Reign of the Hunters
chapter-220

As expected, the dungeon could be explored multiple times.

Although the exploration limit was unknown to Ye Ci, she spent the next few days clearing the dungeon. She was not a person who would waste a chance to gain profit when an opportunity presented itself. Her life returned to a simple and monotonous cycle once more. She would clear the dungeon every single day, and return to Red Lake City when her consumables were exhausted.

She was just like a normal player. There was nothing but the drive to get more Spirit Emblems in her gaming life. Revenge, conflict, and Golden Age all seemed so distant to her.

When Ye Ci once again return to the special item merchant in the bandit encampment with 50,000 Spirit Emblem, she realised that the developers were no fools. They have already thought of any loopholes that might be exploited by players.

When Ye Ci was ready to redeem the equipment with her Spirit Emblems, she discovered that her idea of getting rich by selling away the equipment was impossible. She could only redeem one of each of the items sold by the rare item merchant. This meant that there was no way she could sell the overpowered equipment for profit.

Although Ye Ci was saddened by such a fact, the developer’s way of implementing such a system was not uncalled for. Epic-tier quests were very rare in the game, and rewards offered by such quests were of the best quality. If a greedy player like Ye Ci received the quest, he or she would flood the game’s market with huge amounts of overpowered equipment. This will break the balance of the game. No developers would allow such a thing to happen in their game.

After redeeming a Hunter equipment set, a weapon, some jewellery, and a special recipe, Ye Ci had almost no Spirit Emblems left. It seems that redeeming every single item from the special item merchant was no easy task. It would be a long and tedious process.

However, every cloud has a silver lining. With the average player level at lvl40, it would take quite some times for them to reach the realm of lvl55. This meant that Ye Ci had plenty of time to acquire these items, and to complete the process before Golden Age members began pouring into the game.

Despite the lack of news from Green Hill’s Moon, Ye Ci decided against pestering the man for answers. She trusted in Green Hill’s Moon abilities to get the job done, which was why she would avoid placing unnecessary pressure on him. The only thing Ye Ci had to do was to prepare for her next move while she waited for an answer from Green Hill’s Moon.

After a long session of exploring the dungeon full of lvl55 monsters, Ye Ci had finally reached the realm of lvl60. It was the highest level she could achieve at the current stage. She could feel the need for better equipment. Her Venomous Scorpion equipment set was good, but her damage output was limited as it was a lvl30 equipment set.

Leveling up and grinding for better equipment had always been the main focus of many MMORPGs, and Fate was one of them.

The gameplay of Fate revolved around the equipment of a player. As long as a player was equipped with good quality equipment with a sufficient level of enchantments, gems, and refinement, the player would be able to do well in a dungeon even if he or she might not be able to clear the dungeon solo.

Ye Ci unequipped her Venomous Scorpion set, and equipped the new equipment set that she has redeemed from the special items merchant.

As the equipment set was redeemed from the Doran Thieves Guild, the name of each item was quite generic. The helm that was equipped by Ye Ci was named as “Doran Hunter’s Helm”, while her armor was called the Doran Body Armor…

Other than their own excellent stats, the equipment in an item set came with a very important complete set buff.

The Doran Hunter’s Set was such an example. Each of its individual components, which includes a helm, a shoulder guard, a cape, an armor, a gauntlet, a belt, a pair of greaves, and a pair boots, came with great stats.

Equipping 2 pieces of the Doran Hunter’s Set will provide a player with an additional 20% hit rate in PVE battles. When a player was equipped with 4 pieces of the Doran Hunter’s Set, he or she would receive a 20% attack damage bonus. Equipping 6 pieces of the Doran Hunter’s Set will increase a player’s Evasion by 30% in PVP combat, while equipping all 8 of them would activate a very overpowered active skill: Stealth Combat.

As the stats and special skill of each equipment set varies by a character’s class, Ye Ci had no knowledge about the Hunter set’s Stealth Combat even in her past life. The player who received the quest was not a Hunter, which meant that even he himself was not aware of the stats of the Doran Hunter’s Set.

Ye Ci did not activate her Brooch of Deceit after equipping her new equipment. Other than the faint golden designs on the somewhat dull color scheme of the equipment, Ye Ci was certain that her appearance would not attract too much attention.

