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Chapter 225: The Fairy Kingdom
The four men headed deeper into the crystal cave. Lomyok openly expressed his admiration for the beauty of the location they were in. Meanwhile, Bluebird constantly asked Lomyok about how he ended up searching for clothing in this place, which Lomyok didn't mind explaining.
After he parted ways with everyone in Zhongsuyuan City, Lomyok stumbled upon two mortifying problems. Firstly, he felt the clothing he had received from the Victorious Wolves Sect didn’t suit him. Even with Burapha’s confirmation that the current B Grade clothing Lomyok was currently wearing was surely better than his old clothing made of White Wyvern’s feathers, Lomyok still insisted that options weren’t as important as appearance.
His second problem was the fact that he had lost the special skill, Scar Remover, which he deemed more important than his life. Since it was a skill he got from opening Random Cosmetic Boxes, he planned to acquire a large sum of money by testing his luck in Lost Grea City’s casino like he had done before. Unfortunately, he had already accomplished every mission that could provide him with a lot of points for entering Lost Grea City. Those missions couldn’t be performed again, so he had no means of entering Lost Grea City and it would take a while for that to change. To make matters worse, he also didn’t have enough money to use the teleportation services provided by the Blue Pigeon Guild. In fact, if he had really thought about it, he would have realized he didn’t even have money to use in the casino.
“What about the fact that your rank got demoted to Level 1 Squire Rank? Isn’t it the most glaring problem?” Burapha couldn’t help but ask.
“Compared to my looks, that problem is trivial,” Lomyok replied without hesitation.
“About the clothing you mentioned, Mister Lomyok, you have never seen it, have you? How do you know that it will look better than what you are wearing right now?” asked Sila.
Bluebird answered that question in place of Lomyok. “If that’s what you’re wondering, I can give you an answer. Regarding the textile art, no one can compare to the fairy race. Even the worst clothing crafted by a fairy should look better than what Lomyok is currently wearing. Moreover, about the best, most elegant clothing in the Fairy Kingdom that he mentioned before, it is not a secret. Rather, it’s like one of the legends you can find in some literature. In the early days of the game, there were people looking for it. However, they later quit trying since they judged that it would take them a lot of time and resources just to find one set of light armor.”
“That’s because the legendary clothing was born for me. No one can find it no matter how hard they try,” Lomyok declared.
Bluebird quit giving Lomyok his attention and continued explaining. “Legend has it that, once in her lifetime, the Fairy Queen will use her own soul instead of the usual material to knit the most glamorous clothing. The clothing’s grace is so magnificent that even angels can’t stop looking at it and the sun will dim its light out of embarrassment in front of the clothing’s fascinating radiance.”
“That’s right. In the entire game, its beauty can only fit on my body. See? I told you it was born for me,” added Lomyok.
“Is it that good? What about its performance and options?” asked Burapha.
“Who knows? The legend didn’t mention anything about those. What I just said was the entire legend.” Bluebird shrugged.
Suddenly, Lomyok accelerated his speed, his face brimming with joy. The three of them didn’t have to catch up to him to know the cause. Looking ahead, they saw the end of the crystal cave leading to a more spacious area. There was an arched entrance made of Soul Crystals glowing brightly, welcoming the visitors. Looking past the entrance, they could see several small magical caves inside. It was a mesmerizing sight.
“Finally, I have arrived. The Fairy Kingdom!”
Lomyok stopped his feet in front of the arched entrance, still in a daze at the sight of the enticing kingdom full of illuminating crystals and jewels. The other three caught up to him. Sila read a short sign next to the entrance.
“Travelers united in mind... no obstacle. Spend only a day... no trouble.”
Lomyok was about to step into the kingdom. However, Bluebird pulled his sleeve. “Wait! Don’t go in yet.”
“Hm? What do you want from me?”
What Bluebird said wasn’t directed at just Lomyok, but the entire group. “Everyone. Keep your system windows open. If possible, always stare at it no matter what you are doing. If we take our eyes off, the time might jump forward.”
“Is it that scary?” Burapha asked.
