Chapter 33: Second Playthrough Player (1st Update)

Dorin walked toward the temple. Jiang Ye watched his back as he slowly climbed the temple steps, finally standing before the tall, sealed doors.

"Dorin!" the mushroom called out.

Dorin went so far as to reach out his hand, as if wanting to touch the golden lock on the temple door.

The mushroom had a bad feeling about this.

Just then, Dorin's outstretched fingers passed through the golden lock. The lock seemed illusory, impossible to touch.

Yet the lock was real, trapping the temple in a cage, keeping it from ever seeing light again.

Jiang Ye breathed a sigh of relief—at least he wasn't hurt—and said, "This lock is so strange."

The mushroom bravely climbed the steps too, standing beside Dorin, curiously stretching out its mycelium to gently poke the golden lock.

It couldn't touch it.

Just like Dorin, it couldn't make contact.

Dorin explained, "This lock is enchanted. Other than using the key, there's no way to open it."

The mushroom nodded. That made sense.

Dorin stood there, his expression unreadable, staring at the temple in silence for a full ten minutes.

Jiang Ye glanced sideways at him, unable to see Dorin's face, but he was already drowning in sadness, and it was oddly pitiful.

The mushroom thought, Dorin really does love the Chief Deity...

Just as it was spacing out, Dorin looked at it and said, "Remember? I stole your pickaxe earlier."

The mushroom was almost pulled into Dorin's sadness, but hearing him bring up the past, it suddenly... got all puffed up with anger.

The mushroom hopped around a few times, all worked up, saying, "I almost forgot! I'd just bought that pickaxe when you stole it!"

A wicked crow had snatched the pickaxe and flown toward the temple.

"Sorry." Dorin apologized quickly, sounding sincere.

The mushroom thought, oh no, sincerity really gets you every time.

It rubbed its cap with its mycelium, saying, "Forget it, you did give the pickaxe back later."

"You're a kind person," Dorin said.

Caught off guard by the compliment, Jiang Ye felt a bit embarrassed.

Dorin said, "That day I wasn't trying to mess with you—I just wanted to get you to the temple... I felt you were different from the folks in Sun Town. Maybe you'd be willing to help the Chief Deity find the key and open this lock."

To set him free.

"Me?"

The mushroom was startled. Dorin wanted it to set the Chief Deity free.

Dorin looked at it and gave a nod.

The mushroom hesitated, not answering.

Jiang Ye thought, the Chief Deity's situation really is pitiful. He didn't belong here originally—he had his own home. Because of the selfishness of Sun Town's residents, his head was cut off, and he was trapped in this temple forever, yet he still had to keep using his power to protect the people who'd hurt him.

Poor little thing, the mushroom sighed.

But...

The mushroom was worried. Once the seal was broken and the Chief Deity was free, would he get revenge on the people of Sun Town?

There were still some innocent folks in Sun Town, like that sweet girl at the little supermarket who'd once given the mushroom a lollipop.

"Please don't worry." Dorin didn't push the mushroom to agree. He seemed to have already read its worries, saying, "I can swear on my honor that once the Chief Deity is free, he won't take revenge on anyone."

Jiang Ye was taken aback. Really?

He'd heard the Chief Deity loved playing pranks—could someone like that really not want revenge?

Dorin said calmly, "Back when the Chief Deity left his Rose Island, he just happened to pass through Sun Town..."

Sun Town was in the middle of a disaster at the time. The mayor and the residents saw a deity passing by and begged him to stay and protect them. But the Chief Deity couldn't say yes—he had his own duties and his own home; he had to get back to Rose Island.

The Chief Deity refused the mayor's request.

The mayor was desperate, and so were all the residents of Sun Town.

Just as the Chief Deity was about to leave, a bard found the mayor and sweetly suggested a clever way to keep the deity there.

The mushroom looked up, totally hooked. This version of the story was one it had never heard before.

The bard had the mayor round up a few brave warriors to climb the tallest mountain in Sun Town and pull out the hero's sword that was sealed in the cave at the top.

Then he talked them into using the golden hero's sword to cut off the Chief Deity's head.

From then on, the Chief Deity's head was enshrined in the temple, with a magical golden lock placed over it. The Chief Deity lost his head and most of his power, and was forced to stay here.

And because the Chief Deity stayed, Sun Town got nice weather.

The people of Sun Town celebrated bountiful harvests, festivals, and a bright future, unaware that far away, a once-beautiful small city had completely vanished.

