Chapter 123 The Supposed Siege by Monsters (1/2)

”Pish…”

Lin Jie felt relieved after letting out his urine.

He washed his hands and went to the kitchen, looking for some food. To his surprise, he discovered an exquisitely decorated invitation letter placed on the table.

There were pictures of a sunlit college with fantastic scenery, and a group of youthful-looking teenage boys and girls painting side by side…. This was an invitation letter by a university.

”Miss Lin Xiaoxue, Huaxia Academy of Fine Arts would like to invite you to join us at…” Lin Jie read a few words, and his eyelids began to twitch. 'Heavens, this is the invitation letter by Huaxia Academy of Fine Arts?!'

Huaxia Academy of Fine Arts was known as the dream school that all Arts students wanted to enroll in. Under the meticulous teaching of experienced teachers, coupled with its worldwide acknowledged first-class learning environment, should a student's talent be recognized and recommended by any highly respected teacher, a bright future ahead would definitely be in store for them…

How long had passed since Xiaoxue started to learn art? Yet she was able to produce these good results within such a short time!

However, technically speaking… if one thought about it, which Arts student didn't start their careers since their school days—by doodling on their textbooks—and refining their skills for more than a decade?

However, with its fame as the cradle of Arts, Huaxia Academy of Fine Arts' tuition fees would not be cheap—one had to pay up to nearly 100,000$ per year! That was not inclusive of the additional expenses one had to spend for participating in competitions, etc…

Lin Jie frowned. In his previous life, his sister had enrolled in a local Arts school, then what about this invitation letter… His heart thudded as the realization hit him. Before he was reborn into this life, his family could hardly get by. Could it be that his parents were unable to afford such expensive tuition fees, and hence his sister…

A wave of remorse washed over him.

His fingers grabbed tightly onto the letter. At that moment, Lin Jie discovered a crease at a corner of the invitation letter. It was as if someone had held it tightly in their hands before, trembling but at a struggle to decide what to do with this letter.

”Dad…” Stroking that crease, Lin Jie felt as if he could feel what his father felt when he saw this letter. Their family has always been poor, and throughout the years, no matter how hard they worked, they could only accumulate a meager amount of around a few ten thousand dollars as their savings. Such finances could only guarantee the whole family the most basic lifestyle.

Now, Lin Jiawu could only watch his daughter give up the chance to enroll in a prestigious institution, and choose to study at a local university as it offered free tuition fees and scholarships—all for the reason that the family couldn't afford the high tuition fees! For parents, what could be more torturous than this?

Lin Jie thought about this for a while and decided to keep the invitation letter, placing it under his pillow.

- ”Welcome back, you have appeared within Prague City.”

Silent Grey Sky had blocked all calls from players after Lin Jie told her the coordinates for the ore resources and gone on ahead happily to mine the ores. Lin Jie strolled around in Prague City, went to the Auction House and prepared to leave after he took note of the tax rates.

Ding~

Regional Announcement (Hell Plume): Brothers of the Angel Descent Guild, hear this order! From today onwards, kill all Brotherhood members! All members who are in Prague City or in the surrounding areas, do take note! Otherwise, leave our guild or be prepared to be killed!

As soon as the announcement was made known, Lin Jie immediately received notifications that hundreds of members quit Brotherhood.

Prague City was Angel Descent's territory. If one wanted to make a living here, they could not offend them! Moreover, many people in Brotherhood were originally members of Angel Descent, and after weighing their options, it was no wonder they decided to play it safe and withdrew themselves from this mess.

Lin Jie smiled coldly. What were the chances that Heaven Plume was ignorant about Hell Plume assuming such great airs and giving orders around to his members? By the looks of it, he must have given silent consent to Hell Plume.

Brotherhood's progress had rendered it strong enough to replace the Mercenary Association, and it was showing beginning signs of threatening the statuses of major guilds. For survival's sake, a guild could only choose to act in either two ways: maintain close ties with Brotherhood's members, or destroy this organization entirely!

Obviously, Heaven Plume had chosen the latter.

Brotherhood's progress was too successful, and many guilds were jealous of it. After all, there were only so many opportunities in Prague City, and as the saying goes, 'two tigers cannot coexist on the same mountain'. Naturally, Angel Descent would want to take the first move!

'The tall poppies get cut down,' Lin Jie smiled coldly, 'it's such a shame that Heaven Plume did not understand this logic.'

Taking off the Wolf Head Helmet, Lin Jie set off for the slums of Prague.

In the slums, the dirty ditches gave off all sorts of unpleasant smells. All kinds of rubbish were scattered around on the ground.

Lin Jie's brows furrowed as he walked on.

”Pia!”

A dirty little girl suddenly fell in front of him, and Lin Jie hurriedly helped her up.

”You… you hit me!” The little girl pointed at Lin Jie, and cried, ”When you knock cute little Shana down, you have to compensate me with half a loaf of bread! Little Shana's legs hurt so much, sobs…”

Umm, feigning injury to cheat people of compensation1?

Lin Jie shook his head and let out an exasperated smile, then placed a loaf of bread in her waiting hands.

Little Shana stopped crying immediately and took a great bite out of the bread. She swallowed it without chewing much but ended up choking and coughing.

Lin Jie took out fresh water and gave it to the little girl. Her face was dirty, but her eyes were bright and lively. The little girl sipped on the water gingerly, then began to gulp down huge mouthfuls of the water.

”Eat slowly, little girl. I have more here if it's not enough,” said Lin Jie with a smile.

All this while, Little Shana couldn't find time to reply. After eating a large piece of bread, she said pleadingly, ”I am so sorry, Big Brother, I lied to you just now. I fell down by myself.”

—'The favorability of Little Shana towards you has increased by 10 points.'

”Hahaha…” Lin Jie caressed her hair and placed a silver coin in her hands. ”Take this, go buy something to eat.”

”Oh no, Grandpa Edgar said that we can't take someone else's money.”

”Grandpa Edgar?” asked Lin Jie.

”Shana!” A stern voice rang out in the slums. Not long after that, a gray-haired elderly man appeared in their sight, walking slowly towards them with a cane.

This was the old grandfather who lived in the slums! At first glance, he looked like some mysterious yet all-prevailing divine figure, the kind of person who could deal out powerful magical attacks effortlessly in some fantasy novels!

In actual fact, this old grandfather was the famous Enchant Master in The New Age, Edgar! However, he also expertized in a skill unknown by all—as a superb Enchant Master, he was also skilled in forgery!

Yet, Lin Jie knew this fact full well!

Edgar studied Runes extensively and had attained great results in Enchantment. Unfortunately, he was framed by his apprentices, and all his properties were confiscated, and he was being chased to live in the slums. Yet, he created a 'Life Runes' which could allow one to sustain his life without having to eat!

Edgar would occasionally release some missions to players, and the first player who completed his mission could learn his Runes. He could then draw the ”Life Runes” on his equipment, which would increase his health bar's cap by 4%! In Lin Jie's previous life, there had been a lucky Enchant Master who had gotten this reward, and as a result, he had risen to fame overnight.

Edgar caressed the little girl's hair fondly, and commented, ”Did you take someone else's stuff again?”

Little Shana pouted her lips. ”Grandpa, though your runes are powerful, it can only sustain life but can't take away the feelings of hunger…”