Chapter 174 – Challenge Ignored

Lord Grim’s group turned around and entered the dungeon as if nothing had happened. Poplar Beach was stomping his feet in fury. It was too late to prevent them from going. It only took them a few steps to enter the dungeon.

Changing Spring was still calm. After watching Lord Grim’s team enter, the only thing he could do was calmly call out: “We’ll begin as well.”

“Okay.” Three of them answered back. Poplar Beach, on the other hand, clearly hadn’t recovered yet.

“Poplar, we’re going to set the record now. Focus. Don’t forget why we’re here.” Changing Spring reminded Poplar Beach.

Soon after, the five of them entered the dungeon and pushed through as they had practiced. However, Poplar Beach was still angry. When they began clearing the small mobs, the team’s tempo was a complete mess. This guy clearly wasn’t in the right mindset.

Changing Spring, who had reminded him before they had entered, didn’t say a word. On the contrary, Flying Brushstroke couldn’t watch anymore and opened his mouth to remind Poplar Beach. But he had only shouted the name, when Changing Spring interrupted him.

“Forget about it.” Changing Spring said, “Let him vent his anger or he’ll continue playing like this.”

Flying Brushstroke stared blankly for a bit. After recalling what Poplar Beach’s personality was like, he let the matter go. The other two didn’t say anything either. Poplar Beach was completely out of sync with the team. Their advance through the dungeon was not going they way they wanted it to go.

“That Lord Grim, did he intentionally provoke Poplar to affect our performance?” Flying Brushstroke said.

“I don’t think so.” Chilling Nightfall said, “Poplar being angry is just temporary. The competition for the record is different than the competition in the Arena. If we’re not able to do it today, then we can try it again tomorrow. We just have to find new accounts and do it. Do you really think he’ll provoke us every time like this?”

“Then what was the point of him spouting so much nonsense. Does he really think that Blue Bridge is better than Poplar Beach?” Flying Brushstroke said.

“What do you guys think?” Chilling Nightfall asked the other three.

Poplar Beach was on the field with them, so it wasn’t easy to privately discuss this issue. In order to do so, they whispered to each other whenever they crossed each other’s path when fighting the monsters.

“I think....... Blue Bridge’s dungeoning is extremely consistent. However, if you said that Poplar Beach was worse than Blue Bridge, that wouldn’t necessarily be true. We’ve worked with him for a day and we all saw how he performed! Poplar Beach coordinates well us too. It’s hard to say whether or not Blue Bridge is better, no?” Dawn of Ice, who hadn’t spoken up in a long time, commented.

“But at least in this type of situation, I don’t think Blue Bridge would be affected so emotionally like Poplar Beach is now.” Flying Brushstroke said.

“Could it be......” Chilling Nightfall stared blankly. He had blurted out what he was thinking, but had accidentally messed up and staggered behind everyone on Poplar Beach’s side. He quickly swallowed his words.

“What were you going to say?” The other four once again crossed each other’s path. Flying Brushstroke immediately asked.

“Could it be that Lord Grim had provoked Poplar Beach in order for us to see what Poplar Beach’s weakness was?” Chilling Nightfall said.

“You guys are probably thinking too much!” Changing Spring found the opportunity to interject.

“How’d it get so complicated? From how I see it, Poplar Beach provoked them first and then the other side simply countered back.” Changing Spring said.

“Uh.......” The three stared blankly. That was a very rational explanation.

“Don’t think about it so much and just concentrate on the dungeon.” Changing Spring said.

“Okay.......” The three replied.

Their run this time didn’t turn out well. They had reached 30 minutes. The gap between what they wanted and what they got was very big.

After they exited the dungeon, Changing Spring didn’t say anything. Poplar Beach wasn’t an idiot. Changing Spring believed that Poplar Beach knew why their time wasn’t good.

“Second time.” Changing Spring announced dully. Poplar Beach’s emotional issue had been overlooked this time. No one commented on it. This time, Poplar Beach had returned to his normal condition.

However, they still made mistakes in their run. The record limit implied that their performance was flawless. A single mistake meant that the record would no longer be the limit. In a thirty minute dungeon, requiring that every person performed perfectly wasn’t easy.

“Third time! Everyone, be more careful.” Even though they made a mistake last run, with all of their practice, they were able to suppress Toya with their teamwork. Their time was close to the tenth server’s previous record. They all believed that if they didn’t make any mistakes, then they would definitely reach the limit.

“We can do it!” Everyone encouraged each other as they entered Desolate Land for the third time.

