《Adventure in the Diablo II world》


 Chapter 1: No cheating

    It''s almost twelve o''clock.


    As an experienced netizen, I''ve always beenhighlyqualified. Even though I have to clock in for work every day, I won''t crawl into bed beforemidnight.


    But what should I donow? Over the past two years of working, I''ve had neither the time nor the interest to pursue new games, nor the money to upgrade my computer for them. So, besides the ever-popular Dota, I haven''t played any other games.


    I sank into the recliner and stared blankly at the icons scattered on my computer screen, my gaze inadvertently drifting to a corner.


    There, a fierce demon''s head stared back at me, labeled as Diablo2. Yes, it was the icon for Diablo, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, a masterpiece that had accompanied me for over a decadebut had been forgotten for equally as long. To my surprise, I still had iton my computer.


    My passion was ignited by thosedust-covered memoriesas soon as I stared at that icon. With eager clicks of the mouse, I hurriedly accessed the familiar startup screen.


    Wait, I stillhave a lot of modifiers for Diablo.Consideringthat I hadn''t ventured in the world of Diablo for a long time, and the hellish monsters and the deadly penalty of -100 to all resistances, I shivered. Then I quicklyswitched out, andstruggled to find the modifiersomewhere on my computer.


    Of course, the first step was to create a character, which couldalsobe done directly through the modifier. Hmm, as for the character''s name, I''d use the name of a Scorpio Saint, Milo.


    Then came the crucial choice of class. Diablo II offers seven classes: Paladin, Sorcerer, Necromancer, Amazon, Druid, Assassin, and Barbarian. Since it''s been so long since I last played, so it does not matter which classI chose,they are all fresh to me. Then,which profession would provide me the most experienceof the game? The answer was Druid, who could play with elements, summon creatures, and even transform to performmelee combat. Although none of these abilities are top-tier, it doesn''t matter; I have modifiers, right?


    Yes, Druid it is!


    Nowcomes theequipment.That is the key for editing.However, I still wanthave somegaming experience, so just one bug charm is enough: the Annihilus, but the edited version: +3 to allskills, +50 to all attributes, all resistance +50, a 300% increased chance of finding magic items, and +30% to experience gained. Alright, with such aAnnihilus charm, other unique or sets equipment will come eventually, sparing me the trouble of smallbackpack.


    Character created! Well done!


    I hurried to switch back to the game and double-clickmy character to start the journey.


    The scene changes to theopeninggate opens, as I was eagered to enjoymy precious charm in the game.


    Yet, instead of thescene ofRogue Camp, the entire screen remainedeerily dark, with only two large buttons left.


    "Yes"


    "No"


    I rubbed my eyes astonishingly. What happened here? Game corrupted or striked by a virus?


    I gazedat the two buttons,andhesitatedfor a long time,wonderingif itwasa virus or not.


    The mysteriously appearing "Yes" button, emittingstrange glamour, constantly attracted me. At some time point, I forgot the possible danger, and clicked "Yes".


    Suddenly, a huge black vortex emergedfrom my screen, andengulfedall my consciousness. Everything wentdark in my eyes, and Iwaspulled into the vortex. My body disappearedfromthe computer desk, leaving only one thought in my mind: Iwon¡¯tever cheat again.


    "Ooof"


    A chill shiver ran over me. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a dark, gloomy sky, with fine rain falling from the boundless iron-gray clouds, dotting on my body and face. I shivered as my leather jacket was all wet and clinging tightly to my skin, transmitting a chilling cold straight to my heart.


    Wait, a leather jacket? I remembered I waswearing a sport suit. And I should definitelyat home just now. How did I end up in this creepy place?


    Breaking out in a cold sweat, I sat up and scrutinized my surroundings.


    I was surrounded by athin fog, allowing me to see only about 100 meters. Iwassitting on slightly damp grass, with patches of exposed hard earth nearby. In my vision, there were only two colors: the greenunknown weeds and the brown soil.


    "Was thata dream?"


    I muttered to myself, with a dazed mind, rubbedmy eyes, and lay back down again.


    "Wake up!I shallcontinue playing my Diablo..."


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.Well, some timepassed. And yet the rain in my dream seemed to get heavier and heavier, with piercingcold on my body.


    It wasn''t a dream!


    I opened my eyes again and gazed at the iron-gray sky.


    "What kind of hellish place is this? I was definitely playing computer game at home, how did I suddenly end up here?!!"


    I sat up arduously, and desperately tore my hair. I looked around this wilderness with terror and panic, with only the sound of rain in my ears. The last scene slowly emerged in my mind: at the last moment, it seemed like there was an eerie choice on the computer. After clicking ¡°Yes¡±, I blacked out and ended up here.


    Thinking of the countless time-travel fictions I had read online, a wave of fear swept over me. All of a sudden, I am one of them?!


    SHIT NO!!


    I looked up at the sky sadly. In the wilderness, there was no house, no food, and even no shelter from the rain!!


    A gust of wind broughtpiercing cold to my body. The rain-soaked leather jacket clung to me like ice. Meanwhile, I felt hungry, too. It turned out that the so-called time-travel was nota fairy tale as imagined. Warm home, food in fridge, bed with dry and clean quilt, all these things that I had taken for granted, were now the most precious.


    ¡°God, please, send meback!!¡±


    The dark sky just lit several dazzling lightnings to mock my weakness.


    After quite a while, I finally stood up from the ground blankly, like a puppet. But the coldness on my body and my growling stomach made me realize the cruel fact: Staying in this hellish place any longer would only lead to death.


    I looked around. The heavy rain had dispersed the mist, but the visibility was even lower. Where could I goin this deserted wilderness?


