Chapter 31: So Close, Yet Out of Reach

Only one last red wild boar remained, snorting and staggering under Lin Jia’s thunder magic. The boss was already in despair. As she stepped aside from Lin Jia’s apprentice mage, she muttered, “Forget it! Forget it! Maybe it doesn’t always drop loot. Let’s wait for it to respawn and try again? I’ll go lure the monsters! Fourth, you just stand here and don’t move; we’ll keep protecting you like this—it’s safer than running around!” With that, she dashed toward the newly spawned monsters, intending to bring more over.

But just then, the red wild boar in the corner let out a miserable howl and exploded, scattering its loot across the ground like a shower of treasures. Lin Jia shouted, “It dropped!” His sudden yell startled both Fourth and the boss, making them instinctively straighten up and rush their characters toward the falling equipment.

Lin Jia, trapped in the corner, didn’t react fast enough to grab the loot. The few items on the ground were quickly swept up by the boss and Fourth, leaving Lin Jia fuming and cursing their greed.

The boss and Fourth just chuckled, ignoring Lin Jia’s complaints, and opened their inventory to see what they’d picked up. They had rushed in so quickly, they hadn’t even checked what they grabbed.

Grumbling to himself, Lin Jia felt sorry for his little mage—it was his hard work, but the spoils always went to someone else. Even though the loot would be shared anyway, the thrill of picking up equipment had been stolen by his two greedy brothers.

Lin Jia moved his character, sweeping his mouse over the corner to see if anything was left. To his surprise, there was still a pile of green-glowing items at the coordinates where he had been standing. Had something slipped past those two “vacuum cleaners”? Impossible!

Quickly, Lin Jia slid over and clicked frantically to pick up everything. Opening his inventory, his eyes widened in disbelief. What was this? “Heavy Armor. Level requirement: 22. Defense: 4-7. Magic Defense: 2-3. Magic: 0-1. Weight: 23. Durability: 25.”

“Damn! It’s a class set!” Lin Jia exclaimed as Fourth shouted, “Holy crap! There’s a Blue Jade Necklace on the wall! And a helmet!” The Blue Jade Necklace was one of the pieces required for a warrior’s class set—just like all class equipment, it was rare and rarely dropped. Fourth, already level twenty, had been keeping an eye out for his class set; he’d seen players selling it in the main city, but the price was robbery—he could only dream.

These class sets were essential items at this stage. They were hard to farm, expensive to buy, and impossible to do without—a real headache. According to the official website’s equipment guide, known class sets included:

Mage: Magic Robe, Magnifying Glass, Ebony Bracelet, Charm Ring, Crescent Staff.

Warrior: Heavy Armor, Blue Jade Necklace, Magic Bracelet, Sturdy Gloves, Black Crystal Ring, Horse-Slaying Blade.

Priest: Soul Battle Garment, Bamboo Flute, Priest Bracelet, Virtue Ring, Demon-Subduing Blade.

These are all components of the class sets for levels 20-24. Due to the warrior’s limited skills, their equipment options are more varied. If one had to distinguish, there were high-attack warriors with Magic Bracelets, high-defense warriors with Sturdy Gloves, and some who liked balanced attack and defense, though without exceptional gear, neither would be particularly high.

Some priests, lacking teammates or other reasons, preferred warrior gear for higher attack, sacrificing their skill potency; others pursued high spell power, maximizing their skills.

Mages were simpler, always chasing higher magic, or equipping items for defense, magic resistance, agility, or accuracy, depending on personal preference.

Generally, all three classes truly assume their distinct identities at level 22, when they can equip their exclusive outfits, no longer forced to wear the same generic light or medium armor. The so-called “class outfit” is simply the three costumes shown in the character selection screen.

Currently, the drop rate for class sets is not high. As more players reach level 22, demand grows, and prices climb accordingly. In this prime, monster-rich spot with no competition and high drop rates, Lin Jia and his brothers had only managed to farm a Horse-Slaying Blade, a pair of Magic Bracelets, two Snake Eye Rings, and a Phoenix Pearl—none of which were class sets. Except for Fourth’s rare attack-boosting Horse-Slaying Blade, the rest were common in player trades.

In these past days, besides their own gear, the brothers had lucked into several minor rare items thanks to Lin Jia’s uncanny fortune—two Phoenix Pearls, two Ebony Bracelets, all sold by the boss. Some “trash rares” were also sold in bulk to low-level players: things like a Platinum Necklace with Magic 0-2, Spell Power 0-1, or a Devil’s Necklace with Attack 2-1, Spell Power 0-1—cheap, flashy, and beloved by those who craved rares but couldn’t afford the real thing. Useless, but a psychological comfort.

Fourth’s shout made Lin Jia instinctively equip the warrior-only Heavy Armor, close his inventory, and sweep his mouse over the corpse pile in the corner. He really did uncover a Blue Jade Necklace, and beside it, a helmet named “Prayer Helm”! Sadly, those two items, along with several mid-red and mid-blue potions, Sun Waters, and piles of gold, remained on the wall, unreachable. Lin Jia could attack monsters on the wall, but couldn’t teleport up to retrieve the valuable Blue Jade Necklace or the mysterious helmet.

Finding treasure but unable to collect it—the frustration was unbearable. The three brothers felt as if their hearts were being scratched by a hundred mice, wishing desperately for some flying skill to leap up and grab that high-priced necklace and the unknown helmet!

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(Trouble: Haha! Next chapter will get a bit wild—everyone keep clicking and give me some motivation, and I’ll update again tonight! Here comes the legendary “thing”!)

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