party's complete victory!
Looking at the enemy that had completely collapsed, Ning Xin's fingers trembled from soreness. From the beginning of the conflict, her hands had been pitter-pattering away at the keyboard non-stop. She had been afraid that a single mistake would cause Mo Shang's death. After the nine enemies collapsed, Ning Xin sighed in relief, collapsing limply into her chair. Even so, her eyes stared unblinkingly at the handsome, white-clothed mercenary on the screen.
When he was fighting, the figure that had stood in front of her to protect her had resembled a wall. Because of her, he had taken hits and was injured.
Suddenly, Ning Xin discovered the rise of her own unreasonably favorable impression of this fictional character in front of her.
[PM] Mo Shang: Let's go.
After Mo Shang finished speaking, he summoned a dragon with a burst of glittering silver light and mounted it before he sent her an invitation.
[Mo Shang] has invited you to ride with him, would you like to accept?
Seeing the system notification, Ning Xin clicked "Agree" without the slightest hesitation.
On screen, the delicate and cute little Spiritual Pivot girl wrapped both arms around the white-clothed mercenary's waist, and the silver dragon puffed out a cloud of mist before it slowly climbed into the sky.
[ 1 ] – The Yellow Springs are part of the Chinese underworld where people live after death. Also, where it says “fade to black and white”, read “death screen.”
TL Note: First, let me just say that it seems like a *lot* has changed on WordPress since I last used it (the fonts look different and I have less control over the horizontal lines). Second, I did less with the spacing this time, does anybody have any thoughts? Should I go back to the old version? I probably won’t because typing that many spaces is a pain, but always good to get feedback!
Is this an illusion? Is this a dream? No! It’s reality!
More seriously, I’m really sorry, guys, I had a hard time taking care of this, B1G1F, and real life all at the same time. The good news is that since I dropped B1G1F, I won’t have to worry about releases for that anymore. The bad news is I’m still going to be busy even though that won’t be an additional issue.
I also have a bunch of shorts I’ve had to put on hold for a while and one is even Korean! More on that when I get that far, hehe.
I know this is really irresponsible of me, but I can’t seem to only work on one project without burning out quickly, so I’ll be doing a few teasers on the side. I plan to somewhat regularly (ish?) update one of the teasers with an additional chapter when I can, but I don’t think I’ll officially pick anything up until I’ve finished up GG, simply because I’ve found I’m extremely fickle about projects.
So, for now, I hope you enjoy the teasers (when they come out) and this lovely chapter that took forever!
Changes:
Jewel Excavation changed to Jewel Extraction
“Blacksmithing” skill changed to Equipment Forging
剑侠 (Censorship’s character classification) changed from “swordsman” to “wanderer” because 剑客 also exists, apparently. It also was “wandering swordsman” for a while, but hopefully not too many people read it as that.
Slight changes in naming of the Healer Job Classes (took out “The” from “The Classic of Herbal Medicine” because it works better as a job class name).
In-game currency changed to “gold” because this translator is a noob and doesn’t always read properly T^T
TL: Mandarin TLC: Queen, Piroton, Juzi (partial) Editor: TwilightEmpress, Qwaztop
Then, A Beautiful Chance Encounter!
One week after Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO went offline, «Myth»'s closed beta system shutdown, and the nearly three month-long summer vacation finally ended.
At long last, Ning Xin could proudly step through the entrance of T University while under constant nagging from her parents.
Although Ning Xin's dorm room was a double, the roommate she'd heard about didn't report to school on the first day. Since they didn't show up, Classmate Ning Xin unrestrainedly turned T University's Building 13, Residence 5, Room 201 into her own little fiefdom!
It was a bit lonely living alone, but there were also advantages! At the very least, her gaming wouldn't disturb others.
Soon after beta-testing ended, the game entered its official phase of operation. Since the server queue never went under 4 digits day-by-day, Ning Xin understood clearly just how successful «Myth»'s marketing was. Despite the game recently opening two new servers, Ning Xin's server, Youluo Fantasyland, was still at max capacity. As a result, she always had to wait at least an hour to successfully log into the game.
