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Novel Catalog
At this age, emotions were beginning to bloom. Carlisle had saved Christine from a tragedy, but despite his best efforts, he couldn’t shield her from her own wild ideas. He understood that her gratitude could turn into something more complicated, but he knew in his heart that he couldn’t be with her—not when his heart ached for someone else.
When no reply came from Christine after several minutes, Carlisle assumed she had gone offline. It wasn’t easy for her to access the internet, as she didn’t own a phone or a computer. After closing the pop-up window, he navigated through his friend’s list, settling on Sarah’s profile in a separate group.
Sarah’s MSN messenger username, “Fallen Angel,” had been untouched in his list for over 40 days. In all that time, she hadn’t responded to any of his messages. Still, Sarah was one of the few people he knew who was always online, always connected through her phone. Yet, she remained silent.
Carlisle hesitated briefly before resisting the urge to remove her from his list. Instead, he added her to a class group—perhaps a small step toward bridging the gap that had formed between them.
“Carl, go online! Let’s play The Legendary Tale!” Sean shouted from across the room, his voice a mixture of enthusiasm and impatience.
“You go ahead,” Carlisle replied absently, his fingers already moving to add the group admin, “Frosty Gal,” as a friend. He clicked on the username. It was Wanda’s MSN.
Aside from Sarah, this was the second female classmate Carlisle had added. But unlike Sarah, Wanda had been responsive in the past, and it felt like a much safer connection. However, after ten minutes with no response from her either, Carlisle gave up and opened The Legendary Tale—a game that had once defined his youth.
“Sean, where are you? I’ll come to you,” Carlisle called, already immersing himself in his Wizard role. At rank 42, he was edging closer to the highest rank of 47, but he knew the journey would take time. Sean’s Warrior character, however, was already at rank 45, though his equipment was subpar, and he couldn’t make much of an impact in their guild.
“I’m at Demon Valley with a few guild members. You go on ahead for a while!” Sean replied, completely absorbed in the game.
Carlisle shrugged, feeling restless. He joined the fray in Demon Valley, hoping to make some progress. The area had only been launched this year, and players were flocking to it, hoping to face off against the Death Lord—an infamous boss with a rare chance of dropping valuable loot.
As soon as the Death Lord respawned, players flooded the battlefield. Carlisle fought a few Skeleton Monsters, but with his inferior equipment, he didn’t last long against the onslaught from the more affluent players who had better gear.
Losing interest after a while, Carlisle left the chaotic battlefield and returned to the main server, logging off the game entirely. Instead, he opened the official website for The Mystical Journey, an older game that had seen a resurgence of interest from dedicated gold farmers. He had fond memories of hearing about a coworker who made over ten thousand dollars a month by running multiple accounts.
Back then, The Mystical Journey was a cash cow for those who knew how to make the most of it. It had peaked in popularity between 2002 and 2005, and while it was still active in 2004, it wasn’t nearly as bustling as before. Carlisle knew the game was on the decline, but it still held potential for those willing to put in the time.
After checking out the game’s news and updates, Carlisle decided to take a break and walked downstairs to the bathroom. He lingered in the cafe for a bit, observing the players around him. About 20 people were still playing Legends of Fiery Passion, 10 were immersed in The Mystical Journey, and 10 more were caught up in God of Doom 2. The rest were either playing single-player games like MapleStory or simply chatting in groups.
Returning with a bottle of water, Carlisle spotted someone playing The Mystical Journey and sat beside them, ready to join in. But Sean was still deeply engrossed in The Legendary Tale, his character’s progress consuming all of his attention.
Around one or two in the morning, Kade swaggered up to Sean, asking for three dollars to buy a microwave meal. Sean slapped ten dollars on the table. “Grab one for me and Carl, and use the rest to buy yourself some water.”
“Sure thing,” Kade replied with a grin, taking the money and heading downstairs to grab the meals.
By the time he returned, the person playing The Mystical Journey with Carlisle had already left. Sean switched to the computer next to him, and the two of them teamed up to fight the Death Lord in the Demon Valley.
“How’s it going? Any luck with equipment tonight?” Carlisle asked, chewing on his microwave meal.
“Not even a strand of hair, let alone a skill book!” Sean replied, his voice tinged with frustration.
Carlisle squinted, narrowing his focus on the game. “When things don’t go as expected, there’s always something off. I’ll log in now. Let’s tackle the Death Lord together later!”
