Which bastard dared to blackmail me?
Yu Yu had a plan in mind and began typing furiously. As her first forum post, she poured in sincerity, sharing her guesses and mentioning the Academy and its quests. The Academy was right there in plain sight. Known or not, players would eventually discover it—there was no point in hiding it. After proofreading, Yu Yu posted with satisfaction.
First Post.jpg
Floor 1: Off-topic, but what's your starting Spirit, OP? My friend wants to be a spellcaster, but she keeps failing the Spirit test. The Academy told her to switch classes.
—Boss: 9
Floor 2: Holy crap, that's insane!
Floor 3: Boss is unreal! I don't even have a game invite, been camping the forums, and I've barely seen anyone with a starting stat above 7!
…
The next dozen floors were just "Boss is awesome," leaving Yu Yu speechless.
Floor 1 had derailed the thread, and it wasn't coming back on track.
Floor 27, FreeLittleBird: What's the point of a single high stat? Total stats matter. This game's attributes are random, capped at 60. Below 36? Delete and reroll.
Yu Yu frowned, calculating. Her starting total was only 33—by this guy's logic, she should've scrapped her account.
Glancing up, she saw others had replied to him.
Yu Yu typed: [Got 36 points? Rerolling?]
FreeLittleBird: Nope, I'm rerolling. Wait for me!
Yu Yu didn't bother responding and switched to other threads. Only then did she notice FreeLittleBird had spammed multiple posts, all about random attributes and rerolling, with no evidence—just wild speculation. With a three-day blackout for dying, and no guarantee of better stats from rerolling, only a fool would believe him.
Clicking the most-replied thread, she saw some players had actually bought it, deleting their accounts and posting countdowns to prove it.
Yu Yu: "…"
7788: This game's invite-only, and leveling gives stat points. No need to chase high starting stats. What if they're not random?
Yu Yu watched 7788 argue across a dozen floors before storming off to make her own post.
She didn't care about others' choices, as long as they didn't derail her thread.
[You won't believe this, but this morning, crossing a bridge, I saw a rift in the river. A weird, one-eyed fish came out. Never seen anything like it…]
[Picture] [Picture] [Picture]
Floor 1: Never seen it. Anyone know what this is?
Floor 2: Where you from?
—OP: By the Cangjiang River
Floor 3: Fake, right? Your pics are too blurry, all foggy. Probably a reflection or something weird.
—OP: We get heavy fog every day here. Clears up by noon, then comes back. Don't get me started…
Floor 4: Same here, fog every day, getting thicker. Super weird.
Floor 5: Lately, the whole country's foggy. Barely any cities are clear. Wonder if it's a natural disaster.
Floor 6: It's global. Heard some island nations saw giant shadows in the sea. All sorts of crazy stuff. People are shouting about the apocalypse.
…
The thread veered into a discussion about the fog. Lately, it had blanketed the globe. Living in China, Yu Yu wasn't too worried, but the unease was palpable.
She glanced outside instinctively.
At some point, the gray fog had returned, thick and oppressive. The window separated her from it, like a barrier between worlds. The fog swallowed distant buildings and lights, leaving everyone an island in a misty sea. Yu Yu pushed the window open, peering out. She couldn't see two meters ahead.
This weather was downright eerie. Suddenly, she slammed the window shut. Maybe it was her imagination, but she could've sworn something flickered in the fog. Her rented apartment was in the suburbs, the only unit within twenty meters, tucked at the end of a dead-end. No one should've been passing by…
Shaking off the thought, Yu Yu flicked on the light. Staring at the fog, she wondered if she should move somewhere busier. But her wallet begged to differ. She sighed. She opened a pack of instant noodles, boiled water, and waited…
Settling at her desk, she browsed the forum again. Notifications pinged constantly, with a few private messages she ignored for now.
[(Pine Cyan Guild] Eternal Darkness Class Basics]
[Hey everyone, I'm Song Bai. Today, I'm sharing our guild's insights on Eternal Darkness]
[Let's cut to the chase. Eternal Darkness has five base classes: Spellcaster, Rogue, Ranger, Warrior, Guardian.]
