Magic Farm 190

190

Qi Yu had never played this kind of game before.

But the way Dan Xingyu described it sounded so much fun, and since he didn’t have anything else to do at the moment, he was happy to play along.

He volunteered, “In that case, I’d better fly a bit faster.”

He cast an acceleration spell on the golden flying carpet. Twin streaks of blue light flared from either side of the golden rug, as if a pair of wings had sprouted from nowhere.

Whoosh!

They sliced through the sky.

.

The event in the Golden Sand Desert was to explore ancient ruins.

When players went out to explore, they might encounter a random event—“Ancient Ruins.” Upon confirmation, they would enter a sprawling, labyrinthine underground palace.

Within the palace, everywhere were decaying furnishings. The “Lost Copper Coins” that could be exchanged for rewards might be scattered on the ground, or hidden within rusty relics.

Likewise, after years buried beneath the earth, the palace might also harbor all sorts of bizarre mutated creatures.

After hearing this, Qi Yu couldn’t help but say, “Dan Xingyu, it sounds like your District 88 event is more complex and fun than mine.”

“Yeah, so the rewards are better than for your ice boss.” He’d heard from Qi Yu that defeating an ice boss would only ever drop a single ice jewel.

But in the desert palace, if you were lucky, you might find a coin along the way, a few more in a chest, and there was a chance of drops from killing mutated creatures as well.

Of course, the palace’s terrain was more complicated, and there could be more than one mutated creature. Clearing it all would take more time than killing an ice boss, and the difficulty was higher.

The two chatted idly, when Qi Yu suddenly said, “There seems to be a player up ahead.”

Dan Xingyu looked at him in surprise. It wasn’t until he followed Qi Yu’s directions, flying the carpet forward for nearly ten minutes, that he finally sensed the presence of a stranger.

Dan Xingyu: !

Meeting his friend’s astonished gaze, Qi Yu spoke with complete sincerity: “My mental power attribute has always been high. Later, I learned a special method for cultivating mental power and became a mage, and now I’ve awakened as an elf.”

With so many advantages stacked together, if he still couldn’t surpass his peers, even Master Egnor, the Archmage, would have to start doubting himself.

.

“Nothing To Worry About” was feeling lucky today—this was the second ancient ruin he’d triggered that morning.

He was quite satisfied with the new event exploring ancient ruins. No, not just satisfied—he could even say he loved it.

It was exactly the kind of fully immersive treasure-hunting adventure game he’d dreamed of!

The terrain was complex and realistic, the monsters came in all varieties, each with different attack patterns.

Thrilling!

The only drawback was that it wasn’t just a game—you had to be careful. You only got one life, and if you died, there was no saving or starting over.

Another thing he liked: since the ruins were set underground, the survival game had made it feel authentic—once inside, you no longer felt the relentless baking of the sun that scorched the surface.

It was dim and gloomy—an environment that might scare some players.

But for those in District 88, who’d been roasted under the blazing sun for two months, it was pure bliss.

He entered the palace through the ruins’ entrance. Before long, he encountered four bronze sentinels.

These were the basic monsters of the palace—slow-moving, low attack, but with thick health bars, requiring a bit of grinding to take down.

“Nothing To Worry About” was grinding away at them, and just as he finished off the fourth, he heard a dull thud not far away.

It sounded like something heavy had crashed down.

Startled, he cautiously watched that direction. After finishing off the last bronze sentinel, he wondered if there might be a boss monster hidden here.

The thought excited him: usually, the rewards were proportional to the difficulty.

Just like the four bronze sentinels he’d just killed—if he was lucky, he might get a coin. If not, like now, not a single one dropped.

Pure bad luck.

But you couldn’t just ignore them—if you left them alive, they’d follow you, and things would get complicated when you ran into other mutated creatures.

The survival game seemed to have a firm grip on player progression; in events like this, it would never spawn monsters that players had absolutely no way to deal with.

He slowly walked toward the source of the sound. As soon as he entered the room, he froze.

Lying on the ground was a giant, armored humanoid. He recognized it—it was a “Palace Warden,” a rank above the bronze sentinels.

Not easy to handle.

But there were no signs of battle at the scene—the Palace Warden seemed to have been taken out in a single blow.

He started to feel a little afraid.

The Palace Warden was one of the toughest monsters he’d encountered in recent days.

Was there an even more powerful monster here, or… a player?

“Nothing To Worry About” found the latter even scarier.

And as fate would have it, before he could turn around, a cold voice sounded behind him:

“There’s a player here.”

The words were clear and resonant—spoken in the local language!

He hadn’t even seen the person yet, but immediately shouted, “Hello, boss! I just got here and didn’t know anyone was around! I’ll leave right away—the ruins are all yours, I won’t bother you, I’m leaving now!”

He finished speaking and tried to bolt.

“Stop.”

Cold.

Me?

“Nothing To Worry About” turned around in shock, only to see a shadow.

He couldn’t make out the face—only that both figures were tall.

Classic mysterious-player getup.

