Chapter 16 Another New Guest
"Constantly cultivating in seclusion is truly stifling me to death. It's much better outside, with so many people, so lively…"
A young woman, about sixteen or seventeen years old, dressed in a light blue dress, youthful, beautiful, and quite lively, strolled along the Commercial Street.
The young woman's name was Cold Condensation Moon, a core student of the Feiyun Country Royal Academy.
With the annual Academy Tournament fast approaching, her teacher had been forcing her into secluded cultivation every day to help her achieve a good ranking.
However, Cold Condensation Moon was naturally lively and restless. A few days were fine, but after a long time, she really couldn't bear it anymore.
That's why she seized the opportunity to sneak out and play today.
She wandered around the city for a while. At first, it was fine; she hadn't been out in a long time, so everything seemed fresh.
But after a while, she found aimlessly wandering around a bit boring.
"Where to go next?"
In recent years, Feiyun Country had suffered from severe famine and food shortages, and most of the city's restaurants had gone out of business.
As for clothing stores, she wasn't very interested in that.
She had visited several bookstores and theaters, and she quite liked various novels, but unfortunately, there hadn't been any particularly outstanding works recently.
In that case, it seemed there wasn't much fun left in the city.
"Hehe, that's right, I heard from the boys at the Academy that the newly opened Spring Breeze Pavilion is good, especially the girl inside named Shiwan, who is proficient in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting… Should I dress up as a man and join the fun?"
Cold Condensation Moon had been mischievous and full of ideas since she was little. Thinking of this, she actually considered going.
But just then, suddenly, a few figures passed by her.
"Hey, which monster did you kill yesterday? You shouldn't have fallen too far behind me, right?"
"No, we just reached the Diablos and Rathalos. These two monsters feel a bit fierce, probably at least at the level of a Bronze Overlord Beast. They're hard to kill!"
"Well, that's perfect! Let's team up today and quickly take down these two monsters to uncover the secret of the Ancient Dragon!"
The few people walked along, discussing intensely. Because their voices were very loud, Cold Condensation Moon heard them clearly.
Although she didn't understand most of the content, she understood one sentence.
"Hunting Bronze-level Overlord Beasts?"
"Them?"
Even she, a Bronze 5-star martial artist who was striving to reach Gold, wouldn't dare claim to be able to kill a Bronze Overlord Beast of the same level.
Those few people looked to be at most Bronze 2-star or 3-star level. Fighting a Bronze-level monster was practically suicide.
Yet, their tone and expressions were quite serious, not like they were faking it.
Cold Condensation Moon showed a curious smile.
"Interesting!"
She couldn't help but secretly follow them. After passing through a small alley, the few people finally entered a small shop.
"Nine Heavens Internet Cafe?"
Cold Condensation Moon glanced at the sign and pushed the door open.
Seeing a new customer arrive, Su Ran, who was inside the Internet Cafe, stopped his game and went to greet her.
"Hello, customer, I am the owner of this shop. Our shop allows you to play games using a machine called a computer. Of course, it costs money. It's 10 gold coins to activate game access, and then 1 gold coin per hour!"
After serving so many customers, Su Ran roughly knew what customers would ask as soon as they entered.
So, he concisely introduced his shop.
Basically, many curious passersby would leave directly after hearing the price.
"Playing games? I'm not a child, what games would I play?"
Cold Condensation Moon found it a bit amusing upon hearing this, then pointed to Ouyang Qing and the others who were busy playing games as soon as they entered the Internet Cafe.
"I just heard them say that you can hunt monsters here. What does that mean?"
"They are playing games. You can go and see for yourself."
Cold Condensation Moon walked over upon hearing this, and indeed, she saw a few people fighting a monster on the computer screen. The graphics were incredibly realistic, the battles were exciting and stimulating, and it felt very interesting.
Cold Condensation Moon's eyes lit up: "Could it be that this place is specifically for watching these kinds of projections? It seems quite interesting, much more realistic than reading novels!"
Su Ran shook his head: "It's not watching, it's playing. The people on the game screen are actually being controlled by them personally!"
"Controlled by them personally? How is that possible, they are all here!"
"Actually, instead of explaining so much, you can just play it yourself."
"Alright, then I'll play."
Cold Condensation Moon was bored anyway, and now that she saw such a novel thing, she naturally became interested and paid the money.
Su Ran took the money and was about to start the computer for Cold Condensation Moon, but suddenly remembering something, he looked at her seriously and warned her.
"Let me tell you first, this game is very realistic and difficult. You can die in the game. Although you won't really die, there is still pain, so if your tolerance is low, I advise you not to play this game. Once you play, no matter the reason, I will not refund the money!"
One day had passed since the Internet Cafe machines were increased.
Su Ran hadn't received too many new customers, but there were a few. The one he remembered most clearly was a couple.
They had only come for novelty and fun, but they were startled. The man was fine, at least he remained conscious, but the woman fainted on the spot from fright.
That's why Su Ran gave a heads-up beforehand.
Cold Condensation Moon, however, impatiently urged: "I say, Boss, can you stop being so nagging? Who are you looking down on? Do you look down on me because I'm a girl?"
Su Ran was speechless and said no more, guiding Cold Condensation Moon into the game.
As the game began.
"Investigation Team? Monster? Ancient Dragon? New World?"
"So playing games means this, fighting and adventuring in another world! Fun, fun, this is much more interesting than any seclusion!"
Cold Condensation Moon finally fully understood what the game was, her face full of excitement, and she was immediately drawn into this bizarre world.
Su Ran had intended to stand behind Cold Condensation Moon and watch her play for a while, planning to give her some pointers to avoid losing a new customer.
But he saw that after she landed on the island, she unhesitatingly chose the Great Hammer weapon.
Then, a seemingly delicate young woman, wielding a Great Hammer, instantly killed a Thief Wyvern with a few blows. And it seemed she wasn't satisfied, immediately going to confront a Great Jagras head-on.
She was definitely a violent girl.
Seeing this scene, Su Ran was speechless. Alright, he took back everything he had just said.