This person looked at Ryan Carter for a while, then a smile appeared on his face. “Hello, I’m the guild leader of Ni Tian.”

“Hello!” Ryan Carter replied calmly.

“We all came over from ‘Demon Domain’ to ‘Parallel World’ together,” the guild leader said.

Ryan Carter nodded. He was a young man too, and not completely ignorant about online games—especially the famous “Demon Domain,” which he’d often heard about. Before “Parallel World,” “Demon Domain” was probably the hottest online game. At the school where Ryan Carter taught, this game was seen by teachers as a monstrous enemy, something they feared would snatch away their students if they weren’t careful.

But with the advent of full-immersion games, these old-school online games clearly had no future. Ever since the open beta of “Parallel World,” the online player count for “Demon Domain” had hit record lows, and the loudest voices everywhere were those selling their accounts, all eager to switch to “Parallel World.” Although “Demon Domain” was said to be speeding up its own transition to full-immersion, no matter what, they’d already missed out on the sweetest first bite of the big cake.

Blaze, standing to the side, actually knew even more than Ryan Carter. He had played “Demon Domain,” so he immediately recognized the name Ni Tian Guild. In “Demon Domain,” this was a very powerful guild, even famous throughout the entire gaming world. Especially the guild leader, Blade, who had taken the magic swordsman class to the pinnacle of both magic and martial skills—gear, level, skills, technique, all were top-notch. He was absolutely the number one idol in the hearts of “Demon Domain” players. Back when Blaze played “Demon Domain,” he had admired him for quite a while. He never expected to meet him under these circumstances. Staring at this rather sleazy-looking young man, Blaze couldn’t help but ask, “You’re Blade?”

Ryan Carter’s calm reaction made Blade feel a bit bored, but Blaze’s response pleased him. He nodded slightly and said, “That’s me! Hello!” That air of superiority, hidden beneath a friendly demeanor, was on full display.

“Damn! You look like this? You’re Blade? Or am I seeing things?” Blaze blurted out, clearly with no filter, hitting Blade right in his sore spot.

Chapter 7: The Dagger Mage

Back in Demon Domain, Blade was truly in the limelight. The Ni Tian Guild he founded was the place every player tried desperately to get into. As soon as he announced his intention to move to “Parallel World,” everyone responded instantly, all expressing their willingness to follow him and rebuild Ni Tian, with him still as the boss.

Who would have thought that in the full-immersion game “Parallel World,” everyone’s real appearance would be restored, and Blade’s overly plain real-life looks were such a stark contrast to his dazzling online persona that most of the guild members couldn’t accept it. More than half immediately decided they’d rather go it alone. The few girls who used to hang around him in the guild just glanced at him from afar and never showed up again. In the end, out of a guild that once had nearly a thousand members, only about fifty were willing to keep following him.

The fickleness of people left Blade feeling bitter, but as a top player who had once achieved glory, he still had his strengths. Blade wasn’t about to give up. He had already resolved to make a comeback in “Parallel World” and make the name Ni Tian Guild famous throughout the game once again.

The first step was to strengthen himself. But in a full-immersion game, Blade felt the disadvantage on day one. In this simulated environment, the word “operation” was practically obsolete. The hands that had once manipulated mouse and keyboard like a phantom were now useless. As a top player, Blade knew he could only make up for it with his understanding of the game’s content. Fortunately, the game’s open beta was relaunched after just half a day, giving Blade time to readjust. He used this period to study a huge amount of game information and even practiced the in-game combat moves in real life. When the open beta restarted, Blade re-entered the game full of confidence.

In less than a day, he had already reached level 25! The effort and sweat behind this was unimaginable to most. Gaming was far from just playing around.

The early stage of a game is the best time to pull ahead in levels. Blade certainly wouldn’t miss this chance. Far ahead of his companions in level, he didn’t waste time helping others, which is why he wasn’t among the Ni Tian Guild members outside the city just now. It wasn’t until Ryan Carter knocked down three people with a kick and took Blaze away that his companions realized what had happened and hurriedly reported to Blade.

After hearing his companions’ detailed account, Blade was full of doubts. He already knew all the skills in the game. If he had to guess, Ryan Carter’s kick seemed like the fighter’s “Swallow Return Flash,” but that was a high-level skill only learnable at level 54—how could anyone know it now? Besides, his companions weren’t even level 10 yet, so how could a skill be used on someone under PK protection?

So Blade rushed back from the leveling area, leading his guild members in the direction the two had left. He wasn’t out for revenge over something as trivial as a stolen pig—he just felt this person was someone he needed to understand.