CHAPTER 631

【 FEUDAL SYSTEM 】

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The dark brown dirt road, beaten flat by countless footsteps and wheels, stretched ahead in winding curves that carved a path through the vast forest.

The trees on either side stood lush and green, but if one looked further into the distance, their colors gradually shifted to gold and orange, as though the forest itself was passing through the seasons.

Along the road, a simple open carriage sped forward, carrying seven fully armed players.

It was Xu Ge and the teammates of FacetheWind.

Or rather, since he was now playing as his character, calling him Yeye would be more appropriate.

After they had eaten their fill and all the party members had gathered, the group finally set out for their destination. They left Chosen City behind and traveled along the broad road carved out by players beyond the city walls.

Yeye sat at one side of the carriage, listening to the melodious bgm in the background whilst looking at the passing scenery outside the carriage that was constantly receding.

“Senior Wind, you guys actually have a carriage?! This makes traveling so much faster. I thought we’d have to walk the whole way.”

“Heh, luckily we managed to rent one,” FacetheWind replied with a grin.

“Running a carriage service here in the Elven Kingdom isn’t exactly easy. Especially this one, which is pulled by a horse–wyvern hybrid. It’s a magical beast that mutated after drinking a black dragon’s blood. Let me tell you, raising one is a nightmare. Only Moe Moe could keep this kind of service going without going out of business.”

“So these horses pulling our carriage are actually magical beasts…?”

Yeye’s eyes widened.

He glanced at the horse–wyvern in awe before quickly asking, “You guys don’t have your own magical beasts?”

FacetheWind chuckled.

“How could we not? Any ElvKing veteran has one. We all do. But dragging them into a ruin? That’s just dumb. If our familiars die in there, they won’t respawn anymore. It’s far too risky, so we left ours in Atlantis.”

“Atlantis?”

“The main city of All-Stars.”

The carriage clattered along as the two idly chatted.

Across from them, Zhao Linqian—who had chosen the in-game username “Nana”—was happily sandwiched between two other female players, also chattering away. ȑâꞐŏ𝐁ΕṦ

As for the remaining two male players, one held the reins up front while the other sat beside Yeye resting with his eyes closed.

Glancing at the girls on the other side of the carriage, FacetheWind leaned closer to Yeye, slapped his back with a sly grin, and whispered:

“Geez, Coconut. I didn’t think you had it in you, brother! To think that you actually dragged your pretty little girlfriend along with you into the game? you’re much bolder than you look.”

“Cough! Cough—!”

“N-No! I’ve told you, like, ten times already—we just know each other in real life! She’s not my girlfriend…” Yeye stammered, choking on his water as his cheeks flushed red.

“Come on, bro, no need to be shy about it. I mean, you two even made your usernames match like a couple.”

“T-That’s just… us messing around with each other!”

“Tsk, tsk. Sounds more like you’re showing off in front of this poor old single me.”

“Senior Wind!”

“Ahahaha!”

The older man teased while laughing loudly, leaving Yeye’s face burning with embarrassment.

Their banter earned curious looks from the girls across the carriage. Luckily, the two had kept their voices low enough that the others hadn’t caught onto the details of their conversation.

Like that, their ride went on smoothly until the hunter driving the carriage suddenly spoke:

“Guys, heads up. We’re about to cross the boundary.”

“Boundary?”

Yeye blinked.

Looking ahead, he spotted a tall stone pillar about a hundred meters away, carved with intricate designs reminiscent of the Temple of Life’s motifs. Beyond that marker, the forest changed drastically as the trees became bare and skeletal, painting a desolate scene.

“Here, Coconut. Put this on.”

The archer beside him handed over a heavy coat, its thick fur lining radiating warmth.

Across the carriage, Nana also received something similar.

“Why do we need coats?”

Yeye hesitated.

