Chapter 2: Strong Brother Commentary.AVI
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Sky Sword City, the number one big city in the human realm!
As Lin Nan stood at the grand entrance of Sky Sword City, feeling the bustling crowds coming and going, a long-lost sense of emotion surged within him.
Wah! This is what gaming feels like! This is pure bliss!
Why on earth did he reincarnate as a female character with villain attributes? Wouldn’t it have been better just to show up directly in Sky Sword City?
Poor guy had just landed in the game and immediately clashed with the folks from Thousand Bird City. To escape the chaos, he dashed around like a headless chicken and ended up huddled in some remote, chilly underground cave before finally stabilizing.
Yup, she had become the new owner of Cold Wind Cave.
The Carp Spirit’s lightning attacks were utterly useless against the horde of zombies. Those rotting corpses didn’t even know what pain or numbness was! No matter how hard Carp Spirit attacked, the zombies just kept on shambling.
In the end, the Carp Spirit waved the white flag.
To keep from blowing her cover, Lin Nan adopted the title of Cold Wind Old Demon.
Then, she got the Dark Feather Crane to guard around Cold Wind Cave and had the system manage her account, setting it to stay put in the cave unless danger approached.
After all, when she found out she could use another account to experience player life, she was just itching to dive in.
Once she set everything up, she logged into the system interface to switch her identity.
It felt like stepping back into the game, starting from character creation.
The most thrilling part? She could finally join a cultivator sect!
Scanning the list of sect names, Thousand Bird City was right there, but naturally, she had her sights set on the number one sect, the Heavenly Sword Sect!
That’s right, Heavenly Sword Sect it is!
After finalizing her character details, it was as if a shooting star zipped across her view, and in the blink of an eye, “he” appeared at the entrance of Sky Sword City under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Sword Sect.
Phew, what a journey—it’s really not easy!
From this moment on, he dramatically declared that he, the aspiring member of the Heavenly Sword Sect, was the main account, while that frumpy Cold Moon Witch was merely a little side account for survival.
Before officially kicking off his player journey, he needed to check out the game interface first.
And when he opened it up, boy, was he in for a surprise—the player system was bursting with content! Not only were there shops, live streaming rooms, and forums, but also the all-important mission tab to keep track of quests and avoid forgetting them.
All fired up, Lin Nan wasn’t in a rush to head into the city. Instead, he eagerly opened the forum to see what hot topics players were discussing, so he could catch up with those ahead of him.
The first pinned post, marked in red, instantly caught his eye.
“‘The Way of Inquiry’ World sees its first intense clash between good and evil, and the outcome is…”
Oh great, another classic clickbait headline! Should he take a look?
This pinned post had nearly ten thousand replies! It must be the recent hot topic. If he wanted to blend into the player community, he’d better stay updated on the latest news.
Rolling his eyes, Lin Nan clicked in, and the first thing that popped up was a video, with the creator, “Strong Brother,” showing off a flashy intro.
As grand music blared, the large words “DuangDuang” jumped into the center of the screen, “Strong Brother Commentary.AVI…”
Then a guy wearing a dog-headed mask appeared on screen.
“Hello everyone, I’m Strong Brother! Long time no see! Since ‘The Way of Inquiry’ just launched, I’m sure most of you are still immersed in the mind-blowing holographic online gaming experience, haha, I’m no exception!
But if I don’t churn out a video to gain some popularity, I might run out of money for gaming next month! Just kidding, let’s get back on track.”
“You all know that ‘The Way of Inquiry’ is a highly free and open-world game. When we enter the game, it’s like starting a second life, where we can cultivate immortality and do virtually anything else!
Rumor has it that one guy learned cooking here and ended up passing a level-two chef certification! Another player even brought dessert recipes into the immortal realm, letting the NPCs taste bread for the first time, and before you know it, he earned over ten thousand spirit coins in a week, enough to buy a low-level spirit beast in Thousand Bird City!”
“All in all, for a month since the launch, players have been lost in exploring and enjoying the game, thinking the world would remain peaceful and beautiful. All we had to do was slay some low-level monsters, level up, and then fly around on our swords, meeting girls along the way!”
“But then, everything changed at some point.”
“The world of ‘The Way of Inquiry’ is a mix of humans, demons, and monsters, but so far the game only opened the human realm, while the demon realm remains a total chaos.”
“And just two days ago, ‘Upgrade Maniac’ encountered an unidentified hidden boss near Thousand Bird City while doing a leveling quest. As we all know, Thousand Bird City is located in the southeast corner of the human realm, pretty far from the demon realm, with only the dangerous Chaos Forest filled with neutral monsters in between.”
