Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Who Has It Worse?

"You say I have good character?" Cordova sat down gloomily on the spot, looking as if he had been blasted by Jadka's staff over two hundred times, utterly devoid of life. He let out a long sigh. "Then you have no idea just how unlucky a person can be..."

Mo Tan was momentarily stunned, feeling an inexplicable familiarity with this guy's vibe, but he didn't dwell on it. He just asked instinctively, "How unlucky?"

Cordova smiled bitterly and pointed at his own nose. "As unlucky as me."

"You?" Mo Tan clicked his tongue in surprise. "I've been playing for a while now. Setting everything else aside, your physical stats, my friend, are among the best I've seen among players, right?"

This statement was well-founded. Although Mo's character was only a level 3 Warrior—far below the average level of current players—he could still serve as a reference point. Just a quick comparison led him to conclude that this brother who had fallen from the sky had at least three times his Strength and Stamina. That level of ability was no joke.

"Under the current circumstances, that might be true, but..." Cordova shrugged and lowered his head with a long sigh. "Alas, the past is too painful to recall."

Mo Tan fell silent for a moment, leaving it up to Cordova whether he truly wanted to "recall" a bit of it...

Sure enough, this brother, whose face was practically screaming 'I have a story to tell,' couldn't hold back in the end. He looked at Mo Tan with a pained expression and asked, "Have you ever experienced despair?"

"I think everyone's standard for 'despair' might be different," Mo Tan said ambiguously, but deep down, he felt a slight tremor. He remembered some unpleasant things.

A few fragments of memory that should have been buried deep in his soul flashed by. The fears he had almost completely forgotten had been haunting him lately, like a nightmare he couldn't shake.

"I created other characters before," Cordova said, naturally unaware of Mo Tan's subtle change. He just continued on his own. "But a series of relentless blows nearly made me lose all hope in life."

Mo Tan looked at him in surprise. "It's just a game. Isn't that a bit much?"

Cordova let out a dry laugh. "How long have you been playing Innocent Realm?"

"Uh..." Mo Tan thought for a moment, then gave the current playtime for his character Mo. "Probably less than two days. I've been playing on and off, not very long."

Strictly speaking, he wasn't lying.

"Have you ever died?" Cordova continued.

Mo Tan shook his head. He hadn't died, though he had witnessed a few other players' deaths a couple of times.

This fellow player of unknown race let out a long, heartfelt sigh. "So you just don't get it..."

Mo Tan understood immediately. This guy had definitely died before. He had learned from the forum about the insane death penalty in Innocent Realm, which essentially meant starting over from scratch. Combined with Cordova's earlier words, the conclusion was obvious.

"Well, actually, I think you can relax a bit," Mo Tan said thoughtfully as he tried to recall something. "You're definitely not the worst off..."

You're definitely not the worst off!

These words made Cordova's eyes light up, as if injected with adrenaline, restoring his spirit. He looked up at Mo Tan in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Yes!" Seeing that his previous words had been effective, Mo Tan immediately nodded. "You're definitely not!"

What's the most effective way to comfort someone who feels miserable?

The answer is obvious: give examples to show them that there are people in the world who have experienced similar misfortunes, and that those people are even worse off than the person you're comforting! If the example you give is yourself, the effect is even better.

At this moment, Mo Tan certainly didn't want to see Cordova so dejected. So, although he didn't have any similar misfortunes of his own, he still had a way. It was not long ago... he had seen a post on the Innocent Realm forum...

It told the story of some unlucky original poster who had tragically died multiple times. Although the details weren't described too thoroughly, it didn't diminish the sense of desolation that seemed to leap out through the screen. To be honest, if there were a "who's worse off" contest in Innocent Realm, the author of that post wouldn't even need to show up—just those heartfelt lines of text would be enough to secure victory.

Perhaps Cordova had experienced a painful death that caused him to lose everything he had before, but no matter how high the "quality" of his death was, it probably couldn't match the sheer "quantity" of deaths that the original poster had endured.

