Chapter 12

"Welcome to the Dragon Tomb World."

"You are about to enter more than just a game."

As the login prompt appeared, a novel login interface was displayed before Wang Darei.

"Only half a day, and this Legendary World has already released a new data patch. Isn't the speed of the operator too amazing?"

Although the world's internet is advanced now, Wang Darei had heard that the maintenance time for Dragon Tomb was only 5 minutes.

"Could it be that they just updated the login interface?"

Wang Darei muttered and then examined the new interface.

"Hey, the operator has finally changed the login scene." Seeing the login interface that was clearly different from the previous version, Wang Darei smiled.

The login interface of the previous "Legendary World" had remained unchanged for years, regardless of how many versions were updated. This setting had been criticized by many players.

"Now it looks like they've finally come to their senses... But what is this countdown? Why is it 362? Why not 365?"

365 was a number that suddenly popped into Wang Darei's mind, and he didn't know why he thought of the number "365."

"Could it be the start time of a new event? 362 days? Why not set it to 365 days, a full year? The operator really has a problem."

In fact, from the earliest version to the present, the game's operation had been criticized by players many times. However, no matter what happened in the game, the operator paid little attention to the players' opinions.

Not to mention, after LV70, the astronomical amount of experience required to level up had been complained about many times by players. But the official website's explanation was, "LV70 is the initial glimpse of true strength for players, and LV100 is the path to truth."

—Your damn path to truth! Players had already calculated that without any special quests, it would take 50 years to reach LV100 from LV70 in this game! 50 years! Brother!

Even more bizarrely, there was actually a corresponding LV100 level training ground in the game.

Therefore, except for a few hardcore players, including competitive players, most players would stop leveling up after reaching LV70 and instead choose to enhance their equipment and skills, and practice their techniques. Of course, some would choose to improve their secondary professions, such as blacksmithing or gourmet cooking.

As for why players didn't resist or switch to other games?

The reason was simple: this game had an auxiliary function to help people develop brainwave frequencies, and it was a "royal" game endorsed by the state. So, although they complained, everyone had to endure it. Although the official never admitted it, the brainwave frequencies of the new generation of gamers were clearly higher than those of adults and children abroad who didn't play games, which was enough to explain everything.

Moreover, in this world, only this game had the magical "artificial intelligence" technology, and the vivid graphics of the Legendary World, or now the Dragon Tomb World, always made people linger. So, although some game settings were awkward, the game's popularity remained strong for a long time.

"I wonder if the new version will allow players to level up to LV80..."

With this expectation, Wang Darei directly entered the game.

As soon as he entered the game, Wang Darei found himself on the street of Zhongzhou City, and it seemed that nothing had changed around him.

He was a bit disappointed. Did the game update really just change the interface?

"Open the character panel."

Wang Darei opened his character panel, and his lonely LV45 level was still there, with no changes to his attributes or systems—well, to be fair, the interface had changed.

"Damn!" He cursed.

At that moment, Wang Darei suddenly received an email.

"Monkey: Brother Lei, you're online?"

Monkey's real name was Houzi, but because of the pronunciation, everyone who knew him called him Monkey—indeed, he did look a bit like a monkey. Wang Darei and Monkey were childhood friends.

"What's up?" He replied immediately.

"Brother Lei, come over here, I have something good to show you."

As he was speaking, Wang Darei suddenly received a system prompt: "Monkey invites you to the arena."

The arena was an external plugin that could extract player data and allow players to enjoy competitive matches at home.

"Damn, I just entered the game."

Although Wang Darei muttered, he quickly exited the game and entered the arena.

"Monkey, what are you up to?"

Wang Darei frowned as he saw the thin, monkey-like player suddenly appear in front of him.

"Brother Lei, let's have a PK, and I'll show you something good."

"Monkey, you're a casual player, right? You... PK?"

Monkey's level was only LV35, 10 levels lower than Wang Darei, a typical casual player. In fact, Monkey's secondary profession in the game was a scholar, which had nothing to do with competitive players.

"Come on, Brother Lei, I'll show you something good."

"..." Wang Darei looked suspiciously at the mysterious Monkey and said, "Alright, if you get beaten up, don't blame me."

The match started quickly.

