[Vol. 6] Chapter 251: Past and Present Lives
Their first meeting was an ordinary yet unforgettable memory.
On the fourteenth day of the public beta for the world-famous fully immersive RPG, a Level 47 priestess clicked the matchmaking button in front of a dungeon entrance.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t find a party, quite the opposite. In the golden age of exploration, when everyone was still fumbling their way through this brand-new game, a high-level priest who could keep up with the leading players was truly priceless.
After all, as a support-class character, a pure priest who specialized in Holy Light magic had almost no combat ability in the early stages. Most solo players attempting this class would likely delete their character before even reaching Level 10, probably after being crushed by the very first boss at the newbie village entrance.
That boss was meant to be fought solo.
Even if someone stubbornly endured, slowly chipping away at it with basic attacks and healing spells, the road ahead for a pure support player was brutally difficult. Without a close-knit group of friends or a dedicated team, most people would have given up.
But this priestess wasn’t like most people. She had the patience and time to dedicate herself fully to the game.
Despite the recruitment boards and forums being filled with desperate calls for healers, offering unbelievably generous rewards, she ignored them all. Instead, she deliberately chose to queue up with random players, a choice that seemed downright bizarre.
As expected, the matchmaking process for a healer was incredibly fast. The moment she clicked the button, she was instantly teleported into the party waiting room.
Five beams of light appeared one after another in the vast, pure-white space. Before she could even steady herself, someone nearby shouted in surprise.
“Whoa, no way! Is that a Holy Light Priest? That’s a super rare class! All my previous parties only had bards or holy knights as half-healers. This is the first time I’ve seen someone actually playing a pure healer in a random match!”
“Wait, are they some weird build like a combat priest or tanking priest? The matchmaking system sometimes counts those as healers too…”
“No way, right? That would be ridiculous…”
Silently, she muted the in-game voice chat out of habit and took a quick glance at the party lineup. A sword wielder, a shield warrior, a swift ranger, and a mage. With her as the Holy Light Priest, the composition was actually quite balanced.
The matchmaking system was designed to distribute roles evenly, but in the early days of the game, class distribution was wildly unbalanced, and the AI’s logic was still imperfect. If too many players queued at once, it wasn’t unheard of for a party to end up with four or five sword wielders or swift rangers, or five pure healing Priests, leading to some hilarious party setups.
As someone who frequently used matchmaking, she was well aware of how things worked.
Ignoring her chatty teammates who kept trying to strike up conversations in the public chat, she instead focused on one particular player. The mage who had yet to communicate in any way.
The girl was beautiful, but in a game where appearances could be customized in countless ways, that didn’t really matter. What caught her attention was the class icon above the mage’s head.
After so many matchmaking runs, this was the first time she had ever seen this particular type of mage.
If she remembered correctly, it was called "Spatial Walker."
And then there was the player’s ID: [Hen] … Simple and straightforward.
After the dungeon ended, she decided to approach the girl.
[Your awareness and controls are really good. Have you played similar fully immersive games before? The Spatial Walker class seems pretty interesting.]
Alright, she had to admit. She was just trying to make conversation out of some inexplicable curiosity.
A long time passed before the player named Hen finally replied. Just like in battle, her message was silent, concise, and straight to the point.
[Good at it? Are you talking about gaming? … Are you actually a hidden pro player?]
[It’s nothing. I’m just good at this kind of thing.]
She didn’t answer the question directly, but that only made the priestess more intrigued.
[Oh, by the way! I’m planning to clear an open-world dungeon tomorrow. It’s the last step in a hidden quest chain, limited to two players max. The rewards are really nice, but my damage output isn’t enough. Want to team up? We can split the loot based on what we need~]
After all, the biggest rewards came from completing the quest itself.
This time, Hen responded almost instantly. Her reply was as short as ever.
[Alright.]
One day later.
[Violet] sent a party invitation to [Hen].
[Violet] has leveled up to Lv48.
[Hen] has leveled up to Lv46.
[Violet] obtained …
[Hen] obtained …
[Haha, you’re really strong! That last move had me sweating just watching from the side. I can’t believe you managed to dodge it. If you hadn’t, we would’ve been blown up! I haven’t even unlocked resurrection magic yet, so that would’ve been a disaster~]
[That’s because you helped me a lot. I mean, your buffs are really strong.]
[Eh… You’re too modest! Hehe, how about we team up again if there’s another chance like this?]
[…Alright.]
[Violet] sent a friend request to [Hen].
Friend request accepted.
………………………………………
[Come quick! You’re finally online! I ran into a super tough boss in the newly unlocked map! No one’s noticed it yet, so let’s take it down before anyone else does!]
[Mm.]
[Violet] sent a party invitation to [Hen].
[Violet] has leveled up to Lv62.
[Hen] has leveled up to Lv61.
[Violet] obtained …
[Hen] obtained …
[Hehe, another great catch this time! Oh, and I picked up this huge egg, but it doesn’t seem like it belongs to that boss. Even my [Information Detection] isn’t showing anything. Weird.]
[Let’s take it back to the main city and get an NPC to appraise it. It might be a special drop for getting the first clear. Probably something valuable.]
[Oh yeah, do you want it? If you do, I’ll give it to you! We got it together, after all~]
[…No need, keep it. It’ll be useful to you.]
…………………………………
[Hey! Hen, did you hear? In a few days, the game is hosting its first-ever all-region, all-class tournament! The rewards sound amazing. Let’s join!]
[Hehe, easy win! As expected of us!]
[Huh? A fox mask? A Semi-Divine Artifact called [Dominion of the Fox Mask]… The rank and stats are pretty high, but the effect is so weird. What does ‘a brand-new skill set and unit classification’ even mean? Oh well, it’s just one of the rewards anyway…]
[Whoa! I grew fox ears! Hen, come touch them. They feel super real! Eh…? What’s wrong? Your face looks like you’re about to cry…]
[…It’s nothing. I’m just a little tired. Logging off for now.]
……………………………………
[Hehe, we finally hit max level! Lv100! That was tough… So, next up is crafting our exclusive weapons, huh? Do you have any ideas, Hen?]
[[Blade of Hollow Mark]? Hey, if you want to name your weapon after yourself, shouldn’t it just be Hen Blade? Also, you’re a mage. Why are you picking a weapon like this? Well… as long as you’re happy, I guess.]
(Note: 痕 (Hén): Mark, Scar, Trace)
[Hey! Here’s my weapon blueprint! I’m gonna give it a super cool name. How about the [Eternal Scepter of the World's Heart]?! Huh? Why are you looking at me like that? It is cool, okay! I’m not bad at naming things!]
……………………………………….
[Hen? Why haven’t you logged in for days without saying a word?! The limited-time quest already ended! That was a super rare event that let max-level players break through to Lv110! If you miss it, who knows when it’ll trigger again?!]
[It doesn’t matter? What do you mean it doesn’t matter?! Wait… you’re not planning to quit, are you?!]
[I won’t leave you.]
[W-What did you mean…? Why are you making it sound so weird? It’s not like I rely on you or anything…]
[So, what were you even doing these past few days? You used to log in every day…]
[Did I get anything good from the event? Haha, tons of stuff! Here, let me tell you. Hey, don’t change the subject, you idiot!]