A Race To (Be) The Top Chapter 6

Chapter 6 — Saviour!
Li Zheng's Appearance!

Edited by Planetes

Once again, Ling Xiaolu managed to escape from the tiger's den. However, he was regretful over that twenty million.

"My twenty million has flown away," He said sadly.

"That's nothing. If you go back now, don't talk about twenty million, even two billion wouldn't be an issue."

"I noticed that there's quite a bit of inflation in your game's economy. This is not good," Ling Xiaolu condemned primly.

"Honestly speaking, your successful escape this time is all because he underestimated you. With the difference between your abilities, as long as he's prepared, he wouldn't have been hit."

"Who cares about him? I only have to run away successfully. A cat has nine lives!"

"Also, I'd like to remind you. There are differences in the skills available to players and pets. You have to take note that when using your skills, you don't expose yourself."

Ling Xiaolu had completely not thought about this point.

"What? Then didn't I just revealed my ident.i.ty?"

"You're still safe. Players also have a skill similar to the ice arrow, but the dig skill is a little riskier. However, the effect is quite similar to a skill called "Drunk Warrior", and so you somewhat can get away with it."

"Oh, that's good, that's good." Ling Xiaolu patted his chest, still a little uneasy.

"In any case, when you use any skills that only pets can access in the future, you need to remember to camouflage or disguise it."

"I'll try my best. Anyway, should I go level up now?"

"There's no levels in this game. The rankings are according to the gear used, the combat abilities of pets, achievements and other various data. I'll suggest that you do the few quests for new players, they can help you understand the game better."

The first quest was to learn how to use the screenshot and video capturing functions in the game.

"Using both hands, form a right angle with your thumb and index finger. Put them together to make a rectangle, and a viewfinder will appear on your interface."

Ling Xiaolu followed the instructions. "I see it."

"When the viewfinder appears, it will automatically move and focus along with your line of sight. Blink once for a screenshot and blink twice to start recording a video. Blink once when you're capturing a video to pause the recording, and blink twice to stop it."

The quest required him to take a screenshot.

"Can I take a photo of you?" Ling Xiaolu aimed the viewfinder at Ling Long.

A paw on its hip, another paw under its chin, Ling Long gave a seductive pose. "Sure."

With a poker-face, Ling Xiaolu turned his head away and silently took a shot of the scenery.

Ling Long shook its head and sighed, "You could have partic.i.p.ated in the photography compet.i.tion for new players."

"All these photos are taken according to what I see. What should I do to take a photo of myself?"

"Then it'll be my job." Ling Long puffed up its chest proudly, "Tap here once. Lightly… Lightly, I'm ticklish."

A menu appeared next to Ling Long.

"What you see now are all the functions of a non-combative pet. It includes taking photos, videos, livestreaming, alarms, post delivery, etc."

"I didn't think that you'll be able to do so many things."

"They're actually things that your pet can do," Ling Long said modestly. "No matter whether I'm here or not, you can get it to perform all these actions."

Ling Xiaolu selected the photo function, and a screen showing Ling Long's perspective appeared in front of his eyes.

"Instructions are the same as when you're using the viewfinder."

Ling Xiaolu chose his most handsome angle, and pressed the shutter in satisfaction."

"Now I can go enter the photography compet.i.tion for new players."

"… There's no such compet.i.tion, I was only teasing you just now."

Three minutes later, a photo of Ling Long crying after getting beaten up appeared in Ling Xiaolu's photo alb.u.m.

"Where can I see the photos and videos I've taken?" Ling Xiaolu asked as he rotated his wrist.

Shrinking into itself, Ling Long told him, "Use any of your fingers and just swipe in front of your eyes from one corner to the other, and your photo alb.u.m will appear. Even when you're offline, you can still connect to your account and see the photos and videos in real life, just that…"

"Just that?"

"The account you're using now is a special account, and so according to your contract, you don't have the authority to see or use these photos and videos offline."

Ling Xiaolu had nearly forgotten about the thing around his neck.

"Oh, it's fine. Anyway I also have no need for them too."

When the first quest was completed, Ling Xiaolu gained five achievement points.

The second quest was to activate his personal homepage.

"Homepages can only be accessed in safe zones. There are 4 different modules with various functions."

"The first module includes your gear showcase, your personal introduction, your clan, your shop, etc. Other players can also leave a message for you here, or send you gifts."

"Mn. What about the second one?"

"The second one is a social network similar to Weibo. Any posts you put here are public, and the system will also automatically update it with important milestones you gain in the game."

"The third is a private network for your friends. Only players whom you're friends with mutually can see it."