1. Spellcaster: Main stat is Spirit. Below 6, the Academy advises against it. Complex skill tree, not newbie-friendly. Difficulty: 3.5 stars.
2. Rogue: Like a classic assassin. Main stats are Agility and Perception. Deep mechanics, tests real-world athleticism. Difficulty: 4 stars.
3. Ranger: Main stat is Dexterity, but others matter. Mix of archer and druid, can bond with pets. Newbie-friendly if you skip archery. Non-archer difficulty: 2 stars. Archer: 5 stars.
4. Warrior: Jack-of-all-trades, fits any playstyle. Lowest entry barrier—anyone can play. Difficulty: 1 star.
5. Guardian: Sorry, we've only heard rumors. No clue how to unlock or allocate stats. Maybe knight or cleric? Possibly not released yet. Likely tied to Will. High-Will players, keep an eye out.
[Also, Eternal Darkness has no class restrictions. If you can lift it, wield a staff, shield, or meteor hammer. Wear heavy or light armor—your call.]
[In short, Eternal Darkness will dominate the gaming world. It's gonna blow up tomorrow!]
[P.S. Pine Cyan Guild is officially entering Eternal Darkness Recruiting female players only. No guys, please.]
Yu Yu skimmed it quickly. A Guardian class? She hadn't seen anyone mention it on the forums. The rest didn't surprise her. The classifications were basic. In truth, every class in this game demanded skill. Even the "simple" warrior required training at the City Guard camp to learn combat techniques, as if…
"…they're actually trying to teach us?" Yu Yu murmured.
She hadn't been to the camp, but forum chatter made it clear: Eternal Darkness was skating on the edge of censorship. Those techniques were practical in real life with a knife in hand…
The thought made Yu Yu uneasy. Her phone buzzed with notifications, all about the abnormal fog. Experts, domestic and international, were chiming in with theories. She'd browsed enough and returned to her post.
Pine Cyan was a new guild, female-only, reportedly strong. But Yu Yu, long retired from gaming circles, didn't care. In Eternal Darkness, she just wanted to play, earn some cash, and live simply. Scrolling down, she finally found a few spellcaster players thanking her. Her mood lifted. But the ratio… Were spellcasters unaware of the forum?
Why so few?
She recalled the supposed "test." When she'd taken quests, there was no test. She'd asked to borrow silver, and they'd let her, all friendly-like. Was it because she'd joined so early?
Floor 108: Thanks, Boss! I didn't even know about the Academy. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out for humanoid monster tracks.
Yu Yu smiled. Finally, something useful.
She added: [If you have info, I'll reward you.]
Her sudden urge to post was, of course, quest-driven. Finding the patrol team alone was too hard. That's where players came in. No place was too remote for players—they'd scour every nook and cranny. So she'd posted, asking them to keep an eye out. Humanoid monsters in this game were likely beyond her level. Goal achieved, Yu Yu didn't rush to log in. She took her time…
"My noodles!!!"
Heartbroken, she stared at the soggy mess. As if on cue, her landlord messaged her.
She opened it.
"Xiao Yu, the lease ends next month, and we won't renew. I sold the place and I'm moving back home to live with my son. Just a heads-up to start preparing to move."
Yu Yu: "…"
After a moment, she typed two words: [Deposit]
The landlord promptly refunded her. Yu Yu sighed, slurping her ruined noodles, steeped in melancholy. Two days later, Yu Yu hit level 4. The 1,000 experience points were grueling—she'd taken every quest, planted grass endlessly, and barely scraped by.
Current status: Level 4 (71/10,000)
Seeing that number, her vision blurred. Last level was 1,000. Now it was ten times that? Which genius designed this?
From constant questing, she'd gained six new cantrips: [Flare], [Mage Hand], [Detect Evil], [Mending], [Repel Vermin], and [Detect Poison]. Except for Flare, which had some combat utility, they were all support spells.
Yu Yu suspected most cantrips were utility-focused, with few attack options.