“Well, if you’re fine with the cold, you don’t need to put it on. The rest of us are max-level Iron-rankers, so we barely need it ourselves,” the other warrior in the party smirked.

Cold?

The temperature around them still felt perfectly normal, leaving Yeye puzzled.

Then the carriage jolted slightly—

And for a moment, Yeye felt as though they had pierced through some kind of invisible barrier. Almost immediately, a surge of frigid air swept in from all sides, biting into his skin and making him shiver from head to toe.

“A-achoo!”

He sneezed at the same time as Nana across from him.

Sniffling, they exchanged embarrassed looks before hurriedly pulling on their coats, much to the laughter of the rest of the party.

With himself wrapped up warmly now, Yeye frowned and glanced around at the surroundings.

“What just happened?”

But when his eyes drifted back toward the road behind them, he froze, eyes widening.

The landscape they had just passed through was now completely different.

The lush greenery had vanished, replaced by a bleak, withered forest where every tree stood bare and lifeless.

In the distance, the colossal, majestic World Tree now looked like a mere shadow of its former self. Although still massive, it appeared diminished, its branches stripped bare and its trunk withered like a husk on the verge of death.

“W-what… what’s happening? What happened to the World Tree?!”

The two newbies could only stare in stunned disbelief.

“Relax,” one of the veterans said calmly. “We just crossed the boundary.”

“In Elven Kingdom’s storyline, the revival of the Goddess must be kept secret no matter what. No other factions, especially other gods, can be allowed to discover it. That’s why the Goddess relocated both her true body and Chosen City into a separate alternate pocket dimension.”

“We usually call this subdimension the Respawn Point Boundary. After all, we players always respawn here whenever we revive.”

“Currently, only us players and the elves who believe in the Goddess can enter. No NPCs, not even magical beasts, can pass through the boundary freely.”

“Because the Goddess herself resides inside, the climate within the subdimension barely changes all year round. But it’s different once you cross the boundary. Right now, the land outside has just entered winter. Pretty cold, huh?”

“As for that withered World Tree you’re seeing, well, don’t worry. It’s just an illusion.”

The party’s female mage explained matter-of-factly.

“I see…”

Yeye nodded. He looked back at the barren, frozen forest and clicked his tongue in wonder.

“How interesting…”

Just then, FacetheWind seemed to remember something. He turned to the two newcomers.

“Oh, right. Coconut, Nana—I’ll share with you a more detailed maps of the Elven Forest’s central zone and the ruins nearby. Accept my request when it pops up on your end.”

Yeye’s lips twitched.

“Wait Senior, why do you call her Nana but keep calling me Coconut?” he complained.

“What, you’d rather I call her Grandma instead?”

FacetheWind shot back with equal sass.

Yeye: “….”

Nana: “….”

“No fun,” Nana muttered, rolling her eyes.

Still, she glanced up at the minimap in the corner of her vision and frowned.

“But don’t we already have the minimap screen?”

The older man chuckled.

“That’s just the system’s default map. It only shows official coordinates. What we’re giving you is far more detailed—an extra gift for you newbies. These maps are All-Stars standard issue, packed with lots of hidden info.”

“The central zone is actually within the boundary. But don’t expect more than this—custom player-drawn maps are expensive. Especially maps that detail farther regions or contain more confidential information. Of course, those maps usually cost a fortune.”

As he spoke, FacetheWind sent the file share request.

A notification flashed in Yeye and Nana’s vision.

They exchanged a glance, then both clicked “Accept.”

At once, their minimaps glowed brightly as countless new icons and markers filled their map screens. However, the flood of information only covered the Elven Forest’s central zone and the ruins nearby. Beyond that, their maps remained blank.

“What’s all this extra stuff?” Yeye asked curiously.

“Plenty of things,” FacetheWind said. “Teahouses, inns, stables, villages run by NPCs or players, even guild outposts.”

Taking a swig of ale from his flask, the older man cleared his throat and continued his lecture.

