Chapter 11: Mutual Understanding How could this not be considered mutual understanding and recognition...
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This was a very ordinary little hut. Flickering firelight revealed a pale-faced, somewhat timid, short boy inside.
“Thank you,” Lin Zhao wanted to express his gratitude, but awkwardly scratched his body, realizing he had no gift to offer.
The boy shyly smiled, “It’s nothing. How did you get here? Alone?”
Lin Zhao replied naturally, “Alone? No way. I came with the city troops. They are stationed outside. I wanted to see how this Witch Kingdom ended up like this.”
He didn’t say he came alone—after all, it was better to be cautious when traveling.
The boy said sorrowfully, “Without the Witch God, the Witch Kingdom can’t stay afloat in the sky for long. Once it falls to the ground, a great calamity like a tide will drown the kingdom. Now, there aren’t many survivors left.”
Silence fell between them. Just as Lin Zhao was about to offer comfort, the boy picked up an indistinguishable piece of food from the table beside him.
“You must be hungry. Eat something first.”
Lin Zhao’s face lit up. “Thank you, thank you. I’ve been starving for a long time. When I earn money, I’ll buy you food.”
He put it in his mouth. Hmm, it tasted a bit like beef jerky. Swallowing it, a cold power spread through him, finally soothing the hunger he had been struggling to suppress with reason.
The boy smiled gently.
After a while, Lin Zhao awkwardly said, “My name is Zhao. What’s yours?”
The boy looked puzzled but answered, “I’m Bo Rang.”
“Bo Rang, how many people are left in the Witch Kingdom? Can our people help you in any way?” Lin Zhao asked eagerly.
Bo Rang cautiously replied, “You want to help us? Then I’ll send a message for you. Come with me to see my brother.”
“Alright!” Lin Zhao stood up immediately. “Let’s go.”
The small piece of meat was not enough earlier, and now that he had eaten, he actually felt hungrier.
Bo Rang lightly leapt down from the high platform and called out a giant hamster. Riding it, they headed toward the outskirts of the city.
“My brother is in the main city. I came to the annex city today to get some things. Usually, I don’t come here.”
“Is your brother very powerful?”
“Of course. He’s probably the strongest person under the city lord…”
Pride showed on Bo Rang’s face.
At that moment, the sky suddenly opened to reveal a huge ghostly face.
Lin Zhao’s heart tightened. Suddenly, Bo Rang screamed sharply, his entire soul torn from his body, drawn into the ghostly mouth by a massive wind pillar.
“Zhao, save me…” the soul cried out miserably.
Without hesitation, Lin Zhao skillfully summoned the Golden Crow and charged at the ghostly face.
With a loud crack, the ghostly face revealed a large mouth, countless spirit lights flying out, then, manipulated by an invisible force, reassembled into the ghostly face, continuing to absorb the soul.
Bo Rang’s body collapsed heavily to the ground. The totem vanished, all vitality gone. Lin Zhao was furious. He saw the ghostly face seemed to have noticed him and was coming toward him just like last time.
Lin Zhao intended to strike again but saw a figure standing within the eye socket of the ghostly face.
He focused the Golden Crow’s power into his fist and punched the ghostly face.
The collision sent him rolling on the ground several times. Bitterly, he glared at the ghostly face before closing his eyes, feigning unconsciousness.
Squinting, he watched a young man silently land on the ground. The ghostly face beneath him dissolved into countless spirit lights that gathered on the back of his hand.
Good. When you come over, I’ll surprise you with a sneak attack right through your heart.
The man slowly crouched before him, pondering. He plucked a green leaf from the crown of a tree entwined in his hair and placed it between Lin Zhao’s slightly parted lips.
Lin Zhao was startled and about to spit it out but felt the leaf melt like a warm cup of milk tea. A sense of fullness instantly spread throughout his body. Ah, this is real food…
Yet, the next second, Lin Zhao felt the young man’s slender fingers began to undo his collar.
Could he tolerate this!?
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In an instant, rage exploded from within Lin Zhao. He could no longer endure it and struck the man’s left eye with a punch. Flames burst from his body as they both perished together.
...
Back in the egg shell, Lin Zhao, restarting, felt full. Although it was just a simulator, the sense of satiety from the leaf remained. He felt he could run for two or three days without issue.
It seemed that the leaf’s tree crown was the equipment this boss would drop!
Lin Zhao recalled the boss’s handsome appearance, ruthless methods, and the high-level necklace, crown, bracelet, and skirt hanging from his neck—nice, nice. Defeating him would yield at least four pieces of good equipment.
Though there was no slot for shirt or shoes, he couldn’t be too picky.
Right now, the crown was what he needed most. The leaf was delicious, sweet, resembling freshly squeezed watermelon juice.
Lin Zhao smacked his lips, deciding not to go to the main city. Instead, he would grind this wild boss first.
