Apocalypse: Everyone Levels Up, I Return to the Time Before the Server Opened

Chapter 74: The Three Exclusive Classes for Swordsmen! Time to Change Class!

“Big brother, what do you think…” Wang Dayong stood to the side, bowing and scraping with a forced smile.

But his eyes were full of fear, terrified that Ye Qiu might expose his crimes.

What he feared most, of course, was the city lord.

Wang Dayong didn’t know how other city lords behaved, but the lord of Zhouxing City was known for his hatred of evil and his ironclad impartiality.

It was precisely because of such leadership that Zhouxing City had become so prosperous.

Ye Qiu pocketed the golden identity token and glanced at Wang Dayong with a look like he was staring at a dead man.

“You’ve got at most six months left to live.”

“What?!” Wang Dayong trembled, his face full of panic, eyelids twitching. “Big brother, please don’t scare me like that!”

Ye Qiu said calmly, “What good does it do me to scare you? With crimes like yours, even if I keep your secret, how long do you think it’ll stay buried?”

Wang Dayong was speechless, his eyes darting around anxiously as if trying to think of a solution.

Ye Qiu, reading his thoughts, sneered. “You’re not thinking about running away, are you?”

Wang Dayong looked at him with a bitter face. “You’ve already said I’m doomed within six months. How could I not look for a way to survive?”

As he spoke, he noticed the attention they were drawing and quickly instructed his soldiers. “You all go block the incoming Outers for now. We’ll arrange them all together later!”

“Yes, sir!”

The guards, still anxious, obeyed and left.

Then Wang Dayong lowered himself as much as possible, bending deeply at the waist and gesturing politely.

“Big brother, since you’ve told me all this, surely you must have a way to save me? If you don’t mind, let’s find somewhere quiet to talk about it.”

[Ding! Guard Captain Wang Dayong has issued a quest: Help him survive and escape his fate. Accept?]

“Huh? It really triggered a quest?” Ye Qiu raised an eyebrow at the system notification.

In his past life, no one had saved Wang Dayong. A “civil servant” type player had reported him to the city lord, and within three days, Wang Dayong had been publicly flogged to death.

Countless NPCs and players had witnessed it.

Even with his Level 51 strength and formidable vitality, Wang Dayong’s lower body was eventually beaten into pulp, yet he still clung to life.

It wasn’t until his own daughter, unable to bear it anymore, rushed in and ended his life with a dagger.

Not two years later, a similar case happened again.

But this time, it was a player who got caught.

That player was smarter. He turned in all his ill-gotten wealth to the city treasury and claimed that “Outers love to bribe, and if you refuse, they’ll frame you instead.”

The city lord actually half-believed him, especially since the money had been returned. That was what mattered.

So Ye Qiu followed that player’s example and advised Wang Dayong. “First of all, your biggest mistake was using your scam on Outers like us.”

Wang Dayong nodded furiously, full of regret.

He had assumed that the Outers, being new to the city, wouldn’t know the rules and would blindly obey whatever ones he made up.

He had planned to stop after six months anyway. With no evidence, who could convict him?

He also believed the city lord would protect his own. After all, the lord was famously kind to Zhouxing’s natives and indifferent to Outers.

But after being scolded by Ye Qiu, he finally realized that these Outers were far from stupid and far from weak.

As they talked, Wang Dayong led Ye Qiu into the city.

This wasn’t Ye Qiu’s first time here.

In fact, Zhouxing City was practically his second home.

In his previous life, he had only ever lived in three cities, and this one was where he spent the most time, over twenty years!

The streets were wide and paved with blue stone, stretching nearly 50 meters across.

The roads were packed with carts and people, and the shouts of merchants filled the air.

Well-dressed, arrogant young nobles rode horses through the city with reckless abandon.

The shops on either side were luxurious. Some built in traditional Eastern style, others in a Western Victorian style.

All of it was blended together in this massive, bustling city.

You couldn’t see the end of it.

Wang Dayong, though preoccupied with his fate, still introduced the city proudly, “Big brother, Zhouxing City has everything you could think of! All the major sects, guilds, churches, and temples. These are all places where Outers can change class and grow stronger.”

He pointed to the grand buildings — some made of wood, some stone.

The most striking one was a tower at the center of the city, rising a hundred meters into the sky!

In the Trial City, tall buildings were rare. Most had only two stories, and anything taller could be counted on one hand.

But this tower was truly one of a kind.

“That tower is both the city lord’s residence and the place where Outers go to change class,” Wang Dayong explained.  “Changing class costs money. You need to pay a fee at your class guild first, then take your proof of payment to the tower to proceed.”

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something and quickly returned Ye Qiu’s 100,000 gold coins.

Ye Qiu looked around.

Though he knew the city well, coming back in this life felt different somehow.

As for what Wang Dayong had just explained, he had long since experienced it himself.

Before long, Wang Dayong led Ye Qiu into a restaurant named Yuelai Renjia.

The first floor was packed with customers.

The second floor had four private rooms, ranked from top to bottom: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow.

Wang Dayong had been flush with money earlier, but after Ye Qiu’s scolding, he didn’t dare use any of his stolen gold.