“Better be safe than sorry. In fact, just glancing at the time frequently should be enough. As I told you, our perception of time will be easily manipulated in this kingdom. I don’t want to make a mistake and stay longer than a day.”
They all opened their system windows. Burapha and Lomyok had C Grade system windows, so they had to open a large screen. On the other hand, Bluebird had B Grade and Sila had A+ Grade ones, so they could open a small screen showing a digital watch without it being obstructive to their vision.
The four men entered the Fairy Kingdom together. The crystals in the kingdom glowed brighter and three small fairies came out to greet them with hospitality.
“Greetings, travelers. Welcome to the Fairy Kingdom.”
“Greetings,” replied Burapha.
This was the first time Sila had a chance to see fairies. They were humanoid monsters with the appearance of children around ten years old. When both Sila and the fairies stood on level ground, they only came up to his waist. They had stunning facial features, a lovely smile, and exquisite clothing. It was an innocent kind of beauty that Sila couldn’t help but admire.
Likewise, the fairies also got a chance to observe humans. Among the four men, Lomyok was clearly the most handsome and elegant. Although his clothing was full of dirt, his clean face was still brimming with radiance. His facial features were perfectly aligned as if heaven had designed them with extreme care. In his hand was a foldable fan and his smile was pleasing to the eyes. Basically, he had a vibe of a good-looking scholar who was also a ladykiller.
The next most handsome man would be Burapha. Due to his status as a merman, his eyes were deep blue and quite charming. With his hair covering one of his eyes and some part of his facial features, it let off a sense of mystery and complexity to those seeing him. His thick long coat made of fur gave off an overbearing aura. Sadly, his large backpack caused his back to slightly bend forward. It made him seem less brave than if he had stood up straight.
As for the last two, it was hard to judge who was the better looking player. Each of the two possessed different qualities. Bluebird was wearing combat magician clothing suitable for high-speed movement. His eyes wandered here and there like the eyes of a child, always ready to absorb and learn new things. His long hair was wrapped untidily behind his back, revealing his playful expression which could be said to be his most charming trait.
The other was Sila. His facial features were neither handsome or pretty compared to Lomyok or Burapha. Yet, his determined and stubborn eyes which always looked further ahead were quite captivating. His short hairstyle revealed his manly face which was calm and expressionless like an oppressive sculpture. The atmosphere around him gave off some kind of a sense of distance that made him look lonely despite being surrounded by people. His back and shoulders were upright, creating an imposing demeanor.
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Considering only facial features, Sila was absolutely no match against the other three. However, looking at the overall physique and posture, the three of them were, similarly, no match for Sila at all.
“Travelers, what is it you seek in our the Fairy Kingdom? Are you our friends or our foes?”
Sila was greatly confused by the female fairy’s question. Who in their right mind would ask complete strangers whether they were friends or foes?
Nevertheless, as expected of Bluebird who had visited this place before, he fluently replied to the fairy’s question.
“We just want to pass this place to the Winter Forest.”
“In that case, please make yourselves at home, travelers. You are free to roam our kingdom. We shall leave.”
The female fairy floated backward. At that time, Lomyok, who had a different goal than Sila’s team, called the fairy to stop.
“Wait a minute! I don’t intend to go to the Winter Forest. My goal is something else.”
The female fairy stopped. She said with an alluring voice. “What is your goal, then, you elegant traveler?”
“I want clothing personally made by the Fairy Queen. May I ask where I can get it?”
All fairies in the kingdom stopped what they were doing and locked their eyes on Lomyok. Instinctively, Sila and his friends felt unsafe. They didn’t expect Lomyok to directly mention the Fairy Queen. Although they couldn’t sense malice from the fairies, being glared at gave them a feeling of uneasiness.
“I see. Sadly, I can’t tell you about it. You have to ask Her Majesty directly.”
“Where is the Fairy Queen, then?” Lomyok continued his questioning without minding the gazes locked on him. Why would he care? It was the most natural thing for people to look at him in a daze because of his handsomeness. He didn’t find it strange if the fairies fell in love with him just from glancing.
