Indeed, there were people keeping an eye on Xiao Hua. Especially today, after he equipped the Adventurer Armor, a pair of eyes narrowed as he walked down the street. Although the glow effect of the equipment was turned off, different equipment had distinct appearances, allowing experienced players to judge the value of an item based on its look.
However, Xiao Hua was cautious and did not give these people any opportunity to act. He immediately went into stealth upon leaving the city, disappearing from sight.
"I wonder how other classes besides rogues and thieves can survive in Blackmist City." While moving swiftly in stealth, Xiao Hua mused to himself. He noticed that as he left the city, there were clearly people who were ready to make a move.
As long as he wasn’t followed right after leaving the city, once he reached the vast wilderness, he wasn’t too worried about someone coming to bother him. The wilderness around Blackmist City was vast, with countless forks in the road, making it nearly impossible to track someone down.
"Wow, this guy has Master-level Stealth?" Shortly after Xiao Hua left Blackmist City, a mage and an assassin emerged from a corner near the city gate. The mage, standing on a faint blue halo—the True Sight ability—was surprised as he looked at the empty wilderness ahead.
"Pity, the thief’s gear looks pretty decent!" The assassin lamented beside him, showing no particular surprise at Xiao Hua’s Master-level Stealth.
Xiao Hua was unaware that he had narrowly escaped an ambush at the gate. Had it not been for his Master-level Stealth, he would have likely fallen victim to an ambush. Previously, a player who came to investigate Blackmist City’s secrets never made it past the city gates and was repeatedly attacked, causing him to lose levels until he had to delete his character.
Typically, veteran players in Blackmist City wouldn’t repeatedly attack new players because only the first or second kill would yield valuable loot. Subsequent kills would mostly drop potions. Besides, most new players arriving here had some strength, and making enemies wasn’t wise. Fighting to the death could be costly for both sides.
However, that particular player who came to investigate Blackmist City was too high-profile on the forums, leading to a unified response from the city’s players, preventing him from ever leaving the city gates.
Having escaped that fate, Xiao Hua returned to the goblin spawning area. With no Black Stone Coins left in his inventory, he could now pick them up again. Once collected, they automatically disappeared from his backpack, making the quest “Hazar’s Commission” quite convenient.
Moving between monster grinding and resupplying, another three days passed in the blink of an eye. Today marked the eighth day since Xiao Hua arrived in Blackmist City. Despite the repetitive routine, Xiao Hua remained patient. His patience seemed to have grown over these days.
In the darkness outside Blackmist City, Xiao Hua fought goblins under the fire-red weapon trails. As the night gradually faded, a ray of sunlight appeared on the horizon. At six in the morning, a light mist covered the surroundings. Xiao Hua continued battling goblins in the mist, but a system prompt interrupted his focus.
**System Prompt:** Tonight at 6 PM, Black Mist Weather will arrive. Players outside Blackmist City, please return to the city for safety!
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
"What is Black Mist Weather?" Xiao Hua was startled. Since the system issued a warning, he thought it best to be cautious.
Although the Black Mist Weather was scheduled to start at 6 PM, it was currently 6 AM. It would only take two hours to return to Blackmist City, so Xiao Hua, despite his caution, didn’t want to waste time waiting in the city too early.
Continuing to grind until noon, Xiao Hua decided it was time to head back. He stopped, summoned his land bird, and rode towards Blackmist City. Returning now would give him four hours to prepare, leaving plenty of time for any unforeseen events.
On his mount, Xiao Hua, feeling bored, began to speculate about the Black Mist Weather and why the system prompted players to return to the city for safety.
Could the Black Mist Weather be like acid rain in real life, causing harm to players?
This thought crossed his mind, and he believed it was possible but doubted it would be that simple. If the Black Mist was similar to acid rain, there would likely be several negative effects involved. Considering this, Xiao Hua became worried. He should have returned to the city earlier. Who knew if hiding in a sealed room was necessary? In his memory, there were only a handful of sealed rooms in Blackmist City!
"Hopefully, there are still spots available!" Although worried, Xiao Hua wasn’t too late. Given the number of players he usually saw in Blackmist City, plus those who left to take on bounty quests, it was unlikely that all spaces would be filled so quickly. Knowing the maximum speed limit in the game, he settled down on his mount and headed back to Blackmist City.
Breaking his usual habit, Xiao Hua rode directly to where he could see Blackmist City before dismounting and going into stealth. He arrived in Blackmist City over ten minutes earlier than expected!
Rushing into Blackmist City, Xiao Hua saw no players on the streets, and even the NPCs seemed to have vanished. Realizing he might have guessed correctly, he hurried to find a house with available space.
There were roughly ten houses with doors he remembered, and he ran towards the nearest pharmacy. However, he soon saw several players rushing in the opposite direction, heading towards the armor shop. Seeing this, Xiao Hua felt a sense of unease. Could it be that even at this hour, the NPC houses were already full?
Arriving at the pharmacy, he found the door tightly closed. Trying to push it open, he received a system prompt: This room is full. Please seek shelter elsewhere!
"Darn!" Xiao Hua cursed. In normal circumstances, city guards would handle crowd control, but the system gave an unusual prompt. Even a novice would realize that the Black Mist required taking shelter indoors.
With no choice, Xiao Hua turned to search for other shelters. Within the next hour, he searched all the possible hiding spots in Blackmist City, but found no empty houses. However, he wasn’t alone. Several other players unable to find shelter stood dejectedly on the streets.
"Bro, what’s this Black Mist Weather all about?" Xiao Hua approached an assassin among the stranded players, hoping to understand the situation and find a way to cope.
"Huh, you’re new here, aren’t you?"
"Ha ha, I got here a few days ago."
"Heh, you’re really unlucky! Black Mist Weather is unique to the Blackmist City region, supposedly the origin of the city’s name. Anyway, this weather causes monsters to go berserk, with tripled stats, making them incredibly dangerous!" The assassin gritted his teeth as he spoke.
"Just that?"
"No, of course not! When the Black Mist arrives at night, monsters start attacking the city. That’s why Blackmist City is in ruins. The only way to avoid it is to hide in a house and pray it doesn’t collapse under the monsters’ onslaught, otherwise, you’re doomed!" The assassin sighed.
"So, it’s a monster siege, with tripled stats? Incredible."
"Since it’s a monster siege, could we hide in the wilderness? Surely there must be a spot without monsters?"
"It’s not feasible. I tried that last time and got killed. When the Black Mist comes, monsters spawn everywhere, and their aggro range increases significantly. You can hardly deal with a single monster alone. I was surrounded and died quickly."
"How about we go to the underground arena and plead with Shadow and Mad Butcher to let us in?"
"Would they agree? Last time, they refused us."
"I remember Shadow’s reason for refusing us was that it was our first time experiencing the Black Mist Weather. This time, it’s not our first time, so maybe he’ll let us in for shelter!"
"Alright, let’s go and see. It’s better than waiting to die here!"