DADH Chapter 42

After completely crawling onto the shore, the hero meticulously removed the weeds from his head. He then patted his chest in fear and looked at Jing Nian with gratitude. “Thanks to your rescue, kind-hearted passerby. If it weren’t for you, I would have been eaten by that terrifying giant river clam.”

Terrifying giant river clam… Jing Nian was momentarily stunned, then realized that the “river clam” the hero mentioned was probably the task he was about to undertake. Using a pufferfish item to rescue the hero’s leg from the river clam’s mouth should do the trick. However, it was strange because based on what Jing Nian had heard, the hero’s leg had been trapped by a river clam the size of two palms. But now, from the hero’s words, it seemed like he had been trapped by that giant river clam baby earlier?

After noticing Jing Nian’s height and looking at the cape he was wearing, the hero recognized him and spoke in an amiable, honest tone, “It’s you! Young friend! You saved my life. If you need any help, just ask, and I’ll make sure to help you!”

After the hero finished speaking, a dialogue box automatically popped up for Jing Nian: [Maybe you can ask the hero about the location of Life Town.]

Before Jing Nian could say anything, the hero suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “Huh,” revealing a puzzled expression. Then, he muttered to himself subconsciously, “It seems like I have some strange memories added to my mind?”

Meeting Jing Nian’s gaze, the hero suddenly chuckled and cast aside the earlier confusion. He explained, “Haha, sorry, I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I always feel like I’ve experienced being trapped by the river and having my leg caught by it before.”

The hero’s sunny smile made Jing Nian suddenly feel uncomfortable.

Originally, Jing Nian had thought of a perfect plan to retrieve the pufferfish item and was about to try it. However, after hearing the hero’s words and seeing the hero’s leg, which he had already forgotten, he suddenly felt reluctant to speak.

He remembered that when he had encountered three lazy teammates earlier, they had mentioned a hero whose leg had been trapped by a river clam. Even though one of his legs was crippled, he was determined to guide them. This hero was probably the one they were talking about.

For real-life players, NPCs were merely tools in questlines. But when he stepped into this terrifyingly realistic game, these NPCs became living, breathing beings in his eyes.

The hero’s recent strange behavior was likely due to the fact that, after the game’s launch, he became a part of the quest line and had to be repeatedly trapped by the river clam and rescued by every player, even in a parallel-like space.

So, that’s why he has these seemingly real but fake memories.

In other words, since the game’s launch, the hero’s sense of time has become muddled, and his time has been frozen within the quest!

Realizing this, Jing Nian’s heart tightened, and he thought of something even more terrifying.

Since the game’s launch, life in the Dragon Abyss had continued as usual, unaffected. Jing Nian hadn’t delved deeper into considering this crisis until now.

Now it appeared that the reason for this was that the Dragon Abyss was a high-level instance, and there were currently no players who could access related quests or NPCs inside. Thus, the Dragon Abyss remained unaffected.

But what if, once players leveled up, the NPCs in the Dragon Abyss also faced the same situation as the hero?

What’s even more horrifying is that the hero was just a quest-guiding NPC. In most cases, the way to complete a dungeon was to defeat the boss!

Would defeated bosses, like the hero, be cut into countless parallel spaces, as if killed by players?

Or, after being killed, would they be forever trapped in the moment of their demise?

Hiss—

As this deduction flashed through his mind, Jing Nian took a sharp intake of breath.

There was something even more urgent than leveling up now!

According to what his three lazy teammates said, the level 25 dungeon had already been unlocked, so he needed to quickly see what the previously opened dungeon looked like now.

Jing Nian glanced at the hero’s intact right leg and suddenly came up with an idea.

He decided to try the original plan again, but… he would first give the hero a gift and see how it worked.

–

Life Town, inside the blacksmith’s shop.

Dang! Dang! Dang! A small figure in a black cloak stood on a stool, raising small hands and swinging them vigorously.

It was Jing Nian, who had decided to give the hero a gift and was now raising a small hammer, making a resounding noise as he struck a curved piece of equipment.

Beside him, the blacksmith shop’s owner and several apprentices were fanning Jing Nian enthusiastically, and while fanning, they were also blowing rainbow farts into the air.