Of course, the people of Sun Town also had no idea they had been thoroughly used.

"Used?" the mushroom said in surprise. "Are you saying that bard had a problem?"

Dorin nodded.

The bard was no ordinary person—he was the Chief Deity's enemy. He wanted to defeat the Chief Deity and take his place. He tried every possible method until he finally discovered that atop Sun Town's mountain lay a hero's sword forgotten by the gods—a treasure powerful enough to kill deities.

The bard was equally afraid of the hero's sword's power and dared not pull it out himself, so he simply deceived and manipulated the people of Sun Town into doing it.

The mushroom suddenly understood, saying, "So it was killing with a borrowed knife."

Dorin said calmly, "The Chief Deity knows who his true enemy is, so he won't take revenge on the residents of Sun Town."

"Of course," Dorin added, "the residents of Sun Town are indeed foolish as well."

Dorin looked at the mushroom and asked uncertainly, "Are you willing to help the Chief Deity?"

As Dorin's question hung in the air, the system automatically unfolded before Jiang Ye.

"New log: Find the key and release the Chief Deity."

Jiang Ye glanced at it, thinking, so the system thinks the Chief Deity is pitiful too?

Mushroom nodded solemnly and said, "Alright, I'll go find the key."

"You really agree?" Dorin asked, somewhat incredulous.

Mushroom said, "Do you have any clues about the key?"

Dorin fell silent at the question and shook his head.

Mushroom quipped, "Well, at least it's probably not hidden in Mr. Mayor's wig."

The crow often went on raids in the town, really just looking for the key, turning residents' homes upside down but never turned up any clues.

"Thanks for being willing to help," Dorin said. "Now let's go find you some Metal Slimes."

The key definitely isn't in the temple; it's gotta be somewhere in town. They'd come to the temple for slime oil, but hadn't gotten it yet.

"Follow me," Dorin beckoned to him. "There are lots of Metal Slimes inside."

Mushroom followed, saying, "This forest is huge."

Strange sounds kept coming from the woods, off and on. At first Mushroom was scared, but listening closely...

—Over the hills and far away...

—There's a bunch of little sprites!

—Oh~ oh~ oh~

Mushroom: "...???"

Thanks to the monster guide, Jiang Ye automatically translated the various monsters' languages. The mycelium, unsure, tugged at Mushroom's non-existent ears and asked, "Dorin, are you hearing those little monsters singing?"

Dorin nodded coolly and said, "Bokoblins."

Jiang Ye was stunned: "..." That's kinda ugly.

Rustle, rustle...

The grass up ahead was moving, like something was hiding there.

Mushroom instantly tensed up, held their breath, and listened carefully.

Sure enough, they heard the little monsters chattering.

—Smells so good, so good, do you guys smell something sweet?

—So good, so good, it smells like strawberries!

—Hey, that human's gotta have strawberries on him. Let's mug him!

It turned out to be four Metal Slimes lurking in the shadows, spying on them and gossiping quietly.

Jiang Ye thought, so Metal Slimes are into sweet stuff? They wanna rob me too. If I play dumb, can I just wait for them to come to me?

—Hold on, be careful, let's watch a bit longer.

—Don't worry, that human looks small and puny, like a total pushover.

—Yeah, let's surround him. A righteous four-on-one!

—Wait, he's not alone. Look at the guy next to him—he looks super familiar!

Jiang Ye glanced sideways at Dorin.

Then...

—Oh my god!

—Run for it!

—Save ourselves! Run!

—Don't abandon me!

The four Metal Slimes suddenly screamed and bolted...

They walked through the forest all afternoon, the light getting dimmer and dimmer, without catching a single Metal Slime. Those Metal Slimes would get spooked from 500 meters away and scream as they ran for their lives.

Mushroom was totally wiped out, leaning against a tree, saying, "They ran off again."

Dorin's mood was dark and heavy as he said, "Rest here. I'll go ahead and catch them."

Mushroom waved a hand and said, "Don't go; they're already gone."

Jiang Ye finally figured out the problem—those little monsters were scared of Dorin, probably because his presence was too intense.

A few times, the Metal Slimes were almost drawn in by the sweet smell from Mushroom's bag, but they all bolted halfway, scared off by Dorin.

"The problem is you," Mushroom said with certainty. "Let's head back today. I'll come alone again tomorrow."

Dorin looked at him and said, "You, alone?"

Mushroom nodded.