"I understand. What's the last one?"

"That's your livestream page. Players can watch your livestream from there."

"This is useless for me. I can't even wait to maintain my low profile, why would I livestream anything?"

Following the instructions in the quest, Ling Xiaolu activated his homepage. As a brand new noob, he had zero fans, zero friends, and no matter what he posted, no one would see it. Therefore, he did not think too much about it, and just uploaded the three photos he took just now. Completing his quest, he again received another five achievement points.

The third quest finally had something to do with combat.

"I have to collect 20 spider legs. Is there any use for this?"

"It's for alchemy. It's one of the commonly used low level ingredients in potion-making. As the level is too low, most experienced players are too lazy to collect them themselves. They would usually entrust it to new players, and everyone benefits."

Ling Xiaolu just saw some spiders outside the county, and so he made his way back familiarly. There were many spiders here, and they were of quite a large size. People who had a phobia of bugs would probably not dare to come close, but fortunately Ling Xiaolu was not bothered by them.

He thought that the ugly bugs were easier to kill. If they were cute and adorable, most people would probably not bear to harm them.

Ling Xiaolu aimed at a spider, and shot an ice arrow at it.

The main function of the ice arrow was to reduce the speed of the target, and its damage was not very big. Luckily, the spiders were all low level, and after attacking for about half a minute, one finally died.

"It's best to choose a purely offensive single attack skill to kill monsters, like fireb.a.l.l.s or something like that," Ling Long suggested.

"I don't plan on becoming a mage, I want to save the talent points and learn a.s.sa.s.sin-like skills."

A dagger dropped for Ling Xiaolu. It was a normal item with no restrictions, and was in a very bad condition. All it was good for was to be sold.

"Why are you using that? It doesn't deal any damage," Ling Long asked.

"Watch carefully."

Ling Xiaolu randomly selected an unlucky spider. He jumped onto its back and stabbed it. The spider turned around, wanting to attack, but Ling Xiaolu agilely evaded it.

In this manner, he dodged and attacked beautifully, switching between forehand and backhand attacks, hitting from front, back, left and right. He moved like a ghost, dazzling others. Whoever who watched this would not dare blink, afraid that with one blink they would lose track of their target.

The damage numbers appearing on top of the spider's head was a series of "1"s. At the last moment, Ling Xiaolu grabbed the dagger with both hands, thrusting it into the spider's head with a lot of strength. Using this momentum, he executed a beautiful forward flip, landing steadily on the ground two metres away.

Behind him, the spider who had received a fatal hit struggled and spat out its last thread of silk. Convulsing, it fell, and a glow emitted from its body.

Ling Long wanted to cheer, but he suddenly saw a white figure near the forest. No one knew when he had appeared, and no one knew how long he had been watching.

Ling Xiaolu also noticed that someone was spying the moment he landed and looked up. However, before he could see who it was, a flash occurred and no one was there.

Ling Xiaolu broke out in cold sweat. "Did you see that?! It was just there?!"

"I did," Ling Long cautiously flew over to him. It lowered its voice, afraid of exposing them, "It was a player dressed in white, but he teleported away very quickly, so I didn't see his name clearly as well."

Hearing that it was a player, Ling Xiaolu instead exhaled in relief. "That scared me to death. I forgot that this was a game, and I thought it was a ghost."

"You're really very swift, you're definitely suitable to develop towards agility.”

"What are the benefits?"

"With high agility, you can run faster, jump higher, and with a full set of suitable equipment and buff you can even teleport."

"Doesn't that mean I'll be invincible?"

"Of course not. Becoming a fully agile player means that you have to neglect your health pool and strength. You won't be able to kill anyone easily, and you'll even be killed easily. Each type has its own pros and cons, and there's no type that is invincible."

Ling Xiaolu chatted with Ling Long as he continued killing, and slaughtered half the spiders present.

"I've killed enough." He picked up the last spider leg, and his inventory was also full.

"We'll return to the city to hand in the quest items, and I can also clear my inventory. I need to quickly earn some money to increase my inventory s.p.a.ce."

Heading back with Ling Long, they only took a few steps before a signal in front shot up towards the sky.

"What is that? An event?"

The well-informed Ling Long was no longer calm, and it flipped and tumbled in midair.

"Something big is happening! Quick, look at what the global channel is saying!"

Ling Xiaolu pinched his left ear. "Global Channel."

The global channel appeared.

【Global】【Announcement】Player [Dou Kou] has sent a solo challenge to Player [Ji Meng], the stake is more than a million. All interested players are welcomed to [Yuanting County] to watch the challenge.

