Martial Online.



"Yawn." A sleepy-faced player stepped out of a room and closed the door behind him. 

He finished taking a nap in one of Tonshen Village's inn rooms.

Last night, he did the night shift at work, and when he returned home, he wanted to check the ongoings of Martial Online. 

Unfortunately, he ended up being bossed around by Jaeger, and after several hours, he was finally done.

Since he was too tired to log off, he found an empty inn room and fell asleep there.

Thud—he suddenly stopped walking and looked around the hallway. 

He stroked his ear, thinking he heard something. 

However, it turned out to be nothing, as he didn't hear anything after that.

He let out a yawn and left the inn to see what Death Blade was up to.

In room 223, the window was wide open, with curtains fluttering against the window.

The room was empty, with messy beds and bedsheets on the floor. 

Broken pieces of flower vases were strewn about, and shelves were tipped over.

A broken mirror lay on its side in a corner of the room.

Then, hands appeared on the window sill. 

The hands pulled up a person with hair as black as night and eyes as dark as the bottom of the ocean.

Ambrose landed safely on the floor and scanned the room quickly. He saw a messy, empty room with a closed door. 

It looked like he was safe, but he still didn't relax. He was now in the heart of the enemy's territory.

'This place is safe enough.' He sat cross-legged on the bed and closed his eyes.

He took a deep breath. "Iiiiin... Ooouuuut."

The world froze.

An azure-blue figure stepped out of Ambrose's body and looked around with great interest but also hesitation as it could feel the main body's worries about their safety.

Thus, the soul projection acted very carefully, even though no one could see it.

'Go find the bar, the location of all the alcohol, and then the whereabouts of all Death Blade members.'

The azure-blue figure nodded and flew out of the room to do the tasks Ambrose gave.

'This makes things much easier.' Ambrose thought. 'I still have the matchsticks which I took from the farmhouse. With those and bunch of alcohol, I can create a lot mayhem.'

During the state of absolute silence and calmness, Ambrose continued breathing steadily.

It was the only thing he could do in this frozen world. It gave him a sense of tranquility.

'Meditating made me open the First Gate of the Inner Power; perhaps if I meditate more, I can open the second as well?' 

He still had a hard time understanding what the gates of the Inner Power were about, but he had a hunch that meditating was the key.

He tried meditating and liked the feeling of peacefulness. 

All the stress and worries disappeared. 

He stopped caring about the potential death right behind those doors and felt relaxed.

That sensation overlapped with all of his emotions.

Then, some time later, the azure-blue figure flew through the wall and entered Ambrose's body. 

It shared everything it found out with him.

'Hmm, I see. They moved the alcohol to the Village Chief's house.' 

Ambrose saw the world around him move again. 

'They have all gathered around a bonfire, drinking, partying, and eating food found in the food storage. They are sure having fun; too bad I will put an end to that.'

He stood up and cracked his knuckles gently. 

According to his soul, there wasn't anyone near the inn. 

The darkness of the night would also give him the necessary cover to reach the Village Chief's house without being noticed.

Ambrose then walked to the window and leaped down. He nimbly landed safely on the ground without losing a single ounce of health.

The crimson glow and flying stars made the sight beautiful. 

It was a perfect night to have fun with friends. 

That's what Death Blade was doing. The bonfire sent pillars of smoke all the way to the crimson sky.

However, the bonfire was burning the former houses of the villagers. 

The memories of the villagers faded away alongside the ash and fire. 

An old philanthropist once said—a person would only be truly dead when they were forgotten.

Around the bonfire, Jock and Miguel drank alcohol down their throats while singing with hoarse voices. 

A tasty-looking piece of meat was roasted on a spit over the fire, and when it was ready, they ate it with their bare hands.

In reality, they couldn't hang around somewhere alone with their friends as they had duties—school and some work. 

They couldn't just disappear, party around a bonfire, and eat animal meat.

However, in Martial Online, they could do that. 

Whenever they were free, they could simply put a VR headset around their heads and enter this magical world. 

They didn't have to leave their homes to make that dream a reality!

Jaeger smiled while biting his teeth into juicy meat. 

The flavors poured into his mouth, giving him a very pleasurable experience. 

He then started munching on the fat meat while using his free hand to pour himself a drink.

The best part of eating in Martial Online was that it was impossible to gain weight. 

The food tasted amazing, and they could eat as much as they wanted without getting full. 

However, whenever they logged off, they would be starving as they neglected their real-life bodies.

"Ugh..." Jock stumbled to the side in a drunken stupor. 

He picked up a bottle of rum, but it was empty. 

There was only a little bit at the bottom. 

"Agh, Morris, bring more!"

"Ugh, why me?" Morris asked while getting kissed by his drunken girlfriend.

"You are... closest!" Jock shouted and fell to the ground. 

He was so drunk that he couldn't stand straight. 

All the nearby members laughed at him while spilling their drinks.

"Argh, wait a little, babe!" Morris moved his girlfriend's face away and stumbled inside the house. 

They had piled up a ton of alcohol in the middle of the room, but most of it was already empty. 

However, there was supposed to be one box left.

"Ugh, where is it?" He looked around, but couldn't find the box anymore. He frowned and shouted. "Jock, where is the... cough... alcohol!"

"There... it's there!" Jock shouted from the ground while trying to wave his hand to point in the right direction.

"It's... not... cough, here!" Morris burped and shook his head. "Not here!"

"What... Bring me it!" Jock shouted, completely ignoring Morris words.

"It's not here!" Morris shouted and stumbled back outside. 

He looked at Jock and shook his head left and right. "Did we drink it all?"

"No way, there was so much!" Jock shook his head in rejection. "Go check the bar... There has to be more!"

"I ain't going there!" Morris sat next to his girlfriend, laid down, and put his head on her lap. "You... go!"

"I am... cough... second-in-command; I command you to get more!" Jock shouted, but then he became too tired to lift his head anymore. 

Instead, he moved to his side and put his hands below his head as if he were about to start sleeping while everyone partied around him.

However, with his misty gaze, he noticed smoke coming from the top floor of the house.

"Hmm?" He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his sight. He then opened his eyes again and saw the walls of the second floor burning. They were on fire!

"F-f-fire!" Jock shouted, but since everyone was partying too loud, no one heard him.

He then shouted even louder. "SHUT UP ALL, THERE IS FIREEE!"

"Huh?" Jaeger tore his gaze away from his drink and turned to the shouting Jock.

Everyone thought he had lost it, but then everyone saw smoke drift out of the house.

They all rose to stand and walked to the house.

They saw the second floor burning with scarlet-red flames!

"G-get the buckets; we have to kill the fire before it destroys the whole building!" Jaeger shouted. This was the only building he did not want to lose.

However, because everyone was drunk, they were sluggish and slow. Not even Jaeger realized something very important.

Their spawn spots were on the second floor.