“Everything aside, it’s likely that Danting will be our enemy from now on.”
The astute Slyfox quickly asked, “Guild master, do we need to send someone to…” He then made a beheading gesture with his hand.
Chau Yu shook his head. “No, it’s fine, leave Mask alone too. We’ve already alerted them with our failed attempt. If Mask’s not an idiot, he won’t give us the chance to catch him alone anymore.”
“Are we going to just let it slide?” Man-of-Steel just couldn’t settle with the outcome of their mission. Everyone in Empyreal Spire were prideful elites, and being on the losing side of their encounter with Mask was a bitter pill to take in.
Chau Yu, as though he had already put the setback this time behind him, laughed and said, “Don’t worry. There’ll be plenty of chances to cross blows with them in the future.”
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“Gotta say, it’s been too long since I’ve received boss’ baptism of love. It’s a bit difficult to get used to now.”
Danting’s face… looked more like a plump tomato. He was also slurring his words from all the swelling on his face, and everyone had to post-process his words in their heads just to get a general idea of what he was saying.
“But receiving boss’ baptism of love really freshens my day up! I feel like running around’s a hundred times easier now.”
Danting was jumping around so lively that they almost wondered if he had set his pain perception to 0 per cent, but judging from his heart-felt cries of pain just now… Everyone turned their wary gazes from Danting to Drako Yau.
A person who could fight toe-to-toe with Tripurity was getting punched like a sandbag! What’s more, Danting didn’t try to fight back and even had a look that asked, Are you having fun? while getting beaten up.
This guy is truly a demon…
“Alright, now that things ended up like this, let’s not enter the dungeon today. Dan, you can join Howl of the Tempest Wolves.” Drako Yau clasped his hands and bid goodbye to everyone before using a Return-to-City Scroll. He wasn’t in a good mood after getting teamed up on by people trying to murder him.
Empyreal Spire? It’s bad blood between us from now on.
After Drako Yau vanished from the spot, Danting went over to Zephyrwolf and nagged him, “Hey bro, bro, take me into the guild. Or else the boss will say I’m disobeying his orders and beat me up again.”
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The incident was kept under wraps. After all, Empyreal Spire was no ordinary guild; they naturally chose a place and time where players were far and few. No one would believe Drako Yau and his friends even if they announced it publicly either when Empyreal Spire was all the storm in Empyreon right now.
After the assassination attempt, Drako Yau no longer soloed dungeons and always brought at least a buddy or two with him, with Danting accompanying him most of the time. Danting looked like he wished for nothing but following Drako Yau for life.
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“Array of Pyroblast!” Danting killed the skeleton king in Hell difficulty with a spirited shout, then trotted over to Drako Yau, hoping to get praised. “Boss! I’m not bad, right!”
“Right, not bad indeed.”
Seeing such an elite player wag his tail before Drako Yau, the rest were at a loss for words.
After several days of teaming up and cooperating with one another, they settled on a squad roster of Danting, Greenstone, Idyllic Poet, and Zephyrwolf. As for Hades and his veterans, Drako Yau didn’t ask them for help; they had their own business and guild to take care of after all.
Sasaki, on the other hand, had reality issues to deal with. While he really wanted to dive into the game, reality didn’t allow him to put aside his family business just to play games, which was why he was struggling so hard mentally.
Empyreal Spire had stepped on Drako Yau’s tail this time. Originally, his mentality was very straightforward and simple: don’t stir up trouble, get stronger while trying to discover the secrets of the game, then get out of the game.
This time round, he realised he was being naive. Even if you didn’t stir up trouble yourself, there was always someone who wanted to mess with you, much like in the actual world.
In that case, his only option was to prepare himself for what was to come. Thankfully he was not strapped on cash, and it wasn’t difficult for him to keep several of his trusted companions afloat.
Greenstone refused his money straight out, while Danting didn’t ask for much either. He was a person without ambitions or whatnot; it was enough for him as long as he could fill his belly and follow Drako Yau. Meanwhile, Zephyrwolf had started to settle down in his new lifestyle after receiving the 100,000 dollars upfront from Drako Yau.
Idyllic Poet also didn’t put the squeeze on him and only asked for a nominal monthly salary. It was somewhat surprising for Drako Yau; with her strength, she probably received better pay back in Age of Scholars.
“I’ve got a full time job you know, the game’s just a pastime. All’s good as long as it's fun,” Idyllic Poet said casually, making the two men beside her embarrassed.
Zephyrwolf: jobless middle-aged guy…
Danting: a gopher with a criminal record…
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As days went by, the year was about to come to an end.
“The New Year Event will start at noon today. Join the game and get prepared for the event.”
Danting looked at the holographic words projected from his phone and said excitedly, “Boss! A new event!”
Drako Yau furrowed his brows. He had a pretty bad impression of the game’s events.
Last time, The Siege almost spelt his death. If not for Greenstone, he would have met his end at the hands of the mysterious man already.
That man was the reason why he felt the need to constantly grow stronger. Unlike the actual world, monsters, mysterious persons, all sorts of dangerous beings that could threaten his life existed here, and he’d be done for if he was careless. As for Chau Yu and the rest, Drako Yau wasn’t too bothered by them; it was a world where strength was mightier than all else. Compared to the mysterious purple man, Tripurity was a mere infant.
Meanwhile, everyone’s levels had taken a great leap. Zephyrwolf and Drako Yau were both a level away from class progression at Level 19, while Greenstone had reached Level 20 and appeared to have undergone class progression. With his silent personality, no one dared to ask when he didn’t want to say something.
On the other hand, Idyllic Poet, now an elementalist, was Level 21. However, the most shocking news was Danting—he was already Level 23!
Currently, the player with the highest level was only Level 25, though the experience needed to get from Level 23 to Level 25 was several times more than that needed for the early twenties.
Everyone was prepped and ready to go for the new event. Drako Yau guessed that it would probably be a bit more player-friendly and casual due to it being a new-year event.
At noon, the system made its announcement punctually.
“New Year Event: New Year Blast-Off.”
“All levelling zones will randomly spawn ‘New Year Bogeys’. Defeat them to receive firecrackers and use the firecrackers for a chance at the lottery.”
“The event will last for twelve hours. When time is up, all new year bogeys will disappear. You will be able to pull the lottery once the event is over.”
“The event will begin in one minute.”