【The Messenger System has been activated.】
【Ding! Weekly Commission—Mail Delivery, has been updated.】
【Content: Escort 54 family letters through the Black Demon Forest and Augu Canyon, and deliver them to Caran City.】
【Deliver the letters into the hands of each designated recipient.】
【Route: New Covenant City → Black Demon Forest → Augu Canyon → Caran City】
【Time Limit: 14 natural days】
【Completion Condition: Delivery rate must exceed 70%.】
【Base Reward: For each letter delivered, receive 1 random basic spell.】
【Extra Reward: Slightly increase magic control precision and maximum mana capacity (scales with travel distance).】
【Risk Warning: Demon activity along the route is as high as 53%. Rumors suggest legendary demons may be lurking in the area.】
【Strongly recommended to pass through quietly. Do not make a sound.】
—May every longing cross the darkness and reach the other side.
Lin Gui stood frozen in place, the glow of the system panel slowly fading from his eyes.
Yet, that cold, electronic voice set off a tempest in his heart.
There was no wild joy or excitement as one might expect.
Instead, a deeply buried desire, one he had barely dared to touch, quietly surfaced.
His voice carried a barely perceptible tremor.
It was the flutter of a heart that, after a long stretch of isolation, had finally caught a glimmer of hope.
“System... can you send me home?”
【...】
【We are sorry. The host's physical body in the original world has already perished.】
“So... it's still impossible?”
Lin Gui's lips curved into a bitter smile, and his eyes instantly dimmed.
The fire of hope that had just been lit was ruthlessly extinguished.
Once upon a time, he had been an otaku obsessed with anime and games.
Sceneries filled with poetry, magnificent magic, and soaring sword techniques.
Dragons soaring through the sky and beautiful elves.
Transmigrating to another world and meeting beautiful girls.
Dominating the fantasy world, starting a legendary, overpowered life.
He had imagined many times that transmigrating to another world would be just like that.
But the hammer of reality was cold and cruel.
The true colors of this world were filth and poverty.
Everywhere lay injustice, class divides, discrimination, and a moral decay that ran straight to the bone.
Exploited commoners, arrogant nobles, and mercenary adventurers...
There was no adventurous life worth reminiscing about, only two-legged beasts living solely for profit.
His illusions had been shattered to pieces, leaving him alone to struggle in this swamp.
The only thing that could offer him a sliver of comfort was perhaps the dazzling magic.
“In other words, I'm stuck in this damn apocalyptic city-state world forever...”
Lin Gui gripped his staff tightly, but in the end, he let it go with bitterness.
【...】
【The host need not be overly sorrowful.】
【Please believe that as long as you keep moving forward...】
【...one day, the 'letter' in your heart will also cross time and space to reach the person you long to see.】
His pupils contracted slightly. These words were like a ray of light piercing into his frozen heart.
Lin Gui let out a soft breath, as if a thousand-pound weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
A very faint, yet genuine smile appeared on his face.
It was his first sincere smile in ten years.
The receptionist nearby happened to catch a glimpse of this smile, and she instinctively covered her mouth in shock.
The famously cold-faced mage, Master Lin Gui, actually... smiled?!
“I'll take this commission.”
Lin Gui's voice regained its calm, but there was a touch more vitality to it.
“Also, could I trouble you to temporarily return all these envelopes to the clients?”
“Ah? W-Why?”
The receptionist didn't react for a moment, her eyes widening.
“It's a rare opportunity. Let them write down everything they want to say.”
Lin Gui pulled the pitifully thin stack of envelopes from behind the commission board and handed them over.
Each letter was paper-thin, containing only a single sheet of cheap yellow parchment.
Clearly, the clients had been terrified that too much ink and paper...
...would become the final straw that broke the adventurer's patience, drawing the ire of the esteemed master.
All fifty-four letters fit into a single envelope, which was more than small enough to slip into a pocket.
“Tell them to write until they have nothing left to say. I'll come back to collect the letters in two days.”
He waved his hand, left a sufficient deposit, and turned to walk out of the guild hall.
His steps were much lighter than when he had entered.
The sky outside was still a gloomy gray, yet Lin Gui felt a long-lost, inexplicable sense of relief.
He looked up at the sky, feeling as though he had finally found his purpose for existing in this world.
However, this sense of ease...
