Game’s Dogma

At the entrance of Terrafirm’s Demon City dungeon, numerous players were mingling around. Some were trying to join a squad, some were waiting for their friends… too many people were there doing various things.

The Demon City dungeons were the fastest places to level up from Level 15 to Level 20 known to players. Only a very tiny portion of players had reached Level 20 at this point, so most were clearing the two Demon City dungeons to level up.

Five streaks of light shot down from above and turned into five silhouettes. This was nothing special in itself, for players would appear in the same manner after clearing the dungeons, and it was a rather common occurrence in such a place.

But…

‘Hey… Look, aren’t they people from Age of Scholars?’

‘Where? Really?’

‘It’s Idyllic Poet! Ah, my goddess!’

‘Handsome Scholar’s so handsome…’

Unlike those around them, the five Age of Scholars members were in a pretty bad mood. In the squad channel, Booksy Swordsman yelled, ‘Can one of you three tell me what on earth happened!’

Thousand Scrolls and Bookstore Clerk had yet to recover from their trauma and were still shuddering. Handsome Scholar sighed and said, ‘Nothing special. Mask took on the three of us and insta-killed us all.’

‘Insta-kill? How is that possible!’ Booksy Swordsman blew his top. ‘You’re a paladin! An actual paladin who went through class progression! AND you have three epic equipment boosting your Health and Defense! How can someone insta-kill you!’

Handsome Scholar ignored him and calmly replied, ‘This game is huge. Why is it impossible for there to be a skill which insta-kills players when an item like Soul Snatcher exists?’

Shortly after, a notification appeared in the Age of Scholars guild channel. ‘Handsome Scholar has left the guild.’

Handsome Scholar looked into Booksy Swordsman’s eyes. ‘Do you remember what you told me when you recruited me into your guild back then?’

Booksy Swordsman’s face darkened as he yelled in a fit of rage, ‘You ungrateful wretch! If I hadn’t been there for you that day, you’d have starved to death already! What is this now, huh? Kicking me in the teeth?’

Handsome Scholar paid no heed to the words of a man who had lost control of himself and went on, ‘I said, I won’t do things that go against my principles. Everything that I’ve owed you, I’ve paid it all back. You and I share no ties from now on.’ He then left the squad and walked away into the distance.

Veins wriggled on Booksy Swordsman’s forehead as he did nothing but stare at Handsome Scholar's diminishing silhouette without daring to utter a word. He knew how powerful Handsome Scholar was—even if there were three Booksy Swordsmans, they wouldn’t be able to take down the paladin.

‘Alright,’ Idyllic Poet clapped her hands and said, ‘we’re done with the dungeon, yeah?’

Another shocking notification appeared in Age of Scholar’s guild channel. ‘Idyllic Poet has left the guild.’

‘You!’ Booksy Swordsman rudely grabbed Idyllic Poet’s slim arms. ‘Where are you going? Without my permission, you’re not going anywhere!’

A chilly gaze replaced her usually warm and charming eyes. The moment she left the squad, she flicked her staff and cast Ring of Rebounding Flames, knocking Booksy Swordsman away from her. No longer suppressing her voice, she proclaimed, ‘Unlike Scholar, I don’t owe you anything at all. I’ll go anywhere as I please. In the first place, I only joined the guild because it’s sort of related to my character name. Of course I’m leaving now that I’m done playing around.’

The surrounding players were all perplexed yet intrigued as they witnessed the ongoing commotion. Be it Booksy Swordsman or Idyllic Poet, they were no ordinary player and were actually rather well known. Some players with certain motives even started recording the scene in secret.

Booksy Swordsman was having a mental breakdown. Failure after failure, setback after setback, everything had gone against him. ‘You bitch! You’re gonna leave like that after taking so much advantage? Sure! Get the hell out! You’re nothing without me!’

Idyllic Poet looked at her ex-guild master. Instead of anger, her gaze was full of pity.

The gaze only pushed Booksy Swordsman further into the corner as he yelled, ‘You’re pitying me? What gives you the right to pity me! ARGH!!!’

Ignoring Booksy Swordsman who was roaring like a lion, Idyllic Poet continued in a slightly sympathetic tone, ‘The reason you lost this battle is because you underestimate the talents of this world too much.’

She lifted her staff. A barrage of Fireballs bombarded Booksy Swordsman’s surroundings, spraying soil everywhere.

How did she do that!

Such terrifying casting speed and spell damage…

‘I’m nothing without you? No no no, you’ve got it all wrong.’ Idyllic Poet chuckled. ‘From the beginning, you’re nothing to me.’ Turning on her heels, she strode forth and left behind Booksy Swordsman who howled like a homeless cur while clutching his head.

After leaving the scene, Idyllic Poet smiled smugly as she murmured, ‘Mask… Eheh, how interesting.’

Drako Yau lay on the floor, his body overwhelmed with pain. The countless wounds all over him were byproducts of his battle with Handsome Scholar, but what was beyond his expectations was the backlash of using Dying Precision. As though it was synergising with his wounds, it almost felt like ants were devouring his flesh.

He made a bitter laugh as he thought, This skill is truly a double-edged sword!

After activating Dying Precision, as long as he could hit the marks, he could instantly kill almost every player. Still, the price for using the skill was large enough for him to keep it stowed away as a trump card which should only be used in desperate situations.

Another thought occupied his mind—he seemed to have entered some sort of trance back then.

At that moment, his heart had raged like an erupting volcano. His mind, however, was as cool and chilly as a glacier. Despite being furious, he didn’t lose his rationality and everything seemed to be in slow motion.

Just what was that?

Four beams of light showered upon Drako Yau.

Greenstone was quick to come to his side. Waving his wand, he cast a Heal spell on Drako Yau who also used Bandaging on himself.

‘Thanks.’ Greenstone sounded somewhat awkward as his eyes fluttered all over the place.

Drako Yau shook his head and said, ‘I should be the one thanking you. I couldn’t win without you.’

What he said was the truth. When the three members of Age of Scholars ganged up on him, he had already been wounded pretty badly. He believed that his chances of dying were over 80 per cent if Greenstone didn’t come to his aid.

Greenstone shook his head and returned to his usual, silent self. Meanwhile, the other three members in the squad were astonished as they checked out at the wounds all over the bloody Drako Yau. In their minds, they all thought that he was indeed a mad man.

At the same time, they all felt very upset about their own performances. Zephyrwolf, as an ex-gangster, wasn’t as emotionally affected, though he also thirsted for more strength.

Hades and Soulsmith were the angriest of the squad; they used to be top players, yet now? They got killed in a one-versus-three! Not only did they find such a result unbelievable, they were also extremely disappointed in themselves.