2050 AD, spring
The day Innocent World went on sale was already exactly one year, two months, and fourteen days ago.!
This spiritual virtual-reality game, which was not particularly novel yet had stormed into the market with almost savage momentum, had already attracted more than a million followers. Across countless nights, it had woven countless tales on the continent known as "Innocence."
The reason those tales took place at night was that, even now, the game still stubbornly upheld the bizarre principle of "supporting login only in sleep mode." Countless hardcore gamers complained bitterly about it, yet somehow managed to miraculously remain healthy...
February 14, 1:00 a.m.
Connection complete. Reading character information.
Welcome back, Mo. Your alignment is Lawful Good. You will now enter Innocent World. Good night.
Southwestern Continent of Innocence—Pamila Port
Mo Tan appeared on a bench. Under the system's interference, nobody would notice his somewhat abrupt appearance for three seconds. This was one of the few differences between players and NPCs in the game.
"Today's Valentine's Day..." He rolled his shoulders slightly, then sighed. "It's not like I couldn't find someone to spend it with, but if I lose control, things could get troublesome. Better to kill time here. Hmm, maybe I'll visit the Shadow Labyrinth again today..."
Let's pause for a brief aside. When Mo Tan said "if I lose control," he did not mean that he felt he might commit some lewd act against a member of the opposite sex that would earn him more than a decade in prison. It was because of certain other circumstances. As for what those circumstances were... don't worry. Even if you didn't read the introduction carefully, they would be explained later~
"Hey, why has our knight come here to space out?" A crisp, pleasant voice sounded behind Mo Tan, interrupting his thoughts.
Mo Tan quickly turned around, only to see nothing...
"Hey! Are you implying that I stopped growing more than a decade ago?" A pretty-faced gnome girl with a few freckles hopped in place unhappily and complained, "Couldn't you lower your head a little when you turned around?"
Mo Tan gave the girl an apologetic smile and shrugged. "Sorry, Milu, but you have to understand that if the person who greeted me just now hadn't been you but that huge brute Moor, shifting my gaze down even a little might have caused permanent psychological trauma."
"Heh~" Milu, the gnome girl, gave a dangerous snort. Dangerous elemental power flickered at her fingertips as she sneered. "So you're saying my voice sounds similar to that filthy, muscle-brained, slow-witted one-eyed cyclops who can't even find north most of the time!?"
Faced with this gnome sorceress, who was also Lawful Good but had an exceptionally explosive temper, Mo Tan immediately raised his hands in surrender and spent two minutes reflecting on his inappropriate remark...
"I saw you organizing your equipment earlier. Where are you planning to go?" Milu, who had already cooled down, sat beside Mo Tan. She sipped a suspiciously colored potion noisily and tilted her head.
Mo Tan casually pulled out a piece of parchment bearing half a rough map. "I'm planning to visit the Shadow Labyrinth again."
"Goddess Iliana! Mo, the fact that you made it back alive last time was already a miracle!" Milu cried. "You've only rested for a few days, and you're going back to that ghostly place?"
Mo Tan put away the map, then checked once more that the healing potions, magic scrolls, miracle badge, and heavy flail at his waist were all where they belonged. He nodded. "Yes. I have to go."
"For... Little Dick?" Milu asked softly. Her voice held a trace of emotion, self-loathing, admiration, and even more hesitation.
Mo Tan nodded.
Little Dick was an ordinary dwarf boy from Pamila Port. His family were ordinary blacksmiths as well. Mo Tan's relationship with the family of three amounted to nothing more than having commissioned Old Dick to repair his armor. Yet during this period, he had repeatedly risked his life to venture dozens of miles into the Shadow Labyrinth in search of the Withered Leaf Flower, which was said to grow in the depths of the labyrinth and cure Rotten Blood Disease.
Even players or NPCs who shared the Lawful Good alignment rarely did something like that. After all, there was a huge difference between being good and being a hopeless do-gooder.
At least Milu could not do it.
But Mo Tan—or rather, Mo, who was one-quarter of Mo Tan within the Continent of Innocence—would do it. He did so without hesitation and asked for nothing in return.
Mo was a good person in every sense of the word. He was gentlemanly, polite, kind, just, brave, and compassionate. Everyone who knew him would give him that assessment, without the slightest discount.
"Take this." Milu was silent for a moment before suddenly handing him a small, exquisitely crafted magic wand. She swung her legs, dangling in the air because they could not reach the ground. "I can't risk my life for someone I don't know, but I can at least give something good to an excessively kind fool."
Mo Tan accepted it and glanced down.
Milu's Guardian Wand (3/3)
Quality: Fine
Requirement: Lawful Good alignment
Weight: 1.5 kg
Use: Create a flame barrier for ten minutes / Summon a totem with relatively low defense (attributes depend on the environment) / Fire a mixed-element pulse.