The entire equipment set was covered in a shade of darkish grey. This would allow Ye Ci to blend into the shadows in dark places. However, if they were owned by any other female player, the color scheme would definitely be a bother to them. After all, it was too dull, which would not suit female players who generally prefered to have a good appearance on their in-game character.

For Ye Ci, the color scheme of this equipment set serves a purpose.

As a solo player, she had always traveled in dark dungeons and thick jungles. She will be able to hide herself well with the aid of her equipment without the the need to activate her Brooch of Deceit. The looks of her character was always the last thing in Ye Ci’s mind.

The Doran Spectral Hunting Bow was a direct contrast to the dull and simple design of the Doran Hunter’s Equipment Set. The bow itself was gorgeously designed with a delicate appearance, and was covered in a nice shade of emerald green. Ye Ci nocked an arrow with practiced ease after equipping the bow, and fired a shot at a lvl40 Elite Deer that was grazing not far away.

The deer let out a long shriek, and fell lifelessly onto the ground.

Heh! I was able to kill a lvl40 elite monster with one hit! A normal lvl60 player is not capable of doing something like this, but I did it with this equipment set! It really is overpowered!

With the equipment set’s plain appearance, Ye Ci did not see the need to disguise herself. She hid the stats of her equipment, and returned to Red Lake City.

With her attention focused on dungeon clearing, Ye Ci paid little attention to the things going around her. She was in a good mood after acquiring the new set of equipment, and decided to take a walk in Red Lake City. She heard a commotion right after leaving her storage warehouse.

“5v5 in Golan Arena! We need a strong DPS player! Players with Tier 7 and above PVP equipment only!”

“Need members for 3v3 games! Anybody will do! We’ll carry you, no worries!”

“We need an experienced and skillful healer in a 5v5 match! Players with Tier 8 and above PVP equipment only!”

……

Golan Arena?

The arena had been released in the game for quite some time. Ye Ci did not have a chance to pay the Golan Arena a visit as she had always been busy with her Epic-tier quest. Since I have free time today, I should have some fun. thought Ye Ci to herself.

With that thought in mind, Ye Ci began looking for party members in Upwards Ho!’s guild chat. However, in a time where most of the members were preparing to explore a lvl40 dungeon, Fiery Infernal, none of the guild members, not a single one of them responded to her invitation. Ye Ci was slightly embarrassed by the resolve of her guild members. She had always been absent from guild activities and dungeon clearing. Of course, of course, it’s because of my bad luck. If I join them in the dungeon, they will definitely hate me for that.

It was an excuse that Ye Ci had always used to comfort herself, convincing her that her presence is not needed in guild activities and dungeon clearing. She was, however, feeling slightly guilty for her lack of contribution. She cleared her throat, and asked out meekly in the Guild Channel.

“Any parties out there needing an extra member? I’ll clear the dungeon with you.”

Such a statement would usually receive vigorous responses from the guild members. However, when Ye Ci spoke into the Guild Channel, she was met only with silence.

Ye Ci spoke in the Guild Channel again after three full minutes.

“I’m free now! Any parties in need of an extra member? It’s okay, I can wait!”

Ye Ci did not give up after another moment of silence, “Is anyone online at all?”

She received response from Dream Height 1.7m within seconds, “Haven’t you been busy lately? Why are you suddenly so free?”

Ye Ci had the urge to hug Ideal Height 1.7m tightly and cry into her shoulders, she was the first person to acknowledge her presence, “Yes! I’m free! Do you need my help?”

“Hmm… Why don’t you uhh… Not come anywhere near us? You don’t have to trouble yourself. We just need you to be around for the First Blood. At the meantime… You can do whatever you want!” Ye Ci’s enthusiasm was immediately killed by Fruit Jellys response.

Before she could even react, Beautiful Years, a guild member who had the experience of clearing a dungeon with Ye Ci, spoke up, “Vice leader, I think we’re doing pretty well, you don’t have to trouble yourself with helping us out…”

“Why is that?”

“Hey, Old Mo! Were you the one who unleashed this Embodiment of Misfortune upon our guild? Send her somewhere else, or we’ll all be affected by her Black Hand Aura.” Little Icy Cold Hands immediately answered her question.

Ye Ci began sobbing internally. What the heck? Just what the heck is going on?

Since she (the jinx) was not needed by the guild, Ye Ci could finally enter the Golan Arena with a guiltless heart.

She immediately headed to the main hall of the Golan Arena after equipping her Glory Equipment Set.

