Chapter 007: King of Kings

This time, Lin Jia had really stirred up public resentment. Many people cursed him, "Liar! If you don't want to tell us, fine, but why trick us into dying once?"

Fired up by the insults, Lin Jia stood up and yelled back, "Believe it or not! Watch your mouth! Ask anyone who was here this afternoon, they all saw it!" At this, several young men at the machines near Lin Jia turned around with little interest, "Idiot! If chopping the big blade could get us through, I would have gone this afternoon. You've died once, I've tried seven or eight times and still couldn't get through. Who knows how he managed to pass..."

Another chimed in, "Isn't there something wrong with his account? Why can he kill people and we can't? Maybe only accounts that can kill people can pass the big blade."

A player in a corner suddenly jumped up, "Ah? If you can kill, you can get through? You bunch of idiots! That’s attack mode! Just press ctrl+h to change modes. Why didn’t you say so earlier? I’ve been researching for ages!" Somehow, this player had figured out the shortcut key to switch attack modes in Legend. His shout prompted everyone to experiment, and sure enough, the attack mode could be changed. There were five modes: "Group, Guild, Good and Evil, Peace, All," each suited for different attack situations. Except for the default "Peace mode," all could freely attack other players nearby.

Lin Jia then remembered: when he had first entered the game at noon, he had randomly pressed keys on the keyboard, perhaps switching the attack mode by accident. Such a simple thing had made everyone believe his account was special.

Suddenly, Lin Jia called out, "Brothers! Don’t rush over here! There’s nothing to buy here! No warehouse or shops! The monsters’ attacks are higher than in Biqi, and without potions it’s really slow! If you want to come, figure out a way to bring some potions! I’m suffering here!" Naturally, everyone crowded around to check his situation, and upon seeing it for themselves, some immediately gave up the idea. Only a few Taoist players, confident in their healing and attacks, changed mode and charged at the big blade again, but were once again killed, still unable to reach Mengzhong.

"It still doesn't work!" one player shouted. Lin Jia helpfully reminded, "Do you have to kill people? I killed several hundred this afternoon! My name turned red, and only then did the big blade attack and kill me..." The player skeptically killed two little cloth-wearing newbies just outside Biqi’s gate. The previously still big blade guard flashed instantly, and the player jumped up in excitement, "He killed me! He killed me!" The crowd around could only sigh. Someone being thrilled to be killed—it seemed the endless competition for monsters had left them so frustrated they were happy to die.

The mysterious "special method to enter the advanced map" that had kept everyone guessing all afternoon was finally cracked by persistent players. A mass of monster-hungry players in the internet café formed teams, "Team up! Let’s go together and kill! Doesn’t matter if the Taoist brings potions or not!" That was the warrior.

"Team up! I’m a Taoist! Graduated from the Professional Nurse Academy, I’ll handle healing and fighting monsters. Entry fee is ten thousand gold coins per person!" That was the Taoist.

"Damn!" That was the mage...

Only now did Lin Jia glance at the time—it was already 6:30 PM. He turned to see the boss and fourth still battling hard in the third level of the Skeleton Cave and asked, "Aren’t you hungry? Shall we go out and buy something to eat?"

Fourth, still focused on the screen, replied, "No time to go out. I just saw a level 17 warrior. If we eat and come back, we’ll never catch up!"

The boss, furiously pressing F1 to heal Fourth, said, "Just ask the attendant to make three cups of 'Instant Noodles.' Later tonight, when we log off, I’ll treat you all to supper!"

Lin Jia agreed, seeing that neither was going to get up and call for noodles, so he stood and headed to the counter. He hadn’t taken two steps before two or three young men who’d waited all afternoon crowded around his machine. Lin Jia quickly shouted, "Don’t grab it! I’m not logged off yet!" The guys reluctantly backed away, still keeping an eye on anyone showing signs of leaving their seat.

Lin Jia then noticed that ninety-nine percent of the people in Longtai Internet Café were playing Legend now, except for a few girls chatting on QQ. Occasionally, they frowned and shot disdainful glances at the noisy, boisterous boys beside them.

Lin Jia walked to the counter, pulled a crumpled ten-yuan note from his shorts pocket, handed it to the cashier, and bought three cups of instant noodles, asking her to help prepare them. While waiting, Lin Jia noticed a bald man in his forties behind the counter, grinning broadly as he counted coins in the drawer. He was likely the owner. Lin Jia, making small talk, said, "Boss! Your internet café is doing great! So many people waiting to get online!"

The owner, in a very good mood, closed the drawer and took out a pack of premium Honghe cigarettes, offering Lin Jia one. Lin Jia quickly waved it off, saying he didn’t smoke. The owner smiled, "Yeah! Usually it’s dead here. Just a bunch of students playing CS and StarCraft. Yesterday, my kid told me about a new, awesome game and asked me to install it. I didn’t know what it was. This morning, there weren’t so many people, but maybe word spread that I have 'Legend,' and they all came this afternoon! Crazy! Is this game really that good? If it’s like this every day, I’ll be rich!"

The boss was from Wuhan, speaking with a thick local accent. Lin Jia’s family was also from Wuhan, and the familiar dialect made him feel at home. Switching to the local accent, Lin Jia replied, "You bet! This game is made by the latest big game company. It’s way more exciting than the online games we used to play. I’m sure it’ll be a hit. Boss, you should invest more, get another few dozen machines in here. Otherwise, queues like this every day are going to drive people crazy! You might make back your investment in a month!"

The chubby boss immediately squinted in delight, clasping his hands together, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for your kind words!" Perhaps Lin Jia’s words were especially sweet, because the boss instructed the cashier to add a free sausage to each of their instant noodles. Lin Jia peeked—a black sausage! It was the premium Wangzhongwang brand!