That night at Suzhou was particularly hazy. Pink lights peeked out of the foot baths in the streets, revealing the legs inside, nearby hawkers doing business as usual. The stalls they set up were called “hawker stalls”. You could find anything there, from an intestine to a literal piece of shit, just like in the movie “The God of Cookery”.

Right now, three youngsters were sitting around a table in front of the hawker stall and chatting with one another loudly. You guessed right, they were none other than Du Thirteen, Gui Guzi and me. Our table was filled with a couple of dishes and a ton of beer bottles. It was one of the highest forms of enjoyment to eat with your friends during such a bustling summer night.

“The way boss killed Shadow Maple today was truly awesome!” Gui Guzi gulped down a bottle of beer before wiping his mouth. He smiled. “Over 1400 damage in one hit! I bet that kid is feeling doozy right now…”

Du Thirteen asked, “Lu Chen, what is that skill? Why is it so powerful?”

I put down my chopsticks and smiled. “It’s called Pardon. The first hit is always a miss, as you may have guessed from its name. The second hit however, is boosted and ignores a large portion of the target’s defense.”

“Haha, no wonder… come, let’s drink one for Pardon!” Gui Guzi laughed and raised his cup.

We raised our own cups and drank.

I wiped the beer off my mouth and smiled. “Bloody Mercenaries are off to a good start! It was our first day in business, and we’ve already earned 16 gold, the equivalent of at least 1000 RMB. Our current income is almost at the same level as the gold collars’, haha!”

Gui Guzi asked with a smile. “Boss, Brother B and I worked like farm animals, and all we got is 5 gold. How on earth did you earn 16 gold by yourself?”

I smiled. “What do you do when a silly brunette shows up on your footsteps?”

Du Thirteen’s eyes lit up. “You’re talking about Wind Fantasy, Beauty Lin Yixin, right?”

“Yep.”

“Haha, well done, well done…” Du Thirteen laughed loudly before turning serious all of a sudden. “Lu Chen, do you know that Lin Yixin has a new nickname at Floating Ice City?”

“What is it?” I asked confusedly.

“Fruit Knife Goddess…” Du Thirteen laughed.

“What the hell is that…”

“I don’t know.” Du Thirteen paused for a moment before continuing. “But get this: there are a ton of Lin Yixin’s screenshots on the forums, and most of the PvP ones show her taking opponent’s life with a dagger. I don’t know what skill that is, but she’s shatteringly beautiful and she fools around with a dagger. That’s why she’s called the ‘Fruit Knife Goddess’.”

Du Thirteen smiled with a dreamy look on his face. “Anyone who manages to win Lin Yixin’s love will have a perfect life. At the very least, I wouldn’t give her away even if someone offered to make me an emperor…”

I couldn’t help but snort at him. “Give it up, brother. Lin Yixin is far more complicated than you imagine.”

“What do you mean?” Du Thirteen looked a bit confused.

I put down my chopsticks again before explaining, “One, after Lin Yixin and I fought each other and dropped a ton of levels, she realized that she didn’t want an enemy like me and asked to meet me offline. Why do you think she thinks she can resolve our dispute peacefully if we met offline? It’s because she’s incredibly confident in her own beauty.”

I took a pause before continuing. “Two, Lin Yixin supposedly hired me to guard her while she gathered Dreaming Grass at Greenstone Mountain Valley. However, when we got there the Mad Dragon guild ‘just happened’ to be fighting a boss at that location. Lin Yixin clearly used me to get what she wants. She’s very smart, and she’s definitely not just the pretty face you imagine her to be.”

“Fuck…”

Du Thirteen also put down his chopsticks and smiled. “I guess our campus belle is truly extraordinary!”

I nodded. “That she is.”

Suddenly, Du Thirteen shot me a lecherous look and said, “Why don’t you chase her, Lu Chen?”

“What?” I was stunned. “Fuck, quit joking, will you? She’s way out of my league, and… ahem. I’m sure we share the same thoughts about myself…”

“Heh, you have to chase her, Lu Chen!” Du Thirteen clenched his fists together and pitched dramatically. “Lin Yixin is one of the prettiest, if not the prettiest girl in Floating Ice City. If you control her, you control all the beauties in Floating Ice City. If you control the beauties in Floating Ice City, you control all the women in Floating Ice City. If you control the women in Floating Ice City, you control all the men in Floating Ice City. If you control the men, you control the entire internet. If you control the internet, you…”

“Gulp!”

Du Thirteen’s rambling came to a sudden stop. It looked like he realized that his rant would go off the rails into a dangerous territory if he didn’t stop.

He then looked at me and smiled again. “Anyway, just say it man. Do you like Lin Yixin or not?”

If only I could hit his mute point. Who wouldn’t like a pure and beautiful girl like her? I couldn’t help but smile when I recalled how cute she looked when I swindled 15 gold off her hands.

