Being employed and belonging to a guild were entirely different things. Back in Age of Scholars, Idyllic Poet joined the guild out of free will and had the freedom to reject her guild master’s demands, such as appearing in guild promotional events. However, being employed by a guild meant the guild master’s orders were absolute.
Not many players chose to work for guilds, nor were there many guilds that were entirely composed of full-time employed players like Empyreal Spire. Not only did proficient players dislike losing their freedom, investors who dumped so much money into a game were far and few.
Dakki only attracted players to join her guild with her beauty and her guild’s slowly accumulated reputation. Apart from core members, everyone else were normal players who didn’t receive a single penny.
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Drako Yau knew Idyllic Poet was up to no good the moment she pointed at him.
“I don’t care about your boss or whatnot, just get out of our sights right now.” The voice belonged to a young man standing behind Sky Chun. “I’m not as talkative as my guild master. If you don’t get out now, I don’t mind making you.”
Sky Chun flashed his sharp gaze at the young man behind him, but he didn’t stop the young man from speaking.
Idyllic Poet sized up the young man whose ID was Fong Sai Yuk.
Such an arrogant name.
[Note: Fong Sai Yuk was a Chinese martial artist and folk hero from the Qing dynasty.]
Idyllic Poet wasn’t taunted by his words and instead kept her gentle smile as she replied, “Master Chun, does the young man’s words represent your thoughts?’”
The slick Sky Chun naturally wasn’t going to fall for the trap either. “Haha, Sai Yuk’s still young. He speaks a bit too bluntly, but he has a point. It’s first come first served, and to be fair, my guild members were here first together with Allurers. Your squad… may I request that you leave this place? The Highlands of John is a vast place, there’s no need to compete for this particular zone.”
Idyllic Poet covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled. “Our intentions are just to greet you all and ask for directions. We do not intend on competing for this place. Now that both guilds made it clear that they do not welcome our presence, we will be taking our leave. Dan, let’s go.”
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Fong Sai Yuk clicked his tongue after seeing off Idyllic Poet and Danting and said, “Quite good-looking, but she’s a woman after all, chickening out after just a few words. Boring.”
Dakki sent the young man a sidelong glance before saying, “Master Chun, it appears the quality of your guild members is deteriorating, but I digress. This place, let’s decide it by rolling the dice.”
Even then, Fong Sai Yuk had yet to realise that his words just now had insulted Dakki who was also a woman.
Idyllic Poet and Danting went back to their group and summarised what happened briefly. Drako Yau nodded and said, “Let’s travel in a random direction then.”
Seeing the five of them leave, Sky Chun and Dakki who were discussing what to do next both stole a glance at them.
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“Cheh, how did we lose such a good spot to that woman through rolling the dice,” said Fong Sai Yuk, clearly dissatisfied.
Sky Chun finally couldn’t hold back any longer. “Shut up, you dumbass! Don’t make me lose face any further!”
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Fong Sai Yuk was startled; the generous Sky Chun was actually yelling at him?
“Just because they retreated doesn’t mean they’re scared! It just goes to show they know where they stand! Everyone here in the Highlands of John is no ordinary player! They are doing us a favour, yet you’re acting smug as if you’ve won. From now on, don’t talk without my permission! Really… You piss me off! It was embarrassing!”
Although Sky Chun was the one who allowed the young man to yell at Idyllic Poet, his intention was to probe her. He hadn’t expected Idyllic Poet to remain so calm and even managed to smooth things out easily before leaving; it only served to make him more wary of her squad.
What ticked him off was what Fong Sai Yuk said afterwards. Couldn’t he see that an iron lady was standing right before him? To say something so disrespectful about women right before Dakki… he must’ve been out of his mind.
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“Hm? There’s monsters?”
Zephyrwolf ran over to fight the monster excitedly; he finally managed to beat Danting to the bush. Meanwhile, the naive Danting was receiving a lecture on how wicked the world is from Idyllic Poet.
“There’s… quite a few monsters here. They’re pretty strong too. Poet, enough with the lecture, time for the real deal,” Drako Yau shouted and readied himself.
In his version of Real World, the Highlands of John also existed, but only as a transitional zone which was completely different from the vast and spacious place it now was. As such, he was also venturing into the unknown along with his squad members. From his experience, there seemed to be a bit too many monsters.
Idyllic Poet, ignoring Danting’s pleas, gave him a look which suggested that she would continue the lecture later and took the field as well.
In Real World, every levelling zone contained “blind spots” where monsters rarely spawned. They were designed as resting areas, but with the New Year event, these areas no longer existed because new year bogeys would spawn in these spots as well. Levelling zones were more dangerous now, especially those where monsters spawned frequently and in close packs—and the five of them were in such a place now.
Unsure whether he should be glad about it, Drako Yau said, “Looks like we somehow managed to find a decent spot.”
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Fong Sai Yuk was in a really bad mood. It was the first time Sky Chun had yelled at him in such a way.
He was very confident in his gaming skills and talent, or else he wouldn’t be a part of Sky Dominion’s core members in the first place when the guild was so massive and reputable. Sky Chun even personally funded him under the table for the sake of keeping the talented young man in the guild.
Yet today… The two random passersby were the culprits!
What was their guild name again? Wolf something? He had never heard of it. Where did those country pumpkins even come from!
The sounds of battle drew his attention. Fong Sai Yuk immediately followed the sounds through the forest, the clashes and booms gradually turning louder and louder.
He peeked through the forest to have a look at the area beyond the trees. It was a somewhat complicated terrain, but the most troublesome thing of them all had to be the swamp. Once anyone stepped into it, they would definitely get stuck in it.
However, monsters were abnormally dense here, especially those new year bogeys. All sorts of new year bogeys charged at their enemies, but they immediately met their demise after getting bombarded with attacks by the five players. Fong Sai Yuk’s jaw dropped at the sight of the countless firecrackers laying on the ground.
There’s a better place than the zone occupied by Allurers! The next moment, a dangerous thought emerged in his head: Seize it!
“Where’s the guild master?” Fong Sai Yuk asked in the guild channel.
“He’s tending to private matters offline and will be back in half an hour.”
Fong Sai Yuk was starting to lose patience after hearing his guildmate’s reply. After parting ways with Allurers, Sky Dominion’s ten players spreaded out in search for a good farming spot.
Screw it! Fong Sai Yuk gritted his teeth. “I found a good spot. All of you, come over here. The coordinates are…”
The Sky Dominion players weren’t too far away, so they gathered quickly within 15 minutes. Apart from Sky Chun, everyone else was present. Together, they observed the five players and the tempting loot laying on the ground.
“But… isn’t there someone farming here already?” someone finally asked after pondering about it for a while. After all, the proper manners were first come first serve.
Another player’s eyes shone as he refuted, “Screw them! It’s also about who we’re up against. Allurers is an opponent of our level, but these guys? Just who do they think they are? Do they even deserve such a good spot?”
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Ranger
Description: A class progression branch of the hunter class, it is a ranged class which can deal devastating damage.
Skill type: Rangers have the highest Attack Speed among all ranged classes, but it is also a class which emphasises shooting accuracy. No matter how powerful a skill was, it was useless if it couldn’t hit the enemy. Even so, the ranger class has plenty of advantages—an extraordinary ranger is the enemy’s nightmare.
Skill tree: Physical Projectiles, Magical Projectiles.
Weapon type: Longbow, Hunting Rifle.
Class progression: ???