"Let me tell you, these young people nowadays, they'd give up their lives just to play games!"
Yu Yu left work, strolling leisurely out of the company building while waiting for the elevator.
"Look, just look! Such a young man, ended up in the ICU from playing games. And even in that state, he begged his parents not to delete his account, even crawling out of bed to kowtow and plead!"
"I heard he was hospitalized once before, had a fever for three days, and still went back to playing," the old men quickly reached a consensus. "If you ask me, they should smash his computer. Still want to play? Play?"
Yu Yu had been ignoring them completely, staring at the floor numbers that seemed to change once every eternity, when she suddenly turned around.
"What game? Delete what account?"
Seeing this young person's interest, they immediately became animated. After some back and forth, Yu Yu finally discovered their source of information.
A Rong City News app.
Yu Yu's usual news platforms were those favored by young people, so she hadn't downloaded this app before. She quickly installed several similar apps and soon found the news article. When she saw the game's name, Yu Yu's gaze froze. It really was "Eternal Darkness."
ICU?
How could it be so extreme?
Yu Yu herself began to feel a bit anxious. The elevator arrived, and Yu Yu walked in with a blank expression. Just then, her boss called.
"I need to go to the police station... I... oh, payment is fine."
Yu Yu quickly reached an agreement with her boss. With overtime pay and transportation fees, it seemed acceptable, so she reluctantly agreed to make the trip. The situation was this: a colleague from their company hadn't shown up today, and there was no response to calls or messages.
During this period, due to heavy fog, criminal activity had increased, leading to a surge in missing person cases nationwide. So, out of humanitarian concern, the company wanted to follow up. If someone was missing, they could report it to the police.
The female colleague's home was near Yu Yu's place. With these matters on her mind, she would need to go through procedures at the police station and then check on her colleague, which meant no time to move house today.
"...So, that young lady would like your contact information to express her gratitude."
Yu Yu waved her hand in refusal again. "No need. Anything else?"
"No, that's all..."
"Then goodbye."
Yu Yu quickly completed the registration, opened her navigation app, and headed toward the old city district. The old city district had quite a few aged residential communities with cheap rent. Yu Yu had once rented there herself, though she moved out after less than two months, so she was somewhat familiar with the area.
That colleague lived there. The old district wasn't particularly ancient—just walls with patches of peeling paint, somewhat dilapidated buildings, but still with reasonably spacious areas between blocks.
Yu Yu parked her car. "Building 48, Unit 404..."
With no elevator, she had to climb the stairs. Although Yu Yu typically left work on time, it was already past eight now. The stairwell had dim motion-sensor lights that couldn't have been more than single-digit watts. Step once, and it would light up briefly; stomp again, and it would light up once more—quite annoying.
Yu Yu climbed to the fourth floor, panting. Thankfully, her new apartment wouldn't require climbing stairs—this was torture. She didn't rush to knock, instead checking the door number. Just then, the motion sensor light went dark again. Yu Yu stomped her foot hard once more.
In the narrow corridor, the pale light flickered back to life. Peeling paint covered the walls, and before her stood an old-style security door. It was indeed Building 48, Unit 404—no mistake. Although she knew it was futile, Yu Yu still dialed her colleague's phone number. She had an indifferent attitude, but clearly heard a phone ringing inside the door. The sound seemed quite close, as if they were separated by just one door.
Yu Yu: "..."
Despite being generally carefree, Yu Yu felt a sudden unease. She pressed her lips together and knocked forcefully, making the entire corridor echo. "Wang Rui! Wang Rui! Wang Rui!"
"The boss is asking why you didn't come to work today!"
"You need to work!"
"Are you sick?!"
Yu Yu's voice grew louder with each sentence. After just a few shouts, she seemed to hear faint movements from the floors above and below.
"...I'm sick."
A soft voice came from inside, sounding extremely weak, as if she was near the door.
"Then you should ask for leave, shouldn't you?"
"...Sorry, I forgot."
Yu Yu: "..."
"Are you better now? Do you want me to call an ambulance?"
"I'm better, I'm better," her pace suddenly quickened, sounding slightly further from the door. "No need to call an ambulance."
Yu Yu: "Then call the boss and tell him I checked on you."
She had already started recording on her phone, to prevent her cheapskate boss from withholding her overtime pay.
"All right, I'll tell him."
Suddenly, the door in front of her made a slight noise, like someone turning the doorknob.
Yu Yu casually pressed against the door. "In that case, I'll be going."
The door made another turning sound. "Why don't you come in and sit for a while?"
"No thanks, I still need to go to the police station. I rescued someone yesterday and need to register today."
She firmly held the door, afraid it might suddenly push open from the inside.