So he could only rent the cheapest room, the Yellow one.

Once inside, a waiter brought over the house specialties and left.

At last, Wang Dayong knelt before Ye Qiu, kowtowing as he begged for his life, “Big brother, please, you have to save me! Boohoo… I have two daughters… one of them is only three years old… I can’t die yet…”

But Ye Qiu only looked at him like he was watching a clown.

Other players might have fallen for Wang Dayong’s sob story and pathetic performance.

But Ye Qiu knew the truth.

Wang Dayong was a native of Zhouxing City.

He had inherited his dead father’s job as a city guard — a so-called “iron rice bowl” government position.

But the job was low-ranking, and the salary just barely supported his family.

However, Wang Dayong was a compulsive gambler.

As soon as he had any money, he’d blow it all.

He even ruined his already poor household, leaving them with almost nothing.

Eventually, his wife could no longer bear it…

One day, his wife chose to drown herself in the river.

She left behind two daughters.

The elder was 15 years old that year; the younger, only 3.

Her death caused Wang Dayong to pull himself together for a while.

He even started saving money.

But the good days didn’t last.

It wasn’t long before Wang Dayong returned to the gambling dens,

And he even almost sold his two daughters for cash!

Because of this, his relationship with his daughters was very poor.

So his crying right now was purely for himself.

Not because he couldn’t bear to leave his daughters.

Wang Dayong put on a vivid emotional performance but heard no response or comment from Ye Qiu.

He stole a glance over.

Ye Qiu was just eating heartily, completely unmoved by anything he said.

All Wang Dayong could do was laugh awkwardly, face full of embarrassment.

Seeing that Wang Dayong had stopped acting, Ye Qiu curled his lip and said, “To be honest, someone like you isn’t worth saving.”

Wang Dayong looked miserable and dared not talk back.

But deep inside, he was puzzled.

They had only just met, so why was this guy so certain he was “scum”?

The reason Ye Qiu knew so much about Wang Dayong’s past was because his death in the previous life was just too tragic.

When he was executed by flogging, local NPCs who knew Wang Dayong all came forward to denounce his past sins: his gambling addiction, driving his wife to suicide, even planning to sell his daughters for money…

In the end, Wang Dayong’s eldest daughter rushed into the execution grounds and ended his suffering with her own hands. Yet, Wang Dayong wasn’t entirely devoid of humanity.

For example, when a local playboy took interest in his daughter, he had the courage to protect her at all costs.

And he did continue to support and care for his deceased wife’s parents.

So, humans really were complicated creatures!

“Listen closely,” Ye Qiu said, accepting the quest.

“First, turn over all the money you extorted to the City Lord’s treasury. Then, put all the blame on…”

He began teaching Wang Dayong how to save his own life.

In the previous life, a player used this exact method to survive.

If even a player could get away with it, then it would be even easier for a native NPC like Wang Dayong!

After all, the Lord of Zhouxing City was notorious for being protective of locals. He trusted and favored them more.

Wang Dayong’s eyes lit up. He listened to Ye Qiu intently, nodding repeatedly.

The look he gave Ye Qiu was filled with growing admiration.

“Big bro!” After Ye Qiu finished explaining, Wang Dayong knelt down and bowed, gratefully saying, “I’ll repay your great kindness one day!”

Ye Qiu quickly waved him off. “First, change the way you address me. I’m at least twenty years younger than you.”

Wang Dayong obediently changed his words, “Young master! Thank you!”

Thud thud thud!

He knocked his head to the ground three more times.

After making sure Ye Qiu was well-fed and comfortable, he rushed off to handle his business.

—

After finishing his meal, Ye Qiu stepped out of the restaurant

And made his way toward the central tower.

“It’s time to retrieve that item.”

According to his memories from his previous life, after changing classes, one could enter the tower’s class-specific skill library and choose one exclusive skill.

A Swordsman could transition into one of three classes: Sword Immortal, Sword Demon, or Sword Soul.

Sword Immortal focused on agility. Its exclusive skills were elegant and graceful.

Sword Demon focused on strength. Its exclusive skills were extremely powerful and destructive.

Sword Spirit focused on spirit.

Its exclusive skills came with spirit-based attacks, with a chance to ignore enemy defenses.

In the previous life, most Swordsman players chose to become Sword Demons.

After all, power is king. As for Ye Qiu himself, he had chosen the Sword Spirit path.

He admitted that he was drawn in by the phrase: “Has a chance to ignore defense.”

It had clouded his judgment.

He thought Sword Spirit would be overpowered.

But in reality, the class burned through mana like crazy.

Even basic attacks consumed mana!

If the mana issue could be solved, Sword Spirit would indeed be the strongest of the three!

Thanks to that experience, this time around, Ye Qiu wouldn’t choose Sword Spirit again nor would he choose Sword Demon.

Too many players picked that class.

And because of that, Ye Qiu ended up knowing more about Sword Demon than even Sword Spirit, which left just one option — Sword Immortal.

Incidentally, the village chief from the Novice Village, Elder Xu, had also taken the path of the Sword Immortal.

But Ye Qiu had other plans.