Magic Coin

Inside the Tower of Polar Night. Still the same cold, bloodstained metal walls, the same gloomy, cavernous corridor, and seven humans creeping along the wall. They were the members of the Magic Coin guild, led by Charlotte. They were currently exploring along the route from Mantou's video. Charlotte held the custom map he had paid Mantou to draw, staring darkly at the stick-figure doodles scribbled across it. "Did that kid Mantou rip me off? Fifteen gold coins for this piece of junk?" Magic Coin had opened a "Magic Agency" in Northwind Keep. Devoid of any high-and-mighty airs typical of spellcasters, they relied on their magical abilities to take on commissions of all shapes and sizes. From casting Speak with Dead to track down murderers across thousands of li and slaying monsters plaguing the local populace, down to firing off magical fireworks for weddings and using divination spells to locate lost cats for neighborhood aunties, they had made an absolute fortune. Meanwhile, guild leader Charlotte had long earned a reputation as an easy mark—though he was completely unaware of it himself. Word was that even if a magic scroll was sold at triple the market price, this lavish spender of a guild leader would wave his hand and buy it without a second thought. As a result, merchants unanimously hiked their prices whenever Magic Coin came shopping. Faced with such an easy mark, Mantou had naturally claimed a slice of the pie. He sold Charlotte a "collector's edition" map drawn with his own two hands at the "bargain price" of fifteen gold coins, then gleefully skipped off to pay his debts—even though it had only taken him five minutes to draw it. Vice guild leader Mingyue studied the rather abstract map, pausing in contemplation before speaking. "This should be the place—the Death Corridor mentioned on the forums. Supposedly, once it detects intruders, it releases dragonized monsters. Quite a few groups have met their end here." Charlotte frowned. "The difficulty setting on this dungeon is absurdly high—piles of dragonized monsters, and a wizard boss with a ridiculously high level. It feels like it wasn't even meant for closed beta players like us. Let's just focus on getting whatever rewards we can this time. Dying once or twice doesn't really matter." Feitian Nüwu poked her head out from the side, brimming with confidence. "Guild Leader, believe in the power of unity! We'll definitely defeat that evil wizard!" "..." Hearing Feitian Nüwu's words, Charlotte didn't feel reassured at all; instead, he grew increasingly uneasy. This guild member of his, Feitian Nüwu, had quite a legendary track record. She was famous across the forums, though not for her mechanical skill, but for her absurd dumb luck. Given how high the dungeon's difficulty was, he had only brought members who had reached Level 4, and Feitian Nüwu was one of them. As for how she had reached Level 4? During the Battle of Trier, she triggered a Wild Magic Surge that summoned three Fireballs, vaporizing an army of over a hundred soldiers right where they stood. That single battle made her famous under the moniker "Lucky Dog Warrior." During the campaign against the frost giants, she triggered a Wild Magic Surge once more, instantly unleashing a Chain Lightning that fried five frost giants to a crisp. After that battle, she vaulted to the top of the guild as the player with the most accumulated experience—that single burst of lightning had yielded enough exp to propel her straight to Level 6. Given such glorious achievements, why did Charlotte still not trust her? For no other reason than that Wild Magic Sorcerer was a pure gambler class. Most effects from a Wild Magic Surge were negative, and many could even wipe the entire party in one fell swoop. The most viral video on the forums was titled "Wild Magic Sorcerer: Charisma Moment," where a Wild Magic Sorcerer triggered an effect that cast Fireball directly at their own feet, single-handedly turning a guaranteed boss victory into a disaster zone while their teammates wailed in despair. As the saying went: Wizards bankrupt three generations; Wild Magic ruins your whole life. Charlotte hadn't planned on bringing Feitian Nüwu along in the first place, but she had pleaded relentlessly, and the party was short on immediately available combat power, so he had bitten the bullet and let her join the run. He pondered for a long time before patting her on the shoulder, speaking with deep earnestness. "You... just keep it steady. Try not to mess around." "Yes, Guild Leader!" Feitian Nüwu nodded obediently. Beside them, Mingyue softly reminded him, "Guild Leader, I have Owl's Wisdom active, so I can pick up on the faintest movement. We need to hurry up—those monsters are coming soon." Charlotte gave the order. "Let's not waste time here. We'll go straight into invisibility. Fengling?" A female player with the ID "Fengling" produced pre-brewed Invisibility Potions and handed them out to everyone. She was Magic Coin's specialist in magical alchemy, practically the guild's god of logistics. "Awoo—" With a deafening rumble, the iron cages at the far end of the corridor slowly swung open. Countless grotesque, dragonized monsters surged impatiently out of the darkness. Monsters transformed from gnolls, centaurs, goblins, lizardfolk, and even humans were mingled together. Their clouded, crimson eyes gleamed with madness, their bodies covered in sparse scales and drenched in foul, viscous fluid. The scent of blood churned violently in the air. As flawed dragon bloodline creatures, their sense of smell was extraordinarily keen. Sniffing the scent in the air, the beasts actually pinpointed the positions of the mage players and lunged straight toward them. "Not good, they spotted us!" "Nothing else for it, we'll have to fight our way through!" Charlotte gritted his teeth and swung his staff, fiery magical radiance flashing. Aganazzar's Scorcher! A surging line of flame streaked out where his staff pointed, engulfing a large swathe of monsters along its path in blazing fire. As white dragon scions, they possessed little resistance to fire. Fengyun and the others unleashed spells in rapid succession, a dazzling kaleidoscope of magical light intertwining. A barrage of spells—Scorching Ray, Ray of Sickness, Dragon's Breath, Flaming Sphere, Melf's Acid Arrow, and more—surged toward the monsters. Fog Cloud obscured the beasts' vision, while Grease hindered their footing and slowed their advance. Mage players were undeniably formidable in combat. Yet there were simply too many monsters. Even when the front ranks were struck by fire or slipped on the grease, those behind trampled over the bodies of their comrades, rushing forward without hesitation like an unending tide. "Guild Leader, we can't hold out much longer! There are too many of them!" Fengyun bludgeoned an incoming dragonized dire wolf into unconsciousness with his staff and shouted toward Charlotte. Charlotte's brow furrowed tightly. They hadn't looted a single thing yet and had squandered gold on a pile of supplies. They hadn't even broken even. Were they really going to wipe right here halfway through? "Guild Leader, leave it to me!" With a full-throated roar, Feitian Nüwu stepped in front of Charlotte as if transformed into an entirely different person. In this moment, she looked just like a hero stepping forward to save the entire guild. Surging, chaotic waves of sorcerous power churned before her, sending tremors of dread even through the monsters. In reality, though, she hadn't the faintest idea what spell she was about to cast. It was purely a matter of pulling the gacha and casting whatever fate decreed.