Chapter 7 (Assassin Reborn)

[Translated by ChickenBakuba]

Chapter 7, First Death!

A ferocious snarl, somewhere between a roar and a growl. He had been discovered! Raw instinct took over and Xu Xiang immediately broke into a run with wild abandon.[footnote]’Raw instinct took over’ substituted for ‘三七二十三’.[/footnote]

Unfortunately, Xu Xiang’s movement speed was laughable when conpared with the bloodthirsty canines. A wolf snapped at him. 65 points of HP lost instantly. High-levelled monsters attacking players had the advantage of the difference in levels. A guttural growl, and another strike. Xu Xiang twisted to the side this time in response. The sharp claws of the wolf grazed him. His HP was in the single digits now.

Whipping out a potion of elementary instant recovery potion, Xu Xiang gulped it down as he continued his sprint, the wolves right on his heels. The cooldown for the potion was 30 seconds. If his HP dropped any further, he would have no way to replenish his HP. As he neared the forest, he noticed an a massive wolf matching his sprint with stride. It was the wolf king!

”Fuck, guess I failed.” Xu Xiang stood at the resurrection point in spirit form as he quickly checked his inventory (backpack). If the skill book was dropped, then he would have lost the gamble for the skill book.

Thank his lucky stars, the skill book was still there. Xu Xiang guffawed triumphantly, "It looks like the heavens are on my side!"

Skill book: Enhanced Stealth

Skill introduction: Enhanced version of the thief's skill 'Stealth', it possesses an even faster movement speed boost as well as a stronger stealth ability.

Weapon requirement: None

Skill attributes: Grants user invisibility, movement speed +10%, stealth effect +20%. Continues for 1 minute. No cooldown. Cannot be used during battle. Ability is cancelled when user receives damage or takes the initiative to attack.

User limitation: Thief profession, no race requirements.

That was it! Although Xu Xiang had died once, his profits far outweighed his losses. The gamble had paid off. It was common knowledge that stealth was a robber's trademark. What the thieves relied on to access places that normal professions could not access was precisely stealth. Stealth was the basic skill that made a good thief.

With this skill book, Xu Xiang had more confidence to carry out future plans. However, the Xu Xiang now was only in his spirit form. He was incapable of learning skills. It was best to find his corpse in the blue-eyed wolf area first.

The players in the novice village could spot a novice thief in the cemetery that wore a silly, lopsided grin despite having even his clothes dropped after his death.

"Be careful, don't get infected by that fool's stupidity." The surrounding players wisely advised the novice players who had just joined. They reckoned that a foolish thief like him had definitely been killed by a slime before being sent back here. Little did they know that they would look at the 'fool' in a new light soon.

Approaching the blue-eyed wolf area, Xu Xiang discovered that the position of his corpse wasn't too bad. The nearest wolf was 7 yards away from him, and the forest was merely 10 yards away. Once he burst into the forest, the blue-eyed wolves should not continue chasing after him. Furthermore, 7 yards was in the buffer zone of the wolf, so it was not guaranteed that he would attract the wolf's aggro. The wolf king had already returned to its original position. Xu Xiang opened the system notification history.

"Ding~ The blue-eyed wolf king's 'Roar' has inflicted 289 damage. You have died."

After reviving, Xu Xiang immediately learnt the skill with the skill book. The skill book turned into white light and shattered.

Under the effect of stealth, the aggro range of blue-eyed wolves was only 3 yards. 3 to 5 yards was the buffer zone. Xu Xiang's skill, however, was 'Enhanced Stealth', so estimates set it at even less.

Xu Xiang hotfooted it back to the novice village, and immediately logged off.

Removing the game helmet, Xu Xiang discovered his entire body drenched in perspiration.

"It looks like I can work on my mental courage more," He chuckled.  However, this came as no surprise. No matter how many times one experienced something, the brain would always be nervous when faced with a nerve-wrecking situation. Being nervous was not necessarily a bad thing. For all you know, it could arouse one's hidden potential.

Xu Xiang stripped and happily took another shower. Today's profit in the game was marvellous. He was temporarily in the lead for levels, and had also received a very important skill. It could be translated as a good beginning, the first step of a great journey.

