Chapter 13: 13. Three Types of Mystic Realms
"Fine, not selling them, okay?" Kafni pouted, then pointed to a pocket on Lin Da\'s chest, "What about that one? Selling it shouldn\'t be a problem, right?"
What Kafni was referring to was a pocket watch, whose chain looked like it was made of platinum, so it must be worth some money.
But to her surprise, Lin Da refused even more quickly: "This can\'t be sold either."
"Huh?! Why can we only sell my stuff? Show a little sincerity yourself!" Kafni said annoyed.
Lin Da awkwardly touched his head, "Didn\'t I contribute seven copper coins?"
Seeing Kafni\'s face growing increasingly unhappy, he finally stopped joking around: "Sorry, an ordinary pocket watch is one thing, but this one really can\'t be sold."
With that, Lin Da took the pocket watch out of his pocket.
It was round, the size of a baby\'s palm, with a golden matte finish on the outside, and soft music sounded as soon as it was opened.
Kafni leaned in to see that a photo was embedded inside the watch case, featuring two people, Lin Da and a black-haired young girl.
Her skin was pale, and her body extremely frail, but her eyes, black as onyx and full of life, sparkled with activity. She was smiling mischievously, hugging Lin Da\'s arm and making a \'yeah\' sign with scissors fingers next to her eye.
"Who is this person?" Kafni noticed that Lin Da\'s eyes became very tender when he looked at the pocket watch, as if spring breezes were brushing across a radiant lake.
So even the reckless hero had such a side?
Lin Da was silent for a moment, then said, "My sister."
"Sister?"
"Yeah. She went missing at the World Tree two years ago, and we still haven\'t found her."
Lin Da looked at the towering tree in the center of White Dove City, falling silent, as if reluctant to talk about it.
Many memories surfaced in his mind.
Three years ago, Lin Da came to the game world of the Mystic Continent, not alone, though.
He had been pushing his sister, Lin Xi, in a wheelchair when a dump truck had struck them.
The siblings, along with Lia, formed the Snow Goose Adventure Team together.
Things went smoothly at first.
However, on the fourth level of the World Tree, Lin Xi disappeared, as if she had evaporated from the world, leaving no trace behind.
When Lin Da returned to the adventure team\'s base, heartbroken, he strangely found Lin Xi\'s ever-present pocket watch on his desk.
Lin Da still couldn\'t make sense of what had happened that day. Did Lin Xi return to White Dove City before him, leaving her pocket watch there?
Or had Lin Xi already died, and someone else had placed the watch on his desk?
Either scenario had many unexplainable aspects.
One of the big reasons Lin Da entered the World Tree was to look for Lin Xi.
"Don\'t worry, we will definitely find her, and I will help you once my power is restored," Kafni reassured him, seeing Lin Da looking a bit downcast.
"But there\'s something I find strange, why are you so sure she\'s missing, rather than having been eaten by Magical Creatures or something?" Kafni changed the subject, "The space inside Mystic Realms isn\'t that big, right? If you search diligently, you should always find some clues."
Lin Da shook his head: "It\'s like that for combat-type Mystic Realms, where the space isn\'t large and the layout is simple; you mainly encounter Magical Creatures. But story-type Mystic Realms are different."
In the game "Mystic Continent," some instances have players going straight to battle. Others set several tasks across a vast map, letting players explore and fight monsters until they encounter the final boss.
Story-type Mystic Realms belong to the latter.
Kafni, confused, said, "Combat-type, story-type, what do these mean?"
"That\'s what we locals call them."
Lin Da explained: "Around here, there are generally three types of Mystic Realms. The first type is the one you just mentioned, the most common combat-type."
"Combat-type Mystic Realms are similar to playing an instance in a game, killing minor creeps, finding the Secret Realm Guardian, taking them down, and then you\'ve cleared it. These kinds of Mystic Realms are generally not big; you could walk through them in a few hours."
"Oh, what about the second type?"
"The second type is story-type."
"Created by the World Tree Goddess, each world has a different background: science, wasteland, magic, etc... The space of these Mystic Realms is thousands to millions of times larger than the former, so looking for one person is like finding a needle in a haystack."
Lin Da put the pocket watch back in his inner pocket, took a deep breath, and gradually adjusted his mindset.
Now, he had long emerged from the despondency of Lin Xi\'s disappearance and was determined to reach the top of the World Tree one step at a time.
He indulged in his sentimentality for a moment and then recovered.
Making Kafni, the new team member, aware of the types of Mystic Realms was now the most important thing.
Kafni thought for a moment and said, "Story-type Mystic Realms sound a bit like Illusionary Training? What\'s the third type then?"
"The last one is Public Grand Mystic Realms."
This time, Lin Da\'s tone was a bit lighter.
"Public Grand Mystic Realms are what adventurers like the most. There are no mandatory missions, essentially a free-exploration open world. All adventurers who reach this level appear on the same map and can meet each other.
In the Great Mystery Continent, there are numerous elite monsters and wild bosses. Killing them can earn a wealth of rewards as well as abundant mineral resources, truly making it a beneficial Mystic Realm.
A Great Mystery Continent appears every five levels, and adventurers can enter once a month, but not at any other times."
Lin Da thought that this setup was different from the one in the game, where it could be refreshed once a week and unlimited times with money.
In the real version of the Mystic Continent, for the same tier of Great Mystery Continent, whether noble or commoner, everyone can only enter once a month.
Due to the strict limitations on the number of entries, adventurers aimed to climb higher to obtain more resources.
Lin Da held up a finger and said:
"Each Great Mystery Continent appears every five levels and also determines the naming convention for adventure teams:
Below 5th level, not even classed.
5th level, novice adventure team.
10th level, rock level adventure team.
15th level, Steel Level Adventure Group.
20th level, dawn adventure team.
25th level, radiant adventure team.
30th level, honor adventure team.
35th level, Legendary Adventure Group.
40th level, mythical adventure team.
No one has conquered levels beyond that."
After speaking so much, Lin Da felt much better.