Knowing Ran Qi had created a new delicious treat spurred Soul Chaser and the others to speed up their tasks. They quickly completed their profession-change missions and returned to the main city to meet Ran Qi eagerly.
Night Owl, however, was delayed since he had to do double the tasks and was also gathering seafood by the seaside, so he didn’t join them.
“Brother Ran! Golden Delight! Let me try some!” Plume Ink rushed excitedly to Ran Qi.
“Don’t worry, I’ve saved some for each of you.” Ran Qi smiled helplessly, sending trade requests to each of them to hand over the gear and food. “But there’s something I should tell you first…”
However, Plume Ink and the others were completely focused on the ‘Golden Delight,’ grabbing a portion and popping one into their mouths, mumbling praises, “So good…so delicious…”
The crispy, fresh flavor bloomed in their mouths, and their expressions became blissful.
Ran Qi had intended to give them a heads-up, but they acted too fast, leaving him no chance.
After quickly finishing a portion, Gu Le finally shifted his attention back to Ran Qi. “Oh right, Ranran, what were you going to say?”
Ran Qi smiled knowingly. “Does it taste good?”
Gu Le replied, a bit confused, “Yeah, it’s delicious.”
“That’s all that matters.” Ran Qi patted his shoulder. “I’ve got to go turn in my quest, so I’ll head off.”
“Oh…” Gu Le watched his friends rapidly retreating figure, feeling like something was a bit…off.
“Uh…” Just then, Plume Ink, who had been thoroughly enjoying the food, suddenly hesitated.
“What is it?”
“Look at the shape of this Golden Delight… Why is this end kind of dark?” Plume Ink held up a fried larva for closer inspection.
“Um… and this clear part here… could it be… wings?” Sword at Fleeting Time spoke up in disbelief.
“So… are these bugs?”
“What?!” Soul Chaser, who had been savoring it the most, suddenly found the food a lot less appetizing.
They looked at each other in silence.
After a long pause, they ultimately decided to succumb to the allure of the food.
Oh well, bugs or not, as long as they taste good! And it’s just a game – it’s not like it’s going to hurt anyone!
With that in mind, they got over it quickly and continued eating heartily.
Meanwhile, the sneaky Ran Qi had already met up with Night Owl, who returned with a huge haul of seafood. After they completed the “trade,” they each went to submit their quests.
Father Patrick looked kindly at Ran Qi. “Honored hero, you have proven your strength through your actions. Please choose your path of advancement.”
Ran Qi chose the Holy Priest without hesitation. Though it’s primarily a healing class, it has several support skills. Most importantly, the Holy Priest has a skill the Temple Priest lacks — Resurrection.
[Ressurection]
Can Learn Level: 30
Limited Profession: Priest
Description: Five-second cast, 30-second cooldown. Can revive one character lower in level than the caster, restoring 20% of health. The success rate drops significantly with higher-level targets.
As the name suggested, Resurrection could revive fallen players, but it cost one magic stone peruse. Magic stones were found in Abyss dungeons, with each boss having a chance to drop them. Although they might be pricey at first, the cost should decrease over time. However, Ran Qi wasn’t worried; he had thousands of magic stones stored up, thanks to his hoarding habits.
In dungeon runs, a priest’sResurrection skill was critical. Abyss dungeons had a high difficulty level, and death was almost inevitable. Without a priest with Resurrection, players would be forced to return to the main city to revive, which drained equipment durability and required a tedious journey back to the dungeon.
Things that were considered laborious in traditional online games were even more of a waste of time in holographic online games.
While it was unclear if the resurrected players would still be subject to the three-death, seven-day forced logout rule, having the skill would definitely improve their chances of clearing dungeons.
Father Patrick bid farewell with regret. “Honored hero, continue your journey! May the blessings of God be with you always!”
Once everyone finished their profession-change quests, they regrouped at the restaurant.
Gu Le, seeing Ran Qi and Night Owl arrive together, was about to tease his friend, but a playful idea struck him. “Boss Night Owl, did you try the Golden Delight? How was it?”
He was curious to see Night Owl’s reaction to eating the Golden Delight.
Ran Qi suddenly felt a little guilty but couldn’t resist glancing at Night Owl with curiosity.
Night Owl chuckled. “It was pretty good.”
