You fake chosen one

The lone shop stood on an empty lot, looking all the more desolate, sinister, and gloomy against the night. With a cold wind blowing past, it was practically the perfect filming location for an ancient tomb or haunted mansion.

Looking at the shop stranded in the middle of nowhere, Long Xi felt his skin crawl. He swallowed. "This is the shop you picked?"

"Yep!" Lin Bai nodded, borrowing the brokerage clerk's sales pitch. "No competitors nearby, convenient transportation, easy parking for diners. An absolutely unrivaled, first-rate location..."

"..." Sympathy immediately crept into Long Xi's gaze as he looked at Lin Bai. With that IQ, anyone who didn't swindle you would be doing their conscience a disservice!

Lin Bai calmly handed over the lantern he was holding and sighed. "My friend, sorry for the trouble. My entire livelihood and my life are in your hands."

The game had only just launched.

No one knew what they might encounter. Everyone was exploring how the game worked, though more players were still unconsciously applying their experience from past games.

At the thought that he might well become the first player to encounter story mode, Long Xi quickly perked up. His unease over the haunted house vanished completely. He stretched his limbs and walked toward the shop. "Wait for my good news."

The moment the player entered the shop, Lin Bai dropped his smile. He stared at the pitch-black doorway and pricked up his ears, listening for movement inside.

This would reveal just what caliber of Ghost was inside the shop.

"Get out. Don't disturb our lives," a woman snapped.

The moment her words fell,

a gale seemed to sweep through the room, followed by a clattering crash.

Long Xi's lantern flickered once and went out.

"A female Ghost, huh? Don't just hide in the dark scaring people. Come out and let me get a good look at you." Long Xi's flippant voice rang out.

At a higher level, he might have been more cautious.

But a newbie had nothing except a life to lose, so naturally he was invincibly brave and utterly fearless.

Besides, deep down, he didn't believe the monsters in Novice Village could be all that powerful. The servers had just opened. Surely players needed somewhere to grind experience!

"Get out." A rough male voice followed.

What a good temper!

Outside, Lin Bai was filled with admiration. Someone was flirting with his wife right to his face, and this male Ghost still hadn't slapped him dead...

"You're the ones who should get out." Now that it was a male Ghost, Long Xi immediately transformed into a champion of justice. "Evil spirits like you have no business lingering in the mortal world. I advise you to disperse while you can. Otherwise, once we really come to blows, you might lose even your chance at reincarnation..."

Bang!

Something flashed before Lin Bai's eyes. A dark shape flew out of the shop and landed at his feet, sending dust billowing.

He's not dead?

Waving away the dust in front of his nose, Lin Bai looked at Long Xi by his feet, his face full of concern. "My friend, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Long Xi scrambled to his feet and stared at the pitch-black doorway. Fuck, this isn't a regular monster. It's a Boss. I'll have to grind some levels before I can handle it!

While observing the Ghosts, Lin Bai was also observing the player. He had been flung seven or eight meters without so much as furrowing his brow. That was enough to prove players couldn't feel pain!

I'm so jealous!

Pah!

It doesn't even have pain, yet it claims to be one hundred percent realistic? Shameless!

Lin Bai quickly adjusted his attitude. As though he hadn't noticed Long Xi's sorry state, he lavished him with flattery. "You escaped a Ghost unscathed. Truly worthy of a Chosen One, my friend. Skills like yours make me terribly envious. Please, you must rid the mortal world of this scourge..."

As he spoke,

Lin Bai bowed all the way to the ground, putting on a flawless performance.

At that moment,

in his eyes, Long Xi was light, was hope, was Ultraman...

There was no helping it.

The guy had come out far too quickly.

He hadn't served any purpose as a tool at all.

Lin Bai knew asking a newbie to fight a Boss was a bit much.

But he should at least find out the Ghost's background, its attacks, or how it killed people!

"I..." Long Xi glanced at the doorway again and said regretfully, "I can't today. I didn't bring a suitable weapon. Once I find one that feels right, I'll come back and deal with him."

There was clearly a minor Boss inside. At his current level, going in was just serving himself up on a platter. Now that he knew the location, he could return when his level was higher.

"My friend, I have a cleaver here. Would this do?" Lin Bai drew a cleaver from behind his back. He knew what players needed, so he had bought a tool while browsing the night market. On the way here, he had even found time to knock a few notches into its blade against a rock.

Without a touch of madness, nothing could be accomplished. Lin Bai constantly reminded himself to make quests a way of life, ideally as natural as eating and drinking.

A damaged common weapon?

Long Xi froze for a moment at the sight of the notched cleaver, but still accepted it. "All right, I'll try again."

"Get out of my home!"

A furious roar rang out.

