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Chapter 251: Previous Life and Current Life

Their first meeting was a mundane yet unforgettable memory.

On the fourteenth day after the full-scale launch of the wildly popular, fully immersive RPG, a lv47 Mage Girl clicked the matchmaking button in front of the dungeon door.

In reality, it wasn’t that she couldn’t find a party; on the contrary, at the start of the brand new game, when everyone was completely clueless and fumbling in the golden period of exploration, a high-level priest who could keep up with the main group was truly a rare find.

After all, as a support-type class, a pure priest practicing Holy Light magic had almost no solo combat ability in the early stages. Most solo players probably deleted their accounts after getting killed by the first boss outside the beginner village before reaching lvl10.

That was indeed a solo dungeon.

Even if she grit her teeth and scraped by with basic attacks and healing spells, the subsequent leveling path for a pure support character in the exploration phase was filled with malice. Without friends or a stable team to support her, it would be tough for any normal person to persist.

Fortunately, this priestess was not a normal person; she had enough patience and time to waste on the game.

Just like the team recruitment board and forums outside, overflowing with various needs for healing classes and offering unimaginable generous rewards, she ignored it all, deliberately running to match with random strangers—such an odd behavior.

The matchmaking speed for healing classes was incredibly fast; almost the moment she clicked, she was teleported to the team waiting room.

Five beams of light appeared one by one in the spacious pure white space, and before she could steady herself, someone next to her exclaimed in surprise.

“Whoa! What’s this, a Holy Light Priest? Super rare class, huh? I’ve only seen bard or paladin hybrids before; this is my first time seeing a pure healer in a random party!”

“Could it be one of those niche classes like the Wrath Priest or Shadow Priest? The matchmaking system seems to consider those as healers too…”

“No way! That would be too ridiculous…”

Easily blocking the team voice system, she glanced at the icons above the heads of her teammates in the waiting room: a swordsman, a shield warrior, a swift ranger, and a mage, along with her Holy Light Priest—this lineup seemed quite balanced.

Though the matchmaking system tended to distribute teams evenly, due to the severe occupational imbalance early in the game’s launch, the AI’s calculation logic was still insufficient. It wasn’t impossible for a team to suddenly have four or five swordsmen or swift rangers, just like how a discipline priest could be counted as a normal healer in hilarious situations.

As a frequent matcher, she naturally understood this well.

Ignoring her teammates who kept asking questions and flirting endlessly in the public chat, she just took a look at the mage girl who hadn’t communicated with the team in any way.

The other was very pretty, but since characters could be altered in many ways, it was inconsequential. What mattered to her was the icon representing the other’s class. After matching so many times, this was the first time she had seen this type of mage.

If she remembered correctly, it should be called [Space Walker], right?

And her ID, [Hen]… so simple and direct.

After the dungeon ended, she took the initiative to approach her.

“Your awareness and control are impressive; have you played similar fully immersive games before? Isn’t the Space Walker class interesting?”

Okay, she had to admit she was just casually looking for a topic out of sheer curiosity and an inexplicable urge to understand the other.

Much later, the player named Hen finally replied with a brief message, just like she was in battle—silent, concise, and direct.

“Nothing much; just particularly skilled in this area.”

“Particularly skilled? Are you saying you play games? Could it be you’re actually a hidden professional player?”

The other didn’t respond to that question, but she became interested.

“By the way, I plan to tackle a wild dungeon tomorrow; it’s the last part of a hidden quest chain, limited to two participants. The rewards are pretty generous, but I lack damage output. Wanna join? We can split the loot by need~”

After all, the majority of rewards come during quest completion~

This time, the other responded quickly, but the content was still terse.

“Okay.”

One day later.

[Vilyric] sent a party invitation to [Hen].

[Vilyric]’s level had risen to lv48.

[Hen]’s level had risen to lv46.

[Vilyric] obtained…

[Hen] obtained…

“Haha, you’re really strong! I was sweating just watching you earlier; it’s impressive you dodged that. Otherwise, it would have blown up! I’m not even at the level to learn resurrection magic yet~”

“That’s because you gave me a lot of help. I mean, your attributes are quite high.”

“Eh… too humble, huh? Hehe, how about we team up next time there’s a similar opportunity?”

“…Alright.”

[Vilyric] sent a friend request to [Hen].

Request accepted.

…

“Come quick! You’re finally online! I just encountered a super tough guy in the newly opened map! Before anyone notices, let’s take it down quickly!”

“Mm.”

[Vilyric] sent a party invitation to [Hen].

[Vilyric]’s level had risen to lv62.

[Hen]’s level had risen to lv61.

[Vilyric] obtained…

[Hen] obtained…

“Hehe, we scored big again! We even found a huge egg, but it looks like it didn’t come from this big guy. The intel detection couldn’t find any clues; how strange.”

“Let’s go back to the main city to get it appraised by an NPC. It could be a special drop from a first kill, probably something good.”

“Oh, do you want it? If you do, I can give it to you since we found it together~”

“…No need, keep it. It’ll be helpful for you.”

…

“Hey! Hen, have you heard? In a few days, the game will host its first big district-wide competition since launch; the rewards seem super generous! Let’s participate!”

“Hehe, easy win! No wonder it’s us!”

“What’s this, a fox mask? Semi-artifact [Mask of the God Fox]… The grade and additional attributes seem pretty high, but the effect is too weird, like a whole new skill set and unit judgment? Well, it’s just one of the prizes anyway…”

“Whoa! I grew fox ears! Hen, come feel! They’re surprisingly realistic! Hey… what’s wrong? Your expression looks like you’re about to cry…”

“It’s nothing, just a bit tired… I’m logging off.”

…

“Hehe, now we’re both max level! lv100, it wasn’t easy! Next up is crafting our exclusive weapons! Hen, any ideas?”

“Void Trace Blade? I mean, even if you want to name your weapon after yourself, it should be Hen’s Blade, right? And why would you, a mage, choose something like this? Well… as long as you’re happy.”

“Dang! This is my weapon draft! I’m gonna give it a cool name, how about [Eternal Staff]? Why are you looking at me like that? It’s totally cool, okay? I’m not naming-challenged!”

…

“Hen? Why haven’t you logged in for days without a word?! The limited quest that opened earlier has already ended! That could’ve helped max-level players break through the lv110 limit; who knows when it’ll trigger again!”

“It’s no big deal. What do you mean ‘no big deal’? Hey… You aren’t thinking of quitting, are you?”

“Not leaving you? What’s up… making the atmosphere so weird; I’m not dependent on you…”

“So, what have you been doing these days? You used to log in every day… Did you find something good during the events? Hey, there’s so much! Come on, I’ll tell you… Wait, don’t change the subject, you idiot!”