Chapter 701: Leader, Why Is This Healing Green?

The Alliance claimed the Deadmines, while the Horde held the Wailing Caverns. The Alliance possessed the Paladins, and the Horde commanded the Shamans. On the whole, the scales of the world remained balanced.

The number of souls watching the live streams back then had been far from few. Once the holy trinity of Warrior, Mage, and Priest was established and its gospel spread, the Horde's chances of conquering the Wailing Chasm shifted visibly from an utter impossibility to a distinct reality.

Thus, by the following day, after a band of Rogues from the Defias Brotherhood discovered this dungeon nestled deep within Horde territory, the masses began to mirror this very configuration.

Haxin, an Undead Rogue, stood before the yawning mouth of the Wailing Caverns, bellowing into the air, "Wailing Caverns self-improvement run! Need a healer and an MT!"

The system version lacked the conventional threat mechanics of the original game, and none among them were well-versed in this strange gaming parlance. The term MT—Main Tank—was quite obviously something they had overheard from Boss Fang, and many were now eager to flaunt their newly acquired vocabulary.

Nalan Mingxue called out, "Wailing Caverns has a tank, just need a healer to start!"

Meanwhile, on the side of the Alliance.

The entrance to the Deadmines.

Several disciples from the Shengjing Academy began to shout, "Deadmines looking for a Mage, four waiting on one."

Thork Stonehammer applied to join the party.

"A Hunter?" Denied.

Archmage Adolph applied to join the party.

"A Mage?" Accepted.

"Do you know what to do?"

"Of course I do," Adolph replied, his face a picture of bewilderment. He was a Grand Mage of the ninth echelon; how could he not know how to be a Mage?

"Excellent, excellent!"

They hurried into the depths.

With two Warriors, a Holy Paladin, and a Mage, the journey passed in silence until they successfully arrived before the first boss.

"Two Mages, each of you Polymorph an elite. I will hold the boss," one of the Shengjing Academy disciples said, evidently quite familiar with the routine as he charged forward.

Simultaneously, one of the elite monsters nearby was transformed into a sheep.

Yet the other elite...

"Sheep what?" Adolph asked, entirely lost.

"Polymorph!" a voice shouted back.

By this time, an arrow had already pierced the shoulder of the Main Tank. These humanoid creatures possessed an undeniable cunning, fully aware that the tank was occupied with the boss and had no leisure to attend to anything else.

"Is there such a spell?" Adolph inquired, mystified.

"Didn't you say you knew what to do?!" the Holy Paladin yelled out as well.

"I do know what to do!"

The words had barely left his lips when an arrow struck the Holy Paladin square in the forehead.

The Paladin, caught mid-heal, fell silent.

As he attempted to cast once more, another arrow found its mark.

"Where is the healing?! Where is the healing?!"

"Polymorph it! Why is there still a minion shooting me?!"

"Mage, do you actually know how to play?!"

"I do!"

"Heal me, quick! I am going to die!"

"Polymorph it!"

A total party wipe.

"What a brain-dead fool!"

Upon Adolph's game screen, a notification appeared: You have been kicked from the party.

After being tossed about like a leather ball several times, Adolph and the Dwarf Elder Thork gathered at the entrance, exchanging blank stares.

"This... requires several people to overcome together?"

"Given my profound understanding of magic, I ought to be different from these ordinary folk. Let me try first..."

An hour later, after running back to their corpses several times in succession, they fell into a defeated silence.

Forget it, forget it. Better to level up first.

With embarrassed countenances, they departed to grind their levels.

Elsewhere.

As the proprietor, no matter how free he might be, he could not spend every day idling in the wilderness slaying players. An occasional skirmish was one thing, but camping corpses all day long would truly drive the players away from his own establishment.

Therefore, he casually rolled a Night Elf Rogue for the Alliance. He spent his time earning coin, picking locks, and exploring the lore of the World of Warcraft scattered across ruins and libraries, thereby refining the official novels.

By now, the bookstore in Jiuhua City that Yu Zhiwei once used to sell the official Diablo II novels had already leapt to become one of the grandest establishments in the city.

Of course, Yu Zhiwei, who now worked at the Origin Internet Club, had already entrusted the shop to a friend's management.

At this moment, a new official novel, The Rise of the Horde, had begun to grace the shelves.

In the new shop, however, only the digital version was available for the time being, as the physical copies had yet to be released.

Simultaneously, Dungeon and Fighter launched its official website, which likewise updated with the digital version of its own official novel.

The Deadmines, the Wailing Caverns, the Stormwind Stockade, Shadowfang Keep... the footprints of the players gradually began to spread across every corner of the world, into every dungeon.

