TBR CH175

The black cat, refreshed at the altar after being killed by the Demon King, drooped its ears dejectedly.

In Abyss, players would respawn at designated altars on the continent after dying.

Although generally, players there would hastily leave due to embarrassment, let alone casually strike up conversations with other players, there were always exceptions.

While Roland was still immersed in a long-unfelt wave of negativity, a “ding” sounded, and a message automatically popped up in the chat box on the right side of the screen.

The Archmage had never had much need for social interaction, and now he was even less inclined to deal with troublesome interpersonal relationships. He unenthusiastically raised his eyes, his pupils reflecting a figure with utterly terrible aesthetics.

He hated golden hair.

“No, why are you a player?!”

The one condemning “Black Cat 538647,” who had nickname display turned off and wore no equipment, was none other than “Bai Mingchen,” still holding his divine Hero’s Sword.

After being cut down by Kriesmeier from the Mage Tower to the respawn point, this Child of Fortune fumed, waiting. But for some reason, after a long wait, his two “harem members” were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, a somewhat familiar black cat appeared.

Bai Shi, in front of the screen, stared in shock at the black cat that had just been with him at the tea party, instantly feeling a profound sense of foolish deception.

In Abyss, players could choose to turn off the nickname display above their heads, blending in with the game’s NPCs. But most of the time, participants could identify each other through equipment and other elements.

Unless this black cat was truly flawless.

Who would have thought that a player would brazenly waltz into the tea party he had painstakingly spent time charming people to get into, using the “black cat” model?

Roland was in a bad mood. However, he could clearly recognize that the hero on the other side was a complete jerk, and furthermore, he was the culprit—even if not the instigator, certainly a willing accomplice—responsible for his current two-world separation from Kriesmeier.

The Child of Fortune was currently hidden behind a screen in the real world with the system, and he had to capture the opponent.

Roland forced himself to calm down and typed:

Black Cat 538647: You didn’t know? This is a shortcut to clear the Mage Tower dungeon. I heard others say so and tried it. It’s a purebred animal account that was hard to get, and I leveled up for a long time to reach the Mage Tower. I pretended to be a real animal to gradually gain the witch Hilda’s trust. I did all this to get Saint Roland’s legacy.

Black Cat 538647: I haven’t played long, my game skills are terrible. You have so many divine pieces of equipment, and even NPCs follow you. You must be very powerful.

The black-haired young man, expressionless in front of the computer, concocted this explanation, feeling a bit disgusted. But on the other screen, Bai Shi’s pupils couldn’t help but show a hint of excitement.

He had always carefully hidden his divine equipment. The system didn’t allow him to show off in front of other players, which had been itching him for a long time.

It was a complete coincidence that Bai Shi’s divine equipment was seen by the black cat.

Moreover, he had just suffered such a huge loss due to the system’s requirements, and at this moment, he had some opinions about the absolute nature of system commands.

The fish bit the hook.

Bai Shi deliberately manipulated his character to walk around the player twice with his Hero’s Sword, then proudly told the other party:

“It’s just the Hero’s Sword. I also have the Goddess’s Supreme Treasure, the Crimson Armor, the Dragon’s Breath Spear… I triggered an SSS-rank dungeon before and dealt the highest damage in it. These female NPCs are utterly devoted to me; I can’t even shake them off. You seem to be a newcomer; you probably don’t understand Abyss‘s random mechanics yet.”

Black Cat 538647: You sound like you know a lot. I’m really lucky 🙂

Bai Mingchen: Of course, there aren’t many players who can reach my level in Abyss. If the Demon King hadn’t ambushed me, I could have held my own against him for a few rounds. Cough, cough, how about this: add me as a friend, recognize me as your big brother, don’t brag about my name outside, and I’ll carry you later.

Roland’s expression was somewhat meaningful when he typed the word “lucky” on the keyboard.

This Child of Fortune was even more reckless than he imagined. For the Archmage, it was very simple to see through the other party’s weaknesses from a few lines of text on the screen. However, conversing through the screen like this was far from enough.

