Sword Among Us

“How did my Affinity and Comprehension become so high? Was it really a dream? Have I lived three years in a dream?”

In the morning, Chen Kaixin joined the sea of students walking to their morning lectures with his books in his arms and a spicy soup dumpling in his mouth. While he walked, he thought about the strange matter of his Affinity (AFF) and Comprehension (CPH) increasing.

When he entered the game three years ago, he remembered very clearly that his AFF had been just 15, and his CPH 17. At that time, the official website for the game had revealed that the highest AFF was 35, and the highest CPH was 27!

It was rumored that even if the players deleted their characters and made a new character, their character attributes would remain unchanged. That was why Chen Kaixin did not expect that once three years passed and he returned to begin anew, his AFF would have increased to 18, and his CPH to 25. His other two attributes, though, were still the same as before. His Arm Strength (AST) was 21, and his Body Movement (BMM) was 21.

In conclusion, his current situation was much better than three years ago. At that time, he had suffered because his CPH was low and had run into all sorts of obstacles everywhere. Because of it, he did not have the chance to learn many high-tier martial arts.

‘No wonder the kind woman from Gusu City’s Murong Clan randomly took a fancy to me. My CPH is actually 25…’

Chen Kaixin might have been puzzled and curious, but he was also whooping with joy in his heart.

A high CPH meant that his chances of learning more high-tier martial arts were greater, and he could also learn them faster!

Naturally, high-tier martial arts would not be handed to him on a silver platter. If he could not keep his eyes and ears open to trigger missions and complete high-difficulty missions, no matter how high his CPH was, it would still be useless. Otherwise, all the players with low CPH and AFF would not be able to do anything in the game.

When he thought of this, Chen Kaixin’s heart instantly became calm…

In the past, he had relied on working hard and going through many trials and tribulations to get into the best sixteen in Mount Hua’s Sword Among Us tournament where over a million people participated. His ATT and CPH were not good at that time, but so what? Starting attributes could not decide whether a person would succeed or fail, much less determine their future.

A person still had to rely on themselves!

Chen Kaixin absolutely did not notice that his three friends had left his side quietly at some point in time.

Countless people watched him sideways and pointed at him while he walked to his lecture hall. They talked about this nobody who had dared to hand an umbrella to their department princess, Xu Xin, at night after lectures. Yet the person on everyone’s mind shamelessly refused to give any sort of reaction. He even seemed to be giving himself encouragement nonstop.

When they entered the lecture hall and saw that Chen Kaixin did not act any differently, quite a number of people came to a conclusion that made them feel dejected.

‘I didn’t expect that this rascal would be so thick-skinned!’

All the girls from Dorm 203 who had been sneakily trailing behind Chen Kaixin while surrounded and escorted by other girls were also disappointed. They had intended to give the audacious boy a taste of their strength, but they did not expect that he would refuse to even turn his head around to look at them. It was such a waste of their energy.

“Xu Xin, when lecture ends, we’ll wait at the entrance. This brat will definitely confess to you.”

“He has good intentions. How could you do this?”

“All men are perverted wolves. How can you say he has good intentions? We have to protect the treasure of Dorm 203. We can’t let any perverted wolf take you away from us.”

“That’s right, if anyone wants to take you away, they have to get through us first.”

The union of the girls in Dorm 203 immediately caused ideas to form in the minds of the boys in the area, and they looked at them sideways.

“I’m going to ignore you now!”

Xu Xin flung her ponytail, and with a red face and textbooks in her arms, she entered the lecture hall. The other girls rushed after her while chuckling.

…

Once the lecture ended, the three girls from Dorm 203 quickly left the lecture hall and waited downstairs. But in the end, they did not manage to meet the studious Chen Kaixin. When they asked around, they found out that the boy had actually done something that shocked the entire university.

Soon after sitting down in the lecture hall, Chen Kaixin had stood up and left for the office to find the lecturers of his subjects. He told them that he would not continue attending lectures and would study in his dorm room.

The lecturers had agreed to his request unanimously, which puzzled the people even more!

Xu Xin, who originally did not pay too much attention to the strange and shy boy, could not help but be interested and curious once she heard the news. For the first time ever, she repeated the boy’s name a few times in her heart and remembered him.

…

Just when the students of the University of South China got busy with their lectures, Happy returned to the happy World of Martial Arts that was filled with people who would exact revenge but would also repay kindness. He went back to Gusu City’s Murong Mansion. His name remained unknown to the public, and he repeated the process of buying carrots and vegetables from the market before moving them to the backyard to feed the rabbits the Murong Clan Lady kept. He lived a satisfying and leisurely life.

