Game’s Dogma

​​​​​​​‘Hah… Hah…’

Zephyrwolf was gasping for breath as the red alert in the top left corner of his vision blinked, meaning his mind was at its limits.

He lay powerlessly against the cave wall, and in front of him was the corpse of a dark wolf. He still found it unbelievable that he actually managed to kill a dark wolf on his own. As he thought back about the battle, it was like he could foresee how the wolf was going to attack after watching Drako Yau’s tutorial.

Realising such, he then thought it was only reasonable that he could kill the dark wolf.

Drako Yau’s voice sounded in an untimely manner. ‘Don’t feel smug about it, I lowered it to half health before passing it on to you. If you can’t even win against a half-dead dark wolf after learning its patterns, we don’t even have to bother challenging the demon wolf king.’

Zephyrwolf shot him an annoyed look. ‘Damn, can you stop pouring cold water on me!’

‘Rest for 10 minutes, then we’ll set off again’, said Drako Yau, ignoring his protests.

He then sat down and started eating. Food items in the game could replenish health and mana, but because he had only been using basic attacks, there was no need to restore mana at all. He was simply restoring his stamina through eating.

Drako Yau had an astonished look as he glanced at the few scratches he got from fighting the dark wolves. After drinking a potion and eating, they were now slowly closing and healing. The rate was pretty slow though, so it was fortunate he only had minor injuries. He could only guess his current health through inspecting wounds and feeling his own body thanks to his non-existent health bar.

After 10 minutes, the alert in Zephyrwolf’s vision turned dim once again. Drako Yau then stood up and said, ‘Say, let’s not challenge the demon wolf king for now.’

Surprised, Zephyrwolf asked, ‘Why?’

‘Because of the experience’, Drako Yau replied in a flat tone.

Zephyrwolf thought about it and understood his idea. The dark wolves gave tons of experience, nor was there anyone to steal the monsters from them. Setting aside the quest itself, this was undoubtedly the best spot for leveling up. He immediately agreed.

‘Okay, let’s go get some levels!’

The two brought the NPC along and began sweeping through the cave.

Under the guidance of Drako Yau, Zephyrwolf now had the ability to handle a dark wolf on his own. Even if he couldn’t kill it in a short period of time, at least he wouldn’t be in tatters like before. It was now an equal contest instead of a one-sided trampling. Whenever Drako Yau was done killing a dark wolf, he would regroup with Zephyrwolf and finish off the other two together.

Maintaining the delicate equilibrium, they continued to fight the dark wolves. After almost clearing out the entire second level, Drako Yau had reached Level 13 and was halfway to Level 14, while Zephyrwolf had gotten to Level 15.

Zephyrwolf merrily checked his newly acquired skills. They were skills that Angryface had shown Drako Yau before: Shockwave Slash and Warrior’s Will.

Shockwave Slash: Stab the ground with your weapon to launch a short-range shockwave attack.

Passive skill, Warrior’s Will: You have the will of a warrior. Reduces damage received from all ranged attacks by 5%.

The passive skill didn’t exist in Drako Yau’s game, but he soon understood why it was present in this version of Real World.

It was a world where players utilised brainwaves to control their characters. Compared to the keyboard and mouse era, it was even harder for warriors to close in on ranged classes like mages and hunters. Warrior’s Will balanced things a bit between the melee and ranged classes.

Five per cent didn’t seem much, but the skill would truly shine in the later stages of the game.

On the other hand, Drako Yau looked at his pathetic skill tree that only consisted of a bunch of random masteries… They were pretty much useless for him.

After learning new skills, Zephyrwolf was in high spirits. He immediately asked, ‘All the dark wolves are dead, yeah? Let’s go fight the demon wolf king!’

This time, Drako Yau didn’t shoot his suggestion down and instead nodded. ‘Let’s go then.’

After spending several hours clearing the second level, they had already gotten familiar with the cave. Relying on Drako Yau’s senses, they had been avoiding the source of the killing intent that filled the cave, but now, they were headed straight towards it.

As they got closer, the aura was also gradually getting more intense.

Looks like this demon wolf king is no weaker than the Fire Crystal Master…

The idea of quitting the quest filled Drako Yau’s mind, but looking at the smug Zephyrwolf who was leading the way, he sighed and continued walking.

Not long after, they entered the place where the intense killing intent emanated from. After taking a turn in the tunnel, a spacious area came into sight. The underground plaza was around the size of two football fields, and at the very far end of it stood a gigantic shadow.

A gigantic, amethyst wolf lay sleeping on the ground. In contrast to its dark purple body, three tiny bunches of golden hair glowed on its forehead.

At that moment, Lelei coughed behind the two and said with a depressed expression, ‘Brave heroes… Thank you. However, it seems my husband has been devoured by the cruel demon wolf king… I have a selfish request to ask of you two!’

Her eyes reddened as she stared into the eyes of Drako Yau and Zephyrwolf. Her sadness and sorrow, it felt so real that it was difficult to tell it was just a game.

‘Kill this wicked demon wolf king for me!’

Ding!

The stern and low voice of the notification rang in their heads. ‘Quest triggered: Vengeance. Defeat the Demon Wolf King to receive rewards. Once accepted, it is only possible to leave the quest area by dying or completing the quest. You will be teleported outside the Demon Wolf Cave if you decline the quest.’

After the voice subsided, the plaza was surrounded by a thin layer of red light. It was probably the quest area mentioned in the notification.

Drako Yau took a deep breath and looked at Zephyrwolf. ‘What do you think?’

Zephyrwolf also had a troubled look; he had never expected the quest to have such a restriction.

That was to say, once they chose to challenge the demon wolf king, they would either win and complete the quest, or die and lose a level and some equipment.

He could see the hesitation in Drako Yau’s eyes. Briefly after, Zephyrwolf said, ‘I think… we can try.’

Hearing such, Drako Yau stayed silent.

Zephyrwolf immediately added, ‘Think about it, just how strong were those dark wolves? Unless it’s you, it’s impossible to clear this quest with just two people. I dare say that even a cleric who’s nearly Level 20 and chose the paladin path can’t take on two dark wolves at a time. Not to mention I was literally a burden before you taught me.’

‘What are you trying to say?’

‘I’m saying, because the quest is so damn difficult, the rewards must be huge, maybe unbelievably good too.’

Zephyrwolf was so full of passion and fervour. Drako Yau found it surprising that he wasn’t blinded by his emotions and could calmly analyse the situation. He gave it some thought. Suddenly, he recalled the words that the old geezer and the Fire Crystal Master had told him.

‘Become stronger.

‘If you don’t, you’ll die.’

Drako Yau replayed the phrases in his mind over and over again. Looking into the implications of those words, it felt like they were telling him that if he wasn’t strong enough, he wouldn’t be able to stand up against the enemies who were bound to be even more powerful in the future.

If he didn’t even have the courage to face powerful enemies due to the fear of death, how could he grow stronger? How could he escape from this world?