Chapter 137 – Hide-and-Seek Paradise (Part 1)

As a mainstream player in a non-mainstream legendary legion, the Blesscaller had always carried a faint melancholy.

It wasn’t that the legion was bad—he loved this big family and every member in it. It was just that he wasn’t born with the innate skill to assert his presence anytime, anywhere. If every comrade in the legion was a raging fire, then he was a squirt gun—the kind meant for children under six. No matter how hard he squirted every day, he was ultimately swallowed by the flames.

This wasn’t his comrades’ fault. He just wasn’t good enough. The design philosophy of Hide-and-Seek Paradise struck the softest part of his heart—even nameless souls could have their springtime TAT

As the data bar for Hide-and-Seek Paradise finished loading, what appeared in front of the Blesscaller was a scene of Nordic countryside scenery. He stood on a lush green field, facing a lake shimmering with silver light. In the distance, mountains loomed, and on the other side of the lake, the vague outline of a manor could barely be seen. Turning around, the grassy field extended about a dozen meters before giving way to a shrubbery that encircled a strangely shaped little wooden hut—shaped like a bowl. Clicking on the minimap revealed its name clearly: Granny Meng’s Hut¹In Chinese mythology, Granny Meng (Meng Po) is the goddess of forgetfulness. She serves a soup on the Bridge of Helplessness that erases the memories of souls before they are reincarnated..

Such serene scenery paired with such a terrifying hut—was this really okay? =_=

Before the Blesscaller could finish his thought, more and more people appeared around him, clearly players who had logged in. Like him, not a single letter or even a radical in sight above their heads. Their appearances, however, remained unchanged, so the Blesscaller immediately recognized a familiar face—Kill All Who Block Me from Meteor Blitz.

Kill All Who Block Me was wearing a set of orange-tier gear introduced after the game’s level 70 update—top-tier stuff. But since orange-tier gear wasn’t as rare as purple-tier post-update, it had slowly become common, if not exactly standard issue, so it wasn’t particularly eye-catching, let alone flashy. Still, having spent so much time on the same server, even if the gear wasn’t distinctive, the appearance was familiar. Kill All Who Block Me was a brown-haired handsome guy with a medium build. One of his two accessory slots was taken up by a glazed gem earring, which made his ear twinkle brightly all year round. It was this hair color and the sparkling that caught the Blesscaller’s attention. Zooming in on the face confirmed his guess.

Meeting a fellow townsman was inevitably exciting, so without thinking whether it was appropriate or not, the Blesscaller blurted out—

[Local] □□□□□: Kill All Who Block Me?

Kill All Who Block Me was busy panning his camera around to survey the environment when this line suddenly popped up in the quiet chat. Stunned, he quickly looked around, but there was no way to tell who had spoken. He could only reply—

[Local] □□□□: I’m not a genie, please don’t summon me at will, thank you.

The Blesscaller froze for a second before realizing that since this was an ID-masking zone, no one wanted their identity exposed. Even if they were to make contact, it should be done via whispers. With this in mind, he quickly walked over to Kill All Who Block Me, did two mid-air flips, and then sent a whisper—

[Whisper] □□□□□: Hehe, sorry about that.

Kill All Who Block Me finally locked onto his target. Zooming in on the face, it was indeed familiar.

[Whisper] □□□□: No big deal, we’re all □□□□ anyway. But since we’re from the same server, we should help each other out.

[Whisper] □□□□□: Absolutely!

With the reunion complete, the first wave of players had already started gathering and moving toward the shrubbery. The two hurried to catch up, soon arriving in front of the hut. Hovering the mouse over it, the system prompted that they needed to accumulate 150 points inside the hut before they could enter Hanako’s Manor on the other side of the river.

The Blesscaller didn’t hesitate—he clicked to enter. The screen didn’t switch scenes, but a small progress bar appeared in the middle, slowly filling up. Just as it was about to finish, another whisper popped up—

[Whisper] □□□□: Hey, which legion are you from again?

…..

The Blesscaller didn’t reply.