What was the first thing to do after logging in? Of course it was to look at the changes since she last played.
In the first place, she was a young level 45 Spiritual Pivot who hadn't switched out of Beginner's Equipment, even after all this time. On top of that, her broken attribute and cultivation point distributions still hadn't been fixed by the system. Actually, only the originally neat friend interface had changed, becoming even more organized than before.
Xiao Yudi's name was greyed out, and Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO had already disappeared from both her friend and master-disciple lists.
The official game required a cellphone message for verification now, since the beta had ended. Without a verification number, the system would automatically delete your account after a month.
At first, she thought that Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO had only gone offline temporarily out of anger and that he'd be back after he got over it, but who would have thought that the master would really abandon his own character so coldly and ruthlessly?
As for the Imperial Edict Divine Scroll that Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO had given her before he left, Ning Xin had been keeping it in her storage. Since she'd start to miss the original owner whenever she saw it, she never took it out and had planned to return it to him when he came back. But now, it seemed that Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO had thoroughly cut himself off. She was afraid that their master and disciple relationship had already reached its end.
Looking inside her storage at that glittering golden Imperial Edict Divine Scroll, Ning Xin quietly sighed in admiration and right-clicked it to study it.
Ning Xin was unable to inherit Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO's great skill. However, since he had left behind this rare book, how could she waste it so carelessly? Thinking this far, Miss Ning Xin once again embarked upon the glorious path of digging up things and harvesting resources.
Health was constantly being reduced and recovered slowly, meaning that herbal medicine was essential for survival. People would definitely kill for it!
Ning Xin made her plans very straightforwardly and thoroughly.
Health is lacking, can't attack, and low defense that is just like a small piece of brittle leather. I can't attack, and I can't defend, so I may as well play a war of attrition! To begin with, now that she learned how to gather herbs, she could make her own products and then sell them herself without wasting anything. If I can't defeat you, I'll take medicine until you die!
↖(^ω^)↗↖(^ω^)↗↖(^ω^)↗
Although the road was complicated and the course was difficult, the prospects still looked bright!
However, one hour later, Ning Xin found that her strategy had more or less failed.
First of all, even though she had learned to gather herbs, she didn't know how to make medicine! Couldn't she just swallow the raw ingredients for health? Unfortunately, the GMs had prevented this.
Secondly, when it came to the idea of taking medicine to restore health and keep the monster from killing you. . . well, it wasn't as if the monster would wait for you to take medicine. As a result, wouldn't the screen just fade to black and white, forcibly sending you to the Yellow Springs1?
In the end, Ning Xin could only come to a bitter and distressing conclusion.
Despite studying Herb Gathering, she still hadn't ensured her own life. If she fought people and killed monsters, it wasn't certain that she'd remain uninjured.
What was a tragedy, what was a disaster; after all, she, Ning Xin, was the system's biggest joke!
Though the road is long and there's no end in sight, I shall continue on.
The revolution has yet to succeed, so we all must continue to work hard.
For once, after Ning Xin reflected on her painful experience, she finally believed that she understood it clearly.
Fighting monsters to level up was pointless; gathering herbs was the true path.
To level up or fight monsters, you need equipment. Where does equipment come from? Blacksmithing!
To raid instances or act as a support in fights, you need protective gem talismans. Where do protective gem talismans come from? Gemcrafting!
To PK or attack a city, you need pills. Where do pills come from? Herbalism!
Thinking to here, Ning Xin had an inner revelation that finally brought peace to her heart.
Who doesn't kill monsters? Who doesn't level up? All of you will have to rely on me later.
If you can't be the vanguard, be the rearguard.
If you can't be a warrior, then at worst you could go into logistics.
In any case, the present Ning Xin had found her place in the game, and she strode on a glorious path towards her future with her head held high.
As a result, Miss Ning Xin decided not to repent in the end, completely abandoning the thought of levelling up, and put her heart and soul into developing her own path of excavation.
The Ning Xin at that time still didn't know that it was, in fact, already too late for her to reverse her fate as a crafting enthusiast, and had been too late before she even set foot in Myth's initial launch.