Bluebird interrupted as he said to the female fairy, “Erm. For your information, unlike this guy, we aren’t looking for the clothing. We just want to pass through the kingdom.”
Sila looked at Bluebird with a slight frown, asking ‘Is that okay?’ via eye contact. He didn’t like the feeling of leaving someone behind.
Bluebird looked back. Likewise, he spoke with his eyes, saying ‘We don’t have time to waste on someone else’s problem.’
While Sila was still hesitating, Lomyok said, “As he said, I’m the only one looking for the clothing. Where is the Fairy Queen? Can you lead me to her?”
The female fairy nodded. “Her Majesty is resting in her bedroom. You will have to wait until tomorrow. For you who wants to meet her, please come this way. For the rest of you, feel free to take in the sights. The residential area is that way. Don’t forget to take a moment to purchase a souvenir from our kingdom.”
“Tomorrow?” Sila repeated.
Burapha knew what Sila was thinking. He warned Lomyok. “Mister Lomyok, the sign in front of the Fairy Kingdom warned us not to spend a day in this place. I don’t believe staying here until tomorrow will be a good idea.”
Lomyok folded his Gorgeous Female Fan with a gentle smile on his face. “Don’t worry, Little Brother. I, Lomyok, have never been afraid of anything. All rules have an exception for the handsome one. For example, even if a sign says ‘Don’t cut the line’, when I approached, all of the ladies practically insisted that I cut the line. In addition, female clerks always give me a special discount.”
Sila gave what Lomyok said a thought while Burapha was agape and about to disagree. Nonetheless, Bluebird summoned a tailorbird and ordered it to perch on Lomyok’s shoulder.
“Anyway, let’s separate ways. I will leave one tailorbird with you just in case, okay?”
The female fairy didn’t say anything. She slowly led Lomyok inside while he followed with a carefree expression, completely neglecting the warning in front of the kingdom.
The three of them sent Lomyok off with their gazes. Soon, Bluebird led the remaining two somewhere else. They started a conversation along the way.
“Will Mister Lomyok be okay? Even though the fairies seem friendly, I don’t like the feeling I got when they looked at us,” Sila asked.
“How do I know? Anyway, I always wondered what would happen if someone stayed longer than a day, so I sent a tailorbird to keep an eye on him. Hehehe. This is a good day. It seems I will get my hands on new information soon.”
“Ah? I thought you sent a tailorbird to track him because you are worried about him,” said Burapha.
“Well, he said it himself, right? That we shouldn’t worry about him. Why should I be concerned about his safety? It’s not like we are that close.”
Sila couldn’t bring himself to wholeheartedly agree with what Bluebird said. Still, he couldn’t deny that it was true. They were not Lomyok’s friends, and the person in question didn’t ask for their help.
Rather, seeing Lomyok’s attitude, Sila couldn’t help but envy Lomyok’s carefree personality. Lomyok seemed to be truly having fun playing the game. He did whatever he wanted without caring about how other people would look at him. On the other hand, Sila was far from enjoying the game. In fact, most players were like him. True, in the beginning, most of them just wanted to have some fun. However, the more time they spent playing the game, the more their competitive spirits were ignited, leading to them being serious about dominating other players.
“We have arrived. Let’s shop a bit.” Bluebird entered a certain cave and pointed at several stalls in front of him. Burapha’s eyes gleamed with interest at the vast array of items.
“Wow. There are many rare items I have never seen before!”
Burapha quickly ran ahead, visiting several stalls. He picked many items up and negotiated prices with fairy merchants. On the other hand, Sila wasn’t particularly interested in souvenirs. His eyes simply wandered around but stopped when he saw small handkerchiefs that seemed to shine. He picked two of them up and gave the fairy merchant his credit card. Surprisingly, the fairy merchant just looked confused. Seeing what happened, Bluebird walked over.
“Why do you want two handkerchiefs? Whatever. Don’t you have money? Wanna borrow from me? I only have a little bit on me though.”
Sila showed a dry smile as he lifted his black card up. “I have money, but I don’t understand why he says he doesn’t know about credit cards.”
