Reign of the Hunters

Ye Ci logged out from the game after giving some brief instructions on some trivial matters. She needed rest before she followed up on the progress of the Mithril ore vein.

It was four in the afternoon when Ye Ci went offline. Her house was empty. Her parents were not home while Tan Polang was still at school. A note left behind by Ye Ci’s parents indicated that Bai Mo was coming home, and one of her parents went to fetch him home from the station while the other was out shopping for cooking ingredients.

Ye Ci decided that there was no need to contact her parents after learning of their whereabouts. She had not been offline for days, and the only thing in her mind was to get a nice, warm shower.

The tub full of warm water relaxed Ye Ci’s muscles as immersed herself into the bath, enjoying the rare moment of tranquility.

Her parents were back with Bai Mo by the time she was done with her bath.

Bai Mo took in a deep breath and nodded with an exaggerated expression when Ye Ci walked out of the bathroom, “Ah, I’ve already prepared myself for an overwhelming stench, but it seems that you’ve decided to take a bath. How thoughtful of you.”

Ye Ci rolled her eyes at Bai Mo and went into her room to get changed.

As Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan busied themselves in the kitchen, Ye Ci began recounting her exploits and the situation in the Southern Continent to Bai Mo.

Bai Mo’s eyebrows furrowed when he heard Ye Ci’s words, “The impending arrival of Golden Era sure is kicking up a ruckus! The Black Plum Family would never have resorted to such measures otherwise even if they are in conflict with the Isle of Heroes, and they will definitely not get us involved in this!”

“In the end, we’re just a small guild. This is why I’ve made the decision to expand our guild. We can still expand even when we value quantity over quality.” said Ye Ci as she stuffed her mouth full of watermelons.”

Bai Mo spoke up after a long pause, “We need money if we are to expand our guild. Are you going to look for a sponsor?”

“Nope. I don’t have the connections. Besides, we’ll lose our autonomy if we’re funded by large corporations. We’ll become nothing but money-making tools for them. There’s no way our guild will be able to grow to the scale of Golden Era which is offering its services as a hired gun, so we might as well earn money through the game.”

“And how are we going to do that?”

“Mithril. Of course, we don’t have a lot of blueprints and recipes for Mithril products, and the option of selling them as materials is not exactly profitable. This is why I plan to acquire some blueprints in the near future. And then there’s the notion of war profiteering. Why do you think the American economy bloomed after World War 2?”

“War Profiteering?” Bai Mo was stunned for a brief moment. But he immediately understood Ye Ci’s words when he thought of the conflict between the Black Plum Family and the Isle of Heroes, “It’s not a bad idea, but a Goblin Engineering player is hard to come by. There’s not many of them who are at Medium tier right now, not to mention the Master tier. I don’t think we can gain much from this in the near future.”

Ye Ci smiled at Bai Mo, “Leave it to me, I’ve got this.” and she proceeded to give Bai Mo a quick briefing of what she was told by Timely Rain.

It was apparent that Bai Mo was very interested in Sodom as well, “How did you discover that city?”

“Remember that time we were invaded by the Western Continent? Didn’t I arrive in Champion City by kite? I saw that city on my way there. It was way larger than the capital, but the sky above it was filled with dark clouds that hide some sort of high-leveled buildings that I could not identify well. From what I’ve read in the National Library, the city is the biggest city in the Eastern Continent before Champion City was even a thing, but it fell into ruins.” said Ye Ci. Of course, what she said was half the truth, but she was not worried that Bai Mo would doubt her words.

“It’s a shame that the map’s basically inaccessible right now.” sighed Bai Mo. There are things in this world that could not be solved by money.

“It’s alright. Golden Era will have to be at an average of lvl40 to pose a threat to us. It’ll definitely take them some time to reach that level. We’ll just have to put the head start we have to good use.” Ye Ci attempted to console Bai Mo who she knew was faced with an immense pressure.

Her words were returned with a smile from Bai Mo.

By then, Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan were already done with their cooking, and waved the duo over to the dining table.

“Uncle, aunty, your cooking is so good! My parents should really learn from you! Look at how thin I am after going home for a few days!” Bai Mo was not stingy with his praises as he savored the taste of a piece of sweet and sour fish.

Zuo Xiaolan was overjoyed “Then you have to eat more. My sister is never good at cooking. I feel sorry for you and your dad.”

Ye Ci rolled her eyes, “What a pretentious guy you are.” she muttered.