    The desire for survival finally motivated me to start walking towards one random direction.


    I didn''t know what was ahead of me, perhaps a city, perhaps a man-eating beast, or maybe just endless wilderness. Yet I had to keep walking, even if there might be only a glimmer of hope.


    I don''t know how long I walked. My feet became numb and my vision blurred. My body almost reached the limit. Perhaps the place not far ahead would be my end.


    "Well, maybe I would travel back again..."I whispered to myself, trying to seek joy amidst sorrow.


    The heavy rain stained the horizon into an endless grayish-white, and the only sound in my ears was the squishing of my feet in the mud and grass. I stared at the ground with glassy eyes and stood there for a moment. Finally, the irresistible hunger drove me to kneel on the ground, slowly grab a handful of grass tremblingly from the ground, shake off the mud on the roots, regardless of the remaining mud and sand, and stuff them into my mouth along with the rain.


    The bitter, astringent, and fishy taste gradually numbed my taste buds, which made me gradually ignorethe feeling of chewing mud and sand.


    I pulled handfuls of grass and stuffed them into my mouth. Bitter tears soaked my entire face, leaving muddy tear tracks on it.


    Once upon a time, I threw away a McDonald''s that I had only eaten one-third of into the trash casually, or I poured the remaining half of my milk down the drain...


    "Ugh..."


    Finally, I could notbear the fishy taste of mud and sand in my mouth any longerandretched loudly. But thankfully, at least I was not that hungry, and gained a little strength inmy feet. This was a ray of hope in despair. Yet I knew that if I couldn''t find shelter from the rain soon, I would be frozento death. So I continued this unpredictable journeywith heavy steps.


    I lost all sense of time againwhen I was about to give up, a blurred figure emerged through the heavy rain.


    "Hey..."


    I shouted ecstatically, waving my arms hard, without confirming if it was an illusion or not, if that ¡°person¡± could hear me or not, or even if the figure was a human or a beast. It was the glimmer of hope in this endless wilderness. Having endured loneliness, hunger, and the creeping despair of death, once freed, I was refilled with illusory energy.


    I wavedmy hand and ran towards the figurewith long strides, getting closer and closerto the figure. The figure in the rain also seemed to sense something. Itturnedslowly in the blur and lookedtowards me.


    It was a human figure.


    "Here, I''m here!" I waved my arms hard and shouted loudly. At this moment, I forgot to considerif ¡°he¡±could get my word, if¡°he¡±would accept me, or if ¡°he¡±was hostile to me.


    The figure seemed to have really seenme, and slowly walkedtowards me step by step. His hunched posture and slow motion indicated that he was probably an aged person.


    I didn''t find it strange why an aged person lingeredin such a rainy wilderness, asmy joy had got the best of me.


    Finally, it was close enough to geta clear look at the figure. I wiped off the sweat from my eyes, and witnessed a scene that I would never forget in my lifetimejust as the ¡°old man¡±slowly raised his head.


    It wasn''t a man at all! The face of that creature was terrifying: the bald head had been sliced in half, with yellowish-green brain matter constantly spilling out with the rain and flowing into its eyes and mouth. Its left eye was already white, while its right eye had fallen out, with only a bit of flesh still connecting it to the socket, allowing the eyeball hanging on the face. From the hollow socket, I could even see the flesh and blood inside. The lips had started to decay, exposing half of the yellowish-brown teeth that constantly rubbing against each other. The slightly grinning mouth seemed to make a smile. Even in such heavy rain, its body was so dry and thin as it had just been dehydrated. The flesh appeared to stick on the body piece by piece, and might fall off at any moment. There were large holes in the abdomen and the right thigh. The decaying organs and muscles were crawling with disgusting maggots.


    "Ugh..."


    I vomited again, even spitting out the grass and mud I had just eaten.


    This was no human, but a "living" decaying corpse!


    The decaying corpse ¡°smiled¡±at me, and it slowly reached out towards mewith its withered, bony hands.


    "Ah..."


    My only hope turned into despair. I stumbled backward a few steps and sat down on the ground. Then, I scrambled to my feet and ran aimlessly, just running like a madman...


    I didn''t know how long I ran. The intense activity drained the last ounce of my strength. With a thud, my legs gave out, and I fell into a small mud pit. The splashing mud gradually drowned all my senses.

 Chapter 2 Hello! New world

    In my dream, I heard some murmurs afar that sounded like from another world. Wrapped with warmth, I stretched luxuriously. I opened my sleepy eyes and found myself in darkness, with only a glimmer of light through a crack. Had I returned home? Was everything before just a vivid dream?


    A surge of surprise filled my heart. I sat up at once and realized that a thick blanket-like thing covered me. It seemed to be made of animal fur or some similar material. After a while, my eyes got used to this dim place. I looked around and found I was in a very confined space. The "walls" were soft and occasionally swayed gently, while the overhead space was limited, suggesting it was a tent.


    Suddenly, a colossal figure squeezed through the crack. The figure nearly blocked the entire opening, and the light as well. Therefore, I couldn''t make out the figure''s appearance, and could only roughly estimate that he stood at least 2.5 meters tall.


    "Boy, you''re finally awake! Hahaha! Wonderful!" a loud and robust voice thundered in my ears, causing them to ring.


    Well, his earsplitting voice relieved me a little bit. At least he could speak, and I could understand him.


    "Hector, I¡¯ve told you not to roar like that. Look, you must have frightened the young man," came a steady voice behind the giant, mocking him.


    Hector, presumably was the name of the giant figure before me.


    "Bullshit, El. How could I frighten anyone?" Hector roared again, making me cover my ears sorely. ¡°Dear Lord, I wish I shall still hear.¡±


    ---------------------


    In the darkness, four figures sat around a small fire pit, where crackling sounds occasionally emitted from the flames. Their shadows stretched farther into the distance, becoming more and more vague.


