MMORPG: Crowd Control

"Emotions of the Past?" Lei Zhen muttered in confusion.

Tang Qiaolian was equally confused since this was the first time she had heard of a dungeon having another method of completion other than slaying the boss.

As the two remained in a daze, Arachne began a monologue tone. And for convenience, the two of them had the option to skip the monologue.

It doesn't take a genius to know that Tang Qiaolian chose to skip the monologue right away. Unlike Lei Zhen who was a curious person, she was uninterested in the storyline and would prefer to see what kind of rewards they would receive.

"Why would you skip her monologue?" Lei Zhen asked.

"Look at her now, she seems to be on the verge of crying again." He pointed at Arachne, who looked like a rejected woman.

"Well, I hold no responsibility for this. I'm just not the type to stand here and listen to her sad sobbing story. It's not like listening to her would change the past." Tang Qiaolian shrugged her shoulders.

"Such cruelty…" Arachne suddenly intervened. "It's just the same as Goddess Athena that transformed me because she couldn't accept someone was better than her in weaving."

Before Lei Zhen could comprehend her meaning, the two of them were soon transported outside. As for the original entrance to the dungeon, it had vanished.

"Huh? What about the rewards?" Tang Qiaolian glanced around and held a dumbfounded look. She did not just work that hard for nothing in the end.

That was unacceptable, especially when she had to learn some weaving arts and got her artwork stolen by Arachne as well.

"You don't have to look so frantic, Qiaolian. Apparently, we received a buff from the [Emotions of the Past]." Lei Zhen said, clicking on the buff to read the information.

[Buff: Emotions of the Past

Rank: Unique

Description: Arachne had been in distress for centuries and was always treated as a monster thanks to the punishment from Goddess Athena. Those who entered her domain where she was weaving in peace and attacked her had caused even more distress. Every day, she prayed for a kind soul that would weave her artwork and be free from the shackle.

Activation: Players can activate [Emotions of the Past] in which all of their attributes are increased by 10 percent of the stats of the player.

Cooldown: 1 Hour]

"So the Emotions of the Past is a buffing type that can be kept as a trump card in tight situations." Lei Zhen muttered.

"Holy smokes, this is a unique rank buffing type??!" While Lei Zhen acted calm and collected, Tang Qiaolian was exhilarated when she finished reading the buff.

"You are really my lucky star, Lei Zhen." She added, hugging him extremely tightly.

"Okay, okay, you can stop hugging me now. You are choking me." Lei Zhen struggled to pull free from her intense hug.

Ding!

[You have received 30 damage from the strangulation!]

'This is some unfair mechanic…' Lei Zhen was utterly speechless to receive damage from his own teammate. He didn't even receive damage in the Arachne Dungeon, but somehow receives damage now.

Sometime later, the two of them decided to head back to the Town of Wales.

After all, Lei Zhen had an unusual condition in which he would receive next to zero experience points. Therefore, it would be pointless to continue to grind more dungeons.

Until they can find the source of his deficiency in obtaining little experience points, it would be hard for Lei Zhen to proceed further in Magnolia. And in the worst-case scenario, he might have to delete his character and remake a new one to start afresh.

"Alright, tell me what happened to you from start to finish. We'll need to investigate thoroughly, so any small details, no matter how minimal it is, you must tell me everything." Tang Qiaolian began to ask once they arrived in his room at the inn.

Given the privacy system of Magnolia, no eavesdropping is possible when they are in a private room.

In fact, if someone tried to eavesdrop on others, then they would instantly be struck by lightning and receive a penalty buff. In addition to that, they also have to pay a fee to the guards or they'll be placed in prison.

A prison is a special type of place since they don't operate the game time system. Instead, they follow the real-world timestamp, meaning, one day in the real world is equal to two days in the game.

This essentially means the player would lose a lot of valuable time in gaming and they must be online for the timer to go down. Henceforth, any players that had to go to prison would sometimes go insane.

Times slowly passed by, and as the two of them continued to converse to try to pinpoint Lei Zhen's problem, the only explanation lies in his first transportation: Lux Forest.

"So you're telling me that when you first created your character, you were directly transported to a high-level area in the Lux Forest?" Tang Qiaolian held a disbelief expression on her face.

She couldn't believe that was a possibility in Magnolia because there had not been a single error since the game had launched to the public.

If it weren't for the fact that it was Lei Zhen telling her this story, then she would have thought someone else was pranking her.

"I know it's hard to believe, but that indeed happened to me. Even Shan Lin knew about this matter." Lei Zhen sighed and showed a helpless expression. Magnolia was his first time gaming and it couldn't have gone any worse.

"W-Wait a minute, you told this to Shan Lin as well?"

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" Lei Zhen raised an eyebrow. Shan Lin was his best friend and knew her as well.

"Not just a problem. It's a disaster!" Tang Qiaolian shouted and stood up. Her face now showed a dreadful look as she began to walk around in a circle.