Chapter 1 Nie Yan's Predicament

Nie Yan glanced at his status bar, and was depressed to find that his name had turned red. Thinking back, it was true that he had attacked first. The situation was too urgent at the time, and he hadn't thought it through. In that situation, he had to attack Ye Ying first, otherwise he would definitely be the one to die!

The system's red-name rules were like that. To put it bluntly, PK was just a game, and it depended on whether players could kill their opponents within the rules of the game. To kill an opponent without turning red was the highest level.

In Nie Yan's situation just now, it was impossible to make the enemy attack first. It was even more impossible for Nie Yan to let those three go. He admitted that he was indeed impulsive, but in that kind of situation, who would swallow their anger?

After killing three of them, Nie Yan's name was already burning red.

But having a red name was nothing to worry about. In his previous life, Nie Yan had turned red at least twenty or thirty times. If he encountered some chaotic battles, it was possible to turn red two or three times a day. In this life, with Nie Yan's current equipment, even if he had a red name, it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven for others to kill him. If Nie Yan wanted to run, no one could catch him! So he wasn't worried at all.

With Nie Yan's current respect value in Calore City, it wasn't enough for him to return to Calore City with a red name. If he was seen by the guards, he would be cut down with a single blade.

What should he do now? His backpack was full, and he couldn't return to the city. Looking at his status, he had to kill three thousand monsters to wash away his red name. If he farmed leaders and elites, the speed of washing away his red name would be faster.

Nie Yan suddenly remembered that when he had a red name, he could go and farm scale frogs!

A type of monster that erased red names particularly quickly, and when farming scale frogs with a red name, there were additional experience and drop rate bonuses. Sometimes, if he was lucky, he would even get a special gift, which was the Maniac Medal!

Turning red might actually be a blessing in disguise.

Through this PK, Nie Yan fully realized that although he had obtained two Chapters of Order and a fragment of the Soggett Shadow, he had great development potential in the future. After all, every five levels he leveled up, he would have four more attribute points than ordinary players. But because he spent too much time collecting these things, his equipment was still not good enough. He had to improve his level and equipment as soon as possible.

Nie Yan relaxed and looked at the attributes of the level 10 staff that Orange had dropped.

Staff of Dark Wind (Gold): Required Level 10.

Attributes: Attack 62-68, with 30 points of burst damage, 30% increased damage to beast-type monsters.

Limitation: Only usable by Good and Lawful Arcane Mages of the Light Faction.

So this guy was using the Dark Wind Staff, no wonder his attack was so strong, even Nie Yan's high defense was useless. This staff could be used by Tang Yao, who could use it perfectly. Changing equipment would be perfect for doing quests together. However, since *Sacrificial Strike* had just been used, Nie Yan really didn't know what to say. He had to equip Tang Yao with some better skills.

Looking at the other two pieces of equipment, the one that dropped from Ye Ying was the Blackwing Cloak, worn by combat thieves. Nie Yan could only give up on it. There was also a piece of warrior equipment.

As for the Ghoul King, it dropped a pretty good piece of equipment for Nie Yan.

Ghoul King Leg Guards (Gold): Required Level 10.

Attributes: Defense 29-35, Resilience +12, Movement Speed +16.

Weight: 2 lbs.

User Limitation: Thief, usable by all factions.

Nie Yan put on the Ghoul King Leg Guards, and his resilience and movement speed each increased a bit.

"How's it going on your side?" Nie Yan sent a message to Tang Yao.

"I just leveled up to level 10 and am preparing to return to Calore City. Are we going to do quests together?" Tang Yao asked. With the level 3 Arcane Sprite, he was thinking of finding some stronger monsters to test its effects.

"Not for the time being, because I have a red name," Nie Yan said with a wry smile.

Tang Yao was stunned when he heard Nie Yan's words: "Red name? Did you PK just now?"

"I killed three people from Triumph. They wanted to steal my monsters, but I killed them instead."

"Damn, you're awesome, taking down three in one go. What level were they?" Tang Yao wasn't surprised or regretful because of Nie Yan's red name. On the contrary, he was very interested. What was so great about a red name? Taking down three people in one go, what a cool thing that was!

"They were all level 10."

"Wow, level 10. I thought they were all low-level trash." Tang Yao was shocked. He understood what three level 10s meant. They were elite-level characters from the major guilds, not like him, who leveled up by farming monsters. Most of them were actually leveled up through solid practice.

Killing three elites from the Triumph Guild who were around the same level, that was awesome enough.

"Stop chatting, think of a way to help me transport the stuff back first, and then bring me some consumables. I can't return to the city right now," Nie Yan said with a wry smile.

"Okay, where are you? I'll be there in a while. Don't get killed by someone else. If you die, all your equipment will be dropped," Tang Yao's only worry was this. But after thinking about it, he was overthinking it. With Nie Yan's strength, if he didn't bother others, others would already be praying for their own good fortune. If others wanted to kill Nie Yan, they should think about themselves first.

