Chapter 116: Magical Beast Mounts

Dense, impenetrable darkness gathered in the confined space like a physical weight, making it almost impossible to breathe. In the deepest, most distant reaches ahead, a faint, tiny point of light flickered—a ghostly beacon guiding the lost toward their path.

I walked step by step through this place known as the "Corridor of Death." It is the mandatory passage for players to re-enter the main world after dying. Although this pitch-black hallway is frequently complained about by many players, the official explanation for its existence as part of the death penalty is to allow players time to reflect on their actions while on the road to light and rebirth. (Of course, few actually do so.)

As I moved forward, the point of light grew larger. An open door stood at the end of the corridor, revealing a world of blinding radiance outside. Crossing the barrier between the two worlds, a figure known as the Soul Wizard stood expressionless in the void.

"Player Weiweilong..." It began its tedious, long-winded speech, which I skipped without hesitation. My stats, all reset to zero, began to gradually recover until they reached the baseline of the "Weakness" state. My skills, which had been on cooldown, lit up one by one, and all my sensory perceptions returned to my field of vision. A door appeared before me; my body drifted into it involuntarily, and I returned to the familiar Resurrection Plaza, where I began the boring wait for the weakness effect to wear off.

The so-called "Weakness" state is another form of death penalty. Every time a player dies and returns to the city, they enter this state, during which they must remain in town for half an hour before they are allowed to leave. Of course, it isn't impossible to leave immediately, but in this state, all of one's personal attributes are halved. If you don't want to die again, you stay put.

There are, of course, items that accelerate recovery from this state, but no one has managed to loot any yet. This penalty was added in the latest system update, and upon its implementation, the game company was greeted with countless greetings from hundreds of millions of players.

I found a bench in the plaza and sat down to take inventory of my losses. Then, a voice spoke up: "Big brother! Big brother! How are you holding up? Did you drop any gear?"

"You didn't die?" I looked at Long Xin. She was wearing a different set of red mage robes; it seemed her previous set had been destroyed.

Long Xin said, "I didn't die. That person left right after taking you out. It was too much to leave me alone in that godforsaken place."

Thinking about it, leaving a beautiful, stripped-naked young woman alone in a graveyard was indeed excessive. Fortunately, Long Xin had a spare outfit, or she would have returned in the buff. I smiled slightly at the thought. Still, the losses today were significant. I had finally hit level 48, only to lose it in the blink of an eye. I had lost quite a few potions, but thankfully, none of my equipment had dropped—a stroke of luck.

"Don't just sit there suffering through the weakness, big brother. Let's go check out the beast mounts," Long Xin suggested.

"Beast mounts?" I asked, puzzled.

"Big brother, you don't know about them?" Long Xin asked.

I shook my head helplessly. Long Xin smiled and said, "Big brother, even though you don't keep up with the official website, let me tell you: the biggest highlight of this system update is the beast mount system, something everyone has been dreaming of. However, there is no skill for capturing mounts yet; the beast mounts are only provided by the official store."

I asked, "I see. Wait, if you say there are beast mounts, why haven't I seen anyone riding one?"

Long Xin shook her head. "Because they are impossible to obtain."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Follow me, and you'll see," Long Xin said.

We left the Resurrection Plaza and arrived in front of a tall tower in Dragon City. I had never seen this tower before; it must have been added in the update. Standing before the tower were two armored NPC guards with imposing auras. As we approached, one stepped forward. "Adventurer, do you wish to enter?"

"Yes," I said.

"Please pay one gold coin."

Ah, they wanted money too! These vile "exploiters" would stop at nothing to empty a player's pockets. Oh well, when under someone else's roof, one must bow one's head. There was no room for bargaining with these incorruptible NPCs. Long Xin and I each paid a gold coin and entered the tower.

For a player, a single gold coin wasn't a fortune, but money was still hard to come by. Inside, I realized this was the "Trial Tower," a disguised system shop. However, the currency used here wasn't the gold, silver, or copper coins used outside, but that thing whose purpose I had only just realized: "Trial Points." This was a place to exchange Trial Points for various items.

In the center of the tower was a portal glowing with white light, labeled "Dungeon." It represented a place to enter battlefield instances for leveling, but it didn't look open yet, as a large red 'X' appeared in front of it.

Another portal was labeled "Beast Mounts." Although Summoner-class players couldn't purchase beast mounts, I was still curious. Since I was stuck with the "Weakness" penalty anyway, and Long Xin had brought me here, I decided to see what it was all about.

