Chapter5-Server Announcement

"Wha-what... what do I do now!"

Lily held the bloodwolf fangs in her hands, pacing anxiously in place.

"Where's John? Where's Johnny? How could he just disappear!"

Lily bit her lip, her eyes welling with tears.

She stumbled back to Chief Haren's house, crying all the way.

The moment she knocked on the door, she disappeared as well.

It wasn't until she got the in-game notification that Lily realized John had been forcibly logged out.

All she had to do was wait, and they'd meet again in the game.

However, in this forced downtime, Lily didn't know what to do.

Eat to fill her stomach? But she had no food left to eat.

The last bit of food she had was half a chocolate bar in her pocket.

"Um... maybe I can hold out a little longer."

Lily hesitated.

Should she continue hiding here and survive on the chocolate, or muster the courage to step out of the ruins and find herself some food?

Undoubtedly, the latter.

Lily rubbed her slightly aching stomach.

After hesitating for a while, she finally poked her head out of the makeshift shelter.

Confirming that there was no danger around, she quietly crawled out from the ruins.

"Johnny said that these monsters have sensitive hearing, so if I don't make any noise, I won't be found..."

Lily clenched her fists, repeatedly cheering herself on in her mind.

However, despite having lived in this city for nearly ten years, it now felt incredibly unfamiliar to her.

The skyscrapers had vanished, and ruins filled every corner of her sight. Lily could only move forward by relying on her memory.

The city was eerily quiet.

Perhaps some of John's luck had rubbed off on her, for along the way she encountered no danger.

Instead, she found a lot of still-edible food in the ruins of a supermarket.

This time, she returned loaded with supplies.

...

The rest period finally ended, and John was the first to re-enter [Apocalypse].

Reappearing in the forest, he sighed with relief after confirming that no bloodwolf fangs were scattered nearby.

It seemed that Lily had obediently taken the bloodwolf fangs back to the village.

However...

John glanced at the leaderboard. Four other players had reached level 10 and could activate their class change request at any time.

Interestingly, these players were familiar faces to John.

Ranked third was Lawrence Andrew, a tall white man who believed in chivalry, with an S-level talent, [Unbreakable Light Shield].

Ranked fourth was Exiled Immortal, a 16-year-old from Dragonia, if John remembered correctly, with an SS-level talent, [Windwhisper].

Then there were Yuta Motoshi, ranked fifth, and Qing, ranked sixth.

All four of these individuals, without exception, had joined Helena's team. Only a straightforward talent like [Exp Boost] could have enabled their entire team to level up so quickly.

In fact, John was just a hair's breadth away from level 15, but he had no intention of leaving Adra Village anytime soon, mainly for Lily's sake.

John had no plans to leave until she reached level 10.

Moreover, only the first player to complete the class change request across the entire server would receive a special reward, and John wasn't keen on stealing Helena's thunder, so he preferred to take his time.

On the other hand, John still had some ideas about his class choice.

As his thoughts surged, a pack of bloodwolves had gradually surrounded him, growling menacingly, hoping to scare off this intruder.

Half an hour later, however, they had all turned into John's experience points.

"Congratulations, you've gained 214 experience points and reached level 15. The special class change request is now available. Would you like to take on the quest now?"

"...Not yet."

John shook his head and decided to postpone the class change request for now.

"I wonder if Lily is online yet..."

John kept refreshing the party panel, and finally, on the twelfth refresh, Lily rejoined the party.

"Finally back. I need to turn in the quest quickly! I wonder how Johnny's doing, but since Johnny is so great, he should be fine, right?"

Lily thought as she gently pushed open the door to Chief Haren's house, only to bump right into John's chest.

"Ouch, ouch... wait, Johnny? What are you doing here?"

Lily rubbed her now red nose, a hint of joy flashing in her eyes.

"I logged in early, so I came to find you first. Do you still have all the bloodwolf fangs with you?"

"I have them all, 46 in total!"

"Great. I have around 60 more here. Together, we can submit Blacksmith Ferris' quest ten times, which will give us 2000 experience points. That should be enough to get you up to level 8."

"Isn't that wrong, though? You were the one who killed the bloodwolves, so is it really okay for me to turn in the quests?"

"Just go ahead and turn them in, don't worry about me."

John waved his hand dismissively, but before he could say anything else, a server-wide announcement suddenly rang in their ears.

[Congratulations to Player: Helena for being the first to complete the class change request. A special reward has been issued!]

The announcement repeated three times, and the deafening sound made Lily frown slightly.

She stared blankly for a while before shaking her head, her eyes full of envy.

"That's incredible... To have completed the class change request so quickly. Ah, no, I don't mean it like that. Johnny is great too! I think Johnny is no worse than Helena!"

"There's no comparison. Besides, Helena is really impressive. You'll probably hear a lot about her in the future.

Alright, enough chit-chat. Let's head to the blacksmith shop. Oh, and here's a pendant for you, a little gift."

As he spoke, a dialog box popped up in front of Lily's eyes.

[Player: John has gifted you a **tier Detox Clover Pendant. Do you accept?]

"Go ahead and take it. It's not anything particularly valuable, but it's a nice accessory."

Lily took the pendant, suddenly gasping, "John, this is rar-"

John quickly covered her mouth and said, "Yes, this is probably the only rare-tier item available right now. Keep it safe and don't let anyone else know."

Tears of gratitude welled up in Lily's eyes, and she nodded, "Mm-hmm, I'll do as Johnny says."

"No problem. By the way, Lily, have you thought about which class you'll choose? It's almost time for you to decide your class path. Any preferences?"

"Um... I haven't thought about it."

Lily tilted her head toward John, blinking her eyes before continuing, "Johnny, what class do you think I should choose?"

"If it were up to me, I'd definitely recommend you switch to either Priest or Mage. After all, your talent is the S-level [Affinity], and your affinity for the elements is far superior to others. Choosing one of these two classes would make your growth much more effective."

"You're right. I almost forgot. But wait, Johnny, how do you know my talent? Did I tell you?"

Hearing this, John immediately blushed.

Maybe Lily calling him "Johnny" so sweetly made John forget himself, and he accidentally let it slip.

"Uh, well... don't you remember? You told me before."

"Did I? Maybe I forgot. I'll go with what Johnny said. I'll become a Priest. Priests can learn healing magic, right? That's what they always say in anime and novels."

"That's right. You have great talent. Maybe one day you'll be the number one Priest in Mount Olympus."

...

Meanwhile, outside the Monster Cave!

Helena smiled as she looked at the people in front of her, all different in height.

"I declare the Pioneer Squad officially formed!"

John's rebirth clearly hadn't affected the normal course of history.

The Pioneer Squad was formed once again, and the five top players who had completed their class choices gathered, becoming one of the most formidable exploration teams of their time and beyond.

"Helena, are we setting off now? I can't wait to head to the new map!" Qing said, carrying the battle axe he had chosen after changing classes, his eyes brimming with fighting spirit.

"A new map will have new monsters, right? Bloodwolves and woodears, I'm sick of them."

"Don't be in such a hurry, little brother Exiled Immortal. Before that, I want to visit an old friend."

Helena curved her lips in a captivating smile.