Wang Xue came into his mind. Wang Xue had ran into him when Xu Xiang was level 5. At that time, they had formed a team to explore a dungeon. As an attractive person of the opposite sex, Wang Xue had immediately taken notice of Wang Xue the minute they met. The world worked in mysterious ways. It was love at first site.

"In this lief, I won't let you stray from my side. Bai Xinming, just you wait!" Xu Xiang clenched his fist. This was an oath to himself, something Xu Xiang would not forget to remind himself daily. This was what drove him.

After finishing his shower, Xu Xiang took out 2 packets of instant noodles and 3 pieces of ham from his stock of instant food and boiled them in a pan. He was at the top of the world. Even drinking plain boiled water. The pot was eaten empty by Xu Xiang to the last strand of noodles. He let out a satisfying belch.

It was 11:50 p.m.. He had spent a little over 3 hours in the game. After 12:00 a.m., it would be considered as the next day. Although the brain was in a state of mild sleep when playing <i>Dispute</i>, Xu Xiang preferred to get a good rest.

Xu Xiang set his alarm clock to 7:30 a.m. in the morning. This way, he'd wake up, brush his teeth, wash up and have breakfast before going online at 8:00 a.m.. When his 10 hours on <i>Dispute</i> were up, exercise came next. Three years of Xu Xiang's mercenary career told him that a healthy body was of utmost importance. Xu Xiang had also came across a good set of special training methods during his mercenary career.

Xu Xiang got into bed. Whether it was from happiness or fatigue, Xu Xiang quickly fell asleep while thinking about Wang Xue.

—

<i>"Wang Xue!" Xu Xiang gaped. It was Wang Xue. The girl he had dreamt of day and night. She was still as beautiful as he remembered her. Beautiful dark hair spilled down to her waist. Her intelligent eyes watched Xu Xiang with an amused glint. She waved at Xu Xiang. "Xu Xiang, come, quickly."

Xu Xiang rushed towards Wang Xue in large strides, but the distance between the two persons only widened and widened, until Xu Xiang was no longer able to see Wang Xue. When the last bits of her figure faded, an ethereal, fragile voice chimed out, "Don't chase after me anymore, elder brother. Brother is only a legend."[footnote]Reference to the song title [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDvw2OBA7SY] It's a really sad MV btw. If you understand the context.[/footnote]</i>

—

"Wang Xue!" Xu Xiang cried out as he lunged up in bed.

He silently looked at the ringing alarm clock.

"Just a dream." Xu Xiang sighed. The saying 'Whatever you think of in the day, you will dream of at night.'[footnote]A chinese saying that means exactly what it says. This has some scientific backing though, also known as the Tetris Effect, if memory serves me right.[/footnote]

"Wang Xue, although I don't know when I will meet you...even if you are in a vast crowd of people, I will definitely recognise you with a glance."

But Xu Xiang had forgot the saying 'I look for her in the middle of the crowd, but to no avail. All hope has been lost...until I spot a sorrowful light in a corner. It's her.'

After washing up and brushing his teeth, Xu Xiang headed off to breakfast. Xu Xiang went downstairs and out, arriving at the small vendor he often frequented.

"Boss, one soy milk, two sticks of <i>youtiao</i>."* Even if it was 2015, many people couldn't shake away the habit of eating the classical Chinese breakfast. Xu Xiang was among those people.

*Youtiao is deep-fried breadstick.

Xu Xiang did not die from choking on <i>youtiao</i>. Xu Xiang contently finished his breakfast and returned home.

He went online!

He spawned back in the novice village. Novices would be in the novice village until they reached level 10 where they could change professions. Only after level 10 could they reach the city. Xu Xiang glanced at his present experience. Level 2, 0%. Because he had died yesterday, his experience bar had been reset. Fortunately, he had levelled up recently before attempting that gamble.

There was probably many people who had already reached level 1, or possibly level 2. Xu Xiang wasn't alone. However, Xu Xiang knew that levelling up for him was made very simple. He had all sorts of levelling strategies in his head. If he committed fully to levelling, he was certain that he would surpass other players by a good amount. However, skills and equipment made the thief. Not levels.

Chapter 7, END

I was listening to The Moon Embracing The Sun OST: Back In Time and it's an amazing song. You can check it out. —> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dzXNjxIeyA