Chapter 26: Forming a Team

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Now that Zhao Nan was level 8, grinding these chirping cats no longer yielded him any experience at all. Of course, he was only here to finish a quest he’d started long ago. Before entering the fantasy instance, he had already completed most of those ordinary tasks; only a few remained, and they wouldn’t take much time—or so Zhao Nan thought. But when he arrived at the area for the chirping cats, he was taken aback.

The entire zone ahead was swarming with human players, scattered in groups large and small. Some even crouched directly at the spawn points of the chirping cats, unleashing a flurry of skills the instant the monsters appeared.

“Of course, most players’ levels have risen by now...”

Humanity called this gamification of Earth “the Great Cataclysm.” This was the tenth day since it began. Most players willing to leave the city to hunt monsters had generally reached level 5. The more dedicated ones had pushed to level 6 or 7, maybe even 8 or 9.

Zhao Nan and Finina made a circuit of the area, but he couldn’t find a single open spot, leaving him at a loss. If he wanted to compete for kills, he certainly had the ability, but he disdained such behavior. Was he supposed to wait until everyone else left before hunting monsters himself? Who knew how long that would take?

“Hey, beautiful over there! Want to join our party? We’ve got a spot open!”

Not far away, a tall swordsman called out to them, even jogging over. “Hi, I’m Gao Mingyang. What’s your name, beautiful?”

Finina quickly stepped back, hiding behind Zhao Nan and instantly widening the distance between them. With calm composure, she replied, “I’m sorry, I already have a party.”

The tall swordsman was taken aback, looking at Zhao Nan with some surprise. The boy was slim, unarmed, and his class was unclear. He seemed young—was he perhaps this woman’s brother?

“Oh, no problem, we have two spots left, actually. How about both of you join up?” the swordsman said quickly. “Little brother, how about an introduction?”

Zhao Nan declined with a friendly smile. Perhaps before entering the instance, years of monster hunting had left him withdrawn, but six years in the fantasy instance had changed him. He no longer exuded an unapproachable aura, but rather a quiet, neighborly normalcy.

The tall swordsman frowned slightly. “Little brother, as you can see, there’s nowhere open here... If you wait, you’ll be here till noon at least, wasting a lot of time.”

“No, thanks. I’ll figure something out,” Zhao Nan replied calmly.

He was no fool and instantly saw what the other was after. Still, the man was polite, so Zhao Nan let it pass.

“Hahaha, Mingyang, shut down again?” came the teasing voices of his teammates behind him. Gao Mingyang shot them a glare. “Will you die if you don’t ask for trouble?”

He forced a smile and said, “Well, we do have room. If you don’t find a spot, you’re welcome to join us at any time.”

“Thank you.”

Watching Gao Mingyang trudge back to his stakeout, Finina gave a faint smile and murmured, “He’s quite a gentleman.”

Zhao Nan patted her hand. “He seems all right. Let’s look around a bit more—if there’s really no spot, joining his group wouldn’t be bad. He doesn’t seem scheming, could make a decent friend.”

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Finina naturally followed Zhao Nan’s lead. With a constant 100% favorability, her loyalty was absolute.

“Huh?”

As they walked, a surprised exclamation sounded behind them, followed by hurried footsteps. Turning, Zhao Nan saw a familiar face.

At this stage, there was only one person he could call a familiar acquaintance: Xu Yang.

“What brings you here?” Xu Yang asked first.

Zhao Nan regarded her calmly. “A quest, naturally.”

“Chirping cats?”

“That should be obvious, shouldn’t it?” Zhao Nan chuckled.

Xu Yang stared at him, incredulous. “You’re actually laughing!?”

Zhao Nan rubbed his nose and shook his head, exhaling softly. “It’s been a long time.”

He still had some fondness for this woman—not romantic, but he admired her kindness and honesty.

Behind him, Finina stood quietly, showing no reaction, simply remaining by Zhao Nan’s side.

“You make it sound like we haven’t seen each other in years,” Xu Yang said, shaking her head with a hint of annoyance. “You troublesome guy, you didn’t reply to a single one of my messages. I thought you’d died somewhere!”

“Thank you,” Zhao Nan said sincerely.

Since leaving the instance, he’d seen her messages come in several times a day. It had genuinely moved him.

“You’ve changed...” Xu Yang said softly, then shook her head. “Oh, and this is?”

“Finina, my girlfriend,” Zhao Nan replied straightforwardly.

“Oh...” Xu Yang’s expression shifted as she glanced at Finina, then gracefully offered praise. “She’s beautiful!”

“Teacher!”

At that moment, a girl behind called out, “Buff time’s up!”

“Coming!” Xu Yang replied quickly, then turned back to Zhao Nan with a hint of apology.

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“It’s fine, you go ahead,” Zhao Nan smiled.

“Hmm...” Xu Yang murmured, then suddenly lifted her head. “Oh right, Zhao Nan, why don’t we team up? My group’s not full.”

Zhao Nan hesitated, glancing at Finina, who simply smiled and nodded. He said, “All right, then.”

“Oh, you’ll need to disband your party first.”

Zhao Nan nodded. “You seem to be doing well, like a real veteran now.”

Xu Yang sighed. “There’s no choice—circumstances force you to grow. With so many people, we discuss things together and quickly figure out a lot of tips.”

“How many people do you have?” Zhao Nan asked curiously.

“About two hundred. Some students have gone back to their families, but many were boarding at school, with families far from Dongyuan City, or whose parents are gone. After that day, we gathered everyone together. Counting me, we have twelve teachers leading the group.”

Zhao Nan nodded, realizing that large groups were already forming.

“Come, let me introduce you. This is Zhao Nan, a student from our school,” Xu Yang said formally.

Only now did Zhao Nan get a clear look at the three students with Xu Yang—all girls, making for an overwhelmingly female party.

A swordswoman, a rogue, and one rather special—she had a pair of palm-sized wings on her back and a faintly glowing halo above her head. She had chosen to become an Angelic Divine Caster.

“Zhao Nan?”

The three girls frowned. The rogue suddenly exclaimed, “Ah, I remember now! He’s that weirdo from Class 8, Grade 12!”

“I remember too—wasn’t he the one who got a school-wide warning or something?” The swordswoman now looked at Zhao Nan with some distaste.

“All right, all right, enough. At times like these, we’re all comrades, understand?” Xu Yang interjected.

“Yes...” the two girls replied half-heartedly, muttering, “He’s not here to leech experience, is he...?”

“Ah! An 8th-level mage!” The previously silent Divine Caster suddenly cried out, “He’s the same level as Teacher Cheng Feng!”

In a party, you could only see a teammate’s class, level, HP, and mana—nothing else.

But at those words, the two girls were left dumbfounded.