Adventure World Online (AWO)

Siegfried headed straight for the docks without notifying anyone in the guild, not even his closest friends. Nothing was progressing within the guild until the next patch arrived anyway, and he did not want to stay stuck in a cycle of uncertainty. He needed to find out once and for all who this man was—the one who dared to claim that Chang Long belonged to him. Even if Rafael would berate him endlessly, Siegfried was determined to confirm the truth and settle his feelings for Chang Long. If she did not have any affection for him, he would move on, no matter how painful it might be.

Meanwhile, a whole day passed quickly. Chang Long found a suitable place to rest for herself and her pets. Unfortunately, she still had not managed to shake off Aswa. She had to admit the man was persistent. Whether he was slow to pick up on social cues or simply stubborn, it seemed like Aswa did not understand her signals. Every sigh, irritated look, or sudden attempt to walk away went unnoticed by him. Instead of backing off, Aswa convinced himself that Chang Long was scared and in need of his protection. Thus, he continued to follow her closely. Even when she managed to slip away for a moment, he always found her again.

"Don't you have anything better to do? I thought you were a guild leader. How does a guild leader have so much free time for this?"

Chang Long asked, clearly annoyed, as she pulled out a can of food to eat. She did not want Aswa to see her Cone of Abundance, remembering well how members of his guild had tried to extort and steal from her twice. While Aswa had shown interest in her, there was no guarantee he would not also want to take her belongings.

"Oh, I'm on vacation,"

Aswa replied, lying. In reality, he had cut off all communication channels, afraid his subordinates would call and disrupt his time with Chang Long. And he was right to worry—at that very moment, his guild members were frantically calling and messaging him. Their guild leader had suddenly disappeared, and from the testimonies of several members, they all agreed that he had been acting strange before he vanished. Some even speculated that he had gone mad from stress.

"Uh-huh, you're not just dodging work, are you?"

Chang Long hit the nail on the head, causing Aswa to force a sheepish smile without replying. He glanced at Fluffy Head-chan, now in his small lion form, and Kitsune, who was begrudgingly eating canned meat. They were a real obstacle between him and Chang Long. He could not get within two meters of her without the two creatures blocking his way, constantly growling him. Though Aswa was tempted, he held back from knocking them aside out of respect for Chang Long.

That night, after dinner, Chang Long and her pets fell asleep peacefully, surrounded by the light from the Guiding Flame, which kept the undead at bay. As for Aswa, he had a more difficult time. He had to build his own fire and constantly tend to it, ensuring it did not go out, since any fire other than the Guardian Fire could easily be extinguished in the Purple Forest. As a result, Aswa did not get any sleep the entire night.

6:00 AM

Chang Long woke up, ate breakfast, and packed up her camp, ready to find a spot to hunt beasts. She noticed that Aswa was gulping down several rejuvenating crystals but stopped immediately when he saw her watching.

"Good morning, Chang Long,"

Aswa greeted with a bright smile, despite looking somewhat worn out.

"Yeah, morning. You look like you didn't sleep at all last night, are you doing alright?"

Chang Long replied.

"Uh, yeah. I was just keeping watch, making sure no beasts snuck up on us while we were sleeping,"

Aswa said, trying to take all the credit.

'Liar. Don't believe him, missy. I saw him fiddling with the fire all night, not keeping watch like he claims!' Devi-chan immediately chimed in, worried Chang Long might fall for Aswa's words. However, Chang Long already seemed to know the truth, so Devi-chan did not say anything further. Chang Long began walking to find a good spot to earn some experience, with Aswa tagging along as usual.

As they walked, they noticed a flickering light in the distance. Everyone's attention shifted to it. The light seemed oddly familiar to Chang Long. Kitsune confirmed that it was definitely Guardian Fire, but something was off—the fire was small and seemed to be moving.

"Who could've taken the Guardian Fire from the bonfire?"

Chang Long murmured to herself.

"It looks like there are other players here. Should we go greet them? It might be better to team up in the Purple Forest than to fight alone,"

Aswa suggested confidently. But whether or not Aswa made the suggestion, whoever was carrying the Guardian Fire was already heading in their direction.

Chang Long stood still, waiting to see who these players were, hoping she might pawn Aswa off on them and finally have some peace. However, when they came face to face, both Chang Long and Aswa, along with the group of players wielding a scorched spear with the Guardian Fire flickering at its tip—wrapped their hand in layers of wet cloth just to hold it—stood frozen in shock.

"You guys… how did you get here?"

Aswa asked, his voice faint, eyes wide as he stared at the four players before him.

"D... don't tell me the person Aswa has fallen for is her!"

Rose, the sole female in the group, stared at Chang Long with bulging eyes. Though Chang Long's appearance had changed somewhat, Rose still recognized her clearly.

"..."

Chang Long remained silent, but that did not mean she did not recognize the players in front of her. On the contrary, she remembered what the four of them did all too well from their two previous encounters, and those memories were still vivid in her mind. The four players had not forgotten what Chang Long had done to them either.

.....

Siegfried sat quietly in his cabin aboard the system's ship. His thoughts were muddled, still troubled by Aswa's words. Deep down, he believed that Chang Long would not easily agree to be with someone unless she truly knew them. But that was just his own assumption, a feeling. Perhaps, Chang Long had experienced love at first sight, just like he had when he first met her. The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became, to the point where he almost wanted to take over steering the ship himself just to reach her faster.

Beep beep beep beep

The sound of the wristwatch jolted Siegfried out of his thoughts. He glanced down and saw that it was Rafael calling. Sighing in annoyance, he reluctantly answered.

"What is it?"

Siegfried responded tersely.

