âDing!â
Matchaâs voice echoed as she messaged me. âBoss, I can see you. Please donât be careless. Retreat behind the bushes. Hurry up or else theyâll find you!â
I scampered towards the bushes with a whoosh. After inviting Matcha to the team, I saw her body in the distance. I then said to the team channel: âMatcha, what is the situation?â
Matcha replied: âWhen I was offline, Little Wolf had already bought dinner and finished it in 40 minutes. I was bored after that, so I signed back in to take a look, but ended up getting ambushed by members of [Wrath of the Heroes].â
I called Baby Bobo over and narrowed my eyes: âLook⦠They only have a few people. A bit more than 12 including the Healers. They donât have any Mages or Archers, and most of them are between Lv 42 and 48. Not much of a threat!â
âBoss!â
Matcha raised her voice in response: âDonât underestimate them! See the slopes on your right? There are at least 20 Archers and Mages concealed in the bushes there. Theyâre trying to lure you into an ambush! Donât be surprised that theyâre sending reinforcements here right now. This is to avenge their humiliation from the skirmish at Green Qilin Abyss.â
My eyebrow knit: âThisâ¦Then we must make our way to the North, bypassing remote areas.â
âThat would be one option.â Matcha said in a soft voice: âBut there are three or four Assassins sneaking around. It is not safe, so donât do anything reckless. Let me revive first!â
âWhat?â I retorted: âDonât, you will just be thrashed to death by a Berserker upon your resurrection. I donât want to see you die again, if thatâll happen, Iâd rather be hacked to death with you!â
Matcha replied in a sweet voice: âBoss, rest assured that I will only revive after having a distance of 10 meters away from them. After that, Iâll quickly fly towards the North of the forest and have them follow me there. The forest will restrict their vision. At that time, you enter and finish them off one by one. I will fly them in the air to attract their attention while reporting their coordinates to you, how about that?â
I hesitated: âAre you sure about this tactic Matcha?â
Matcha chuckled: âBoss! You still donât trust me. You think my control is too weak and thus my tactics are also weak right? Hmph, although my physical cells arenât too well developed, my⦠My IQ is superior, understand?â
âI always thought you were just our adorable little sister.â
âBoss, I really want to bite you!â
âRevive first and follow that plan. We must not delay or else more people will arrive like Tyrant of Western Chu, Piggy and Ageless Beauty, those people will certainly be troublesome!â
âWell, Iâll count to 3 before I resurrect!â
âOkay!â
â¦â¦
I tightly held my Frost Rain Sword while my heart trembled. 1v12 + 20 players was going to be somewhat difficult.
Looking closely, among the 12 people there are 2 Wind Elves, one is a Lv 44 Swordsman while the other is a Lv 47 Healer. Killing the Healer is not a priority; I should go for the Swordsman first. Otherwise, Matcha will be easily killed. Like all stats, the movement speed grows by a set amount every level so the higher the Lv of a player is, the higher the speed. And Matchaâs Lv 32 is definitely inadequate to outfly the Swordsman.
âDing!â
Suddenly, Matchaâs body disappeared. Just 10 meters away to the North, her feminine figure slowly flew off the ground as the wings on her back started fluttering. Flying at a 17 meter height, a pair of snow white legs could be seen beneath the moonlight. She is indeed an adorable girl.
âDamn it! She revived, catch her!â
A Berserker hurriedly raised his axe and rushed towards Matcha while the Wind Elf Swordsman opened his wings and soared to reach her.
Without faltering, I hurriedly took a Pardon Card and triggered it. I also activated [Haste], giving me a 6% boost to movement speed which stacked with my Purple Dawn Boots 3% movement speed. I now have a total increase of 9% movement speed! I quickly charged forward, brushing past the bushes and set my sight on the Lv 44 Wind Elf Swordsman. Unsheathing the sword, I leapt almost 7 yards off the ground while the edge of the sword beamed golden stars!
âThis is bad, Li Xiao Yao is coming!â The Swordsman turned around as his terrified face was reflected on my sword. Before he could react, he already ate 4 continuous strikes from my [Combo], bringing forth enormous damage numbersââ
578!
547!
601!
522!
â¦â¦
My 4th attack cut through the Wind Elf Swordsmanâs body. I glanced back and saw his figure rapidly falling, however, a little of his health still remained. Surely, this Swordsman added some points to his vitality, or else he would have already succumbed to my attacks.
âBuzzâ¦â
Baby Bobo swiftly left my shoulder and headed for the sky. âSnap!â Baby Bobo performed his [Sting] skill and a 700+ damage number emerged atop the head of the injured Swordsman that had just been quickly treated by the Wind Elf Healer, and he plummeted to the ground!
