Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Swish!
After Ye Kong sprinted out from the small alleyway, he immediately found his bearings and headed toward Sterr Square, the closest landmark to him!
Ye Kong’s silhouette was like a bolt of lightning, weaving through the network of streets. Before the other players could even catch a glimpse of his face, he disappeared out of sight!
“WTF, that player is running so fast!”
“Where, where?”
“He’s already gone. There’s no sign of him…”
Ye Kong was moving so fast that none of the players were able to get a good look at him!
In the early stages of the game, none of the players had more than 10 points of Dexterity, and even players from Dexterity-type classes only had around seven points. However, when Ye Kong was equipped with the “Assassin’s Sword,” his own Dexterity was at 14 points—that was double the amount that most Dexterity players had!
Under these circumstances, players with a lower Dexterity attribute were unable to “perceive” Ye Kong as he sped past them!
“Forget it. Let’s not worry about him now,” advised the player beside the one who had spoken earlier. “We need to quickly find this ‘lacuna’ the goddess strawberry is talking about, and make him spill the secret on how to get into the association building!”
“You’re right! We have to find that player!”
…….
“D*mn it! Where could that b*stard be hiding?”
Strawberryjam was still fuming. She had contacted her entire circle of friends, and many of the casual players had responded to her call and began searching for “lacuna.” But even so, she and rainbowcaramel had yet to hear any news from them.
“Strawberry, calm down,” rainbowcaramel said to her comfortingly. “You never know, maybe the guy ran into the wilderness map. Don’t get anxious. We’ll pick up his trail sooner or later.”
“Hmph, I need to get to the bottom of this…” Strawberryjam still firmly held onto her grudge. The way the youth had reacted when they approached him had deeply hurt her self-esteem. He’d treated them as if they were nothing!
Whoosh!
Suddenly, an elegant figure flashed across the narrow street in front of them. The two girls were momentarily stunned, but a moment later, strawberryjam burst out into a shrill scream—
“It’s him!”
Strawberryjam gave chase right away, with rainbowcaramel hot on her heels, and the two of them followed the figure into the street he’d headed down. Alas, what awaited them was yet again an empty alleyway…
“How is that b*stard running so fast?!”
An indignant roar echoed throughout the small alleyway.
……
Whoosh!
Ye Kong wasn’t paying any attention to what was happening behind him, because his thoughts were focused entirely on the target in front of him.
“Based on the layout of Qingmu Town, in the alley to the east of Sterr Square, there should be a permanent rendezvous spot for the guards.”
As he finished saying this, Ye Kong came rushing out of the street and arrived at the well-frequented Sterr Square. He checked his bearings before quickly locating the alley from memory.
“That’s the alley I’m looking for!”
With a single push off the ground, Ye Kong dashed straight into the small alleyway, where he happened to see a soldier. He was standing around listlessly, as though he were waiting for someone.
“Why haven’t Kite and Dolan come back yet… huh?!”
The armored soldier noticed Ye Kong, but he took him for one of the many “explorers” passing through.
“Really now, there’s been more and more explorers in this town, and I don’t even know where they’re all coming from…
“I guess I’ll have to report this to the lord, and ask him to increase the proportion of the population taxes.”
Evidently, the “Camouflage” effect bestowed upon Ye Kong by the Blind Priest kept his deeds hidden from others. As long as he left no surviving witnesses (only applicable to NPCs), Ye Kong’s reputation wouldn’t be affected!
“As I thought, they don’t know my real identity,” Ye Kong said, his eyebrows raised. Then, he quickly put on an “anxious” expression.
“Mister soldier, I received a request from Mister Kite, and rushed here to specifically ask for your assistance!”
“My assistance?!” The armored soldier moved toward Ye Kong unthinkingly, and the latter also moved closer.
“Yes, that’s right. Mister Kite said…”
Swish!
There was the sudden bright flash of a blade!
“To ask you to die!”
Bang!
-32
The flashing blade chopped into the soldier’s forehead and reflected the soldier’s stunned expression as a bright red number burst out.
“What’s happening? Why did he attack me? What do I do now?”
Overwhelmed, the armored soldier was completely dumbfounded. He couldn’t wrap his head around why a decent explorer would come asking “anxiously” for help one second, and then attack him with a sword the very next second with a savage expression on his face…
“What the h*ll is going on?!” the armored soldier almost yelled out, but Ye Kong didn’t give him the chance. He followed up his attack with a backhand slash!
-33
The armored soldier’s forehead was sliced open by the flash of metal, and blood poured out, streaming downwards like a roller-coaster. Then, a moment later, the armored soldier finally managed to react and drew his steel sword to counterattack—
Bang!
The two men’s weapons collided with each other in a large explosion of sparks as a number emerged from the heads of both fighters—
-12
This was the soldier’s number.
-5
And this was Ye Kong’s number.
According to the rules of “Demon Realm,” when the attacks of two parties come into direct contact, the damage inflicted on each party is determined by the “Resistance” attribute. The higher the target’s Resistance, the less damage it would receive. The lower the target’s Resistance, the more damage it would receive.
Resistance was also tied to the Strength attribute; as Strength increased, Resistance would also increase.
