Reign of the Hunters
chapter-103

Tan Polang eventually decided to follow Ye Ci home. He was sweating after slurping down the the beef noodles, and his body was able to warm up. He followed behind Ye Ci, head lowered. Zuo Xiaolan immediately pulled him into a tight embrace and began to console him. Tan Polang felt a little embarrassed after receiving her treatment. It was as if he had grown more sensible after listening to Ye Ci’s words. The bitterness and sorrow were gone.

This perked the curiosity of Zuo Xiaolan, Ye Nantian and Bai Mo. What exactly had Ye Ci said to Tan Polang? Both of them tacitly remained quiet, keeping it a top secret. Neither of them spoke a word.

After the matter was settled, Ye Ci and Bai Mo were ready to go online. Bai Mo who had not played for at least 4 days was especially antsy. Deep down, Bai Mo was suffering. How he wished that he could instantly waltz online and check in on the guild members. He had left in a hurry, without even notifying the guild members, and he felt guilty. The guild was preparing to explore the Frosty Wasteland Inner Sanctum, but he left at the most crucial moment. Bai Mo felt bad about his actions.

Tan Polang, who had composed himself, stared at Ye Ci and Bai Mo for a short moment and suddenly spoke up, “What are you guys playing? Is it Fate?”

Quite a few of the youths were playing the game Fate. Ye Ci was not surprised that Tan Polang knew of the game. She told him the truth, “Yes, we’re playing Fate. You interested in playing as well?”

Before Tan Polang could answer Ye Ci’s question, Zuo Xiaolan’s voice rang out, “Just play your game, don’t corrupt Polang. The holiday is going to end in half a month, and Polang has lots to learn at school. You want him to be like you two? Playing to the point where you don’t even eat and sleep?”

Bai Mo and Ye Ci shared a look and laughed after Zuo Xiaolan spoke up. They looked at Tan Polang, shook their heads, and sighed, “Work hard in your studies, you can do it. Upwards ho!”

With that, the two went back to their separate rooms. Tan Polang immediately followed Ye Ci into hers. Ye Ci couldn’t help but felt odd when Tan Polang followed her into her room, “Didn’t my mom told you to go study? Why are you here?”

“What is your in-game name?” Tan Polang could only watch as Ye Ci opened up the gaming cabin.

“Why?”

“Nothing, I’m just asking.” Tan Polang seemed to have something to say, but he held his words back.

Ye Ci knew that there was something that Polang had wanted to say. She knew that he would eventually spill everything out without her pushing, so she didn’t press the matter.

“Okay then. Since you’ve asked your question, you can go study now.” Ye Ci was already climbing into the gaming cabin. She waved her hand dismissively, apparently no longer having any intention to talk to the little brat. She still needed to go online and level Ol’ Four up.

“Sister Ye Ci, have you heard about King?” Tan Polang suddenly spoke right before Ye Ci was about to close the lid to her gaming cabin. He had gained much more respect for Ye Ci after her “life lesson” session. Even the way he addressed her had changed.

King? Ye Ci was momentarily stunned. Of course she knew about that guy. He was the champion of the International E-Sports Tournament for 5 years. His low-profile character was as famous as his skills. He had never shown his face. Even when he attended the tournament, he did so by wearing a pair of sunglasses and a mask. The identity of the players in the E-Sports tournament were confirmed by fingerprint and a retinal scanner, which was why he was not disqualified.

It was a rather distant memory for Ye Ci, as it was something that had happened 10 years ago. She simply nodded, “Who wouldn’t know about the 5-time champion of the International E-Sports Tournament?”

“He seems to be playing Fate.” Tan Polang mumbled under his breath.

“Oh, this game is very popular. It’s not that strange.”

“About that…” Just as Tan Polang was about to finally get to the point after beating around the bush for so long, a pale-faced Bai Mo rushed into Ye Ci’s room. Anxiety was written all over his face, “Why haven’t you gotten online yet?”

Ye Ci was baffled, and a feeling of uneasiness began creeping into her heart, “What happened?”

“Hurry up! Somebody declared war on our guild 6am today!” With that, Bai Mo left the room, leaving behind Ye Ci with a calm expression on her face, and Tan Polang who was utterly shocked.

“Shit’s hit the fan. I have to go online now. You can go study now.” Ye Ci laid down in the gaming cabin.

Tan Polang immediately sprung up, “You haven’t told me what your name in game is!”

“Gongzi You.” Ye Ci had satisfied the little brat’s wish and told him her name before closing the lid of the gaming cabin. He would probably force it open to get the answer, had Ye Ci not revealed her name.