Naturally, there were also players like Elder Thork and Adolph who, having bruised their noses against the dungeons, turned their focus toward questing and leveling up, and their pace was by no means slow.

There were even those who dedicated themselves entirely to professions such as Engineering, Blacksmithing, and Gathering.

As for Mr. D's magical projection, it had clearly attracted a vast audience of late.

Some Orcs had even traveled thousands of miles from the Orc Kingdom, and those Mages who had previously watched Trix play World of Warcraft had now arrived within the shop as well.

The patrons inside the establishment grew more numerous by the day.

The afternoon brought the busiest hours, and the shop was filled with a bustling clamor.

The new branch was currently managed by Li Qin'er, who had been transferred from the Yuanyang City shop along with her staff, so Boss Fang had no need to watch over the counter himself.

"Miss Trix, how far have you progressed in the dungeon today?!"

"Miss Trix, do you have time to carry me today?!"

"I heard Miss Trix has been exploring a new dungeon called the Scarlet Monastery lately? Has any good gear dropped?"

"Defias Brotherhood is recruiting! Defias Brotherhood is recruiting! We can carry you through Wailing Caverns!"

"I heard... something happened near the border of the Orc Kingdom recently?" several Orcs murmured as they wove through the crowds moving past the shop entrance.

"I heard that the residents of a small town vanished without a trace, and no one knows what's going on."

"The King is already looking into the matter; it is a trifle, nothing more."

...

"I heard those little youngsters under Sera have already acquired nearly a full set of rare blue gear today. As an elder, I absolutely cannot lag behind!" Inside the newly opened shop in Canglan City, Elder Xiewei of the Elven race cradled a cup of milk tea, leading a few of her kin to a row of adjacent seats, where she deftly booted up the game.

The new branch was equipped with plenty of computers, and though the crowds had grown, it still paled in comparison to the old shop, meaning latecomers were not yet barred from finding an open machine.

"Elder, I hear the latest trend is something called... dungeon running. That is where all the equipment comes from," an elite guard from the Elder's personal retinue spoke up. "The most challenging one right now is that... Scarlet Monastery. Shall we give it a try?"

An hour later...

Elder Xiewei fixed a deeply searching gaze upon everyone present: "I believe it would be wiser to try my luck with another group."

"..."

"LF healer for Scarlet Monastery!"

"Scarlet Monastery looking for a healer!"

"4=1 looking for a healer, must know fights!"

"Oh...? So those capable of healing are called 'milk'? What a bizarre name," Elder Xiewei murmured, a look of curiosity washing over her face.

"But... why is everyone shouting that they must know the fights?" Having never stepped foot inside, Elder Xiewei felt utterly depressed.

Sharing in that exact same frustration were Adolf and Soc.

Adolf even felt that his own disciple was faring much better than him now—this simply would not do!

Yet he could not bring himself to swallow his pride and ask his disciple to carry him.

"We shall form our own group!" Adolf declared.

Though he had never run it, having a god-tier disciple by his side meant that through osmosis, he had picked up a thing or two about the mechanics.

"I will call for a tank," Elder Soc volunteered.

Adolf shouted into the crowd: "Scarlet Monastery progression run, LF healer and one more DPS to start!"

Very soon, a rogue arrived.

The tank was a warrior from the dwarven race, clearly an acquaintance summoned by Elder Soc.

"Progression Scarlet 4=1! LF healer!"

"Why is everyone shouting for a healer...?"

Elder Xiewei glanced down at her own Rejuvenation spell: "I can heal as well... perhaps...?"

"Xiewei requests to join the party."

"A Druid?" Adolf and Elder Soc exchanged a glance, but looking at the name... a familiar acquaintance?

They let her in first: "Elder Xiewei, we may be well-acquainted, but what we need is a healer."

"We cannot do this without a healer," the rogue beside them chimed in. "There is no point in even trying."

"I am a healer!" Elder Xiewei casually cast a Rejuvenation upon them.

Unlike the Holy Light, this was a breath of vitality, akin to the earth returning to spring. Upon its casting, the recipient, Adolf, immediately felt a rich, concentrated surge of life force.

"Hmm?" Adolf nodded. "This is indeed a healing spell! Well, the group is full, we shall head in together shortly."

"Wonderful, wonderful!" Elder Xiewei felt a small thrill of excitement in her heart; she had finally managed to get into a group.

"Leader... why is her healing so green...?" Just then... the rogue glanced at his own poisoned daggers, which seemed to share the exact same hue.