The Glory Equipment Set was a PVP equipment set that can be redeemed by players from all four continents with their Kill Glory. The equipments share rather similar stats, but their designs varied greatly. Ye Ci was equipped with the Marshal Set, which was the Glory Equipment Set of the highest tier. With her huge amount of Kill Glory, it was something that she could afford easily. Since she has made up her mind to have some matches in the Golan Arena, Ye Ci decided to redeem a complete Marshal Set. After all, there’s not much chance for her to equip such an equipment in actual combat.

After all, nobody will give their opponents the chance to swap out their equipment before starting a fight. This was Ye Ci’s first chance to try out her Marshal Set.

Armed with the knowledge of her past life, Ye Ci knew that the Marshal Set was very eye-catching. However, when she tried it on herself, she came to a sudden realisation… This equipment set was definitely designed for people who love cosplaying! She was literally glittering from head to toes in a set of equipment with a very extravagant design. To the developers’ credit, Ye Ci’s movements were not encumbered by the flashing design of her equipment. If such was the case, she would definitely cough up a lot of blood. However, Ye Ci’s appearance still attracted countless pairs of eyeballs.

No kidding! If a person who looked as if she was encased in gold appeared in front of you, can you resist the urge to stare at the person?

I guess it’s too late to activate the Brooch of Deceit. Ye Ci sighed as she tried her best to ignore the stares from a crowd that was slowly gathering around her.

“Wow! What sort of equipment is that? It looks pretty!”

“Oh my God! That’s a Marshal Equipment Set! I don’t even have enough points for a Soldier set yet! I can’t believe there’s already someone with a Marshal set!”

“No shit, look at her name…”

“It’s Gongzi You…”

“Well, f*ck me…”

“Eh? Even Gongzi You is interested in fighting in the arena? Is this her first time here? Or have I missed her before?”

“Hubby, hubby! I’ll go stand beside Gongzi You, please take a picture of us!”

“I wanted to do it first, wait for your turn!”

……

Ye Ci walked up to the NPC in charge of the arena with a darkened expression. Her mood was ruined by all the players crowding around her, and intention of joining a decent party was long gone; She immediately selected the option to randomize her party, and was transported into the arena.

Disappointed groans and jeers rang out all around the entrance of the arena when Ye Ci disappeared from view.

Of course, Ye Ci was not able to hear the commotion, which would definitely further ruin her mood. She had always preferred to keep a low profile, and being the focus of attention was a horrifying experience.

“Aiya, somebody joined our party! We can stop recruiting new members now.” Ye Ci heard a loli voice the moment she joined the party.

“It took such a long time for someone to join our party! Are there really so few fighting in the arena these days?” said the voice of another loli.

“I don’t think that’s the case. It definitely has something to do with our low tier equipment. Nobody wants to team up with us.”

“Aiya, didn’t someone just join our party? Let’s go and have a look!”

“Save it, it’s probably a newbie…”

Ye Ci was transported into a small room decorated with some small barrels and a few broken chairs. She could hear voices coming from a nearby room. The house that Ye Ci was in served as the spawn point for her party.

Ye Ci’s first action when arriving in an unfamiliar place was to have a look at the map. She closed the map window after studying the map for a brief moment and began walking to join up with her party members in the next room. Even for a random battle in the arena, Ye Ci felt the need to show courtesy her teammates in a 5v5 battle, and talk to them about their battle strategy.

But just as Ye Ci had closed her map, four Gnomes appeared in front of her, staring at her with mouths wide open.

Elves were considered tall among the many races in Fate. Despite her average height, Ye Ci was considerably taller than the Gnomes.

This made the situation slightly awkward for Ye Ci.

An Elf standing in front of four Gnomes was such a sharp contrast that the situation itself became a source of laughter. Ye Ci felt as if she was inspecting her troops before a battle. This… This is just…

So what should I do? Thought Ye Ci to herself after a half a minute of silence. While she was still pondering over this quandary, one of the Gnomes to her left cried out in a loud voice, “Wow! Your clothes are pretty!”

The three other Gnomes began voicing out their thoughts out loud as well.

“Wow! What a tall Elf!”

“Wow! She looks like a high-leveled player!”

“Wow! She looks so cool!”

The corners of Ye Ci’s mouth twitched. Just what the hell is this? She had just escaped the misfortune of becoming a living exhibit at the entrance of Golan Arena just to suffer the same fate in the arena. Fortunately for Ye Ci, the Gnomes did not comment on her identity as Gongzi You.