Wang Darei's class was a Warrior, and Monkey's class was a Mage. So, as soon as the battle began, Wang Darei rushed forward and slashed at Monkey.

Monkey's movements were very amateurish, which disappointed and annoyed Wang Darei. Was this guy playing with him?

Thinking this, Wang Darei immediately used a set of Flame Sword techniques, intending to finish off Monkey in one hit.

"——————!"

After a while, Wang Darei stared at his empty strike in confusion.

At that moment, Monkey had already appeared behind Wang Darei.

"Monkey? How did you suddenly get behind me?"

In that instant, Wang Darei only saw Monkey suddenly disappear and reappear behind him.

And Wang Darei knew that there was no instant movement ability in the competitive mode!

"Hehe, this ability is what I found after the update today."

"An update with such a powerful skill, really? What is this skill? It's even better than the three great movement skills!" Wang Darei asked in surprise.

Monkey gave Wang Darei a mysterious look and then leaned in, saying, "Of course, this ability is called 'Soul Thought.' It's an absolutely good thing I found in the game after the update."

"How did you get this awesome ability? Where can I learn it?" Wang Darei asked hurriedly.

"There's an organization in the game called 'Seven Cultivation Sea,' and I learned it there." Monkey said.

But Wang Darei was puzzled: "Isn't the competitive mode only allowed to use skills from the skill tree? Can non-skill tree skills learned in the game mode be used in the competitive mode?"

Wang Darei initially thought that "Soul Thought" was a technique similar to the "three great movement skills," but after hearing Monkey's explanation, he realized it seemed to be a skill. However, players couldn't use such skills in the game.

But... Monkey seemed to be using a skill in the game?

How did he do it?

"Hehe, 'Soul Thought' can be called a skill, but it can also not be called a skill. Although this ability is indeed a skill, the problem is that there is no display of this skill in the game!"

"What do you mean?"

"That means, although I learned the 'Soul Thought' skill, there is no additional skill in the game, and the game system gives no hint about 'Soul Thought' at all!"

"Learning a skill doesn't show up? How do you use this skill?" Wang Darei was surprised.

"Very simple—" Monkey said, stepping back, but his whole body suddenly appeared in front of his original position: "Just do it as you please."

Hearing Monkey's words, Wang Darei was excited: "Quick, tell me how to learn this skill, I must learn it! I must learn it!"

Monkey smiled: "Of course, how could we not tell Brother Lei about good things? Brother Lei, go to the entrance of the Demon Tree Forest in front of the Nether Mountain, I'll wait for you there."

"Okay!"

Wang Darei immediately returned to the game, summoned his mount, and rushed to the entrance of the Demon Tree Forest without a word.

"Brother Lei!"

As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the Demon Tree Forest, Wang Darei saw Monkey waiting for him, and next to Monkey was a strange man in a black robe.

Wang Darei understood: "This must be someone from the Seven Cultivation Sea."

Wang Darei had heard of the organization called "Seven Cultivation Sea." However, the Seven Cultivation Sea was an organization of demons, and it had little to do with the human players, so not many people knew about it. Wang Darei only knew that the Seven Cultivation Sea was naturally hostile to all other organizations, but he didn't know much else.

Now, seeing Monkey standing with someone from the Seven Cultivation Sea, Wang Darei guessed that it was probably because Monkey had triggered a related quest.

This situation was not uncommon in the game. Although some factions were hostile to players, completing certain quests could resolve the hostility.

"Master, my friend has arrived."

Monkey immediately bowed to the black-robed man when he saw Wang Darei.

"Hmm, not bad, just as you said." The black-robed man examined Wang Darei and nodded frequently.

"Master, I am Wang Darei. I have long heard of the reputation of the Seven Cultivation Sea. To see you in such an extraordinary form, I am truly moved—"

This NPC had a mysterious and profound look, and Wang Darei immediately felt that the NPC was profound and mysterious. Thinking of this, Wang Darei was extremely excited; this must be a great master.

Hearing Wang Darei's flattery, Monkey's mouth twitched, but he lowered his head when he saw the black-robed man.

"Good, do you know what ability I am going to teach you?" The black-robed man asked.

"I remember it's called..." Wang Darei looked at Monkey and said, "It's called 'Soul Thought,' right?"