52 Prosperity Hall (1/2)
Li Wei quietly followed the waitress with his party. He was guided through a large staircase on the side. As soon as they entered the second floor, it was like in a completely different place. Li Wei's nostrils were instantly assaulted by a variety of enticing aromas coming from the plates of the customers.
The second floor clearly had fewer tables than the first one, there was more space between them, giving more privacy to the customers. The room was lightly decorated, just enough to show that it was a special place but without overwhelming the customers. There was also a terrace where some tables were placed, from there, the customers could watch the plaza in front of the restaurant.
The group was quickly brought to a table and everyone was given a menu. Li Wei froze when he saw the prices, the cheapest meal cost at least 5 gold and that was just an appetizer. When he compared it to the food he was used to, this was clearly extremely expensive; a normal meal would cost around 1 gold at Algate City.
While Li Wei was flustered about the price, the 2 girls and Cai Wenji did not seem to mind it. Recently, they came here to eat a lot due to the good properties of the food. Cai Wenji was very sensitive and noticed Li Wei's behavior, he quickly said:
”I am treating, so you guys can pick whatever you want,”
”Really? In that case, we should go for a three-course meal!” said Liu Beibei as she browsed through the menu.
A few minutes later, the waitress came back to take their orders, in the end, they all went for three-course meals. And as they waited for their dishes, the conversation once again drifted towards Li Wei's trip.
”Oh, by the way, I met a crazy guy at the Warrior Association, he was furious because I traded there and not at the Sect, he said he would report it...” said Li Wei.
”Really? Well, it is true that you are free to exchange your loot where you want but it would have been nice if you exchanged some at the sect so that we can grow. Anyway, who is that guy? I will deal with that later,” answered Cai Wenji.
”I did not see him before at the sect but he is from the Fleeting Clouds Sect, not from a branch guild. His name is Wang Lin,”
Instantly, the atmosphere turned weird and both Liu Beibei and Cai Wenji turned to briefly look at Bright Sun. The latter was making a weird expression.
”Don't worry about that guy, you did not see him at the Colosseum because he went to fight the other guilds for the Mutated Giant Worm that day. It will be alright, that guy is just biased against Avalanche due to issues in real life. He will always be picky about us so just ignore him,” said Cai Wenji.
Li Wei naturally noticed their behavior but he did not ask about it. ”So, can you tell me what happened here while I was gone? It is not normal for you to still be level 11” asked Li Wei.
”Oh yeah, you blocked all messages so you are not aware of it. You remember the quest you received but refused on the day of your departure? We went there to take the quest but the Stone Defenders arrived earlier and were the first to complete all the maps. The tenth floor took a bit longer since only rogues could stealthily explore it.”
”So when they completed the maps, they made sure to get some copies before submitting the quest. But when you looked at the map, you could see a hidden message. The way the walls and tunnels were distributed made it looked like very badly written Chinese characters.”
”The Stone Defenders were the one to complete the maps so they naturally were the only one able to read the message. It contained 3 locations in the dungeon, the message pointed at a specific floor, a specific corridor and specific spot.”
”We don't know if it was intentionally made by the game designers but the locations were actually secret rooms. 2 of them contained treasures that the Stone Defenders collected but in the end, most of the players sent to these rooms died so they were only able to bring back a few items.”
”As for the third room, they found a lot of defenseless monsters in there and they took advantage of that to get a lot of exp. Since we were already in the dungeon, we noticed their strange behavior and also fought for some of the loot. The Gem Family also came in and then it became a mess.”
”The Stone Defenders killed quite a lot of monsters in there and since they were of level 15, they obtained a lot of exp and leveled up a lot. Most of them were level 13 at that time. Then, we tried to take a slice of the cake but it was too late. The monsters inside reacted and not only that, stronger monsters that ranged from level 20 to level 30 appeared. We were all slaughtered without exception, all players in the dungeon were killed.”
”And it did not end there, a few hours later, when we revived, we all received a compulsory quest to defend the city against the monster wave from the dungeon. Since I am a rogue, I had to fight at the frontline but against level 30 monsters, I could not even scratch them before dying again. Fortunately, my sister is a priest, so she stood in the backline and did not die a second time.”
”Yes, luckily it's just a game! But still, dying is not a very pleasant experience! You are so lucky to have left before that event,” said Bright Sun.
At that moment, the waitress arrived with the appetizers, Li Wei's was a special secret soup. Since everyone was hungry, they all immediately started eating. The creamy flavor assaulted Li Wei as soon as he placed the spoon in his mouth, it was clearly much better than what he used to have. But more importantly, a system prompt came up as soon as he took a sip,
[System prompt: you have consumed a Special Secret Soup, Fatigue recovery increased for the next 10 minutes]
”Wow! This is really good!” commented Li Wei.
”Indeed! That's why many people come here to eat and it is a good way to recover fatigue for us to train our techniques afterward,” said Liu Beibei.
”Huh? It is a really expensive way to recover your fatigue no? Isn't it more affordable to use the Fatigue Recovery Potions the sect is making?” asked Li Wei.
”You did not read the guild's chat so you don't know. You are not the only one who thought that but unfortunately, the Fatigue Recovery Potion is toxic when consumed in large amounts,” said Cai Wenji.
”Yes, you should not take more than 3 per week, those who abused it were bedridden for 2 days. That's why it is better to recover fatigue by enjoying a good meal!” added Bright Sun.
They all enjoyed their dish and as Li Wei finished his soup, his fatigue level already went down by 10%, it was a really large amount considering that it was just the appetizer.