    The one on my left was ¡°Typhon¡± Hector, a bald giant with a shaved head and beard, and tattoos on his face. I couldn¡¯t tell his age¡ªperhaps 20, perhaps 40. On my right was the middle-aged man named El, mentioned by Hector earlier. He had short hair and a short beard. He wore leather armor, scratched but well-fitted, giving him an upright and steady look. Later, however, I gradually discovered that he was actually quite humorous.


    The one sitting opposite me was another giant named Rogoff, who was only slightly shorter than Hector, with a similar bald and gleaming head. The only difference between these two ¡°twin¡± giants was the tattoos on their faces.


    My ears were still buzzing, but that was not a big deal. The priority was to figure out where I was. Judging from their dressing style, it was quite ascertained that I was now in a completely different world, and I realized that I was not as strong as I had imagined. In this unfamiliar world, with unfamiliar faces and surroundings, I still felt as isolated as when I first awoke.


    "My name is Hector, the future barbarian hero!" Be aware of my sobriety, Hector finally couldn''t help speaking, beating his chest proudly. Fortunately, he remembered what El said and lowered his voice to spare my ears.


    "Paladin El. Nice to meet you," said the middle-aged man who had previously mocked Hector. His tone was solemn and prideful when introducing himself, showing he was proud of his career.


    "I''m Rogoff, also a brave barbarian warrior," said Rogoff on the other side, in a deep voice.


    "I''m Milo," I replied, trying to remain calm.


    Barbarian? Paladin? I started to have some ominous feelings.


    Hector, who was more straightforward, patted me on the shoulder, almost knocking me into the fire pit.


    "Little fellow, you look like a new-coming Druid, aren''t you? You''ve got balls to come alone to the deep wilderness." Hector said.


    "Haha, I thought it¡¯d be fine, but somehow I got lost unconsciously," I said.


    Druid? The ominous feeling got stronger and clearer. I deliberately scratched my head to avoid answering his question directly, pretending to be embarrassed.


    "Haha, you¡¯ve indeed a bold youngster, just like what I was," Hector continued, patting my shoulder with his bear¡¯s-paw-like hand again.


    "Ha... ha..." I steadied myself again and managed a smile. My body swayed under his massive palm like a fragile boat tossing in roaring waves. I should have sat beside El.


    "You''re too weak, kid. That''s ugly. You need to eat more meat," Hector said, took a large piece of jerky from a nearby pouch, and handed it to me. Then he took another piece and chewed it himself.


    I received the jerky and found it weighed at least 2-3 pounds. Hector''s appetite was truly extraordinary.


    "Hector, that''s not fair. You''re a level 11 barbarian. Even a Druid at level 30 wouldn''t be stronger than you in terms of strength. Look at the kid; he''s probably just level 5, or less. What a shame to compare your strength to his!" On the other side of me, the kind middle-aged El couldn''t stand it anymore and looked at Hector with disdain. "If you''re so proud, why don''t you compare your spiritual power with the kid?"This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    As if a deflated balloon, Hector hung his head in defeat and ate his meat in large, silent bites.


    "Milo, leave stupid Hector alone. Everyone has their strengths. Although Druids may be average in every aspect, they are one of the most powerful classes," Uncle El encouraged me with a warm voice.


    "By the way, Uncle El, where were you guys heading for just now?" I put down the jerky and asked. No matter how hungry I was, I couldn''t enjoy anything with a bunch of questions pending. Even though so many hints had appeared, I refused to admit that coming conclusion.


    "You are lost indeed! We''re on the way back to the Rogue Encampment!" Uncle El first looked at me with confusion, but then suddenly realized and said.


    What? The Rogue Encampment?! A series of clues finally form a storm in my mind. I could not even hold the piece of jerky firmly, and let it slip down the ground.


    Barbarians, Paladins, Druids, the Rogue Encampment... Oh my! I finally realized where I was now. This was the world of Diablo II.


    "Milo, what''s wrong with you?" Watching my astounded face, Uncle El patted me on the shoulder and asked.


    "Oh, oh... I am OK. " I said, roused by Uncle El''s gentle clap. To hide my surprise, I lowered my head to my chest, quickly picked up the jerky from the ground, and devoured it, ignoring the dirt on it.


    "Cough, cough..." I was choked by the big bite of dried meat, coughing violently.


    Suddenly, a waterskin was handed over to me. Without thinking too much, I grabbed it and took several big gulps of water, relieving my throat. I raised my head and saw Hector and El smiling at me. It was Rogoff, the unexpected silent barbarian who had saved my ass.


    "Rogoff always looks cold and seems like one of those who play with skeletons, but his fiery heart no doubt belongs to the purest barbarian," El explained with a smile. Rogoff grinned awkwardly, showing a smile but even uglier than a cry, indicating that he was indeed a social phobia.


    After a while, El and the other two barbarians began to assign duties for night watch, while I was pushed into the tent on the pretext of still being weak.


    ---------------------


    Over the next few days of our journey, I gradually gained a deeper understanding of my companions.


    Hector, an 11th-level Barbarian, had a generous and bold disposition, a typical zealous and reckless style of his class. Rogoff, also an 11th-level Barbarian and seemingly sibling of Hector, was taciturn and possessed a calm demeanor that was quite unlike other Barbarians. El, a 12th-level Paladin, was steady, wise, and humorous, serving as the leader of this small group. He occasionally teased Hector and engaged in playful banters with all of us, making this long and tedious journey more bearable.


