Chapter 1 The Beginning

The sky over Cloud's End City was a dreary gray, with a sporadic drizzle falling.

Near the player spawn point of the city's Mage Academy, two NPC merchants were surrounded by players. One specialized in selling brooms, while the other peddled black-rimmed glasses. The influence of "Harry Potter" on the tired theme of magic had even reached the latest holographic online game blockbuster, "Parallel World."

These two NPCs, capitalizing on the "Harry Potter" standard look, fleeced the newly spawned players. The system only gave new players fifty copper coins, but these two useless decorations cost 125 each, totaling 250. Even so, the players were enthusiastic, working hard all day just for these 250 coins. Throughout the Mage Academy, players in long robes, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and waving brooms could be seen everywhere.

Amidst this festive atmosphere, one person was frowning.

Gu Fei, wearing a mage robe, stood in the center of the school square, looking at the joyous crowd. Apart from sighing, he couldn't find anything to do.

The last profession he wanted to be was a mage.

But he had become a mage.

It was all thanks to that student named A Fa. Gu Fei was a teacher at the school and had inadvertently overheard some students discussing this new holographic online game. After inquiring about it, this student named A Fa had ingratiatingly given him an account.

Who knew that good intentions could lead to mistakes? A Fa had confusedly given Gu Fei an account that already had a set profession and name. After undergoing holographic scanning and identity binding to enter the game, Gu Fei discovered this situation. Moreover, this online game was the first to use holographic technology, receiving unprecedented attention. Given the limited capacity of the game servers, the official could only send out a limited number of accounts, with one identity limited to one. This ultimately meant that if Gu Fei wanted to play this game, he could only be this mage.

Looking at the latest set of holographic equipment he had specially bought, it would be a shame not to play. Gu Fei eventually entered the game. Unfortunately, not having chosen the profession he wanted, the purpose of the game was completely lost. At this moment, Gu Fei was standing in the city, not knowing what to do.

While lost in thought, he suddenly saw several mages dragging their torn robes and running back from outside the Mage Academy's gate, their faces bruised and swollen. Gu Fei saw a short, thin figure among them and subconsciously called out, "A Fa!"

It was this student – poor grades, poor physical education, ordinary looks. Apart from being glib, he didn't have any special talents. He was the kind of absolutely marginalized person in the school that no one cared about. This mage account of Gu Fei's came from him. Meeting him in the game, Gu Fei tried hard to restrain the urge to beat him up. After all, it wasn't intentional. Moreover, he had to be a role model.

A Fa heard someone calling him and looked up to see Gu Fei, staggering over. "Hello, Teacher!" A Fa said.

"Alright, alright, you don't have to be like that." Gu Fei quickly said. Being greeted like this by a student in the game was extremely awkward. Many players around who heard this turned to look curiously.

"What happened to you?" Gu Fei pulled A Fa away from the crowd and asked.

A Fa took a couple of deep breaths. "I didn't expect, I didn't expect it would be like this... I just went out for a walk in the city and got beaten up."

"What level are you?" Gu Fei asked, surprised. Apart from the spawn point, there were no so-called safe zones in the game. Gu Fei knew this, but there was still PK protection for low-level players. Players below level five could not be PKed.

"I just spawned, haven't leveled up yet!" A Fa said.

"Then how could you be PKed?" Gu Fei asked, puzzled.

"I wasn't PKed, I was beaten up," A Fa said.

"What's the difference?" Gu Fei didn't understand.

"Teacher, PK means using skills in the game, reducing health in the game. But now it's holographic simulation. They just beat me up like a street fight. Although my health didn't decrease, it... it really hurt!" A Fa said, touching the corner of his mouth, wincing.

"There are actually people like that!" Gu Fei was surprised.

"Yeah! I didn't expect this kind of thing to happen after holographic simulation," A Fa said.

"Holographic simulation..." Gu Fei muttered to himself. "I'm going to take a look!" Gu Fei suddenly started walking outwards.

"Wait!" A Fa grabbed Gu Fei. "Teacher, you're a mage, your natural constitution and strength are not as good as the knights'. We can't win this kind of fight!"

Gu Fei patted A Fa's head and said, "Did you forget? Your teacher knows kung fu!" With that, he turned and left.

