Vampire Princess Guide in Progress - Volume 1 Chapter 36

Chapter 36: We’ll Meet Again in Reality

***

The night fell, at 7:50 PM.

The mailbox of all players displayed a bell with an exclamation mark that was shaking, particularly eye-catching as an activity reminder, making it almost impossible to ignore. Therefore, in front of the teleportation array outside the Pure White Holy City, figures began to appear one after another in flashes of light.

Whether they were players from other towns on the first floor, or players doing monster-hunting quests in the forest on the second floor, all flocked there.

The last time so many players gathered here was a week ago when the Star Lord descended, but compared to the trembling and terrifying atmosphere at that time, this time the activity atmosphere in the city could be said to be full of celebration and peace.

The most eye-catching seven towers of the Pure White Cathedral were the first to light up in the night.

Moonlight flowed over the cathedral’s snowflake stone outer walls, dyeing those engraved holy spirit statues into flowing silver mercury. The soft light of candles danced behind the stained glass windows, and when the celebration bells shattered the twilight, the entire building suddenly burst forth with a holy halo.

The emerald fountain spun a curtain of light water in the center of the square, with water sprites carved from white jade holding moonstone water pitchers, pouring out burbling spring water.

Along the twelve streets radiating from the cathedral square, arriving players were coming in succession, converging towards the center of the celebration area. Looking at the bustling streets where every shop was lit, the players who had experienced such cold battles outside for so long unexpectedly felt a touch of attachment.

Perhaps it was this game’s only leniency, giving players who had passed through this week’s game very difficult times a moment to breathe and a place to cherish.

“Holy crap, Baldy, you’re still alive? And you’ve reached level 10!?”

“(Crude language)! You little punk aren’t you level 8 too? And you’ve got a full set of green quality equipment. Didn’t you say on the first day that you were going to slack off and just stay in the safe zone? But here you are secretly grinding ahead of us?”

“I had no choice! Everyone went out to hunt monsters, leveling up and making money like crazy, and I was the only one who could barely afford bread from the shops. Later I thought about it, there was really no need to be afraid of a few wild boars, and the rewards for quests in other towns are very generous. If you get hurt, there are sister nuns at the church to help heal you.”

“Hehe, but it’s good that you’re alive. I was worried that one day you’d go gray on my friends list.”

“You too, don’t die. The big shots at the front line have already crushed the second floor BOSS, and we can just follow along and survive by leveling up.”

As the game progressed, more and more players realized that the first floor wasn’t actually scary. Additionally, the pioneer players were the first to get a batch of green quality equipment drops, and now basically everyone had two or three pieces of green quality equipment.

With the enhancement of high-level equipment, exploring the first floor was almost without danger, which made more people willing to venture out of town.

At least they wouldn’t face the situation that Nolan had initially faced, fighting to the death with elite wolf packs with just white equipment. The average level of players had also basically reached around Lv.5~Lv.10.

After a flash of white light on the teleportation array in Pure White Holy City, the outlines of two young female figures gradually became clear.

Tilia and Cross also temporarily stopped their forest rabbit hunting quest on the second floor at the time when the celebration activity was about to begin, and teleported back to Pure White Holy City together. It was also their first time returning here, to this beginner main city.

“So many people have come back to participate.” Cross looked at the continuously appearing figures beside them and murmured softly.

“Yes, after all, as a BOSS conquest celebration, it’s quite inspiring. And those 12,000 Exp points are also very attractive, enough to directly boost a Lv.1 player to Lv.7.”

If that’s the case, if there could be such a game celebration event after each floor’s BOSS is cleared.

Then even players who stay in the main city areas would have a way to gain experience without danger. The higher the floors cleared, the higher their levels would be. Even in the so-called Beast Tide attack on the city events later, they would have some ability to protect themselves.

Hmph… so the game maker did set up positive feedback, but everything is tightly linked to clearing BOSSes.

After clearing a floor BOSS, the clearing team can get high shared experience points and obtain high-quality powerful equipment. Then new maps are opened with more resource points, and game celebration activities can be triggered to benefit all players.

Without lingering too long in front of the two huge arches before Pure White Holy City, the two girls walked side by side into the brightly lit bustling city area.

Cross still had that small posture of holding her magic staff to her chest with both hands, walking on the wide city avenue while curiously casting her gaze towards the groups of players around, just as she did on her first day in this game.

“Hahaha, with Sister Anna as our priest, our squad’s HP values have never turned red.”

“During that time with the elite monsters on the second floor, we also owed it to Anna, who calmly provided a group heal when everyone was losing a lot of health.”

“Let’s take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Sister Anna! A toast to our Fledgling Squad’s most powerful priest lady! I think we can consider using the quest commission money we just got to get a better shield for our main tank captain, and the mana recovery accessory that Sister Anna needs.”