“Master, your forging skills are truly amazing!”

“Yes, watching your forging, I feel like I’ve improved by more than ten years!”

“Young master, if you have any needs in the future, just come to our shop and let us know. We’ll have materials ready for you anytime, as long as you let us continue watching!”

The blacksmith shop’s owner’s wife, with half-admiration and half-slickness in her squinted eyes, praised Jing Nian.

The owner clapped his hands. “How about you, young master, become an honorary member of our little shop?”

As if afraid Jing Nian would refuse, the owner hastily explained, “No constraints at all. Just come to the shop whenever you need to forge something…”

Seeing Jing Nian swinging the little hammer ceaselessly, the owner gritted his teeth and decided to be generous, “We’ll pay you triple the market rate!”

Thinking back to the first time he recalled the incident where the dwarf, Ga’erfu, had taught him the Advanced Forging skill, Jing Nian had no confidence in being able to create what he wanted. Therefore, he was completely absorbed, pouring all his attention into forging. He paid no attention to the people around him.

Dang! After he struck the final blow, the object beneath the hammer suddenly emitted a purple light.

The light dissipated, revealing a pair of purple knee guards on the crafting table.

The surrounding blacksmiths, the owner, apprentices, and even passersby were all astonished, looking at the little figure standing in front of the crafting table, stroking his chin in contemplation.

“Wow—It’s actually purple!”

“Isn’t this high-grade? Our small town can’t appraise something of this level, right? Do we have to go to the city for an appraisal?”

“Old blacksmith, where did you dig up this master from?”

The discussions in the surroundings grew louder and more people gathered around. Even the players in the town were drawn to the commotion.

By the time Jing Nian noticed the commotion, it was too late to hide.

On the side, Huo Yi, who had been silently observing, noticed the little guy’s attempt to dodge the spotlight and calmly picked Jing Nian up from the stool. He subtly exchanged positions with him before the surrounding players approached, creating the illusion that he was the one who had just crafted the item.

Sure enough, when the approaching players took a look, they misunderstood and mistook Huo Yi for the one praised by these NPCs earlier.

It wasn’t until they saw the player dressed in black clothing and a mask, fully armed up to their eyes, and still remaining anonymous, that these players understood. The player who had crafted the purple item didn’t want to draw attention, so there were no nosy inquiries about their information.

However, there were some wealthy players interested in the purple knee guards on the crafting table. One player asked Huo Yi, “Buddy, have you been practicing forging since the server opened? Your luck seems pretty good, huh? Are you selling this purple equipment? Give me a quote, and I’ll take it off your hands¹means that someone is asking for a price or an offer for something they want to acquire..”

Huo Yi lowered his head, seemingly in contemplation, and then shifted his gaze toward the small figure hidden beside him.

Jing Nian, still puzzled by the situation, raised his head from the task panel and finally realized that this black-clad individual had discreetly shielded him from the players’ attention.

Was this person really being so kind?

Inside the Dragon Soul Space, the young dragon happily watched the black-clad person shielding Jing Nian and, sensing Jing Nian’s suspicion, joyfully emerged.

“Of course, because he was—”

“Shut up!”

Inside the Dragon Soul Space, Jing Nian’s Dragon Soul blushed red, embarrassed, as he firmly covered the young dragon’s mouth.

Due to shared consciousness, many things Jing Nian didn’t say could still be clearly felt by the young dragon, such as Jing Nian not wanting players to discover that he was the one who crafted the item.

Now, seeing the black-clad person help Jing Nian fend off those players, the young dragon instantly felt that it was thanks to his own efforts. It must have been arranged by the “parents” in the system.

‘See? Now even the black-clad person knows to protect little brother~’

Even though his mouth was covered, Jing Nian couldn’t stop the triumphant look in the young dragon’s eyes and the telepathic communication that followed.

However, since the young dragon didn’t utter those two words, Jing Nian decided not to argue with it.

He glanced up at the reliable figure of the black-clad person and heard someone nearby asking if he was selling the item, with direct offers coming in. It was only then that Jing Nian belatedly understood.

