A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 28 Strange Events at the Forum

"Phew, I've never felt so relaxed coming back to reality."

After counting his loot and confirming that the treant's torso was in his inventory, Jiang Shuzhou immediately logged off.

There's no other reason than that I'm just too tired.

The day began with chopping down trees, followed by a fierce battle with the tree-man. During this time, he cast twenty or thirty spells. Finally, after much difficulty, he brought the tree-man to the brink of death, but then he still had to cut off its trunk.

For the first time, Jiang Shuzhou experienced what it meant to be tired.

However, after Jiang Shuzhou logged off, everything seemed like a dream. The soreness in his body disappeared, and everything was so wonderful.

"I'll go to the trading house tomorrow and buy a saw."

Although the tree's torso was already in his inventory, Jiang Shuzhou still had to dismantle it himself to obtain the Life Wood from the tree's center. To save time and effort, Jiang Shuzhou decided to spend some money at the trading house to buy a saw, otherwise he would have to spend another day with the tree tomorrow.

Write this down in your phone's notepad and set an alarm.

Jiang Shuzhou habitually opened the forum, intending to browse it in bed for a while before going to sleep.

It would have been better if he hadn't opened the forum, but once he did, Jiang Shuzhou regretted it again.

"I shouldn't have posted the picture!"

Jiang Shuzhou slapped his thigh in regret.

The forum, which was already not very peaceful, was in an uproar this time.

Although the forum is always in an uproar, with people arguing about all sorts of trivial matters.

But this time it's different. This time it involves a group within the game, a relatively marginal player group—mages.

As we all know, mage players are the weakest players in this game. However, just like in other games, even if a class is terrible, there are still some people who will play it. We usually call these people "one-trick ponies".

Of course, if used poorly, it can also be like the terminally ill guy.

The protagonist of this incident—a 99-year-old man with a special skill—is this terminally ill man.

For convenience, we'll call him Brother Hua.

According to Hua Ge himself, he is very fond of the mage class, and he will choose the mage in any game that has a mage class, regardless of its strength.

Obviously, this time was no exception. Hua Ge once again chose the mage class, and he was also fortunate enough to have a talent. Since he was determined to choose the mage class, he naturally chose a talent related to the mage class. As for what the talent was, Hua Ge did not specify.

It's basically about magic.

That's not the point; the point is what happened next.

After entering the game, Hua Ge found himself in a school that taught magic, meaning it was a magic academy.

At first, it was fine. Hua Ge found the feeling of being a student again, which was quite novel. However, after a while, Hua Ge started to feel bored.

He started skipping classes frequently. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal for an orphan like him, since he had no family. Even if he skipped classes every day, the school would just expel him at most, which wouldn't matter. He wasn't a real student and didn't think he couldn't live without school.

At worst, we can just restart and change the spawn point.

However, contrary to his expectations, the school did not expel him. At first, he was quite surprised, but then he stopped caring about it.

Hua Ge continued to do as he pleased, skipping classes from time to time, and no one really cared about him.

At first, Hua Ge thought it was pretty great; he could attend classes whenever he wanted, skip classes whenever he wanted, and play whenever he wanted.

However, he didn't know at the time that every gift of fate had already come with a price tag attached.

In an unknown corner, a pair of indifferent eyes were observing him.

It happened today.

As usual, Hua Ge didn't listen to a word in class that day. However, unlike before, a woman with a cold face walked in after class. She was a woman Hua Ge had never seen at school before. She was wearing a black robe with a purple badge pinned to it.

"Vular, come with me, the headmaster wants to see you."

Vular was the in-game name that Hua Ge had chosen. Although he didn't know why the principal wanted to talk to him, he figured it might be because he had been skipping class recently.

Hua Ge followed the woman without any warning, but halfway there, his vision went black and he fainted.

When he woke up again, he was sitting in a place that clearly resembled an interrogation room.

"What are you doing? You can't treat me like this!"

Seeing the two people sitting opposite him, especially the woman next to him, Brother Hua immediately understood that he had been knocked down.

"Quiet, let's not waste each other's time. Now I'll ask, you answer."

The woman was standing next to a hooded man, and it was clear that he was the one who said those words.

Why should I tell you the truth?

Upon hearing this, Brother Hua's mind went blank. Although that was what he thought, he absolutely did not intend to say it aloud. He planned to play along and fool the two people in front of him first.

"See, this is why I'm making you tell the truth."

The hooded man chuckled softly and spoke slowly.

"Ask what you have to say, or shut up! I don't have time for your nonsense. I'm logging off right now! Let's see how you ask then!"

"Oh? What does 'offline' mean?"

The man in front of him didn't seem angry at Hua Ge's offense.

"Teacher, how dare he disrespect you! Should we...?"

It's obvious that the woman next to him is petty.

"No, no need. Using such a crude method to invite a man here would make anyone resentful, and I completely understand that feeling."

"You understand your own **!"

Hua Ge was furious. "You've brought me to this godforsaken place, and you still say you understand me? Do you think I'd believe that?"

"Alright, please answer the question from before: what exactly does 'offline' mean?"

"Logging off means I'm not playing with you anymore, you bastard!"

Using his consciousness to summon the game system, Brother Hua clicked to exit the game. He had finished cursing and was no longer willing to talk to the two NPCs in front of him.

"..."

However, after clicking for a long time, nothing happened. He did not log off, and the subsequent notification made him feel even more disheartened.

"You are locked and cannot log off."

Looking at Brother Hua, the man wearing a hood and a bright green badge on his chest chuckled again.

"Why are you still here?"

"Didn't you say you were going to give us a show of what it's like to be offline? Didn't you say you were leaving?"

Silence, a deathly silence.

"Looks like the time for the Truth Word spell has come."

A magical aura emanated from the man before them, and a beam of light shot towards Brother Hua.

"Come on, I'll ask you one more time, what does 'log off' mean?"

The man asked the question again.

"You wouldn't want to know, but an NPC can know quite a lot."

On the contrary, I am very curious to know.

"Tell me everything you know."

"Satiate my curiosity, and I will reward you with rewards you can't even imagine."

The man seemed intrigued by the answer.

"Fine! Since you all want to die, then I'll tell you!"

"You are game NPCs. Do you know what an NPC is? An NPC is... what does 'offline' mean..."

Hua Ge recounted everything about the game in one go. It's undeniable that the Truth Word spell may have played a significant role, but Hua Ge himself also contributed to the outcome.

"Good, you didn't lie to me."

The man before her remained calm and rational.

"Your world is fake, yet you're still able to maintain your sanity?"

Brother Hua asked.

Is the world really an illusion?

"What do you mean?"

The man was silent for a moment, then replied.

"Do you need me to tell you why you can't log off?"

Why?

"It's simple, I've imprisoned your soul."

"..."

Are you surprised?

The man chuckled again.

"You'll understand someday that everything comes at a price."

"Now that you have explained everything, you can leave. But before you go, I have one small request."

"What are your requirements?"

"Upload this book, 'Spells and Alchemy,' to the forum."