After all. . . who let her be such a natural fool?
In reality, in a game, there is no lack of crafting enthusiasts. They aren't fond of levelling, they don't like PKing, and they are happiest when doing their own thing, relying on business to survive. However, it was common for these people to only do so for the sake of accumulating astonishing wealth, as they hoped to become the God of Wealth.
However, Ning Xin was a stubborn child in the end. She wasn't in it for the fame, for the benefits, or for the money.
Who could have known that «Myth»'s future number one ranked God of Wealth, a first-rate manufacturing expert that had maxed out every skill, had initially only relied on mining to comfort her heart after it was broken by the GMs at the time.
When someone asked the first-rate manufacturing expert how she had walked on this path of no return, Ning Xin was very calm.
[Recent] Ning Xin: Because I couldn't kill the monsters by the road and just died and died and died, I could only turn my sorrow and indignation into energy for excavation.
Naturally, all of this came later.
Today's Ning Xin was the most unremarkable out of the many invisible players.
Everyday that she went online, her plan went like this:
Mining ore——extracting jewels——gathering herbs.
Gathering herbs——extracting jewels——mining ore.
In a continuous cycle, doing this over and over again.
One day, Ning Xin opened the crafting skill interface and a group of astonishing numbers appeared:
Ore Excavation rank 99 (highest rank 100)
Jewel Extraction rank 99 (highest rank 100)
Herb Gathering rank 90 (highest rank 100)
And her character's status was as follows:
Character Level 75, Defense 0, Strength 0, Dexterity 0, Luck 0, Vitality 0, Wisdom 125
HP: 750, MP: 13000 (Base MP: 500; for every additional point of Wisdom, the Healer's MP would increase by 100)
Such a confusing list of numbers!
While the amount of HP would determine a player's survivability, MP was undoubtedly their ammunition supply. Other than those professions that relied on physical attacks, all other professions viewed magic as the lifeblood of their craft and relied on the MP they had. When all of your MP was completely exhausted, no matter how much health you had, you'd still be sadistically made into fish food by someone else.
As for Ning Xin's present state of affairs, she was undoubtedly a weakened armory. She was stuffed with ammunition, but had no way to make use of her abilities.
Not only that, but for the average player around this point in the game, their highest ranked crafting skill would be 50 at the most. However, what made people speechless was that Ning Xin had already seen the horizon of the highest rank possible.
What made her want to cry was that, after going through great difficulty, she had finally seen the horizon of a maxed-out crafting skill, yet the fraudulent system had pointed out that she needed special raw materials to upgrade her skills. On top of that, it wanted her to complete the related max-rank quests.
Where were these special materials? They were in a special BOSS's nest!
What were the related max-rank quests? They were chain quests that involved hunting monsters to gather items!
As she gazed at the last hurdle between her and the final ranks of Ore Excavation and Jewel Extraction, she felt as if she might as well just let herself die under a monster’s claws.
Being unable to rise in rank, and unable to dig, Ning Xin felt helpless.
The GMs had even stripped her of her final joy. Originally, she had hoped to muddle along until her crafting skills were at max rank and prove that her journey within «Myth» wasn't in vain at the same time.
But it was a pity that the system wasn't fair, the GMs weren't benevolent, and the game developers cruelly destroyed Ning Xin's final hope for the game.
Confusion came and went. Ning Xin's little character on the screen exhibited a fixed posture of raising it's head at a 45 degree angle, it's bright and beautiful face laden with grief as it looked at that bundled up pile of gathered raw materials. Her young soul that was injured by the system felt hesitant about whether or not she should learn from her master and stay far away from this game that broke her heart and made her cry.
Considering it from many different angles and finding each one impossible, Ning Xin was really at a loss. But, without waiting for her to decide, the system abruptly pointed out that she had died. Once again, her screen was monochrome.
What, is this, the Will of Heaven? It has to be!
When stuck at a fork in the road, the Heavens will guide you!
Ning Xin's Spiritual Pivot's particularly graceful way of dying was to lay down on the ice-cold ground, gazing blankly at the red name that appeared before its eyes.