So, as he recalled, Mo Tan recounted the original poster's story to Cordova, doing his best to be word-perfect and emotionally expressive!

After all, the original poster had shared their experience on the forum for everyone to read. If this story could help someone else cheer up, then the original poster could die in... uh, I mean, rest in... sorry, anyway, the original poster should be gratified.

With this thought in mind, Mo Tan finished the story while silently lamenting to himself.

Then...

"Yeah, I get it completely." Cordova nodded slightly, lowering his head at an angle that made his expression unreadable. "So what you're saying is that the unluckiest person in the entire game is that guy who died in an accident right after entering the game, then died again less than two hours after creating a new character, then died again, and again, and again, and almost broke down in the end, right?"

Mo Tan shook his head. "Not necessarily."

Cordova's eyes lit up again.

Mo Tan continued, "That's just my personal opinion."

Cordova: "..."

"What's wrong?" Mo Tan asked in surprise, then immediately widened his eyes. "You're not going to say you're worse off than him, are you?!"

The unspoken second half of the sentence was: What kind of Misfortune would that be?!

Cordova stood up weakly, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked at Mo Tan, shaking his head. "No..."

"Phew, that's a relief." Mo Tan finally let out a sigh.

"Because I'm the unluckiest one in your personal opinion."

Cordova's silhouette looked hunched and weathered under the moonlight, but the 'staff' on his back—which looked far more like a spear—gleamed brightly, adding a touch of pathos to the scene.

Mo Tan nearly choked and almost passed out like the orc elder not far away. The two stared at each other in silence, the atmosphere growing incredibly awkward...

"Ahem—cough!!"

Fortunately, the awkwardness was soon broken by a fit of coughing. The orc elder had actually woken up groggily, tightening his clothes and muttering, "Why do I suddenly feel a chill like I've had eight lifetimes of bad luck..."

Instantly, Cordova's silhouette grew even more desolate.

"Ah, you're awake?" Mo Tan shot Cordova an apologetic look, then quickly walked over to the elder, looking at him with concern. "Sir, are you alright..."

The old orc rubbed the back of his neck, which Cordova had Smashed earlier, and shook his head. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a bit of a sore neck. No big deal. When you get old, these things happen. Back in my hometown, we call it 'bad luck'—the bad in misfortune, and the mold in moldy."

"Sir, please stop..." Mo Tan was almost in tears. "I'm begging you!"

As for Cordova, who was trembling off to the side, if his rune-covered body had the ability to shed tears, the area around them would probably be flooded by now.

By this point, the old orc's mind had cleared up considerably. He frowned and looked around, then suddenly widened his eyes and stammered to Mo Tan, "What's going on?! How did my farm get restored so quickly..."

As mentioned earlier, thanks to Cordova's far-beyond-normal work efficiency, this small farm (or rather, ruins) had nearly returned to its original state in just a few hours, which naturally shocked the orc elder who had suffered this sudden calamity.

"It's all thanks to my friend here. His name is Cordova." Mo Tan pointed at Cordova. "He did almost all of the rebuilding work."

The latter forced a faint smile and nodded to the old orc.

"Thank you, thank you!" The old orc quickly stepped forward and shook his hand. "Thank you so much, friend. You're a really good person. Just be careful, you know—good people don't live long..."

Cordova: "..."

Mo Tan read a message in the look Cordova shot him: Can I smack him?

He frantically shook his head!

"Y-You're welcome..." After struggling for a long time, Cordova, whose heart was indeed kind and neutral, ultimately couldn't bring himself to slap the old orc. Instead, he replied as if resigned, "Whatever makes you happy."

The old orc laughed heartily and dashed into the newly built kitchen without looking back. "I'll whip up some food for you! Make it festive, drive away the bad luck!"

Cordova: "Is he trying to drive me away..."

Mo Tan: "You're overthinking it, buddy..."