Ignoring Ye Ci’s words, Bai Mo happily continued with his meal. The family was able to enjoy their dinner, and Ye Ci and Bai Mo learned from Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan that the couple was already making preparations to level up their skills and advance to the rank of Advanced tier Life Players. Ye Ci knew that players with an older age would be able to level up easily as Life Players as they display more patience than the younger generation who tended to be fickle and impatient.

A sudden thought flashed across Zuo Xiaolan’s mind as the conversation carried on, “I ran into Liu Chang’s mother at the market today, and we talked for a while.”

“How are they doing nowadays?”

“They’re doing pretty good, and way better than they were before. She told me that she will join the game with her husband after witnessing Liu Chang’s achievements in the game.” Zuo Xiaolan’s words were meant for Ye Nantian, as youths like Ye Ci and Bai Mo were considered to be uninterested in the affairs of the adults.

“That’s great.” perhaps due to his disappointment in his childhood friends during the feast last time, Ye Nantian’s tone was indifferent.

“I heard a very shocking news from her today.”

“What is it?”

“The families of Dong Yin and Yi Cang are facing a credit crisis. Their accounts have been frozen by the Huaxia Bank and are under investigation.” said Zuo Xiaolan with a hint of mirth in her voice. She knew nothing about the reason behind the incident, but she was happy to see the two families in trouble especially after what they did.

“How is that possible? Isn’t the He Corporation acting as their guarantor?” Ye Nantian was more attentive to the minor details than Zuo Xiaolan, “Why is the bank investigating them instead of the He Corporation?”

“How would I know?”

“Forget about it. This has nothing to do with us. Let’s just pretend that it never happened.”

The conversation that was idle chatter for the older couple had an entirely different meaning to Ye Ci.

The families of Dong Yin and Yi Cang are under investigation? That’s strange… They were able to resolve their financial issues by securing loans through Thousand Sunsets. This is why they were able to spare some of their energy on dealing with me. Why are they under investigation now? Something’s not right.

Her thoughts then wandered to Bai Mo. The time of the investigation coincides with Bai Mo’s trip home. Could it be Bai Mo? Does he have a secret that even I know nothing about? Ye Ci decided against confronting Bai Mo after a brief moment of consideration. Since he did not offer up the information on his own accord, Ye Ci decided that the best course of action was to have trust in Bai Mo.

With her exhaustion of spending days online, Ye Ci immediately went to bed after some stretching, while Bai Mo logged into the game. He had been away for a long time, and there were matters that he had to tend to.

Ye Ci returned to her daily routine after returning from the Western Continent. She would wake up in the morning, and then log into the game after her breakfast.

At the same time in the Western Continent, Absalom was arranging for guild members to stand guard by the Black Iron Dwarves as the explore the ore veins. He himself had devoted almost the entirety on his time on the Mithril ore veins, and had barely explored any dungeons with his guild members. He and Silent Hymn would take turns keeping an eye out on the Black Iron Dwarves in an attempt to keep such an important information away from prying eyes. Even many of the officers of Genesis was unaware of the Mithril ore vein.

“Oh, you’re here?” Silent Hymn yawned. He was apparently tired after a sleepless night.

Absalom nodded, and patted him on his shoulder, “You should go get some rest.”

“I wonder how are things progressing on Gongzi You’s side. We can’t get there, so we won’t know how things are going over there.”

Absalom was reminded of a certain someone after listening to Silent Hymn’s words, “We can’t, but someone is already there. I wonder if he’s willing to help…”

“Are you talking about Axia Mist?”

Absalom nodded, “Then again, even if he’s in the Eastern Continent, he wouldn’t have known anything if he’s not close with Gongzi You…” there was a slight hint of doubt in his voice.

“Why don’t you just get Fleeting Time to talk to him? Isn’t he a friend of his?” Silent Hymn chuckled, “You could’ve just asked Gongzi You. There’s no reason for her to keep it a secret from us. Besides, your action might offend her in some way.”

Absalom stared up at the clear azure sky. He knew that he was in the wrong, but he was curious. If Gongzi You could locate the Mithril ore vein, then she would definitely have information that she would need to proceed to the next stage. On the other hand, Absalom was in a completely different situation. Without much knowledge about the situation, there was a risk that he might even lose the Mithril ore vein with a slight overlook of some minor details. “Whatever.. I’ll ask for Fleeting Time’s opinion. It’ll be nice if he’s willing to help out. If he’s not going to cooperate, we’ll have to resort to more desperate measures.”

