Chapter 19: Beta Testing, Round 2

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

When they returned to the clearing again, everyone knew that the gnolls had discovered this place.

The settlement residents knew the gnolls. They knew that the gnolls were humanoid creatures with a good memory and that they would definitely launch an attack when they discovered them.

Everyone’s gazes fell on Meng Yang again. They wanted to know what he—the leader chosen by Gustav—would do, despite him having arrived to the settlement less than a day ago.

Would he decide to weather the attack in the settlement until the bitter end? Or decide to leave in search of another?

“There’s nothing to hide. I’ll just tell them everything.”

Feeling their stares on him, Meng Yang gritted his teeth. He first said to Phoenix, “Phoenix, I need you to lead the fight. Later, I’ll need you to teach them archery as well.”

There was some doubt in Phoenix’s eyes. She could understand his request for her to lead the charge, but she did not know what being an archery instructor meant. The aloof archer did not say anything, though, as she nodded in agreement.

Meng Yang then turned to the gentle middle-aged woman standing beside him. “And Lady Hera, can you teach others your ability to heal?”

“As long as one can communicate with the spirits of nature, they can learn it.” The woman nodded.

“Now I have a ranged attacker and a healer. Should be enough.”

Meng Yang made plans in his mind. He turned to Phoenix again. “Can you look for something that, uh, has special powers? Crystals or something else of the sort.”

“Objects that have special powers?”

Phoenix’s expression showed her confusion. She did not ask why Meng Yang needed this stuff, though. The next moment, she fished out a blue stone as big as her thumb from the pocket of her chest plate and tossed it to Meng Yang. “Are you talking about something like this?”

“This is…” Meng Yang caught the stone, confused.

Phoenix answered, “This is a magic crystal. I use them to make arrows. Arrowheads made with magic crystals can injure monsters with extraordinary powers.”

As Meng Yang was holding the stone, he sensed the activity of the Summoning Fairy in his mind.

“It does work!” Meng Yang perked up. He asked again, “Phoenix, how many more of this do you have?”

The archer looked at him, surprised. “How many do you need?”

“As much as possible.”

“Wait here.” The archer nodded. She shouldered her bow and quiver, turned, and bounded up to the walls. She left the stronghold and ran outside. 

Meng Yang was still immersed in his thoughts after Phoenix left. Hera suddenly said from beside him, “Meng Yang, sir, everyone’s still waiting for you.”

“Uh…” Meng Yang was pulled back into reality by Hera’s words. He smiled somewhat apologetically to her before turning to meet the many sets of eyes on him.

“Uh… Hello, everyone!” Meng Yang took a short breath. He was in front of a group of people, and he did not have much experience in public speaking. Despite that, his next words lifted the spirits of those before him.

“I’ve already found a way to save all of you… No, all of us!”

After he said that, not only the children and women looked happy, the eyes of some old people lit up somewhat.

In this dark world filled with despair, hope was unspeakably precious.

“I will summon some challengers from another World to help us. They have different habits and lifestyles, but they’ll come to our aid.”

“Challengers from another World?”

“What’s an Other World?”

“Will other people from the Land of Despair help us?”

Someone in the crowd asked. Some people were confused. Some kept silent. Some lit up with hope. Hera, the woman commanding the power of nature, for example. When she heard him talking about challengers from another world, she looked shocked.

Meng Yang did not know what the people were thinking. It did not matter, anyway. In the beginning, he thought for ways for how he could conceal the gamers’ identities.

Everyone standing in front of him now was real and alive. They were not merely NPCs to him. They could think for themselves. When the gamers interacted with them, they would naturally know they were no NPCs.

If that was so, he might as well air it out and deal with it openly, tell them that “Yes, the people I’m summoning are from another world”.

The residents, people struggling to survive, they did not care about that as long as other people came to help.

“Let’s get going, everyone. Listen to my command, we’re gonna build a summoning circle here.”

After Meng Yang made his decision, the people in this small settlement started to move regardless of their understanding of the situation. Some children lent a hand too.

Under such desperate circumstances, they had very few choices. Even if someone had other thoughts and wanted to leave, they would find it difficult to survive in the world outside this place where the survivors have banded together.

First, the residents cleared an area in the middle, and they found some miscellaneous materials like wood and stones from around the stronghold. They started building a strange magic circle under Meng Yang’s instructions.

This was the summoning circle Meng Yang intended to build. He could only summon five gamers, but after talking with the Summoning Fairy, he discovered that he could summon gamers from the world he was in without limit.

The construction of the circle was not difficult with the assistance of the residents. No particularly hard to find materials were needed, either. The most difficult part was the energy source.

Energy that could support the circle’s operation. That problem was about to be solved, though.

When Phoenix dumped a twenty-kilogram massive magic crystal in front of him, Meng Yang felt that he understood this world even further.

Stones that possessed special powers like this one were not rare in this world. Most of the time, they were used on weapons to amplify their supernatural powers. Now it would be the central power source of this summoning circle.

The summoning circle was finally completed after the people worked on it from the whole morning and afternoon.

Everyone in the settlement stood in front of the summoning circle. Meng Yang reminded everyone of some important matters before walking into the middle of the circle and started communicating with the Summoning Fairy in his mind, commencing the summoning ritual.

“The 100% realistic virtual MMO Journey to the Other World has finished maintenance. Beta testing round 2 opens now!”

At the same time, in another world, on an extremely shabby official website, there appeared a new announcement.