Chapter 079: Grab and Run!

Legend of the Mage was a story without pauses. A Taoist, his face green with anxiety, darted about the corners of the third floor of the Fragrant Stone like a rat scurrying across the street, but no matter where he ran, players would rush to block him, beating him until he was left with nothing but his underpants. Oddly, despite being attacked by so many, he neither used a dungeon teleport scroll nor logged out, only dodging ceaselessly. By now, most players on the third floor had stopped fighting each other; everyone had joined forces to corner the young man who had already lost all his gear but his shorts.

Lin Jia seized the chance as the Taoist rushed past, opening his equipment panel. Apart from a crescent blade in his hand, likely picked up at random, he had nothing else—his name a glaring red, unable to log out due to combat timer restrictions. Perhaps he wasn't using random or dungeon escapes because he’d already been looted previously, and, lacking time to purchase supplies, had rushed back in. It made sense: the Fragrant Stone was littered with items, so anyone could come in and pick up whatever they found. Maybe this fellow stumbled upon something valuable, which was why everyone was chasing him.

The Taoist didn’t last long. After a brief, desperate scramble, he collapsed with a wretched scream. From his bag spilled only a green item and a few bottles of magic potion. Lin Jia, lost in the chaos, couldn’t see what it was before a nearby warrior snatched it up.

But picking it up didn’t mean safety. As soon as the warrior stepped on it, surrounding players began attacking him. No sooner had he grabbed it than he too let out a dramatic scream and exploded in a shower of items, prompting a frenzy as players rushed to snatch up the loot.

“What on earth is it? I couldn’t even see!” Lin Jia grumbled. Old Fourth replied excitedly, “It looked like a helmet! Someone said that guy hacked a zombie and this dropped! Damn! We’ve been killing zombies for ages and never saw any good helmets drop.”

“Who knows what kind of helmet it is! Must be something valuable. They wouldn’t fight over a magic helmet or a bronze helmet, right? Unless it’s a skull helmet?” Big Brother speculated warily, all the while using flying talismans to sneak attacks on nearby red-named players. Those who managed to grab the so-called ‘treasure helmet’ were almost instantly killed by others, so that, amidst the sea of red-named players on the third floor of Fragrant Stone, the helmet repeatedly exploded back onto the ground like a bomb blooming among them.

Old Fourth and Big Brother scavenged the outskirts, quietly stuffing dropped gear from fallen players into their pockets. Their occasional ambushes also finished off those whose health was already depleted. The repeated explosions drove everyone mad. It wasn’t that no one tried to ambush Big Brother or Old Fourth, both laden with top-tier gear, but they carried plenty of random teleport scrolls; whenever attacked, they’d simply use one and escape, never bothering to get entangled.

Lin Jia had no intention of joining this melee. With his frail build, he’d be dead if anyone even brushed against him. He removed the candle from his gear and shrank into a corner, watching. When he spotted a lone player, he’d toss a couple grenades to finish him off and rush out to grab the dropped equipment, ignoring the potions—he’d just bought a full stock for leveling up, and if not for this crowd fighting over the helmet and blocking the way, they’d have moved on already.

With the candle gone, Lin Jia’s corner grew much darker. Even though the whole Fragrant Stone was illuminated by the players’ gear, everyone’s attention was on the helmet, so none noticed the little mage lurking in the shadows, striking unseen. Just as Lin Jia was happily scavenging, a Taoist player managed to grab the helmet and immediately used a random scroll to escape the crowd. Yet, in that instant, he lost a chunk of health and was struck by red and green poison talismans from other Taoists. As soon as he landed, healing spells flickered over his head, showing he was frantically restoring health—any idiot could tell he was nearly dead.

But of all places to teleport, he landed not far from Lin Jia. How could Lin Jia resist giving this red-named Taoist a blast of lightning? Naturally, the Taoist, his head haloed in white light, crumpled to the ground with a scream, and the green helmet lay exposed before the assembled players. Having already been poised, Lin Jia rushed forward as soon as he unleashed the lightning, not even needing a second shot—the Taoist was already down. Amid the scattered items, the green helmet was most conspicuous, so Lin Jia instinctively snatched it first.

Picking up the helmet wasn’t the issue. Players had developed the habit of attacking immediately above the helmet whenever it appeared, so before Lin Jia even reached it, lightning and flying talismans rained down around it, nearly scaring him out of his wits. Waiting for a lull between attacks, he finally managed to step in and grab the helmet, immediately pressing logout before entering combat timer lock.

Lin Jia knew that his red-named little mage, having picked up the coveted helmet, would surely become everyone’s target. Losing the helmet was one thing; it would be a real shame to lose his own gear. So, before combat timer could prevent him from logging out, he hid himself.

When the character selection screen appeared, Lin Jia finally breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that in just those few seconds, he’d broken into a cold sweat and his heart was pounding wildly. Damn, that was exhilarating!

Old Fourth and Big Brother turned anxiously. “Damn! Did you get it?”

Lin Jia paused, uncertain. In that moment, he’d just clicked wildly beneath his mage’s feet with the mouse and logged out without checking, so he hadn’t even noticed if the successful pickup notification had appeared. Who had time to check?

“I’m not sure! I think I got it?” Lin Jia replied a bit dumbly, glancing at Old Fourth’s screen. Where he’d logged out, the area was still packed with players PvPing. He wasn’t sure if he’d managed to grab the helmet or if they hadn’t realized it was gone.

“Should I log back in and check?” Lin Jia asked hesitantly.

Old Fourth quickly shook his head. “No, no! Wait! Wait! Logging in now is suicide. We’ll keep watch for you! Wait for our signal!” Lin Jia nodded, hand gripping the mouse over the login button, eyes fixed on Old Fourth’s screen.

After about ten minutes, Lin Jia’s palm was slick with sweat when Old Fourth suddenly shouted, “Go! Run to Pig Cave Level Two!” Lin Jia, watching the screen the whole time, instantly pressed login and, ignoring anything else, dashed for Pig Cave Level Two.

Lin Jia had logged out at the very last passage connecting Fragrant Stone Graveyard to Stone Tomb Level Two. Previously, players had blocked the entrance to prevent anyone who grabbed the helmet from escaping. Now, ten minutes after Lin Jia logged out, the players—unsure if he’d logged out or used a random scroll—had gradually dispersed, and the door blockers had given in to temptation and joined the fight. With the entrance clear, Big Brother watched nearby, Old Fourth guarded the logout spot, and when both sides were safe, they signaled Lin Jia to log in and escape.

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[Note: Sitting too long hurts my legs. I'll try to update~ Keep voting! Another chapter this afternoon! I think I owe three chapters? I’ll remember and repay them slowly!]