Chapter 1 The Trouble

Even when the game shut down, Nie Yan hadn't finished the Headless Horseman quest. He was wondering if he had to die to get out of this map, or if the temple in the center of the Realm of Illusion was the key. Maybe he could only leave this map by entering the temple, but with his current strength, entering that temple would be suicide.

As soon as he logged out, Nie Yan's phone rang.

"Hey, phew, finally got through. What are you up to? I've been messaging you in the game, but you haven't replied," Tang Yao asked anxiously.

"Ran into some trouble, accidentally entered a dimensional map."

"No wonder I haven't seen you come out. Is it dangerous?"

"Can't get out for the time being, but it's not dangerous."

"That's good. Your red name hasn't disappeared yet. If you die, you'll suffer."

"Po Tian's level has reached 17. That guy's been holding his breath, leveling up like crazy, trying to catch up to me."

"He levels up pretty fast, but he can't catch up to you for now, right?"

"He can't catch up for now, but it'll be hard to say in a few days. Leveling is really too difficult without the Arcane Sprite." Tang Yao said, feeling quite dejected. Po Tian was too awesome. Without the Arcane Sprite, his leveling speed would indeed be much slower. Maybe Po Tian would surpass him one day.

Nie Yan asked, "Haven't found the Maniac Killer Medal yet?"

Tang Yao said regretfully, "No."

Nie Yan frowned. Tang Yao's red name was already at that level, it was definitely enough. Not dropping the Maniac Killer Medal could only mean he had too bad luck. "Keep going. Even if Po Tian surpasses you, it won't have much of an impact. After all, he's the president of the Triumphant Empire. Even if he surpasses you, we can still surpass him later."

Tang Yao's expression was firm, and he gritted his teeth and said, "No matter what, I won't give Po Tian any chance! No matter what method I use, I can't let him take the first place! Sooner or later, I will let him taste the bitterness. A gentleman does not avenge a grudge." Tang Yao was still brooding over being blocked by Po Tian.

This reminded Nie Yan of his childhood. Once, Nie Yan and Tang Yao were blocked at the school gate and beaten badly. Tang Yao, in a fit of anger, found the person and beat him back the next day, so that person never dared to look for Nie Yan and Tang Yao again. In school, teachers would teach you to repay grievances with kindness, but Tang Yao's father had told him since he was a child that it was wrong to repay grievances with kindness. If you suffer a loss, you must get it back with your own ability! What teachers teach you is the way to be a person, and what I teach you is the way to survive! There is no right or wrong distinction between the two, because there is no absolute right or wrong in this world.

Therefore, Tang Yao, in his bones, was a person who would seek revenge for even the smallest grievance, but of course, only against his enemies.

"Farming Scale Frogs should keep you ahead until Level 25. Let me get out first before we talk about it," Nie Yan said. There were many things he couldn't do in that quest map.

"Okay, try to get out as soon as possible. I estimate that I have to reach at least Level 23 or 24, or even higher, to get rid of the red name," Tang Yao thought for a while and said. His red name was really too severe.

"If you level up fast, you'll have to reach at least Level 26 or 27 to get rid of it," Nie Yan said, estimating that with nearly a hundred kills, this red name was really hard to get rid of. In the early stages, few people reached this level. In the later stages, mages had powerful group attacks, and they had to kill hundreds of people in a single siege battle. Their red names were generally not cleared, and they always maintained a red name state. Anyway, as long as their Respect value was sufficient, they could walk freely in the city.

Nie Yan chatted with Tang Yao for a while and hung up the phone. Another day had passed.

After logging into the game and completing Quest Progress 3, Nie Yan obtained a Senior Undead Hunter title, Human Kingdom Respect +5. Although the rewards were good, killing Headless Horsemen every day was driving Nie Yan crazy.

As a result, unfortunately, Nie Yan received a new quest.

System: Quest Progress 4, kill Headless Horsemen, number 0/6000.

Looking at those Headless Horsemen every day, Nie Yan was about to collapse.

He couldn't just die and go back. If it were an ordinary player, they would definitely rather die than do this quest. They couldn't level up here. Hanging back would allow them to continue leveling and make up for the lost levels.

But Nie Yan couldn't die. Once he died and went back, he might lose the Chapter of Courage and the Chapter of Freedom.

Nie Yan had Tang Yao relay the outside situation, and everything was developing in an orderly manner, so there was nothing to worry about.

Two more days passed, and Nie Yan finally completed Quest Progress 4, obtaining a Novice Demon Hunter title. He looked at the status attributes of the Novice Demon Hunter title.

All Human Kingdom Respect +8, all dark creature attributes within 5 yards -10%.

Terrifying stats!

Not to mention the Respect value, this reduction of 10% to all dark creatures within a 5-yard radius was similar to an aura, and it was too strong.

Two days to exchange for a Novice Demon Hunter title would be very beneficial for future development.