Silent Hymn shrugged. Absalom was a person who had the tendency to overthink, but a person of his station bore the responsibility of taking are of almost one million guild members. It was only natural for the man to be cautious. Genesis would have already fallen into ruins if it was not for Absalom’s careful nature. “I think there’s a huge chance that Fleeting Time will refuse your request.” Silent Hymn sighed, “But…. If you are to get him to ask Axia Mist about something else…. I’m sure he’ll happily oblige.”

“Are you talking about…” Absalom narrowed his eyes.

And the duo smiled slyly at one another, “Gongzi You.”

Ye Ci sneezed just before logged into the game. Have I caught a cold? Was it because I have not been bathing for days? She rested her hand against her forehead in the confined space of her gaming cabin. Hmmm… I don’t seem to be having a fever… Just then, a system notification chimed in, notifying Ye Ci that she should assume a correct posture before logging into the game. Ignoring her sneeze, Ye Ci set her hand to her side and logged into the game.

It was apparent that Bai Mo had not went offline for an entire night. Ye Ci had logged out of the game in the guild conference room, and she found herself surrounded by familiar faces who were all staring at her as she appeared once again in the room.

Ye Ci stared at the officers of Upwards Ho! for a long time before waving her hand and greeted them in a friendly manner, Hi minna-saneveryone! It’s been awhile….”

“Aiyo! For a person like you to appear in this place… Did the Sun rise from the West or something?” said Ideal Height 1.7m with a smile, “How’re things going with that guy from the Western Continent?”

Ye Ci’s smile froze, “What did you say?”

“Gongzi, isn’t it inappropriate to pick Vo’sok as a spot for your honeymoon? I heard that the place is a wasteland! You guys have weird tastes…” Fruit Jelly chimed in.

Ye Ci looked up at the ceiling and walked towards the entrance, “These people do not exist… These people do not exist....” she mumbled under her breath.

Bai Mo let out a laugh. Only Ye Ci could do something like that to distract her from reality. He motioned for the officers to remain silent, and called out to Ye Ci, “Where are you going?”

Ye Ci shot Bai Mo a glare, “It’s none of your business!” and left the room.

The room was immediately filled with roars of laughter.

“Is Gongzi someone who is so easily angered?”

“Of course not! Your words just happened to hit a little close to home…”

Ye Ci headed straight to the town of Blair after leaving the guild encampment. If she was not mistaken, the person was at that place at this very moment.

The township of Blair was a small town, and unlike the large cities with millions of citizens, the township was home to a mere 40,000. The town was surrounded by lvl40-lvl60 maps inhabited by low intelligence monsters. Humanoids opponents, especially those of the mage class, were a rare sight in these maps. This made them the perfect leveling spot for Warriors, Rogues, and Hunters which utilize Physical Damage. The maps were also frequented by mages who were confident of their abilities, and of course the Life Players who were there in search for materials.

This was why the township of Blair was bustling with activities despite its size.

The presence of a high level player with expensive looking equipment like Ye Ci immediately attracted the attention of players in the town. Her notification was flooded by party invitations the moment she arrived.

“Yo Huntress, do you want to go to the Forest of Sins and hunt for some Golden Lions?”

“Hey beautiful, wanna head to the Murky Swamp? The mosquitoes there offer a lot of experience points.”

“Let’s head to the desert to kill some snakes! Our party is 1 member short.”

……

Ye Ci’s identity was not known to the players as she had her name and attributes hidden, but they could tell from her appearance that she was a high level player with decent equipment. They knew that having Ye Ci in their party would make their leveling easier. Little did they know that while Ye Ci was looking to party up, the person who she was looking for was not among their numbers.

The person was very popular in Ye Ci’s last life. He revealed in an interview that he once stayed in the township of Blair for a very long time, searching in vain for players who were willing to escort him in his quest to mine a certain type of ore. Of course, not many were willing to help him out, and he was forced to leveling himself up so that he was strong enough to defend himself. Life was very harsh for him until he was noticed by Wolf Pack and was recruited into the guild.

Ye Ci knew that the person was at the lowest point of his life at this moment.

She declined all the party invitations, and the players immediately dispersed once they realised that they were not able to secure the aid of the high level player. Ye Ci continued her search, playing close attention to any and every single detail.

She was quick to spot a lonely figure sitting by the steps of a house, shouting at players who were passing by, “Can anyone bring me to the Underground Cave? I’ll pay 100 gold coins per trip!”

