Lin Mo lay on the soft bed, staring at the stark white ceiling, his mind a tangled mess.
It would have been a lie to say he wasn't under pressure.
If his attempt to cross worlds failed, he didn't dare imagine what would happen to him.
He closed his eyes, and amid his spiraling thoughts, his consciousness gradually sank away.
Please, heavens, watch over me...
That was his last thought before he slipped into a deep sleep.
A pungent mixture of blood and medicinal herbs invaded his nostrils.
Lin Mo's eyes snapped open. He found himself lying on a crude wooden bed.
All around him were endless groans and muffled sobs.
This was a makeshift infirmary behind the Elf Defense Line. Beneath an enormous tree canopy lay countless wounded elven warriors.
Missing hands and feet were minor injuries here. Some had been corroded by black demonic energy, their skin festering as they writhed in agony.
Ordinary people never really saw scenes like this. After all, normal short videos censored them.
Lin Mo's heart clenched at the sight. He sighed. This was war.
It wasn't a game. There were no censor mosaics.
He fought down the churning nausea in his stomach and climbed out of bed.
He breathed a sigh of relief and began looking around for Fendona.
Soon, he spotted her among a group of wounded soldiers.
She was crouched before an elf with a caved-in chest, her expression grave and a gentle glow shining from her palm.
"Huh? Magical healing?" Lin Mo watched thoughtfully.
He hurried over.
"Your Highness Fendona!"
Fendona looked up. Seeing Lin Mo, she managed a tired smile.
"You're awake? Are you feeling all right?"
"I'm fine. I just got knocked out." Lin Mo waved a hand and made a token offer.
"Do you need any help?"
He had expected some polite response like, "No, just get some rest."
Instead, Fendona's eyes lit up.
"Oh? Thank you so much!"
"They need people over there to help carry the wounded. Go lend a hand, and I'll pretend you never sneaked into my bedchamber."
Lin Mo: "..."
Seriously, was she never going to let that go?
Why did he feel like a bottom being blackmailed?
In his imagination, Fendona said, Human, you wouldn't want people finding out you broke into my bedchamber and slept on my lap, would you?
Lin Mo felt that, actually, he wouldn't mind if people found out.
But since Fendona had put it that way, Lin Mo could only steel himself and get to work.
He walked over to an elf lying on a stretcher, took a deep breath, planted his feet in a firm horse stance, and pulled with both hands.
"Up!"
The stretcher didn't budge.
A young, long-eared elf passing by stopped, casually took the stretcher from him, and lifted it as easily as picking up a chick. He even tossed Lin Mo an eye roll for good measure.
Lin Mo: "..."
His face reddened slightly.
Afterward, during a break between errands, Lin Mo sidled up to Fendona.
As he clumsily changed the damp cloth on a wounded soldier's forehead, he fished for information.
"Your Highness, how did the battle go today? Did we drive the Demon Clan back?"
At the mention of the battle, Fendona's expression darkened.
"They've withdrawn for now, but each assault by the Demon Clan is fiercer than the last."
"Lothia City is already our Elves' last defensive line."
She paused, her voice heavy with helplessness.
"If this place falls too, all we can do is retreat to our home base, Avenor City."
Lin Mo frowned, recalling the minotaurs and centaurs he had seen among the wounded.
"Have you asked the other races for help? I saw some Half-Orcs here."
Fendona gave a bitter smile.
"Those Half-Orcs are mercenaries."
"The Holy Human Race is in much the same situation as we are. Their holy city is also on the brink of falling. They can barely fend for themselves."
"And the dwarves... they've all holed up in the underground Iron Fortress and completely sealed their mountain gates. They're fighting the Demon Clan underground."
An image of a whack-a-mole game instantly popped into Lin Mo's head.
"As for the Half-Orcs..." Fendona's tone grew complicated.
"I heard that several of their strongest tribes are discussing whether to... join the Demon Clan."
Lin Mo was startled.
Wasn't this the classic apocalypse scenario?
The server was about to shut down, and some players wanted to switch factions.
As their conversation continued, he gained a clearer picture of this world's dire situation.
The Demon Clan came from a world the elves called "hell." They were pure plunderers, like a swarm of locusts, and had devoured so much of the Terra Continent that less than thirty percent remained.
The elves excelled at archery and also had Five-Element Mages with an affinity for the elements.
The Holy Human Race fielded a combination of Holy Knights and mages. Their holy power naturally countered the Demon Clan, so they had been singled out for special treatment and beaten back until almost nothing remained but their main city.
The dwarves were master smiths with maxed-out magic resistance, but they had been beaten into despair, given up, and become cave dwellers.
The Half-Orcs fit the berserker archetype. They had originally been the main tanks, but now their losses were devastating. Morale had crumbled, and the team was falling apart.
In short: everyone was losing, and GG was imminent.
"All right, the wounded have been treated for now."
Fendona wearily stood up and swayed, suffering the aftereffects of draining her mana.
"Visitor from afar, thank you very much for your help."
Lin Mo quickly steadied her.
"You can call me Lin Mo. It was nothing, really."
"Very well, Sir Lin Mo." Fendona nodded.
"I'll have someone take you to rest. I still need to inspect the defenses on the city walls."
An elven guard beside her immediately objected.
"Your Highness Fendona, you've been casting spells all day without a break. You must rest!"
"The Demon Clan could launch another attack at any moment. You need to preserve your fighting strength!"
Hearing that, Lin Mo joined in.
"Exactly, Your Highness! You can't fight without your health! As long as you're still standing, there's hope!"
"You have to trust science... uh, no, you have to trust magic and get some proper rest!"
He had spoken so quickly that even he hadn't quite registered what nonsense had come out.
Afterward, he hesitated, then put on an awkward but earnest expression.
"Um... Your Highness, I have a rather presumptuous request. Would you be willing to grant it?"
Fendona had still been considering how to refuse their suggestion that she rest. At Lin Mo's words, she tilted her head curiously.
"What is it?"
"Well, here's the thing." Lin Mo rubbed his hands together and put on the practiced, honest-looking smile he had honed through years of getting by in society.
"I told my people that I got lost and ended up here, but they all think I'm blowing a cow-just bragging. Could you let me take a souvenir back to prove it?"
Fendona and the two elven guards beside her all froze.
Lin Mo's heart sank. Thinking she was about to refuse, he hurried to add more.
"Don't worry, it doesn't have to be valuable! Just something distinctly elven."
Fendona's expression turned extremely strange.
"Did you just say you were blowing... a cow?"
As she spoke, her gaze instinctively shifted past Lin Mo's shoulder to somewhere not far behind him.
Bewildered, Lin Mo turned to follow her gaze.
A minotaur nearly four meters tall snorted in the distance, then rolled over with his massive axe on his shoulder and went on snoring.
Lin Mo: "..."
Fuck!
The language barrier was gone, but apparently not completely!
Before you continue