Four years had passed, and Wei was now 16. After classes, Wei was standing outside near the school gate with his best friend, Rico.
"Wei, what are we standing here for? All our classmates already left. Let's go get some milk tea and pizza, bro," Rico said impatiently.
"You know, I didn't ask you to stay here with me, so why don't you go now and leave me alone?" Wei sounded irritated.
"Aha! I think you're waiting for that girl again," Rico said, sounding suspicious.
"Yes, so what?" Wei replied, still annoyed.
"So you really like her?" Rico asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Yes, and that's none of your freakin' business," Wei snapped, growing more annoyed with Rico.
"Oh, okay, but…" Rico trailed off, sounding hesitant.
"But what?" Wei raised his eyebrows.
"Her front teeth are broken," Rico said.
"I don't care, at least her breath doesn't smell like yours," Wei replied with a grouchy tone.
Rico fell silent, unable to come up with a response to what Wei had just told him. Wei was about to say something else to Rico when a girl walked out of the school gate near them.
Her name was Elenita. She was a seventh-grade student like Wei and Rico, but from a different class section. Elenita could be defined as a pretty girl, though her flaw was easily noticed when she smiled—her broken front upper teeth.
Wei noticed this and quickly shifted his attention from Rico to Elenita.
"Elenita," Wei called out. Elenita turned around as Wei walked towards her. She smiled, and her eyes lit up with happiness upon seeing him.
"You live in Bagong Barrio, right? I'm actually heading there now," Wei smiled.
"Yes, I live in Bagong Barrio. Why?" Elenita asked.
"Oh, I'm just going to check out the milk tea shop in your area. Why don't you come with me? I'll buy you a milk tea." Elenita was about to reply when Rico suddenly interrupted.
"Yeah, why don't you join us? This will be fun!" Rico said sarcastically.
"Hey, I don't remember inviting a clown like you." Wei's response only made him angrier.
"Oh, come on, Wei, let me go with you guys. I promise I'll behave," Rico said with teary eyes, begging Wei because he felt sorry for acting silly earlier.
"Isn't he your best friend? Let him come with us, it's okay," Elenita smiled.
"Yes, he was my best friend until I found out he's... Oh, never mind. Let's just go." Wei didn't want to hurt Rico's feelings, so he stopped himself from finishing his sentence. Rico was actually gay. A year ago, he confessed his feelings to Wei, which had freaked him out. Wei had almost left the school to avoid him, but Rico apologized and promised never to do it again. They'd stayed friends, but there were times when Rico couldn't help but show his feelings for Wei. Wei had gotten used to it, and whenever Rico crossed the line, Wei would slap him to remind him of the boundaries.
The three of them enjoyed drinking bubble milk tea inside a small shop in Bagong Barrio's commercial area. Although Rico felt jealous of Elenita, he still felt comfortable in her company because he thought Wei deserved to have two lovers. After finishing their drinks and snacks, they went outside.
"Wei, thank you so much for the milk tea! I really enjoyed it. And you too, Rico, thanks for the tacos!" Elenita was very happy with how both Wei and Rico had treated her.
"You're welcome, Elenita. But next time, you'll have to buy your own drinks and snacks," Rico said.
"She didn't ask you to buy her tacos, you jerk! And next time, don't try to come with us!" Wei snapped angrily.
"Then next time, I'll pay for everything, hahahahaha!" Rico laughed.
"I love you guys, I'll go home now, bye bye!" Elenita waved her hand while running.
"Bye." Rico and Wei said, waving back at Elenita.
"Wei, we had a lot of fun today. See you tomorrow. Let's have some milk tea again," Rico said.
"I think that's not possible because I'll be leaving Montalban," Wei smiled, while Rico looked confused by what Wei had just said.
"What are you talking about? Where the heck are you going?"
Wei slowly walked away from Rico, smiling as he replied, "In another world of fantasy and magic."
Wei left, leaving Rico confused. He didn't feel like telling his best friend anything about the place he was going to. Rico thought Wei was just kidding when he said that.
When Wei returned to the mountain, he saw his mother standing in front of their nipa hut. When his mother saw him, she quickly ran to him. Tears filled her eyes as she hugged him.
"Wei, are you prepared to leave now?"
"Yes, Mother. I've reached level 17 thanks to my water clones. I'm sure I'm strong enough to handle any basic monsters in Birigan now," Wei said confidently.
"That's good. I just hope that you come back alive. And Wei, I want to tell you this before you leave. I'm sorry if I haven't been able to give you all the things that normal kids have. I'm sorry if, most of the time, I focused on your training and asked you to master all your skills. But that's what your father asked me to do before he left."
Wei smiled back at his mother.
"Mom, I've had a great life here with you in the mountains, and I've always had fun training with my clones. There's nothing for you to feel sorry about."
"Thank you for being a good child. Promise me you'll come back with your father someday, alright?"
Wei's mother handed him a key.
"Yes, Mother, I will."
Wei took the key and walked a short distance away from his mother. He reached his arm into the air, as if inserting the key into a doorknob. Slowly, a magical door began to materialize. Wei opened the door and looked back at his mother, waving and smiling, before finally stepping through and closing it behind him.
As Wei stepped into the magical door, a bright light engulfed him. Slowly, a new environment materialized around him. It seemed like he was still in the Montalban Valleys. The only difference was that the grasses and trees were dead. The water in the stream was dark and probably contaminated. Wei saw large buffalo zombies drinking from the stream, which made him feel excited.
"So, is this it? My first day in this world will be fighting monsters? I thought I'd be teleported to a city first. But anyway, I haven't earned any gold yet, so I wouldn't be able to buy anything there. Why not let me kill some monsters first and earn some gold?"
Wei shouted at the big zombie buffaloes near the stream.
