As long as it wasn't inside a city, Earth Online did not prohibit player killing. So long as you were willing to accept the consequences of dying in PK, you could fight from morning to night and the system wouldn't interfere.
But generally, no one dared to do so.
Because the consequences of dying in PK were extremely severe.
—After death, no matter how close you were to leveling up, you would immediately lose one level. In addition, one piece of equipped gear or an item from your inventory would be randomly dropped.
Relatively speaking, losing a level was still tolerable. At worst, you could grind it back.
But dropping equipment was truly devastating to players who loved PK.
PK—what a solemn and sacred activity. Naturally, everyone would make full preparations, wearing their best equipment before going into battle.
But fights ultimately came down to fifty-fifty odds—either you die or I die.
If the enemy died, that was fine; you even gained a piece of loot. But if you died and randomly lost a piece of good equipment, the pain was absolutely heart-wrenching.
Because of this system, Earth Online players always thought carefully before PK. Most players adhered to the principle of: if you can argue, don't fight.
So the moment someone proposed a PK, players grinding nearby began moving closer, secretly eager to watch the drama.
In no time at all, a crowd formed.
"Damn, dying once drops a whole level—aren't they worried about leveling?"
"Some people just like it. As long as it feels good, that's enough."
"An archer fighting a priest? This guy's got no shame."
"The priest was the one who proposed the PK. They agreed the loser kneels and calls the other 'dad.'"
"Wow, that female priest is kind of hot. My type. I want to see her kneel and call him dad."
"A priest daring to fight an archer—maybe she's got something to rely on?"
"What reliance? Holy Light Ball pew pew? Might as well try seduction."
"She's still a girl. Watch your mouths."
…
Whether kind or malicious, almost no one among the spectators believed a priest could win against an archer.
That was perfectly logical.
In traditional MMORPGs, high-agility, long-range archers absolutely countered priests. In Earth Online, that counter was amplified even further.
—Because healers in this game practically had no damage skills.
Yet Sheng Sheng showed no panic at all. She was even smiling.
This made the players watching her start to wonder if this priest had gone crazy.
Onlookers: Such a pretty girl, and she's already lost her mind?
`
There were roughly two types of shut-ins in this world. One feared crowds. The other despised them.
Coincidentally, Sheng Sheng belonged to the second type.
Even surrounded by people watching the spectacle, she felt no unease at all. Calmly brushing off her sleeves, she smiled and asked, "Can we start?"
PK wasn't a spar. You didn't actually need the other party's consent. You could just throw a skill and it would begin.
But Sheng Sheng felt like giving the young man a chance.
The gap was already large. If she also attacked by surprise, the fight would end too quickly.
A fight that ended too fast was never satisfying.
Fallen Necromancer saw the smile on her lips and the complete set of priest gear she was wearing. His earlier confidence and anger suddenly diminished.
He sensed that something was wrong.
But Sheng Sheng gave him no chance to speak. Seeing no reaction, she suddenly charged forward.
___
Her action caused an uproar among the crowd.
"What's going on? Is the priest going melee against an archer?"
"What else can she do? Let him kite her to death?"
Kiting referred to archers using high agility and long range to keep enemies within attack range while never letting them get close.
—The archer was the one flying the kite, the enemy was the kite, and the string connecting them was the arrows.
Against an archer, aside from a mage trading blows head-on, there was only one method—
Close the distance and stop him from firing arrows!
That was the simplest solution!
As Sheng Sheng ran forward, someone shouted, "Sister, go for it! Archers are squishy—beat him to death with your staff!"
This caused another wave of astonishment.
Being beaten to death by a priest's staff—this archer would be remembered forever.
"Dream on. With those short priest legs, if she gets close I'll kneel and sing 'Conquer.'"
"Why does everyone like kneeling so much today?"
…
The crowd's discussion was loud.
But Sheng Sheng didn't hear a single word. From the moment she started running, all her focus was on her enemy.
The crowd was right—priests had a very low win rate against archers.
Because priests were slow. Short-legged, as they said.
And Sheng Sheng hadn't even completed her class change yet. Her base stats were even worse than other priests.
With such a disparity, her chances of catching a moving archer were close to zero.
Fallen Necromancer froze for a split second when he saw her charge, but quickly reacted and pulled away rapidly.
"See? Against a prepared archer, a priest can never get close."
The spectators shook their heads, already seeing Sheng Sheng's defeat.
And indeed, the distance between them didn't shrink—it grew larger…
Fallen Necromancer even had time to give her a disdainful smile.
"Remember to come back and kneel to apologize to Sugar Ball when you die!" he mocked, turning to attack.
Draw bow. Fire.
The next moment, two consecutive arrows shot straight at Sheng Sheng.
____
In Earth Online, the maximum player level was 120. Every 30 levels allowed a class advancement.
For example, at level 30, priests could advance into Holy Priests or Discipline Priests.
Each advancement granted six new skills.
For instance, an archer who changed class at level 10 could learn [Double Shot] at level 12, [Arrow Rain] at 24, [Multi-Shot] at 26, and [Vine Trap] at 30.
The skill Fallen Necromancer just used was undoubtedly [Double Shot].
[Double Shot]: Fires two powerful arrows consecutively at a target directly ahead. Instant cast. Cooldown: 6 seconds. Mana cost: 33.
Sheng Sheng silently recalled archer skills while raising her staff.
Seeing her movement, Fallen Necromancer immediately laughed. "Still trying to attack? With that Holy Light Ball damage? Even if it hits me, so what?"
[Holy Light Ball]: Fires a ball of light at a target directly ahead, dealing minor damage. Instant cast. Cooldown: 6 seconds. Mana cost: 10.
Learnable by priests at level 12.
For a normal priest at this stage, the only offensive skill available was [Holy Light Ball].
But unfortunately…
Sheng Sheng curled her lips slightly and aimed her staff at the enemy.
A faint white light flashed across the gem at the staff's tip, and the white holy tome in her off-hand flipped a page in an instant.
The next moment, [Double Shot] hit its target without fail.
"-21, -23" floated above Sheng Sheng's head.
A low-level priest, even one like Sugar Ball with fairly complete defensive gear, had no more than 150 HP.
Sheng Sheng—dressed in cloth robes and dusty shoes that clearly didn't look like good equipment—had at most the same HP as Sugar Ball.
Fallen Necromancer felt victory was within reach and began mocking freely. He even stopped using skills, switching to basic attacks to slowly wear her down.
"For annoying people, they should die painfully," he thought, drawing his bow again.
But this arrow never fired.
Or rather—he couldn't fire it.
Fallen Necromancer was forced to stop moving entirely. White lightning arcs crackled across his body.
Everyone knew lightning carried paralysis effects.
His legs could no longer move, and his body trembled uncontrollably with the current, as if he were having a seizure.
Sheng Sheng remained unmoved. She took a few more steps forward, stopped, raised her staff, and cast.
A bolt of lightning as thick as a baby's arm descended from the sky and struck Fallen Necromancer squarely on the head.
The already-twitching archer looked like he was breakdancing.
But more dazzling than the lightning itself was the damage.
Before everyone's eyes, a number floated above Fallen Necromancer's head.
-104.
The previously noisy crowd fell into an eerie silence.
The next moment, the [Nearby] chat channel exploded with countless "?" characters.