Chapter 26: An Invitation from a Level 4 Player
The red light in front of him disappeared, and Leon felt a bit confused as he looked around. Although he didn't exit the dungeon through the normal route, he should be in the rental space of Sun City's High School right now. But why did it seem like he was forcefully sent back to the real world?
Looking at the countless skyscrapers that seemed to be made of matchboxes, Leon was at a loss. He still couldn't figure out what was going on.
At this moment, a voice came from behind Leon.
"Player DS-54370681-157?"
Leon turned his head and saw a middle-aged man in his thirties standing behind him. The man was dressed in an ordinary suit with no accessories, looking just like an average person. However, it was this ordinariness that made Leon uneasy.
One must understand that this game world revolves around the game itself, so even ordinary people would carry some traces of the game.
Take Leon, for example. If he were walking in the real world, he would surely have a box to store his game items or equipment. If he reached Level 1, he could even convert one or two pieces of equipment into reality.
For Leon, people who had nothing to do with the game could only be minors under the age of 18.
But the man in front of him was clearly in his thirties, yet his appearance seemed like that of an ordinary person. This situation was definitely not normal.
Before Leon could react, the man smiled and said, "Let's introduce ourselves. My name is Lucian Yorren."
Upon hearing this, Leon was stunned. Others might not know, but there were certain people in Sun City that everyone recognized, and one of them was Lucian Yorren.
Lucian was famous not only because he was one of the five Level 4 players in Sun City, but also because he was the head of the judicial system, controlling Sun City's police and military forces. He was one of the top few among Sun City's millions of players.
Leon couldn't imagine any reason why Lucian would be looking for him. The gap between them was just too vast.
To Leon's surprise, Lucian directly said, "Hey kid, got time to have a drink with me?"
Leon didn't hesitate and nodded right away. In the next instant, with a wave of Lucian's hand, Leon found himself transported to a bar.
The bar looked somewhat dilapidated, reminiscent of those in old films, with old songs playing. A few men and women, who seemed to be of some age, were drinking by themselves.
When they reached the bar, Lucian ordered two drinks—whether it was malt or beer was unclear—and brought them to a booth, motioning for Leon to sit.
At this point, Leon had regained some composure. He sat across from Lucian, carefully picked up a glass of beer, then put it down again.
"This beer…?"
"It's fine. This beer is the specialty here. Many of the ingredients are hard to come by, and you can only drink it here. Have some more," Lucian said, taking a sip of his own beer.
Leon cautiously took a sip. With that one sip, Leon felt as if his soul had been flung out of his body. It took him quite a while to calm down. When he did, he found himself drenched in a thick layer of sweat. At the same time, Leon felt that the figure he had been meditating on seemed to become much clearer. For the first time, Leon sensed the existence of this figure while he was awake.
It was a fragment of a soul buried deep within his own soul, a fragment from who-knows-where.
Leon wanted to say something, but at that moment, Lucian looked at the greasy sweat on Leon's body and said, "The first time drinking this will be like that. Besides, your level is too low. Drink more, and you'll get used to it."
"More in the future…?" Leon had a look of "I didn't mean that" on his face.
Seeing Leon's expression, Lucian laughed, "You know, some people can't even get their hands on this, and here you are disliking it."
After speaking, Lucian's expression turned serious. He stared at Leon and said, "You're probably curious why I came to find you, right?"
Leon quickly nodded. There was no way he could have any interaction with Lucian, and he hadn't done anything illegal recently either.
At this point, Lucian said, "Did you obtain a Titan Artifact in the dungeon?"
"I didn't exploit any bugs!" Leon immediately exclaimed. Exploiting bugs in the game for profit was a serious crime.
"I know. In fact, I received the news right after the Titan Artifact appeared. You have to understand, this type of item usually only appears on the bosses of Level 3 and above, forty-man dungeons. So when a Titan Artifact showed up in a Level 1, five-man dungeon, I immediately pulled up your dungeon records.
So I understand the general situation. I must say, you made a choice that most people couldn't make.
You know, even if you ran the dungeon ten thousand times, you might only encounter the Pearl King once. When it drops, even I would be tempted by the Emperor's Pearl. Yet, you're the only person who would use it as a key to unlock a treasure chest.
So, obtaining the Titan Artifact is a reward for your courage.
Even if others know about this method, they wouldn't get the Titan Artifact like you did, because your Titan Artifact includes the accumulation of the previous three players' abandonments.
I don't believe that, if this method spread, the next person who encounters the Pearl King would choose to take the Emperor's Pearl instead of gambling on their luck."
After Lucian said this, Leon understood. Lucian had already grasped human nature very well. The Titan Artifact in Leon's possession was essentially unique to this dungeon. Since it wasn't a bug, no one would question its origin or the rules.
"So, does that mean this Titan Artifact is completely mine?" Leon said excitedly.
"Of course," Lucian smiled, as if recalling his younger self. "But that's not the reason I came to find you. It's for something else."
"Oh."
Lucian explained, "You see, everyone knows that anything related to Titans or Prometheus is a creation item, an entry requirement for Level 4. But that's only what players below Level 2 think. All Level 3 players receive a mission called the True Name Mission. The key to that mission is either a Titan Artifact or a relic of Prometheus."
"True Name Mission?"
"Yes, it refers to making your game name, badge, and everything that represents your identity truly unique. From that point onward, whether in the real world or the game world, this name will only refer to you.
Although it may undergo slight changes due to certain circumstances or worlds, whenever someone mentions this name, it will always point to you. That is the True Name.
Just like my name. When people in Sun City talk about Lucian, they know it's me. That's because my game name is 'No Reason.'"