    According to El, they wanted to take their chance through their deep venture into the Blood Moor to find any equipment that could provide fire resistance. They had already accepted the mission to kill the Countess. Therefore, they needed fire-resistant equipment to cope with her blazing inferno.


    Unfortunately, after slaying their way back from the Black Marsh to the Blood Moor, they hadn''t been able to obtain a suitable item. They had prepared to return to the Rogue Encampment reluctantly for a break and replenishment since they had been out for over three months.


    "Wait."


    El, who was scouting in front, suddenly stopped and gestured to us. The three of us immediately slowed down and gathered around him.


    "There''s a Fallen encampment ahead. You guys wait here. I will go check it out."


    Fallens were the most common monsters in this wilderness. Their fiery red skin and short stature resembled that of red, standing jackals, giving them a despicable and ugly appearance.


    This wasn''t the first time I had encountered them. We had already come across many Fallen encampments on the road in the past few days. Other than that, sometimes hard-skinned rats suddenly emerged from bushes, shooting needles at us from their back. Yesterday afternoon, we even spotted a few Zombies wandering. Although I was extremely repelled by these disgusting creatures, the other three were quite delighted. Compared to other monsters, Zombies not only offered high experience points but were also the easiest to deal with. They were quite slow and easy to dodge, even for barbarians. As long as they weren''t surrounded by a dozen Zombies, they were just moving experience points.


    El mysteriously shared with me his so-called exclusive secret that Zombies were the monsters with the highest drop rate in the Blood Moor. The only ring he currently wore was dropped by one of the several Zombies he encountered a month ago. Although other than the ring, those Zombies hadn''t dropped even a single coin.


    By the way, the reason why El went for scouting was there were no Assassins or Amazons in our group, who were the most agile and suitable for reconnaissance. At least, Paladins were more capable than Barbarians. As a Druid, I should have stepped up at this point because Druid''s shape shifting and summoning skills had more advantages in reconnaissance than Paladins. However, after realizing that my true level was only 1 and I hadn''t even learned any skill, El kindly took over the task, rather than sending me to death.


    Well, I was still not sure whether I was a Druid. Over the past few days, I''ve become familiar with my new body and discovered that my strength and dexterity have increased dozens of times compared to before I was transported here. In my previous life on Earth, I could never make a nearly continuous, over-half-day-long trek. But even so, could I master the skills of this Diablo world? This was the issue that worried me most after accepting my reality. I hope I won¡¯t end up like a fool.


    Only after a while, El returned with exciting information: "It''s a squad of Fallens, and there''s also an elite Fallen Shaman among them."


    In El¡¯s description, a squad means more or less than ten. As for the Fallen Shaman, in Diablo II, it''s a little old Fallen who wields a skull staff, casts fireballs and resurrects his Fallen minions. While ¡°elite¡± probably refers to monsters with special abilities.


    It seems that elite monsters are indeed hard to encounter, judging from their exciting expression. As a three-man team, this elite Fallen Shaman accompanied by a squad of Fallen minions was almost the upper limit that they could handle. Such a situation was so lucky that even Rogoff, who usually wears a poker face, couldn''t help smiling.


    Yet I felt somewhat embarrassed. Although my body gradually recovered in the past few days and I felt I could easily take on one Fallen minion with any weapon, even a normal club, I wouldn''t be able to help them during combat as I had lost the beginner weapon before I woke up. Additionally, I learned from El that in this real world, there was no team experience at all¡ªyou get experience only when you participate in combat yourself.


    Yet, I had to stick close to them. Who knows what strange and dangerous creatures might emerge from some dense bushes if I stayed alone? The experiences of the past few days had already told me that this bizarre world resembled the world of Diablo II but was also like any wilderness, inherently filled with danger.


    After all, even with their average level of over 11, El and his companions didn¡¯t dare to walk recklessly in Blood Moor, where only level 1-4 monsters roamed, let alone an unarmed rookie like me.

 Chapter 3 A real world or not

    We hunched over and slowly moved ahead following El.


    The encampment of the Fallens gradually came into view, roughly 200 meters away. Thanks to the sharper view after I arrived in this world, I can even see a large pot set up in the middle of the encampment, with boiling liquid inside from which chunks of human bones occasionally emerged, perhaps enough for more than one set of human skeletons. It must be some poor guys getting caught and boiled. May them rest in peace.


    I must say that the adaptability of human beings is remarkable. After spending days in a horror-film-like environment, my nerves have become incredibly resilient. If I were the man a few days ago, I would probably faint at the sight of this horrible scene. But now, I''m somewhat desensitized. During the past few days, I had encountered several skeletons in bizarre poses, decaying zombies half-buried in the earth that suddenly leaped out, and so on. So, if I had seen that old zombie on the first day again now, I would deliver a Leo flying kick before running away.


    One, two, three, four...there were nine Fallen minions surrounding the pot, dancing in a primitive tribe manner. The bright white knives in their hands were dazzling, making me jealous. Poor me, a future Druid master, was still unarmed!


    However, seizing their knives was unrealistic. In this world, any equipment, unless dropped by monsters, would eventually disappear along with their corpses.


    When the nine Fallens were dancing, the elite Fallen shaman was sitting beside them, with distinct dark red skin among his blood-red minions. Its posture was as stable as a mountain, exuding the composure of an enlightened monk. Occasionally, its eyes would flash a sharp gleam, looking at the dancing minions with disdain, as if a group of rookies were showing off their skills in front of a master.


    Right before we started the attack, suddenly the Fallen shaman made a motion. It raised its head, and a sharp gaze shot straight toward our hiding place like a blade. I was startled. It had been keeping its head down for quite a while. Could it have sensed our presence hundreds of meters away by our scent or subtle sound? Could it not just be a shaman, but a hidden boss? Perhaps it was not too late to run away now?


