Chapter 502 Elden Ring!

When Li You opened his eyes, he found himself in a dim cave.

There was shallow water under his feet, and on both sides were abandoned and piled up simple stone coffins. One by one, yellowed bones were exposed, scattered on the ground, and soaked in water.

There were tree roots entwined on the inner wall of the cave, and the only light source in the cave was a small golden tree in front of him that was faintly emitting light. Next to the small tree, a wide stone staircase extended upward, and at the end was a half-open wooden door.

Water drops dripped from the top of the cave from time to time, causing faint ripples in the water on the ground.

This underworld scene was no less than the Ashes of Dark Souls, but Li You felt very familiar when he saw it, just like going home.

Hi, Reiner!

Old man's ring!

Of course, he couldn't make a mistake. He was currently in the drifting cemetery, the starting point of the Elden Ring.

[Ding! ]

[Congratulations! 】

【You have successfully entered the game world, and your current location is: Drifting Cemetery. 】

【After contacting the residents of this world, rewards will be drawn. 】

"...Wait, why is it directly the Drifting Cemetery?" Li You immediately felt something was wrong, "Where is the Houwang Cliff? Did Teacher Guda's role just skip?"

The "Teacher Guda" he mentioned was of course the initial BOSS of the Ring of Magic, the Limb-joined Noble. In the game, the player's first birthplace is the Houwang Chapel. Generally, after seeing the Limb-joined Noble there and dying once, they will be sent to the Drifting Cemetery where he is currently.

"And Xiao Mu is not here... I don't know what my identity is this time?" Li You looked around, and his perception was fully turned on, but he did not find any traces of other people or ghost activities. There was only a residual spirit sitting on the side of the ground pit that was faintly shining.

Jumping down from there is the newcomer teaching level, the Learning Cave. The deepest part of the cave is guarded by the strongest BOSS in the whole game, Greg's greatsword soldier (sure).

Li You didn't intend to provoke the hidden supreme, so he skipped the cave of learning.

"The world of the ring of magic... It seems that it will be another long war." Li You walked through the big pit of the cave of learning, went up the stairs next to the small golden tree, and soon came to the passage in front.

A classic disc elevator can be vaguely seen in front of the passage, and on the right is another road blocked by a misty translucent barrier.

And on the ground in the middle of the passage, there is a small cluster of "bonfires" that seem to be made of piled bark, but it is not burning, but there is a shuttle-shaped golden light floating on it, swaying slowly, and circles of light golden ripples spread out with that light as the center, and soon dissipated.

This is "blessing", which is equivalent to the campfire of the dark soul. It is the place where the protagonist "Faded" of Elden's ring of magic can rest and recover.

Just like Dark Souls, the protagonist of the Old Man Ring, the Faded One, is also immortal in the plot, but the immortality of the Faded One has relatively little impact on the plot of the game.

The blessing in front of him was bright, and it seemed to have been activated, but Li You tried to touch it, but it didn't react at all, and he didn't feel anything even if he sat next to it.

"The blessing is useless to me because I haven't received the main quest yet?" Li You didn't waste time speculating and went directly to the elevator room in front. He pulled the control lever to lower the stone pillar in front of him, then stepped on the elevator and went up.

If it is the first time to come to the world of Elden Ring, then after taking the elevator to the top and lifting the iron door in front, the beautiful scenery that comes into view instantly can make anyone refreshed, just like the ashes who passed through the gloomy underground cemetery and came to the Cold Valley.

However, on Li You's side, the front door was open, so the sunlight outside shone directly in.

Going out of this door, you will arrive at the beginning of Nimgefu's guidance, and it is also the place where countless faded people start a new journey.

Outside the door is a vibrant scene, with dense vegetation covering the earth, colorful, and animals such as squirrels and wild sheep coming and going freely in it, leisurely and natural. Scattered ancient buildings and dilapidated ruins are scattered among the scattered woods, which also complement each other.

If you stand by the blessing and look far away, you can also see the towering castle on the cliff in the distance, and the huge golden tree at the end of the sky that is so big that it covers the sky and the sun, and the treetops reach the sky.

The incomparably huge golden tree sheds a little golden light, which is more dazzling than the sun in the sky.

This is the scene of Nimgefu.

Even though he has seen it countless times in the game, Li You still can't help but sigh at the absoluteness of this scene. It's still the same sentence, seeing these scenes in person will be far more shocking than in the game.

Of course, Li You knows very well that he is not here for tourism, he has business to do.

