The warm atmosphere between the three players was interrupted by the sudden wind that came out of nowhere.
It pushed the three of them out of the backroom and back to the center.
Cheng Xiu looked around her in confusion. What had happened?
The wind died down.
Black fluid seeped through the walls and coated the surface with its slimy texture. A rotten odor wafted towards their senses.
Cheng Xiu gagged at the sudden onslaught of putrid smell.
"The Nest is closing," San Zhe said to her when he saw her expression.
"Why?" she asked him.
"The Hourglass was the stabilizer in the Nest. It acted as a stand-in for the witch, who in this case are the Queens," Yaksha explained. "By destroying the Hourglass, the nest does not have the presence of the Witch in it and so it will collapse. Let us go!"
Cheng Xiu and San Zhe nodded and the three ran out of the room.
And just in time as well because the room was filled with the black fluid.
"Why black fluid?" Cheng Xiu asked the two boys with her.
San Zhe shrugged.
"It is the sign of a failed necromancy," Yaksha said.
Cheng Xiu waited for him to explain to her a bit more but it seemed Yaksha had no such plans. She even asked him to explain and he turned a deaf ear to her nagging.
San Zhe stood behind the two and watched as they acted like old couples who are very used to each other. Though he was sure that it was not the case. Maybe for Cheng Xiu but definitely not the expert. Who were Low Level players like them in front of Lord Yaksha.
"Right," San Zhe said with a smile. "Let's find the Queens!"
Cheng Xiu smiled back at him and nodded.
"But where?" he asked her.
Cheng Xiu blinked at his question and the smile on her lips slowly disappeared. That was right, where?
She turned to Yaksha. "Do you have any idea?"
Yaksha tilted his head. "Doesn't this count as me helping you though? Didn't you want to experience and learn to play this game by yourselves?"
Cheng Xiu stared at him through the mask.
He stared back.
San Zhe looked between the two of them as they stood at the opposite ends with a black, and a white mask each. They looked like they were in some kind of a fashion shooting and had to look thematically good.
San Zhe sighed. "How about just going in the opposite direction that we came from?"
Cheng Xiu blinked and looked at him. "Huh?"
"You know," San Zhe said awkwardly, "Go to west if you came from east and go to east if you came from west."
Cheng Xiu shook her head. "And which direction did we come from? East or West?"
San Zhe stared at her and then looked towards his right and left. Each side had a passage. "Um…east? Didn't we walk towards east?"
Cheng Xiu tilted her head. "Why are you so sure that we were walking towards the east? And how are you so sure where east is? Is there a device for it?"
San Zhe stared at her for a moment. "Um…I have always been good at directions?"
"So good? Even in the real world?"
San Zhe stared at her. "No..I meant in the game. I have always been good at telling directions in the game."
Cheng Xiu stared at him for a moment. She thought about it. "Does it have something to do with your Trident?"
San Zhe stared at her. "Why would you think that?"
Cheng Xiu shrugged. "Just guessing."
San Zhe smiled behind the mask. "Actually, it was a passive skill that I received when I first started to play the Other World. I completed a few chain quests and got the 'blessings' of the Gods of the Winds."
"Gods?" Cheng Xiu asked. "I thought missions involving gods would be something that we can only get somewhere at level 20 and above."
San Zhe smiled. "There are people who think that but it is not the truth. The truth is that you can access the Quests related to the gods by visiting their temples and doing some quests there. Although…"
"Although?"
"There are far too little temples in the Southern Continent."
Cheng Xiu let out a snort. Of course. The continent she chose was so good that she could not even access good missions properly.
Cheng Xiu tried not to let that fact get to her. She had known about it from the beginning of the game after all. Though she had only known about the Village she started at, Cheng Xiu was not surprised that even the continent was trash.
"This is the one that is based on the Chinese Folklores," San Zhe said, "But not in Vixia. You have to visit the other countries for it. If you want to have God missions, your best bet is the Eastern Continent. That one has Hinduism, Christianity and other such religions. It is called as the Religious Continent For that reason. The North is more Astec and Egyptian primarily. The West is the Greek, the Roman and the Scandinavian."
"What about the Central Continent?" Cheng Xiu asked.
"All of the above," San Zhe said with a shrug. "Honestly, even I was surprised by how diverse those of the central were. Those closer to the other continents would show the characteristics of that continent but…well…it is bastardised to an extent. If fact, there are many people who got so offending by the way that the Central people twisted the myths to relate to their land and beliefs that many rage quit the game. It took a far too much of time for people to accept the Central's Modes Operandi. There are people who would rather die than acknowledge that a place like the Central even exists."
Cheng Xiu was surprised when she heard his words. "Isn't this game too risky? Are they not afraid?"
San Zhe shrugged. "What is new about it though? We have seen all the religions be twisted so that they can be entertaining. It is not a novel concept that the game has a twisted version in the game. There are too many games with those themes!"
Cheng Xiu frowned. "But not as blatant as this though. And definitely not as complicated."
San Zhe sighed. "Yeah."
"So," Yaksha said seeing that the two people had come to an of their conversation. "East or West?"
San Zhe blinked. He was surprised that the expert was not glaring at him for hogging Cheng Xiu's attention for so long.
Cheng Xiu looked at him in surprise. She was glad that she was wearing a mask at that moment. She had forgotten all about him.
"So which is it?" Yaksha asked.
Something about his tone made Cheng Xiu think that he was upset. Did he feel like he was left out of their conversation? No way, right? He was an Expert! A Level 70 Expert of the Other World! The man that was too legendary in the game. There was no way that he would have that kind of a mindset, right?
Cheng Xiu knew that experts of any game were not actual gods. They were human like the rest of the players, just more capable.
But considering Yaksha's cold disposition that he constantly had, she was sure that he considered himself above such human emotions. Even the occasional emotional outburst that he had made it even more evident. He did not realise that he was being emotional. And not emotional in the way that dramatically cry or laugh, rather it was more like he was more human. Relaxed. Willing to work with them.
She considered him too good to have the feeling of being let out.
***
[Small Theater]
ML: I will just wait for them to finish. *stays quiet.*
MC: Talks a lot.
SZ: Talks a lot.
MC: So Cool
SZ: Yup.
ML: Are they ignoring me? Hmph! I wont talk at all, they have to notice me then!
MC and SZ talked on and on.
ML: Hey! I am here!
SZ: Wow. He did not kill me for talking to her?
MC: Oh. You are still here? I forgot.
ML: Cries in lost memories.
***
This is a special survey that I am really curious about:
How is the story so far?
Who is your favorite caracter/s? May I ask Why?
Which part of my writing to do think I can really improve on?
Which character do you want to see screen time with?
What do you think about the relationship between Cheng Xiu and the people around her so far?
And the true question: What do you think of the male lead?
Though I know that we haven't really gotten too much of detail about his character, but what is your impression of him?
I know that there are a lot of people who don't like the childhood sweethearts trope. I did not want to write it but in this context, I felt that was the best at the time. I do wonder what would have happened if I followed my original intent of the ML and MC not knowing each other before, I hope that it does not deter you too much.
So please do tell me!
***
This work is being serialized in Webnovel. If you are not reading it there, then please know that you are reading stolen work.. Please don't support theft.