### Chapter 153: The Unplaced Charm
After reading the few simple lines on the scroll, Yuliya sank into contemplation.
Senra, gold.
He had a dream and turned into a different person.
Nightmare Wielder, this was Sogriede’s third stage.
He used to be a good mayor who cared for his people, but one nightmare completely changed him.
Yuliya seemed to grasp Sogriede’s obsession with divinity a bit better now.
Human strength is just too weak in the face of divine power.
The BOSS in the Beginner’s Village was merely a projection of the Wolf God, and the calamity that swept the empire ten years ago was also just a projection.
But ironically, Sogriede’s nightmare originated from his obsession with becoming a god.
“Oh God… I wonder if my God-slaying Slash can really slay a god?”
Yuliya glanced around, found a flat stone slab, and carved it into a cross shape, sticking it into the ground.
“Dying by my hand would be well-deserved; however, I can acknowledge your past deeds by giving you a nameless tombstone. This will be your final existence.”
She set up the makeshift tombstone and turned to leave.
But as soon as she turned, she detected a hidden gaze.
“Who’s there! Come out!”
She fixed her eyes on a collapsed building.
“If you don’t come out, I’ll attack!”
She raised her right hand, a faint energy pulsating with the scent of the wind.
“Waitaminute! Stop, please!”
A girl player popped out with both hands raised immediately from behind.
Yuliya recognized her a little; she was part of the group that got one-shotted by the BOSS before. It was a surprise she was still alive.
The girl quickly introduced herself: “My name is Kailona, nice to meet you, Wind.”
Yuliya’s eagle-speak wasn’t top-notch, but she had scored 120 in her college entrance exam, so she could understand the basics.
So, with her awkward grasp of the language, she replied, “What do you want?”
Kailona started showering her with praise and flattery.
Soloing the BOSS? You’re amazing! Your score is unbeatable! Blah blah blah…
But the problem was, Yuliya couldn’t quite keep up…
At first, she could grasp parts of it, but as Kailona threw in more colloquialisms and jargon, Yuliya was lost.
She interrupted, “So what do you want?”
Kailona suddenly bowed deeply: “Please team up with me!”
“Not interested, bye.”
Yuliya didn’t even look back as she started walking away.
Join a team? Nope, thank you! I enjoy my freedom too much—why drag around a dead weight? Especially one from another server, go chill over there!
Seeing Yuliya trying to leave, Kailona immediately sprinted after her.
But her speed was no match for Yuliya’s, no amount of running could catch up.
Yuliya, feeling mischievous, turned back and called out, “You chase me! If you catch me, I’ll team up with you.”
She purposely used Huaxia language for that.
What no one expected was Kailona to fire back in Huaxia too: “Wait for me! I will catch you!”
Whoa! This girl speaks Huaxia too!!!
Then why did you ramble in eagle-speak for so long?!
Kailona was now fueled to chase, while Yuliya ran even faster and vanished into thin air.
Kailona watched as the distance widened, her expression crumbling.
“Am I… completely rejected?”
The reason Kailona had the guts to approach Yuliya for a team was that she had seen Yuliya’s hair from behind while snooping; it was a stunning gold.
This meant Yuliya was at least of mixed heritage.
Pure-bl**d Huaxians don’t have hair like that!
From her hair alone, it was clear that this was a beautiful and elegant person.
Strong, beautiful, and graceful—whether it was for teaming up or making friends, Kailona wasn’t going to miss this chance to get close.
Unfortunately, she had failed.
“But I won’t give up!”
Kailona glanced at the map, and instead of directly pursuing Yuliya, she chose a direction to head off.
She was going to gather her own team; after all, there were still over forty hours left for the event, no rush.
There was no way she could catch up with Yuliya on her own, so why not leverage a group?
Kailona was the vice president of the second-ranked guild “Golden Rose” on the server, so she had some clout.
As for why she was the VP instead of the actual president—it’s simply because the president had too many boring responsibilities; being the VP was way more chill.
But if something important came up, the president still had to listen to her.
In reality, her name was Erin Hilton, the second daughter of the Hilton family, whose group is the largest hotel management company in Oulu.
Whether in reality or in the game, she had considerable power.
In fact, she might even surpass Yuliya’s top-tier character, Fiery Conflict Across the Sky.
Yuliya had no idea that her joking words had landed her in the sights of such a troublesome character.
Even if she did, she wouldn’t care much.
There’s a saying: “More debt, more carefree.”
Aren’t there already enough people with their eyes on her? Which high-level player doesn’t have a complicated background? Which faction isn’t powerful?
But she still toyed with them all.
You can’t find me! You don’t know my real identity. I can just duck into a corner and live my life peacefully.
In the game, you can’t touch a hair on me; in reality, you’ve got no chance at all.
Yuliya shook off the troublesome Kailona and began plotting her next route.
Now, the problem in Black Raven City had basically been resolved.
As she eliminated the BOSS Sogriede, Black Raven City lit up on the map, but exploration was only at 37%.
The rest were various low-level minions, smaller magic circles, or certain special items hidden in the nooks and crannies.
Not a single bit of that piqued Yuliya’s interest.
Way too much time and effort for such low points.
Anyway, Black Raven City was brightened up, and the corruption debuffs that once plagued the entire city had disappeared, making it much easier for future players to explore.
The leftovers? Just some leftover soup for them.
And what was Yuliya up to?
She was off to eat meat!
On the map, there were seven medium exploration points, or in simpler terms, seven cities: Black Raven City, Wisteria City, Red Maple City, Yellow Leaf City, Blue Sky City, White Snow City, and Ashen City.
These cities were spread across seven different directions, surrounding a massive area.
Inside that area, there were two major exploration points—Royal City Green Shade City and Illusion Forest.
But she wasn’t considering the major exploration points for now.
Yuliya was quite the… let’s say, prudent player.
She had discovered serious DPS issues while soloing BOSSes, so tackling a major exploration point seemed way more complicated.
There was still plenty of time; she could wait until other players head to the major exploration points too.
Team battles were still team battles; we’re not playing a single-player souls-like game!
So she zeroed in on the other six cities.
Quite a few players had already entered the medium exploration points; she needed to speed things up.
You players better enjoy your soup; the meat is off-limits.
This princess hasn’t had her fill yet!