Chapter 859

【 BOXLUNCH DISCONNECTS 】

Dark undercurrents were surging throughout the human nations on the continent.

Meanwhile, as the global map of Seiguës became completely open to the players, their reputation across the land continued to grow.

Especially after Evé launched the [A Spark Among the Stars] missionary quest, many players became deeply interested in it and rushed to various human nations to serve as missionaries.

Those players with the Priest class, in particular, found it relatively easy to spread the Goddess of Life’s faith.

Whether it was through powerful healing magic or high-level divine spells capable of controlling the weather within a certain area, both possessed an extremely strong appeal for ordinary people.

The former directly concerned their physical health, while the latter affected the environment and crop yields. The ability to influence the weather was especially popular in rural areas and the outskirts of cities, where a good harvest could determine whether an entire family would have enough food to survive the year.

Combined with the meticulously compiled Holy Codex of Life and the egalitarian ideals proposed by the players, which were highly appealing to the lower classes, it was naturally easy for them to gain believers.

As a result, numerous specks of the light of faith began appearing throughout the continent and the trend showed clear signs of becoming increasingly intense.

After the Eternal Church began arresting missionaries of the Church of Life and burning them at the stake, however, the players’ enthusiasm did not diminish.

Instead, it grew even stronger.

For a time, one heroic and fearless missionary of the Church of Life after another emerged throughout the Holy Maniya Empire and the Aries Kingdom.

They feared neither authority nor oppression, even on the face of death.

Whilst laughing boldly, they held their heads high as they faced the end of their lives, as though death itself were merely another stage in their grand adventure.

Even when nailed to the stake, even when engulfed by raging flames, they would shout in voices full of fighting spirit:

“Long live the Goddess!”

Meanwhile, the Goddess who stood at the center of it all and watched everything unfold could only think of one thing:

—What a bunch of drama queens.

By now, Evé had long since grown accustomed to the players’ antics.

Still, whenever she heard their over-the-top proclamations, she could not help complaining inwardly.

Long live the Goddess?

Are they cursing me to live forever, or are they praising me?

Regardless, the concept of the “martyr” had ultimately opened the door to a new era for many players, especially those with the Priest subclass.

After all, nothing moved people more deeply than death.

And martyrs would naturally be respected and admired by believers. Their unwavering faith and willingness to sacrifice themselves would also make them figures that ordinary believers could look up to and yearn to emulate.

Naturally, this also caused a martyr’s fame to rise rapidly.

They could gain reputation and increase their fame. Once their stories were spread by wandering bards, their names could quickly become famous throughout the continent.

And the price was merely dying once…

Such a highly profitable deal was naturally something the players would never pass up.

After all, for ordinary people, death was the ultimate price.

For players, it was often little more than a temporary inconvenience.

And if there was any real risk involved… it was probably whether their ability to resurrect would be exposed.

However, after repeatedly suffering mishaps, the players had already accumulated plenty of experience. As long as they changed locations after every incident, they could avoid most of the awkwardness and prevent people from becoming suspicious.

Of course, any secret would eventually be exposed.

But Priest players had different goals. As long as they completed their missionary quests before being exposed, and as long as they accumulated enough merit, then what would it matter if their secret was eventually revealed?

Their Priest levels were already secured.

At most, they would lose some favorability.

But aside from a few truly powerful players, who among them had never lost favorability before?

As long as they did not end up like Demacia, where meeting someone directly resulted in “instant public death,” any lost favorability could eventually be recovered.

As the light of the Goddess’ faith continued to spread across the continent, the final remnants of the Lord of Darkness and his forces in the Underground World were also being wiped out in a joint campaign by the Church of Death and the players.

Underground World, Maso City.

At this very moment, this city, the largest city in the Dark City-State Alliance and the largest city in the entire Underground, had finally raised the banner of the City-State Alliance.

The former Temple of Darkness had been replaced by a Temple of Death, while a new Temple of Life had also appeared within the city.

Of course, the players’ missionary activities were indispensable as well.

The Church of Death did not restrict the spread of the Church of Life, while the Church of Darkness had lost its faith entirely. As a result, the enormous population of intelligent underground denizens naturally attracted many Priest players seeking advancement.

Almost every day, they could be seen enthusiastically preaching along the streets.

Today, however, was different.

The streets that had once been bustling with activity were occupied by solemn-looking guards. They stood in orderly lines on both sides of the road, protecting the route and maintaining a clear passage through the city.

