WTYTIAAN Chapter 237

Hmm…

Recalling Arthur’s reputation in the academy, Yan Yunqing figured Arthur most likely realized this unsolicited fighter was quite useful, so he went with the flow and released the mission, wanting to trick a few handy fighters into archaeological digs.

After all, with a mercenary group like [Fire’s Loneliness]’s level, it would cost a lot of money to hire them from the Bounty Hunter Association.

And looking at the reward for this mission…

Yan Yunqing pulled up the mission panel and glanced at the gold coins for the mission reward. It was really pathetic, not even as much as the leftover change from the hunting missions he just submitted.

However, the experience given was very generous. All physical rewards given by NPCs are from the NPCs themselves, while experience is generated by the game system based on the difficulty of the mission. Only Yan Yunqing, with his NPC panel, is an exception, with a dedicated mission experience pool for rewarding players.

This is treating players as free labor delivered to their doorstep.

However, Yan Yunqing joined [Yingyi]’s team precisely because the mission experience was generous, and it conveniently aligned with his route, allowing him to complete this mission before going to find Theodore. He also wanted to get in touch with the official people.

Arthur lived up to his bookworm title. When they found him, he was buried in a pile of parchment scrolls, many of which looked ancient. Yan Yunqing took a few glances and recognized that most of them were historical notes.

[Fire’s Loneliness] casually picked up a volume, his eyes swirling as he looked at the text, “What’s this written in?”

[Hell Cruiser] hugged his staff and peered over, “This should be Ancient Dragon Language. The title should be ‘Eternal Remnants: The Epic of the Rise and Fall of the Gods’.”

Arthur, who was organizing the books he brought, looked up upon hearing this. Seeing the manuscript in [Fire’s Loneliness]’s hand, he couldn’t help but look at [Hell Cruiser] in surprise, “You know Ancient Dragon Language?”

The Ermann Continent now uniformly uses one language, without a specific name. Most people call it Ermann Language, but earlier it had another name: Lanheng Language.

It is said that more than two thousand years ago, the languages used on the Ermann Continent were not uniform. Even different tribes had different languages, not to mention the vast differences in language between small kingdoms and different races.

Ancient Ermann Language was the most widely spread and used language at that time. Even so, language barrier was the biggest problem during the Demon King’s conquests.

After the Demon King ended the Divine War and established the Eternal Empire, the first thing he did was unify the writing system. The language used was neither Ancient Ermann Language nor the languages of other races, but a new language called ‘Lanheng Language’, simplified from Ancient Ermann Language with other languages as supplements, and promoted it.

After thousands of years of evolution, with the destruction of the Eternal Empire and the rise of the two great empires, this Lanheng Language has not changed much, only the old name was abandoned and it became the current Ermann Language.

This Ermann Language is the language used for daily communication, while the old script was slowly buried with time. Many minor languages have disappeared, and very few people know them anymore. Even mages, who use language as a carrier for spells, rarely master these ancient languages.

Not to mention the languages of other races. Since the rise of the two great empires, most of the other races have disappeared into places rarely visited by humans.

Even if they know them, it’s limited to a few commonly used magic spells.

Arthur was surprised that someone in this poor-looking mercenary team could understand Ancient Dragon Language. This isn’t those short and simple magic spells, but books written in Ancient Dragon Language, requiring a deep understanding of the script to read and translate.

Yan Yunqing also took a second look at [Hell Cruiser]. He was quite impressed with this guy. After all, the [Yingyi] team looked like it was made up of soldiers. Even [Fire’s Loneliness], who chose mage, was all muscle, more like a swordsman than a swordsman. But another mage in the team looked weak and frail, his wimpy appearance exactly like that of a native mage.

He had previously guessed that this guy might be doing research, unlike the other four. Looking at it now, he was probably right.

[Hell Cruiser] didn’t show much pride, but nodded calmly, “I’ve studied a little before, I can only roughly understand.”

Arthur looked at him with more interest, “Besides Ancient Dragon Language, what other languages do you know?”

[Hell Cruiser] paused and said cautiously, “Ancient Ermann Language and Ancient Elven Language, I know a little bit of both.”

Arthur became interested, “Really? Then I’ll test you.”

The other four members of the team looked at [Hell Cruiser], seemingly very interested in this impromptu test, and Yan Yunqing keenly felt [Yingyi] glance in his direction.

Yan Yunqing imperceptibly raised an eyebrow.

[Hell Cruiser] didn’t seem very willing to accept Arthur’s ‘test’, but the captain didn’t speak, so he had to bite the bullet and answer Arthur’s questions.