"...I see," her voice hesitated slightly. "Then never mind. I'll tell the boss, hopefully he won't dock my pay."
Yu Yu no longer heard the doorknob turning. She carefully backed away from the door while keeping her tone neutral. "I'm leaving then! Drink more hot water!"
The door didn't open again. Yu Yu maintained a normal pace, bouncing down the stairs. When she reached the third floor, she heard normal human voices from inside, including the sounds of children playing, quite noisy. Yu Yu quickened her pace.
Finally out of the building, Yu Yu looked back to see the shabby motion sensor light had just turned off. Looking from under the streetlight, the entryway resembled a giant mouth, deep and treacherous. Yu Yu frowned deeply, her back damp with sweat.
The weather was a bit hot. She didn't know what had come over her, but in that moment, she had panicked terribly, as if...
Fortunately, she had made it out safely. This money was hard-earned. Next time, she would refuse to check on her colleague, no matter what.
So scary.
Leaving the community behind, Yu Yu looked back and noticed that this residential area had quite a few trees, seemingly a bit oversized, with dense vegetation, but otherwise nothing particularly unusual.
However, being an old community without property management, perhaps they hadn't cleared the weeds for a long time—the grass alongside was knee-high. Such deep grass could easily hide several stray cats. Old communities usually had the most strays. Yu Yu looked around, thinking of this. Strange, where were those little ancestors?
She couldn't see a single one. She rode her electric scooter home at a steady pace. After reporting to her boss, who said she'd include it in this month's paycheck, Yu Yu pursed her lips. By the time she got home, it was already nine o'clock.
Today she only needed to complete tasks, so there was no rush to go online. She casually played back the recording to listen, then uploaded a backup copy. After getting paid, she could delete it. With her ears listening to the recording, Yu Yu pulled up the news article again.
City Hospital.
Should she make time to visit?
But she didn't know the person—what reason would she have to visit? It would be hard to find an excuse...
"...Hiss...hiss."
While Yu Yu was hesitating, she suddenly heard a strange sound. Her eyes instantly scanned the room, landing on her phone. Mixed within her loud voice, Wang Rui's small voice wasn't very noticeable, and even less noticeable was this strange... It was like something dragging on the ground, sliding, or... squirming...
~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
Yu Yu reflexively stopped the recording. After considering for a moment, she uploaded it to the cloud, then flopped onto her bed. Time to play the game. Morning, it was probably morning. Yu Yu had never quite figured out the time in this game because the sun never appeared. Even at its brightest, it was only as bright as an overcast day, and having spent so much time in it, Yu Yu wasn't quite used to it. If she weren't playing the game, she really wouldn't like this environment.
People die without sunlight!
Hopefully the developers would be decent human beings and complete the main storyline soon, releasing the sun. Otherwise, no matter how popular this game was...
"Everyone's here. Roll call."
Yu Yu snapped back to reality and responded reflexively, "Yu."
Everyone reported in turn, and Yu Yu heard a familiar voice.
"Feng Ran."
It was that rogue guard lady. Seeing Yu Yu's gaze, she smiled and winked at her. Yu Yu remained unmoved, but felt a little excited. This was a new mission, and teaming up with old friends was a good thing. Looking around, Yu Yu found that everyone in the team seemed somewhat familiar. Apart from her—a mage—the other eight escorts were all from the city guard.
Besides them, there was a middle-aged man wearing a black top and white pants, with a silver-white crescent embroidered on his chest. His every movement set him apart from the others. He looked at Yu Yu with scrutinizing eyes. "The Academy is getting increasingly negligent, not even willing to send an intermediate mage. They don't appreciate who's supporting them."
Yu Yu held her short staff like a stick, showing no reaction. She never argued with NPCs—just look at players currently engaged in a "chasing wife" drama with the tavern owner. Players would go to great lengths for good food. The entire forum had been discussing how to regain the tavern owner's favor last night, trying to get him to let players use his vegetable garden.
"Let's go."
The convoy wasn't long, just a mere three carriages. Was this all for a quarter's worth of supplies? How impoverished!
But then she thought about her backpack—with magic assistance, three carriages should be enough. Even her small backpack had 10 slots with 50% weight reduction. Feng Ran quickly moved closer. "I heard from the captain that the mage this time was a newcomer, so I knew it would be you."
"Are there no other new mages?" Yu Yu asked curiously.
"There are," Feng Ran said. "But the Academy..."
She pondered for a moment. "I don't know for sure, but the Academy seems to place more importance on you. They don't seem to care much about the others and certainly don't repeatedly mention them to us."
Yu Yu was shocked. "They mentioned me?"