    The old Fallen Shaman, with his right hand tightly gripping a ghost-headed staff and his left hand waving lightly, emitted a gesture of master that made my heart skip a beat. The Fallen minions that had just been surrounding the pot immediately gathered swiftly behind him, adopting a defensive formation, transforming from slack hooligans into skilled warriors.


    It was clear that they had spotted us and were preparing to charge. I thought it was time to drag El et al. to flee. But then, the Fallen shaman stood beside the large pot, dancing a strange ritual dance, like someone in the throes of epilepsy, humming with incomprehensible tone. He began to dance around the pot, with his hips rotating rapidly like an electric drill. The Fallen minions standing behind the shaman watched him with adoring eyes, like the zealots in front of God.


    It turned out that it just wanted to lead the dance... I guessed he might also want to be the first to taste flesh...


    As the Fallens immersed themselves in the frenzy of the meal, El waved his hand, signaling the start of the action.


    The three of them slowly crouched and crept towards the Fallen encampment, while I followed closely behind as the cheering squad. I was not as relaxed as El and the barbarians. Although this elite Fallen shaman, equivalent to an ordinary level 10 monster, combined with a group of level 2 Fallen minions, should be able to handle it by El et al, who were all over level 11. Yet, considering their pathetic equipment, my confidence wavered.


    Based on my years of experience in Diablo II games, the dark red skin of the Fallen shaman indicated that its elite special ability was FIRE ENCHANTED. Since the main attack pattern of an ordinary shaman was fireballs, the attribute of FIRE ENCHANTED would surely enhance the power of its fireballs, not to mention monsters with FIRE ENCHANTED would trigger an explosion upon death. Unfortunately, none of them had fire-resistant equipment, if they were not careful, they might fall into huge trouble here.


    Well, it turned out I had worried too much. Once the combat began, El was the first to strike. He started the RISIST FIRE aura, then quickly bypassed the Fallen encampment and cast a sacrifice on the Fallen Shaman expertly from the other side, drawing the attention of all the Fallens to the other direction. Then, he raised his buckler and stun it with a smite. Meanwhile, the two barbarian brothers swung their axes fiercely at the shaman from the front.


    After stunning the Fallen Shaman, El immediately turned around and raised his buckler to withstand the attacks of the Fallen minions. Once the sacrifice and smite had cooled down, he turned around again and performed another skill combo.


    The tactic was simple but highly effective.


    The elite shaman was worthy of his title, with higher defense and eight times the life of an ordinary shaman, allowing him to stand firmly even under initial fierce attacks of the level 11 barbarian brothers and the skill attacks of the level 12 El. It regained consciousness in less than a second. Until then, the barbarian brothers had only left four wounds on it.


    Then the Fallen shaman immediately stepped back and unleashed a bright red fireball filled with rolling heat waves at Hector. Normally, this enhanced fireball would cause Hector considerable pain, but the resist fire aura from El reduced its damage to less than one-tenth of Hector''s life.


    With El''s striking combo and defensive skills and the barbarian brothers'' crazy axes, the elite Fallen shaman could not retaliate. The teamwork among the three was flawless. In a short while, the elite Fallen Shaman let out a final scream, and its dark red skin suddenly brightened. El shouted, "Retreat!" The three of them simultaneously attacked the Fallen minions on the other side, and kept them away from the Fallen Shaman, leaving its final explosion futile and dying ignominiously. On the other hand, the Fallen minions were killed in succession: Two were killed by El when they still focused on the Shaman, and three were chopped down during the counter-charge just now. Then, the remaining four were just a piece of cake.


    Finally, El cleaned up the battlefield, while Rogoff and Hector took turns using the FIND POTION, trying to search for small potions from the Fallen minions to replenish their supplies. Barbarians had little useful attack skill in the early stages, so the mana of the Hector brothers was barely used, sufficient to perform four potion finding. Finally, they found a minor mana potion from the Fallen shaman. Mana exhausted and panting, the two brothers sat on the ground, but they were not disappointed. In other words, this outcome was considered a slight gain.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "Brother Hector, what level is your AXE MASTERY?" I asked Hector, who was sitting beside me resting and regaining mana.


    "Oh, it''s only level 3," Hector told me.


    "You should have learned SHOUT already, right? It can increase team defense? Why didn''t you use it?" I asked curiously.


    "Isn''t shout learned at level 12?" Hector looked at me even more curiously than me.


    "Oh, haha, I forgot it. I remember someone told me that level 12 is a skill threshold. Shitty memory!" I patted my head as if finally remembered and laughed to cover up my shock.


    "Yes, indeed. 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60, are all skill thresholds. It takes until level 60 to learn all the skills," I said.


    Hector nodded, "Skills like WHIRLWIND, BERSERK, BATTLE COMMAND, and NATURAL RESISTANCE, all the top-tier skills, can only be learned at level 60. That''s when one can truly be called a barbarian warrior." Hector''s eyes sparkled with excitement, probably envisioning his majestic-looking casting berserker or whirlwind and standing still facing fire, wind, lightning, and poison.


    No wonder El chose SACRIFICE as the first strike instead of CHARGE, which is faster and more sudden. Based on this, CHARGE could be learned at level 24.


    "Everyone, come here! Quick!" El suddenly shouted excitedly towards us, who was cleaning up nearby.


    "There must be something good!" Hector also became excited and rushed over. Years of partnership gave him the reason why El''s got excited.


    El was standing beside the corpse of the Fallen shaman, holding a ring in his hand. The drop rate of elite monsters was indeed impressive.