The residents gathered behind the guards, curiously peering toward the city gates. From time to time, they whispered among themselves, seemingly discussing something…

Suddenly, the towering fortified gate of Maso City slowly opened. Thick chains gradually descended, pulling the massive gate down until it lay flat against the ground and the entrance was completely opened.

The sound of heavy iron hooves soon echoed through the city. Rows of armored soldiers mounted on the reptilian mounts unique to the Underground region steadily entered the city.

Behind them fluttered various banners: the warhammer emblem of the City-State Alliance, the skull banner of the Church of Death, the scepter banner of the Church of Life, as well as countless other player guild banners bearing all kinds of different designs.

The sight immediately made the returning army appear even more imposing.

These were the allied forces returning in triumph after wiping out the final remnants of the Church of Darkness.

At the very front of the procession were the Dark-Dwarven warriors leading the army. They formed the core of the City-State Alliance’s military forces. Every one of them held their heads high and puffed out their chests, radiating confidence and pride.

Seeing them, many of the residents of Maso City looked at them with complicated expressions.

No one could have imagined that this branch of their race, once driven away by them, would one day return in such a manner.

It was a scene that many of the city’s older residents found difficult to process.

However, the Dark Dwarves did not keep their eyes on their fellow dwarves for long, because their attention was soon drawn to the long-eared figures among the procession.

They were elves, the players who had participated in the war.

Elves were naturally tall. Even compared with humans, they could be considered slender and graceful. When standing alongside dwarves, the contrast became even more striking.

Their long ears, tall figures, and elegant movements made them particularly conspicuous within the procession.

Combined with their handsome faces, so different from the dwarves’ rugged appearances, and their magnificent equipment that emitted a faint glow in the dim surroundings, they looked almost like an army of divine messengers sent by the gods.

Beautiful, noble, powerful…

It seemed that every beautiful word could be used to describe them.

For the residents of Maso City, who had spent most of their lives beneath the earth, such an appearance was naturally difficult to ignore.

Of course, it would have been even better if they looked a little more serious. That would have made them appear considerably more imposing.

Unfortunately, the players had never been particularly good at maintaining a solemn atmosphere.

Unlike the dwarves, many of the elves waved and smiled at the residents lining both sides of the street after entering the city, eliciting waves of excited screams from the dwarven girls.

And so, the atmosphere that had initially been solemn and majestic immediately became lively.

And judging from the players’ expressions, they seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.

Showing off had always been one of the players’ favorite activities.

Especially Calabash, who was at the front of the player group. He whistled and winked at the dwarven girls on both sides, eliciting an excited shriek from them every time.

Looking at Calabash’s flirtatious behavior, then glancing at some of the dwarven women whose waists were wider than barrels, Chopin could not help swallowing dryly.

“Calabash, no wonder you’ve never been interested in elven ladies. Turns out your tastes are this extreme?”

Calabash immediately shot him a disdainful look.

“Bro, can’t you learn to appreciate beauty? Do you really only see those barrel-waisted ladies in your eyes? Can’t you see those few petite and adorable girlies among them?”

“Where? How come I don’t see any? The female dwarves here… honestly, they seem much more robust than the ones outside the city.”

“Of course there are! Look over there! There! And there!”

“Hmm… Heh, your eyes really are pretty sharp.”

“Of course.”

“No wonder you’re a lolicon.”

“Fuck off dude!”

The two players bickered as they marched through the city, which was practically a daily routine for their squad.

Cheerfulness and laughter were simply part of their everyday lives.

After bickering for a while, Chopin stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“But speaking of which, why do the female dwarves here have such… peculiar physiques?”

“I heard it has something to do with the climate.”

IamInvinsible, who was standing nearby, answered.

“The climate?”

Several people turned toward him curiously.

IamInvinsible elaborated:

“I heard it from a Dark Dwarf. Apparently there’s a small Frost Mana Crystal mine beneath this city, and it affects the climate of this region. So it’s much colder here than in other places…”

As he spoke, he glanced at his companions.

“Didn’t you guys feel that it got much colder after coming here?”

“…Colder?”

The group looked at one another.

“Now that you mention it… it does seem a little bit cooler.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t say it’s cold.”

They soon received another retort from IamInvinsible:

“Duh, of course. We’re all Gold-rankers now, so our cold resistance is naturally much stronger. It’s normal that we don’t feel cold. Look at the residents along the street. Which one of them isn’t wearing more layers of clothing than we are?”

“Then what does that have to do with the dwarves’ physiques?”

The others asked again.

