Chapter 00040: An Unexpected Discovery
# An Unexpected Discovery
Chapter 40
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 40: An Unexpected Discovery
Things from the game could be brought into the real world, and items from reality could also be placed into the game.
Li Chengxi had actually discovered this quite some time ago.
But the Li Chengxi in this world wasn’t any sort of Demon God.
He still didn’t know what those items pulled from the game were actually good for.
Viola, who viewed Li Chengxi as a god, would never dare place anything dangerous on the altar, but Li Chengxi himself had no idea what that ring was supposed to do.
After a moment of thought, Li Chengxi had a new idea.
Why not just use the game to check what the item does?
He turned around and went upstairs, retrieving the Radiance Ring that he had sealed tightly with tape and stored in a plastic box.
Whether it’s one sheep or two, you still gotta herd them, right? Might as well check them all.
Grabbing the mouse, he moved the in-game view and found an unnoticed corner.
Then he unwrapped the Radiance Ring's tape and pushed the ring back into the game through the screen.
Since the ring was a very small item, Li Chengxi had to zoom in fully to get a clear look.
Then he right-clicked and checked its details via the ability panel.
Name: Radiance Ring
Grade: Elite-level Magic Item
Effect: Can release a strong flash to stun enemies; this flash will harm evil creatures.
Description: A magical ring crafted by an unknown mage.
On the back of the ring, the word “Flash” is inscribed—this is also the activation command for the magic ring's power.
“Oh, so that time I got blinded... it was my own damn fault?”
Li Chengxi immediately remembered the moment he had accidentally spoken the word inscribed on the band when he first got his hands on the ring.
So it wasn’t a ring that just flashed at random, huh?
He had assumed it was something dangerous and even sealed it with tape.
Good thing he hadn’t tossed it out on a whim.
He reached through the screen and pulled the ring back out, this time putting it on his left hand.
In a place like China where even stun guns weren’t easy to buy, this thing could count as a form of self-defense.
Li Chengxi ran a small convenience store and lived alone.
He kept a crowbar behind his bedroom door as a weapon.
In case a burglar ever broke in, at least he wouldn’t have to go barehanded.
After putting on the Radiance Ring, he then pushed the ring that Viola had offered into the screen.
Same procedure as before.
Name: Ring of the Demon King (One of Ten: Ring of Sight)
Grade: Legendary Magic Item (Divine Artifact)
Effect: Grants wearer the ability “Vision of Truth.”
Description: A divine artifact that belongs solely to the Demon God.
Legend holds there are ten such rings in total, and only the Demon God can unlock their true powers.
Full abilities are only activated when all are collected.
“No wonder Viola placed this on the altar…”
As for the rest of the effect description, there was a long row of question marks.
Looks like these are powers that only unlock when you’ve gathered the full set.
“There are ten of these? That’s too many!”
Can your thumbs even wear rings?
Shouldn’t rings worn on the thumb be called thumb rings?
Or maybe two of them go on your toes?
Feels kinda... gay…
Setting aside the snark for now, Li Chengxi reached in to pull the ring out of the screen and suddenly remembered that the ability "Vision of Truth" seemed familiar.
He recalled that somewhere in the forest, a Druid had that same ability listed on his panel.
He immediately shifted the in-game camera, clicked through the Distant Forest’s Springlight Woodland, and quickly found the tree elf Druid cloaked in wolf fur.
He clicked open the ability panel and found "Vision of Truth."
“Wait a minute, why is his ability description different from mine?”
The Druid's version of Vision of Truth was described as “a unique innate ability that allows one to see the truth hidden beneath appearances.”
Roughly speaking, if there was a bullet hole on the ground, Vision of Truth could show you who fired the shot.
Granted, the metaphor was a little strange, but it basically captured the meaning.
But when Li Chengxi put on the ring, it was more like he “took off and flew” — the perspective could freely zoom in and out at will.
So is it that the ring's description is wrong, or...
“Is the Vision of Truth from the Demon King’s Ring a nerfed version?”
—
When you’re dealing with unknown things, you should always approach with caution and verify carefully.
Li Chengxi could be said to verify carefully… but as for cautiously…
Well, let’s just leave it at that.
He put on and took off the Demon King's Ring several times.
At first, he was a little disoriented by the rising aerial view, but after a few tries, he actually started to get addicted…
After experimenting several times, he found that the ring only activated when Li Chengxi [i]wanted [/i]it to.
Otherwise, it was just a normal cat’s-eye stone ring.
Still, for some reason he couldn’t quite identify, aside from the adjustable free viewing angle, he didn’t observe any of that “seeing through appearances” effect.
As things stood, apart from being pretty fun, the ring didn’t seem to have any other practical use.
“Brother Li, you got any soy sauce left? My mom’s already got the veggies in the pan and only now realized we’re out.”
Li Chengxi had gotten so caught up in playing around that he’d totally lost track of time.
Upon glancing at the clock, he saw it was already nearing 6 PM.
No wonder Xue Wenshu had come over needing soy sauce.
“On the shelf inside. Yeah, over there. I only carry two brands.”
“Soy sauce should all be pretty much the same, right?”
With this one sentence, it was obvious Xue Wenshu had never cooked a day in his life.
He grabbed a bottle of soy sauce and walked over to the register, eyes glued to his phone.
“What are you watching?”
“That video you were watching this morning, Brother Li. Damn, that body was insane.”
Li Chengxi was scanning the soy sauce and replied:
“Those kinds of videos online are all photoshopped. You should probably pay more attention to your actual girlfriend.”
“You mean Leilei? We’re not even really—”
“Come on, don’t give me that. I saw you two being all lovey-dovey, strolling arm-in-arm at the street corner.”
Though, to be fair, he'd been watching through the Demon King's Ring.
It was meant as a light tease, but then Xue Wenshu suddenly froze.
“When was that?”
“This morning, right before noon. After you left… wait, that wasn’t you?”
Xue Wenshu absentmindedly nodded.
“After I left your place this morning, I went straight home. Never even went near the street corner.”
Oh damn! An unexpected discovery!
Li Chengxi immediately stood up and pulled a bottle of cola from the freezer, shoving it into Wenshu’s hands.
“Here, this one’s on me. Don’t take it too hard. You weren’t [i]officially [/i]her boyfriend anyway. Pretty girls are everywhere these days. Go home, rub one out, take a shower, hit the sack. By tomorrow you’ll have forgotten all about it.”
“…..”
Xue Wenshu opened his mouth, hesitated, then said:
“Brother Li, the way you try to comfort someone…”
“I’m really good at it, right?”
“It's, um… rather unorthodox…”
“Just trust me. If the door’s already shut, there’s no point clinging to the handle. How many first loves [i]actually [/i]pan out in the end?”
Sound logic.
Whether Xue Wenshu could actually take it to heart… that was another matter.
He wandered off with the soy sauce and cola in hand, looking lost in thought.
Judging by his distracted state, he might even hand the cola to his mom thinking it was the soy sauce.
Li Chengxi didn’t have any better advice to offer either.
He was, after all, in a position of invincibility.
After all, if I don’t fall in love, I can’t get my heart broken!
He was just getting nostalgic about his youthful years when the door bell chimed as someone stepped into the store.
This time of evening, it was common for neighbors to pop in for some soy sauce or vinegar, so Li Chengxi didn’t pay it much mind at first.
But when he finally looked up and saw who was walking toward the shelves, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Holy crap, isn't that girl Wenshu’s first love?
(End of Chapter)