He glanced at the friend request that popped up on the screen and clicked “accept.”

Bai Shi finally had a chance to show off his equipment, and the other party was a newcomer. He was currently immersed in triumphant joy. But the system poured cold water on him, the electronic voice once again eagerly repeating:

[Host, please note to hide yourself, do not expose your real-world identity, Host, please note…]

“Enough, enough,”

Bai Shi said impatiently. “It’s just a game friend; how does that expose me? The other party can’t even know what city I’m in. And didn’t you say that the entity that’s been hunting you down has been separated by you into another world? It can’t interfere with things happening in the game, so what’s the hindrance?”

He clicked the mouse and carefully checked the panel of player “Black Cat 538647.” The other party’s homepage was blank, not even a single anniversary badge, truly indicating they had only recently started playing the game.

However, after being bombarded by the electronic voice for a long time, a hint of alertness finally surfaced in Bai Shi’s mind, and he finally thought of the issue he had overlooked:

“Wait, why did you respawn here too? How did you die?”

Roland slowly blinked. This time, he told the truth:

“I was also killed by Demon King Kriesmeier. You can check the respawn point’s broadcast announcement.”

“I knew it,”

Bai Shi immediately felt it was reasonable. His last bit of embarrassing memory in front of this new player was quickly thrown to the back of his mind, and any doubts naturally vanished. He said bitterly:

“One day, I will trample Demon King Kriesmeier underfoot. He’s just a game BOSS; why do they promote him as ‘unbeatable’? Just wait until I improve my skills a bit more…”

Demon King Kriesmeier’s dark golden pupils suddenly reappeared in Bai Shi’s memory, making his breath catch. The scythe’s attack spanned the entire screen, as if it would hit his vulnerable eyes exposed in front of the screen the next second.

The system had told him that the two worlds would eventually merge. Bai Shi was determined to make the Demon King obey him before that happened.

At the same time, he tried his best not to think about the Demon King’s favorability dropping to twenty.

The golden-haired hero in the game finally satisfied his desire to show off to “Black Cat 538647.” Roland understood the principle of moderation; moreover, this was only their first conversation, so he merely played the role of a new player who knew nothing about the game world—although he couldn’t really be considered not one.

At the same time, his mind wandered for a while.

He thought of Kriesmeier again.

Kriesmeier tore apart the character representing him in the game with his scythe, no different from any other numb kill. But given that they had for a time been very focused on killing each other.

Roland imagined what complex emotions the Demon King would feel if he knew he had inadvertently achieved the feat of killing the Archmage.

Then his thoughts gradually shifted to what he should least be thinking about at this moment.

—Those things that had happened in the past.

Just as Kriesmeier never expected himself to fall madly in love with a human who came to challenge him, Roland had not previously believed he would be interested in a demon race that had crawled out of the Abyss with almost only killing instincts remaining.

The Archmage of the Star Tower was renowned, and the master of the Demon King’s Castle was infamous.

The chaos caused by the demon race thousands of years ago on the Mirar Continent made Saintess Marlena extremely wary, but the prophesied hero had not appeared for a long time.

When the dense ranks of Abyss demons crawled out of the gate that should never have been opened, she immediately sent people to request the help of Archmage Roland Xavier. When the envoy arrived, they learned that Roland had already departed that morning.

“Our master is truly very socially responsible.”

The apprentices of the Mage Tower praised.

Roland didn’t take anything when he left. He had reached this point through his talent and diligent study of magic, with no rivals in the world.

Demon King Kriesmeier was merely a specimen of a magical creature to him. Before this, he had also encountered other Abyss demons, whose strength was not enough to concern the exceptionally talented Archmage.

He essentially went to fight the Demon King with the mindset of simply having a meal outside.

And the same was true for Kriesmeier.