Note: A wand made by the young gnome sorceress Milu Xie. It contains multiple elemental attributes and can effectively handle various situations. Its production cost is high.
When Mo Tan saw the final four words of the note, he immediately looked up to refuse. However, he discovered that the gnome girl had vanished at some point. He could only keep the favor in his heart, put the fine consumable into his backpack, and rise to leave...
He had to hurry, because he did not know when his night would end.
You have been urgently disconnected. Would you like to reconnect?
"Yes."
Reconnection beginning...
Connection complete. Reading character information.
Welcome back, Tan Mo. Your alignment is Chaotic Neutral. You will now enter Innocent World. Make whatever trouble you want!
Eastern Continent of Innocence—City of Freedom
"Heh heh~" The corner of Mo Tan's mouth lifted slightly beneath his hood. Then his entire body suddenly merged into the shadow beneath his feet. A moment later, he appeared beside the street, having originally been seated in a noisy tavern, with two money pouches in his hand.
Nobody could recognize him. His current appearance was completely different from the gloomy, hooded man wrapped in a gray cloak inside the tavern. Mo Tan was now wearing a delicate pair of gold-rimmed spectacles and a white robe trimmed with rose-colored lace. He held a huge book in his left hand and a silver lyre in his right, looking exactly like a bard. Of course, being a bard was indeed one of his identities...
He casually flicked a silver coin toward the Half-Dragon selling fruit beside him, then dramatically bent down and bit an apple from the stall. After plucking the strings of his lyre, he sent a melodious, gentle tune drifting through the air and began to sing loudly, full of emotion:
"Black king, standing in the hall of thorns~ Gazing~ At the scepter!"
"White elephant, roaring and surveying the battlefield~ Bellowing~ Across the war!"
"Queen meditates, poison in the rose-colored cup~ Murderous intent~ Hidden!"
"Knight's frenzy, invincible sword held without defense~ Battle flag~ Flying!"
"What will you think in the next second?"
"Who was hurt for me at that moment?"
"Who moved the piece, trading for his paradise?"
"Become a puppet, lingering by her side!"
"Chariot, black flag waving~ Flying~ Roaring!"
"Beneath the white horse, the wounded lady knight~ Singing softly!"
"Whispers of longing resound beside my ear!"
"Black soldier draws his sword~ Raising it back!"
"Do you remember the little workshop where we sat~ Table"
"Gray us had yet to possess~ Faith"
"You leaned upon it with your sword~ Singing softly"
"My ignorant, silent infatuation~ Watching"
"Now you and I, clad in different colors~ Stand upon~ The battlefield!"
"Yet I cannot forget that distant gaze from the past~ You are in~ My heart!"
"Chariot heavily damaged, helplessly collapsing upon the plain~ My heart~ Mad with love!"
"Hooves resounding, like that gaze in memory~ We are~ Lost!"
Mo Tan played the lyre without restraint as he danced in the street, his body swaying with the melody. Even the sounds of him biting into the apple between lines seemed like part of the accompaniment. Almost everyone's eyes gathered on him. His expression shifted between sorrowful, wild, gloomy, and flamboyant, and Mo Tan enjoyed all those gazes.
Why not do whatever he wanted? If it made him happy, so what if he casually picked a couple of pockets or suddenly broke into song? So what if it brought him no benefit at all? As long as he was happy, that was enough~
Anyone could tell that this seemingly carefree bard and the upright warrior temporarily staying in Pamila Port were two different people. In many ways, they truly were two people...
But even Mo Tan himself could not deny that, in truth, they were one person.
It did not matter. Nobody could connect them. Even if someone had heard of both of them, they would never imagine them together~
Because every player knew that each person could create only one character on the Continent of Innocence.
As for the NPCs, they could not possibly be foolish enough to mistake two people who looked rather similar but had completely different personalities and positions for one person.
In fact, "they" had entirely different social circles in the game.
"Knight's sorrow, a face streaked with pearly tears~ Whispering~ Singing softly~"
After closing his eyes and singing the final verse, Mo Tan bowed to the onlookers who had gathered around him at some point. A pile of silver and copper coins lay at his feet.
Before the crowd had completely dispersed, Mo Tan had already walked lightly into an alley. Before long, just as expected, several masked figures surrounded him.
"Well~ Long time no see, Muse." Mo Tan put the lyre into his spatial pouch and greeted the long-eared man at the head, whose entire face was wrapped in a leather mask. "What brings you here?"
The elf called Muse sneered. "Tan Mo, you really are hard to find..."
Mo Tan shrugged and spread his hands. "You know how we otherworlders often vanish into thin air for a while. It's normal not to find me, isn't it?"
Muse drew the twin blades at his waist and bent slightly. "In any case, you have one minute to prepare your last words."
The others surrounding him also drew their weapons...