âPa!â The Purple Dawn Boots trampled the grass as I took advantage of my descent and wildly escaped from the pursuing Berserkers, Swordsmen and Knights and quickly entered the forest yet. After passing through them, I gazed upwards and saw Matchaâs snow white legs up ahead. In these critical moments, she still had the time to stick her tongue out and laugh: âBoss, you really look handsome when youâre fighting. No wonder many female players from Ba Huang City want to bear your child.â
I said with a deadpan face: âJust focus on PKing.â
âWell, ok.â
â¦â¦
âCrackle, crackle, crackle.â
Unceasing noises of rustling leaves could be heard as over 10 players entered the forest. Thankfully, Strawberry Matcha was still airborne and could carefully observe the situation from above. In her hand was a sharp glossy blade; she seemed to be prepared to battle at a momentâs notice, though she was not really in the mood to fight. In fact, she was a little nervous and scared. Her hand gripping the sword trembled and her face was a bit tight. This scene made me want to laugh.
âBoss!â
In the team channel, Matcha said in a low voice: âThere is an Assassin using [Stealth] close to you. 25 degrees North West, 7 yards away!â
I promptly took action as I raised my Frost Rain Sword and rushed to the said location. Then I suddenly slashed at empty space!
âClang! Keng!ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
The sword cut through a plant as sparks flew from colliding weapons. A Lv 46 Assassin was forced out of his [Stealth] and a look of horror appeared on his face behind his dagger.
I used my [Fierce Ice Blade] to thrust at him!
âPuchi!â
1423!
The Assassin whined at the pierced sword on his chest. An undisguised panic surfaced in his eyes. Gradually, he knelt down and dropped a leather wristband!
âPeng!â
I leisurely picked it up and placed it in my inventory, no need to check it. Afterwards, I went in the flying Strawberry Matchaâs direction with the Frost Rain Sword in hand.
Strawberry Matcha continued to fly with her pair of beautiful eyes closely watching the movements on the ground. All of a sudden, she whispered: âBoss, 30 degrees in front of you to the right. Just 7 yards away, thereâs a dense broad-leaved tree, rush directly there and unleash your [Combo].â
âSure!â
Without doubting her, I speedily headed towards the direction Matcha mentioned, breaking through the thickets ahead of me. âDing!â Four golden hexagrams appeared on the edge of the sword. Two Lv 46 Archers were now in sight as one of them lifted his longbow and aimed at Matcha, preparing to let loose his [Shattered Shot]. If it hits, Matcha will surely be injured or even killed!
Fortunately, I released my [Combo] first. The first two strikes annihilated the first Archer while the next two hits already found their way to the second Archer, slaying him. Four 700+ damage numbers simultaneously arises as the 2 Archers fell to the ground, not even knowing how they died.
Not pausing, I reached down to scoop up a Silver Ring and kept running. I now trusted from the bottom of my heart Matchaâs excellent tactics in the game!
I cannot help but ask: âMatcha, who are you really? Why is it that your judgment is so accurate?â
Strawberry Matcha narrowed her pair of beautiful eyes as she flew and laughed: âI loved playing âs simulation battle system during the vacation and my scores were very high, Iâm actually one of nationâs top ten. My understanding of the gameâs system is naturally high; however, upon entering the game, I realized that my bodyâs reaction speed cannot keep up with my thoughts. I was dumbfounded. Boss, Iâll continue practicing my bodyâs reaction speed so please donât throw me away. â
I snickered: âDonât worry. Since you entered the studio, youâre already one of Zhan Long. It will not change in this lifetime. You are our friend. Once a friend, always a friend!â
Strawberry Matcha gawked at me, as if very affected by my words: âBoss, youâre making me cry.â
âCry after we escape.â
âUh.â
â¦â¦
Even though the dense forest green hindered my vision, Strawberry Matcha acted as my eyes while I was her sword. In just 10 minutes, we eliminated 20 players while I managed to loot at least 8 dropped equipment, most were Bronze Tier and above.
Further north, the broad-leaved forest ended and a vast, snow covered region appeared instead. We were close to the Ice Spine where Dragon City was at and the area ahead of us was definitely full of danger. If possible, I would avoid traversing it.
âShooo.â
The bone-piercingly cold wind stirred the snowflakes in the air as I turned back to look in the direction of the forest and saw several [Wrath of the Heroes] Swordsmen glaring at us in the distance, not daring to chase us. Apparently, they were afraid that I might end up crushing them all.
âThey are waiting for reinforcements!â Matcha said while narrowing her eyes.
I sheathed the Frost Rain Sword back to into its scabbard and nodded: âThis is indeed Tyrant of Western Chuâs game style, he wonât engage with less than 20 players.â
âBoss, shall we leave now?â
âBack to the city?â
âAnywhere, just say the word.â
I looked to the North and smiled: âThen letâs take a look at that snow area and figure out ways to ambush them there. Letâs kill several [Wrath of the Heroes] again!â
âOkay!â