Feng Ran didn't know what to say and could only respond vaguely, "You don't know how arrogant they usually are. You're already considered highly valued..."
She spoke ambiguously, obviously without much evidence, just a feeling, so Yu Yu didn't pursue it further.
Ridiculous—what game hadn't she excelled at? Back in the day, she was the Continental Guardian, the First Sorcerer, the Dragon's Watcher, the 36-time consecutive Mayor of Glian, the City of Sorcerers, the Celestial General, the Demon Slayer...
Being valued by the Academy was only natural, wasn't it?
Feng Ran looked at her expression with complete confusion.
Yu Yu took the opportunity during their journey to boast, "Back in my day..."
Everyone listened attentively. Then gradually fell silent. For once, Yu Yu received speechless looks from the NPCs. She shrugged innocently. "Actually, it was from a story I read. Just joking, just joking..."
Only then did Feng Ran regain her composure. "...You really are..."
She was extremely speechless. "Not like a mage at all."
"How am I not like one?"
"Mages aren't as frivolous as you."
Yu Yu: "Hmph."
When are players ever serious?
At this moment, Yu Yu suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to sell her skills.
[Stealth] [Shadow Jump]
Actually, she was somewhat interested in Shadow Jump...
"Can I learn rogue skills?"
Feng Ran turned her head, question marks appearing above her again. "Learn what?"
Yu Yu: "I think Shadow Jump would be quite useful."
Feng Ran condensed a thousand words into one sentence: "I! Haven't! Even! Learned! It! Yet!"
Yu Yu stared at her.
Feng Ran's face turned red with embarrassment. "I've only been training for two years. Isn't it normal that I haven't mastered it yet?"
Yu Yu thought about it—that made sense. How could NPCs in a starter village be particularly skilled? But she hadn't expected Feng Ran to not even have all the basic skills. She's so weak, but Yu Yu wouldn't say it.
Feng Ran: "...What are you thinking?"
Yu Yu smiled. "So, can I learn it?"
"Dream on. Do you have shadow affinity?"
"Your agility and constitution are so low," Feng Ran finally had a chance to look down on her. "If you went to an instructor, they'd kick you out immediately. Don't even think about it."
"Don't you mages have similar spells?"
Yu Yu sighed with disappointment. "Just hearing about it, I can tell it's an advanced spell, unlike you rogues who can use it at the beginner level."
A vein throbbed on Feng Ran's forehead. "I can't use it."
"We can't learn every skill. It depends on talent and also takes time."
She added coldly, "You outsiders are naturally gifted. We're different."
Yu Yu was shocked. An NPC with such self-awareness?
She was truly shocked. She hadn't expected NPCs to not only be so intelligent but even express attitudes toward players' obvious abnormalities. Was "Eternal Darkness" really just a game?
Feng Ran raised her head proudly. "Don't underestimate me."
Yu Yu, distracted, asked, "If you could use our skill books, would you be willing to pay for them?"
She asked casually, her mind still on the unfortunate player who ended up in the ICU after having their account deleted. She suddenly felt an urgent desire to visit that unfortunate soul.
"Buy! Buy! Why wouldn't I buy? If I could use it... if..."
Yu Yu snapped back to reality and casually handed her [Shadow Jump]. "Try it."
Feng Ran hadn't expected her to be so straightforward. The convoy silently came to a halt. The guards, including the standoffish man, all perked up their ears. Feng Ran took the scroll, and Yu Yu watched her expectantly.
Selling to players wasn't profitable because they were just too poor to spare gold coins. But NPCs had money. What if?
What if it worked? Wouldn't that vastly expand her business opportunities?
Feng Ran's face grew increasingly red, with blood gradually trickling from her nose.
Yu Yu: "If it doesn't work, forget it. The developers wouldn't leave such a loophole for me to exploit..."
As she was about to take the scroll back, she was suddenly grabbed by the standoffish man.
Yu Yu: "?"
Meanwhile, the scroll in Feng Ran's hand gradually became transparent, while the blood from her ears and nose flowed like small streams, endlessly. Suddenly, the scroll in her hand vanished, and Feng Ran gasped heavily for breath.
Yu Yu's mouth gradually opened. "...It actually worked?"
Feng Ran glanced at her, then suddenly transformed into a shadow. In the next instant, she appeared at the front of the carriage, then at the back. When Yu Yu blinked again, Feng Ran was by her side. She emerged from Yu Yu's shadow, jostling her off balance.
Feng Ran reached out to steady her. "...You're so weak."
Yu Yu: "..."
The standoffish man looked at Yu Yu deeply. "May I ask your surname, miss?"
"Yu."
The man seemed to want to say something, thought for a moment, then didn't. "Miss Yu, do you have contact information?"