Dorin: "..."

Dorin stayed silent, not like a crow at all, but like a big dog whose owner had ditched him.

After dark, they still hadn't caught a single Metal Slime, so the two left the temple woods.

Dorin walked Jiang Ye to the town gate and said, "Go back and rest."

Mushroom looked at him oddly and asked, "What about you?"

Dorin said, "I've got other stuff to do." Then he turned and left, off to who knows where.

Mushroom waved their mycelium goodbye and went through the town gate alone.

The town was quiet again that night. Mushroom rode their bike, once again thinking they really needed to get a light for it—it was way too dark to see the road.

In the distance, tree shadows swayed. As Mushroom turned a corner on the bike, they suddenly noticed one tree swaying at a different rhythm than the ones around it.

Jiang Ye jolted and took a closer look—it wasn't a tree at all, but a person stumbling toward them.

"Lao Li?" Mushroom greeted him, "You scared me; I thought I'd run into a zombie this late at night."

Leyi Li's face was pale, and his wine-red cape flapped nonstop in the night wind, making him look genuinely creepy.

Leyi Li said, "Hey, Mushroom."

Mushroom remembered how Leyi Li had been ignoring him all day, and said, "Are you okay?"

"Not bad," Leyi Li said. "I went to the temple to hunt Metal Slimes, got ambushed, blacked out, and woke up in the clinic. Just got out."

So Leyi Li had just left the clinic when he ran into Mushroom—no wonder he looked so rough.

"Ambushed by Metal Slimes?" Mushroom asked. He wished he'd get ambushed too, but those Metal Slimes always ran away the moment they saw them.

Leyi Li nodded and said, "Yeah, I didn't think Metal Slimes would be this tough—way stronger than the small fry in the mines. They swarmed me and bit one of my arms clean off."

What?!

Mushroom was stunned. Wait, you said what got bitten off?

As he spoke, Leyi Li lifted his wine-red cape, raised his left arm—and in his left hand, he was holding a severed arm, waving it in front of Mushroom.

Mushroom: "..." Damn, is this considered gore?

"Y-y-your arm..." Mushroom stammered, "What the hell are you gonna do?"

Leyi Li shrugged like it was no big deal and said, "The doc told me to take the arm with me, said don't lose it, and it'll grow back by tomorrow morning."

Mushroom: "..." No way, seriously?

Leyi Li said irritably, "I was knocked out in the clinic all day and didn't get a single drop of Metal Slime oil. Didn't even kill one monster today. I'm too scared to check the leaderboard—am I already way behind that guy named I Love Farming?"

Mushroom hadn't checked the leaderboard again either, so he said, "You should head back and get some rest."

Leyi Li said, "Alright, I'm heading out."

"Bye." His mycelium swayed.

Leyi Li kept walking, and Mushroom silently watched his back, thinking, so Metal Slimes really are that vicious...

Just then, a few steps ahead, Leyi Li suddenly spun around and shouted, "Damn it, stop following me! Don't you understand English?"

Mushroom flinched, his stalk stiff with fear, and stammered, "I'm not following you—I'm going that way."

"Sorry, sorry," Leyi Li said. "You got it wrong—I wasn't talking about you. I meant him."

"Who?" Mushroom glanced where Leyi Li was pointing—there was no one there. Could it be a ghost?

Leyi Li said, "It's because my SAN value's been too low lately. After dark, I keep seeing weird stuff following me. It's fine, don't worry about me—I'm getting used to it."

Mushroom: "..." He's actually seeing ghosts.

Jiang Ye asked cautiously, "What do you see?"

Leyi Li hesitated, waved his hand, and said, "Forget it, never mind. I don't wanna scare you. I'm heading out."

Mushroom watched his figure recede into the distance, thinking, that's even scarier.

Jiang Ye didn't dare stick around. He pedaled his bike back to the little inn at full speed, shut the door, and crawled into the tent cat bed.

Mushroom reassured himself: My SAN value is so high, there's no way I'll see ghosts.

"02:00"

At two in the morning, Mushroom fell asleep.

Don't run!

Don't run!

In his dream, someone was shouting—and it was Jiang Ye himself.

Jiang Ye opened his eyes and found himself pedaling his own bike. Most importantly, he was pedaling with his legs, not his two thin fungal threads.

So this had to be a dream—Jiang Ye was very familiar with this routine.

He pedaled his bike at full speed, looked ahead, and realized he was chasing Metal Slimes in the dream.