He wasn’t being modest. These three languages were indeed only known to him to a limited extent. He could only understand relatively common words, and then half-guess the meaning of an article based on these common words.

It had the feeling of a mediocre student doing an English reading comprehension test.

However, [Hell Cruiser] was clearly not a mediocre student, but a real genius.

Only half a year has passed since the players logged on, and these three languages were completely unfamiliar and difficult for [Hell Cruiser]. He couldn’t even get reference books and systematic learning materials. Being able to learn to this point of half-guessing can already be considered a genius among geniuses.

The case is solved, this is definitely a technical talent.

Maybe the whole purpose of establishing the [Yingyi] team was to have four people protecting one person doing research?

Yan Yunqing leaned against the other side of the desk, at the edge of the crowd, casually flipping through the messy manuscripts, not showing much surprise at [Hell Cruiser]’s performance. After all, he had guessed it before, and now it was just confirming that his guess was correct.

Arthur ended the ‘test’ with lingering interest, quite satisfied with [Hell Cruiser]’s performance, “Your level is not bad. You’ll be my assistant then, and study with me. I also need an assistant who knows Ancient Ermann Language.”

[Hell Cruiser] still had a gloomy expression, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“If you do well, after this employment is over, I can write you a letter of recommendation to study with my teacher.” Arthur said seriously, “My teacher is Professor Theresa of the Sigret Academy.”

Arthur announced this name, waiting for [Hell Cruiser]’s surprised expression, but he didn’t expect the other party to have no reaction at all, and even looked a little dazed.

Dazed…?

Arthur looked at [Fire’s Loneliness], who was also dressed as a mage. This guy’s dazed expression was even more obvious, as if he wanted to write ‘Who are you talking about?’ on his face.

Arthur’s pupils shook, “You don’t know my teacher?”

That shouldn’t be! How could mages not know Theresa, the famous Archmage who teaches at the Sigret Academy?

Not to mention that this is in Freedom City!

[Fire’s Loneliness] looked at his own captain, “This…”

[Yingyi] also shook his head subtly, obviously he didn’t know who Theresa was either, but the name Sigret Academy sounded familiar.

Yan Yunqing chuckled inwardly. The name of Theresa the Archmage is indeed well-known. After all, there are only a few dozen Archmages above level 90 in the entire Ermann Continent, and Theresa is a teacher at Sigret Academy, the highest institution of higher learning on the continent, so it’s normal for her to be well-known.

And Theresa is also obsessed with studying the history of the Eternal Empire, often runs to Freedom City, and occasionally hires mercenaries to go to the ruins, handing out large sums of gold coins, very generous, so Theresa’s name is not small in Freedom City.

But they happened to meet a player team, and not even [Yingyi] and the others, whose spawn point was in Freedom City, so they wouldn’t know her!

Arthur was greatly shocked, “How could it be, you don’t even know my teacher…”

[Yingyi] and [Woof Woof Team] looked at each other, and [Woof Woof Team], seeing that Arthur was still entangled in this, quickly said: “It’s getting late, let’s hurry up and pack up and prepare to leave.”

Being coaxed a few times, Arthur finally stopped dwelling on this issue.

Yan Yunqing looked at the map from the side. This mission gave a simple map, hand-drawn, which was naturally not as good as the game system’s own minimap function.

He had already synchronized the mission map to the minimap. Looking at the location marked on the minimap, he pondered.

Yan Yunqing compared a few reference points before tentatively thinking: The final destination of this mission seems to be… Elantick City?

After all, the Eternal Empire was established by the Demon King himself, and he still had an impression of a few relatively important cities. In Yan Yunqing’s memory, Elantick City was a relatively wealthy city, famous for producing a mineral that resembled crystal but contained extremely high magical elements. This mineral was often used to enchant weapons, or inlaid on magic wands to improve a mage’s affinity for a single element.

This mineral was an important and rare mineral resource in the game. Mining it could fill the national treasury and improve the strength of the army, so Yan Yunqing naturally had a deep impression of Elantick City.

I wonder if Elantick’s magic ore has been mined out after so many years?

If it hasn’t been mined out, he might be able to transport some back and sell it to the players, and get another batch of experience points and skill points.

*

Arthur had a lot of things, but he himself had space props, so he didn’t need these hired mercenaries to carry them. The players also had game backpacks, which could also be considered a kind of space prop. Basically, everything was put in the game backpack, and the group was lightly equipped.

Arthur rented a camel as a means of transportation with ease, and also kindly rented one for the two mages. As for the remaining swordsmen? Did swordsmen need to ride camels? They weren’t delicate mages.

