Volume 1 - CH 19

*Title name explanation: In Battle of Three Kingdoms (a famous epic and an historical event), Guanyu was imprisoned in Caocao's camp, but he still worried and thought about his best friend Liubei. It just means that your heart isn't with what you're doing.

"Ring ring ring—"

I wrote stroke after stroke, and finally finished ten copies of "Yu Lin Ling". I hurriedly flipped open my arithmetic notes, but the final bell rang from the hallway.

My nearby classmates started noisily packing up their bags. Guotong and I stood in silence.

"Fan, I'm really sorry, it's all my fault. Liu Yong's poems were too easy, so I skipped them to review later…."

Guotong glumly told me.

"It's not your fault."

I heavily set down my math textbook with a sigh.

"Am I to blame, then?"

Mo Shiyu didn't start packing at all, and immediately walked in front of us.

"How would I dare to do that?"

I squeezed out a smile when I saw the Class Rep.

Next, I reverently handed her my copies, along with Guotong's.

"Guotong, look at how neat Lu Fan's handwriting is. It's not the prettiest, but at least it's distinguishable. What the hell did you write?"

Mo Shiyu compared our papers, and glared at Guotong.

"Class Rep, you're not one of those people who judge books by their covers, are you? Even though my writing's messy, I still copied it down word by word, you know."

Guotong recited "Yu Lin Ling" confidently.

"Well, as long as you remember it."

Mo Shiyu looked awkward, but she had no choice.

"Although someone copied this down stroke after stroke, his body is in Cao, and heart is in Han, isn't it?"

The crabby girl pointed her anger at me.

To be fair, I did try sneaking away when she was chewing out Guotong.

"Of course I was thinking about other things. Thanks to someone, I'll be pulling an all-nighter today."

I shook the notebook in my hand, and glared back.

"Then you deserve it!"

Mo Shiyu angrily snatched our copies of "Yu Lin Ling", and went to report to the teacher.

"Fan, don't you think that the Class Rep is acting strange today?"

Guotong watched as she stormed out to the hallway.

"What, are you itching for her insults since she didn't yell at you today?" I chuckled bitterly.

"I think that the Class Rep… may be a tsundere?"

He looked at me, and laughed evilly.

Tsundere? You've watched too much anime, haven't you? Those things don’t exist in real life at all. If you call the Class Rep a tsundere, then I'll have to call Jiang Muqing a yandere!

"So she's the tsundere, and you're the male lead?" I joked.

"I'm not the lead at all. Getting chewed out by that tiger doesn't make me feel any better." Guotong denied quickly.

"I really don't know what I did to annoy her. I followed class rules, and turned in my homework… I'm behave so well that I'm nearly nonexistent!"

I couldn't figure out the reason why she was out to get me today.

"Forget it, don't think it too much. That tiger's grades aren't bad, maybe we'll never see her again starting next semester.

Guotong was right. With Mo Shiyu's mock exam scores, she might even be switched to Class A.

I packed up my bag, and prepared to leave. Guotong checked his borrowed ID card for the internet cafe.

"You're still going to the net cafe? Finals are coming up, have you been studying at all?"

"Fan's become really strong recently. To be assigned to the same class as you, I started studying half a month ago. I'm just going to relax for a short while, I'll go home before you know it." Guotong explained.

"I've become strong?"

I'm always pleased with a compliment.

"Fan, have you been playing Republic? Our guild is still waiting on your Shepherd!"

I didn't want to play the dumb game one bit, but since Guotong was so fuzzy and emotional about working hard to get in the same class, how could I refuse his request?

"Yeah, I have. I registered an account, but I haven't been playing it lately since I was so busy."

"Fan, since this matter is causing you trouble, I'll repay you with something."

Guotong was very polite.

"For this small issue, a meal may be too much…."

I felt uncomfortable.

Although, I did miss the cafeteria's second floor freshwater shrimp. Their flesh was to die for.

"No, I meant that I want to give you a Shepherd's orange-ranked weapon. I picked it up near the Amateur Village's Shrieking Forest."

"Eh…."

Annoying games.

…..

The most appealing aspect of RPG games was the pride that it gave players. People gain progress by farming monsters, taking quests, and collecting equipment. When the character grows powerful, it gives players an incredible sense of accomplishment.

It feels as if you're fighting as the hero itself, experiencing countless battles. The satisfaction of being gifted an ability, or a piece of armor, could only be felt by the player.

For us outdoor people, we only feel pity for them. For a bunch of code and jargon, they dedicate their lives for gaming corporations.

The fees for internet cafes aren't expensive, either. To throw more money into this endless drain of what we call games, is truly wasteful.

RPG games are meant to be enjoyed and experienced. If one were to pay and skip the whole experience, then what's the meaning of the final outcome?

Every hard victory against a powerful boss, every legendary weapon drop, was a sense of happiness to the consumer.

For Guotong to gift me an orange-ranked weapon so early at level 1, I felt blessed. How could I give up this opportunity?

I decided to log in to Republic in the last weekend before finals.

In the Amateur Village's pub, Guotong traded me the orange-ranked weapon.

"Elena's Murmur".

It was a Shepherd's staff, tipped with strands of wheat.

In the story of Republic, Elena was the goddess of wisdom and peace. Naturally, there were many Shepherd and Magician's staffs and gear in her name.

Although the staff looked like half a broom, the description was marked in orange.

The game's quality ranking was divided into four types: Normal, Rare, Historical, and Legendary. The colors were divided into white, blue, orange, and pink, respectively.

Orange meant good ol' Historical.

Because the game was relatively new, there were full descriptions of Normal and Rare equipment, but the biographies of Historical and Legendary gear were empty. They were left for players to find themselves.

There was nothing on forums about "Elena's Murmur".

"The player uses the staff to expel magic, ending the opponent's desire for combat." Besides the average stats listed for every gear, that was the only line in its description.

"Ending the opponent's desire for combat?"

I didn't know what that meant at all. Did that mean that when I use this, the foe will surrender and give me their stuff? That would be too broken.

I decided to experiment my new god-weapon in the wildlands surrounding the Amateur's Village.

Wanting a more challenging battle, I switched out my Thief's Crude Dagger to a Warrior's Short-sword.

I held my sword in my left hand, and "Elena's Murmur" on my right. Then, I confidently challenged the sleeping Adult Cougar.

When the angered cougar scratched half of my health bar off, I was completely shocked. These stupid cats become this powerful after growing only half a foot?

As I clicked with my staff, a miracle happened!

The near-empty health bar restored to max immediately, and the mana consumed was even less than regular healing.

Sheesh, this weapon is really godlike! Guotong didn't cheat this one out of me.

The adult cougar growled in frustration, and pounced again.

"Little bastard!"

I struck it down with one swing.

Support me so I can buy more raws!