As this line appeared, the loading bar finished, and his brief friendship with Kill All Who Block Me unilaterally dissolved during the scene transition TAT

Just as the system had described, all players who entered Granny Meng’s Hut seemed to have drunk from that legendary bowl of soup—forgetting their past lives and shedding their physical forms, they all transformed into Granny Meng. Now, not only were IDs and legions hidden, but even appearances were standardized =_=

Granny Meng’s Hut was a maze. Each player would spawn at a different starting point. Exiting the hut granted 20 points. Defeating NPCs encountered along the way granted 1 point each, while defeating players granted 2 points. If a player died midway, they’d automatically respawn outside the hut and could re-enter, but their accumulated points wouldn’t disappear. However, each death deducted 2 points.

The maze was pitch black, with only greenish walls and faint flickering lanterns illuminating the way. The Blesscaller waited patiently until the aesthetically unpleasing figure of Granny Meng slowly materialized, at which point he very skillfully cast Rally.

In the Blesscaller’s opinion, Rally—which increased physical and magical attack by 10%—was a must-have for any home. Keeping this buff active throughout was all benefit and no harm, even if teammates often teased him about it. He stubbornly clung to these little details ╮(╯_╰)╭

As for the maze, the Blesscaller had no special tricks—he just followed his instincts. But after only a few steps, he encountered another Granny Meng identical to himself. Unsure whether it was an NPC or a player, he hesitated for a second. In that second, the other’s attack had already landed.

Heartstab!

This was an Assassin!

The Blesscaller had no enthusiasm for PvP—he was even a little afraid of these sudden confrontations. Methodically grinding monsters was more his speed. But now, he had no choice but to steel himself and fight!

The Assassin wasn’t sure at first whether he’d run into an NPC or a player, but in that instant, he spotted the Rally buff icon above the other’s head =_=

Realization dawned. When he attacked, he was mentally prepared, expecting a counterattack—after all, in PvP, trading blows was part of the fun. Especially in such narrow confines, the thought of close-quarters combat was even a little thrilling.

Just as he expected, the other raised a hand—but instead of the anticipated skill effects flying toward him, they landed on the caster themselves!

Fervor! A 10% critical hit rate buff! This was a Blesscaller!

The Assassin’s heart tightened. Blesscallers didn’t have high attack power, but they had healing skills, making them an auxiliary healer. In a drawn-out battle, he wouldn’t have the upper hand.

While he was still thinking, the other had already closed the distance! The Assassin jolted, his hand on the mouse stiffening slightly as the other raised their hand again at extremely close range!

Bracing himself to take the hit, the Assassin pressed his item hotkey, watching as the skill effect flew out. He quickly downed a Major Health Potion!

The Assassin’s timing was impeccable—he’d taken the potion within half a second of the other’s skill cast.

The Blesscaller’s skill landed without hesitation—

Ironclad!

A 10% increase to magical and physical defense!

The Assassin was stunned.

The first three moves in PvP were colloquially known as the “Three-Axe Combo”—the key to victory. For example, Assassins loved Backstab + Bloodseal Strike + Bloody Handprint, while Berserkers preferred starting with One Cut Kill—if that didn’t work, they’d follow up with Long River Sunset + Solitary Desert Haze. The pattern varied by class, but often, even if HP remained after three moves, the outcome was already decided.

But in this Assassin’s 22 years of life, he’d never seen a Three-Axe Combo like this—

Buff + Buff + Buff

What kind of antisocial build was this?! This was definitely not of this Earth!!!

The only explanation was that the other wasn’t taking him seriously at all—this was outright provocation and humiliation!!!!

So the Assassin got angry. But the journey from realization to rage took time. By the time he steadied his breathing and prepared to unleash a devastating combo, his target had already vanished into thin air.

The legend… had fled =_=

The Blesscaller, having successfully escaped, stopped at a corner and wiped cold sweat from his brow (metaphorically). He’d long resolved not to engage in direct PvP, knowing his own limits—eight out of ten times, he’d get slaughtered. Better to flee outright, then fight any NPCs he encountered along the way. If he didn’t run into any, so be it. Exiting the maze would net him 20 points, and 150 was just eight runs away. Once he memorized the paths, it wouldn’t be a problem.