    "We''ve had a good harvest today. The Fallen Shaman dropped not only two minor healing potions and one minor mana potion but also a ring," El said excitedly, as the ring was rare during their adventure. El had been a Paladin for three years and ventured with Hector and Rogoff for over two years. However, among the three of them, only El had a ring with +2 strength, which made the Barbarian brothers yearning. Now they had one more ring, like a timely rain after a long drought.


    "Beyond that, it''s a fire-resistant ring! Oh my God, he must have heard our prayers." El said with devotion, just like an ordinary Paladin.


    Hector and I examined the ring carefully, lying quietly in El''s palm, glowing faint blue. It had already been identified by El using a scroll.


    "Bronze Crimson Ring: +11 to attack rating, fire resist +8%."


    Honestly, any Diablo II player wouldn''t even bother picking up such a trash ring, while at this moment, it was a rare treasure, being gently held in El''s palm, as if it wasn''t a ring but his son.


    "Hurray!" Hector rubbed his hands excitedly and cheered.


    After a brief discussion, the ring was given to Hector. El already had a ring, and the +11 to attack rating was more suitable for a barbarian. After all, powerful attacks and a high miss rate had always been unique characteristics of barbarians. Rogoff and El both considered that although Hector fought bravely, his style was too aggressive and reckless. Therefore he needed the accuracy boost more urgently.


    "El, I want to learn some combat skills too," I begged El that night as we gathered around the campfire.


    "Huh? Didn''t your tutor teach you?" El asked with a puzzled look.


    "Uh, my tutor disappeared after I chose my class," I said. I had been thinking about how to explain my past experiences to others these days. So, I invented a tutor and made him disappear, which explained the discrepancy between my game knowledge and this realistic Diablo II world. Nobody could find a fictional person anyway.


    "What an irresponsible tutor. No wonder you ran deep in the wilderness alone so recklessly," El said angrily as if it was he who was abandoned.


    Every venture hero was a treasure of this world. The existence of these venturers was the reason that the entire human world had not been annexed by hell. Especially those geniuses who can choose their class at my age were even more precious. In the Diablo world, there would be only one venture hero among every 10,000 civilians on average, and the average age of a venture hero was above 30. Those who could choose their class before 30 would be called geniuses. Yet it was very irresponsible that such a genius was left behind on his own so early. That was the reason why El got very angry.


    By the way, the average lifespan of civilians on the Dark Continent was around 100 years, while venture heroes could live for at least 200 years. Even the legendary sorcerer Tal Rasha lived for thousands of years.


    "Uh-huh, absolutely..." I quickly agreed with El, pretending to denounce this imaginary tutor together.


    "First of all, every venture hero has their own interface. You should know that, right?" El explained, taking that for granted.


    "Sorry about that..." I shook my head, playing the role of an abandoned lamb. El''s face immediately showed up an extremely expressive motley of colors, as if he was simultaneously frozen, burned, paralyzed, and poisoned.


    "Damned bastard, Milo, what''s your tutor¡¯s name? I''ll give him a proper greeting on behalf of the gods when I see him!" El almost gritted his teeth when saying the last few words.


    It was unexpected that El was so pissed. I felt somewhat embarrassed, and could only chuckle.


    "Alas£¡¡± El was very angry about my ¡°tutor¡±. He couldn''t allow a genius venture hero like me to die due to a lack of basic knowledge.


    "First, close your eyes and silently recite ¡®attribute status¡¯ in your heart."


    I closed my eyes and silently thought about what El just told me.


    "Don''t worry, it will be always more difficult at the first time. It will be easier when you get used to it"


    I had always doubted whether I was a real druid as they recognized. I didn''t know what would happen if my identity of being a traveler from another world was discovered. This possibility lingered in my mind like a nightmare.


    While El''s constant guidance echoed in my ears, I took a deep breath and suddenly opened my eyes. A translucent attribute frame appeared before me, finally relieving me. Fortunately, I could now venture into this world with a little confidence.


    Name: Milo


    Class: Druid Redeemer


    Level: 1


    Experience: 0


    Experience to next level: 5000


    Strength: 15, Dexterity: 20, Vitality: 25, Energy: 20


    Attack: 0-1


    Life: 55, Stamina: 84, Mana: 20, Defense: 11 (Other attributes omitted)


    Redeemer? 5000 experience to the next level??


    "How is it?" El couldn''t wait to ask, as I just stood there watching.


    It looked like they couldn''t see my attribute frame. I was a little relieved as I was not sure if they also had the title ¡°Redeemer¡±.


    "Umm, it''s open now, but I''m only level 1 with 0 experience. It takes a lot of experience to level up." I replied.


    "Haha, dear Milo, don''t worry. It''s just 5000 experiences. You are so young. I believe with enough diligence and luck, you can surpass level 24 before 30." El said admiringly.


    So everyone needs the same amount of experience to level up. The only thing that mattered was the suffix "Redeemer". Well, it was not a good idea to inquire about it. Maybe I could figure it out later.


    "Oh? That¡¯s awesome!" I was also excited. Although I was not sure how this venture would be, at least my starting point was not bad.


    Next, under El''s guidance, I tried my inventory, skill bar, and quest log. Until now, El had taught me all the basics he knew. The rest I had to experience slowly during the venture on my own.

 Chapter 4 Time for you, little rookie!

    The dark clouds finally dispersed. I lay quietly beside the fire, with a grass stick in my mouth.


    Perhaps it was because I could smoothly open the attribute panel, giving them some confidence in me, or maybe we had developed some trust during these few days, El finally agreed to arrange my duty of the night watch.


    In case of my lack of sleep might slow everyone down, I was assigned to the simpler duty during the first half of the night, while El took over the second.


    The crimson moon hanging high in the sky constantly reminded me that this was not a game but a real world. People here could not be revived after death.


