Chapter 23 Aftermath
"Phew!"
"I passed it on the first try, not bad!"
"Looks like my practice these past few days wasn't for naught!"
Looking at the Extinction Dragon's corpse before him, Su Ran let out a light breath, a satisfied smile on his face.
With his beginner's gear, his armor was practically nonexistent; he'd die if he was so much as grazed. The difficulty was naturally much higher, but the joy and sense of accomplishment after victory were equally amplified.
After gathering the materials from the Extinction Dragon, Su Ran chose not to continue. After such high-intensity combat, he needed to catch his breath, so he exited the game.
"Hmm?"
But when Su Ran took off the virtual reality device and stood up, he turned his head and was stunned.
"What are you all doing?"
A large crowd of people was gathered behind him, their faces filled with fanaticism, their eyes burning as they stared at him.
"Boss, you're too fierce!"
"Yeah, even such a powerful Ancient Dragon was so vulnerable before you!"
"Boss is awesome!"
"Honestly, if I hadn't seen the boss play, I wouldn't have known that weapons had so many cool moves and techniques. I always thought you could only do normal attacks. Amazing, amazing, I've learned so much!"
"And the Taichi Sword is just explosively cool, isn't it?"
"Agreed, that Foresight Slash is simply a divine skill, and the Drawing Blade Art and the final Soaring Dragon Slash are also incredibly cool. So this is the correct way to play the Taichi Sword!"
"Foresight Slash, Iai Slash, Soaring Dragon Slash… I must learn them all!" Wu Lei said with a firm voice, his fists clenched, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.
"Is this the standard a true master hunter should possess?" Ouyang Qing, Oriental Bright, and Dugu Mu were both impressed and emotional: "Compared to the boss, we're simply pathetic. Let's go, let's go, we absolutely must go practice more!"
Liu Chengfeng also felt his blood surge, and he emphasized in a high-pitched tone: "Since the boss can do it, then I can too, no, I'll even do better than him!"
The others also nodded, their own fighting spirit ignited.
"Yes, what's a few deaths? It's not like we really die anyway. As long as we can finally hunt wild beasts as coolly as the boss, it'll all be worth it!"
"Exactly, let's go, get on the computer, kill monsters, practice our skills!"
Some people who had previously felt the game was too difficult, even considering quitting, were now full of fight, as if they'd been injected with stimulants.
After asking Su Ran for the multiplayer code, they hurriedly went back to play the game.
Before returning to her seat, Cold Condensation Moon said to Su Ran with a giggle: "Boss, your Taichi Sword is powerful, but it's too delicate. I think my Great Hammer is more interesting. That Extinction Dragon looks pretty good; its head is very big. It would definitely be fun to smash its head. What do you think?"
Su Ran rolled his eyes speechlessly: "I think as long as you're happy!"
In a blink of an eye, half of the people surrounding Su Ran had dispersed.
However, the other half immediately surrounded him.
"Boss, do you still remember me? I'm back again! Quick, open a computer for me!" Zhao Tie was already impatient, hurrying forward and pulling out gold coins.
"And me!"
"I want to play too!"
"Boss, how do I turn on this computer and enter the game? It's our first time here; we don't know how. You have to teach us!"
Zhao Tie's other teammates, after watching Su Ran's battle, were also hot-blooded and excited. They all changed their minds, no longer caring about the price, and eagerly expressed their desire to play.
"Alright, don't rush, one by one!"
Su Ran nodded, first seating them, then guiding these new customers on how to use the coin slot, how to turn on the computer, and how to enter the game.
…
"Wow, I'm in, I'm in! Wearing this virtual reality device, it really feels like entering a new world. This is too real, too amazing!"
"When can I choose a weapon? I want to play with the weapon called Taichi Sword; it's just too cool!"
"Where are the wild beasts? Where are they? I want to kill wild beasts! They've tormented us so badly in reality that we're almost having inner demons. Anyway, we won't really die in the game, so I must get my revenge like the boss, kill to my heart's content, to vent my hatred!"
"Exactly, let's team up and kill them later!"
…
Half an hour later.
He had guided all the customers to successfully enter the game.
Seeing them all playing enthusiastically.
Su Ran felt a bit itchy again, thinking he had rested enough and planned to continue playing.
However, when he scanned the interior of the Internet Cafe.
All the seats were already taken, fully occupied, and there was no spare computer for him.
"Uh…"
He hadn't expected that after only two days of adding machines, they would already be insufficient again.
He didn't know whether to be happy or unhappy, but either way, he couldn't play the game for now.
Su Ran had no choice but to give up, returning to the bar counter, closing his eyes, holding his breath, and focusing his mind, feeling the mysterious energy flowing within him.
"Speaking of which, I have so much Qi in my body, but why can't it condense into a Martial Qi Star Ring?"
Su Ran had been in this world for some time. Although he hadn't left the Internet Cafe many times, he had a general understanding of this world's cultivation system.
Martial Artists in this world rely on absorbing an energy called "Martial Qi" from heaven and earth to strengthen themselves and use for combat.
When enough Martial Qi is absorbed, leading to a qualitative change from a quantitative one, the Martial Qi can materialize and form a Martial Qi Star Ring.
And by continuing to absorb Martial Qi afterward, the star slots of the Martial Qi Star Ring will be lit up and filled, after which the color and quality of the Martial Qi Star Ring will also change.
This led to the Martial Artist's rank division: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond.
And because each rank of star ring has five star slots, it is further divided into 1-star to 5-star.
After coming to this world, Su Ran could already sense the existence of Qi, not to mention that he fought monsters in the game every day, so he had already absorbed a lot of Qi into his body.
He could clearly feel that his body had indeed become stronger, but he couldn't condense a star ring like others.
Su Ran initially thought it required some special technique, such as cultivation methods or martial arts.
For this, he even specifically asked Wu Lei's attendant, Achong; he had personally seen Achong condense a Martial Qi Star Ring in the Internet Cafe and become a Martial Artist.
But Achong told him that condensing a Martial Qi Star Ring didn't require any special method; as long as the amount of Martial Qi was sufficient and he tried it himself, everything would happen naturally.
This completely confused Su Ran. The Martial Qi in his body was definitely enough now, so why couldn't he succeed?
"Still no good!"
Su Ran tried many times again at this moment, but found it still didn't work.
Just as he was racking his brain, unable to understand.
Suddenly, a system notification arrived.
Congratulations, Host, for completing Task (2): The new game "stardew valley: Power-Up Edition" has been unlocked. The game will be officially implemented and launched in three days. Please prepare, Host.
Congratulations, Host, for completing all novice tasks. Permissions upgraded. The Internet Cafe system has officially started. Currently, the Host's permission level is 1, and the following functions will be unlocked:
Task List has been enabled.
Game Achievement Mall has been enabled.
System Personal Mall has been enabled.
Internet Cafe Construction function has been enabled.