"Teacher!" A Fa stared blankly at Gu Fei's back. Gu Fei knows kung fu! This sentence was a joke at Yulin Middle School. It was said that even the principal had privately commented: What is shamelessness? Teacher Gu Fei repeatedly saying that he knows kung fu is the most shameless thing I've ever seen in my life.

Gu Fei was indeed a bit bouncier, a bit faster, a bit more agile, and a bit stronger. In the eyes of ordinary people, it was completely reasonable and appropriate for a physical education teacher to have this kind of performance, but Gu Fei insisted that he had practiced martial arts since he was a child and had developed this body of steel and iron bones, invincible since childhood.

No one believed it.

Because there was a widely circulated video on Yulin's campus network, taken by the surveillance camera installed at the school gate. Some bored person had uploaded it online. The video showed a young man being beaten black and blue by an old man at the school gate, rolling on the ground without any ability to fight back. The title of the video was named "Old but Strong." The male lead was of course the old man, and as for the male supporting role, it was confirmed to be Teacher Gu Fei, who claimed to be "invincible since childhood."

Having had this kind of experience, who would believe that Gu Fei knew kung fu? Everyone thought that this person had read too many wuxia novels and was a bit mentally disturbed. Fortunately, although Gu Fei said he knew kung fu, he never had any violent tendencies and his teaching attitude was considered serious, so this didn't have any further impact.

But right now... A Fa watched Gu Fei walk out of the Mage Academy's gate, turning back to shout at A Fa, "Which way?"

A Fa subconsciously pointed to the right. Gu Fei started walking.

A Fa was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening and quickly chased after him.

The game's realism was undoubtedly very good. The stone-paved road made people feel a bit uncomfortable, but Gu Fei walked quickly. A Fa was running behind him, covered in sweat, and saw Gu Fei stop at an intersection again.

"Where are they?" Seeing A Fa catch up, Gu Fei turned and asked.

"They were over there just now." A Fa pointed to the pool in the center of the square ahead. "Teacher, don't go!" A Fa shouted, seeing Gu Fei move forward.

Gu Fei smiled back. "Don't come over. Teacher will be right back."

The sight of his back in the mage robe always made people feel weak, but Gu Fei's figure made people feel unusually dashing and confident.

"Damn it! At most I'll get beaten up, fuck it, the real me won't get hurt!" A Fa muttered to himself and chased after him.

But Gu Fei was already gone. A Fa walked around, looking around, and suddenly heard screams coming from an alley next to him. A Fa quickly went over, poking his head into the alley.

In the alley, four guys wearing knight's light armor were beating a thin man. The sound of punches hitting flesh was chilling. The guy being beaten was already bruised and battered, his face and body covered in blood. From the equipment he was wearing, it was impossible to tell what profession he was. But even if he was the toughest warrior class, as an ordinary person, he was unable to withstand the siege of these four strong men. He had already lost the ability to resist, and after being heavily punched into the corner, he curled up without saying a word.

The four guys who were beating him all had mean faces, obviously not good people. But at this moment, they stopped because Gu Fei had appeared before them.

No one spoke. The four guys saw Gu Fei's mage robe and suddenly looked at each other, revealing knowing smiles.

"Let him go!" Gu Fei said.

"You mean him?" The most burly of the four kicked the poor man curled up in the corner. He gave the other three a look, and the four slowly moved, surrounding Gu Fei. Originally, they were wary of Gu Fei turning around and running away, but Gu Fei stood still, allowing the four to surround him.

The burly man, who was obviously the leader, flashed a hint of surprise in his eyes. But after carefully examining Gu Fei, he was somewhat relieved. The guy in front of him wasn't very tall. The mage robe in the game didn't hide his well-proportioned figure, broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs. This kind of body showed that he usually paid attention to exercise. His physical fitness wasn't bad, so he wouldn't be too bad at fighting. But right now, this was a game. No matter how good your physique was in reality, speed, strength, physique, and so on were completely determined by the game's data. This guy was a mage, and his strength and physique were the weakest. One punch from him would make him scream in pain for a long time. It seemed that the highly realistic environment had made this person forget that this was in the game.

Without any pleasantries, the leader only said one word: "Go!"