"Hey, Siegfried, feeling any better yet? Everyone's worried about you. Plus, you didn't come back to town last night—where did you sleep?"

Rafael asked gently, concerned that Siegfried might still be in a bad mood.

"On a ship,"

the young man replied curtly.

"A ship. Why? There are plenty of nice hotels in town. Wait… don't tell me you're on a ship heading to another island!"

Rafael exclaimed, shocked at his friend's impulsiveness.

"Exactly what you're thinking. I'm on a ship heading to Aseana Island. I'm going to see Chang Long,"

Siegfried said, his voice was steady and resolute.

"Whoa, you're serious? Do you really like Chang Long that much, man!"

Even though Rafael had suspected as much, he could not help but be amazed.

"Yeah… I like her a lot. And I need to know who that guy is, what he means to Chang Long, and… and how she really feels about me!"

Siegfried admitted candidly. Of all his friends, only Draco and Rafael were close enough for him to open up about everything. He could discuss with them even issues he might not discuss with his parents. Whether he received sound advice or not did not really matter—just having someone he trusted to listen often made him feel better, even without any advice at all.

"Alright, do whatever you need to, buddy. We don't have much going on right now anyway. The teams out scouting for potential new special territories keep sending regular updates, and the draft alliance agreements have been sent to the Immortal and Caesar guilds. I'm sure they'll ask for some revisions, but in the meantime, you're not really needed here. (Siegfried laughed at this.) So go chase after your heart. But if you come back heartbroken, don't expect me to help you, man. I only care about the ladies."

Rafael laughed loudly, especially as he finished his last sentence.

"Thanks. But even if I do come back heartbroken, I won't need you to comfort me. I'm sure I won't lose my mind that badly!"

Siegfried retorted half-jokingly, a small smile appearing on his face. Talking to Rafael had lifted a weight off his chest.

"Hahaha, you said it, man. But hey, even if I'm not there, you've still got Draco's broad chest to cry on until your heart's content. Hahaha."

Rafael teased, bursting into louder laughter when he heard Siegfried's frustrated snort in response.

After hanging up, Siegfried seemed to be in a better mood. He stepped out to get some fresh air on the ship's deck, under the curious gaze of many players, all of whom stared at him as though they had never seen him before. In fact, they probably had not. It was not every day that an elusive elf—rumored to rarely appear in the game world—would casually stroll on the deck of a system boat. There had been whispers circulating for a while about an elf traveling alongside players, and those rumors suggested that the elf was from the Pendragon Guild. New players on the Starting Island, in particular, had sworn they had seen the elf walking around the city and even entering and exiting the Pendragon Guild hall.

Speculation quickly spread among various groups of players as the new patch was still on the way. Some wondered if it was now possible to recruit NPCs, despite the game's confirmation that no NPCs could be recruited until the new patch arrived. The system also confirmed that players would need access to special territories before recruiting any NPCs or AI. However, when asked about the elf's close ties with the Pendragon Guild, the developers clarified that the elf was neither an NPC nor an AI but a player who had completed a secret quest and earned the elf race.

At this realization, many players recalled that the game had mentioned from its launch that it was possible to acquire different races by fulfilling certain conditions which were secret quests. But how exactly these secret quests were triggered remained a mystery. Now that someone had unlocked a race, they believed that questioning the player who had done so might help them uncover how to obtain various races with ease. However, the latest rumor made things even more complicated—the elf player was not just anyone, but the head of the Pendragon Guild himself.

"Do you know each other?"

Aswa asked, glancing back and forth between Rose and Chang Long. From Rose's reaction, it was clear that she recognized Chang Long, and the tense atmosphere between the two women left little doubt that their relationship was not exactly friendly.

"No!"

Both Chang Long and Rose said at almost the same time. Rose glared at Chang Long, who sighed through her nose in annoyance. Merlin's Top Protege and Lost Martial Artist were also eyeing Chang Long with deep resentment, though Boron's lip twitched as if he were smiling at her. Then again, no one had ever seen Boron smile before, so it was hard to tell if he was smiling or just having a muscle spasm.

"If you don't know each other, then why are you looking at her like you want to rip her to shreds?"

Aswa asked again, his tone now a bit sharper. He was not pleased with the way his subordinates were glaring at the woman he liked.

"Well... it's a long story, Guild Leader. This brat, uh... this girl she made us all die back in Kirisakura City."

Lost Martial Artist spoke angrily, but when met with Aswa's murderous gaze, he quickly changed his tone and pronouns when referring to Chang Long, fearing for his life at the hands of his guild leader.

Aswa then turned to look at Chang Long, his face filled with suspicion and surprise. Truth be told, ever since he had followed Chang Long into the Purple Forest, he had not actually seen her fight any beasts herself. All he had witnessed was the tireless work of the fluffy lion and the two-tailed fox, tirelessly slaughtering beasts. Aswa was unsure if what Lost Martial Artist said was true. Could Chang Long really be powerful enough to take down three of his former top guild members with ease? If that were the case, her level must be quite high, and her combat skills top-tier.

"But back then, that brat, I mean! she—she had Siegfried from the Pendragon Guild helping her. Plus, she used some strange skill that killed us from the inside out, with a Grim Reaper wielding a scythe emerging from our bodies,"

Merlin's Top Protege said with a look of horror, recalling the moment Boron was slain by Chang Long's Reaper Possession skill.

"And there was another guy—he looked like a rich kid, all calm and proper, but when it came to killing, he was brutal!"

Lost Martial Artist added, vividly remembering the moment when Kitsune's sharp claws pierced through his flesh and reached his heart, ending his life in a single blow.

-----

Read 'Adventure World Online (AWO)' before anyone else with more chapters at https://www.jinovel.com/en