...was quickly replaced by the heavy weight of reality the moment he stepped into the slums.
On both sides of the street, emaciated children curled up in cold corners, their eyes vacant and numb.
A woman knelt by the roadside, the wooden sign around her neck reading "For Sale" swaying with her slight tremors.
Her withered fingers tightly gripped the hem of her tattered clothes.
Not far away, several amputee veterans crawled on the ground.
They held out broken bowls to passersby, with only a few dirty copper coins scattered inside.
Shouts and shrill screams echoed from an alley.
Two skeletal men were beating each other bloody over half a piece of moldy black bread.
Lin Gui instinctively pulled his hood lower and quickened his pace.
He was too familiar with these sights—so familiar that ignoring them had practically become a bodily instinct.
Once, he had been one of them.
Until he dug through a foul-smelling trash bin...
...and found that tattered page of a basic magic meditation book that changed his fate.
In this dark era walled off from the world, the class divide was like a bottomless chasm.
The pocket change slipping through a noble's fingers was enough to make adventurers risk their lives.
Yet a single gold coin from an adventurer's commission could support a slum family for an entire year.
The upper class enjoyed a luxurious, decadent order, while the lower class suffered in silently spreading despair and struggle.
He gripped his oak staff tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.
But in the end, he did not stop.
He had tried before, but the pain of failure was deeply etched into his memory...
He was just a mage struggling to survive; he did not have the power to change any of this.
Right now, he only wanted to do one thing well.
Deliver the letters, get stronger... and then...
A flash of killing intent flickered in his eyes as Lin Gui walked through the slums.
He arrived at "Fluorite Light," the only magic item shop in New Covenant City.
The bell on the door chimed crisply.
The shop was filled with a mixture of dried herbs, old paper, and a faint scent of dust.
The shopkeeper looked up, pushed the crystal spectacles up his nose, and carefully sized up his regular customer.
“Three ounces of dragonwood ash, two demon bait lures, five minor healing potions, three mana restoration potions, and five portions of anti-toxin powder.”
Lin Gui listed his order with practiced ease, then paused before adding,
“And the sturdiest, most durable travel backpack you have.”
The old shopkeeper swiftly gathered the items.
He packaged the dragonwood ash and demon bait.
He stuffed them along with the potions into a magically reinforced pouch that was barely the size of four palms.
He looked up, his deeply wrinkled face showing clear confusion.
“Tsk... with these quantities and combinations... it doesn't look like you're just going hunting nearby.”
“What, heading to the Magic City to scavenge for treasures again?”
Lin Gui shook his head, slinging the deceptively heavy pouch over his shoulder.
He placed five shining gold coins on the counter.
“No, I took a transport commission. I need to make a trip to Caran City.”
At the mention of "Caran City," the shopkeeper's hand, which was wiping his spectacles, suddenly froze.
He looked up, lowering his voice.
“Is it... that sky-high commission to escort the city lord's daughter? I heard the reward is as high as three thousand gold coins...”
“No.”
Lin Gui's tone was flat.
“I'm just helping some people deliver a few letters.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he noticed the old shopkeeper staring straight at him with an extremely bizarre look.
The complexity in that gaze made his scalp tingle slightly. He instinctively took half a step back and asked warily,
“W-What is it?”
“You...”
The old shopkeeper's voice was dry.
“Why did you take that commission? From what I know, its bounty... is only a dozen or so gold coins...”
“That shouldn't be considered too little...”
Even Lin Gui didn't sound entirely convinced.
Buying these herbs and potions alone had cost nearly half of the commission reward.
“And it's a transport commission on top of that!”
The shopkeeper's tone grew heavier.
“Over the years, every single adventurer who took on a transport commission... not a single one has ever returned alive.”
“Including Lor, the adventurer who was once New Covenant's only High-tier High Rank warrior.”
“...”
Frowning, the shopkeeper realized his wording might have been inappropriate. Looking at the young mage in front of him, he added,
“Except for you, kid.”
He was referring to the fact that Lin Gui had gone to the Magic City and actually returned alive.
The shopkeeper simply couldn't fathom how the young man had pulled it off.
That was the Magic City, tens of thousands of kilometers away from New Covenant City.
His strength had only just broken through to the High Rank... and he was entirely on his own.
Back then, when Lin Gui returned to New Covenant covered in blood, he had shocked the entire New Covenant Town, including the well-traveled shopkeeper.