But it doesn't affect. If you want to contact the residents of this world, judging from Li You's birth point, the fastest one should be everyone's little wooden man, Melina, but she didn't show up.

The second one should be the NPC "White Mask" Van Lei who is waiting for the new players at the exit of the drifting cemetery at the beginning of the guidance.

In the game, he will point out to the players that the faded ones should follow the guidance of the blessing and go to the lord's city in the Nimgefu area, Stonewell City, which can be regarded as the guide for the new players.

And if you go down the hill further ahead, you will see the second new player killer BOSS in the game, the golden knight on horseback, the big tree guard. The number of faded players who died in his hands is equal to that of the previous limb-jointing noble.

So when you come out of the cemetery, you can immediately complete the system requirements and receive the main task... Li You originally thought so.

As a result, when he came out, there was only a lonely blessing on the grass in front, and Fan Lei, who was supposed to be standing there, was nowhere to be seen. There was no figure of the big tree guard in golden armor on the road ahead.

Li You: "?"

No, where are the people?

What's going on?

None of the three people who should show up at the beginning of the game were seen. What's going on?

In front of the beginning of the guidance, on the colorful land, there were only various beasts, birds, and insects coming and going. Except for the ruins, there were no signs of other people's activities.

"Strange..."

Li You was inevitably puzzled, but he didn't get stuck in a dead end. There was no one here, so he could just move forward.

He jumped down the hill where the blessing of the beginning of the guidance was located and walked towards the ruined chapel in the distance. At the same time, he immediately realized that the intersection under his feet seemed to be more vast and wide than in the game.

"…Is it equivalent to a proportional enlargement?" Li You walked steadily to the door of the dilapidated church. In the process, he had measured the distance with his own feet and had an idea in mind.

He then walked into the church through the empty door frame.

This church is now only a ruin. The top has completely disappeared. Only the dilapidated walls are barely supporting it. If you hide in the corner, you can more or less block some wind and rain.

The center of the church is also a lighted blessing. In the corner in front, there is a person sitting. That is the first living person Li You has seen since he came to this world.

It was a man dressed like Santa Claus, with a red hat and a red cloak that looked very festive. He sat by a small fire, holding a rough huqin in his hand, playing it devotedly. The little donkey next to him seemed to be immersed in the music, lying quietly on the ground, and there was no reaction even when Li You approached.

Li You was also slightly relieved. This time he finally bumped into someone.

So he stepped forward to chat: "Hello?"

"…Oh!"

Santa Claus, who was originally concentrating, was startled and the song he played was out of tune. He looked up and found that Li You was already standing in front of him.

"Sorry, I was too absorbed. Who are you...?"

The man looked up and looked at Li You carefully. His face was covered by a red hat and a scarf, revealing only a pair of eyes.

"You look like an ordinary person? And you seem to be very friendly. In this case, do you want to buy something?" He spoke very slowly, and it sounded like he didn't communicate with people often. "My name is Kale. You may not be able to tell, but I'm a businessman."

"Have you heard of the nomadic people? I was born in one of them, traveling and doing business at the same time."

Li You certainly knew him. This Santa Claus Kale is also one of the guides in the game and the first wild merchant the player encounters.

"Okay, let me see what you have."

Kale was a little more energetic, opened his big backpack, and displayed the goods in front of Li You.

But in fact, Li You had just arrived in this world after all, and he had not seen the two initial BOSSes, so he didn't have any runes, the currency commonly used in the border area.

Fortunately, he didn't want to buy anything.

[Ding! 】    [First contact completed. ]

[Final confirmation - your main task in this world is: Let the border area open a new era. ]

[Good luck! ]

Li You's eyes immediately condensed.

This main task... The requirements are a bit vague!

[Ding! ]

[Contact with the residents of this world has been completed, the system is being updated, and the new world reward will be drawn soon. ]

[Drawing...Drawing completed. ]

[Please choose one of the items drawn as your reward. ]

This side is simple. Li You glanced and saw all the items drawn. Three stone sword keys, a golden seed, and a longbow, randomly drawn from the classic initial props.

After consideration, Li You chose the golden seed and stuffed it directly into his backpack to study it later.

On the surface, he pretended to look for a while, then shook his head: "It seems that there is nothing I can use for the time being."

Ka Lie looked at him and realized: "Guest, you... are you new to the border?"

Li You nodded: "Yes."

