Chương 4: Late Night Forum

The night had fully settled over Peach Blossom Village, dark as ink. A cold evening wind swept through the empty village lanes, scattering fallen petals and dry grass across the ground. Every wooden door and window was tightly shut, all lights extinguished. Even the usual chorus of insects and frogs was unusually sparse, leaving only the soft rustle of wind through the trees. Occasionally, from a few low cottages, faint sounds of labored breathing could be heard if one pressed close enough.

At the end of the shadowed lane, a lone figure walked slowly, his posture relaxed but heavy with exhaustion from a full day of fighting in the wild. It was Yang Fan, returning from his quest. As he reached the old tree at the village entrance, the village chief, who had been waiting there, hurried forward with a beaming smile and declared in a booming voice: "Young hero Set Sail is truly a divine figure! Unbeatable wherever you go, victorious in every battle. This feat will be remembered for ages.

The entire village of Peach Blossom is deeply grateful for your help in ridding us of the wolf menace!" Yang Fan could not help but chuckle inwardly at the old man's over-the-top flattery. This village chief was not only a smooth talker but also a master of sycophancy. He could not be bothered with pleasantries and walked straight up to the chief to submit his quest. A crisp system notification chimed in his ear: "Quest submitted successfully. Your reputation in Peach Blossom Village has increased to Respected."

Yang Fan blinked, thoroughly confused. That was it? He muttered to himself. This chief was truly a broke old man. No equipment, no materials, not even a scrap of experience as a reward. He was about to confront the chief and demand an explanation when his screen suddenly went black. Another cold system notification followed: "Your body has been detected in a state of extreme hunger. You have been forcibly logged out." Yang Fan removed his helmet with a sigh and rubbed his temples. He glanced at his phone.

It was exactly nine in the evening. The game perfectly mirrored reality, with in-game and real-world time fully synchronized. Dragging his tired body to the kitchen, he boiled some water and made himself two instant noodle cups to fill his empty stomach. After a quick meal, he sat back down at his computer and opened the official Mystic Wasteland Dao Realm forum, hoping to uncover the game's hidden mechanics.

He skimmed through a dozen trending posts and found the entire forum flooded with five-star reviews, all overwhelmingly positive. Not a single negative comment in sight. Yet the player experiences shared there were bizarrely different from his own. One post read: "My starting village was a vast grassland. In the evening, the local herders invited me to roast lamb, and I devoured an entire golden, crispy leg. The meat was so tender and juicy, absolutely incredible!"

Another player wrote: "I went cherry picking with a villager today and snuck a few into my mouth when no one was looking. Sweet and refreshing, the fruit flavor was so real!" One player boasted: "I met a stunning female NPC with maxed-out beauty stats. I tried every trick to build favor, and she is getting warmer by the day. I will definitely win her over soon!" Yang Fan stared at these posts in disbelief. Roasted lamb, cherry-picking, romancing NPCs? He seriously wondered if they were even playing the same game.

While others enjoyed pastoral leisure, he had been hunted down and one-shotted repeatedly by wolves. The gap was astonishing. He closed those ridiculous casual posts and kept scrolling. After a long while, he finally found a detailed guide on black wolf mechanics. The post began with the usual praise for the game's realism and high freedom, then went into detailed combat tips.

It emphasized that regular wolves had a group alert mechanic: if you lured a single wolf more than twenty yards away from the pack, its distress signal could not reach its comrades, preventing a mass attack. The guide also warned that a wolf king existed within the shrubland pack, a high-tier Elite monster with devastating damage capable of one-shotting low-level players.

It advised new players to focus on gathering wolf hides first and crafting Black Wolf Leather Armor, which provided one point of armor, enough to survive a single hit from the wolf king and essential for challenging it. The post also revealed that most standard quests in this game offered no experience rewards, instead granting NPC favor, random items, or special hidden benefits. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

After reading the entire guide, Yang Fan could not help but grumble. He had risked his life completing tasks, only to earn an old village chief's favor. What use was that? It was not like the chief was some gorgeous female NPC. He closed the forum and opened his usual shill work chat group to see what his peers were up to and pick up any insider news. The moment he joined, he found messages flying furiously. Everyone was discussing Mystic Wasteland Dao Realm in an intense frenzy.

