Chapter 28: Compensation and Reunion

Tianmu heard footsteps approaching and, turning around, caught the scene exactly as it unfolded.

"Half-Love for the Mortal World, what on earth are you doing?" he shouted, exasperated.

"Can't you tell? I'm stealing your kill," Fu Chen replied with a straight face, flashing a grin.

The other three teammates, including Waves Addicted to the Bone, were absolutely livid. This was simply outrageous! They had already been forced to lower their heads and apologize in public, losing all face, and were already simmering with resentment. They had swallowed their pride to return to grinding monsters, and they had only just killed two. Now, this third one had been snatched away right under their noses by a single arrow from him? Even worse, he was standing there with a mocking grin, rubbing it in their faces.

Tianmu gripped his magic weapon so tightly his knuckles turned white. Suppressing his rage, he gritted his teeth and said, "We already apologized! Don't you think it's going too far to hunt us down and steal our kills?"

Fu Chen considered this, nodded, and agreed, "You're right. The way I stole that kill was indeed improper."

Before the four of them could relax, he sheathed his bow, swapped to dual axes, and flashed a wicked smile. "You aren't doing quests; you're grinding for levels. Therefore, I should be competing with you for experience."

Before his voice had even faded, Fu Chen surged forward, using the skill [Dragon Manifest] to instantly slay the monster in front of them. Tianmu and his teammates, already infuriated, were left completely dumbstruck.

"Holy hell, a one-hit kill on over 400 HP?" Waves Addicted to the Bone blurted out in shock. He turned to Tianmu with a bitter expression and said, "Captain, his attack power is higher than all four of ours combined."

He was right. This Level 7 Pangolin Cub had required each of them to land two hits just to take it down. No one had expected Fu Chen’s attack power to be so high after switching to dual axes.

Tianmu’s face darkened. Enduring the humiliation, he asked, "Half-Love for the Mortal World, we already apologized. What more do you want?"

Fu Chen laughed. "Like I said, you made my friends waste an hour. Pay them 10,000 gold coins each."

"10,000 is too much! We don't even have that kind of money, how are we supposed to pay?" Waves Addicted to the Bone argued indignantly.

Fu Chen gave a scornful laugh. "I said 10,000 each for them—that's 20,000 total. Can you not afford that?"

Tianmu’s face remained cold. "And if we don't pay? What are you going to do? We'll just stop grinding here, that's all."

"Don't worry about that. Wherever you go, I follow. I'm locked onto you today," Fu Chen threatened with breezy indifference. He paused, then added with a smile, "Besides, I'm Level 10 now and don't have many quests, so I've got plenty of time."

Tianmu felt a wave of nausea, as if he were being forced to swallow a fly. How the tables had turned. Two days ago, he had led a group to corner Fu Chen and Qin Yumo; today, the roles were reversed, and he was the one being bullied.

"Half-Love for the Mortal World, I'll swallow this for today. Enjoy your moment," Tianmu spat out viciously. He turned to his three teammates and said, "Give me 2,500 gold each to pay them. We’re taking the loss today."

Though the others were deeply unwilling, the situation left them no choice. To ensure they could continue grinding later, they had no option but to pay up. Once Tianmu had gathered the funds, he walked over to Fu Chen and traded the compensation. "Half-Love for the Mortal World, this isn't over. Just wait."

"Pfft," Fu Chen scoffed at him and turned to walk back to his teammates.

Ling Dian was the first to see him approach. Curious, she asked, "Big Boss, how did it go?"

Fu Chen shrugged and smiled. "As we discussed, they're paying you and Yu Meiren 10,000 gold coins each as compensation. You two should come over and trade with me to collect it."

Yu Meiren immediately waved her hands in refusal. "Helping us vent our anger is enough. You should keep the money, Big Boss."

"Little Yu is so sensible," Ling Dian said with a satisfied nod, then added to Fu Chen, "Big Boss, you should keep it yourself."

"Chen, keep the gold," Qin Yumo agreed, though she asked curiously, "They were so stubborn before, why did they agree to pay so easily?"

"If they didn't pay, I would have kept following them to steal their kills and experience. A taste of their own medicine," Fu Chen said with a smile.

Ling Dian clapped in approval. "Well played! That’s the only way to get some satisfaction. They deserved it."

Since the two parties involved wouldn't take the money, Fu Chen felt uncomfortable holding onto it. He simply joined their party, dropped the 20,000 gold on the ground, and picked it up again, causing the gold to be automatically split between them.

With Fu Chen in the party, Ling Dian and Yu Meiren’s quest progress soared, and they completed them quickly. He had expected them to keep grinding, but to his surprise, they wanted to head back to Hidden Hero Village to rest. Fu Chen considered persuading them otherwise, but realized that this was how most people approached the game. After all, grinding usually meant enduring the persistent pain of monster counterattacks, which was mentally exhausting. This was why most newcomers leveled up so slowly; beyond the time spent traveling for quests, the main issue was that few could endure the constant pain of combat for long.

Fu Chen was only able to fight for hours at a time because he had slowly trained himself over three years in his previous life. If not for those experiences, he wouldn't be so desperate to level up, and his soul wouldn't be able to withstand the intensity.

Qin Yumo clearly knew her two friends well and had no intention of convincing them otherwise. She simply said, "Since you don't plan on continuing to grind, Chen and I will go back to finish our quests."

With that, the four of them used [Return to City] to head back to Hidden Hero Village.

At that moment, Fu Chen received a friend request notification from [Yao Si Qing Meng]. It was Yang Siyao; she had finally arrived in the Perfect World.

"The show is about to begin," Fu Chen sneered to himself and accepted the request.

Immediately after, [Yao Si Qing Meng] joined the party, having sent a request directly to Fu Chen. Before Qin Yumo, Ling Dian, or Yu Meiren could express their confusion, Yang Siyao spoke up in the party chat:

"Fu Chen, there are so many people here, I can't even get a single monster. Can you come help me?"

"Fu Chen?" Qin Yumo repeated softly, looking at him. "Chen, is this Yao Si Qing Meng a friend of yours?"

Yao Si Qing Meng jumped in first, greeting them with a smile. "Hello everyone, I'm Fu... I'm Half-Love for the Mortal World's girlfriend."

A flash of malice flickered in Fu Chen’s eyes, but he nodded and smiled. "That's right, this is my girlfriend. She just arrived in the Perfect World today."

"Fu Chen, why are your and 'Desolate's' party icons different from ours?" Yao Si Qing Meng asked curiously.

Fu Chen wore a cold sneer, but replied in a casual tone, "You'll have your own icon once you reach Level 9 and awaken your class."

He paused, then softened his voice. "You look around for a bit. I need to log out and back in for a moment. I'll find you soon."

"I almost forgot, it's already 11 o'clock. I need to log out and back in too," Qin Yumo realized.

Afterward, Fu Chen and Qin Yumo logged out of the Perfect World together, returning only a few minutes later. Qin Yumo was eager to buy a mount and immediately looked into how to use Blue Star currency to purchase gold in the Perfect World. Fu Chen teleported back to Sword City and rushed to the Pengcheng Inn to find Yang Siyao.

Half an hour later, following the teammate location on his map, he saw Yang Siyao waiting in the distance.

This was the first time Fu Chen and Yang Siyao had met since his rebirth. The scenes from his death in his past life played out before his eyes. He suppressed the overwhelming murderous intent in his heart, clenching his fists so tightly they trembled, constantly reminding himself to be patient. Great things require patience!

Finally, Fu Chen exhaled slowly, forced a smile onto his face, and called out, "Yaoyao, I'm here."