Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Qingmu Town, Residential District
The Central Spring
Ye Kong stood in the middle of a large group of elite armored soldiers, surrounded on all sides. For those who didn’t know any better, they might think they were his bodyguards.
However, if Ye Kong dared to move out of their encirclement, the soldiers would stop him. Their assignment was to keep Ye Kong detained until their commander, Thors, returned.
Each elite armored soldier was at level 10 and had the strength to show for it. Ye Kong didn’t have any special quest equipment this time, and he was only at level two, so he couldn’t even take on one of these elite armored soldiers, let alone a whole group of them.
In short, Ye Kong had no choice but to remain where he was and wait for Thors to return.
Not long after…
Thors appeared in the distance and was making his way over. As he got closer, Ye Kong could see that he was carrying an enormous human head in his hands.
Splat!
Thors took the hideous-looking head and ferociously hurled it onto the ground. It rolled all the way over to Ye Kong, who saw that it was a familiar face of a man whose expression was permanently twisted in the pain he felt at the moment of death—
It was the Blind Priest – Modr!
“You know him, don’t you?” Thors questioned coldly. He didn’t show a sliver of emotion on his face as his eyes locked on Ye Kong.
In the blink of an eye…
Throughout the entire area, the air instantly seemed to grow thick. Everyone’s eyes were now focused on Ye Kong, and it was Thors’ gaze especially that carried this terrible sense of pressure.
Thors was the commander of the Winter Army, which was always garrisoned at the Northern Fortress – Terrance City. Thors’ strength was self-evident, and even though Ye Kong couldn’t see his character information right now (the level difference was too large), based on his memories from his past life, he knew that Thors was well above level 50 and had the Spearman’s Hidden Character Class of the 2nd Order (Lifeforce Lancer).
If Thors wanted to kill him, it would be as easy as waving his hand. Ye Kong had no way of resisting his strength, and would be killed where he stood.
“Yes, I know this man.” Ye Kong decided to tell the truth. “I don’t just know him. I also carried out his requests.”
As these words left his mouth, the atmosphere suddenly seemed to solidify, like the calm before a storm!
“Hm?!”
Thors shot him a savage wide-eyed glare as the aura around his body exploded outwards!
Boom!
The leaves on the ground were blown away, and the hair of the people nearby fluttered in the fierce winds. The pressure of his aura was like that of an enraged great dragon, and its force left the soldiers gasping for breath!
Faced with this scenario…
Ye Kong didn’t move a muscle, and his expression was as calm as still water.
Dragons were nothing to him. In his past life, he slew a countless number of ancient dragons. Moreover, in one of the battles at “Nibelungen,” the Silver Dragon King – Crandall fell at his hands, which shocked all the players on the battlefield. News of his heroic deed spread throughout Yggdmillennia, and he was known by all as the “Nyx Sword Sovereign”!
The title of Sword Sovereign was an unofficial title, but it represented his recognition among the players. In most cases, only the top ten Swordsman players in the rankings (for each region) would be honored with this title!
Thors?
Ye Kong didn’t give a d*mn about him!
“Hm?” Thors noticed Ye Kong’s reaction and subconsciously did a double-take. His expression was too composed, and Thors could tell that it wasn’t just pretense, but how he genuinely felt.
Evidently, the man truly wasn’t afraid of him.
“Hmph!”
Thors snorted coldly and stared savagely at Ye Kong once again. “So what you mean to say is, you accepted the request of that ‘dead man’?”
As he said this, Thors took care to emphasize the words ‘dead man.’
“That’s right!” Ye Kong said, nodding in acknowledgment.
It should again be reiterated that players in Demon Realm were seen as “explorers” by the game’s NPCs. This meant they were treated as mercenaries, and any NPC was free to hire them to fulfill their requests (which were actually quests in the game).
Of course, they would offer payment to the player for their help (which was the quest reward).
Aside from this, players’ reputation was equivalent to their “renown” as a mercenary.
If a player’s reputation was very high, then to the relevant NPCs, the player would seem like a “world-renowned” good mercenary. On the other hand, if a player’s reputation was very low, then they would seem like a “notoriously” bad mercenary. This, therefore, determined the NPC’s attitude toward the player and was the key factor that dictated whether a player could receive a quest.
“How dare you accept his request?!”
When Thors heard Ye Kong’s reply, he immediately whipped out his lance and brought it down in front of Ye Kong in one fell swoop—
Swish!
The tip of the lance stopped less than a centimeter away from Ye Kong’s nose.
“Speak. What were the contents of his request?”
“The contents? Don’t you already know all the details?” Ye Kong pointed at the “spring of blood” next to him and answered with a small smile. “He asked me to kill Pulitzer. That was the content of the request.”
Hearing this, Thors narrowed his eyes, and his expression became menacing.
“Then tell me, why did you choose to accept this request?”
“The reason is simple. It’s because…”
Ye Kong maintained his smile as he enunciated each word clearly:
“Pulitzer deserved to die!”
Swish!
Thors flicked his lance upwards, then brought it crashing down violently—
Boom!!!
The lance smashed into the ground, the impact kicking up a large cluster of rubble. Yet, each chunk of rubble narrowly missed Ye Kong, and he didn’t take any damage at all.
Otherwise, at Ye Kong’s current level, even getting grazed by the aftermath of the attack would surely be the death of him!
Thors was glaring at him fiercely with eyes as wide as saucers, but he wasn’t really trying to kill Ye Kong.
Ye Kong’s survival wasn’t “accidental.”
As mentioned above, players were comparable to mercenaries, and their reputation level determined the NPCs’ attitude toward them.
As luck would have it…
Ye Kong’s reputation with the Starry Duchy had been promoted to “Friendly” after he committed a certain “rebellious” deed. In other words, in the entire Starry Duchy, with the exception of forces within the Horticultural Church, Ye Kong would benefit from his “Friendly” reputation when interacting with NPCs.
The different faction reputations could also be ranked from “high” to “low” in terms of their importance. For instance, reputation with the Starry Duchy had far-reaching implications, unlike reputation with the Horticultural Church, so it was inherently more useful—
The present situation was a perfect example of this, as Thors just happened to not belong to the Horticultural Church.
In summary, Thors knew that Ye Kong was a “traitor,” but he had no real way of executing him. After all, Ye Kong’s reputation was at “Friendly,” so Thors wasn’t allowed to attack him.
Furthermore…
“Let me ask you a question.”
Thors suddenly regained his composure and asked an inexplicable question—
“Why did Pulitzer deserve to die?”
“The reason is very simple.” The corner of Ye Kong’s lips lifted slightly in a smirk—
“It’s because the members of the Horticultural Church aren’t true followers of the Forest Doctrine. They shouldn’t be in charge of Qingmu Town.
“Qingmu Town is a beautiful forest city, and it should be led by a religious denomination that ‘truly advocates for the forest.'”
“Hahahahahahaha!!!” Thors suddenly burst out in a loud guffaw. At the same time, as if they were now close friends, he reached out his hand and patted Ye Kong on the shoulder.
“You’ve said it beautifully! That pack of animals has gotten under my skin for the longest time!”
As he said this, Ye Kong heard the sound of a notification—
System Notification: You have come into contact with Botanical Church Devotee – Thors, and successfully gained his trust. Your reputation with the Botanical Church has increased by 10 points, and your reputation level is now “Good.”
“As expected, it’s all the same as in my past life.”
Ye Kong maintained a façade of friendliness, but deep down, he was snickering at them—
“Thors’ so-called rescue mission…
“In truth, it was an ‘invasion’ by the Botanical Church!”