Messages scrolled rapidly: "I heard someone actually tamed the wolf king as a pet! That is insane!"

"For real? Is not the wolf king an Elite monster? How did they do it? I want one too!"

"Not sure about the details, but the guy's name is Murong Qing!" Yang Fan's pupils contracted at that name. Murong Qing was a top-tier professional player from the classic PvP game Lezhendes, known as the "Mage King." Not only was his gameplay legendary, but his looks and massive fanbase made him a top influencer in the community. Recalling Lezhendes, Yang Fan felt a pang of nostalgia. When that game launched, he had been among the top hundred players purely through skill.

But then the developers flooded the game with paid cosmetics that granted massive stat boosts. Free players like him got stomped repeatedly by whales, and eventually, he quit in frustration. Amid the excited chatter, the group admin, Sima Duwei, stepped in to clarify: "Taming high-tier mobs is tied to a hidden Charm stat. If your Charm is high enough, some intelligent monsters in near-death states will willingly submit to you. If it is too low, no method will work.

From what I know, Murong Qing started with 10 Charm." The group erupted instantly.

"Ten Charm? That is insane! I only have five!"

"I have three. Does that mean I am just ugly?"

"This game is way too real. Fighting depends on skill, but taming pets depends on looks?" Sima Duwei quickly calmed them down: "Do not stress. Most players have between three and five. Murong Qing is a rare exception." Yang Fan fell into deep self-doubt. Ten for top pros, three to five for regular players, and his starting score was zero? He knew he was good-looking. Back in school, his looks and charm had helped him land a girlfriend. How could the game give him a zero?

He convinced himself it must have been a system bug, not his problem. Then he muttered defiantly: even if someone tamed a wolf king, it was just a mob. He could cut it down with a single sword swing later. No big deal. Sima Duwei soon issued a new announcement that grabbed everyone's attention: "Focus on leveling up. The guild system unlocks at level 10. The boss has ordered every squad to establish a guild in-game. We will follow instructions later, with a fixed monthly salary."

Yang Fan instantly caught the key details: boss, guild, new game. That "boss" was almost certainly Huateng Corporation, the company behind Lezhendes. He frowned, thinking. Why would Huateng invest so heavily in a competing title and deploy shill guilds? There had to be more to it. Then it clicked: Murong Qing, as a Huateng-contracted pro player, being in the game made perfect sense. It was all part of the company's strategy. A slow, amused smile crept across his face. Interesting.

He could enjoy a top-tier game, goof around, and earn a steady salary. Best of both worlds. By now, he had finished both noodle cups. He did not log back in immediately. Instead, he returned to the official forum to read more guides, wanting to fully grasp the game's mechanics and avoid any more early-game blunders that would slow his leveling. Besides, after a full day of fighting in the wild, his mind and body were exhausted. He decided to rest well tonight and hit the grind hard tomorrow.

The night deepened, city lights flickering on one by one as the clamor slowly faded. Meanwhile, in a lavish private villa in the city center, warm lamplight filled a spacious bedroom. A breathtakingly beautiful woman in a loose silk nightgown lay lazily on the plush bed, her long dark hair spilling across the pillows. She scrolled through the Mystic Wasteland Dao Realm forum on her phone, occasionally stifling a soft laugh at the players' ridiculous stories and quirky complaints, her brow arching delicately.

In the quiet room, her phone suddenly rang, breaking the peaceful mood. She answered casually, and a deep, steady male voice came through: "Liuli, get ready. Our Qiantu Guild is officially entering Mystic Wasteland Dao Realm." She sounded surprised.

"So soon? I thought we were waiting to see how things developed. The game just launched today. Why the sudden decision?"

"Direct orders from the boss. We just follow them. A premium gaming pod will be delivered to you in a couple of days. And it is not just us. All the major guilds have received similar orders and are preparing to enter this game."