“Do you know what it’s made of?!” Gu Le pressed on.
“Sure, it’s from the hive.” Night Owl didn’t know the term ‘larvae,’ but he had guessed the source of the Golden Delight.
“Oh, that’s it!” Realization dawned on them, and they looked at Ran Qi with a strong sense of reproach. “Next time, we definitely can’t let Brother Ran randomly pick stuff up again!”
Even if it tasted good, eating bugs was a bit of a psychological hurdle!
Soon after, Windstorm Jiangnan’s team reached level 30 and joined them in Sina City.
“You finally made it!” Soul Chaser greeted them warmly.
“Brother!” Upon seeing Ran Qi, Feng Tian quickly ran over, full of excitement.
The two teams introduced themselves and quickly became acquainted.
The team’s leader, Windstorm Jiangnan, was a warrior with a tall, imposing build and an aura of calm authority, respected by his teammates. He was also a friend of Night Owl.
No Happiness was an assassin, looking quite young and a bit mischievous. As if trying to emphasize his assassin role, he dressed entirely in black, even sporting a half-mask that made him look like he was cosplaying. But his personality was lively and he was, aside from Feng Tian, the first to introduce himself to Ran Qi.
Four Seasons was also a warrior, serving as the team’s true tank. Windstorm Jiangnan was a berserker with a full-strength build, clearly aiming to follow the War God path.
Raphael was an archer with striking Western features, exuding a European model-like handsomeness.
Smoke was a female mage with stunning features, and her fiery red wavy hair added an allure to her appearance, making her seem like a passionate character. However, on closer acquaintance, she turned out to be quite gentle and reserved. She and Four Seasons seemed to be a couple; though they didn’t enter hand-in-hand, their close gestures and the warmth in their gazes gave them away.
No Happiness came over immediately with effusive compliments. “Boss Bai Ran! Finally, I get to see you in person! You’re even better-looking than I imagined!”
“Boss Bai Ran! Do you remember me? You once mailed me scallion pancakes!” Raphael joined in eagerly.
Ran Qi responded to each of them, “Yes, I remember…”
Smoke smiled as well, saying, “During the last bounty mission, I hardly contributed, and you still sent me two scallion pancakes. Thank you so much.”
Thanks to the scallion pancakes, Ran Qi instantly became the center of everyone’s attention, while only Night Owl and Windstorm Jiangnan discussed the next steps in earnest.
Windstorm Jiangnan said, “We’ve gathered all the Abyss fragments, so our profession-change missions will take an hour at most. But before heading into the Abyss dungeon, we’ll need to find a few pieces of gear.”
Night Owl replied, “You all focus on your profession changes first. For the gear, get the materials ready, and Bai Ran can make it for you.”
“Bai Ran can do that too?” Windstorm Jiangnan was surprised, casting an envious glance at Night Owl. “Where’d you find such a top-notch support player?”
Night Owl smirked. “Picked him up.”
Windstorm Jiangnan immediately felt a pang of jealousy. “Alright, with gear sorted, we should also prepare some buff food and potions.”
“No problem, I’ll handle that.”
Windstorm Jiangnan raised an eyebrow. “And what about the remaining three members?”
The Level 30 Abyss dungeon required a 15-player team. Together, they only had 12, so where would they find the remaining three?
“I’ve already contacted Shura, Blossoming, and Thousand Mechanisms; they’re all willing to join us for the dungeon run.” All three were Level 33, ranked in the top ten on the leaderboard, and had solid gear and skills. Night Owl had worked with them during beta testing and trusted their abilities.
Due to the brief beta period, no one had cleared the Abyss dungeon yet; beyond the first boss, the strategies for later bosses were still unknown. Following Night Owl’s widely recognized top-tier team for this expedition was a great opportunity to learn the boss mechanics, so of course, they wouldn’t refuse.
“Great, when will they be here?”
“They should be on their way. We’ll all meet at the Abyss dungeon entrance at 8 p.m.”
“Sounds good.”
With that, they settled on tonight’s plan to tackle the Abyss dungeon.
“Fleeting Time, reach out to the GM and let them know we’ll be running the dungeon at 8 tonight.”
“Got it.”
It was now 2 p.m., so they had six hours until 8 p.m. Though time was a bit tight, it hopefully wouldn’t be a problem for the game administrator…