However, even if the Novice Demon Hunter title was strong, Nie Yan was speechless, because he received Quest Progress 5, kill 12,000 Headless Horsemen. With the Novice Demon Hunter title, Nie Yan's speed of killing Headless Horsemen was a bit faster, but 12,000 Headless Horsemen were not a small number. If they were ordinary Level 30 monsters, it would be enough for Nie Yan to level up from Level 17 to Level 25!

Looking at the level leaderboard, Tang Yao was Level 23, Po Tian was Level 22, and the others on the level leaderboard were also around Level 20. Nie Yan was still only Level 17.

Even if he couldn't level up, he still had to continue this quest. As long as Nie Yan went out, he could quickly catch up with the people on the level leaderboard.

In the past few days, Nie Yan had wandered around the entrance of the temple many times, and a few times he almost couldn't help but enter the temple. Even if he died, it would be better than wasting time here. But in the end, reason still made him endure.

Coming out of the game and putting down the game helmet, he had been stuck farming Headless Horsemen these past few days, and it was suffocating him.

"Why haven't you come out yet?" Tang Yao asked Nie Yan, puzzled.

"Don't mention it, I estimate I'll have to be there for a long time before I can come out," Nie Yan said depressingly. The time required for this quest really exceeded his imagination.

"What exactly is this quest that requires so much time?" Tang Yao asked in surprise.

"It's just constantly farming Headless Horsemen, some undead monsters," Nie Yan said. He didn't know how to get out, so he could only try to complete the Headless Horseman quest first. "How's the situation outside?"

"The outside development is not bad. Guo Huai said he took the money from Starry Night Pharmacy and bought 16 plots of land in seven cities, all of which were the plots you mentioned. Some plots were snatched away, so we can only forget about them. The guild has successfully advanced to Level 2. Also, that elite team, where did you find such awesome people? They cleared ten dungeons in two days, and many of them were expert-level, at least high-level. It is said that they just cleared the Medusa's Lair this afternoon. My God, are they gods?" Tang Yao rolled his eyes, he was frightened by Brilliant Blade and Big Boss Seven and others.

Nie Yan smiled slightly and said, "This is within my expectations." Brilliant Blade and Big Boss Seven's equipment was there, and their skills were beyond doubt. When this group of people came together, the energy they exploded was quite large.

Tang Yao began to tell Nie Yan about some things in the guild. Brilliant Blade and Big Boss Seven and others frantically cleared the major dungeons, and this news was to be publicized in the guild affairs. The result was as expected, and the players in the guild were directly stunned. Clearing 10 high-level and expert-level dungeons in two days, what kind of concept was this!

Most of the equipment that Brilliant Blade and others dropped could not be used, so they left it to the second-tier teams in the guild, such as Yu Lan's team, and the teams formed by Guo Huai to select players with good strength. These second-tier teams also developed rapidly.

Nirvana Guild expanded rapidly from the beginning of its establishment. Although it was not very complete, it had a prototype guild warehouse and Starry Night Pharmacy as a background, plus Brilliant Blade, Big Boss Seven and others' crazy performances, which made players more deeply aware of the future development potential of Nirvana Guild. These players who joined the guild called friends and recruited friends to join the guild. Therefore, when the guild was upgraded to a Level 2 guild, it set off another wave of joining the guild.

Nirvana Guild showed a strong momentum and cooperated with the Holy Roman Empire, which made Triumph and Radiant Sacred Flame feel extremely uneasy, so there were frictions.

On the afternoon of the 3rd, several members of Nirvana Guild were leveling in the wild and were sent back by several members of the Triumph Guild. Those Triumph players shouted that they would destroy the Nirvana Guild sooner or later.

On the 4th, players from Nirvana Guild in various places were harassed. By the evening, more than sixty people had died.

On the 5th, the harassment continued, and more than one hundred people had died in total.

A grievance rose in Nirvana Guild, which was temporarily appeased by Guo Huai. Triumph was powerful and was the first guild in Carol City. Nirvana Guild could not afford to provoke it for the time being. If a large-scale guild war broke out, Nirvana Guild would definitely suffer. The Holy Roman Empire, from its own interests, might not be willing to put itself in it. Guo Huai warned the players that when Nirvana Guild was not strong enough, they could only endure it for the time being, and those leveling outside should not light up the guild badge first. But some players who had a sense of belonging to Nirvana Guild still lit up the guild badge while leveling in the wild. Although they were surrounded and killed by the Triumph people, they also knocked down a few Triumph people.

The frequent frictions gave people a feeling that a storm was about to come. Triumph and Radiant Sacred Flame might not be able to hold back anymore. If they caught the opportunity, Triumph and Radiant Sacred Flame would definitely not let it go and give Nirvana Guild a fatal blow.

And Nie Yan, could only stay in that quest map, desperately farming Headless Horsemen, without experience, unable to clear the red name, and could only drop a little something as comfort.