"I'm in the Black Gold Mine. I thought of a way to farm monsters and erase my red name. First go to the Starry Night Pharmacy in the main city and get some money from Bird-Without-Egg. After you buy all the consumables for me, go to Teso Island Town and buy me some Mist Dust," Nie Yan said, explaining the matter about the Starry Night Pharmacy in general terms. Tang Yao was very surprised that the Starry Night Pharmacy, which was causing a stir in Calore City, was actually opened by Nie Yan. But after thinking about it, he understood. Nie Yan probably had countless secrets, but he would definitely keep it a secret for Nie Yan.

"Mist Dust? What is that?" Tang Yao asked, puzzled.

"You'll know when you get there. Bring more money. The selling price there is five gold coins per stack, twenty per stack. I'll have Bird-Without-Egg give you six gold coins."

"Damn, what is so expensive that twenty pieces cost five gold coins? That's too terrifying," Tang Yao gasped.

"Don't ask for now, I'll explain it to you later."

"Okay, I'll go as soon as possible."

"I'll farm monsters for a while first. Send me a message when you're almost ready," Nie Yan said. He could only farm ordinary ghouls here first, and wash away some of his red name before doing anything else.

Under Nie Yan's instructions, Tang Yao ran to several NPC stores that sold consumables as quickly as possible, including the Mist Dust that cost five gold coins per stack in Teso Island Town. Five gold coins disappeared in the blink of an eye, causing Tang Yao's heart to ache. Five gold coins, if exchanged for Beginner Instant Recovery Potions, would be enough for him to use for three months. If exchanged for equipment, it would be enough for him to wear a set of gold equipment. But in Nie Yan's hands, it turned into these twenty servings of Mist Dust, whatever they were. What a waste!

"I'm here, where are you?" Tang Yao asked.

"Coordinates 23838, 23828," Nie Yan sent Tang Yao the coordinates.

"I'm nearby, I'll be there in a moment."

After a while, Tang Yao ran over panting. The Arcane Sprite followed closely beside him.

"I'm exhausted." Tang Yao was also shocked when he saw Nie Yan's red name. "How did it get so red?"

"You'll be just as red if you kill three people," Nie Yan said with a wry smile.

"You're fierce enough," Tang Yao said with a smile.

"Okay, stop gloating here, help me bring all the stuff back. I'll give you permission, put it in my personal warehouse first," Nie Yan said.

"Ah, I have to run again," Tang Yao said dejectedly.

"My backpack is completely full here. You can't possibly want me to throw everything away, right? It seems like there's a piece of gold equipment inside that you can use."

"Gold equipment? Where is it?" Tang Yao's eyes flashed with a ghostly green light when he heard about the gold equipment.

"Here." Nie Yan threw the Staff of Dark Wind to Tang Yao.

"Awesome, so cool. You should have said so earlier if you had a gold staff." Tang Yao was happy when he saw the attributes of the Staff of Dark Wind. Without saying a word, he switched to it. "I'm happy to serve you, I guarantee to send all the equipment to your personal warehouse within three minutes, and then return here within twenty minutes."

"Hurry up," Nie Yan said with a smile, handing over everything to Tang Yao.

Tang Yao used a Return Scroll, helped Nie Yan send the stuff back, and then returned here.

"Where are we going next?"

"Let's go farm scale frogs together. I'll team up with you," Nie Yan sent Tang Yao a team invitation.

System: Player Tang Yao has joined your team.

After teaming up with Tang Yao, Nie Yan led Tang Yao towards the scale frog spawn area.

Leaving the Black Gold Mine, they headed south, entering a deep jungle. The trees here grew luxuriantly, and occasionally some ox monsters passed through the forest.

"Be careful to hide, avoid the monsters carefully if you encounter them, and don't disturb them!" Nie Yan reminded Tang Yao.

"Where are we going? Why do I feel like this place is very dangerous?"

"This is the level 30 Wild Bull Monster area, so be careful. However, these Wild Bulls are relatively docile. As long as you don't get within five yards of them, they won't bother you."

"Level 30 monster area." Tang Yao's eyes were about to pop out. Coming to a level 30 monster area at this time, wasn't this courting death? But after thinking about it, he didn't say anything. Nie Yan had brought him to the Black Hells in the level 25 monster area before. Since the level 25 monster area was accessible, the level 30 monster area couldn't be much different.

Passing through layers of dense jungle, occasionally one or two Wild Bull Monsters passed by in the forest. They had sharp horns, their bodies were covered in black scales, and they were very strong and tall, looking very fierce.

All of this made Tang Yao tremble with fear. He was no match for Nie Yan. Nie Yan was a thief, and even if he encountered danger, he still had a high probability of running away. But he was a mage, with cloth armor and short legs, so he ran slowly. If he was targeted by some high-level monster, it would be dangerous.

Passing through a large area of Wild Bull Monster territory, Nie Yan finally reached the scale frog spawn point.

Scale frogs were a type of level 25 monster. Their bodies were covered in hard scales. They moved slowly, but their attacks and poisons were very powerful. In his previous life, at least a team of level 30 players was needed to dare to come here.