As for stacking buffs? He just felt safer with more buffs—a purely personal habit =_=

Taking a deep breath, he looked around to confirm no one was nearby, then let go of the mouse and started sketching the route he’d taken on a pre-prepared scrap of paper: straight, left turn, hit a wall, backtrack, right turn, straight to here. He had no idea where he was in the maze, but by recording every path he took, he’d eventually piece together the full map.

His first run through the maze went surprisingly smoothly. He only encountered four players—aside from the last one, who was persistent enough to force him to use a Speed Scroll to shake off, the rest were manageable. As for wrong turns, he only had to backtrack once—his other path choices were impressively accurate. NPCs were sparse, possibly due to his route, but he killed every one he met. With the 20 points for exiting, he ended up with 28 points total.

Outside the maze, he reverted to his original loli avatar, though the default appearance was completely unremarkable.

A few players had already exited and were exchanging tips. They seemed acquainted but not close, since their conversation was in Local Chat—clearly, they had no secrets to share.

[Local] □□□: 20 points is pretty good. I died right after going in and lost the 2 points I’d earned.

[Local] □□□□: If you meet a player, don’t hesitate—attack first. If you don’t hit them, they’ll hit you.

[Local] □□□□□: The problem is there’s no way to tell NPCs and players apart.

[Local] □□□□: True. Unless they have buffs showing above their heads, there’s zero difference.

[Local] □□□: Speaking of buffs, I ran into a Blesscaller whose first three moves in PvP were all self-buffs. Absolute spectacle.

[Local] □□□□□: And you just stood there? Should’ve taken the chance to whale on them!

[Local] □□□: Whale my ass, I was too stunned =_=

The Blesscaller subconsciously hunched his shoulders at his desk, as if that could hide him, then clicked to re-enter the hut!

Strangely enough, the Blesscaller rarely ran into NPCs or players during his subsequent runs. Though pathfinding wasn’t as smooth as the first time and took longer, he always made it out.

By the end of the first day, the Blesscaller had accumulated 136 points in Granny Meng’s Hut. One more run, and with a bit of luck, he’d hit the target. But as fate would have it, he ran into that Assassin again.

Normally, the Blesscaller wouldn’t have recognized him—there were so many Assassins, and their playstyles were similar. Who could tell them apart? But while Assassins were hard to distinguish, the Blesscallers stood out—especially one with such… unique techniques =_=

Three moves into the fight, when the Blesscaller tried to flee again, the Assassin instantly realized—this was the same guy!

Letting him escape once could be chalked up to carelessness. Letting him escape twice would be sheer stupidity. So the Assassin gave chase!

The Blesscaller ran like the wind. Though he took hits, he kept spamming heals and potions, managing to stay alive. Thanks to the maps he’d drawn earlier, he’d mostly figured out the maze’s layout—meaning he wouldn’t run in circles! Clinging to his last drop of HP, he burst out of the hut!

Right behind him, the Assassin came out too!

20 points secured, but the Assassin wasn’t happy. Outside, everyone had reverted to their original avatars—how was he supposed to pick out that damned Blesscaller in this crowd? The bastard had vanished into the masses…

[Local] □□□: Fuck, you got guts? Come out and fight me fair and square!!!!!!!!

[Local] □□□: You got the balls to buff, have the balls to admit it! Don’t hide in the crowd, I know you’re watching!!

[Local] □□□: You got the balls to buff, have the balls to admit it! Don’t hide in the crowd, I know you’re watching!!

[Local] □□□□: Who pissed off Seventh Brother so bad he’s channeling Auntie Xue? [covering mouth to laugh]

[Local] □□□: Piss off!

[Local] □□□: Fine, keep hiding! If you dare show yourself again, I’ll wreck you!!!

The Blesscaller felt his butt clench in fear, filled with grievances. He was a peaceful, loving player—he just wanted to survive. Was that so wrong? TAT

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  In Chinese mythology, Granny Meng (Meng Po) is the goddess of forgetfulness. She serves a soup on the Bridge of Helplessness that erases the memories of souls before they are reincarnated.