"No one is dying here!"
Wu Wanliu shouted loudly, staring at the archer standing on the stairs: "Put down your bow!"
The archer exchanged a glance and slowly released the bowstring.
Wu Wanliu then looked at ‘Yan San’. With the Ghostly Mask on, no one could see his expression.
"Let it go this time."
Yan Qing felt a bit strange. Based on his previous impression, Wu Wanliu didn’t seem like someone who would be so easygoing. But he didn’t dwell on it too much.
Instead, with only a third of his health left, he hurried to a corner to eat a ‘Healing Pill’ and ‘Roast Chicken’. Then he saw on the screen that ‘Yan San’, away from the others, was crazily devouring the roast chicken.
The underground martial arena quieted down. The archers seized the chance to rest — after all, they had been shooting for nearly ten rounds continuously.
Even if the Hundred-Ward Riders were elite, their arms would surely be sore.
"One thousand Spirit Jades, five bottles of Healing Pills, three refined Steel Ingots."
Wu Wanliu checked the items in the chest, closed it, and turned to see ‘Yan San’ watching him. He said, "Every time the Secret Realm is re-entered, everything inside reappears — including monsters and treasure chests. Each chest always contains the same items, so if anyone tries anything shady, they’ll be found out immediately."
It seemed the treasure chests in the dungeon were their most important loot, Yan Qing thought. But the dropped items were the real prize. Missing out on a chest or two didn’t matter much.
After resting, they continued forward and arrived at an underground hall.
The hall was filled with treasure chests brimming with jewels and gold, and at the center of all the treasure stood a large bed.
Before entering the hall, Wu Wanliu had everyone draw their bows aiming at the left side of the bed. He also switched to an iron shield himself before stepping into the hall.
The moment Wu Wanliu crossed the threshold, a confused voice came from the bed:
"You actually found this place... What rotten luck you have."
A middle-aged man with a kind face stepped off the left side of the bed. If it weren’t for the name “Zheng Shan · Zheng Shan” above his head, one wouldn’t have guessed that this slightly worried-looking ordinary man was actually the final boss.
At that moment, the Hundred-Ward Riders unleashed a volley of arrows. If Zheng Shan weren’t a data-based monster, he would’ve been turned into a pincushion. But he only lost less than 10% of his health and calmly drew two straight blades from beside the bed. Then—
He turned into a blur and, in just a few breaths, crossed several meters and struck his blades against Wu Wanliu’s iron shield!
"Surround him!" Wu Wanliu roared.
Three shield-bearers had already spread out in different directions, raising their shields and ramming into Zheng Shan!
Zheng Shan continued slashing wildly at Wu Wanliu like a slow death by a thousand cuts. But with people surrounding him from all sides, he couldn’t dodge at all. Meanwhile, the archers had all switched to long spears, thrusting at Zheng Shan through the gaps.
‘Yan San’ already wielded a long spear, so naturally he joined the group in ganging up on Zheng Shan. Zheng Shan’s health dropped rapidly, and just as it reached one-third, the archers suddenly retreated. Yan Qing didn’t know what was going on, then saw on the screen Zheng Shan roar: Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝕟𝕖𝕥
Zheng Shan spun once with his dual blades, and the fierce blade light covered the three-step radius around him. Wu Wanliu and the other warriors’ shields were deeply gouged, and ‘Yan San’, the only one without defense, instantly lost 50% of his health!
Yan Qing’s first reaction was: the people of this world really understood boss mechanics. They probably couldn’t see health bars (if they could, they would’ve realized something was off with Yan San), yet they could still accurately judge the boss’s skill timing.
His second reaction was: Wu Wanliu never intended for him to leave this place alive!
If ‘Yan San’ weren’t a data-based character, Zheng Shan’s move would have left him seriously injured or even on the brink of death!
Yan Qing’s thoughts raced as he controlled ‘Yan San’ to retreat from the battle, leaning against the wall looking near death, then opened his personal storage to quickly take medicine. Sure enough, no one noticed anything strange — everyone thought ‘Yan San’ was doomed and continued attacking Zheng Shan.
When Zheng Shan’s health was nearly gone, Yan San rushed forward and landed the finishing blow with one spear strike!
"You have comprehended Basic Spearmanship. Current level: 8"
"Your Vitality has increased by 0.1"
"Your Soul has increased by 0.5"
"Your Dexterity has increased by 0.5"
"You have reached Level 10!"
"Congratulations, player has reached level 10. Would you like to proceed with your first job change now? Note: The profession is related to the player's gameplay experience and skill proficiency."
Yan Qing chose ‘Yes’ without hesitation!
Three boxes appeared on the screen, listing three selectable professions:
"Attribute Bonus: Vitality +5, Soul +2, Dexterity +5"
"Thrust (White Trait): When using polearms, attack speed +20%."
"Weak Point Breakthrough (Blue Trait): When using a polearm token, easier to hit enemy weak points, Critical Rate +15%."
"Defensive Messenger"
"Attribute Bonus: Vitality +10, Soul +2"
"Fortify (White Trait): Any shield’s defense +15."
"Counterattack (Blue Trait): After using a shield token, your next melee attack is guaranteed to crit."
"Battlefield Messenger"
"Attribute Bonus: Vitality +4, Soul +4, Dexterity +4"
"March (White Trait): Your movement speed +25 points."
"Weapon Mastery (Blue Trait): When using any weapon token, deal an additional 5 points of damage."
Among the three classes, Shield Messenger and Spear Messenger were both good, and ‘Yan San’s spearmanship level was even the highest. But there was one issue—they required a matching weapon token to take effect.
If he obtained a different weapon token, then those two classes would basically be blank slates.
In a game, that wouldn’t be a problem—there would be player markets, dungeon guides, and even generous players. You could shout in the local channel that you lacked a weapon token, and a high-level player might casually throw you a rare item.
But in reality, this had to be considered. Even if ‘Yan San’ could obtain a token, it was highly unlikely he’d have the luxury of picking and choosing—he’d have to use whatever he got!
But come to think of it, why did all the professions end with “Messenger”?
Because in The Messenger, players—or anyone, really—did not inherently possess extraordinary powers. Even if your Vitality was like a mountain, your Soul like an ocean, and your stats maxed to their limits, you could only accomplish things humans were theoretically capable of—like punching a mountain apart or memorizing millions of words in a second—but you still couldn’t breathe fire, fly in the sky, or raise the dead.
If a Messenger wanted to perform all kinds of strange and fantastical feats, they had to rely on tokens. Different tokens had different effects.
What a Messenger could do was activate the “commands” within the tokens, compelling the heavens, earth, and all things to obey.
To carry out the command of faith and act on behalf of heaven and earth—that was a Messenger.
But conversely, a Messenger without a token was no different from an ordinary person.
Therefore, Yan Qing had to choose a profession that could be put to use immediately, and quickly acquire his first token.
Just then, from the screen’s edge, he saw a glowing white light highlighting a drop on Zheng Shan’s corpse!
"Congratulations, you have changed profession to ‘Battlefield Messenger’."
"You gained Vitality +4, Soul +4, Dexterity +4!"
"You have unlocked Spirit Points. Current Spirit Points: 0/20"
‘Yan San’s character outline was suddenly bathed in blood-red light, and his health and injuries instantly healed.
That was an unexpected benefit—if he’d known, he wouldn’t have wasted healing items earlier.
"You… changed to a Messenger profession?"
Not far away, Wu Wanliu stared directly at ‘Yan San’, his shocked voice echoing from beneath the Ghostly Mask.