The black-clad man was asking him whether he wanted to sell the knee guards to that player.

Of course, Jing Nian had no intention of selling it. This was the knee guard he had prepared as a gift for the warrior!

Seeing the slight head shake from the little dragon, Huo Yi turned back and coldly refused the player who had inquired about the price.

Perhaps because he exuded an aura of strength, some players among those who were refused were not entirely satisfied but only muttered, “Pretentious,” under their breath before leaving in frustration.

There was no dispute in the blacksmith shop.

Some people stayed behind, curious about Huo Yi’s experience, how long he had been practicing, and what level he had reached in forging.

Currently, it was still early in the game’s release, and very few players had started focusing on life skills. Low-level equipment wasn’t valuable, and it wasn’t as profitable as completing early-game quests. Moreover, the equipment level that could typically be crafted couldn’t surpass the player’s level.

Even professional life players would usually prioritize leveling up first. They would aim to catch up with the first group of players in terms of levels, at least until they reached a point where players began challenging intermediate-level dungeons, increasing their demand for equipment and potions, and quest rewards were no longer sufficient. At that point, players specializing in crafting and alchemy could make a killing.

Currently, most players are still in the early stages of the newbie village. Some had already passed the level 25 dungeon, but that was still the lowest-level dungeon.

It was hard to imagine that someone had already mastered life skills to this extent.

For players who were curious or intrigued, Huo Yi thought for a moment, found a suitable excuse, and casually uttered four words: “Lucky Fruit from the shop.”

Most players didn’t understand at first, until a player dressed in expensive-looking attire suddenly realized, “So the Lucky Fruit in the store that costs 20,000 Star Coins has this effect!”

“I should buy two and try them out. Adding luck, this is the effect it has. So, this is what it’s for.”

After saying this, they even added with a serious tone, “Well, that’s a bit of a rip-off.”

The players around them were reminded and started recalling the Lucky Fruit in the recharge store.

Most of the players who were initially interested in the purple equipment or intrigued by Huo Yi’s forging skills suddenly lost interest.

They thought he was a forging expert and wanted to get to know him early on. After all, having a friend who can forge high-quality equipment becomes extremely convenient when the demand for good gear increases in the late game.

However, it turned out he was just someone with a lot of in-game currency.

According to the way this guy forges, as long as you have money, you’re good.

After the crowd dispersed, only a few more considerate veteran players remained. They kindly reminded Huo Yi, “Buddy, don’t you know that the level of items forged using forging skills won’t be higher than the player’s level? You’ve made a big loss!”

“Yeah, even if you forge a Legendary item right now, it will be a low-level Legendary item. By the time you reach level 40 or 50, it will be nothing more than a visually impressive piece of gear.”

Huo Yi raised an eyebrow but didn’t deny it. “Thanks.”

The few players exchanged knowing smiles and said, “It’s alright; just use them when you level up next time.”

With that, the last few onlookers were also led away by Huo Yi’s words.

It was only now that Jing Nian peeked his head out from beside Huo Yi.

Before he could make out the departing players, he found himself facing the eager gaze of the blacksmith shop owner.

“Little master! What do you think of my offer?”

In front of Jing Nian, the dialogue box that had distracted him earlier reappeared.

[Special Career Quest: Life Profession – Invitation from the Blacksmith Shop Owner – Become a Forger]

[Accept / Reject]

Jing Nian remembered that when he had first arrived at the blacksmith’s shop, he had received an invitation to become an apprentice. Now it was upgrading directly?

After he chose to accept it.

[Congratulations to player Jin Nian for obtaining the title [Master Forger].]

The next moment, a golden title appeared in his player information.

When Huo Yi saw this golden title, he couldn’t help but glance at the little guy in front of him with surprise. Jing Nian froze instantly.

Due to the assistance from the mysterious black-cloaked person earlier, as well as the frantic “Daddy~” behavior of the little dragon inside the Dragon’s Soul Space, Jing Nian had unconsciously started to regard this person as an ally.

To hide the title earlier, he needed to wear it at least once. So, the title was seen by this person!

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  means that someone is asking for a price or an offer for something they want to acquire.