A year had passed since the launching of Fate, and with the introduction of the currency conversion system, players were able to get their hands on larger and larger amount of money. Almost no one would concern themselves with such a small amount of money. The person’s words would naturally fall on deaf ears.

The person was a male of 25 years old. He was very thin, and his face was pale. It was apparent that he was not exactly healthy in real life. The appearance of the man was fitting of the description he gave himself during the interview. With his ID remaining unhidden, Ye Ci could see the man’s name.

Blossom.

That was the name...

Of one of the most famous Grandmaster Goblin Engineer in Fate.

From his elegant demeanor, one would never expect such a person to be the creator of many weapons of mass destruction. In the later stages of Fate, players will be put on a very long waiting list if they wished to purchase an item from Blossom. Some would not even get what they want for as long as three full months. Ye Ci could still remember the amount of money spent just to acquire a piece of musket for self defence through unconventional means in her last life.

What about this life?

The man is sitting in front of me in a very sorry state.

Ahhh… The world is really an unpredictable place. thought Ye Ci to herself. She was now approaching Blossom from a very different position. Is this fate? Or is this that damned butterfly effect?

Blossom sat by himself as he continued to send out request after request. He was depressed, but he did not give up. This was probably why he became so successful. He refused to give up even during the darkest moment. He clung on to the thought that as long as there was hope, that as long as he was alive, and as long as he still held on to his dreams, he would be able to see them fulfilled.

Ye Ci approached the person after taking one last look.

Blossom was still at the same spot as Ye CI walked up to him. He was a Life Player. He had not time to level up like a normal player as he spent most of his time producing various Engineering products. This process, however, required a vast number of ores that were used as catalyst. With each level he gained in his Life Skill, the higher the level of ores required. It came to the point where the lvl17 Blossom was no longer able to handle the enemies in the map. This was why he decided to try his luck by hiring any players willing to act as an escort using the meagre amount of money he was able to earn by selling his products.

Even after an entire day spent without a single soul willing to lend a hand to him, Blossom did not give up. He had been waiting for two months straight, and only three players were offered him their aid. Even then, he was still full of hope.

A pair of dark green boots appeared in Blossom’s view. It was a pair of well made boots engraved with patterns of exotic looking plants. One could tell from just a glance that they were no ordinary equipment. After spending days at end observing the players passing by the area, Blossom gained the ability to tell a player’s level just by the boots they were wearing.

Blossom could tell from the pair of boots in front of him that they belonged to a high leveled player who possessed exceptional skill. He lifted his head, and saw a face.

It was an Elf with pale white skin and long silvery hair. Her amber eyes and cold gaze were telling the world that she was a person that one could not easily approach. Blossom could tell that she was very young, but the glint behind her eyes displayed a level of maturity of an individual far beyond her age. The Elf was staring at him with her blade-like gaze, as if she was evaluating an item instead of a real person.

Blossom had gotten used to different emotions displayed by players during his time spent in the town. He was able to face the sneers and taunts of passersby with a smile, but something about the Elf’s gaze made his blood boil.

He was, of course, able to mask his anger well. The only sign of anger betrayed by Blossom was the tiniest hint of ire flickering in his eyes before he was able to quickly regain his composure. He averted his gaze from the Elf, and continued shouting out with a calm voice, “Is there anyone who is willing to escort me to the Underground Cave? I’ll pay you 100 gold cons per trip!”

Ye Ci stared at Blossom, capturing each and every expression he made in her eyes. The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips, “A hundred gold coins each trip?”

“Yup.” Blossom had never in his wildest dreams thought that the Elven Huntress would respond to his request. She did appear to be in need of money. He knew that he would never be able to afford any single piece of equipment she was wearing with a mere hundred gold, which was why he did not expect the Huntress to even respond to his request.

“Let’s go then.” Ye Ci had always been a goal-oriented person. Now that she was sure of the person’s identity, she would try her best to win him over. Everything else was not a concern to Ye Ci. She ignored Blossom’s slight hesitation, as it was not something that should be her concern.

“You’re saying that you’re willing to bring me to that place?” Blossom could not believe his ears. She’s not making fun of me, is she?

“What? You don’t want to go there?” Ye Ci raised her eyebrows. She was annoyed by Blossom’s words. Why does he sound like I’m trying to pull something on him? I mean… He really is having doubts about me! But can’t he be more subtle about it?