“So, we have reason to believe that the hidden boss later dubbed Cold Moon Witch’s appearance might be a signal from the game developers to us players!”
At this point, Strong Brother paused for dramatic effect, “The next part of the video might already be familiar to many players, but no matter how many times we relive it, the shock and fear it brings are unforgettable.”
Lin Nan was taken aback. He didn’t expect Strong Brother to ramble on like that, only to end up tying the situation back to his little account!
But viewing the scene from a third-party perspective, where the little account was swiftly swinging a pitch-black long sword to take down a bunch of sect disciples, did seem chilling.
The slick swordplay, those surprising moves, and that last strike taking out over eighty heads with ruthless efficiency made him shiver involuntarily.
Hey hey, why are you shivering?! That’s your alt account!
“Bro, don’t feel embarrassed. I was shocked the first time I saw it too. A ruthless, cold-blooded NPC female boss definitely leaves a lasting impression, tsk tsk tsk. I suspect the developers are playing a large game here.”
Just then, a portly guy with a big belly sauntered over who knew when and leaned in to watch the video alongside him.
Since player PvP was banned in the major sect territories, Lin Nan didn’t worry about him doing anything.
“What? A big game?” Lin Nan asked, puzzled.
The fatty chuckled, “Just keep watching. Strong Brother has more to say.”
“Oh, okay.”
After the segment with the little account wiping out the Outer Door Disciples of Thousand Bird City wrapped up, the dog-masked Strong Brother reappeared on the screen.
“Since the dawn of creation, this world has been rife with conflict—wars between humans and demons, between good and evil have echoed through time and space. Since ‘The Way of Inquiry’ is set in a fantasy world, it stands to reason that the conflict between good and evil will weave through the game’s storyline.”
“Are you starting to get it now?”
“And I have another crucial piece of evidence. When Upgrade Maniac complained about the hidden boss on the forum, the game’s developers actually responded quickly, stating that NPCs have free will and their own consciousness! In other words, if a villain boss appears in the human realm, doesn’t that imply that the demon realm is gearing up for a new conflict with the human realm?”
“The Cold Moon Witch is probably a noteworthy big demon or demon god from the demon realm. Her presence in the human realm isn’t just a leisurely visit—she definitely has a purpose or is looking for something. That perpetually fog-covered Dark Cloud Mountain might hide something significant.”
“Some might wonder, if there’s treasure in Dark Cloud Mountain, why not dig it up right away since Thousand Bird City is so close? Why wait for the Cold Moon Witch to show up?”
“Well, I can’t help but sneer at that! Are you trying to argue against me? The Cold Moon Witch holds exclusive clues nobody else knows about. You think she’s going to tip off Thousand Bird City in advance? Plus, the urgency with which Thousand Bird City sent Inner Door Disciples to hunt her down further proves my theory.”
“Gongsun Ding, the chief Inner Door Disciple of Thousand Bird City, is at least level fifty. By NPC standards, that’s like being in the eighth tier of Qi Refinement, close to foundation-building.
Common sense would suggest that a powerful NPC like him wouldn’t bat an eye at typical monsters, yet he found himself up against the Cold Moon Witch.”
“The next video is from a ‘merchant’ streamer, a player determined to become the wealthiest merchant in the world of ‘The Way of Inquiry’.”
“Did you see that? Faced with Gongsun Ding’s full-on attack, the Cold Moon Witch handled it like she was playing with a toddler—no pressure at all! It wasn’t until Gongsun Ding revealed all his tricks and swung all those magical swords that she finally showed interest and sent him packing with a bloodied escape!”
“And it gets even more shocking! As we all know, Thousand Bird City is famous for its various spirit beasts, especially flying ones. The spirit cranes are top-tier spirit beasts, known for their loyalty and incredible combat prowess.”
“But when the spirit crane encountered the Cold Moon Witch, it didn’t dare to resist at all. Just a cold glance from her made the spirit crane bow its head in submission. Then the Cold Moon Witch, using some mysterious technique, transformed it into a top-tier monster in an instant!”
“Thus, it’s clear—the Cold Moon Witch’s power is unfathomable!”
Strong Brother’s tone grew serious, “With such a powerful demon sent to stir up trouble in the human realm, what could their intentions be? Is this a foreshadowing of a new round of war between the human realm and the demon realm? And what role will we, the players, play in this shifting storm?”
“Stay tuned for more from Strong Brother Commentary. See you in the next episode!”
