"Capture him alive!"                                                    

"Go go go!"

Shouts were heard followed by heavy footsteps.

Li Wei was lying on the floor with a worried expression. 'Bandits?' thought Li Wei. He rapidly tried to get up but before he could stand up, a heavy net landed on him, preventing him from moving anywhere.

"Damn bandits! I did not go through all of this just to die there!" exclaimed Li Wei. He was completely disoriented by the net. All he could see were some blurry figures rushing towards him. Li Wei managed to get up, but his vision was impeded by the net.

[Earth Wall]

He immediately activated his ring's skill to form a protective wall on one side while for the other side, Li Wei raised his other hand and prepared to use [Chaos Sphere].

He did not know who his attackers were or what they wanted. But he knew it would be disastrous to die there. This situation was nothing when compared to when the evil cult was chasing after him; he was not feeling threatened like he was by the mage, Gogius and the fact that they used items already indicated that they were not as strong and confident as the mage.

But before Li Wei could activate his skill, a dark shadow dropped down from the tree's branch above Li Wei's head.

[Head Crack]

[Head Crack] was a rogue skill which used the hilt of the dagger to strike the target's head. By doing so, not only did it cause a lot of damage, but it also stunned the target.

All Li Wei felt was a heavy strike on his head as he was being thrown on the ground. He could not even move and could only watch as his HP plummeted to 21.

[System prompt: You have been afflicted by Head Crack's effect. Stunned for 1 second]

Before Li Wei was able to move again, he felt a heavy weight press on his back as his arms and legs were being pressed against the dirty ground.

"Target Captured!"

"I recommend you don't resist!"

Li Wei's head was pressed against the ground by some large hands. He tried desperately to get up but failed. He could only hurriedly move his equipment to his inventory to reduce the losses associated with death.

"Don't try to resist!"

"You better cooperate!"

The ambushers who were holding his limbs kept warning him but then, another voice was heard.

"Good! Hold him tight and use the identifier!" exclaimed a rough voice. From the tone of the voice, it was clearly the leader of that group.

Li Wei did not know what was happening; he could only hear footsteps approaching him and a few seconds later, he felt something cold being pressed against his right palm.

"Sir! He is one of the adventurers who were in charge of an escort mission!" said a voice to Li Wei's right.

"Give me the document," replied the rough voice.

Li Wei could hear people moving around him, but he did not understand what was happening. Why was he still alive? These people could easily kill him; that could only mean that they were not bandits.

A few seconds later, the same rough voice once again spoke, "So... Let me ask you some questions. Are you called, Seven?"

"What do you want?" asked Li Wei but the rough voice cut him short, "Just answer the questions and cooperate!"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Li Wei grumbled; he hated the situation he was in but it might just be the only chance he had to actually survive.

"Yes, that's my name."

"Were you on an escort mission to Verdan Town?" asked the rough voice.

"Yes!"

"Then explain what happened in the Mirage Forest! How did you do to survive?"

Li Wei froze as he heard the question. He clearly could not say that he made a pact with the evil cult and they allowed him to go. Evil cults were known as humanity's enemy since they fought for the demons. Although Li Wei did not know the identity of the rough voice, he knew that trouble would come if he spoke about staying at the evil camp.

"I don't know! I simply ran away and hid in the trees!" answered Li Wei.

"You better say the truth! There is no way the evil cult would have failed to find you there! Are you a spy sent by the evil cult!" angrily asked the rough voice.

"I don't know what you are talking about! I am simply saying what I did! I ran away with the other players and we all went in our own direction! I got caught but then I used an item to escape!" explained Li Wei.

"An item? What item? Where is it?"

"It was a one-time use item! [Emergency Escape Gem]!"

"What is that? I have never heard of this item!" said the rough voice. This time, his tone was mixed with both anger and curiosity.

'Damn... Why are you asking so many questions? Looks like one of those cases where the police abuse its power,' thought Li Wei. He just wanted to get out of this situation. He did not even know if [Emergency Escape Gem] existed. He simply said that name because it was an item which could be used to teleport away in the previous super popular game: Overload.

"I don't know! I got it from a gnome; he said it was a product of engineering!"

"A gnome? Did their engineering really develop that far?" said the rough voice.

Suddenly, another voice was heard. This one sounded more aged and wiser, "That's enough Mans, let him go. He clearly does not have any links with the evil cult. There is indeed a faint trace of the cult’s aura on his body but that is explained by the fact that he was imprisoned temporarily. I scanned his body several times and did not find anything to do with the evil cult!"

"Mmm! Men, let him go!" declared the rough voice. Li Wei also felt the pressure on his body disappear. The net was quickly removed, and Li Wei could finally move and raise his head again.