    Yet those attribute panels confused me again. Was this the real world or merely a game that approached reality?


    After a while, several pieces of memory flashed through my mind: Hector''s passionate loud voice; El''s steady command and patient guidance, and Rogoff''s taciturn but fearless personality. Suddenly, I smiled.


    Damn! There were vivid people right before my eyes, and I was still entangled by whether this was a game world. I had just been escaping reality.


    The crimson moon, the wilderness, the freezing wind, zombies, skeletons, demons¡ªno matter how much I wanted to deceive myself, the real things were always real, and could not be ignored. Moreover, there was no "exit game" option on those panels. Upon waking up, I was still deep in the Blood Moor.


    Life is like rape; if you can''t refuse it, you have to learn to accept it.


    A faint, steady footsteps approached. I knew who it was without turning around.


    "Brother El, it hasn¡¯t been midnight yet," I looked up at the crimson moon in the sky and said.


    "Go sleep, kid, so that you won''t fall behind tomorrow," El said with a smile as he pulled me up.


    "Thanks," I accepted El''s kindness and ducked into the tent.


    During the following monotonous journey, we unexpectedly found a white club after killing a few zombies. El immediately emphasized the accuracy of his exclusive information again talkatively, completely abandoning the steady and humble demeanor of a Paladin. After boasting excitedly for a while, he suddenly shoved the club into my hand.


    "El, why..."


    Since I was unarmed, I had always been a bystander standing aside during combats these days. Generally, I could not share items from demons. Although it was just a white club, it was still valuable given the drop rate over the past few days.


    Items in this world were divided into two categories. The first are daily things without any attributes. Things that civilians could use such as butcher knives, leather coats, leather shoes, and so on, all belonged to this category. For example, the fur coat I was wearing now was quite warm, saving me from the freezing wind, but it could only be used for that; it could not defend against any attack from demons, not even a scratch.


    Things that can affect demons were called items, coming with attributes. Items all had attribute descriptions, even if they were white. For example, if there was a knife described as a rusty broken wooden knife with damage of 0-0.1 and durability tending towards zero, no matter how low the damage was, it could be called an item and could cause damage to demons. Civilian could not load most items as there was a loading requirement, either strength or agility.


    Venture heroes were noble not only because of their powerful skills but also because they could easily use items and make the attributes of items function as described. Venture heroes possessed superb talents and had undergone much exercise and countless trials, making them much stronger, more agile, and more mentally and physically resilient than civilians. They had been authenticated by the Lord and became venture heroes.


    Besides venture heroes and civilians, there were soldiers and mercenaries in the Diablo world. Soldiers were stronger civilians and could also use more items than civilians, so they could also play a role in fighting against demons. However, they are still civilians, as even though they could load items, they could only cause physical damage to demons and could not make any attribute work. Mercenaries, on the other hand, had as much training and physical fitness as venture heroes but limited talents on skills.  Compared to soldiers, they could load much more items, although still less than venture heroes, and more importantly, they could make items fully function. There were many more soldiers and mercenaries than venture heroes, so they could work together or follow venture heroes as retinue to cause significant damage to demons in battle.


    Items used by venture heroes were valuable because of their low drop rate, even a white one.


    As I was kind of lost in my mind, playing with that rotten club, El knocked on my head, and said seriously, "Don''t think it''s free. Now you have a weapon, you should start fighting. As an honorable venture hero, the responsibilities we bear should be commensurate with the glory and respect we¡¯ve received. Our responsibility is to deport the hellish demons out of the human world."


    El gradually became sacred and solemn, like a true Paladin in a temple.


    "Yes, sir." This was a reality I would face sooner or later. Since I decided to accept it, sooner was better than later.


    So, I embarked on my first battle in two worlds.


    My first opponent was, of course, a zombie, with slow movements and dull nerves, being the best choice for training combat skills. If one was careful enough to keep away from zombie groups, it could not harm any venture hero. When fighting against a zombie, one just needed to pay attention to its preparation process for attacking. Either attacking it or dodging its attack, one must act before it finishes its preparation. Once a zombie completed the preparation, its attacking speed would be very fast, like a snake striking its prey. Of course, after one attack, it entered into another round of slow preparation.


    So, as a complete rookie in combat, hit-and-run became my only choice for the first experience. I slowly approached with my club, circling the zombie that El left for me.


    When I approached within five meters of the zombie, it also saw me and began dragging its feet, slowly turning toward me, trying to attack me. Yet my speed was much faster than the zombie''s, so it always turned slower than me and could never confront me exactly, and therefore failed to take its heavy first step. In the end, I successfully circled to the back of the zombie, which still repeating its turning attempts in situ.


    This was the best opportunity I created, with no worry of being attacked and watching the zombie''s revolting face. Summoning up my courage by shouting out, I swung the club at the back of the zombie''s head. The zombie stumbled after my blow, and its attempt to turn around paused, without knowing what to do next, as if the blow had knocked out the very little brain it left.


    My first attack triggered the so-called stun effect! It seemed longer due to the zombie''s slow movements.


    Considering my first successful attack and the zombie''s slow turning pace, I completely relaxed and continued this way. Soon, without ever trying to attack, the zombie fell to the ground after several blows to the back of its head.


    I immediately rushed forward, forcing myself to carefully inspect the area around the corpse, praying that it could drop something, considering it was my first time killing a demon.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.However, the drop rate was not something that could be improved by a few prayers. I found nothing, even after searching under the body.


    Taking notice of my disappointed expression, El came and said, "Item only appears next to the corpse, not under it."


    "Your talent is indeed extraordinary. Only a few people can walk away unscathed from their first encounter with a demon, even if it is a dull zombie. When facing demons, the priority is to protect yourselves and our team."


