Zhang Yuan had changed positions and was hiding behind the bedroom door, a pink cloak clenched in his hand. It had been slashed and smeared with stains the moment he bought it, while Shirley perched on his shoulder.
When he heard the heavy footsteps coming from the stairs, he instinctively held his breath and quietly awaited the arrival of the rightful owner.
Aginon, already slightly tipsy, came striding in with an emperor's swagger. The pink cloak on his back looked more like a scarf tied around his neck. What a waste of a treasure, the person behind the door lamented inwardly.
Aginon headed straight for the large bed in the bedroom, completely unaware of Zhang Yuan behind the door. Without even taking off his shoes, he plunged face-first onto the bed.
At her master's signal, Shirley quickly and silently approached the bed. Then she leaped up and, relying on her nimble and agile movements, swiped her claws twice and peeled the cloak from its original owner's neck.
Aginon, completely unaware, mumbled incoherently twice before his snores gradually grew louder. Zhang Yuan hurriedly put away the magic cloak, had Shirley carry the cloak he had bought to Aginon's bedside and wait there, then carefully slipped out of the room.
After confirming that he could escape safely at any time, Zhang Yuan pointed at Aginon. Shirley leaped onto the bed, seized Aginon by the back of his collar, and began tugging hard.
Aginon, who had only just fallen asleep, was quickly jolted awake by the rough treatment. Still unsure what was happening, he only felt that his head was unbearably heavy.
"Who? Who's playing a prank on me? Could some damned thief be coveting Aginon's gold?"
He looked around but found nothing. Then a small snow-white animal leaped past his feet, a pink cloak clenched in its jaws.
"Damn it, that's my cloak!" Aginon felt behind his neck and found nothing there. Both furious and anxious, he heaved his massive body around the room in pursuit of the fleeing ferret thief.
Though he was merely a merchant who knew nothing about magic or the arcane, as the cloak's owner, he could still infer part of the item's value from certain details. Of course, only part of it.
Back when he had fallen on hard times, he had asked those "friends" of his for help. Yet those men who had once called him brother looked at him as though he were a street beggar or a stray dog. There had been nothing but indifference and disgust in their eyes.
Until one day, driven into a corner and no longer even able to maintain a respectable appearance, he had rashly stopped two members of a merchant guild with whom he had no prior dealings. He had begged them bitterly and pitched his plan to make a comeback. Unexpectedly, things had gone smoothly. They had agreed to cooperate without much nitpicking or questioning, and the cloak he had been wearing that day was this very one—a cloak he had acquired by chance and kept at the bottom of his trunk.
Things like that had not happened often afterward. Aginon still faced rejection and ridicule, but no matter what, he continued to believe that this cloak had brought him good luck. In private, he had even given it a name: the Lucky Cloak.
Now that the Lucky Cloak had been stolen right before his eyes, Aginon's anger went straight to his head. He chased after it single-mindedly, regardless of whether he could keep up.
Shirley dashed wildly around with the cloak in her mouth, leaving her little pawprints under the bed, in the bathtub, and across the tabletop. She flung the cloak around like a rag, and Aginon's heart ached at the sight.
Perhaps she had grown tired of playing, or perhaps she had lost interest in what she was carrying. In any case, the ferret tossed her head, dropped the cloak to the side, and slipped out of the room.
Aginon had no time to deal with the ferret. Worried sick about his treasure, he hurriedly snatched up the cloak and unfolded it.
It was like a bolt from the blue! The cloak before his eyes was almost unrecognizable. Its surface was riddled with holes and tears, covered in water stains, grime, and pawprints. Its original color was barely visible.
Struck by this blow, Aginon's legs gave way. His massive body dropped to its knees, and the middle-aged man buried his face in the floor and began to cry.
Zhang Yuan, hiding outside the door, was naturally delighted that he had obtained the treasure and that his scheme had succeeded. But after hearing the owner's anguished sobs, he felt awful. Much of his original joy faded away.
He did not regret what he had done. In Aginon's ignorant and unknowing hands, a magic item like this was nothing more than an ornament or lucky charm; its true function had never been uncovered. In Zhang Yuan's hands, however, it was a powerful magical creation whose effects far exceeded anything its original owner could have imagined.
Still, no matter how many excuses he made, the cloak's owner was still Aginon, and what Zhang Yuan had done was still theft—taking something without permission.
If he had not witnessed this scene, perhaps he could have comforted himself with all kinds of excuses and used the stolen cloak with a clear conscience. After all, he had done such things more than once in the game.
But after truly witnessing this scene and seeing the owner's sorrow and tears, he ultimately could not claim to have a clear conscience.
To see a living creature and be unable to bear witnessing its death, to hear its voice and be unable to bear eating its flesh—this was not hypocrisy, but compassion born from the human instinct to empathize.
Zhang Yuan was not naive enough to go out now and exchange the cloak just to satisfy his own sympathy. But that did not stop him from acknowledging the pity he felt. Such emotions were nothing to be ashamed of. He simply had no choice but to suppress them for the time being, since he urgently needed strength.
"One day, I'll return your cloak, with interest. I'm sorry, but for now, please lend it to me." Zhang Yuan could only make that promise inwardly.
With the cloak tucked away, he adjusted his expression and emotions, turned around, and went down the stairs.
Smile, he told himself.
Pretending that nothing had happened, he went downstairs and returned to his companions. He was just about to explain why he had been gone so long when he saw Lawrence and Duncan looking at him with pity.
"Young man, you need to take care of your health too~" the two scoundrels comforted him in unison, dragging out the final syllable with heavy sarcasm.
Zhang Yuan was puzzled but did not ask. After sitting for a while longer, they dispersed and returned to the Merry Performers Inn, where they went back to their rooms to rest.
It was only when he was about to fall asleep that he realized what the old lecher and the little lecher had meant earlier. Fuck! he shouted inwardly.
After getting up in the morning and sensing the spell model of Summoning in his sea of consciousness, Zhang Yuan felt eager to give it a try. It took him a great deal of effort to suppress the impulse. He then washed up, got dressed, rejoined the group, and prepared to set out.
He suddenly remembered that his chess pieces had refreshed that day, so he hurriedly called out to the system, DLTCEP. The panel before him transformed into the Void Chessboard. All three pieces he had purchased were still there, and the chess shop above had indeed refreshed with new units.
"Tiny, Goblin Tinkerer, Drow Ranger, Murloc, Enchantress."
His favorite goblin chess piece had finally appeared. But Zhang Yuan currently lacked enough energy to afford so many pieces, so he simply bought Tiny. Perfect—three Tinys could be combined into a two-star piece.
Unexpectedly, the system notification stabbed him straight in the knee: "Confirm whether you wish to upgrade the chess piece? Attention: After a one-level chess piece is upgraded to two stars, it will become a three-level chess piece and require a Summoning spell of the corresponding level."
??? A level-three Summoning spell? Did that mean he wouldn't be able to summon it after upgrading? Was spending money actually making him weaker?
He simply left the system and decided not to think about it for the time being. What orange cards? What three-star chess pieces? They were fake. All fake. It was all just a scam to fool him.
Before you continue