“So what’s the plan?” Ye Ci cleared her throat.

However, her words fell on deaf ears. The four Gnomes shared confused looks with each other, and stared at Ye Ci. “She seems to be… Gongzi You.” said one of the Gnomes after a long moment of silence.

“Yeah, she does look like Gongzi you…”

“No! She really is Gongzi You!”

“Gongzi You joined our party?!”

“I’m gonna take a picture of her.”

“I know, right! I’m going to upload it to the forums! This is just insane! We made the right choice by coming to the arena today!”

……

The Gnomes immediately began to holler in excitement. Ye Ci could even feel her temple twitching. “So… What’s the plan?” asked Ye Ci as the Gnomes began to quiet down.

“Plan?” the leader of the party, Little Seven, blinked rapidly, as if Ye Ci’s question was an impossible riddle “What plan?”

“How are we going to fight when the battle starts?” Ye Ci was assaulted by a headache. Was she the one at fault here? Or was the Gnome’s comprehension skill to be blamed?

“We’re just here for the points. There’s no need for plan.” a Gnome with the name Little Rabbit blinked at Ye Ci.

“So… You’re one of those ‘free-win teams’…” Ye Ci immediately regretted her decision to join a random team that was hastily made when she was surrounded by players at the entrance of Golan Arena. She would suffer losses in terms of Battle Point if she left the party, which was not an issue under normal circumstances. However, Ye Ci had no Battle Points as this was her first visit to the Golan Arena. In such a situation, she was not allowed to leave.

In other words, Ye Ci was forced to take part in her first battle in the Golan Arena with the four Gnomes serving as a great burden. Tears welled up in her eyes. Why is this happening to me?

“Yup! Don’t worry, it’s good to be part of a free-win team. You can earn Battle Points, and your matches end quickly. If we had higher levels, we’d run into a lot of win trading teams.” said another Gnome.She blinked at Ye Ci as well, and despite the Gnome’s cute and innocent appearance, her words almost brought Ye Ci into tears.

“Doesn’t it mean that you’re losing without putting up a fight?” Ye Ci creased her eyebrows. This was never her way of doing things. She was a person who would struggle even at the face of certain defeat. There was no such thing as “giving up” in Ye Ci’s dictionary.

“What do you mean? You’re thinking too much. We’re just here for the Battle Points. Is there even a need to try so hard?” another Gnome, Lil’ Handsome, spoke up. Perhaps due to their racial trait, each of the Gnomes would blink before they spoke to Ye Ci. It was as if she was surrounded by a group of adorable creatures trying to act cute.

“….” Ye Ci gave up on all attempts to communicate with the Gnomes. If they keep this up, I’m going to die of anger. She stared at expressionlessly at the Gnomes, “So who is the party leader? Go initiate the battle.”

Lil’ Handsome was astonished by Ye Ci’s response “Eh? So you agree to give out a free win?” asked the Gnome as he began unequipping her equipment. The other Gnomes had also unequipped their equipment at astonishing speed.

They stared at Ye Ci as they stood in nothing but their undergarments, “Are you sure you’re not going to unequip your gear? They seem to be some pretty high level equipment. If you die, repairing those equipment is going to cost you a fortune.”

“I have no habit of doing such a thing” said Ye Ci in a low voice, with her expression darkened.

“Ahh…” Well, she’s Gongzi You after all. Nobody can force her to do anything. Sigh, as expected of an expert. The cost of repairing her equipment means nothing to her. Thought Lil’ Handsome as he initiated the battle.

Ye Ci immediately entered Stealth when the battle started and hid herself in a spot near the entrance of the house.

As the house was built on a hill with its back to a steep cliff, Ye Ci’s position near the entrance provided her with an excellent field of vision and a good defensive position.

The enemy would definitely be quick to realise that Ye Ci’s party was a free-win team due to their inaction. With that, they would be forced to make a move. In a situation where the enemy’s strength was unknown, Ye Ci would never act rashly. Even if it was might not be hard to take on five opponents at once, she still had a chance of losing against her opponents if they were able to work together properly.

Such was the beauty of teamwork.

This was also why Ye Ci immediately considered leaving the party when she first learned that it was a free-win team.

Waiting was not in Ye Ci’s nature. She had always preferred to be on the move. However, with the four Gnomes that were a heavy burden to her, she could only wait.