    El''s talked to me, eyes filling with memories. I wondered if he was thinking of some companions who hadn''t made it this far.


    In the following days, El continued the tuition. He always demonstrated some combat skills first and then left zombies on my own, hoping I could gradually adapt to fighting with demons.


    I didn''t disappoint El, progressing from handling one zombie at first to four at the same time. As the number of zombies increased, I could no longer afford to just circle the foremost one but had to take the vision of all zombies into account. Therefore, I needed to speed up my pace. Otherwise, either I might get caught by the nearby zombie, or by the time I made a big loop trying to face the same zombie again, it already regenerated from my previous attack.


    Five days after my practice, El gave me new guidance when the crimson moon just rose in the evening.


    "Milo, you have a natural talent for battle and learned quickly. You''ve remained unscathed so far." El''s tone was gentle, seemingly praising me, but I knew his real point must lie after a "but."


    "But... there are pros and cons for your future combat." El looked at me seriously, suggesting he was not joking. "The good thing is that you haven¡¯t got injured, and the bad thing is that you haven¡¯t got injured."


    I was utterly confused. What kind of crab was that?


    Well, El didn¡¯t make me confused for quite a long time. He smiled and explained to me: "Can you guarantee that you''ll always remain unscathed in future battles?"


    I shook my head firmly. Come on, even if I leveled up to 60, or even a hundred, I couldn''t remain unharmed during the combat when I was surrounded by demons, or confronted elite demons. That just wasn''t realistic.


    "So, how will you react when you do get injured?" El led me on gently.


    I pondered and replied uncertainly, "My reaction after getting injured?"


    "Yes! If you get injured at a crucial moment, what will you do? Will you immediately cover your wound and retreat from the battle, or roll around on the ground painfully, then get killed by the demon, or you continue fighting as if you¡¯ve never gotten hurt?" El continued.


    "Uh... I see." This was a real problem. After all, there was a big gap between any practice and actual battle. Many factors could affect how much effectiveness one can exert in battle. Like when I first woke up and encountered that aged zombie, just the feeling of fear and disgust made me panic and flee without realizing it was no real threat to me.


    I sighed softly. El meant my second training was to overcome various influencing factors, including injuries, during combat. I had to practice till I wouldn¡¯t change my fighting rhythm even if I got hit or cut. It got to be harder from now on.


    The next day, new training began. El lent me his cherished white leather armor for my safety. As a captain, he knew how to proceed with the training step by step. He was strict but not harsh.


    This time, El prepared one Fallen for me. Fallen was different from zombie. They had lower defense, weaker strength, and shorter life but were more agile and had a higher attack rate. Such a demon was perfect for my further combat practice. They might injure me, but the harm would be minor. As long as I remained calm, I could easily deal with two or even three of them simultaneously.


    After two days of training, I gradually found out that in this world, getting injured was not such a dreadful thing as in my original world.


    First of all, attacks on a certain body part wouldn¡¯t cause loss of function of that particular part but only lead to the loss of total life volume.


    For example, my arm was injured during my first battle against a Fallen, but it didn''t affect the subsequent actions of my arm. The hit was painful, but miraculously, there were no wounds on my arm, not even any swelling. My counterattack was slightly distracted by the initial pain. I only felt an extra wave of fatigue, and my limbs became slightly stiff. Some rules must play a role here the pain in one part of my body was evenly distributed throughout my entire body, reducing my stamina and overall mobility rather than disabling the injured area.


    Of course, the same rule also applied to demons. I didn''t realize it much while fighting against zombies before. Now I remembered that although I struck the zombie solidly on its head, no obvious signs of injury appeared until I killed it, when its head showed obvious trauma, with blood oozing from its eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. The zombie''s should have slowed down after my smash, but I hadn¡¯t noticed that as they were always very slow.


    So, no matter how powerful your strength, how sharp your weapon was, or how great your damage was, you could not disable any part of their body until they were dead.


    In addition, the attributes of protective items were also affected by this rule. The moment I put on El''s leather armor, I noticed that a warm current spread from the armor throughout my body. I guess if you were wearing armor with a defense of 10, those 10 defense points were distributed throughout your body, even if the armor was a sleeveless studded leather or breastplate. Similarly, helmets, boots, and belts could all enhance your overall defense, not that of the particular parts.


    El also told me that skilled heroes might cause critical hits or deadly strikes to demons, causing more damage to demon life than the weapon should do, which would happen when certain important organs were hit. Yet, such hits wouldn¡¯t lead to disability of that organ either.


    Obviously, it won''t happen that a hit to the head will instantly kill you as you were not wearing a helmet, or if you were not wearing boots, stepping on thorns would not make you impossible to walk.


    I guess without this rule, those three people watching my practice nearby might have some more titles on the attribute panel, such as an armless Barbarian, a blind and crippled Paladin, and so on...


    Furthermore, if it were easy to blind or cripple opponents, many skills of venture heroes would become useless. For example, if someone could just stab at your eyes to blind you, then why did necromancers need to learn Dim Vision, which could only reduce the enemy''s vision radius, not blind them?


    Although these rules gave me a sense of unreality again, they indeed provided enough courage in the battle. I was still feeling pain after getting cut, but at least I didn''t have to worry about becoming disabled in the future.


    Finally, after several days of training, I learned to treat all the attacks from demons as nothing and strike back right away, even if the attacks were aimed at my eyes or crotch.


    Later, El took back his leather armor to intensify my training...


    Such training lasted only for three days. I could still make it, getting more and more used to combat, while El told me in the morning that we could return to the Rogue Encampment by noon. Only then I realized that it had been exactly 20 days since I came to this world.