"Oh oh oh!" Ling Long somersaulted in the air.

"…" Ling Xiaolu asked, "What are you getting all excited about?"

"A solo challenge the stakes exceed 1 million, the system would automatically make an announcement. Two benefactors will be fighting, this is really something big! People from the surrounding cities would definitely come and watch!"

It twisted anxiously. "G.o.d! Why are they doing this in Yuanting County, and not Jingzhe City? This place is so small, the engine would definitely lag like crazy. No, I have to let my colleagues know and be prepared."

Ling Xiaolu did not know what Ling Long was doing, but on his way, he met many people rushing towards Yuanting County, and the global channel was mostly filled with cries and complaints.

【Global】Bai Huahua: Yuanting County! Why am I in Hanyang County! There's 16 jumps to go!

【Global】Aquamarine Go: What's 16 jumps? 26 jumps saying hi here.

【Global】Thin Rubber: Northwest composedly requesting for livestream.

【Global】Nine Heavens: Friends in the east, are you all ok? I hope you all get squeezed into paste *waves*

【Global】Li Xiaoyu: I just came from there, my stamina points!

"Why do I not understand a word they're saying? What jumps? And what is stamina points?"

"Didn't you just activated a waypoint at the inn? If you go to another nearby inn and activate a waypoint there, you can ‘jump' between both locations."

Ling Xiaolu understood a little. "So, the more jumps there are, the further they are?"

"That's right. Each time you jump, your stamina points will be deducted. The further you jump, the more stamina points will be deducted, and when your points reach 0, you will not be able to use the waypoints in the system. You can only run there yourself or drink stamina potions, but the cool down for the stamina potions are also quite long."

"I understand it now. So, the company is trying to prevent players from travelling over long distances?"

"The stamina points will recover automatically, so travelling a long distance is not impossible. It'll just take some time."

【Global】Pa Guo: [Livestream]

Someone sent a link on the global channel. Out of curiosity, Ling Xiaolu clicked on it as well.

The chat window reversed, and in the screen appeared an arena. The only two benefactors Ling Xiaolu had seen before were standing face to face, and there were also people leaving comments that appeared on the screen.

— Why is Dou Papa challenging the Ji fellow?

— He failed at catching a pet, and in a fit of rage, he wants to vent his anger at Xinshan?

— I guess it's about his bounty getting overshadowed today.

— What bounty what overshadowed? Can an educated little friend explain this to me, this confused person who has just came online?

— Dou Papa offered 5million for the location of the pink name, and Hubby straight away offered double the amount, so he definitely feels off-balance. Dou Papa has been playing for more than a year already, but he hasn't gained a human pet. Hubby has only just started recently, yet he dares to challenge him so publicly? I stan Papa.

— Another pink name has appeared? Alright then, even if there is, there's no regulation that states that an older player has the right to them. Li Zheng has been playing for even longer, if it's according to time, it also wouldn't be Dou Papa.

Ling Xiaolu saw the active discussion, and also posted a comment.

— What's the point of comparing experience or money? People are free to choose who they want to follow. They have to respect the will of the pink name, pets who are forcibly captured will not be obedient!

Ling Long saw that he was standing there, motionless, and could guess what he was doing.

"You're watching the livestream? You'll be able to witness the live show yourself soon. You should switch the livestream off, if not it'll overload the engine."

Ling Xiaolu listened to it and closed the livestream window. Anyway, comments were filling the screen so rapidly that he could not see what was going on.

There was an immense crowd over at Yuanting County. Everyone who had rushed over to watch were gathered around the arena, and they were arguing over all sorts of matters, creating a very noisy atmosphere.

"Can people behind stop pushing? You want to push me up the stage?"

"We're all here to watch the challenge live, can we all be a little more quiet? If not, just go home and watch the livestream!"

"Hubby, I love you! Kill that old man!"

"Ahhhhhhhh—!!!"

Ling Xiaolu covered his ears. It was too noisy.

"The ones with flying steeds, can you all go up?! Leave some standing s.p.a.ce at the bottom!"

This served as a reminder to everyone. Many people summoned their pets and flew to midair. A thousand over pets spread their wings. There were b.u.t.terflies, dragons, bats, and others, covering the sky without any s.p.a.ce in between.

They thought there would be more s.p.a.ce on the ground. However, some people were inspired and summon their pets out so that they could ride on them as well, and arguments broke out again.

"Can the one on the elephant have a bit more civic mindedness? So what if you have an elephant?"

"Come down from your hippopotamus before speaking!"

"Can you give some s.p.a.ce for the one on a crocodile?!"