That was the Magic City!
Compared to that, the road from New Covenant to Caran was like a house cat baring its teeth at a tiger—not even in the same league.
“If you're really short on money and want to make a big score, why didn't you take the city lord's commission?”
“It's also to Caran City, but that one pays three thousand gold coins! That's enough for you to live in luxury for the rest of your life!”
“Heh.”
Lin Gui sneered.
“The last time I went to the Magic City, it was a near-death experience. I almost lost my life halfway.”
“And you want me to bring along a pampered noble deadweight?”
“Besides... I hate nobles.”
“By the way, how do you know all those adventurers who took the commissions died?”
“Maybe they successfully crossed over and settled down in the more prosperous Caran City.”
“After all, Caran isn't like the Magic City; it doesn't have laws forbidding long-term residency.”
The old shopkeeper sighed and gave a bitter smile.
“I hope so.”
A heavy silence enveloped the small shop.
Neither spoke, and only the ticking of the old-fashioned wall clock filled the air.
The old shopkeeper fell silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out.
He slowly pushed the five gold coins on the counter back toward Lin Gui.
He looked up, his eyes filled with unprecedented hesitation and a trace of what seemed like pleading.
“Since... since you've already decided to go to Caran City... could I add a temporary commission of my own?”
Lin Gui didn't agree immediately.
When attempting to cross the wilderness, carrying extra weight was directly tied to one's survival rate.
“Tell me what it is first.”
The old shopkeeper turned around, trembling as he reached into a hidden crevice at the very back of the counter.
He carefully pulled out a yellowed but well-preserved letter.
Along with it was an old pouch that looked heavy, seemingly filled with a large amount of coins.
“I was thinking... since you've already accepted the Carrier Pigeon commission, could you... also take a letter for me along the way?”
His voice carried a faint, barely noticeable sob.
Lin Gui's mind stirred, and he silently questioned the system.
“Can this letter be included in the regular commission? Will there be a reward upon delivery?”
【Apologies, host.】
【The weekly commission content is fixed and additional letters cannot be added midway.】
【Alternatively, you can temporarily accept it and deliver it during your next journey.】
【Once you complete the delivery of the fifty-four letters, the system will include it in subsequent lists.】
“Meaning, if I take it now, even if I deliver it, there won't be any system rewards, right?”
【Correct.】
Lin Gui understood.
Without much hesitation, he reached out and took the letter and the heavy pouch.
“Sure. What's the address and recipient?”
“It would be best to tell me what she looks like. There are bound to be many people with the same name.”
The old shopkeeper was enveloped in a wave of immense grief.
He took a deep draw from his long-extinguished pipe, his voice low as if confessing his sins.
“Her name is Marina. She has curly blonde hair, a mole at the corner of her eye, and her right pinky finger was severed in an accident.”
“I don't know... I don't know where she lives in Caran City now... We got separated during the Great Escape ten years ago... I don't even... don't even know if she's still alive...”
He stuffed the five gold coins into the pouch and pushed it toward Lin Gui.
“In this pouch is a total of three hundred and forty-eight gold coins. It's nearly all of my savings.”
“Half of it is your reward.”
“The other half... if... if Marina is still alive... please make sure to hand it to her... along with this... this divorce agreement.”
“Tell her... I'm sorry. I didn't have the strength to cross the wilderness, so...”
Looking at the incredibly heavy pouch in his hand, Lin Gui felt a mixture of complex emotions, which ultimately dissolved into a soft sigh.
He weighed the pouch in his hand, asking half-jokingly, half-seriously,
“You trust me that much? Aren't you afraid I'll just pocket this fortune and tell you I couldn't find her?”
A deeply bitter smile appeared on the shopkeeper's face as he shook his head.
“It's been ten years... and you are the first... and only adventurer to take that mail delivery commission.”
“You are also... the only person I know who has returned alive from beyond the high walls.”
“I... I have no other choice...”
“The next Dark Tide is only a few months away, and the wilderness will only become more dangerous.”
Lin Gui fell silent.
He carefully tucked away the address-less letter and the heavy pouch, then turned and pushed open the shop door.
The bell chimed once more, crisp, yet carrying a slightly different weight this time.
Behind him in the magic item shop, the shopkeeper silently watched him depart.
Rate on N.U.