Long Xi came out even faster than last time. Before he could say a single word, he was sent flying.

Lin Bai stood.

Long Xi lay on the ground.

The two stared at each other.

Lin Bai coughed lightly, offering him a way to save face. "Young hero, the Ghost must have ambushed you, right?"

"Exactly. I let my guard down, and this cleaver doesn't feel right either. Ideally, you could find me a longsword." Long Xi got up with an air of feigned composure and dusted himself off.

As a distinguished player, how could he possibly lose face in front of an NPC?

Besides, the NPC before him didn't look particularly bright. If he couldn't beat the Boss, wheedling a few more pieces of equipment out of him would be worthwhile too.

"My friend, I'm a cook," Lin Bai reminded him, spreading his hands helplessly.

"Then another day. Once I get a longsword, I'll come back to fight the Ghost. Set your heart back in your belly. I'll definitely help you get rid of it." Long Xi glanced at Lin Bai, turned, and walked away without so much as mentioning returning the cleaver.

I'm the one who swindles people. Since when does anyone swindle me?

Lin Bai snorted inwardly and asked plaintively, "My friend, are you really a Chosen One?"

"Of course." Long Xi stopped. Quest NPCs still deserved a certain amount of respect.

"Chosen Ones gladly help others and charge fearlessly ahead, but I haven't seen that in you." Lin Bai looked at Long Xi and said forlornly, "If you aren't one, I won't make things difficult for you. Just tell me, and I can find someone else. I heard Ghosts can remain in the mortal world because they have treasures hidden on them..."

Treasures?

I triggered this quest. No matter what, I should be the one to get the First Kill!

Who doesn't know the First Kill rewards are the best?

Besides,

they say most Bosses in this game are one-time encounters.

Once I pass this village, that chance will never come again.

So many big shots on the forums haven't even encountered a quest NPC yet!

Long Xi quickly turned back, his face wreathed in smiles. "Shopkeeper, don't do that! I just haven't had time to prepare! Two days. Give me two days, and I'll definitely come help you get rid of him."

"For us businessmen, time is money." NPCs could afford to be unreasonable. Lin Bai sighed and said mournfully, "My friend, stop fobbing me off. I know you look down on me too. That old immortal was lying. There are irresponsible people among the Chosen Ones too..."

"How am I looking down on you?" Long Xi looked helplessly at Lin Bai. He had to hand it to this NPC, who acted as though he had suffered some colossal injustice at the drop of a hat.

Still,

he didn't dare speak too harshly, afraid the quest already in his grasp would fly away.

Too much realism wasn't good for this damned game either. Every NPC was harder to please than the last, making things frustrating for no good reason.

"You promised to come rid me of these evil spirits, but you went through that door twice, and both times you came straight back out. It seems you didn't even see the Ghosts' faces. On the surface, they knocked you out, but I saw perfectly clearly that they didn't harm so much as a hair on you."

Lin Bai looked at Long Xi plaintively. "You're a Chosen One, a man of great abilities. You were flung at least a dozen meters out of that room. Anyone else would have torn tendons and broken bones, but you didn't even cry out in pain, let alone furrow your brow. You weren't giving it your all. What could that be except fobbing me off? I know once you leave, you'll never come back..."

What the hell is this overwhelming wronged-wife routine?

I didn't cry out because I can't feel pain, and my tendons and bones weren't broken because the Ghosts inside pulled some trick...

Long Xi ranted inwardly, yet had no way to explain any of it to this stubborn NPC. He took a deep breath. "Shopkeeper, I really don't have a suitable weapon."

"You don't even know how many Ghosts are inside or what they look like. You clearly haven't put your heart into it." Lin Bai had precisely pinched the snake's vulnerable spot.

"I..." Long Xi choked.

"If I had your abilities, even if I planned to return another time, I would insist on getting a clear picture of the situation inside first. How many enemies there are, what methods they use to hurt people—I'd learn as much as I could," Lin Bai continued. "Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you fight a hundred battles without defeat. You haven't done anything, yet you say you'll come back next time. Even a fool wouldn't believe you."

Long Xi was speechless. He stared blankly at Lin Bai and grumbled inwardly, With such fucking airtight logic, how did they manage to sell you this shop?

Lin Bai's eyes seemed to see through everything. "I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?"

Fuck!

Long Xi cursed inwardly. He wanted to turn around and leave, but couldn't bear to abandon this dungeon that only he knew about. He gritted his teeth. "Fine, we'll do it your way. I'll find out what's going on inside."

He took a deep breath and threw caution to the wind. At worst, he would just die a few more times.

What this NPC had suggested wasn't a bad approach. He was a newbie anyway, with nothing to lose. Maybe he really could discover the Ghosts' weakness!