Usually, a subsequent mission would be triggered if a player patiently performed this sort of errand for seven or eight days, or else their “luck” from the start of the game would just come to an end. The butler would move them to the front yard by saying that they were lazy, and they would have to do chores and learn the most basic of all qi cultivation techniques given to all outer sect disciples, just like any other normal player.

Happy had long since learned about this after mingling in World of Martial Arts for three years. He was conscientious and careful while he did his tasks in the Murong Clan. No one could nitpick at his actions.

The Lonely Three Wolves had asked Happy about his status in the game during the few times he logged out to eat. When they first heard that he joined the Murong Clan, they were so excited that they looked as if they had eaten aphrodisiac.

When they asked about it later, they heard that Happy had just been doing chores for a few days. He did not even manage to learn any qi cultivation techniques or basic martial arts, which made them instantly lose interest.

“How can this be?”

“Could it be that there is actually no mission? Happy, why don’t you quit? If you continue, you’ll be wasting too much time. It’d be better for you to work in the outer sect. If you had done that, you might have already learned one or two martial arts by now.”

“That’s right. It’s embarrassing for you to continue feeding rabbits all day.”

Happy only smiled at the Lonely Three Wolves’ advice. He did not follow it, though.

World of Martial Arts had been released not long ago, so there were still a lot of guides which had yet to be brought to light. It was understandable then that his dormmates did not know what was going on in the game.

“Actually, it’s not like I gain nothing from doing this. When I move things back and forth every day and catch the rabbits, my AST and BMM increase. I’m thinking about doing this for a few more days. If there are still no changes by then, I’ll listen to you guys,” Happy said with a smile.

“Alright.”

The trio could say nothing about this, so they did not try to force him to do anything else.

After all, they knew that Happy did not need to go to class in the future, so he had plenty of extra time. Even if he sacrificed a few days, he would definitely be able to catch up very soon.

After that, two more days passed.

While feeding the rabbits in the backyard, Happy found that one baby rabbit refused to go to his side. It seemed to be listless yet kept on huddling in a corner. Its fur was also a little dull. Happy was curious, so he went over to pick it up.

There was a small wound on the baby rabbit’s abdomen, and there was pus flowing out from it. By the looks of it, the injury had already been infected.

Happy knew that a change had occurred in his situation. He quickly picked up the baby rabbit to search for the butler.

A clear voice said from behind him, “Stop right there. Where do you intend to take Whitey?”

When he turned around to look, Happy found that the lady in white who had once appeared in the front yard and shocked him with her beauty had come to the garden. She still looked like a goddess with her bright eyes and pearly white teeth. Her arms were radiant, and she drifted about like a fairy. When others saw her, they would be unable to help themselves but feel ashamed of their unsightly appearance.

When Happy saw the Murong Clan Lady before him in all her divine beauty, he murmured, “It’s sick. I’m thinking of going to get help from the butler so that we can bring it to a physician.”

The Murong Clan Lady could not help but chuckle. “How can you go to a physician for a sick rabbit? Lad, you are truly adorable.”

Happy could do nothing but scratch his head and giggle foolishly. His antics entertained the Murong Clan Lady again.

“Alright, give me Whitey.”

“Okay.”

The Murong Clan Lady did not mind that Whitey was ill. She took it in a gentle hold and swept her beautiful eyes across Happy.

“What is your name?”

“Happy.”

“Happy… Very well. Whitey is ill. Since you have been taking care of Whitey and my other rabbits for the past few days, I will teach you a qi cultivation technique. Go to Purple Bamboo Forest. It’s located in the suburbs to the east of the town. Bring me three purple bamboo sections.” The Murong Clan Lady handed him a white piece of paper and a shortsword before walking away.

“Received Complete Reality Qi Cultivation Technique. Received one shortsword.”

When he heard the system’s notification, Happy was instantly stunned. He had thought that he would receive a superior martial arts from Murong Clan, so he did not expect to receive Complete Reality Qi Cultivation Technique from Complete Reality Taoism, which was the most ordinary of their qi cultivation techniques.

‘Oh well, if I only get Complete Reality Qi Cultivation Technique, so be it. It’s not as if I’ve never practiced it before.’

Happy sat down cross-legged and memorized Complete Reality Qi Cultivation Technique. Then, he began to use it according to what was written in the manual…