He saw a group of guards, each wearing different gears indicating their classes. In front of him, Li Wei saw a tall and muscular man with a curly moustache. "Tssk, you can leave!" said the man. He was without a doubt the speaker with the rough voice, Mans.

Behind Mans, an older man was riding a white warhorse. He looked like a valiant knight who slowly suffered from the passing of time. "Mans! Please behave yourself. Let me speak to him."

The old man then turned to Li Wei who was standing up and observing his surroundings. All the guards took a few steps back, but two warriors could be seen standing near Mans, ready to protect him.

"Young man, I am sorry for attacking you like that. We thought that you were a member of the evil cult. As you know, they became quite reckless recently and so, we decided to patrol these surroundings. But it seems that you really have nothing to do with them. We apologize for this misunderstanding. Please have this potion!"

The old man then tossed a red bottle at Li Wei. The latter quickly caught it; it was a Grade 1 Health Potion that could recover 50 HP.

'Tsssk! As if that could make up for what I went through. Let me smash your face into the dirt and see how you react!'

"Can I go now?" asked Li Wei. The did not want to stay one more second near these guys who could easily kill him.

"Naturally, I again apologize on behalf of my nephew!" said the old man.

Hearing that, Li Wei did not ask for anything else and left as quickly as possible. He was cursing internally. It was not even his fault if the evil cult was going rampant and he was suffering from the consequences.

Behind him, Mans turned towards the old man. "Why are we letting him go like that? We should have at least brought him back for interrogation!" said Mans.

"Ahh Mans... You will be next Earl, but you are still so naive. This guy really has nothing to do with the evil cult, but it is also weird that he could escape alive. We need to keep an eye on him but doing things without any proof would hurt your reputation. You must keep in mind that your brother is just waiting for a miss step to take the inheritance of your father. I chose to back you up but don't make silly mistakes like that! Even the tiniest thing can be used against you!"

Mans looked at his uncle, "Then what are we supposed to answer to the church? Getting close to the church should be our priority! If they back me up, I am guaranteed to get the title!"

"It is not so simple. We cannot arrest random people like that in this critical time; it will without a doubt hurt your reputation! We will just send an assassin to keep an eye on him for now. If he really turns out to form part of the evil cult, we can then report it to the church."

The old man had a pensive look; "Clovis. You go after him but don't reveal yourself no matter what. If nothing happens within one week, just come back!"

The cloaked man who previously used [Head Crack] quietly nodded. He did not say a word and disappeared quickly in the forest.

"Just be careful with what you do. It is good to look for support from the church but bear in mind that if your reputation is hurt in any way, the church will also abandon you! The most important thing right now is public opinion!" said the old man.

"But that said... We should also investigate that item he mentioned. Send some people to speak with the gnomes so we can get some information!"

...

Li Wei walked away as quickly as possible. He quickly drank the health potion to refill his HP bar in case of emergency. "These guys... I did not even do anything... They could have just asked questions, there was no need to pin me down like that..." angrily said Li Wei to himself.

This incident put him in a bad mood; everything was going so well after he left the evil cult's camp, but he was ambushed as soon as he left the Mirage Forest. But all this led to the same conclusion; he was too weak. If he was strong enough, the evil cult would have never captured him, and those people would have never dared to attack him like that.

He could already be considered as a top player in many aspects but when it came to the locals of Zero, none of the players could compare to them. The NPCs who originate from Zero had years of head start and could easily kill anyone. It was clear that if Li Wei really desired to be able to do anything he wanted and enjoy the game to its fullest, he first needed to attain a certain level of strength.

'At least I am still alive... Let's quickly go to Verdan Town and deliver the ores... That will be one thing less to worry about...'

Li Wei quickly traveled through the Verdan Wood. The woods were quite lively, they housed a lot of beasts ranging from level 10 to level 15. It was a perfect hunting ground for Li Wei. But he could not waste too much time hunting monsters or he would have to spend the night in the forest.

Li Wei ignored most of the monsters and would only fight those level 15 Forest Wolves who were too proud to let him walk through their territory.

By the end of the day, as the sun was setting, Li Wei finally stepped out of the Verdan Woods. In front of him, he saw a small hill on which Verdan Town was built.

The town had a similar design to Algate City but was smaller in size. The large banners on the walls were also different as it was ruled by a different noble.

Quite a few people were making their way to the town. Li Wei could see several players coming out of the woods.

Li Wei quickly climbed the hill and stopped at the gate of the town. After presenting his Identity Crystal and paying 40 silvers as the entry fee of the town, he was finally allowed inside.

"Fiouff, I finally made it... This was so much harder than it needed to be!" exclaimed Li Wei.

He suddenly felt tired as he had finally reached a safe place. "Let's go and look for the Yu Family first. It should not take very long to get rid of those ores!" thought Li Wei as he started to walk towards the main road.