408 The Next Server
[ CONGRATULATIONS to Black Lion on killing the Mad Doctor! 10 000 Candy Points awarded to the group! ]
[ CONGRATULATIONS to Sleeping Dragon on killing Maria Labo! 10 000 Candy Points awarded to the group! ]
[Time until next respawn of the Mad Doctor, 24:59]
[Time until next respawn of Maria Labo, 24:59]
Ren was stunned. Not only did Black Lion manage to defeat the leader of the server they were in, but Sleeping Dragon did as well.
Ren's brain did a mad scrambled of thinking, theorizing how it happened. He was so sure that no one would successfully defeat a server's boss since they hadn't been killed in his previous life . . . but here they were.
Two guilds managed to do it in the shortest time possible.
Ren couldn't wrap his head around what happened, and no matter how much he tried to think of it, he didn't know what Black Lion and Sleeping Dragon did to achieve such a feat that could change the future.
Was it because of him?
Ren couldn't help but think that all of these were happening because of him. Were his actions causing a butterfly effect?
The two guilds that were his mortal enemies were now leading the Halloween Event, and it would be hypocritical for him to say that he wasn't disappointed.
Ren didn't know what to feel about the whole situation, to be honest. His system crashed because of the news.
Maybe he would accept that news more if it was another guild who killed the server's boss, not Black Lion and Sleeping Dragon — his two enemies.
Ren sighed and regained his calm. There was no use in overthinking about it. What happened had already happened.
They could talk about it later when they regroup in the next server or after they were forced to log out.
As long as they weren't forced to log out by the system for going past the daily limit, they couldn't log out and regroup. The only option they had was to pick another server until the time limit was reached at the end of the day.
"Sumeri, Nikolai. We'll meet up at my unit after we're forced to log out, so we can discuss what happened," said Ren. "In the meantime, ready your items. We're heading to the next server."
Sumeri took a deep breath and sighed. "Fine . . ." She was about to rant more but decided against it.
Sumeri's and Nikolai's deaths weren't a big deal. After all, they had already finished what they had to do on this server, so nothing would change even if they died.
They were not like the other groups who would become more helpless with every member that died since they weren't after the candy points.
Also, if they died on a server, they would remain dead until their group decided to go to another server.
They could only log into one server at a time, and whether they finished it or not, or whether they got wiped out or not, they could no longer visit the same server in the future.
In short, after visiting once, there was no second chance after they died or after they left for other servers.
"Should we wait for the four-hour time limit to be over? I'm sure by that time, a lot of the players have already taken everything that happened to them to social media. I'm sure there'll be information about other servers. We might get more information about Dracula's Castle," suggested Evie.
The four-hour time limit each day was a gap that allowed the players to exploit the seven days event. In their Time in the real world, the players could surf the internet. There, they could provide information about the servers that they went to.
And she added at Ren's silence, "We could also regroup and ask Sumeri and Nikolai about what happened to them."
Evie felt that Black Lion's and Sleeping Dragon's achievement was a blow to Ren. He might not have said anything, but the deep frown on his face spoke volumes.
Ren shook his head, and the calm on his face returned, displaying a small smile on his lips. "No. Let's go to Dracula's Castle next. Every minute is important, so we have time for other servers. Let's not waste time on something that's already happened."
Evie could only nod. "Alright."
"Remember what I told you about the items," said Ren as he pressed the Event Menu and chose Dracula's Castle amongst the list of servers presented.
Evie nodded, and Ren looked at her with a tender gaze and soft smile as they slowly turned into pixels.
"See you on the other side," he said.
Evie smiled back. "See you."
----
[ With the rise of the Blood Moon, the accursed abode of Dracula's Castle came to claim the blood owed to him. His halls contained treasures and secrets that would make any ambitious players abandon all reason and caution to seek them out.
Would you risk your soul for gold and glory in the Halls of Dracula's Castle? ]
Ren found himself in twilight meadows.
The darkened meadow was vast and misty, dotted with glassy, white asphodel flowers. He was separated and alone among the sea of flowers.
Mist bellowed around his bare feet and blanketed the ground as far as his eyes could see.
In the blue half-light, shadowy figures of other souls moved as if in pantomime. Even if he strained, he could barely hear their voices, snatches of one-sided conversation.
Small white light coming from fireflies danced and flickered in the distance, and Wil o' wisp-like creatures led travelers astray.
Though there were paths through the unquiet meadow toward Dracula's Castle, finding one's way out of it was difficult without assistance.
The Meadows was designed to be directionless, timeless, and intentionally disorienting. The mist occluded the few landmarks that might exist — roads and byways too. Not even Dracula's Castle could be seen.
Not to mention that the landscape was everchanging.
The air was heavy with the perfume scent of the asphodels — sickly sweet and overpowering, causing players that inhaled its scent to enter a fatigued state.
( . . . continuation on NOTES)