“These are all minor locations, many built by players themselves. With the growing playerbase and the elven forest being so vast, settlements have began to spread out over time. Beyond the seven official main player-controlled cities, lots of players have started staking claims on those areas.”

“Especially small guilds. They don’t have the strength or recognition to build official cities, so they just set up rough camps in those areas instead.”

“On top of that, along major roads you’ll find service spots—inns, taverns, stables—all built by solo players or guilds. Partly because adventurers from other factions need them, but also because land prices inside the cities are becoming more and more ridiculous.”

“Of course, none of these ‘grey areas’ show up on the official map. Only places with the Goddess’s holy statues get marked and receive protection from the Church of Life. Everything else is unofficial.”

“But since the system allows us to edit and share our maps, players have been cataloging all these unofficial grey areas. Over time, these personal maps became better and more accurate than the one provided by the system. At this point, making custom maps has practically become an industry in itself.”

FacetheWind patiently explained with a proud and excited expression.

The two newcomers listened intently, their faces full of amazement.

“That’s amazing! This game’s level of freedom is unreal!” Nana exclaimed.

“Right?” The older man grinned broadly.

He took a swig from his flask and continued, puffed up by their admiration.

“However, one thing I need to caution you two about is that those unofficial grey areas also come with several risks…”

“First, remote grey camps can be attacked by monsters at any time. And without official protection, most don’t have the strength to defend themselves. Theft and being raided also happen quite often—the kind of thing you’d never see in a proper, officially mandated city.”

“Just a few days ago, there was even a big incident which involves a max-level Silver-ranker attacking a small guild’s camp while its main force was away. By the end of it, that just one single individual wiped their entire base clean.”

“That Silver-ranker didn’t PK anyone, so he didn’t get flagged red. But he walked away with all their assets.”

FacetheWind lifted a finger for emphasis, voice lowering.

“Rumor has it that small guild lost over one million worth of contribution points in assets.”

“One… million?!”

Nana gasped.

“That’s awful! And no one stopped him?”

FacetheWind only smirked, before shrugging his shoulders.

“Heh, what can they do? In the end, this is just a game! Think of it like these grey areas operating in Jianghu ¹ from those wuxia novels. In Jianghu, strength reigns supreme. So if you venture out on your own without enough power, you’ll have to be prepared to suffer some losses.”

“Just look at those big guilds. They’ve got outpost in the grey areas too—but who dares raid them? No one! Even their roadside inns and taverns remain untouched. If anyone tries to attack them, I bet they’ll be hunted down in no time to the ends of the earth.”

“Interesting. Really fascinating.”

Yeye’s eyes lit up, utterly captivated by the older man’s storytelling.

Meanwhile, FacetheWind tipped back his flask, only to find it empty after two drops. With a frown, he tucked it away—then, in one slick motion, snatched his teammates flask from his belt, took a hearty swig, and slid it back again as if nothing happened.

The hunter shot him a white-eyed glare.

FacetheWind chuckled awkwardly, pretending not to notice, then cleared his throat.

“So… the safest method is still to get official recognition!”

“You either settle in the main cities or manage to obtain a holy statue of the Goddess that was approved by the Church of Life. With one of those, it’s like founding a temple within your base. It becomes protected, and its location appears officially on the system map.”

“Of course, getting one is ridiculously difficult. Only veteran priest players who achieved major achievements ever succeed in their applications. That’s why high-ranking priests are in such demand, especially after the Church’s recent reforms!”

“Oh, but if you don’t want to deal with all that complicated stuff, there’s also a shortcut. Just pledge allegiance to a big guild since they have major cities as their main base of operations. As long as you pay them a portion of your income regularly, you’ll receive their protection.”