The present Ning Xin was quite dejected, pretty distressed, and very indignant.
She had been pecked to death by the village chief's domesticated chicken, snouted to death by a wild boar, and scratched to death by a forest black bear. In every case, she had been killed savagely by a monster.
Yet, aside from that time when she had been Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO's disciple and was PKed by Green River Grass, this was Ning Xin's first time being sadistically killed by a person with a red name.
Her thin armour and lacking health made it easy for her to die, so she had always avoided red names by running. Besides, wasn't she still a peaceful amateur?
Originally, because Ning Xin believed that it was better if there were fewer complications, she had that kind of "keeping the peace" temperament. Since she was only killed by monsters, at worst, she'd just resurrect again. So, since she was unable to defeat people, couldn't she still avoid them?
But, this was the first time. Her hand had paused over the button to return her to her soul flag. (Don't be skeptical; the only skill that Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO gave to his darling disciple was this one. I reckon that if Not Afraid of Censorship XXOO knew of this, he'd be able to die content.)
In the Recent Chat, someone sent a message.
[Recent] Fighting Spirit: Where's that low level? They died somewhere around here!
[Recent] Beauty Under the Moon: Little Spiritual Pivot, what are you doing, just lying here dead? Didn't you see our red names?!
Ning Xin sighed internally, Who chose to be a low level that can't even protect themselves? Forget it, forget it, quickly walk away. Consequently, when she was about to once again click to return to her soul flag, the system flashed to notify her first.
[Mo Shang] wants to use a Resurrection Pill to save your life, would you like to accept?
Resurrection Pill! That's a thing! Resurrection Pills were the cash shop's costly soul revival item; just one pill was worth 10 RMB.
Generally speaking, resurrection was dependent on the three healer professions: Spiritual Pivots, Basic Questions, and Classics of Herbal Medicine. Since they could revive people on the spot, who would bother with spending ￥10 on resurrection?
However, at this moment, a complete stranger was using one of these items on Ning Xin. As a result, Ning Xin felt overwhelmed by this favor. As she trembled and swayed, she clicked "Accept." Immediately, she saw a resplendent lotus hover above her body and her exquisitely cute little Spiritual Pivot gracefully leapt up, safely resurrecting.
After Ning Xin resurrected, the first thing she thought was to express her thanks to the other. She hadn't even finished typing out the words, when a message popped up in the Private Message Chat.
[PM] Mo Shang: Quickly run, it's dangerous here.
First he used a Resurrection Pill on her, and now, this short, five-word order made Ning Xin's heart grow warm. Her entire body, from head to toe, was filled to the brim with an indescribable emotion.
As she watched, the nine high-leveled characters on her right and left, who seemed to be around level 150, besieged a white-clothed mercenary. Silently, Ning Xin deleted her message of thanks and typed a new message.
[PM] Ning Xin: Don't want to. I'll stay and heal you.
After sending that message, Ning Xin pulled out her several lifetimes of untouched skills, adjusting her healing and various support skill rotations until she was completely comfortable with them. Not waiting for Mo Shang to reply, she used the two skills that had already been thrown onto him every five seconds: Universal Mercy, for restoring health, and Unrestrained Life, for buffing stats.
Originally, Mo Shang had only helplessly smiled when Ning Xin chose to stay. After all, a low-leveled account at level 75, couldn't do anything besides die with him. However, after Ning Xin's Universal Mercy and Unrestrained Life covered him, Mo Shang was shocked.
The amount of health Universal Mercy restored every time was calculated using the skill's grade. This skill had 5 grades in all. The first grade healed 1 x the user's wisdom stat and, with each grade increase, the stat correction increased by one point. In other words, the highest grade of Universal Mercy restored 5 x the user's wisdom in HP.
Generally speaking, even a level 150 Spiritual Pivot who added a lot of points to wisdom was unlikely to surpass 80. After all, in «Myth», every attribute point was indispensable. Stacking up all your points in one place was undoubtedly suicide.
