Noob Player

The hidden village started their morning with the usual workout, with more members. Dale had joined the hidden village last night. The guy was very lucky to spawn in the city near a famous gorge, Fogged Gorge. The giant crevice was literally fogged and their sight was obstructed by the fog.

The gorge-filled fog was the least favorite spot for the players as it looked creepy. Dale was the first one to approach the gorge and jumped into the gorge voluntarily. Thanks to that, he made a headline for himself on the forum. There was a list of players that jumped into the gorge by their own will.

The first name was Runner, Shen. He jumped into the gorge to escape from the bully streamer Volt. Players could understand the reason behind Shen's voluntary jump. However, not with the second and the third player on the list. The second name was Ming, people said that he had been working too much in the game which caused depression which led to the jump.

The third on the list was Dale. His name was not known since he just restarted his character and immediately jumped into the creepy gorge. The trios now were famous on the forum and if the others knew that the trios were also friends, then they would be laughing stock for months and maybe became a legend on the forum.

That was what happened on the forum, and Dale was the type who did not care about such a thing. He was not bothered even if he became a laughing stock because he would laugh at them when he revealed his class to the other players. By that time, he would be the one who laughed at them.

Dale or Sneaky Banana was his in-game name, stretching his body, warming up before the workout, "You don't need to carry the weight on your back?" Ming asked his friend as he prepared to pick up his twenty-five kilos stone.

"I don't need to, My Master told me just to run fifty laps with no break," Dale replied optimistically. He thought that was bearable since this was in a game. The NPC would not give him something impossible to do.

Dale chose the house with Dagger-sign that turned out to be an assassin class. His class' name was Shadow Clan's Successor. With that, it marked the third combat class player in the hidden village. There was more than that, Dale's Class was a Legendary Potential Class.

"But why restart the character though? You are already level 20," Ming could not believe that his friend chose to restart the character rather than waiting for the process to move his character to China Server.

"I can't wait that long. What am I supposed to do in these three days while my friends are having fun in the game?" Dale waved his hand. Yes, it took three days the fastest to move the server. There were a lot of processes he had gone through, it was not as simple as it sounded. That was the fastest and the admin said it could take up to seven days.

He was not going to wait that long as he was afraid that more people would join the hidden village too. Dale would rather restart the character and on top of that, "Doesn't Shen tell you that a low-level character is more effective for the training?"

"What about your grandfather and grandmother? Don't you want to visit them?" Ming was talking about Dale's mother's family. Since he returned here, Ming felt that he was obligated to remind his friend.

"I will visit them later or else I will get an earful scolding from my father." Dale nodded his head, "But later, I want to familiarize myself with the hidden village for the time being. Anyway, where's Shen? Don't you tell me that he will be leading the workout?"

"You live next to his apartment? Why don't you go check him yourself?" Ming rolled his eyes at his friend.

"I went to Sister Mei's bun shop for breakfast, but I didn't meet Shen there. I thought he would be there since I woke up late," Dale told Ming his morning activity.

"Dale, listen to me. If you are serious with Sister Mei, I don't mind but I have to remind you. Shen regards Sister Mei as his own big sister, if you played her, you might ruin your friendship with Shen," Ming suddenly became serious. He was well aware of his friend's behavior, fickle and overly easy-going, not to the point insensitive though.

"Ming!" Dale's face turned serious all out of a sudden. This was not the Dale Ming knew, "I have a secret that I haven't told you and Shen. But I think this is the time I tell you."

"Sorry guys, I am late," Shen's voice rang from the village. ZhenZhen and WealthyGuy followed him as they came out together.

"What is it?" Ming hated the suspense, especially for something like a secret. However, Dale changed his mind and shook his head, "I will tell you later." After saying that, Dale turned toward Shen and waved his hand, "Shen! We have been waiting for you!"

With Shen's arrival, the group started their morning workout. Dale overestimated himself with the running. He was shocked to see that Shen with thirty kilos on his back managed to run along with him, 'Am I too slow or what?' He turned around and saw the trios were left behind by them. He was not slow, it was Shen who ran fast as if the weight was nothing to him. Dale did not want to lose against Shen, it was too embarrassing to run side by side with someone who ran with thirty kilos weight.

Dale picked his pace but the guy next to him effortlessly kept it up. He increased his pace but Shen was like a ghost that did not want to stay away from him. Even when he was slowing down, Shen was still next to him.

"That guy…" Ming shook his head. The scene reminded him of his first day in the hidden village. He tried to compete with Shen, which embarrassed him in front of his crush. He learned his lesson and realized that the current Shen was not someone he could compete with.

Because Dale was running without reserving his stamina, the trios managed to pass Dale in the seventh lap. When the trios finished their twenty laps, Dale was still in his fifteen laps.

"Keep it up, Sneaky!" Ming cheered for his friend as Dale passed by the entrance of the village. Then Shen passed Dale again for many times they did not know. WealthyGuy aka Brother Jiang left early and returned to the house, leaving Ming and ZhenZhen alone.

"What's wrong with Runner?" As a woman, she was quick to notice the change with Shen. She could see that Shen was not as usual himself. ZhenZhen asked Ming since both were friends in real life too.

"That's been bothering me too. He has been like that since last night…" Ming recalled the time when he was in the cafe with Shen, "Yes, it started last night. I also don't know why."

Usually, Shen would finish the training at the same time as they did. However, not for this morning. He was also aware that Shen was not as cheerful as before, his gaze was quite empty he would say.

Ming now became worried for Shen. His friend had been like this since he returned from the hospital, 'Is it related to his old injury?'