The demon race had been eternally sealed underground by humans in eternal darkness. He had never seen anything brighter than his silver hair. He became the universally acclaimed king by treading on the fresh blood of the previous Demon King and the bones of his siblings. All living beings on the continent were too weak.

Kriesmeier did not feel that the swarming human challengers were worth even a glance.

So, when the challenger, clad in a dark mage robe, with only messy pale golden hair hanging down his cheeks, and holding a staff, stood before him, the Demon King’s contemptuous pupils didn’t even reflect his presence:

“…Another foolish golden-haired hero. Standing before me will be the decision you regret the most.”

A classic villain quote.

Roland raised an eyebrow slightly.

The Archmage was not in a very pleasant mood at the time, especially since he hadn’t expected the Abyss demons to be cunning enough to install a complex magic shielding system before the palace, which caused him to spend a little time, even making the powerful color-changing magic cast with his staff pointed at hair ineffective. He hated his golden hair and even more hated the Demon King for pointing it out.

“I remember your name is Kriesmeier. Demon King, you are truly too arrogant.”

Roland raised his hand and aimed the tip of his staff at him. Bright light gradually gathered, as if the massive stars now hidden in the sky were lending him their power.

The Archmage’s smile appeared at this moment, even more arrogant than the Demon King’s:

“The Mirar Continent has been waiting for the prophesied hero. Unfortunately, I do not presume to be the savior. The Abyss Demon race’s eyes, wings, horns, blood—these are the valuable parts of you for my research. I hope that after I’m done with you, I’ll still have time to take them back to the Mage Tower for dinner.”

The next second,

The chilling darkness of the scythe arrived like death taking irreversible steps.

The brilliant glow of the staff was like the morning star tearing through the sky, its heat even illuminating the Demon King’s dark golden eyes.

Roland hadn’t expected to encounter such profound and lethal killing intent, and the Demon King had never imagined the stars that passed him by. As they dodged each other’s attacks and crossed paths, neither missed the fleeting, trembling amazement in each other’s eyes.

Being forced to use all their strength to dodge the enemy’s first attack was an experience they hadn’t felt in a long time.

Both the Archmage and the Demon King knew how much it made their blood boil.

“Forget what I just said.”

The arrogant Demon King lowered his haughty gaze, his long hair cascading like dim moonlight. “I shouldn’t have been prejudiced. Mage, you will become my great enemy.”

Mages were inherently fragile. At this moment, the laws of the stars obediently served him, weaving an unbreakable shield. Roland’s fingers nervously pressed hard on the staff, leaving a small red mark.

He was exhausted from being forced to dodge, his voice slightly breathless and betraying a hidden smile:

“I think so too; it would be a shame not to take it seriously—Demon King, do you realize how beautiful you were at that moment? I think I’ll have to prioritize all research about you.”

Almost the instant Roland’s words fell, two different glows once again lunged at each other like sharp blades, aiming directly for each other’s vital points without hesitation.

The Demon King gazed deeply at the unharmed mage. The scythe should have severed his head, and human blood should have splattered on the dark palace floor.

This battle lasted longer than they had anticipated, not confined to a single moment, and with no clear final victor.

Ultimately, they both agreed there was no need to continue fighting pointlessly.

Roland didn’t even return to the Mage Tower; he simply found a place to live near the Demon King’s Castle.

It was then that he began writing what would later become the continent-famous Observations on the Demon King. The book’s value even exceeded what its creator had anticipated. For instance, it became the only way for players arriving on the Mirar Continent to learn about the final boss without having to face the scythe’s blade directly.

Because the book was broken into countless fragments, the information covered by the fragments players obtained randomly jumped between being very useful and completely useless.

Some fragments were easy to obtain, while others were difficult to collect for a long time.

In any case, that was a story for later.

Roland groggily opened his eyes. First, a ball of monster fire reflected before him, then the fire dimmed, turning into Dan Bin’s cockscomb-like red hair.

The other person looked at him exaggeratedly, his lips opening and closing, seemingly saying something.