Ye Kong’s Strength attribute had been enhanced thanks to the Assassin’s Sword and the Armguards he had equipped, and had already reached 10 stat points. The average stat of a level five mob was around seven points, and even though the armored soldier was more of a melee combatant, he still only had eight points in Strength.
Clearly, Ye Kong’s Strength attribute surpassed that of the soldier’s, and with the Assassin’s Sword’s “double damage” effect on top of that, this meant his opponent received far more damage to his HP. However, Ye Kong’s focus was on something else—
Bang!
Ye Kong raised his hand, knocking aside the steel sword with his rapier, and slashed the blade horizontally across the soldier’s chest!
This was the advantage of having a higher “Strength,” especially in close combat, since the player with the higher Strength would be able to gain the upper hand during a “Clash.” If the player was skillful enough, it was even possible to knock aside the opponent’s weapon!
As a top-class player, such a technique was simply second nature to Ye Kong!
Rip!
-20
The rapier tore through the soldier’s chest, bringing his total health down to less than 1/3. The armored soldier wouldn’t go down without a fight, however. His wrist twitched, activating the Whirlwind Slash skill!
Whoosh!
Ye Kong had just attacked, and his sword wasn’t in the position to interrupt the soldier’s skill. The armored soldier recognized this as well. He intended to use “Whirlwind Slash” to push back his opponent and create an opportunity to “Flee”!
Human NPCs were all fairly intelligent. They were unwilling to go down quietly, and would sometimes even try to escape!
If the soldier managed to make it out of the alleyway and shout a warning like “There’s an assassin,” then Ye Kong’s deeds would be completely exposed!
If that happened, Ye Kong would become the enemy of the whole of Qingmu Town!
“Trying to run?!”
Ye Kong had a wealth of combat experience, so he guessed his opponent’s intentions straight away. In response, instead of dodging or moving aside, he charged directly into the Whirlwind Slash!
Bang!
-32
Ye Kong took the full brunt of the hit, but because of the bonuses conferred by the City Guard’s Belt, not only was his HP total at 55 points, but his Defense was at four points now (one point in Stamina increased Defense by one point). His Defense was double the two points he originally had!
On top of that, the Assassin’s Sword provided Ignore Level Difference +5, which nullified the level difference advantage the soldier had over Ye Kong!
Although he took the full hit from the skill this time, he only lost 32 points of HP. Compared to his first fight, where just getting grazed by the sharp wind took off 24 points of HP, the difference between now and then was as clear as night and day!
“This explorer!”
The armored soldier was in shock. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected his opponent to willingly take a hit from his signature skill!
This was because the full damage from Whirlwind Slash was enough to kill the average level one player!
“Die!”
As the soldier finished releasing the skill, leaving himself wide open for an attack, Ye Kong took his shot and dealt the killing blow with a single “Cleave.”
Splurt.
-40!
A brilliant bright red number emerged from the top of the soldier’s forehead. The very next instant, his body went stiff, then disintegrated into a shower of sparkling dust!
Patter!
Two items dropped onto the ground. One was the usual piece of bread, and the other was a piece of equipment from the City Guard Set—
City Guard’s Headgear (Bronze Gear – City Guard Set)
Equipment Attributes: Willpower +6, Intelligence +2
Level Requirement: Level 0
Class Restriction: Swordsman, Assassin
Set Bonus: When you have the full City Guard Set equipped, you will receive an additional “Glory” bonus.
With this piece of equipment, Ye Kong had finally put together the full City Guard Set!
But before he could even pick up the equipment, he heard the sound of a system notification—
System Notification: You have slain Qingmu Town – Regular Soldier, and have received 40 points of experience (high-level mob kill).
System Notification: Your Experience Level is full, and you have been successfully promoted to a Level 1 Swordsman.
System Notification: Congratulations, you have completed Story Event – The Hidden Traitor (3/3). The quest objectives have been updated. Please return to the relevant NPC to hand in the quest.
Ye Kong’s body lit up with a ray of golden light as his experience level changed to 20/200. At the same time, his character level was raised to level one, successfully surpassing the other regular players.
For your information, the experience level of the players in the guilds at the Eastern Plains was only at around 70 to 80 points, unless they were middle-to-upper ranked members in the guild hierarchy. It would still take about 10 minutes of hunting for most of them to reach level one.
Just by character level alone, Ye Kong was keeping ahead of middle-tier members of the Yokai Legion Guild!
“As I expected, the Main AI put special concessions in place for the drop rate and mechanisms of the City Guard Set equipment, allowing me to enjoy the benefits.”
Ye Kong couldn’t care less about anything else right now, and immediately picking up the City Guard’s Headgear and put it on.
As he did so, a small feather (headgear) appeared on his head, and a notification sounded in his ears—
System Notification: Congratulations, you are the first player to gather a complete set of Set Equipment. The system will now broadcast this announcement to the entire realm. Does the player wish to remain anonymous?
“I choose to remain anonymous!”
Ye Kong made his choice without hesitating, and as the words left his mouth, he received the system announcement reward—
A heart-shaped crystal chunk, filled with a lustrous glow, was dropped into his bag.
“A Forest Crystal Core?!” Ye Kong couldn’t help blurting out.