MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

[Congratulations! You have unlocked the achievement ‘Eternal Darkness’ and have been awarded 10 Skill Points! This milestone has been recorded in Pantheon Hall of Fame.]

A golden Achievement Panel popped up, and all ten party members received the same reward.

“Yahoo! An Orange Quality Equipment!” A wizard cheered exaggeratedly.

In King of Pantheon, all players could receive Orange Quality weapons by doing their class-related quests, just like Li Yi’s Orange Quality Bows and Arthur’s Orange Quality Scepter. Both weapons were gotten from these quests.

Orange Quality weapons were easily attainable, but Orange Quality Equipments were extremely difficult to get. Li Yi had slain boss after boss, claimed multiple first kills for almost a year now, and had attained too many Purple Quality Equipment to count. However, he had yet to see a single Orange Quality Equipment.

It was not that Orange Quality Equipments do not drop. It was just that their odds of dropping were abysmally low, to the extent that it could not be measured by using percentages. In order to acquire Orange Quality Equipments, one needed not just skill, but luck as well.

Just like the Giant Paladin, A Bucket of Paste, who had a heaven-defying amount of luck. He had received an Orange Quality Accessory called Divine Punishment Chain from a world boss, and he was promoted to the ranks of the Top-tier players ever since then.

Before that, one should know that the Divine Punishment Chain was only a Level 10 Orange Quality Equipment, and even then, its special effects far surpassed that of any Level 100 Purple Quality Equipments.

Getting Purple Quality Equipments from drops was considered good luck, but getting Orange Quality Equipments was heaven-defying.

Li Yi and his party had defeated Eternal Darkness Eukana, and for their troubles, they were rewarded with 2 Purple Quality Equipments and 1 Orange Quality one!

They began calculating their expenses. They had used tons of precious potions and had nearly drained Li Yi’s stockpile because if it. He roughly estimated that it had cost them around 100,000 Gold Coins.

The two Purple Quality Equipments were tailor-made for Curse Priests. Every Wizard class could use them since they were made of cloth. It was just that they would not be able to utilize their special effects.

On the other hand, the Orange Quality Mirror of Amplification no longer had any restrictions that prevented it from being used outside the dungeon. It could finally be brought outside!

Li Yi stored the two Purple Quality Curse Priest equipments for himself.

After all, Li Yi was the one who provided the party with potions, scrolls, and various other support items. How shameless could the other party members be if they were to demand the equipments?

“Alright, time to leave! We’ll restart our run!” said Li Yi.

“We’re not going to fight Medusa?” The party members were confused.

Shaking his head, Li Yi answered, “We’re not. I’m afraid that I’ll lose the Mirror of Amplification if we defeat Medusa.”

Li Yi’s worry was logical since the only reason Eukana had imbued its soul onto the Mirror of Amplification was to satisfy its vendetta against Medusa. However, would she remain obediently within the mirror once she got her revenge?

The only party that was able to take down ‘Eternal Darkness’ in Li Yi’s past life were unable to bring out their Mirror of Amplification. It was a cruel lesson and Li Yi had no intention of making the same mistake as they did.

The party left the dungeon. Li Yi took out the Mirror of Amplification to inspect it, and then the color drained from his face.

System Notification: [Your carrying capacity is insufficient. You are unable to use the item…]

“I…”

After hearing the system’s notification, he was so mad that he almost threw the Mirror of Amplification onto the ground.

Jiaojiao trotted over. “What’s up Lil Yi’zi? You should tell us if there’s something bothering you. It’ll make a good laugh.”

“Take this and see whether you can use it.”

Li Yi handed over the Mirror of Amplification to Jiaojiao. She took it in her hands and let out a huge cry. The mirror shone brilliantly as a consequence.

Jiaojiao carried a greatsword on her back every day, so using the Mirror of Amplification was an easy task for her.

Li Yi’s face gradually reverted to its original color. “It’s yours now.”

“Huh? You can’t use it?”

“Why ask when you already know the answer!”

“Hahahaha….”

“Fine, laugh! Laugh all you want! I’m going to seal that mouth shut tonight!” Li Yi privately messaged her.

“Blek, bug off!”

The Mirror of Amplification was not classified as an equipment, so it would be normally placed into the inventory and taken out only when it was needed.

“You should go back for now. We’re going to clear the dungeon again.”

Li Yi booted Jiaojiao out of the party.

Whoever had the Mirror of Amplification should never fight Medusa. Otherwise, once the cutscenes are triggered, the Mirror of Amplification would disappear, and it would just be a waste of time.

With Jiaojiao gone, Li Yi called over another Wizard and got back to grinding the dungeon.

“Let’s try Eternal Darkness mode one more time…”

Li Yi suggested after entering the dungeon.

“A-A-Are you serious? A-Again?”

“Very!”

The first boss, Angust, was taken down effortlessly, and the same could be said for the small monsters along the way. The team managed to make their way Eukana very soon.

“Newcomers, all you need to do is to stand at the edge of the metal chains and deal damage. Just make sure to avoid the green orbs and don’t use Freezer, that skill has no use here.”

They went right into battle after hearing Li Yi’s simple explanation.

Although the party had already defeated Eternal Darkness Eukana once, it did not mean that they would succeed for every other time they try the dungeon from then on. Luck, mechanics, and cooperation were important factors that contributed to the success of the battle. They managed to go through the green orb segment successfully, but the new Wizard blundered and accidentally fell into the bottomless pit. This had made the team’s DPS output to be insufficient.

“Abandon the battle… We’ll try it again.”

Their second attempt had ended up with a TPK as well.

Then came their third attempt…

“I swear, I’ll never fight this disgusting boss ever again after today.” Confused Fox was on the brink of breaking down.