The Orc shaman took two steps back and slammed the large wooden totem on his back onto the ground with a clang.
The two human rangers quickly scanned the area. After ruling out ambushes and traps, they nimbly climbed onto the low buildings on either side, blending faintly into the surrounding environment.
The final two burly dwarf heavy-armored warriors advanced toward Mo Tan at a measured pace, holding broad shields.
"Hey..." Mo Tan rubbed his forehead in annoyance. "Why so hostile? The City of Freedom is crowded, and there are too many eyes around. It wouldn't be appropriate to spill blood here, would it?"
"Don't trouble yourself..." Muse lightly scratched the scroll wrapped around his blade's hilt with a fingernail. A strange elemental fluctuation spread out, and the alley instantly fell into darkness. His furious voice exploded beside Mo Tan's ear. "Do you know how much trouble you've caused us?"
"Which one do you mean?" Mo Tan did not even turn his head. He merely lifted a hand and caught the poisonous blade stabbing toward him from behind. He smiled. "The mass poisoning in Karg Town?"
Cunning Fox's Instinct
Cunning-type passive skill
Requirement: Cunning School level 6, Agility 30, Intelligence 30
Effect: When visibility is extremely low, when blinded, or when both eyes are closed, sense the living being within a certain range that harbors the strongest killing intent toward you.
Note: Only prey that can always escape alive qualifies as proper prey.
"Or perhaps..."
Mo Tan abruptly vanished from his spot and appeared behind a human ranger who had just drawn his bowstring halfway. Before the others could even catch his movement, they first saw a head shoot skyward, followed by the sound of blood splattering and a light laugh.
"Do you mean the time I accidentally killed the employer of yours with such unusual tastes?"
Blade Fan Cloak
Cunning-type active skill
Requirement: Cunning School level 10, Agility 30
Cost/Limit: 200 Perception
Effect: After use, perform a targeted teleport within twenty meters. Cooldown: five minutes.
Note: Although it is called Blade Fan Cloak, you do not actually need to possess a blade, fan, or cloak. So please don't take a skill's name too seriously.
"Stop him!" Muse roared. Two blood shadows flew from the daggers in his hands. The elf's night vision allowed him to notice Mo Tan's position immediately, and he reacted as quickly as possible.
A howl rang out. It came from the Orc shaman, who had just empowered himself with the strength of the earth!
"Or is it because I happened to take the Shadowfang dagger from the Black Tower Thieves' Guild?"
Mo Tan's figure slowly emerged behind the fallen Orc. He held a long, pitch-black dagger in reverse grip and grinned at Muse.
Shadowfang
Weapon type: Dagger
Quality: Unique Epic
Attack: Extremely powerful
Attributes: Cunning +2, Curse +1, Agility +20
Traits: Bleeding, Rending, Silent. Additional skill: Shadow Wolf Fang
Equipment requirements: Cunning School level 15, Twin-Blade Specialization level 15, Agility 35, Faithless
Note: A dagger passed down from the God-Slaying Society since the Primordial Era. It represents the fang of one of the five god-slaying beasts. Only the faithless and god-defiers can use it.
Shadow Wolf Fang
Equipment skill (active)
Cost/Limit: 30% of maximum HP
Effect: Instantly move behind the target (the target must be within sight) and deal the theoretical maximum damage to it (guaranteed critical hit, benefiting from back-attack bonuses). Cooldown: one hour.
Note: a, b, c... Wait, why is it abc!?
"This is impossible!" The moment Muse saw the dagger in Mo Tan's hand, he screamed hysterically. "Nobody can use Shadowfang!"
At that moment, the magic scroll he had activated also reached its time limit...
Pfft!
The instant the darkness faded, Muse saw a smiling face only inches away. Several eerie streaks of blood marked its surface, while his heart was violently pierced at the same time.
"Most members of the thieves' guild aren't followers of the Goddess of Night, Dilia. They're followers of Izanar, God of Lies. Of course you can't use it~" Mo Tan whispered beside Muse's ear. "And by the way, when I said earlier that spilling blood would be inappropriate, I never meant my blood..."
Muse gradually began to lose consciousness. He merely stared at Mo Tan with his gray pupils slowly dilating and asked in a trembling voice, "Why... why did you..."
"Ah~~" Mo Tan scratched his head. "Yes, why did I do those things? Probably because, while pursuing an answer, I did what I wanted to do~"
Muse gave no response. The second-in-command of the Black Tower Thieves' Guild had already stopped breathing.
You have been urgently disconnected. Would you like to reconnect?
"Yes."
Reconnection beginning...
Clang!!
Mo Tan's game pod was forcibly opened from outside, and a strand of black hair appeared before him.
"Come out!" the owner of the hair said flatly. "Come with me to deal with a little trouble..."
Prologue: End
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