They had advanced flawlessly this time. They didn’t make a single mistake all the way up to the final BOSS Toya. This part was the most difficult part of Desolate Land and it was the reason why the team had run Desolate Land eighteen times. Against Toya, the five coordinated perfectly. In their second run, they hadn’t made any mistakes here as well.

They had practiced this part all too well.

24:41:46!!

When the record came out, the five of them let out a long sigh of relief. This was the record limit they had wanted. It was the highest record they could make with their current ability. If they wanted to improve it, then they would need better equipment.

Even though Blue River hadn’t participated in the dungeon team this time, he had done his work properly. When he saw the record come out, Blue Brook Guild immediately sent members to begin bringing up a discussion in the world channel. They were naturally trying to repair the recent damage to their image. They had already done this yesterday, so this time, they were trying to nail it in and follow up their victory with another.

“Lord Grim! The record will be here. We’ll be waiting for you to break it.”

Amidst the countless messages that popped up, this challenge came out. It was sent by Poplar Beach. Poplar Beach spammed the message over and over again, but there was no reply from Lord Grim. In the end, when they looked over the recent messages in the world chat, they discovered that it wasn’t that Lord Grim hadn’t replied, it was just that it was similar to Changing Spring’s “GFY” (Go f*ck yourself) and was too short, so they had missed it.

Lord Grim’s reply was a short three words long: When I’m free.

Seeing this reply, Poplar Beach spat out blood in anger. He continued to spam the message, challenging him to break the record, challenging him to duel him.

This time, Poplar Beach was on the lookout. He paid careful attention to the messages. Except...... Lord Grim’s reply hadn’t changed. It was still the three words: When I’m free.

Poplar Beach really wanted to smash his head into the screen to enter the game world and strangle Lord Grim. But the reality was that it wasn’t possible, so he could only stare blankly at the screen. Should I go ask “When are you free?” What if Lord Grim doesn’t give me face? Poplar Beach worried.

“This guy is really persistent. He’s been messaging for almost an hour already.” In the Internet Cafe, Tang Rou said this to Ye Xiu when she passed by to refill her teacup with water. They had just finished running Desolate Land three times. They had used an hour more than Blue Brook Guild’s team did. This was because Ye Xiu was teaching them a new strategy.

The new strategy wasn’t as efficient as the record for Boneyard, but was actually more difficult to carry out. Tang Rou felt that she wasn’t good enough! She understood the preciseness of this new strategy, but because they weren’t able to do enough damage, they weren’t able to bring out the expected results.

Tang Rou had a faint feeling that if they had a fifth player with them, then with the fifth player’s firepower, they would be able to bring out the desired results.

As a result, after finishing the dungeon runs, Tang Rou brought up Poplar Beach’s spamming again.

“Yeah, it must be tough for the guy.” Ye Xiu said.

“What are you doing?” Tang Rou looked toward Ye Xiu’s screen and saw that he was checking out shops in the Congee City market streets.

“You’re shopping again? What do you plan on buying?” Tang Rou asked.

“Steamed Bun and your sets are pretty much completed, but Cleansing Mist is still missing a few, so I’m helping her look.” Ye Xiu said.

“Oh? Do you have enough money? I still have some.” Tang Rou said.

“You should save that money for potions!” Ye Xiu laughed.

“That.......”

“Hm?”

“Desolate Land record. We should go back and take the record back!” Tang Rou said. At this moment, the first three places in the Desolate Land records didn’t have their name on it. And because of Poplar Beach’s constant yelling, even if Tang Rou didn’t say anything out loud, she was already on the verge of exploding out in her heart.

“Of course.” Ye Xiu said.

“When?” Tang Rou asked.

“When we get our fifth team member.” Ye Xiu said.

“Fifth member? Who is it going to be this time?” Tang Rou asked.

“Someone you’ve talked with before.” Ye Xiu said.

“Who?” Tang Rou was puzzled.

“Ashen Moon, do you remember him?” Ye Xiu asked.

“Oh? That person..... I remember him. He was the worst of the bunch, but he was still better than me.” Tang Rou said. Everyone in Team Tiny Herb had beaten her without any suspense. They were after all pros.

“His name is Qiao Yifan. If we’re talking about his ability to duel, then he isn’t very outstanding. However, his true strength lies in his ability to work in a team.” Ye Xiu said.

“When is he coming?” Tang Rou asked.

“Soon. If things go well, then he might even be here tonight.” Ye Xiu looked at his friends list. The Ghostblade One Inch Ash was online 24/7 these days. His level had shot up like an arrow and he was now Level 29.