“See that? You see that lecherous smile?” Du Thirteen immediately pointed at me as if he caught me red-handed. “You smile like that, and you say you’re not interested in Lin Yixin?”

My honor and dignity were at stake, so I immediately refuted his accusation. “How dare you call my warm, spring-like smile lecherous! If you keep talking nonsense… I’ll have you foot tonight’s bill!”

Du Thirteen immediately stopped talking. I was the one who was keeping him and Gui Guzi fed.

The dinner lasted until it was past 10 pm. Full and satisfied, we took a small break after we returned to our house before getting back into the game in high spirits.

Swoosh!

When I entered Heavenblessed, I appeared inside an inn at Floating Ice City.

Today’s goal is very important. I need to catch a pet!

Heavenblessed ruled that only Level 30 players and above could own pets, and pets were very important in an MMO.

Any common monsters could be captured as a pet, but each had different growth potential.

Tamer was a class that was specialized in capturing pets. They could use Sealing Cards to capture and tame them. Of course, other classes could use Sealing Cards to capture pets as well, but their success rate was only 20% that of Tamers. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Tamer existed only because of pets. In a sense, it shouldn’t even be counted among the ten main combat classes.

I didn’t know anyone who was a tamer. Even if I did, there was no way they would capture a pet for me. Humans were naturally selfish, so there was no way a tamer would give up with a top-rate pet they captured to someone else. In this case, I had no one but myself to rely on!

I stepped out of the hotel and went straight to the magic shop. I planned to buy a ton of Sealing Cards!

That’s right, Sealing Cards were mandatory if one desired to capture a pet. After I entered the shop, a beautiful girl wearing a maid outfit walked up to me and smiled. “Young adventurer, what is it that you need?”

I nodded at her and replied, “Sealing Cards, please!”

“Okay. How many Sealing Cards do you need? Each one costs 20 silver!”

“Fuck, it’s that expensive!?”

My eyes widened, but there was nothing I could do except pay. I spent 5 gold and bought 25 Sealing Cards in total.

When I walked out of the magic shop and returned to the streets, I heard a Level 30 tamer shouting, “I just caught a Level 1 Green Praying Mantis with a base number of 17. 3-star Attack, 2-star Agility! Don’t miss out on this super pet! If you’re Level 30, come immediately and claim your precious pet! The price is only 50 gold!”

I was absolutely stunned by the price. 50 gold? Is he selling his pet or his dad? How ridiculously expensive...

There were three rules to follow when taming pets. Firstly, the pet had to be a Level 1 mob. Secondly, the player had to use a Sealing Card. Thirdly, the player had to be Level 30 or above!

Out in the wild, the chance for Level 1 versions of local monsters to spawn was incredibly low. These monsters could then be captured, although the success rate was pitiful to say the least. If not for these two factors, that tamer wouldn’t be asking for 50 gold for such a trash mob.

While I was grinding at Wildfire Plains, I actually ran into a Level 1 Greedy Wolf before. Unfortunately, my level was lower than 30 and I had no Sealing Cards on me.

Instead of rushing off to catch a pet right away, I decided to check their stats first. Tamer had 5 pet slots, but other classes only had one. Thus, I couldn’t treat this matter lightly.

I opened the official website and looked for the Petopia. The stats of all the monsters at Floating Ice City entered my view.

Green Praying Mantis

Attack ★★★☆

Defense ★★★

HP ★★★☆

Agility ★★

Slime

Attack ★★

Defense ★★★

HP ★★★★☆

Agility ★☆

Wildfire Greedy Wolf

Attack ★★★★

Defense ★★☆

HP ★★★★☆

Agility ★★★☆

Sabertooth Tiger

Attack ★★★★

Defense ★★★

HP ★★★☆

Agility ★★★★

Wasp

Attack ★★★★☆

Defense ★★★☆

HP ★★★☆

Agility ★★★★☆

Green Praying Mantis was an offensive-type pet, but it was very slow. Slime was your standard tank with 4.5-star HP. Wildfire Greedy Wolf and Sabertooth Tiger were pretty good, but the pet that really caught my eye was the Wasp. It had 4.5 stars in both Attack and Agility. Its Defense and HP weren’t that bad either. It was the best choice for both PvP and PvE in the early game!

Alright, the Wasp it is. It’ll be fun to fly everywhere with a wasp and sting countless baddies to death!

I checked the official data for a bit and discovered that Wasps were found at the south side of Floating Ice City. Their spawn point was close to Greenstone Mountain Valley, and their level ranged between 35 and 40. Their high level meant that they were out of reach of most casual players, and even players on the Heavenly Ranking might find it beyond their ability to farm. One just needed to look at its Attack star rating to know just how deadly it was!

Fortunately for me, I had just obtained the Soul Turmoil Armor and the Beast-faced Turmoil Helmet. This definitely wasn’t an impossible challenge with my new, improved Defense!

I stocked up on potions and bought another 25 Sealing Cards. Then, I took off to capture my first pet!