“No. It’s just that… Do you even need to go to the Underground Cave with those equipment and that level? Are you being sincere?” Blossom was scarred by his experience of being abandoned by players who pretended to offer their services, which was why he was suspicious of Ye Ci. Is she pulling a scam on me as well?

But with what she has… Does she even need to do that??

“It’s only natural that you do not have trust in me. Why don’t we sign a contract?” said Ye Ci as she called up the game console, and generated a contract for Blossom. The man was relieved when he received the contract, but as he laid his eyes upon the name that was signed on the contract.

“Gongzi You…” Blossom could not believe his eyes. He rubbed his eyes, and continued staring at the name. It was none other than Gongzi You.

A lot of new accounts with the name “Gongzi” had appeared since Gongzi You’s rise to fame, and players could easily mistook them as the real Gongzi You if they were not careful. Even Blossom himself had encountered several players going by the name “Gongzi” in the town of Blair. He was naturally surprised when he met face to face with the real Gongzi You, “So you’re Gongzi You?”

“Yes.” Ye Ci motioned for Blossom to sign the contract.

He immediately received a party invitation from Gongzi You when the contract was signed. Blossom was still in amazement even as he was on his way to the Underground Cave with Ye Ci.

He stared at Ye Ci’s relatively tiny figure as he followed behind the Huntress. Why did Gongzi You appear in the town of Blair? And why did she agree to escort me to the Underground Cave? These are questions that were left unanswered as the duo headed to their destination.

Blossom was quick to realise that being in a party with Gongzi You was way safer than being escorted by his hired mercenaries. His low level would always attract a high aggro value from the surrounding monsters, but Gongzi You was able to dispatch any enemies that were within 12 yards of the duo. Compared to the players who only reacted when the monsters had already gotten into range, Gongzi You’s preemptive attacks was able to keep him safe.

Gongzi You would even stop whenever ores were spotted, and waited patiently as he gathered the ores.

“Gongzi You, how did you know that I’m looking for ores?” Blossom was curious.

Ye Ci responded without turning around as she continued moving forward, “Well, it’s impossible for a lvl17 player like you to come here for a quest. The quests in the town can only be unlocked by a character than is above lvl30. Besides, paying 100 gold coins to get someone to help leveling you up is a very low price. The only reasonable explanation is that you’re a Life Player, and you have to gather materials that are unique to the Underground Cave. This place is known for its ores, so…”

Realization dawned upon Blossom before Ye Ci finished her sentence.

He nodded at Ye Ci’s words, she’s quite intelligent despite her age.

The Underground Cave was located deep underground north of the Dark Forest. The cave was populated by Dark type monsters with levels ranging from lvl40 to lvl60. The monsters had a short respawn timer, and had very high movement speed. Not many were willing to venture deep into the map without a Priest, choosing instead to remain near the entrance. With the game at its current state, most players would definitely stay away from the deeper parts of the cave.

Ye Ci immediately spotted the dozen of parties leveling near the entrance of the Underground Cave as she entered the cave. Even the mining areas were occupied by players. Without even much of a thought, she headed deeper into the cave with Blossom in tow.

The players continued to thin out the deeper they went. By the time the duo was 200 yards away from the entrance, there were no other players around.

Ye Ci summoned Ol’ Four, and tossed a few pieces of meat at her pet before directing it against the monsters in the area. As long as there were no Elite monsters around, Ol’ Four could take on 6 monsters at the same time. Paying no heed to the beast, Ye Ci spoke to Blssom, “Do you have a fixed mining spot?”

“I’ve never came so deep before. This is… My first time here.” Blossom shook his head.

Ye Ci raised her eyebrows in surprise, “Then the 100 gold coins you spent is totally not worth it! They should at least make sure that you’ve explored the entire cave!”

Blossom almost coughed up blood when he listened to Ye Ci’s words. He did not know of the extent of Ye Ci’s capabilities, but the fact that she was crowned as the King of Soloing of the Eastern Continent by the officials meant that she was an exceptional player. Someone like her would never understand the difficulties faced by a player like him. “That’s the price for them to get me 100 yards into the cave. There’s no way I can fully explore this cave without a party of 20…”

Ye Ci scratched her head. She was slightly embarrassed. Her first visit to this town in her last life was when she was almost lvl80. Even when she was currently lvl60, she was an exceptional player and she had Ol’ Four with her. She would never understand the plight of someone like Blossom.