He slowly blinked again, only then realizing he had slept all night at the computer desk. Even the alarm he had set hadn’t woken him. The screen connecting the two worlds had long since gone dark.

“Moderate gaming benefits the mind; excessive gaming harms the body,”

Shan Bin recited as if reading from a textbook. “Uh, of course, I wouldn’t lecture you like that. My dad forced me to come up and remind you. He said you’ve been grinding Abyss dungeons day and night for the past two days, which is a bit scary, and he’s worried your body hasn’t fully recovered. Although I don’t really care, actually, my first experience with online games wasn’t much different from yours.”

“I know,”

Roland raised his hand, carefully looking at the regular red marks left by the keyboard, then softly said, “Please thank Uncle Dan for me; tell him not to worry. It’s just that the situation has been a bit special these past two days…”

“Special?”

This sentence instantly piqued Shan Bin’s interest. “Wait a minute, I remember you said Abyss felt very familiar to you before. You’re not actually remembering something in the game, are you?”

Roland thought for a moment: “You could say that.”

“They all say the first person you remember after amnesia is the person you love most,”

Shan Bin, who seemed to get all sorts of strange theories from who knows where, loved to follow trends and had probably seen all kinds of movie and TV tropes.

“Hey, by the way, you’re pretty good-looking; you must be popular. Have you remembered if you’ve been in a relationship, and what kind of person they were? If you thought of it while playing Abyss, maybe you met them in the game.”

Roland sighed silently. The young man in front of him probably couldn’t even imagine that not only was his lover the final BOSS, Demon King Kriesmeier, but also that he himself had, not long ago, been merely a fleeting string of data in a game.

At that time, he was still full of doubts about this unfamiliar world. He looked up in the internet café and saw his boyfriend’s face printed on a poster.

How did it even come to this…

“I’ve remembered a little,”

Roland subtly stated the truth. “My home seems to be in a very distant place, and as for the person I like—I definitely met him in the game.”

“Really?”

Shan Bin’s gossip soul began to burn fiercely.

He shoved the plastic bag in his hand into Roland’s, almost like a bribe. The plastic bag felt warm; it contained several white steamed buns, clearly his brunch to fill his stomach.

Roland stared at the buns doubtfully for a long time before taking a bite. This food was still a bit unfamiliar to him.

The sweet and savory juice spread on his tongue.

“Do you remember her account name,”

Shan Bin said, “Ah, you probably forgot. At least the game character’s race? Or class? Have you been playing Abyss desperately these past two days just to find her? Forget it, for someone with amnesia, it’s really a bit difficult to find one person among so many players in a short time. Don’t rush too much, take your time, one day…”

Roland calmly finished the sentence: “One day I will meet him again.”

He chatted with Shan Bin for a few more minutes. The red-haired young man was clearly touched by the love story he had concocted, excitedly declaring that he wanted to join the search.

And Roland relaxed for a little while, even unilaterally describing his romantic partner from memory to Shan Bin as “especially cute,” “very kind,” and “loved him very much,” which made the still-single Shan Bin let out a howl of jealousy.

After all, Shan Bin’s schedule was packed every day; he was like a spinning top.

After he went downstairs, Roland paused for a moment, then pressed the computer’s power button. Instantly, the game interface reflected in his eyes.

Because he had fallen asleep last night without even having time to shut down the computer, the black cat he controlled was still at the iconic location, exactly as he remembered it from the last moment, lazily biting its own fluffy black tail.

A few more steps forward in the game, and the black cat could enter a new dungeon.

After regaining “Nova,” leveling up became much easier, but Roland still spent some time patiently re-familiarizing himself with most of the spells he had used on the Mirar Continent.

Now, the black cat had reached level 30. It coiled the staff with its tail, and a large chunk of moon essence on the staff gently emanated light, seemingly capable of dispelling all darkness.

The young man raised his eyes, his amber pupils finally reflecting the twisted and dangerous place before him.

—Dungeon Name: Demon King’s Castle.