Ye Ci could see that Tan Polang was just like Fluttering Red Feather. He was stubborn and relentless. She decided to give him the answer to avoid being disturbed by the kid.

Ye Ci immediately returned to the Eastern Continent with a Flying Shard after she logged into the game. She then teleported to Red Lake City with her city-recalling stone.

There were 2 ways to initiate a Guild War in Fate, which were closely related to the level of the guild encampment of a guild. Guild encampments that were lvl1-lvl5 were placed in specific guild servers, and could only be reached through certain NPCs. To declare war on a guild, a player must enter a very specific map and locate a very specific NPC to declare war on a guild. This was different for lvl6-lvl10 guild encampments. An encampment that met the level requirement must be built on a plot of land adjacent to the city that the guild was bound to. It was easier for the development of the guild to have their encampment right beside a major city, but it was also easier for somebody to declare war on them. The moment somebody attacked a guild banner within the guild encampment, it meant that war had been declared. Of course, with the growth of guilds in the game, the second type of Guild War became more and more popular.

Ye Ci’s guild encampment was lvl5, which meant that the Guild War was declared using the first method. This was why there were no fights going on within Red Lake City. Ye Ci headed straight for the NPC in charge of guild affairs and teleported back to the guild encampment.

The fight was already in full swing by the time Ye Ci arrived. The entire encampment was a mess. The strong walls of the encampment were badly damaged. It seemed that their opponent had packed some serious firepower that could overcome even the walls of a lvl 5 guild encampment.

“I want the 1st ranged squad to retreat from the wall and heal up. 2nd squad, go with them as well. 3rd squad, take their place! I want the 4th squad to heal our melee fighters that are fighting outside the wall! Summoner Team 1, continue patrolling the area with your minions, direct them to actively attack any enemies! All the Rogues patrolling the encampment’s perimeter, widen your patrol area, we must not let them succeed in another sneak attack!” Mi Lu’s voice rang out in the guild channel. His voice was calm and powerful. It was the quality of a good commander.

It was not hard to tell from Mi Lu’s words that Upwards Ho!’s guild encampment had suffered from a successful sneak attack by their opponent, which resulted in such devastation.

With the situation temporarily stabilized, Ye Ci headed straight for the guild conference room. She knew that the guild administrators, including Bai Mo, Timely Rain, Icy Cold Little Hands, Pickled Pepper Phoenix Claw and Let Go Of That Girl were having a meeting in the room when she noticed that they were not taking part in the battle.

As expected, they were in the guild conference room having a lively discussion.

“Those cowards! They attacked when most of our members were not online! If it wasn’t for our lvl 5 guild encampment, we would’ve lost by now!” Let Go Of That Girl brought his fist down on the table. He was so angry that he’d pulled on his beard until it was in complete disarray.

“Forget about it. They’re just too many of them. Our guild might be popular and famous, but we are actually quite understrength. Even after we’ve managed to recruit a quite a few members, they left right after somebody declared war on us. If this continues…” Fruit Jelly let out a sigh, worry written all over her face.

“Don’t panic. Ink, what’s the situation? How goes the battle?”

“It’s stable. But we’re at quite a huge disadvantage. Our guild was still young, and the members’ loyalty is not that firm yet. A lot of them were demoralised once we began losing ground. It’s a tough fight.” Overflowing Ink let out a sigh, “It’s all my fault. If only I’ve came online earlier…”

“Forget about it…’

“Who was the one that declared war on us?” Ye Ci had been standing unnoticed at the doorway for quite some time. In their heated discussion, none of the guild admins noticed her presence. She was able to grasp the gravity of the situation by listening in on their conversation. Other than Steel Blooded Battle Spear, there seemed to be no other guilds that had beef with Ye Ci. Why would somebody declare war on them?

“Full Moon’s Night.” Somebody immediately offered Ye Ci a seat.

Full Moon’s Night? Ye Ci was baffled. The guild was not quite well-known, and was not even a top-10 guild in the Eastern Continent. However, their combat strength was actually higher than Upwards Ho!, or at least they had more members. But that was not the point. That point was that Ye Ci didn’t even know them!

“Who’s the guild leader?”

“Crimson Twilight.” It was Icy Cold Little hands, who was in charge of the guild’s public relations, who answered Ye Ci’s question. She knew almost all the the higher ups of the major and medium-sized guilds in the Eastern Continent.

Ye Ci was momentarily stunned. She couldn’t say that she did not know the name. So it was them. Ye Ci grimaced. They did have beef with her guild.