Chapter 60: A Solitary Gust of Wind

Lin Jia happily swapped out his old gear for a pair of exquisite ebony bracelets that boosted magic by 0-2 and a mage’s robe with a 0-2 magic bonus. Instantly, his magic power surged by four points, making him exclaim, “Awesome! I finally look like a real mage!” With those four extra points, his magic now stood at twenty-four, giving him the urge to shout, “Which mage in the world dares to PK me?” Clad in this set of outstanding equipment, Lin Jia felt a strong desire to test his power in a fight. Since starting “Legend,” apart from a single uneventful duel with an unlucky little Taoist, he hadn’t really engaged anyone in battle. Now, equipped with such treasures, he was itching for some action.

In his inventory, he still had a Snake Eye Ring with a 0-3 magic bonus. He could equip it, but considering he was grinding in the Fragrant Stone Catacombs—where the black maggots attacked ferociously fast—he figured it was safer to stick with his current Iron Ring. Equipping the Snake Eye Ring would push his magic up to the maximum of twenty-five, but at the cost of two points of defense, which made him hesitate. Was it worth sacrificing defense for a mere sliver of magical power? The dilemma was painful—he couldn’t have his cake and eat it too.

Safety ultimately won out. Lin Jia deposited the Snake Eye Ring and the Magnifier with a 1-4 bonus into storage. Both were valuable items, though the Magnifier required level twenty-four to equip.

While sorting his bag, Lin Jia suddenly noticed an unfamiliar piece of equipment—the Memory Bracelet. Its design was striking, resembling a sports wristband set with a striped medallion. It offered only a 1-1 magic bonus, and though it was a mage item, Lin Jia would have been thrilled to replace his old charcoal bracelet (which had only 0-1 magic) with it before, especially since its appearance was far more appealing. Now, however, with a pair of 0-2 ebony bracelets, the Memory Bracelet was already outdated. The extra point to the lower limit was nice, but mages chasing higher magic weren’t particularly interested in boosting the minimum. Reluctant to lower his magic power by even a point, Lin Jia tossed it into storage—for now, he’d keep it as a collectible, given its attractive look.

Just as Lin Jia closed his storage and inventory, he noticed a naked exhibitionist standing right in front of him—motionless, like a fool, muttering repeatedly, “What a loss! What a loss!” Only then did Lin Jia realize it was the mage merchant “Solitary Gale,” with whom he had just traded. The poor fellow stared at Lin Jia’s gear with such despair that he looked like a plucked chicken, pale and pitiful. Perhaps, after giving away all his equipment, he’d suffered a shock. Solitary Gale gazed helplessly at Lin Jia’s gear, as desolate as a beggar denied a meal.

Suddenly, Solitary Gale whispered Lin Jia in private chat, full of excitement: “Dude!!! Are you selling your gear? If you are, I’ll buy it for real money!!!!!!”

In “Legend,” all player characters were rigid puppet models, impossible to read for emotion or tone unless they moved. But once players began typing, these wooden figures came alive—the emotion could be felt in every word and punctuation mark. Suddenly, the screen was filled with living, breathing people, and most players unconsciously began to view their avatars as themselves.

Solitary Gale’s message was nothing extraordinary, but Lin Jia could sense his excitement from the text alone—especially all those exclamation marks.

Lin Jia smiled and replied, “Sorry! I need this gear myself. Not for sale!”

Solitary Gale visibly deflated. Lin Jia glanced at the naked character standing next to his in-game avatar and was struck by a sense of bleakness, as if he glimpsed a world-weary, dejected figure. The odd feeling sent a chill down his spine.

Unable to resist, Lin Jia asked, “Why did you sell your gear to my boss so cheaply just now?”

Solitary Gale replied with a wail, “How should I know! She kept talking circles around me—I got so confused. I wanted to trade my stuff for your warriors’ gear, but somehow ended up giving all my equipment for only three items from you guys. I’ve been racking my brain, but I still can’t figure out how I did the math…”

Lin Jia nearly burst out laughing, but suddenly felt a little sorry for him. He asked, “Should I ask my boss to give your stuff back?”

Solitary Gale replied dispiritedly, “Forget it! It’s not your fault—I asked for the swap myself. Just consider it a gift from me. Honestly, I was already losing interest in this game. It’s way too laggy. At first, more than twenty classmates from my school played together, but the internet cafes near us have terrible setups and the network is awful. Yesterday, it lagged so much that we died countless times and lost a lot of gear. Everyone quit, except me. I brought my own computer from home, but the others don’t have computers. Going online outside is too expensive—three yuan an hour over here…”

Lin Jia did recall seeing their group; their names were things like “Gale,” “Fierce Wind,” “Wild Wind,” and the funniest one, “Epileptic Wind.” He’d assumed they were a family or gaming guild, but it turned out they were just classmates who’d made a pact to game together.

Such groups could quickly form a force but just as easily disappear overnight. Young students’ enthusiasm was as fleeting as a summer storm—here one moment, gone the next. One person might say, “This game is too laggy and boring, let’s switch to something else!” and the rest would follow. As soon as the initial novelty wore off, everyone would switch en masse to a new game. Even if someone still liked the old game, playing alone felt pointless, so to avoid being left behind, they’d just join the crowd on something new.

“That expensive? Our membership only costs less than a yuan an hour!” Lin Jia said sympathetically. “So, your classmates all quit—why are you still playing?”

Solitary Gale replied, “I only stuck around because my level was high. My classmates all played Taoists and Warriors, only I played a Mage. Later, they heard mages were good at farming gear, so they pooled money to buy potions and helped me level up—they wanted to boost my mage first. Otherwise, I’d never have reached level twenty-two! Once they all quit, they handed me all their gear and money. Otherwise, how could I have so much high-level stuff!”

***********

[Note from the author: Yesterday there was no update. This morning I read the reviews and saw a bunch of readers complaining—some spreading rumors in the group that I’d abandoned the book, others cursing in the review section, and some saying I’m just like the official “Legend” devs. Honestly…it makes me so happy!

Haha! The fact that everyone’s so invested—hounding me for updates—shows that this book is worth reading. I’m truly grateful for your support!

It was pretty bad that I didn’t update yesterday, and I didn’t even put up an announcement. That’s my fault. I had planned to update, but after pulling an all-nighter writing the night before and then working an early shift, I was dead tired by the afternoon. After dinner, I only managed half a chapter before falling asleep right at the computer. I really couldn’t hold on—I meant to nap for two hours, set my alarm for ten, but never heard it. When I opened my eyes again, it was already 7 a.m.

I see and appreciate your support. Rest assured, I’ve never abandoned a book halfway. There are reasons for delays, but I’ll never disappear without an explanation!

Treat yesterday’s missing update as an IOU—I’ll make it up with three chapters in the next two days, interest included!

Also, to the brother who accused me of tricking votes with the links at the end of chapters: I don’t know how to explain that. I was just joking around, trying to grab your attention and have some fun with voting. You should be able to tell it’s all in jest. I doubt anyone would fall for it twice. If I posted those “trick” links every day and you kept falling for it, we’d all have to be pretty dense, wouldn’t we?

Just joking! Thank you all for your support! I’m not a full-time author—I have a day job and limited time, so updates are unstable. But if you’ve read my previous VIP books, “The Genesis of the Tang Dynasty” and “The Genesis—Modern Era,” you’ll know I don’t abandon works. This book is already signed with Qidian. Whether it goes VIP or not is undecided, but I definitely won’t leave it unfinished!

Today’s updates have no speed limit—I’ll post as much as I write! About one chapter every two hours!]