The main city might bring trouble for the locals, and Bo Rang’s food wasn’t satisfying anyway. At the boss, even if he died multiple times, he could at least enjoy a buffet.
So, a happy decision was made!
Thinking of those fine pieces of equipment, Lin Zhao swallowed hard and excitedly began the simulation again.
If the boss didn’t drop equipment, he’d rather die than look at it again.
But if it did, he could farm it endlessly.
...
At the same time, a young man walked through the wilderness and looked around. He plucked a twig from his hair and planted it into the barren earth.
The tiny twig immediately took root and sprouted a fresh leaf.
His time began to flow.
The restart time had passed about two days since before the tortoise shell shattered and after taking those souls from the ruins.
That meant, although he had struggled with the little bird causing the loop for two or three years, in reality, only two days had passed?
The young man was silent for a moment, then slightly smiled.
That was excellent!
He eagerly stood and headed toward the Ruined Kingdom.
There was so much he could do with the remaining time.
-
After restarting, Lin Zhao rushed overnight to the outskirts of the Witch Kingdom, ready to camp and ambush the ghostly face boss.
To fight monsters, he first needed to familiarize himself with the terrain. Lin Zhao began to explore the massive Witch City.
However, he realized he had been too bold.
Before even entering the central Witch City, just approaching it a bit, everything went black, and he was painlessly returned to the egg shell to restart.
The simulator showed he died by “Shadow of the Black Tortoise,” with a note saying this noob had gained some insight, generously awarding him a simulation point.
Lin Zhao then camped farther away, considering whether to lure the ghost face monster near the “Shadow of the Black Tortoise,” a creature so obscure its form couldn’t even be seen, hoping to trigger a monster fight.
Then, the grinding began.
Boss farming required no special skills—just practice.
He didn’t need preparation. Experience said the first step was to learn the monster’s skills.
Before he had the Golden Crow, he couldn’t break the ghostly face’s defense. Now, with the Golden Crow totem, he could barely hurt it.
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But compared to the monster, his dodging and jumping skills were lacking. So, he planned to practice skills using this boss.
He also wanted to use the terrain, preferably luring the boss near other monsters.
...
The first time, he charged forward. The young man retracted the ghostly face, seemingly wanting to say something.
But what was there to talk about with such a monster? Lin Zhao immediately unleashed his self-developed ultimate move: a full Golden Crow circled him thrice, then exploded.
Countless golden feathers, sharp as blades, scraped numerous red marks on his smooth, bare chest.
Yes, those were red marks—no skin was broken.
Lin Zhao wasn’t embarrassed. He first used witch power to shield himself, then had the Golden Crow spew a terrifying, dazzling pillar of fire into the sky.
The young man quietly watched him from within the flames, making no move.
Lin Zhao was startled and made a move to run.
The young man finally showed some emotion, instantly stepped beside him, and grabbed his arm.
Lin Zhao smiled and grabbed the young man’s arm back, swinging him forward.
Ha! Right into the Shadow of the Black Tortoise’s range! Die!
The young man staggered and indeed entered the shadow’s circle.
Instantly, countless black shadows emerged from around, attempting to enclose the young man.
The young man frowned but didn’t let go of Lin Zhao, raising his right hand. The eye-shaped totem on his hand suddenly opened a pair of serpentine vertical pupils.
Almost simultaneously, the black shadows produced a silent roar, stiffening as they faced the gaze of the young man, locked in a stalemate.
This was promising. Lin Zhao concentrated all the Golden Crow’s power at his fingertips; the intense, tangible flames nearly burned his palm, but he laughed heartily and thrust his hand forcefully toward the young man’s heart.
“Stop!” The young man barely uttered a word.
Suddenly, a thin snake sprang from a beast tooth necklace and bit Lin Zhao’s neck.
...
Back in the egg shell, Lin Zhao grumbled about how much equipment the kid had but didn’t dwell on it and resumed the simulation.
This time, he didn’t wait for the ghost face monster in place. After searching, he found him outside the Witch City fighting a terrifying skeletal giant snake.
Lin Zhao waited, seeing the skeletal snake was almost dead, and then attacked from behind.
The young man was focused on fighting, instinctively dodging when noticing Lin Zhao’s attack.
Lin Zhao failed to brake in time and crashed into the foul-smelling mouth of the bone snake.
The young man quickly grabbed one of Lin Zhao’s arms but the snake bit it off.
Lin Zhao’s last sight was the young man holding the remaining half of the arm, looking helpless.
Hmm... not embarrassed, but somewhat shameful.
...
No problem, restart, restart!
In the egg shell, Lin Zhao wasn’t upset about being bitten by the bone snake.
He already knew the boss’s three skills. He expected to die a hundred times, probing all its abilities first!
Then, he believed he could bring the boss down to half health in one go.