If one player were to lose their concentration for the shortest while and blundered, the whole team would end up being annihilated too. The players could take it if the battles were short ones, but the party would start to become lethargic as time dragged on.

After suffering 16 TPK in a row, the new Wizard had already gotten used to the stage. However, Confused Fox and the others were totally out of it already. They were on the brink of madness after having to go through this dungeon so many times consecutively.

“Let’s take a break for 10 hours. We’ll retry once everyone’s freshened up.”

Seeing that the party could no longer hold up, he announced the temporary dismissal of the party and went offline to take a rest.

Jiaojiao was not at his side. She was currently playing at Fire Ice’s house.

“Xie Jiaojiao, come back and cook dinner! Big brother’s hungry.”

Li Yi rushed downstairs and shouted.

“Fine!”

“Master, someone’s calling you! Master, someone’s calling you!”

Li Yi had just hopped into bed to catch forty winks when his phone rang. He held it up and was instantly invigorated when he saw who the caller was.

It was Qian’er!

“Good day, may I know when I’m supposed to hand the rental fees to you?”

“Anytime is fine. There’s no rush.”

“How about today? Where are you now? I’ll send it over to you.” Qian’er was very polite.

“I live quite far. It’ll be better if I go to your place instead.”

“Errm… okay.”

Li Yi stood up, washed his face, shaved his beard, put on tidy clothes and rushed out of his house.

“Xie Jiaojiao, you don’t need to prepare dinner anymore. I’m going to eat out.”

“Huh?”

Li Yi had already alighted a taxi and left Bby the time Jiaojiao managed to form a response.

The Maglev Trains were one of humanity’s greatest inventions. It shortened the distance between men If they were to compare its speed with other forms of transportation, it was much faster than planes. On the topic of safety, it had yet to cause any deaths since its inception.

‘We’re finally meeting! We’re finally meeting…”

Li Yi sat in the Maglev Train. His heart was a turmoil of emotions.

Too much had happened between him and Lin Qian, and it made him very conflicted. On one hand, he wanted to see her, but on the other, he did not. Only he knew of the dilemma that he was feeling.

His thoughts brought him back to his past life…

He had been lovers with Lin Qian for three years in his past life. Their relationship was like glue and varnish, inseparable. Once his parents had caught wind of their relationship, they constantly pestered him to marry her.

Lin Qian was a pretty odd person. She had already given her virginity to Li Yi during their first year together, but when he mentioned anything relating to marriage, she would squirm and refuse to marry him.

Li Yi had asked her before why she would squirm, but she never gave answer. That was until he heard from Big Boy that Lin Qian actually had a fiancé, and the reason she left the house was to avoid the marriage.

Li Yi was rattled by the news, but he quickly got over it. After a discussion with Lin Qian, he went over to her house to get her parent’s consent.

Lin Qian objected to the idea initially, but she could not convince Li Yi in the end and was forced to compromise. However, Li Yi was forced out of the house not long after he had arrived at Lin Qian’s home.

“Who the heck are you? Do you think you’re fit to marry my daughter?”

If they were to talk about family’s background, even a hundred Li Yi’s were worth less than half of Lin Qian. Their love was like the love between a poor beggar and a true princess. It was unrealistic from the beginning until the end. It was from that moment that Li Yi truly understood the meaning of ‘social gap’.

“You want to marry my daughter? Fine, I don’t care who you are, just fork out 200 million. That’s my lowest requirement. Otherwise, leave! Leave and never return!”

200 Million… Li Yi did not have that much cash on him. All he had was only 200 bucks…

He walked out from the Lin household., beaten and crushed. He returned to the game to mend his depression only for Big Boy to inform him that Lin Qian had returned home for good and had agreed to accept the marriage that was arranged for her. Furthermore, the bridegroom was none other than Big Boy himself!

Li Yi gave Big Boy a knuckle sandwich and ran off to look for Lin Qian, but he could not even go pass the Lin household’s gate.

He was battered by the Lin household once more. He really wanted to contact Lin Qian, but he could not get a hold of her despite all his efforts…

Some time had passed, and Lin Qian had fallen ill. Jiaojiao gave him a call and asked him to go to the hospital. He went but… was chased off by the Lin household again.

In Li Yi’s own words: “I have the misfortune to live through this ludicrous life.”

After his falling out with Qian’er, Li Yi had taken a turn for the worst in the game. At that time, he needed money, an absurd amount of money, at least 200 million…

Lin Qian did not return to the Lin household after leaving the hospital. She had moved back to the small white building she had bought instead. The one that was only a street away from Li Yi’s house.

Li Yi had switched off his handphone and had locked himself in his house. He isolated himself from the world and spent day and night playing the game…

Sometime later, the God Wars had begun, and the prize for winning it was 200 million Gold Coins!

Li Yi saw hope once again. It was the final thread of hope!

After that… tragedy struck…

Lin Qian was his woman in his past life. How would he ever forget that?

If he were to let her be and avoided all contact with her in this life, she would be taken away by another man. How could he accept that?

The Maglev Train had stopped. He walked off the train with his fist clenched.

The reason he was shunned by the Lin Household in his past life was that he had nothing, but that was not the case in this life. He had everything one could possibly have, so he was confident that he could prevent Lin Qian from marrying anyone else!

Li Yi hailed a cab and arrived swiftly at the house he had bought which was also where Lin Qian was staying at the moment.

“Ding dong! Ding dong!’

Li Yi pressed the doorbell twice. His heart had betrayed him again and was thumping wildly.

“Coming! Coming!”

A melodious voice that was in no way inferior to the Xu Sisters rang out. A moment later, the door to the house flung open. The first thing that greeted his eyes was a pair of massive peaks…