One Metal Slime darted off fast, and even pedaling couldn't keep up. Then it did a Z-shaped zigzag, and Jiang Ye completely lost sight of it, letting it get away.

Huff, huff, huff...

Jiang Ye was exhausted, panting hard, and stopped the bike—he needed a break.

"Aha!"

Jiang Ye dropped the bike, clapped his hands excitedly, and pulled out paper and a pen to start scribbling.

As he wrote, he shouted in his mind: My bike...

"Congratulations! You've obtained the Metal Slime Sticky Board blueprint!"

"Blueprint: Metal Slime Sticky Board"

"Required materials: Strawberry (1), Yogurt (1), Powdered sugar (1), Milk (1), Egg (1), Crushed peanuts (1), Chocolate sauce (1), Chewing gum (1)"

And then... morning came.

"Spring, Day 15, Saturday"

"6:00"

Mushroom sat up, immediately pulled the Metal Slime Sticky Board blueprint out of his item slot, and said in surprise, "Can something like this actually catch Metal Slimes?"

Aside from the chewing gum, the materials almost made it seem like he was making a dessert.

Mushroom was curious—so is the Metal Slime Sticky Board the same principle as a roach sticky trap or a mosquito sticky trap?

Let's go try it out today.

"Open Grandpa's cookie tin?"

Yes.

"Congratulations! You've obtained Monster Perfume x1"

"A scent that little monsters love—they'll be drawn to you! Increases the chance of encountering monsters."

Mushroom was thrilled—this looks super useful!

The hyphae stuffed the perfume into the mailbag, then turned on the television.

Knock, knock!

Someone was knocking at the door.

Mushroom looked toward the door—was it Dorin?

"Just a moment." Mushroom hopped over to the door with a series of soft thuds and reached out to open it.

The young man standing outside smiled at him and said, "Hello, sorry to drop by unannounced."

Jiang Ye looked at him—the young man seemed a bit familiar. Then it hit him: this was the regular from the bar next door, the poet who always sat in the corner with a harp, looking very classy and refined.

"And who might you be?" Mushroom asked curiously.

The young man said, "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My in-game name is I Love Farming."

"Wait, it's you?!" Mushroom was shocked—the server's legendary number-one Big Shot, the mysterious figure who never showed up on the social feeds.

Jiang Ye couldn't help but study the young man more closely.

He had seen I Love Farming at the bar before and figured he was just a town NPC.

I Love Farming was a handsome young man with an elegant, church-inspired shirt, long chestnut hair tied back with a black bow, carrying himself with effortless confidence.

Mushroom thought, no wonder he's the Big Shot.

But why would the Big Shot come to see me?

Mushroom asked curiously, "Hi, I'm Mushroom Soup. Can I help you with something?"

I Love Farming smiled and said, "I just wanted to be friends with you."

Making friends with a Big Shot—that sounded like a great opportunity.

But Mushroom had a feeling things weren't that simple.

I Love Farming sized up Mushroom, tilting his head and saying, "I can tell right away you're not your average person."

He pulled something out of his inventory and handed it to Mushroom, saying, "This is for you. You probably need it, right? Consider it a little gesture of goodwill."

"Slime Oil X5"

Mushroom took a look—wow, that's generous—five slime oils, just like that.

Everyone was scrambling to get slime oil to make automatic sprinklers, but so far, no one had managed to get any. The social feeds were full of complaints—Metal Slimes either escaped or bit off someone's arm. Within a day, the town clinic was completely full.

"I can't accept this." Mushroom waved his hand and shook his head, saying, "It's too valuable."

Earlier, Jiang Ye had accepted the sapphire from Dorin, but that was because he'd saved Dorin—it was a fair trade. But now, they were meeting for the first time, had never even spoken before, and I Love Farming was offering such a valuable gift.

"Don't you need them?" I Love Farming said.

Mushroom said, "I can get them myself."

Jiang Ye had confidence in himself.

"You really are an interesting person." I Love Farming put the five slime oils back into his inventory and said, "Looks like my gift doesn't interest you."

"No, no, that's not what I meant." Mushroom explained.

"But it's fine." I Love Farming smiled and said, "As long as you're willing to team up with me, I promise you won't regret it."

Mushroom didn't quite get it—what did teaming up even mean?

During Spring Day, the newbie protection period, players could only meet within the town, and there was no team-up feature at all.

"After all..." I Love Farming lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "I'm on my second playthrough."