"HEEEEYYYY YOU GUYS!!! WANNA TRY TO EAT ME???!!!"
"The zombie buffaloes heard him and turned their heads toward him. Once they fully recognized his presence, they immediately charged at him, roaring as they prepared to attack."
"Now let's see just how good my skill really is," Wei said excitedly.
A blue glow radiated from Wei's fist, the water swirling around like a burning flame. He threw a powerful punch into the air, his fist aimed at the zombie buffaloes.
"Water Shots!" Wei shouted, and multiple bursts of glowing water shot out from his fist, flying toward the buffalo zombies.
In the blink of an eye, the buffalo zombies were struck by the glowing water, knocking them back onto the ground. One buffalo zombie recovered and charged toward Wei again.
A sword materialized in Wei's right hand. Without hesitation, he charged toward the buffalo zombie. As he got closer, he swung his sword.
"Liquid Slash!"
Wei activated his "Liquid Slash" skill, manipulating the blade to dissolve and form massive spikes that pierced through the buffalo zombie's body. Instantly, the zombie's form disintegrated. A screen appeared beside Wei, displaying a reward of 30 gold points and 2 blue mana gems. Excitedly, Wei tapped the collect button.
Wei remembered his mother's words: the gold points he earned could be exchanged for real gold coins in the human world. He needed to find a merchant who could make the exchange.
"As I recall," Wei mused, "one gold point equals one gold coin, and one gold coin is worth about fifteen thousand pesos. If I trade these gold points now and head home, I could buy a lot of things for myself. But it's too soon to think about that. Besides, the teleportation key I used to get here cost about 3 million gold points. I still need to slay a legion of Birigan creatures just to afford a new key. Plus, to defeat them efficiently, I'll need some great gear, and that costs a lot of gold too. I guess I need to focus on getting stronger first before worrying about going home. Silly me."
Wei scanned the valley, looking for any remaining monsters.
"Whoa, no more monsters? I need to find more!"
With that, Wei activated his Dash Level 3 skill, propelling himself forward at lightning speed. The wind blasted against his face and tousled his hair as he sprinted across the valley. As he ran, his eyes fixed on the hills rising to the side of the valley. Curiosity piqued, he veered toward them, determined to see what lay beyond.
As he crested the top and descended into the next valley, Wei's eyes widened. He stopped abruptly, frozen by the scene unfolding before him.
In the distance, an elf woman was locked in combat with a group of ogres. Wei marveled at the way she fought—each motion fluid and graceful, almost like a dance. Her sword moved effortlessly, blocking and slashing, dropping ogre after ogre. With each swing, another monster fell to the ground lifeless.
After several minutes of battle, the elf woman seemed to grow bored of her normal attacks. She took a deep breath and, in one fluid motion, shouted out a skill.
"Cyclone Slash!!!"
The air around her rippled as a massive circle of wind blades formed, slicing through the ogres in all directions. The cyclone spread out across the valley, and Wei, standing in its path, barely had time to react. He raised his sword just in time, slashing through the wind blades to protect himself from being shredded.
"What a powerful move... Could that be her special skill?" Wei whispered to himself, awe-struck by the elf's display of power.
Meanwhile, the elf woman, standing amidst the fallen ogres, glanced at the screen that had appeared before her.
"No wonder I only got 7 percent experience. Those ogres were low-level, but three hundred fifty gold is a decent haul." she muttered.
"Heeeeyyy! Youuuu!"
Wei shouted while rushing toward the elf lady. She turned her head, startled.
As Wei got closer, he greeted her excitedly, his voice full of energy. "Hi! I saw how you fought those monsters, you were amazing! And honestly, I never thought elves would be this pretty in real life compared to the ones I see in comics and online games."
The elf lady immediately grasped her sword and pointed it at him.
"Stay back, you idiot. I don't know who you are, and I don't care. But if you keep coming closer, you're going to end up just like those ugly ogres."
The elf's voice was cold, laced with animosity.
Wei froze for a moment, wide-eyed, then quickly backpedaled.
"Oh, oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean any harm," Wei stammered, his hands raised in an apologetic gesture. "You see, I just entered this world, and I'm trying to level up like you. I only came over to say hi. I didn't mean to threaten you! Hehehe."
The elf lady's expression didn't soften.
"I'll give you five seconds to leave. If you're still here after that, I'll make sure you end up just like the ogres." Her voice was deadly serious.
Suddenly, Wei felt a cold chill run down his spine.
"Okay, okay! I'll go now!"
In a flash, Wei activated his dash skill, sprinting away at lightning speed, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
The elf lady watched with a smirk, clearly entertained by how fast Wei ran away.
As Wei sprinted across the valley, he cursed himself for his impulsiveness.
"Damn! Why did I approach her like that? I'm such an idiot! I thought real swordsmen were as friendly as players in online games, but I was so wrong. I didn't even know what level she was. She could've killed me in an instant!"
Wei, still trying to figure out where to go next, suddenly felt a presence behind him.
When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw the elf lady, now following him. Before Wei could react, she leaped into the air, aiming to strike him.
In a split second, Wei summoned his sword with a swift motion from his right hand.
The elf lady's blade came down fast, but Wei was quicker. With a practiced swing, he blocked her strike. The force of the impact sent the elf lady flying backward, her body soaring through the air.
Yet, with remarkable agility, the elf lady managed to regain her balance mid-flight, spinning acrobatically and landing gracefully on the ground.
Wei stood firm, staring at her in confusion. "I already ran away. Why are you still attacking me?"
The elf lady smirked, her voice light and teasing. "Because I want to level up like you."
Wei's eyes flicked up to the small screen hovering above her head. It read Level 14.
With newfound confidence, Wei grinned. "You scared me earlier, but now I think it's you who should be running—if you know what's good for you."