As expected, the enemy team was quick to realise that their opponent was a free-win team, and immediately approached the house. A battle in the Golan Arena lasted only for five minutes. The team that was able to secure the most kills during the give minutes will be declared as the victor. Battle Points will then be awarded to the players. The winners will then receive bonus for their victory, and awarded points based on the amount of kills, healing or other stats.

Of course, a free-win team would still receive a miniscule amount of Battle Points for their participation. Given enough time, the players could still accumulate enough points for better equipment. Although many of the players preferred to gain Battle Points by slaying their opponents in the Golan Arena, a tiny amount of them could only resort to forming free-win teams due to their lack of skill, teamwork, and equipment.

Ye Ci’s Gnomish teammates were examples of such players.

A torrent of voices entered Ye Ci’s ears. Her opponents were speaking in the language of their own continent, which due to the game system, were utterly incomprehensible to Ye Ci.

The first player to approach the house was a Rogue. He crept up to the house in stealth mode, and jumped in through a window. After doing a quick survey of his surroundings, the Rogue began talking to his teammates. Four more players appeared near the house, while the Rogue walked up to the four Gnomes.

The Gnomes were very calm. It was apparent that they were very used to such a situation. They did not even blink at the face of death. However, the act of waiting for death’s approach was like an unforgivable sin to Ye Ci. She circled to the Rogue’s back, took aim at him, and fired off her skills. The Rogue could not even react in time. With a loud shriek, he fell lifelessly onto the ground.

It was clear that the players outside of the house received a warning from their fallen comrade. They began spreading out in an attempt to encircle the house. However, they were still too late. After dispatching the Rogue, Ye Ci immediately cast Rain of Arrows on the rest of his team. Arrows rained down on the four players, followed by a sea of red damage indicator and the panicked cries of the players.

Ye Ci’s mechanical skills, game sense, and PVP experience were not the only contributing factors to her quick victories. Her level and equipment played an important role in the battle as well. She was 20 levels ahead of the other players, and their equipment was at least five tiers lower than Ye Ci’s Marshal Set. They were wiped out within seconds without putting much of a fight.

Of course, this came as a surprise to Ye Ci’s opponents as well. They had never expected such a strong opponent that could easily wipe their team out. After a brief discussion, the team opted to stay still after their respawn.

On Ye Ci’s side of the map, the Gnomes did not expect Ye Ci to emerge victorious after taking on their opponents alone. They stood around Ye CI and chatted away with delight clear on their faces.

“Just leave them to me. I want you to remain hidden and stay safe.” said Ye Ci, who could no longer stand the chatter. She jumped out of the room and headed straight for the enemy’s side of the map.

The spawn point of Ye Ci’s opponents shared the same setting as the spawn point of her team. It was a location that could easily guard against an attack. However, there was a ladder attached the the side of the house that can be used by players to enter the house. Ye Ci entered stealth and crept slowly up the ladder before finally entering the house. Instead of the ambush that Ye Ci expected, she was greeted by the following scene:

Five players were laying on the floor of the small house with their equipment removed.

Their expressions were calm and collected, and it was apparent that they have given up on making any moves.

Ye Ci was dumbfounded by the sight, “You’re giving away a free win?” asked Ye Ci in a common language shared by all the continents.

The Undead Rogue who was the closest to Ye Ci stood up and nodded at her, “Well, with an opponent like you around, there’s nothing much that we can do…”

What the heck?

Ye Ci rolled her eyes.

“Just kill us already, Gongzi You. You can at least earn more Battle Points from the kills. Time is nearly up.” said a Lycan Warrior to his opponent that was much more stronger than him. However, his reminder that was spoken out of kindness was like an insult to Ye Ci, who muttered a string of curses under her breath before leaving the house.

“Are you not going to kill us?” asked an Elven Cleric who was baffled by Ye Ci’s inaction.

“I’ve already killed you anyways. I’ve already won.” Ye Ci gritted her teeth.

“We’re giving you free points…”

“I’m not interested in prey that readily offers itself up.” said Ye Ci as she left the house. The battle ended before she could return to her spawn point. The winner of the battle would of course be Ye Ci’s party. Each member was awarded with 200 Battle Points for their victory, while Ye Ci received an additional 150 bonus points for her kills.

However, Ye Ci did not rejoice in this victory, and was instead seething in anger.

She silently swore to herself that her next battle would be a massacre.