"I told you not to be in such a hurry, and your movements should be gentler."
"Go forward, go forward...Okay, back up."
"The force in your hands should be even. If it is uneven, shake it back and forth... What, I don't know what it means? Do you understand if you draw circles?"
"When you're almost done, just flip it over, use the other side of the blade, and then do it again according to the same routine. At most, it will shorten the operation time..."
The nights in the southern wilderness of Kalo Village are a little more desolate than ordinary nights in other parts of the free world, and the temperature is also a few points lower than in other places. Most novice players who have already suffered in this place will not Choose to spend the night here, but choose to return to the warm fire and steaming food in the village. This is also attractive enough to Duan Qing, who has been practicing here for three days. However, their great plan to train here and avoid the limelight has not been stopped, so at this time they have no choice but to cuddle up. I generated the campfire myself while continuing my training mission.
Although the content of their training at this time seems to be slightly different from the training content during the day.
"The smell is strong and the color is golden... Okay, it should be almost ready."
He put his head in front of the grilled fish that the other party was holding carefully and observed it for a while. Duan Qing nodded and then snatched the long iron sword that was used for grilling, and first smelled it as if it was delicious. , and then took a bite gently: "Well...it's really good."
"Hello!"
Behind him, as expected, Xue Ling Huan Bing's coquettish voice came: "How could you do this! I haven't eaten it yet!"
"As your cooking teacher and imparter, I naturally have reason to taste it first."
Waving his limbs in the air, Duan Qing, who was still chewing the fish hard in his mouth, hid on the other side of the bonfire: "Since you are very confident in your cooking skills... then you Just bake another one."
"I, I baked it for nearly ten minutes." Xue Ling Huan Bing's angry voice became louder: "That's the fruit of my hard work! Bring it to me... Oops!"
It seemed that she tripped over something. The woman who had been circling around the fire suddenly staggered and fell to the side of the rock pile. There was no movement for a while, and then a trace of worry appeared on the face of Duan Qing, who was running ahead. With a look on his face, he immediately moved back without caring about his pace: "Hey, are you okay? Are you..."
A slight sound of breaking through the air then rang in his ears. It was the sound made by Snow Spirit Huanbing who was lying on the ground when he suddenly passed by him and had already snatched away the long sword with the grilled fish on it. Then she let out a burst of triumphant laughter like silver bells, and nimbly hid behind the fire: "Haha, now the thing is back to its original owner!"
"...You little goblin." Duan Qing, who was slapping his gray magic robe, had no choice but to stand up: "You have learned how to act and deceive so quickly."
"Who told you to be merciless first?" Xue Ling Huan Bing, who looked at the other party with a provocative look and shook the grilled fish in his hand, then said proudly: "To deal with people like you, we weak women should make full use of our own The advantage…woo.”
She gestured towards Duan Qing as if to demonstrate, and then took a bite on her grilled fish. The corners of her eyes were then filled with Duan Qing's smile, and she slowly disappeared into the chewing action. Among them: "...is it delicious?"
"It seems, it smells a little burnt..."
"With the fearful way you grilled it just now, if you don't snatch it away, it will turn into black charcoal."
Shaking his head helplessly, Duan Qing stepped forward and patted Xue Ling Huan Bing's shoulder: "But for you, it's your first time trying, you've done a pretty good job."
"...Next time you should do it."
Staring intently at the golden fish in his hand, Xue Ling Huan Bing hesitated for a long time and finally smacked his lips: "I, I am clumsy in everything I do. Not only can I not practice swords well, I can't even practice grilling." No fish can learn..."
"What are you talking about? You are the most diligent and diligent student I have ever seen."
Pulling the other party back to the campfire, Duan Qing slowly put away his smile: "Cooking is one of the most important skills for survival in the wild. Not being hungry is only the minimum requirement for players to go out on adventures. We originally In those virtual game worlds, every big guild spends a lot of money to hire the best chefs to cook for them. You have just begun to get into this field, and you have to go further than swordsmanship. In the long run, being able to grill the fish to this degree...is already good for you."
"...Thank you." Xue Ling Huan Bing glanced at the other party quietly and then replied softly: "Thank you for comforting me, but..."
"This is not to comfort you, it's really like this." Duan Qing smiled and shook his head: "Do you know how long it took me to learn these things? It will scare you to death if I tell you - I studied for three whole years. .”
"Three years?" Blinking Xue Ling Huan Bing tilted her head: "When... did it start?"
"Of course it started when I retired."
Duan Qing said this answer without changing his face. Duan Qing, who was sitting next to the campfire, then showed a recalling expression: "I should have told you everything that happened when I retired. It was the most miserable time for me. In order to survive in the lower class society, I have to rack my brains on the word 'survival'. District D of Hualan City is one of the places where I have struggled for the longest time. Everything there is very familiar to me now. I’ve also been working as a chef in several Chinese restaurants for a while.”
"It wasn't to steal my skills at that time, it was just to make a living." After saying this, he looked up at the night sky that seemed to be illuminated by a bonfire: "Now that I think about it...it can be regarded as a trick of fate."
"...Then did you learn your blackmail skills at that time?" Xue Ling Huan Bing, whose eyelashes fluttered up and down, suddenly revealed his old accusation: "You also stole a high-end game from our Tianxiang Company. cabin?"
"Well, that's all survival instinct." Duan Qing touched his nose in embarrassment: "And I didn't know that you were the general manager of Tianxiang Company, but you were able to come here at that time..."
"At that time, I was just avoiding guild activities."
As if she was also caught in memories, the white-haired woman who was also sitting in front of the campfire leaned slightly on Duan Qing's shoulder: "I was not interested in games at all at that time, I just regarded them as a kind of business and career like when I was a teenager. Just taking care of it, I haven’t studied the various elements and details in the game world at all..."
