As night fell, Youyu and his group made a brief stop at a small town to rest.
Although the flow of time in the Memory World is different from the outside, for those involved in this sandbox, the feeling of the passage of time remains normal. At night, they still need to rest. It would be ridiculous if someone died of exhaustion without having fought anyone yet.
Players in the game are almost like undead; they don't need to eat or drink, but they do need to log off to rest.
If they log off in the Memory World to rest, the time flow in their real world remains consistent with this Memory World, so there's no worry about waking up to find the instance cleared and missing out on an opportunity.
Actually, Youyu thinks that even considering these little goofy fellows around him, it's important to give them some time to rest. Some of them get so engrossed in the game that they forget to eat and sleep, showing the kind of dedication Lei Dianfa Wang Yang admires most. Cases of people forcing themselves for days and nights until they collapse are not unheard of.
It looks like Xue Lang hasn't logged off for a full forty-eight hours. Youyu feels that if he doesn't find a way to force him to log off and rest, he might be putting himself in real danger.
This dinner was quite lively. Though these goofy fellows don't eat, for some unknown reason, they (especially Jiege and Liangchengge) are particularly interested in drinking games, even in these ancient settings.
The goofs even used local currency earned from quests to buy local wines, and they gathered around a bonfire, drinking happily like they were on a picnic.
The two of them felt it wasn't exciting enough to drink alone and went on to persuade the young priest accompanying them to join in.
This apprentice priest was initially intimidated by the way these two seemed to be drinking like wolves and tigers and wanted to refuse. But then he caught a glimpse of Lady Yue Hua seemingly watching him (actually just browsing the forum) and suddenly mustered up his courage.
—How can a man admit defeat!?
So he joined in boldly...
...Then passed out, not waking up all night.
Poor young priest obviously didn't know these two were basically walking liquor barrels. While players can suffer negative effects from drinking, these two probably drink so much that they've unlocked a hidden attribute, with "Alcohol Resistance" written in small letters on their stats, literally invincible drinkers.
Before night fell, a local official came by, saying that monsters had been sighted nearby, injuring many people, and hoped the group could help get rid of the monsters and restore peace.
These NPCs are quite straightforward. Earlier, on Youyu's journey, people would call them heretics due to their different appearance. But now, traveling with a tool-natured apprentice priest, NPCs suddenly started treating them with great respect, as if they were divine beings.
It's evident that even an apprentice priest is held in high regard in the eyes of the people. Hence, no one dared object to those accompanying the priest, no matter how odd they looked.
The official initially sought the apprentice priest for help, upon hearing he was in town; however, by the time he arrived, the priest was already drunk like a rag, muttering incoherently, clearly unreliable.
But upon hearing there was a side quest, the other players immediately got excited, eagerly volunteering to help.
Since it was just an insignificant small task and not dangerous, Youyu let them handle it. Besides, it wasn't that late, and this side quest didn't seem to take much time.
With nothing else to do after dinner, Youyu decided to accompany the cheerfully excited goofs to take a look.
The monster sightings were reported outside the city, in a valley. According to the official, the valley had been an important transport hub, with people constantly traveling through.
But after this incident, the path has been deserted for days.
Soon, the group arrived between the peaks.
A narrow passage, with stone walls nearly touching like a single line in the sky, once only allowing one person at a time to pass through.
A narrow stone alley, with the sun setting in a wide expanse of redness beyond.
Such a scene stirred poetic feelings among the goofs.
"Initially narrow enough for a person." Xue Lang nodded.
"But after several dozen paces, it suddenly opened up." Local Nora Tatsu added.
"With many holes, it eventually widened." Injie chimed in.
The three exchanged glances and let out mischievous chuckles.
Lady Yue Hua gave them a disdainful sideways glance, quickening her pace as she passed them.
Sprite inquired curiously, "What are they talking about?"
"Nothing good."
Lady Yue Hua responded casually, suddenly startled to realize—
—I can actually keep up with these three dirty-minded idiots!
Oh no, something's wrong with me too...
Amidst their clamor, they passed through the narrow passage. After a few steps, a shadow suddenly swooped down from the darkness, accompanied by a faint buzzing, diving towards them...
...The target locked on is Cola Sprite!
The sand sculptures were still making a racket, with no one noticing the wrong atmosphere.
The icy wind had already blown onto Cola Sprite's white nape, moving at lightning speed, it was already within arm's reach in the blink of an eye. By the time Cola Sprite noticed something was wrong, it was already a step too late, she didn't even have time to turn her head...
The howling wind, the suffocating green tempest, made it momentarily impossible for anyone to open their eyes. The silhouette of a Hero in green armor flashed past her like a mirage, and the sudden gust of wind immediately blew the afterimage away.
Cola Sprite was so frightened she sat down on the ground.
She looked up and noticed Masked Hero Blast in front of her, quickly realizing it was Youyu-san who had blocked for her. Her cheeks flushed as she turned her head, her little heart thumping wildly, her mind rapidly fast-forwarding to a scene of promising herself to him...
...only to find Youyu-san wasn't even looking at her.
What a waste of expression.
Having appeared for only a moment, Blast's body vanished into thin air.
The sand sculptures quickly realized what had happened, and each hurriedly quieted down to search for the enemy.
"Focus while on a mission." Youyu casually said with his hands in his pockets, showing no intention of taking action.
"Yes, Youyu-san!"
At this moment, everyone could clearly see the monster that Blast had blown away.
A giant bug, with sharp, developed black arms like scythes of steel, and light yellow transparent wings flapping behind it, looked at everyone present with a malicious gaze as if examining food on a plate.
Although it looked extremely fierce, enough to scare any passerby into wetting themselves, the players quickly saw through its reality.
"This thing... seems familiar? Remember, it's a Normal Monster?"
"Attack power three hundred or five hundred? Can't remember, but it's definitely a pathetic fighter with a power level of five..."
This card is named Dark Assassin. Though the name sounds impressive, it's actually just a level two Normal Monster with a measly attack power of seven hundred points...
Even flies are meat, and the sand sculptures wouldn't let go of any chance to farm monsters.
"Summon Elemental Hero Tempest!" This was naturally Xue Lang.
"Great Shogun Shien!" Clearly, this was someone who had spent money on The Six Samurai pack.
"Amazoness Fighter!" This was Nora Tatsu's underworld monster.
"Majestic Mech - Ohka!" Cola Sprite also summoned a Fairy-Type monster with attack power similar to Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
Yue Hua Ojou-sama: "Winged Kuriboh!"
"..."
Seems like something odd sneaked in.
But it didn't matter.
Because this world constructed by the Darkness Game allows players to summon real monsters. A large crowd of various high-level tough characters quickly surrounded the 700 attack power "Dark Assassin". The pitiable two-star bug was immediately scared stiff, not even daring to flap its wings.
It was cornered against the wall by this group of predators, trembling and helpless...
Unexpectedly, not a single person managed to land the kill on this little monster.
Blue sky thunder descended, with a deafening roar, it blasted the Dark Assassin to smithereens on the spot. The pale blue shockwave and electricity spread out, flipping all the nearby monsters out!
Even Youyu, watching nearby, had a slight change in his expression.
This level of extraordinary power... can't belong to an ordinary person.
"You guys, are not from the Royal Palace."
A cold voice sounded from the direction of the valley.
Youyu was very familiar with this voice because he'd not only heard it often, but the voice was also highly distinctive. There was no way he could mistake it, even in his dreams.
This voice... is it Kaiba Seto, the president!?
He turned his head, and sure enough, he found Kaiba—more accurately, the predecessor, Priest Set—standing not far away, holding the golden Millennium Rod, coldly surveying them.