“That’s the mainstream approach now. While there’s still some risk in becoming vassals of a big guild, it drops significantly since big guilds have their own guard forces—like the Knights Templar and the Order of the Silver Hand of the Azeroth Alliance, the Order of the Goddess of Long Live the Goddess, the Iris Paladins of the Heart of Nature, and the Vanguard Guard of the Knights of the Scourge…”

“Honestly, the way these smaller guilds pledge their allegiance to the larger guilds really reminds me of the feudal system back on Earth. Some independent players swear loyalty to small guilds, and those guilds in turn become vassals of even bigger guilds. At this point, it’s basically the same system—just missing the fancy titles, haha!”

FacetheWind rambled on animatedly, his words flowing fast and clear. Yet Yeye and Nana absorbed every detail eagerly, their curiosity burning brighter with each new piece of information.

“This is incredible… this game really feels like the real world!”

Nana said, her eyes sparkling.

“Yeah! But unlike Earth, it’s a fantasy world with swords and magic!” the older man agreed, nodding proudly.

Yeye’s expression mirrored their excitement.

Much of what he was hearing—these nuances and hidden mechanics—were things those videos he watched online rarely touched upon.

Elven Kingdom was too vast, too rich. Without stepping inside and becoming player themselves, one could not grasp all these details.

As he compared FacetheWind’s explanations with the updated minimap, Yeye’s gaze caught on a golden symbol—a shovel and a mound of earth.

“Senior, what’s that golden shovel icon? There’s no label in it.”

“Oh, that?” FacetheWind grinned. “That’s our destination. The Titan Ruins. My map’s a bit out of date, so I haven’t added the annotation yet.”

Yeye’s eyes widened as he focused on the coordinates.

“It’s four hundred kilometers away?!”

Seeing his shocked face, FacetheWind quickly waved his hands.

“Relax, chill! That’s the ruins’ exact location, yes—but after it were unlocked, several teleportation arrays appeared in the forest. In fact, there’s one right near us.”

“See that smaller shovel icon beneath it? That’s the hidden teleportation array. Supposedly, it was built by the Titans themselves. Without the Goddess’s oracle, no one would have ever found it.”

“That’s where we’re heading right now. It’s not far. By carriage, we should reach it in about an hour—plenty of time to chat or watch some videos through the system’s internet.”

“…An hour,” Yeye muttered.

Even with accelerated thinking, that still meant fifteen minutes in real time.

Not short at all.

He sighed inwardly.

This game really was hardcore.

༺⟐༻

Their carriage rolled steadily onward.

The two newcomers kept up a conversation with the veterans, and the journey seemed to pass faster than they expected.

Before long—

With a sharp snort from the wyvern-hybrid horse, the hunter at the reins finally spoke in his low, husky voice:

“We’re here.”

At his words, the two newcomers immediately straightened, eyes fixed ahead.

The carriage emerged into a secluded woodland clearing. On the ground ahead shimmered a glowing magical array, its runes pulsating with misty light.

Dozens of players crowded around it, some disappearing in flashes of brilliance as they stepped inside.

Beside the array stood a newly built wooden outpost.

“That’s Moe Moe’s teleportation station. They’re the only ones on the entire server who can set something up this fast.”

FacetheWind nodded toward it, then glanced at the stables nearby, where rows of warhorses and a sleek unicorn were tied up neatly.

“Heh. Looks like Azeroth’s Templar Knights are after the same ruins as us. Wonder if we’ll run into them inside… Tch. Leaving that many mounts here—now that’s just showing off. Renting a single carriage at this station already made my wallet ache.”

Footnotes:

¹ Jianghu (江湖) is a Chinese term that literally means “rivers and lakes,” but culturally it refers to a sort of parallel society outside formal law and government. In literature—especially wuxia novels—jianghu represents the world of wandering martial artists, rogue heroes, secret sects, and rival clans. It’s a place with its own rules, codes of honor, and power struggles, often emphasizing personal skill, reputation, and loyalty rather than official authority.

In modern usage, it can also metaphorically describe any loosely organized, competitive, or lawless social environment.

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