novelraw Chapter 24: No Mounts Allowed
Chapter 24: No Mounts Allowed
The next morning, Lin Xun didn’t rush off to work.
His female boss had told him that arriving by noon would be fine today.
He opened his computer to check on his web novel performance.
A monthly salary of one hundred thousand couldn’t dampen his enthusiasm for writing fiction—one was for the organization, the other for himself.
Opening his web novel dashboard, he saw that his new book had already landed its first round of recommendations—a promising start, no doubt.
In the comments section, a crowd of handsome netizens flooded in.
“It’s been twelve hours. Even the village donkey doesn’t dare rest this long.”
“If there’s no update soon, I’m reporting you.”
“Dead yet? If not, hurry up and post something.”
Lin Xun grinned. He was just about to open his writing software…When he suddenly remembered—his Soul Strength in the game had recovered, and the Yellow-Robed Bishop’s mage shell was shyly waiting to be claimed.
Without hesitation, he pulled out his phone.
The Book of Salvation, launch!
[You have entered the Apocalyptic Chapter.]
[Chapter 323]
[The feeble wandering soul awakens in the not-so-familiar small chapel…]
He spent 1 point of Soul Strength to reshape the Paladin of Discipline shell.
[The light of your soul condenses into the shell of the ‘Paladin of Discipline’. The feeble wandering soul possesses it.]
[You exit the small chapel, push through the overgrown sunflowers, and walk toward the castle courtyard.]
[Would you like to enter the Inner Castle Banquet Hall?]
Lin Xun opened his inventory and clicked on the Summoning Horn.
[With a piercing blast of the horn, you summon the tall and sturdy ‘Turkoman Bloodhorse’.]
[You mount the horse, and the knight’s riding skills awaken within your shell. With your warhorse at your side, you are a true knight.]
[You have grown stronger!]
He opened the Shell Panel to take a look.
The Paladin of Discipline’s attributes were unchanged, but the “Blood Charge” skill in the skill list now appeared to be cloaked in a veil of blood-red light.
As expected, once mounted, Blood Charge received a boost.
Looking at the last remaining piece of Moonlight-Infused Sandpaper in his inventory, Lin Xun hesitated.
After weighing his options, he ultimately chose not to use it.
The last time he’d been defeated by the Yellow-Robed Bishop, it was most likely because he hadn’t reached the boss before being insta-killed by its spell. It wasn’t due to insufficient attack power.
Now that he had a warhorse, his chances of winning the boss fight should rise dramatically.
“Let’s give it one try first. If I fail, I can recover Soul Strength—but once those single-use enchantment items are gone, they’re gone for good.”
“Save wherever you can!”
Lin Xun had a vague hunch—this castle might still hold more strange and powerful presences.
He clicked to proceed to the Inner Castle Banquet Hall.
[As you ride toward the banquet hall, you realize its doorway is too small for your tall warhorse to enter.]
[Would you like to dismount?]
???
“You’ve got to be kidding me! This hellish game is trolling me!”
Lin Xun’s eyes widened in fury as he cursed out loud.
The warhorse couldn’t enter the banquet hall. A completely reasonable but totally unexpected situation.
Many games prevented players from riding mounts indoors, but Lin Xun had never expected this game to have such a crappy restriction too.
“Is it that the warhorse really can’t fit? Or is this just a game design limitation that bans mounts indoors?”
This sudden twist completely disrupted his battle plan.
Instead of entering the Inner Castle Banquet Hall for a 1v1 against the Yellow-Robed Bishop, he cancelled the summon and retreated to the small chapel.
[You enter the small chapel.]
He opened the inventory and used the Summoning Horn again.
[With a piercing blast of the horn, you summon the tall and sturdy ‘Turkoman Bloodhorse’.]
[The towering warhorse appears in the cramped interior of the chapel. It must lower its head deeply just to avoid brushing the chapel’s low ceiling.]
[You mount the horse, but likewise must hunch low over its back. This posture leaves you unable to move freely.]
[You have grown weaker~]
“…”
Lin Xun’s mouth twitched. He couldn’t even imagine just how tall this warhorse must be.
As the saying goes: “a tall man needs a tall horse.” Ordinary horses had withers around 1.78 meters. Heavy horses could reach up to nearly 2 meters. The tallest horses on Earth—factoring in the neck and head—stood as tall as 2.78 meters.
Considering how corrupted wolfhounds in this world had grown larger due to the Blood Sun’s power, it wasn’t surprising that this warhorse had also become monstrously tall and muscular.
He opened the Paladin of Discipline’s shell panel. Sure enough, the “Blood Charge” skill had reverted—its blood-red glow had vanished. Without the horse’s boost, the skill was no longer enhanced.
“How am I supposed to fight like this?”