Bluebird laughed. “Oh, pal. Didn’t you know that shops in rural areas don’t accept credit cards? You have to pay in silver or gold.”
“Aw. I don’t have much on me either. By the way, is it okay to go to Belacia City without cash on hand?”
“I thought you knew. When you arrive there, just revisit your mansion and call your banker to withdraw money. Easy peasy.”
Sila asked the fairy merchant for the price of the handkerchiefs and found that they were quite expensive. With the money he had on him, he could only afford one. The handkerchief he picked was knitted by the Fairy of River. Besides its beautiful appeal, it also possessed a cleansing property that helped reduce the effectiveness of poisons and curses. When used, the handkerchief would gradually lose its shine. However, if it came into contact with clean water, it would become completely new again.
The three of them, especially Burapha, spent a while shopping before they left. In the end, Sila only purchased the handkerchief. He checked the time and found that only a few minutes had passed. It was likely thanks to Bluebird, who always kept an eye on the time.
Bluebird, Burapha, and Sila went toward the exit. Bluebird had visited this kingdom before so he knew the way. The three of them continued to chat along the way until they finally saw the exit. There was a small sign with the same message they had seen at the entrance.
“Done~ Just pass through this exit, continue walking for half an hour, and we will arrive at the Winter Forest. How is that? It’s always easy traveling with me, Sir Bluebird.”
Bump—!
Bluebird’s head bumped against something. He retreated a few steps and pressed his hand on his head.
“Ouch. What was that? What did I bump into?” Bluebird asked while looking ahead but found nothing blocking his way. The same applied to Sila and Burapha. Sila even expanded his profound sense but couldn’t detect anything unusual.
“There is an invisible wall, Big Brothers,” Burapha said as his palms touched something invisible yet solid in the air. Likewise, Sila and Bluebird could touch it as well.
“You are right,” Bluebird replied, confused.
“We can touch it, but my qi can’t sense it at all. It doesn’t seem to contain any power.” Sila inspected the invisible area.
“It must be a system intervention according to some kind of condition. If it’s like this, I don’t think we can pass through it with normal means,” Bluebird suggested.
“System intervention? Didn’t you say you passed through the exit before, Big Brother?” asked Burapha.
“I don’t know too. This is weird. I haven’t once faced a problem with this place.”
Sila looked at the hints on the sign again. “Travelers united in mind... no obstacle. Spend only a day... no trouble.”
“Ah! Isn’t this the obstacle it’s talking about?” Burapha exclaimed.
“It’s possible. If we go with this logic, that means we, including Lomyok, have to exit this place together,” Sila guessed.
Burapha gave Bluebird a look. “Why didn’t you know about this, Big Brother Blue?”
“I always came alone. How could I know that?” Bluebird shrugged. “Oops! This is bad... I forgot to pay attention to the time when we were talking just now.”
Not only Bluebird, but Sila and Burapha had stopped paying attention to the time from the moment they saw the exit. The three of them simultaneously checked.
“A day has already passed?! How is it this fast?!” Burapha exclaimed.
“When I was here before, the time didn’t pass this fast. It must be because all four of us aren’t looking at it, so time flew four times faster than normal... I think,” Bluebird randomly assumed.
“Anyway, we have to go and find Lomyok,” Sila proposed.
“Do we? If that guy dies, we may be able to exit, don’t you think?” Bluebird was reluctant to go back.
“...Or maybe we won’t be able to leave anymore because one of us is missing. I agree with Big Brother Sila that we should go back,” said Burapha.
Since they couldn’t move forward, they naturally had to go back. The three of them looked back to the Fairy Kingdom. As their eyes naturally took in the sights, they all noticed something strange. The pale blue souls residing within the crystals that were all over the kingdom had changed color and exited the crystals. The souls enlarged and became semi-transparent blood red fairies. They shot a look of hatred at the three players. The entire kingdom was filled with malicious magic power.
“Sila, why does everything always turns into a mess when you’re around?!” Bluebird let out an irritated shout.