A Spiritual Pivot with 80 wisdom and a maximum grade skill would only heal 400 HP, yet, before his eyes, a level 75 Spiritual Pivot's single Universal Mercy, thrown down every 5 seconds, was restoring 625 HP. Not only that, but her Unrestrained Life increased all of Mo Shang's attributes by 72 points for a short time.
So, Mo Shang's eyes dulled, How is this a low level, this is nothing less than a god's level!
After Mo Shang did some rapid calculations in his head, he typed out a short message to Ning Xin.
[PM] Mo Shang: Stay behind me and follow closely.
Ning Xin finally felt like she was helpful, so she happily complied with the order, unflinchingly following after this hired hand Mo Shang, whose clothes were white like snow.
The opposing nine individuals were unconcerned that a single little level 75 Spiritual Pivot had joined in. Instead, they tried to kill Mo Shang, who had just popped up. Very quickly, they realized how grave an error this decision was.
Damn, after that little level 75 Spiritual Pivot joined, Mo Shang's health was constantly at 90% or higher. How was that little Spiritual Pivot a tiny milk bottle, she was nothing less than a giant milk jug!
Discovering their mistake, they made an adjustment, shifting their focus to that annoying little Spiritual Pivot.
To their misfortune, it wasn't until then that the attackers discovered the existence on the same level as a War God, Mo Shang, was standing in their way. They couldn't even touch a single hair on the head of Ning Xin's Spiritual Pivot. On top of that, the mercenary had already cast a skill on Ning Xin that allowed him to transfer his companions' injuries to himself, so it didn't matter if Mo Shang's defense was imperfect or if they were able to finally land a hit on the little Spiritual Pivot.
This was the kind of thing that made people want to violently cough up blood!
There were only two people opposing them: a mercenary and a Spiritual Pivot.
However, this mercenary was like an instrument of war, slaughtering them on a large scale!
War God Mo Shang was ranked first in everything, except for wealth and infamy, and both his mechanics and weapons were top-notch. Standing high above the clouds and free to go wherever he pleased, he was the legendary Great God Mo Shang.
The one behind him was so lacking in comparison that she was practically invisible, but the fact she could constantly heal him almost completely made them shudder. Not only that, but there was that awe-inducing support skill.
They were fighting a god that was being followed by a large mobile blood bank.
Well, the course of events was cruel, and the conclusion was merciless.
Nine people attacked two, and the result was. . . those two people stood tall without falling, and those nine people unwillingly collapsed. It was the two-man party's complete victory!
Looking at the enemy that had completely collapsed, Ning Xin's fingers trembled from soreness. From the beginning of the conflict, her hands had been pitter-pattering away at the keyboard non-stop. She had been afraid that a single mistake would cause Mo Shang's death. After the nine enemies collapsed, Ning Xin sighed in relief, collapsing limply into her chair. Even so, her eyes stared unblinkingly at the handsome, white-clothed mercenary on the screen.
When he was fighting, the figure that had stood in front of her to protect her had resembled a wall. Because of her, he had taken hits and was injured.
Suddenly, Ning Xin discovered the rise of her own unreasonably favorable impression of this fictional character in front of her.
[PM] Mo Shang: Let's go.
After Mo Shang finished speaking, he summoned a dragon with a burst of glittering silver light and mounted it before he sent her an invitation.
[Mo Shang] has invited you to ride with him, would you like to accept?
Seeing the system notification, Ning Xin clicked "Agree" without the slightest hesitation.
On screen, the delicate and cute little Spiritual Pivot girl wrapped both arms around the white-clothed mercenary's waist, and the silver dragon puffed out a cloud of mist before it slowly climbed into the sky.
[ 1 ] – The Yellow Springs are part of the Chinese underworld where people live after death. Also, where it says “fade to black and white”, read “death screen.”
TL Note: First, let me just say that it seems like a *lot* has changed on WordPress since I last used it (the fonts look different and I have less control over the horizontal lines). Second, I did less with the spacing this time, does anybody have any thoughts? Should I go back to the old version? I probably won’t because typing that many spaces is a pain, but always good to get feedback!
