What kind of situation was this?
Hailuot stared at the familiar yet strange game interface before him, and more questions arose in his mind.
The interface felt familiar because he had memories of this kind of game. In a dream—or perhaps in another life—he had played a similar game as a Player.
It felt strange because those memories contained no information about this game.
He wondered what he would encounter if he went further.
Hailuot turned his gaze toward Butler Kote, who was leading the way ahead.
Some information appeared.
Character: Kote
Race: Undead（Skeleton）
Class: Skeleton Mage
Level: 29
Faction: Olden Cemetery（Within the territory of the Olden Cemetery Faction, all attributes are increased by ten percent.）
Specialty: Beginner Dark Magic
Health: 2430
Attack: 260
Defense: 243
Magical Wisdom: 467
Combat Technique: Dash
Magic: Psychic Critical Strike, Bursting Fireball, Soul Shield
Equipment: Finger Bone Magic Wand（Designed specifically for Skeleton Mages by House Claurend, it can replace a finger bone and be fitted onto the hand. Increases spell effects by five percent, and dark-type spell effects by five percent）
Cornet A12 Revolver（Designed by the Tomorrow Firearms Design Bureau, manufactured by Tomorrow Small Arms Industry. Holds six rounds, capable of firing standard ammunition.）
Command Requirement: 220（Old Dominator-220）
After examining Butler Kote's stats, Hailuot was surprised by his strength. The difference was partly due to Hailuot's own weakness: he had only just become a Necromancer, while Butler Kote had served House Claurend for hundreds of years.
Another surprise for Hailuot was that this Skeleton Mage, Kote, had a pistol hidden on him.
No wonder his mother had said, while pressing the Cornet B32 into his hands, "Against magic, a gun is both accurate and fast."
And she had even found the best gunsmith to teach him how to load, unload, and shoot all kinds of firearms.
However, the game seemed able to recognize a firearm only as Equipment, not the skills required to use it...
Next, Hailuot browsed through the other functions of the game interface once more.
Most of the functions were usable, including the player's 36-slot inventory.
The exit option was grayed out and unavailable, while a new option had appeared: return to the Olden Cemetery.
As Hailuot familiarized himself with the game interface, he felt as if he had passed through an invisible membrane. The scene before him changed.
【You have entered the Skeleton Maze of the Olden Cemetery】
"Master, we've arrived at the Skeleton Maze."
Then a flood of information came pouring out of the chat bar like a surging tide.
"Buying small Chaos Crystals at the highest price—one gold each. Send them straight to my mailbox; I've already set up cash on delivery."
"Any older brothers willing to power-level a little sister? Voice chat or video chat both fine."
"Red Coral Studio, nanny-level carrying service, sightseeing-style leveling."
"Evil Bone Lingran Guild is recruiting! Join the Guild and get Equipment immediately. High-level Players run Instances every day..."
"Selling a Skeleton Warrior with a Command Requirement of 165 points—a top-tier Mercenary, so don't miss out! Send me your price by private message; I won't answer inquiries about the price..."
……
……
Hailuot opened the Chat Channel options and checked boxes to filter out the spam. The dialogue box finally fell silent.
He now had the mental bandwidth to observe the place he currently found himself in.
A solid wall blocked the passage behind him. The side walls stood five meters apart, and the passage ahead ran straight for about fifteen meters before turning left. It was four meters high.
Many bone fragments were embedded in the brick walls, and phosphorescent flames kept emerging from the gaps between the bricks.
And then...
Ahead, a large mass of something like mud surged up out of the ground, the mud writhing and splitting into two.
Butler Kote immediately treated the situation as a grave threat. He stepped in front of Hailuot and extended his right index finger. A ball of dark red light gathered at its tip.
"Master, be careful, these are the monsters that have invaded the Family Cemetery!"
As Kote spoke, the two masses writhed into shape. Their bodies resembled hairless wild boars, with two rows of vents along their backs that kept spewing red flames.
The magic at Kote's fingertip took shape, ready to fire at the two boar-shaped monsters.
At that moment, four people came running around the corner.
They wore armor that looked old-fashioned to Hailuot and carried swords, shields, and Magic wands. Without greeting anyone, they charged the two newly emerged monsters. After a flurry of sword strikes and spell blasts, the monsters let out a single shriek before collapsing.
The monsters' corpses turned to sand, then crumbled into powder and vanished, leaving several materials on the ground.
A person dressed as a Warrior quickly scooped up what the monsters had dropped.
The other three turned their weapons toward Hailuot together.
The leader, a Mage in black robes, addressed Hailuot rudely: "Hey, man. The four of us made a circuit and cleared all the monsters that spawned here. Find another spot and don't hold up our leveling."
Butler Kote aimed the magic gathered at his fingertip at them and said in a chilling tone, "Apologize to my Master at once for your insolence! Otherwise..."
Before Kote could finish, all four people across from him cried out in astonishment.
"Whoa! Is that a high-tier mercenary!"
"Obviously! Intelligence that advanced means it's a high-tier Mercenary."
"Big brother, where did you recruit this high-tier Skeleton Mage from?"
"Are you blind? Can't you see that big brother is wearing a Costume, and so is the Mercenary he recruited? Big brother is definitely a big spender."
"Big brother, add us as friends and help level us up!"
That damned sense of familiarity!
"Kote, they mean no harm!" Hailuot told the Butler to withdraw his magic and step aside. Then he smiled at the four Players and said, "Let's add each other as friends. I just started the game and am only level 1. I don't know anything, so teach me."
"We haven't been playing long either, our highest is only level 12. You've got a high-tier mercenary, you'll level up fast."
The four players each added Hailuot as a friend, one by one.
Hailuot also saw their names.
Misty Rain First Blossom: Necromancer
Yu Yaowan: Black Warrior
Black-and-White Peach: Dark Singer
Shuchacha: Winter Assassin
After talking with them, Hailuot learned that all four were first-year college students who shared a dorm room.
Misty Rain First Blossom was the leader of the four.
Once they had introduced themselves, Misty Rain First Blossom asked Hailuot, "Big Brother Shattered Bone, how many Command points does your high-tier Mercenary require?"
Hailuot answered, "220."
"Whoa..."
Another chorus of astonished gasps.
"A Command Requirement over 100 points makes it a top-tier mercenary, and 200 makes it a Hero. Big Brother Shattered Bone's got a level 1 Hero with a 220 Command Requirement—leveling up is basically like riding a rocket."
"Wait, that doesn't make sense. A level 1 character starts with only 50 Command points. How can Big Brother Shattered Bone command a Hero with a Command Requirement of 220?"
"Big Brother Shattered Bone must have some top-tier item that boosts Command value."
"Big Brother Shattered Bone, did you buy this Hero? Or was it a gift from a friend?"
Hailuot answered, "A gift from a friend."
Misty Rain First Blossom asked, "Big Brother Shattered Bone, this friend of yours must be a veteran player—who is it?"
It was...
Hailuot didn't know how to answer.
His father had left Kote to him, but where was his father now?
Yu Yaowan cut in, "An Item that boosts Command by that much is worth more than this 220-point Hero. Big Brother Shattered Bone's friend must be impressive—maybe even someone on the Leaderboard."