"I'm very grateful for that encounter, which gave me the idea of entering the free world." She looked up at Duan Qing's face, with a gentle look in her eyes that could soften any man: "If it weren't for wanting revenge, 'You, who are also players in the free world, will not be where I am now."
"...That was just when I just started to return to the virtual game world." Duan Qing replied helplessly: "And...is this really good?"
"Of course."
The hands holding Duan Qing's arms tightened slightly, and Xueling Huanbing lowered her head again: "Not only did you teach me so many things, but you also rescued me from the Emerald Star. …”
"You are my pillar of support in this world, Mr. Mo Shang Qingshan." She said softly, "Even if it's just out of gratitude, I should repay you."
Silence then occupied the air between the two people, with a strangely warm feeling gradually spreading around the bonfire. The movements between the two people also became more intense as the atmosphere softened. His hair became stiff, interspersed with some increasingly rapid breathing sounds. It seems that they can't bear the heat brought by the bonfire in front of them. The colors on the faces of the man and woman whose shoulders are close to each other have become increasingly red. Duan Qing, who has no experience in this area, then slowly He raised his arms and wanted to hold the other person in his arms, but his movement suddenly froze in the air: "..."
"somebody is coming."
The same alert light shone in his eyes, and the eyes of Xue Ling Huan Bing, who was leaning on Duan Qing's shoulder, then turned towards the dark depths far away from the bonfire: "No, no, this feeling... seems like a beast."
"Demonized creatures are generally afraid of light, which is why players can camp in the wild at night with a campfire." Duan Qing, who was interrupted from his good deeds, shook his head without hesitation: "But now..."
"These monsters don't seem to be afraid of light."
Reaching out and holding the hilt of the long sword that he had thrown aside, Xue Ling Huan Bing, who also sighed, slowly raised his head: "Do you want to compete with them?"
The whimpers carried by the wind and the bloody smell unique to wild beasts slowly spread around the bonfire in this temporary camp. Along with them, there were several wild wolf-like monsters who gradually took dark steps, their eyes glowing. They then let out several injured howls with all kinds of magical light, and rushed towards the direction of the dazzling bonfire. The loud magic explosion then drowned out one of the demonized wild wolves that was running over, sending the icy cold light that suddenly burst out from its body flying away together with the sand and soil all over the sky. The iron handle belonging to the Snow Spirit Magic Ice The long sword then appeared next to Duan Qing who threw the magic potion, blocking the next bite attack of the demonized wild wolf that rushed towards Duan Qing after hearing the sound: "First parry, then -"
"Fight back!"
Amidst the harsh sound made by the friction between the hard iron teeth and the iron sword, the iron long sword twisted a rotating arc in the air. While removing the wild wolf's head to the side with his backhand, he turned around and struck with the sword. on its neck. The steel mane fluff that had been strengthened by magic then rubbed against the iron sword body in the air, creating a brilliant flame, which burst into the air as the wild wolf flew out in pain. Bai Bai, who did not stop moving, The figure then spun out a beautiful line in the air again, and at the same time, the sword that had not stopped falling fell on the last wild wolf that pounced.
"Whirlwind Slash!"
In the scene of flying blood and the miserable howl of the demonized wild wolf, the swooping wild wolf was pulled out by Xue Ling Huan Bing's sword with a long wound on its side. The movement that was about to throw Duan Qing to the ground also tilted to one side with the sudden loss of power, and passed by the magician wearing a gray robe with the gradually spreading wind radiance. Slowly putting away the posture that he had put in place due to excessive exertion, Xue Ling Huan Bing took a long breath and then retreated to Duan Qing's side in two steps. His eyes that were staring at the movement around him the next moment. Under Duan Qing's instructions, he looked in a certain direction in the surrounding darkness: "Did you kill too many wild wolves during the day? Why are there such a large group..."
"I don't mind if they come to me for revenge." Xue Ling Huan Bing, who raised his sword again, finally had a cold look in his eyes: "But there are so many magical creatures... something seems wrong."
"You're right."
Turning around and using an earth wall to block the demonized wild wolf that had just been thrown away by Snow Spirit Fantasy Ice's counterattack from sight, Duan Qing took a deep breath: "And... I just drank a bottle of night vision potion. Guess what I saw?"
"I saw a bunch of players."
Before the other party could answer his question, he said a surprising answer: "This group of wild wolves... must have been driven here."
"Is there anyone who can drive away demonic creatures?"
The body with the long sword still stood in front of Duan Qing without hesitation, but Xueling Huanbing, who was staring ahead, questioned in a low voice: "Will they not be attacked by this group of wild wolves?"
"As long as you are strong enough, it is not difficult to do this."
After giving a chilling answer, Duan Qing's eyes were set deep in the direction he was pointing: "It's just that if you really have that kind of strength, doing such boring things would seem a bit redundant. .”
"...That's right."
Confronting the demonized wild wolf vanguards closest to the two of them again, Xue Linghuan Bing tightened the long sword in her hand: "If it were the Restorationists who came here, they would just attack us directly, but they are going to stage this Such a drama..."
"I don't think they have any leisure time."
Throwing a bottle of fiery red potion in his hand to the wild wolves in front of him again, Duan Qing ignited a magic light beam in the wilderness again, and his eyes gradually glowed with the dark light after the night vision potion took effect: "Those groups The players don’t seem to have any deep grudge against us, so…”
"They must have some effect and reason for doing this."
Looking at the scene where the group of players standing neatly in the darkness gradually began to retreat towards Carlo Village, he rubbed his chin and analyzed slowly.