Yu Yu had no contact information. She was still logging in and out from Feng Ran's dormitory.
"Send it to her dormitory," Yu Yu said, pointing at the rogue.
Feng Ran actually seemed a bit proud, holding her head high and looking around. "The mage trusts me, hmph."
The guards indeed looked at her with envy. They also wanted to learn skills in one minute!
"Wuwuwu, Miss Yu, look at us!"
"Very well." The man agreed readily.
The convoy set off again, with Feng Ran and Yu Yu chatting intimately at the back.
She said, "If you're tired, just sit on the carriage. Your weight won't make a difference, and we still have two hours to go."
Yu Yu wasn't actually tired, but upon hearing the time, she suddenly felt exhausted. "Is that allowed?"
She asked modestly.
"Of course. The backpack isn't heavy, and we don't need to push it."
Yu Yu immediately dropped her modesty and climbed onto the carriage, sitting cross-legged. The carriage was semi-open, so Yu Yu wasn't worried about stuffiness. Unexpectedly, as soon as she got on, the entire convoy picked up speed, going from half speed to full speed.
Yu Yu: "...?"
Seeing her expression, Feng Ran rummaged through her belt pouch. "I only have two gold coins."
She reluctantly handed them to Yu Yu. "If you have more skills like this next time, remember to tell me."
Yu Yu looked at her, took one coin, and said, "One is yours. After all, you killed that rogue back then."
Feng Ran brightened, quickly taking back the other gold coin. "Right, I had forgotten."
Yu Yu actually found her quite adorable. "You should wipe your face."
Feng Ran carelessly wiped her face, her demeanor changing from mature and cold to silly and foolish. She would inadvertently giggle from time to time.
Yu Yu: "..."
"[Stealth], can you find a buyer for this?"
Feng Ran glanced at it. "It's not worth much because it's the first skill we rogues learn. Those who can't learn it simply don't become rogues. But if you really want to sell it..."
Yu Yu took it back. "Forget it, I'll sell it to outsiders."
Feng Ran: "You outsiders learn quickly, but lack fundamentals. Those techniques, from our perspective, are full of holes."
"Those stealth attempts, I find them all embarrassing. I just want to kick them out of stealth state one by one..."
She started complaining incoherently. Apparently, she also worked as an instructor for rogues and had a bellyful of grievances. Yu Yu sat leisurely on the carriage, occasionally casting a detection spell. Her loose black robe outlined her slender figure, her fair and delicate face content.
Yu Yu had a deceptively innocent face. With those beautiful dark eyes, one arch or smile, and parents would want to give her candy. The journey was smooth. Yu Yu entered the city with ease, riding on the carriage.
As Moon Bay Town receded into the distance, human settlements gradually became denser, and Yu Yu saw the terrain slowly flatten. There were fences, homes, and fertile fields. She turned her head and saw the massive city.
It was truly enormous.
Compared to the medieval small-town feel of Moon Bay Town, this city was immense, somewhat resembling the royal capital from her previous game. But unlike the magnificent and splendid modeling of the royal capital, this city appeared heavy and dignified, with a sense of historical sedimentation.
Yu Yu saw its uneven battle scars and suddenly fell in love with the city. It was like a real place—magnificent, substantial, grand and imposing, with every brick showcasing its historical heritage. At the city gate were three beautiful large characters, with a silver crescent beside them.
The passive skill 'Language Text (Allen Peninsula)' activated, allowing Yu Yu to easily recognize that the three characters spelled "Silver Moon City."
Silver Moon City, which had always lived in the background story, had arrived. A long queue formed at the city gate. Yu Yu also got down from the carriage. "What's this light barrier?"
Feng Ran looked at Silver Moon City with immense pride. "This is the protection of the Crowns. In Silver Moon City, night and day are as bright as daylight. This is the safest place on the Allen Peninsula."
"If... bah bah bah, there are no ifs."
It was indeed bright.
Since entering the game, Yu Yu hadn't experienced the feeling of "brightness" for a long time. Perhaps the bright barrier, along with the lively, illuminated hustle and bustle inside, was why she liked it at first sight. She smoothly entered the city with everyone else, but unfortunately, she had a mission and couldn't go off to explore.
With such a big city, how many quests must there be?
Yu Yu's beautiful eyes stared unblinkingly in that direction, and everyone noticed.
The standoffish man hesitated. "Why don't you go take a look, but remember to return to the meeting point before six in the evening."
"Great, thank you, boss!"
Yu Yu agreed instantly and vanished into the crowd.
Everyone: "..."
Yu Yu spotted a shop with a large scroll symbol. She gripped her short staff, cleared her throat pretentiously, then walked in with steady steps.