“Oh my, you’re making me blush saying such things. It’s thanks to everyone’s support and protection that I can cast with peace of mind from the back.”

Under an open-air tent, several players gathered around a round table stood up together and raised their glasses, laughing as they drank it all in one go.

On everyone’s faces… now there was more of a relaxed feeling.

Occasionally, bursts of laughter could be heard from teams of well-equipped players, discussing whether to form small guilds or about team equipment updates.

Nolan… he did something really remarkable.

With his own strength alone, he restored everyone’s confidence in clearing this death game.

This was evident from the cheers of the players in the town when she returned from the second floor map last night. Previously, clearing the second floor BOSS was a relatively vague concept for Cross, and now she understood more deeply the significance of its importance.

She also understood why Nolan had to challenge the BOSS alone.

Would he come to tonight’s in-game celebration event?

Or while everyone was enjoying the lively atmosphere of the celebration, was he right now somewhere dangerous on the third floor, fighting with his sword against powerful monsters, wanting to uphold the hope of all players with just one person, to clear this game?

Just thinking about it in her mind made Cross tremble all over.

“What’s wrong, Cross?” Tilia asked, seeing her expression that seemed troubled.

“No-nothing… I was just thinking about Nolan.”

“Ah, ah… Nolan, what about him?” Tilia suddenly choked a bit, then laughed it off and asked.

Cross softly whispered: “Tilia, do you think Nolan is not afraid of dying? What exactly gives him such courage… Just thinking about the scene of my HP value decreasing makes me tremble with fear, that feeling…”

Tilia looked at the little loli’s drooping head in front of her, was momentarily stunned, and then the corner of her mouth revealed a slight, almost imperceptible smile.

“Maybe it’s because he wants to live that he’s not afraid of death. And also some confidence he has from his closed beta experience.”

“Because he wants to live… he’s not afraid of death?”

“Well, don’t worry.” Tilia gently patted Cross’s shoulder and helped her take the witch’s hat she had been wearing into her own arms, revealing a smiling face and saying: “Nolan isn’t the kind of hot-headed idiot. He will protect himself.”

Although saying this herself didn’t sound very convincing, perhaps going to solo a BOSS was already quite hot-headed.

Cross looked at Tilia’s cheeks, and couldn’t help but curve her eyebrows into a smile, “That’s right! Anyway, I won’t worry about him anymore. Nolan will definitely prioritize protecting himself. Oh, that restaurant over there looks so beautiful, with outdoor seating too. Shall we go take a look?”

“It looks very high-end… I can’t guarantee what the prices will be like.”

“It’s okay, I have a lot of money! I mean, a lot of Star Coins! At times like this, champagne is needed, right? Let’s buy several bottles while it’s half-price during the event!”

So Cross sat obediently in her chosen seat, with a beautiful bright crystal lamp placed in the center of the table. The table and chairs were also high-quality wooden crafts, which even appeared somewhat romantic in the night atmosphere.

In the end, Tilia ordered, and she paid.

Unexpectedly, it turned out that in this game, there were also players like wandering minstrels. Perhaps it was real-world musical talent, but someone was playing a violin on the street corner, attracting a group of players to watch and applaud, making Cross watch for a while.

It also made her involuntarily recall her own reality.

Even now, she still felt as if she were in a dream.

Just a while ago, she was just an ordinary university student, but now she found herself in this fantasy world with magic, looking at these dazzling lights and magnificent white buildings.

A subtle feeling where a sense of reality and fantasy continuously intertwined and overlapped. Would she continue to live in this world for a long time?

Until the game is cleared, she, they, everyone will.

If this game didn’t have such death rules, she would definitely be fascinated by this world. A completely immersive game, a game world that exists as a second life, would certainly make people feel very exhilarating and wonderful.

…

Meanwhile, just as Tilia was ordering from the NPC young lady at the counter of the lantern-decorated open-air restaurant.

She found that her private message window suddenly lit up.

She clicked on the switch button in the upper right corner of the private message bar, switching the message to Nolan’s perspective, and saw a string of messages sent from Cross — 【Nolan, there’s a celebration in Pure White Holy City tonight in the game, don’t you want to be recognized as a hero by everyone?】

【Alright, alright, I know you must be very busy, grinding monsters somewhere alone again, right? Be careful. I’m with Miss Tilia at a restaurant in the main city area. When did you get to know such a beautiful girl? You never mentioned her to me at all!】

【Anyway, I will protect Miss Tilia, don’t worry. And I learned Fireball while fighting forest rabbits today!】

【So we’ll see each other again when we have the chance!】

【Thank you for your “newbie guidance” so far, let’s live until this game is cleared!】

Tilia’s gaze fell on a “happy rabbit” emoji that Cross had sent in the last chat box, and her gaze couldn’t help but soften a bit. Using the cover of the counter sign, she quickly typed a message and sent it.

— 【Mmm, live on with Tilia, we’ll meet again in reality】