“The Wolf King... just died?” The three survivors were still dazed. It took them a moment to process that this mysterious person had killed a level-15 boss with nothing more than a brick. Just how high was his level, anyway?
They didn’t rush to collect the loot the Spiked Wolf King had dropped. They knew he was the one who’d killed it—and taking care of them would be just as easy for him.
“Thank you so much for saving us, miss! If it weren’t for you, we might’ve died here today!” An’an, the youngest of the three, bowed to Han Ming to express their heartfelt gratitude.
Han Ming raised an eyebrow. Was it really that easy to mistake him for a girl looking like this? He cleared his throat and corrected them. “I’m no miss. I’m a bona fide man!”
The corners of their mouths twitched. Now that they listened closely, his voice did sound male. But was long hair with bangs covering your face really the style for men these days?
“Sorry, sorry! It’s just that you look so easy to mistake for a girl, so...” An’an realized they’d put their foot in their mouth and apologized profusely.
“It’s fine. I just haven’t had a haircut in ages. I can get a barber to trim it later.” Han Ming ran a hand through his long hair. He’d been stuck in the game world this whole time, but his body in the real world had kept growing. His hair had gotten this long already. “Anyway, who are you, and what are you doing here?”
Xue Yun, the only man among the three, stepped forward and introduced them. “We’re residents of the human camp in the neighboring city. I’m Xue Yun, this is my girlfriend, Mo Li, and this is An’an. We came here looking for some treasures left behind, but we ran into a monster that was way too much for us to handle. Thanks again for helping us out, by the way. We still don’t know your name.”
“Han Ming. ‘Han’ as in cold, ‘Ming’ as in keeping something in mind. By the way, when did this place become like this?” Han Ming was a man out of touch with the world, and he desperately wanted to know everything that had happened to it!
Xue Yun sighed and looked helplessly at the city’s ruins. “The world changed a year ago and merged with the game world. Now, game-like monsters have gathered all across the Earth. This city was overrun by monsters seven months ago. It’s been a deserted ruin ever since.”
“I see.” Han Ming had gotten some useful information. First, this really was the real world—something huge had happened, and everything had started turning into a game. It sounded absurd, but as someone who’d spent most of his time immersed in the game world, Han Ming found it easy to accept.
Han Ming believed that reality itself was a game called Life. All that had changed was the game mode.
“Let’s collect the loot first.” Han Ming glanced at the Wolf King’s corpse in the distance. A bunch of white circles hovered above it. Just like in the game, their colors showed the quality of the items.
At Han Ming’s words, the three relaxed and got to work sorting through the Wolf King’s corpse. They gathered everything together and brought it to him. “These are all the items the Wolf King dropped. We got pretty lucky, too—a green-quality longsword dropped!”
To be honest, Xue Yun really wanted that level-15 green longsword. But it was worth two or three thousand on the market, and he didn’t dare keep it for himself in front of Han Ming.
“Why are you all staring at me?” They’d gathered the items and crowded around him, watching him so intently that Han Ming felt a little awkward.
“Han Ming, you’re the one who killed the Wolf King, so the loot should go to you.” Xue Yun laid out the items one by one for Han Ming to look over.
Han Ming only gave them a glance. There was no firearm among the drops, so he dismissed them outright. “Figures. I’m such a jinx. Since there’s nothing I want, you can have it all.”
The gear he used as fodder to strengthen his equipment back then had all been level-80 blue gear. Why would he care about a level-15 green longsword?
“Han Ming, you really don’t want any of it?!” The three were stunned. What kind of generosity was this? Was he really turning it all down, or was this stuff just beneath his notice?
“You can keep all of it. Just keep an eye out for any firearms for me.” Han Ming had gotten used to thinking of these items as cheap junk, just like the ones in the game world. What he needed now was a firearm.
Without a weapon specific to his class, he couldn’t even use his class skills. If he couldn’t get his hands on a gun, he’d be stuck with basic attacks and general skills below level ten.
The three exchanged glances, seeming to discuss something. In the end, they came to an agreement. An’an pulled a piece of blue gear from their inventory. “We got this piece of equipment from a chest near the Wolf King’s lair. Since you need it, Big Brother Han Ming, you can have it.”
“It’s a level-20 blue-quality revolver. It could fetch fifty thousand on the market. We just don’t know if your level’s high enough to equip it.” The three were reluctant to part with it. Fifty thousand was a fortune in this world. But no amount of money was worth more than their lives. This world might have turned into a game, but when you died, you were really dead!
Han Ming hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he didn’t stand on ceremony. “I could really use this weapon right now. But I won’t take it for free. You’re all pretty low-level, so how about I get your whole team to level ten and earn the right to advance to your first class?”
The three had been reluctant to give up the revolver, but their eyes lit up at once. Even though the world had turned into a game, not everyone was lucky enough to make it to level ten. Leveling up meant risking death, and sixty percent of the few humans left in the world were still below level ten. They had to work in all kinds of low-status jobs, stuck at the very bottom. If they reached level ten and got another class, they’d learn more skills and have a much better chance of surviving in this world!
“Do you really mean it?” An’an looked at Han Ming, barely able to contain their excitement. If their whole team had reached level ten and gotten classes, they wouldn’t have been pushed this far by a single Wolf King!
Han Ming equipped the revolver. His class could dual-wield, but one handgun was enough to use the Gunner class skills. “I don’t make empty promises. If you’re willing, we can start right now.”
“We’re in! We’re in!” The three had no reason to refuse. A mysterious expert above level twenty—maybe even level thirty—was offering to help them level up. It was the kind of thing they could hardly even dream of! There was no way they’d let this rare opportunity slip by.
Han Ming nodded, then asked about the city’s situation. “Where’s the strongest boss around here? Wasting time on weak monsters is terribly inefficient.”
Xue Yun couldn’t help thinking that an expert really was an expert. Even the things they said and did were different from everyone else. “We’re too low-level to go too far in. But I’ve heard other adventurers say there’s a giant man-eating flower somewhere in the center of the city. It’s supposedly above level twenty!”
“Then that’s our target. Let’s go.” Han Ming was decisive. He wasn’t one to dawdle; he picked their destination without a second thought.