It looked like fights were about escalate any time. Ling Long pulled at Ling Xiaolu's ear and whispered, "Don't worry, our colleagues on the line are already on the move. They're hidden amongst the crowd, and once there's a problem, they will immediately stop and imprison them to maintain the order on the scene."

When it said that, everyone started looking like GMs to Ling Xiaolu, including those elephants, hippopotamuses and crocodiles. They could all be GMs in disguise.

The two people on the stage were still giving each other verbal jabs under the eyes of the crowd.

"We've been going our own way, what do you mean by doing this?"

"What do you think? A person shouldn't be too arrogant. Or is that with the surname Ji, you can behave tyrannically in the game?"

"So it's just because I doubled your bounty? If you can, you can double it again, I'm not stopping you."

"Hah, how did you get your money in the first place? Everyone here has contributed to it, right?" Dou Kou stirred the crowd, "This fellow is using our hard-earned money to squander it in the game, can you all accept it?"

A third of the people shouted that they could not, another third shouted that their money was Hubby's money, and the last third shouted asking why were they not fighting yet? They were not here to listen to them arguing.

Ji Meng was disdainful. "You didn't get an equivalent exchange when you spent your money? Were you forced to buy your ring? Saying things like this, are you still a primary school student?"

Ling Xiaolu was not happy. Why was he looking down on primary school students? Did Ji Meng not study in a primary school before?

"Less nonsense, I'm asking now, do you dare to accept the challenge?"

"Am I not here already? I've only played this game for a short time, and I might not beat you in a fight. However, I can still come up with a bit of pocket money. If I lose, I'll just take it as though I'm thanking you for your years of support for the game on behalf of the shareholder uncles."

The crowd started shouting.

"I've also supported Xinshan for many years. How about giving me some of your pocket money to thank me too!"

"I'm a beta tester! If there's any thanks, I'm first in line!"

"If the crown prince loses, increase the appearance rate of rare pets for a month!"

"Agreed!"

"Increase the rate!"

Everyone came to an alarming consensus. In shock, Ling Xiaolu looked at these people who had been in three factions and now came to join in one. So it was not that people could not unite, it was only that they lacked a common goal.

Ji Meng was even more disdainful. "I only represent myself in the game, and Xinshan would never change their numbers for anyone in the game. If I could really do anything I want, wouldn't it be easier to change put the pink name under my name directly?"

"Poo, shameless," Ling Xiaolu scolded. "Who wants to be under your name?"

Dou Kou said, "So many benefactors are watching, I believe you also don't dare to be that arrogant. If not, when all the benefactors leave, whose money can you earn then?"

Ling Xiaolu wanted to get a clearer view, but the people around him (including the elephants, hippopotamuses and crocodiles) were too big and tall. They firmly blocked the arena from sight.

He glanced around, and found a stone pillar not far from the arena. The pillar was taller, and there was s.p.a.ce on top for a person to stand. Ling Xiaolu calculated the footholds around the area, and felt that he could give it a try.

He silently retreated from the crowd.

"Where are you going? You're not going to watch it anymore?" Ling Long had not watched enough of it yet.

"It's not that I'm not watching, I'm just moving to a better view." He climbed onto the roof of a building.

"Although the view from this place is very wide, but don't you think it's a little far?"

Ling Long gazed into the distance, and the dense crowd looked like ants.

"Don't be anxious, follow me."

Ling Xiaolu leapt nimbly, heading towards the stone pillar. It was very difficult to find the footholds accurately, and Ling Xiaolu did not dare to guarantee that he would succeed on the first try.

He calculated the distance, estimated his strength, aimed at his target, jumped!

Perfect!

Just as he thought so, a light flashed past him. At that exact time, an unexpected person teleported to his targeted location. As it was too fast, Ling Xiaolu did not see anything clearly, other than something gold on that person's head.

That person clearly also did not expect that anyone would jump over. Unable to find somewhere to land, Ling Xiaolu could only go to the side. About to land, at the critical moment, the gold name swiftly caught his waist.

Ling Xiaolu swayed and finally steadied himself. However, if the other person was to let go, he would still fall.

The arm around his waist was very powerful, and it seemed like he had no intentions of letting him fall.

Alarmed, Ling Xiaolu broke out in cold sweat. Falling from this height, he would probably need to return to the reviving point.

Fortunately, this person reacted in time, and so he had a lucky escape from death. He could not even mind their intimate, ambiguous pose, as after all, this person was his saviour.

"Thank you," He lifted his head. "I'm really very grateful… Li Zheng?!"

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