[Hell Cruiser], a truly delicate technical talent, nodded in full agreement.

Leaving Freedom City and heading north, Yan Yunqing was not a mage on the surface, so naturally he didn’t follow along and sit on the camel, but followed behind the team, lagging behind by four or five meters, following not too close and not too far, and constantly paying attention to the dangers around the team.

The Eternal Ruins are not as dangerous as the Sea of Death, but they were once one of the most intense battlefields of the Divine War. Many gods are buried in this land, and there are also many monsters. The danger level is much higher than that of the two great empires.

Otherwise, this place wouldn’t have been abandoned and turned into the current ruins.

The place chosen by the Demon King to establish the Eternal Empire had a lot of resources around it. If this place wasn’t really dangerous, and the payout might not be proportional to the effort, which ruler would be willing to give up such a good piece of land?

Of course, there may be other reasons, but Yan Yunqing didn’t know about them.

Yan Yunqing’s level has been raised, and some of the weapons in his backpack that he couldn’t equip due to insufficient level have been opened to him – the lowest level part of it he can use.

This time when he came to the Eternal Ruins, he also took out a level 90 orange greatsword from his backpack and carried it on his back. To the outside world, he was a swordsman who used a greatsword.

[Fire’s Loneliness] quietly looked back and nudged [Hell Cruiser] beside him with his elbow, “Hey, don’t you think the guy in the back looks like the protagonist in a xianxia novel who’s about to go on an adventure?”

[Hell Cruiser] was a little listless from the sun, and raised his eyelids, “Oh.”

[Fire’s Loneliness] clicked his tongue, “Okay, I can tell you’re a good student nerd who didn’t read novels in high school. It’s useless to ask you.”

[Hell Cruiser] said lazily, “This is obviously a Western fantasy world, you say he’s a xianxia novel protagonist, isn’t that nonsense?”

[Fire’s Loneliness] snorted, “What do you know? That’s how it is in those Qidian novels, the male protagonist who’s been dumped and is being chased by his ex-fiancée’s family, carrying a greatsword, escapes to a remote and dangerous place, joins a mercenary team to explore, encounters danger along the way, is forced to jump off a cliff, and as a result accidentally accepts the inheritance of a powerful master or something…”

[Bin Storm], who was walking beside the team, raised his head and rolled his eyes at him, “Please, we’re in a game world, where does the inheritance of a powerful master come from? It’s more likely that we’ll trigger a hidden mission.”

“Isn’t the inheritance of a powerful master a kind of hidden mission?” [Fire’s Loneliness] defended, “The inheritance of a powerful master isn’t so easy to get. You have to go through forty-nine levels before you can get the inheritance, right?”

[Woof Woof Team] accidentally laughed, apparently amused by this joker.

Even [Yingyi]’s eyebrows and eyes had a hint of a smile. [Bin Storm] twitched the corners of his mouth: “Do you think this is Journey to the West? Forty-nine calamities?”

“Hey, don’t say that, we’re really going in a northwest direction, and the mission objective is also archaeology, isn’t it? In a sense, it’s also going on a journey to the west.”

As soon as this statement came out, all five of them laughed.

Arthur, on another camel, was indifferent to this. The game had an automatic harmony function, and mentioning things related to the game and reality would be harmonized. Players could hear clearly, but NPCs wouldn’t understand what they were saying.

Arthur was holding a sheepskin book with something written on it and studying it with fascination, occasionally looking up to compare it with the surrounding environment, wondering if he was looking for directions.

Yan Yunqing’s attention was not on [Yingyi] and the others, but on the red dots that had been following them tens of meters behind on the minimap.

These red dots were not there when they left the city, but after walking a distance, they quietly followed behind them. If Yan Yunqing’s current strength was not enough to crush most people, he might not have noticed the little tails following behind.

Red dots, these must be hostile NPCs.

Who could it be? The Eternal God Cult? Or the Holy Church of Light?

But his current appearance shouldn’t have been exposed in front of the Eternal God Cult or the Holy Church of Light, right? How did they find him?

Or is it not him who attracted them at all?

Yan Yunqing felt that this guess was more likely. With the players’ fearless nature, it wasn’t impossible for them to provoke ill-intentioned people. Maybe these little red dots just wanted to wait until they were far away from Freedom City before rushing up to take revenge on them.

Yan Yunqing touched his nose and glanced at the team in front again. Haven’t these guys realized that something is following them? Didn’t they look at the minimap? Or is there a difference between their minimaps? Can’t they see the red names?