"It's really rare. You are obviously not a faded person, but you come from outside the border at this time..." Ka Lie blinked, "In that case, you have to be careful. This land is in chaos now. Since the Elden Ring was broken, the people in this land have almost become abnormal. You come at the wrong time."

In fact, Ka Lie's words in the game are to supplement the world view background knowledge for first-time players.

Compared to the Dark Souls series, the story told by the Elden Ring is still clearer and easier to understand, but it also has the problem of too much information and scattered data, so there are many players who have completed one or more rounds but still only understand a little bit of the main plot.

If we summarize it briefly, the background story of the Ring can be summarized as follows:

As a deity, the "Eternal Queen" Marika, for some reason, smashed the Elden Ring that represents the rules and laws of the borderland, causing chaos in the borderland and causing the demigods who are her descendants to start the Shattering War, which tore the Ring into pieces.

At this time, the faded ones who were exiled from the borderland along with Queen Marica's first husband, King Gefulei of Elden, were once again guided by the blessing and returned to this land one by one to meet the Elden Ring and become the new King of Elden.

This is the goal of the player faded player and the main line of the game.

Including the task issued by the system, "Let the borderland open a new era", which refers to the ending of the protagonist faded player becoming the king in the game.

"... So this time, the system's main task still requires me to pass the level?" Li You was also thinking, "I wonder if it will be like Soul 3, giving me a dark ring made of ashes... But the initial reward is not this? Then how can I pass the level?"

Although it is different from the ending of Dark Souls, once the protagonist of the Ring becomes the King of Elden, it is obviously impossible to pat his butt and leave after the task is completed. He has to sit on the throne honestly... Or does this task mean that he only needs to pass the level and the system will think of the solution?

"Forget it, there's no time limit anyway, don't rush."

Li You is very open-minded. It's not the first time that the system likes to dig some small holes in the main task. Just take it slowly. Compared to this, he has more important things to do.

After thanking Kale, Li You left the ruins of the Church of Aire and came to an ancient ruin.

He waved his hand and summoned the wooden mailbox of Sky Province, and put the letter that had been prepared long ago into it.

Under Li You's somewhat nervous gaze, the mailbox was quiet for a moment, and then a figure wearing simple coarse linen clothes came out from nowhere. It was the Messenger Demon God.

The Messenger Demon God still said nothing, simply picked up the letter, and turned away.

Li You immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and his hanging heart was also put down.

The letter was of course for his eldest apprentice Kara. According to the rules of the Messenger Demon God, if the recipient is in a world he has not yet arrived at, then the letter cannot be sent.

In the past, every time he arrived in a new world, Li You actually tried just in case, but without exception, the mailbox did not respond.

And now, the Messenger Demon God took the letter, which means that as he expected, Kara is in this world!

This is easy now.

Li You relaxed, and then sat quietly on a stone beside him, waiting for Kara's reply.

Then it was five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour, an hour... The Messenger Demon God did not bring any reply.

Li You stood up suddenly, his face changed.

What's going on? He wrote the situation in the letter and told Kara that he would reply as soon as possible after receiving the letter.

He took out a blank envelope and knocked on the wooden mailbox, and the Messenger Demon God appeared again.

Li You looked at him and asked, "Where is the reply just now?"

The Messenger Demon God answered emotionlessly: "The other party received the letter, but did not reply."

"Why didn't you reply?"

The Messenger Demon God stopped talking.

Li You frowned.

The messenger demon god would only answer questions related to sending letters, and refused to say anything else. He wanted to learn about Kara's situation through this guy, but he couldn't do it.

At present, there are only two things that can be confirmed. The first is that Kara is in this world, and the second is that she should be fine.

But Li You has no idea what the specific situation is.

Is she unwilling to reply? Or can't reply? Why exactly?

There is too little information, and Li You can't grasp it. He can only take out paper and pen, write another letter, and put it in the mailbox. In this letter, he explained the situation in more detail, asked about Kara's current situation, and told her that if conditions limit, leave a message for the messenger to bring back.

The letter was put into the mailbox again, and the messenger sent the letter again, and still no response.

Li You's face was completely relieved.

"——It seems that the situation is not right."

...

At the same time, in a secret base somewhere at the border.

A blonde woman with braids was sitting at a wooden table in a small house, looking at two letters on the table. There was basically no expression on her face, but there was a hint of inexplicable emotion between her eyebrows.

Then, another cold female voice came from outside the door of the hut: "Kara, it's time to act."

Kara in the house immediately put away the letter, stood up, and responded: "Okay."