Half an hour later, Mo Tan—who had finally finished the last bit of reconstruction work (Cordova had lost all ambition after the blow he'd taken)—heard the old orc's call and quickly ran over to the temporary table and chairs (tree stumps) in the corner of the farm to help set out the food.

Cordova, looking like some kind of lifeless thing, slowly dragged himself up and followed behind Mo Tan.

"I misjudged you earlier, young man—you're a good man!" The old orc raised his glass to Mo Tan and even gave him a metaphorical "nice guy card," then turned to Cordova. "And you, friend—uh, I can't quite tell your race—thank you so much. I..."

"Let me drink first!" Mo Tan immediately cut off the old orc's rambling, downing the light blue liquid in his cup that looked like wine in one gulp. His vision blurred for a moment, and he found himself afflicted with a 3-second Daze Status.

"You're welcome!" Cordova also chugged his drink in one go, completely unaffected. A faint mist sprayed from a small hole at the back of his neck.

The old orc smiled sincerely. "I'm truly grateful to you both. This little farm has been my everything for a very long time..."

[He seems to have a story.]

Mo Tan thought to himself.

[He seems to have been very unlucky.]

Cordova thought to himself.

[He seems about to start telling his story/history of misfortune...]

Both thought simultaneously.

"Ah, speaking of which, back in the day I was..." Sure enough, after a couple of sips of wine, the old orc was ready to reminisce about the bitter past. The other two assumed a posture of attentive listening, but just then—

An irresistible pressure of wind descended from the sky, followed by a deafening roar. The three of them turned, stunned, to see a terrifyingly massive blue giant dragon standing atop the newly rebuilt Main House... in its ruins... amidst its rubble, letting out an exhausted low growl.

This giant dragon, its entire body rippling with Deep Cyan Mana Flow, glanced around briefly. Upon spotting Cordova, it let out a relieved dragon's cry, then spun a full 360 degrees on the spot...

Boom! Clatter! Crack!

Half the fence was torn up by the dragon's nearly ten-meter-long tail, sending a massive spray of dirt flying into the distance. Meanwhile, the roughly re-plowed farmland and the recently used kitchen were completely wrecked by the unintentional movement of the dragon's wings.

Mo Tan and Cordova trembled as they turned to look at the old orc.

Whether it was fortune or misfortune, this time he didn't faint. Instead, he tremblingly pointed at the adult azure dragon not far away and murmured, "You... recognize this... don't you..."

"I DON'T RECOGNIZE IT!!"

Before Mo Tan could speak, Cordova immediately roared, then began frantically blinking at the giant dragon in the distance.

Then...

"Oh~ Cordova, I think I made a big mistake. But seriously, it's best not to activate more than three Gust Runes at once. I feel like I'm about to be exhausted." The dragon shrugged its... wings at Cordova, then turned its gaze to Mo Tan: "Hey, you must be the temporary keeper. Nice to meet you, my friend. My name is Femigel Bluetooth."

"I don't care if you're Bluetooth or infrared!" Cordova yelled, craning his neck stubbornly. "I don't know you anyway!"

But...

Clang!

It seemed like...

Clang!

It was already too late...

From the moment the dragon called out the name 'Cordova,' the old orc, who had been staggering over to a spot not far away and frantically digging at the ground with a hoe, was now bending down to pick something up, muttering under his breath. The feeling he gave Mo Tan was extremely dangerous!

"Back in the day, I was a prominent figure in the Engineering Society..." The old orc picked up a mechanical contraption with a very ominous shape—old, with a handle, chains, and serrated teeth, emitting a constant buzzing sound. He muttered quietly, "And now... tsk tsk... what a mess this is..."

His right hand gripped the handle, pointing it diagonally downward, while his left hand threaded through three pull rings and yanked them back hard!

Zzzzzzzzz... Vroom!! Vroom vroom vroom!!!

Mo Tan and Cordova turned and ran, the latter screaming as he fled...

"Holy crap, a chainsaw!!!"

Chapter 49: The End