MMORPG: The Elementalist

“Hey kid!”

With only a foot set into the Human Resource Department’s office, Qin Ruo felt a pat on his back. When hearing Brother Da’s voice from behind, it sounded otherworldly which frightened him.

“Hey, f*ck you! Where did you even come from? I didn’t even see you in the elevator.” Qin Ruo rubbed his chest as he glanced at the elevator behind him with fear lingering as he turned his head around to look at Wang Da. He then stood in front of the elevator, combed his hair all the way back, and rolled his eyes at Qin Ruo, humming as he nonchalantly said, “As an important staff of the HR Department, I have to be a role model! Going to work earlier and leaving for home later than all you newcomers!”

“Mr. Wang Da, you’re so similar to your wife!” Qin Ruo made a very apt observation.

“Hmph! I treat you so well and you dare say something like this?” Brother Da ran his fingers through his straight-cut, inch-long hair flamboyantly as he proudly strode into the office. During this period, he still remembered to remind with a deep voice, “Go to our forum. There’s a raid tonight!”

Qin Ruo’s eyes widened. Gathering a bunch of friends in the company’s forum was no easy feat unless there was something good. He was excited as he asked, “What raid? Is it a boss or is it going to be a dungeon?”

Wang Da flashed a mysterious smile as he shook his head. “Do you remember what happened half a month ago?”

“Devil’s Swamp?” Qin Ruo’s expression changed immediately.

Almost instantly, the excitement in his face earlier faded. Instead, it was now replaced by a look of nervousness as he anxiously tailed behind Wang Da and asked, “Is that guy the one who initiated it? And… You’re all still okay to go through with it?”

“Yeah, it was only a failure that time because we don’t understand the place. We weren’t even well prepared. This time however… Hmph! As long as we have enough manpower, we can surely make a great comeback!” While he spoke, he skillfully sat down before his desk and opened his computer to log in the H&G website.

Vastly different from the delightful expressions plastered on Wang Da’s face, Qin Ruo frowned worriedly. He stared at Wang Da browsing the forum posts with concern obviously flashing in his eyes.

Qin Ruo participated in the Devil’s Swamp raid but he was only Level 30 at the time; the lowest level among more than two hundred colleagues that participated.

At the time, the initiator was an officer from the Finance Department who was a Tier 4 Summoner in the game. Purely by chance, he gleaned knowledge from an NPC that there was an Overlord, the Gargantuan Demoncroc that lived in the depths of the Devil’s Swamp in Blacktown. At the same time, there was a Grade 4 Devil’s Snare growing in the area where the Boss lived. It could be used to craft potions that would increase one’s attributes. Since it only grows in the Devil’s Swamp and several other locations, it was worth thousands of gold coins.

During that time, nobody knew why this Summoner was so particular about the respawn time of this Gargantuan Demoncroc. However, with his assurance, the Citadel members made quick work and brought everyone together. Soon, more than two hundred Tier 3 to Tier 4 players entered the Devil’s Swamp.

At that moment, the team of two-hundred people was quite formidable. Since they came from the same place, they were also able to care for one another and have a better understanding with one another compared to strangers who were only temporarily teamed up.

After entering the Devil’s Swamp, they were able to find traces of the Gargantuan Demoncrocs without a single trace of any other team being present nearby.

However, none of them were able to expect that while everyone was surprised and overjoyed at getting the chance to kill a Tier 3 Overlord, that more than a hundred Tier 3 and Tier 4 crocodiles of various sizes would launch a frenzied attack toward them from every direction. This was especially more so for the Gargantuan Demoncroc who dashed into a crowd of more than 200 people, separating their bodies from the waist up. In just three minutes, most of the players were killed in afield of chaos and fear. Only a few Beast Blood Berserkers managed to flee the battlefield in disarray.

In the end, the Gargantuan Demoncroc was taken by another Clan Party that got the news. Although all the employees of Citadel lost their level and equipment. This failure had definitely taken a great toll on their strength.

However, it was quite fortunate that Qin Ruo was among the lowest leveled among at the time. Because of this, the equipment he dropped could be offset in just a short time by buying the cheaper items at shops selling garbage equipment. His colleagues were slightly more miserable since most of them did not have the habit of purchasing equipment from players with RMB.

After the events that transpired, nobody blamed the officer from the Finance Department. However, after that event, Qin Ruo could clearly feel how cunning and wise the Overlord was. It strategized by enclosing them with a vast group of minions before it let a vanguard pierce their defenses with a piercing ability. This threat was especially disastrous since their equipment were quite inferior. Furthermore, they had little to no experience in circling and annihilating the Boss. In a way, nobody seemed to be able to withstand the attack from the Gargantuan Demoncroc.

Although most Citadel employees had reached Tier 4, their strength only improved marginally. However, they forgot an important point—the elite Miniboss guarding the Boss did not appear at all.

This meant that the monsters retained some of their power during their previous encounter with the Gargantuan Demoncroc.

If this was the case, their operation this time would definitely be no better than the one in the past.

***

“Have all of you really made up your mind? If you fail again, what’re you going to do?”

“Shut up, will you? You’ll jinx it! Calm down, the guy from the Finance Department is also well-prepared this time. To get the money to buy the Dark Gold equipment, he invited a few friends over to help us out.”

When he said this, Wang Da placed his hands on the table full of resentment as he turned his head to look at Qin Ruo. “You see… about this guy, is his family very rich? I heard that the experts he invited this time around are all equipped with Gold equipment. All of them look f*cking awesome.” He paused momentarily before heaving a sigh, “Alas… When will I have this kind of power? To be able to command the support of hundreds of brothers-in-arm that would follow me in my quest to slay the Boss and find the treasure with a mere shout… If that’s the case, I’d be very formidable!”

Qin Ruo smiled and exclaimed. “Organize a party, that’s all you need to do.”

“A party?” Wang Da rolled his eyes. “Thank you captain obvious.”

This was not the first time they spoke of this but still, they only treated it as a joke.

This was not the first time they talked about this topic, but they just treated it as a joke. They could group up a considerable number of people in a company to party with Wang Da who had a cheerful personality and was popular among the people but what else could they do?

If he was ambitious enough to do such a thing and get it done, Wang Da would need to spend all this time and effort in his endeavor. For example, he would need to consider replacing the equipment for every party member, plan the future development of the party and assign quests to be completed by the members daily… All these things he would need to make this arrangement work would surely lose him his job.

As both men sat in silence, they suddenly heard a voice behind them.

“Big Brother Qin?”

Qin Ruo and Wang Da jumped when they heard “Big Brother Qin”, and they both turned around. There were two expressions that were complete opposites. The two men were shocked while the other was just standing there; cool, calm, and poised. There was an unknown girl… A beautiful girl… A very attractive, well dressed, beautiful girl!