IamInvinsible continued explaining:

“The weather is cold, so the people here eat high-calorie food to keep themselves warm. That makes it easier to accumulate fat. It’s fine when they’re young, but as they get older, their metabolism naturally slows down, so they gain weight.”

After hearing his explanation, Optimist suddenly understood.

“Like the Russian girls? Short shelf life?”

“Something like that.”

The four chatted casually as they followed the procession, enjoying the leisurely atmosphere.

However, Boxlunch, their captain, who’s walking slightly behind the others, did not join the conversation and remained quiet as usual.

This had already become the norm for the entire squad.

But if one looked closely, one would notice that although Boxlunch remained silent, there was warmth deep in his eyes as he watched his teammates bicker with one another.

The corners of his lips seemed to carry a faint, almost imperceptible smile. Yet somehow, that smile also seemed to contain a trace of sadness.

The others continued talking about all sorts of things as they marched forward.

Yet if one observed them carefully, one would notice that whenever they started a new topic, deliberately teased one another, or told jokes and bantered around, they would inevitably glance at Boxlunch from the corners of their eyes.

If Boxlunch reacted, the corners of their mouths would unconsciously curl upward, as though his response itself was enough to make them happy.

If he did not react, they would quickly change the subject and try something else.

It was almost as though they were all quietly trying to cheer Boxlunch up without making their concern too obvious.

Yet most of the time, Boxlunch’s expression remained unchanged.

Although he seemed to be smiling, for some reason, the others could sense that there was something weighing heavily on his heart, along with a faint trace of sorrow.

“Captain, have you run into some trouble in real life lately? You seem like something’s been bothering you these past few days.”

Calabash could not help asking.

Boxlunch was slightly startled.

He smiled faintly, like a gentle spring breeze brushing across one’s face, then shook his head lightly.

This time, the others were genuinely shocked.

“Holy crap!”

“Holy crap!!”

“Captain, you actually smiled! Are you really the captain I know?!”

“Oh god! The captain smiled! Is ElvKing shutting down?!”

Boxlunch: “…”

Looking at his overly dramatic teammates, he was left speechless.

“I’m fine.”

He finally spoke.

“Liar! Captain, we’ve died together more times than we can count. Plus, you’ve barely been online these past few days, and you didn’t even participate in your favorite battles recently. Something must have happened in real life!”

Optimist shook his head.

His words immediately received agreement from the others.

As one of the strongest players in Elven Kingdom, Boxlunch’s online hours had always been an unbreakable legend.

However, over the past few months, the amount of time he spent online had been steadily decreasing.

They clearly remembered that it had started roughly three months ago. During one battle, Boxlunch had suddenly disconnected.

After that, it seemed that every so often, he would disconnect from the game again.

Something was obviously wrong!

This was definitely not normal!

“That’s right! Captain Box, if you’re having any difficulties, you have to tell us. I may not be much here in the game, but I still have some connections in real life.”

Chopin added.

His expression was filled with concern.

The other teammates also chimed in.

“Yeah, Captain. You haven’t attended any of our offline gatherings before, so you might not know, but this guy knows a ridiculous number of big shots in real life…”

The players took turns talking to Boxlunch, but despite hearing them, he remained silent.

“Captain! Are we still brothers or not? Aren’t brothers supposed to share hardships, stand united, share blessings, and support one another in times of trouble?”

Calabash finally could not hold back and spoke with some dissatisfaction.

“Exactly! Whatever it is, you can tell us. Don’t keep everything bottled up inside.”

IamInvinsible also spoke.

Looking at their sincere and worried expressions, Boxlunch’s faint smile slowly disappeared.

A complicated emotion flashed through his eyes before he forced out another smile, one mixed with sadness, helplessness, and a hint of apology.

“I’m sorry. I… might have to quit the game soon.”

“Quit the game?!”

The others shouted in unison, their voices filled with disbelief. For a moment, they even attracted the attention of the dwarves around them.

“Wait… Captain, why would you suddenly want to quit?”

“Yeah, why do you want to quit?”

“Did something really happen in real life?”

“Financial problems? Health? Or was it something else?”

The teammates bombarded him with questions, becoming agitated all at once.

Watching them explode into chaos, a trace of helplessness flashed across Boxlunch’s face.

His gaze swept across the long procession, the residents watching from both sides, and the rows of black buildings filling Maso City.

He let out a soft sigh.

“I’m sorry…”

“I might—”

He never finished his sentence.

Under the stunned gazes of his teammates, the light suddenly disappeared from Boxlunch’s eyes, and his entire body toppled from his mount…

He had disconnected again.

And this time, he did not log back in for a very long time…

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