We stepped into the portal.

Once inside, we were engulfed in white light. The scene shifted, and suddenly we were in a rectangular room filled with small, individual chambers, each housing a monster.

Behind me and in front of me were portals—one labeled "Safe Exit" and the other "Go Upstairs." Additionally, each chamber had what looked like a touchscreen beside it.

I tapped the screen of one chamber at random. A monster resembling a striped tiger appeared before me. It was much clearer than looking through the door, and there was detailed information to review.

Name: Tiger.
Rank: Low-level Beast.
HP: 1,500.
Attack: 100.
Defense: 100.
Speed: 0.
Skill: Pounce – Lunges forward to tackle an enemy.
Description: A tiger from the jungle, the king of beasts, but here, it's just a snack.
Price: 200 Trial Points.

A humorous description. But the prices were all in Trial Points, so clearly, these weren't for the average person. I checked each room as I passed. In the last room, I saw a Golden Lion Beast. The screen showed a lion with golden fur, mouth slightly agape, growling with a fierce and majestic demeanor.

I scanned the prices and found that the cheapest mounts cost only 100 Trial Points. The Golden Lion I was looking at was the most expensive here, yet it only cost 450 points. I also noticed an interesting feature: "Refresh."

I clicked it, and the Golden Lion was replaced by a different beast. After refreshing three times, the Golden Lion returned. I refreshed all the rooms several times and discovered that all the mounts here were low-level, with only an occasional ordinary-tier beast appearing, which cost over 500 Trial Points.

I checked the instructions on how to purchase. It said that to buy, one simply selected the confirmation button on the touchscreen. The system would automatically deduct the points, the chamber would unlock, and the beast would appear before you. The system would then grant the player a skill called "Contract Art," which allowed them to form a bond with the beast, making it their official mount. I noticed another button next to the "Buy" button: "Gift."

It meant you could purchase a mount and send it to another player, who would then receive the Contract Art and the beast. I pondered this for a moment. Long Xin said to me, "Big brother, let's go. We can only look, not touch."

I said, "Long Xin, do you want a beast?"

Long Xin replied, "Of course!"

I said, "I'll buy one for you. Do you want it?"

Long Xin opened her eyes wide. "Big brother, are you joking?"

I laughed. "When have I ever joked with you?"

Long Xin was overjoyed. "That's great! Big brother, let's go upstairs and see; the beasts there are even more powerful." I nodded, and we entered the portal labeled "Go Upstairs." The scene changed again, and we were transported to a new level. The beasts here were clearly of a much higher grade—mostly high-level or elite-level beasts. Naturally, the prices were much higher; the cheapest cost at least 1,000 Trial Points. There were two portals here as well: one to return downstairs and another labeled "Go Upstairs."

I took Long Xin up to the next floor. The prices were steeper here, with the cheapest mount costing 2,500 Trial Points—my entire balance. However, Long Xin shook her head at the beasts there because one was a green spider that looked truly creepy.

The other beasts were in the same tier, with terrifying price tags.

I tried to approach the next portal, but the system messaged: "Access currently denied."

Since I couldn't afford the beasts here, we went back downstairs. Long Xin looked at a red eagle and said, "Big brother, buy this one for me, please?"

Name: Great Red Eagle.
Rank: Elite-level Beast.
HP: 2,500.
Attack: 500.
Defense: 600.
Speed: 3.5.
Skills: Eagle Eye (Passive) – Can quickly track enemy movements. Flash – Flies at incredible speed for a short duration; 17s cooldown. Swallow Return – Quickly flips in mid-air to attack the nearest enemy while gaining a 5s movement speed buff; 1m cooldown.
Description: A mutated bird with fire-red feathers; rumored to be the offspring of a Fire Phoenix.
Price: 2,000 Trial Points.

Two thousand points was acceptable. I immediately pressed the "Gift" button on the touchscreen, entered Long Xin's ID, and the 2,000 points were deducted. The chamber door opened, and the Great Red Eagle appeared before us.

The space opened, and the eagle, about three meters long with brilliant red feathers, stepped out. A blue magical array rose from the ground, enveloping the bird, which let out a clear, sharp cry.

The blue light flickered, and the eagle vanished into streaks of blue light—this must have been the "Contract Art." It seemed to be complete, and Long Xin was beaming with joy.

I checked the time, laughed, and logged off to get some sleep.