Since learning Lightning Arrow her damage output had spiked, though the long cooldown was a drawback. She desperately wanted to level up for more Spirit, but 10,000 experience?
Curse you, devs.jpg
As usual, she added a point to Spirit, now at 12, with a Spirit pool of 36.
Level 4 also granted the passive Spell Identification 1, a passive point, and the usual skill point.
For the passive point, she chose Use Magic Device after some thought.
Her combat power was lackluster. In a player-versus-player fight, her casting time put her at a disadvantage. Yun Lun had mentioned scrolls and rune traps, sparking her interest. But first, she needed to wield magic devices. Now she had four passives.
Also…
After two days of trading, her purse was pleasantly plump. Each deal netted 13 silver 50 copper. Diligent players had brought her seven units of bug silk, earning her 94.5 silver.
Without burning nests, loot was decent too. Players were finally trading gear, visibly thrilled. The City Guard had opened quests to Yu Yu, but compared to the Academy's generosity, they were stingy. They offered 100 experience, 1 silver, and a hemostatic salve. Dirt poor.
Their only perk? No competition. Other players hadn't infiltrated yet, hinting at a hidden affinity system. Unlike the Academy, where her forum post had made questing harder.
Guard quests were mostly patrols and combat. Hood up, Yu Yu blended in, looking intimidating. Notably, most trouble for the patrols came from players—brawls, taunting NPCs. The Guard ran ragged, never catching a break. Finishing a quest cycle, Yu Yu smiled at a colleague's greeting and left the camp.
"Boss! Yu Boss! Take me with you!" a familiar voice shouted from the training field. "I can patrol too!"
Yu Yu turned. It was the broke guy, yelling.
She didn't respond.
A moment later, a Guard instructor kicked him down, and he wailed.
The instructor sneered, "She's an Academy prodigy, of course she can join us. You can't even learn Defensive Stance. Patrol? Save it!"
The broke guy fumed. "I'm getting mocked by an NPC in a game? Screw you, devs!"
The instructor, thinking it was aimed at him, kicked him again. Yu Yu found a spot to log off. Someone had messaged her about spotting a humanoid monster.
[Locate Missing Patrol (1/5): Lady Keya of the City Guard is negotiating with the Academy to borrow a mid-tier spellcaster…]
Yu Yu glanced at it, urgency rising.
This game played dirty—NPCs were stealing her quest.
[.]: [Picture] [Picture] [Picture]
[Boss]: [Where'd you see it? I'll reward you generously.]
[.]: [Hard to describe. You probably can't get there.]
[Boss]: [What terrain can't I handle?]
[.]: [Across a cliff, over three meters' height difference.]
[Boss]: […How'd you get there?]
Is that a path for humans?
[.]: [Animal.]
They added, [I can guide you, but it'll cost 10 silver.]
Yu Yu's heart ached. [You're robbing me! 10 silver to jump a cliff?!]
She'd planned to buy more 1st-circle spells.
[.]: [You don't have to go.]
Yu Yu wanted to curse.
[Take me to check it out. I need to confirm it's a humanoid monster,] she typed. [2 silver upfront, plus two tooth knives as thanks.]
[.]: [Smiley] [No problem.]
Yu Yu forced a smiley back, sending [Smiley].
The other player logged off. Yu Yu muttered about her bad luck. Tomorrow, she had to house-hunt and ask her boss for time off…
The thought drained her. So exhausting. Why wasn't she a rich heiress?
Outside the city, Yu Yu sat on a rocky outcrop, clad in her elegant robe, hood up, waiting leisurely. She was curious to see who dared charge 10 silver. Her eyes stayed on the city gate, occasionally tabbing out to check the time.
Where are they? Ditching me?
"Sorry, I'm late."
The voice came from behind. Yu Yu had just tabbed out, checked the time, and logged back in.
Right on the dot, huh? Tch.
Yu Yu hopped off the rock, fake smile ready. "No worries, you're right on—"
She froze, seeing the hemp-clad woman. Instinctively, she tugged her hood lower, hiding her face.
Why her?
Shu Tu: "What's wrong?"