A thousand scenarios from Blue Star flashed through his mind: with their faces covered like this, were they going to silence him for good?

His friend sent a message:

[Nothing To Worry About: Help, I ran into two players in the palace—they can one-shot the Palace Warden! Do I have any hope of surviving this?]

“Follow us.” Another voice rang out, cooler and more distant than the first.

Before “Nothing To Worry About” could react, he felt the two players pick up the pace.

He didn’t know what was going on. If these two meant him harm, they hadn’t shown it.

So he could only jog along behind them.

What happened next left him dumbfounded.

The two of them were like a force of nature, sweeping through the palace, flattening everything in their path—no matter what sentinels or mutated creatures appeared, they were all reduced to mere speed bumps.

Not a single monster even forced them to use a second move.

Holy crap… he muttered to himself, these must be top-ranked players.

He couldn’t help but wonder: how did two such players end up together?

Wait! Hold on!

Two players.

And they seemed to know each other well.

Both were insanely strong.

Why did this combination sound so familiar?

In any case, the two ahead cleared the monsters, and he was left to pick up the occasional dropped coin.

In just over ten minutes, the entire palace had been cleared.

“Nothing To Worry About” was completely numb by now—if it were him, it would’ve taken at least two hours.

“Thank you, bosses.” He carefully handed over the coins he’d just picked up. “These are the coins I found in the palace.”

The player on the left stepped forward, coming closer.

“Nothing To Worry About” felt his heart leap into his throat.

He heard the player ask, “Are you scared?”

Of course!

He blurted out, “Please, take them—once the ruins event ends, these coins can’t be traded anymore.”

Neither of the two moved.

A second later, the survival panel popped up a message:

[Ancient Ruins exploration complete. Preparing to teleport.]

W-what was happening?

A beam of light enveloped him. In the next instant, his vision flared, and the familiar heat wrapped around his body.

He saw the player on the left lift a hand and pull back his hood, revealing a strikingly familiar handsome face.

“You…” he gasped, “You’re Ershen!”

Dan Xingyu didn’t answer, instead glancing at his companion.

The figure beside him seemed to hesitate for a moment, but finally followed suit, pulling back the hood to reveal a snow-pale face, completely out of place in District 88.

Now that he’d recognized Ershen, it was easy to guess who the companion was.

“Nothing To Worry About” could hardly believe his luck. “You—you’re the gaming boss from District 01, aren’t you?”

Qi Yu nodded.

Dan Xingyu grinned and asked, “So, surprised?”

“Nothing To Worry About”: “……”

More like terrified!

He couldn’t help but say, “Ershen, why didn’t you take your hood off at the start?”

He’d been scared out of his wits the whole time.

Dan Xingyu had already summoned the flying carpet, pulling Qi Yu up with him, looking smug. “What fun would it be to say it at the start?”

It was only fun to see the player completely baffled!

As soon as he finished speaking, the golden flying carpet, enhanced by wind magic, carried the two of them away in a streak of light, vanishing in an instant.

“Nothing To Worry About”: “……” Wait, what’s the rush? Add me as a friend, Ershen!

He wiped his face.

Opened the survival panel.

There were already over a dozen messages from his friends.

[Nothing To Worry About: It’s fine now. Check the regional channel.]

District 88 Regional Channel:

[Nothing To Worry About: Guys, I just ran into Ershen!]

[Nothing To Worry About: No, wait, it was Ershen and the gaming boss!]

Instantly, a flood of players exploded into the chat, all demanding details.

[Nothing To Worry About: I don’t know, I’d just entered the ruins when I ran into two mysterious masked players. They told me to follow, then went ahead, slicing through monsters without a word, not picking up a single drop. In just over ten minutes, they’d cleared the whole map for me.]

[Nothing To Worry About: When we got out, they took off their hoods, and that’s when I realized it was Ershen and the gaming boss!]

[No Phone, Life Is Hard: And then? Did you manage to cling to their coattails and ascend?]

[Nothing To Worry About: …No, Ershen and the gaming boss left. Damn, the top-ranked players’ strength is insane. I never saw a monster survive to a second round.]

[Calm Heart, Cool Mind: I bet you just got lucky and happened to pick the same ruins as the bosses. They probably didn’t want to take your coins, so they just helped you clear the monsters.]

[Nothing To Worry About: That’s possible. Too bad I didn’t get a group photo.]

At first, everyone—including “Nothing To Worry About” himself—thought it was just a coincidence.

But before long, another lucky player popped up in the regional channel, saying they’d also run into the gaming boss and Ershen.

The two would appear out of nowhere, clear the monsters in a flash, take nothing, and once done, reveal their faces, hop on the flying carpet, and disappear.

They were like men of the wind.

The third, the fourth…

Eventually, someone figured it out:

[Are You Dumb Or What: So the two bosses must have finished their own tasks and, bored, started randomly picking lucky players in the region to help clear monsters?]

[Leap of Faith: Wild—wild bosses?]

[Two Liters of Water a Day: Am I the only one shocked at how close these two bosses are? Feels like they’re always together.]