Chapter 38.1: Additional Value of Helmets
October 14, 11 p.m. Earth time. It was also nighttime in OtherWorld.
After work ended, as per usual, the former bandit trio gathered for a meal in front of Tuttle's tent, though the mood was rather downcast.
"…Although the previous operation was a complete failure, at least we've proven one thing. These crazy, chaotic, and evil undead really have no respect for Yang," Hal said, forcing himself. "If the Town Hall hadn't been built with earth magic, there's no doubt that the damned undead would have torn down Yang's dwelling."
Tuttle, who was silently chewing on some dried sweet potato, reluctantly said, "Hal, I think it's best if we… stop thinking about using these undead. I shouldn't have suggested such a naive idea then, and I apologize for my foolishness… These undead are simply unreasonable."
"…I know," Hal said with unease. "What I want to say is, these completely unmanageable undead will one day devour that bastard Yang. There's no need for us to do anything, and we should patiently bide our time."
Tuttle fell silent, while Finley said nothing.
Hal had actually taken the initiative to bear with it and suggested waiting patiently for the right time. The other two really didn't know whether to be happy that their old friend had matured or feel sad that Hal was bowing down…
Of course, the two strategists of the former bandits felt that Hal's willingness to "temporarily" submit was the right choice. Not only had the evil black mage not gotten mad when learning about their betrayal, he had even calmly used methods long prepared to coerce them.
What did that mean?
It meant that Black Mage Yang was willing to reason with them, and that wasn't a good thing.
"Reason" was something that didn't exist in a lawless place. Only the ones with the biggest fists did the talking in such places.
Only places with laws and rules had room for reason.
In other words… they had underestimated Yang's ambitions. This damned black mage really did intend to establish laws and rules in the Taranthan Wasteland.
Yang didn't even think of them as rebels worthy of being "suppressed" by force and beaten into submission. Instead, from the beginning, he viewed them, former bandits, like meat on a plate.
And as embarrassing as it sounded, that was the truth. When Yang used reasoning to subdue them, the former Sacred Crows didn't even have the right to use their fists to object.
Hence, Tuttle and Finley wouldn't persuade the others to refuse Yang's supplies from now on lest they owed even more. This was because Yang was the one who clearly wanted to set the rules. It was impossible to win in a system of rules belonging to someone else. Now, the only two paths before them were to obey or to flip the table.
But flipping the table was impossible. Yang, who was sitting opposite the table, exerted too much force on it and could crush the table with one hand. All in all, the two strategists couldn't see any chance of winning at all.
After a bout of silence, Finley felt that he should give Hal some positive feedback to prevent the latter from thinking too much.
Just as he was stewing over what to say, a series of nightmarish rattling came from the direction of the nearest street, accompanied by unbridled and noisy chatter.
"??" The former bandit trio felt goosebumps as they looked in the direction of the sound.
These damned undead would run around the town without rest even in the middle of the night. The advanced "NPCs" knew this well, but most of the time, these undead wouldn't move in large groups and either wandered alone in groups of three to five.
At this time, over 20 undead had appeared on the other end of the street and were causing a commotion. However, they clearly weren't heading toward the Wanderer Guild construction site, and this made the trio heave silent sighs of relief.
As the group of undead ran to the other end of the street, the former bandit trio exchanged glances and stealthily followed after.
After the failed night operation, the trio had reflected in private about their inadequate understanding of these crazy undead. Now, they were determined to avoid making the same mistake again.
The players were unaware that the "off-work" advanced NPCs were tracking them in secret and continued chattering until they reached the ruins in the south of Exile Town.
This particular area was infested by the giant rats that had mercilessly slaughtered countless innocent players who had ventured in or simply passed through. The "advanced NPCs" were also aware of this. Other than them on the receiving end of curses by questing players with terms like "incompetent developers" and "idiotic development team," the demonized rat in the south of town was often ranted at.
The three lurking wanderers exchanged puzzled glances, then turned their gazes toward the group of skeletons.
Perhaps, this bunch of crazy undead was attempting to take down the demonized rat?
Ever since frequent contact between the native continent and the Outer Continent was established over 400 years ago, spatial rifts had appeared on the continent of Navalon. It was unclear whether the many deaths of the evil god-worshiping slaves from the Outer Continent brought to Navalon were the cause.
And of these rifts, many led to the dimensional realm, and even the endless void…
The Taranthan Wasteland was also heavily affected by these unstable spatial rifts. And due to the malevolent energy spilling out of these rifts, infecting beasts and monsters, these demonized creatures were the true "masters" of this land.
Hal and his companions were no strangers to these demonized creatures. The Sorenson Mountain Range where they used to make a livelihood was far from a hospitable place. Every year, from spring to autumn, they could even hear the roars of monsters in the forests above the canyon's cliff where they used to reside.
Demonized creatures, like this demonized rat with visible physical enhancements and a grotesque form, were the sort most despised by professional fighters of this world. The entire bodies of such creatures were weapons, possessing immense defense and brute strength. They were extremely difficult to deal with, and even if one could kill them with great labor, the rewards rarely outweighed the effort.
Only the mutated parts of "physically mutated" demonized creatures had value. For example, their fur and bones. While fur was somewhat valuable, the skeletal structure was practically worthless—despite its hardness and resilience surpassing that of metals, its cost of processing and difficulty were ten times higher than that of metals. Additionally, due to the inherent mutative properties, alchemists had no use for it, and professional fighters couldn't be bothered to collect it.
Observing from the shadows, the puzzled trio watched as a member of this nocturnal undead troop stepped out.
The player that stepped out… was Give Me Medicine.
This fella held a bag of money in his hand and distributed copper coins to his fellow undead while expressing his gratitude, "Brothers, thank you for coming to help. I'm eternally grateful."
"No big deal, Brother Medicine. It's just dying once." The players gleefully collected money while thumping their chests. "Once we distract that rat, you just rush out of the ruins and you'll be safe."
After distributing the compensation for labor, the players who volunteered to help lure the giant rat away started taking off their clothes and handing them over to their companions who had come along to help hold their stuff…
This scene left the former bandit trio absolutely perplexed.
With his good friend attempting this quest, Qin Guan would definitely come to help. He handed his beginner clothes, waist pouch, and the equipment he had bought after the night of rampaging to Blossoming Strokes before walking completely bare to the team. "Has everyone made their preparations? If ready, stand by."
"Okay!"
"Good to go!"
"Alright, pay attention to not sticking together. Spread out as far as you can and try to keep the rat occupied for as long as possible!" Qin Guan gestured with his bone hands. "Brothers about to be caught, make sure you die in an open area. If you get smashed into a wall, you'll have to experience what it's like to fall apart, and it's rather unpleasant."
The players responded with hearty laughter, "Falling apart is nothing when playing as undead. We're used to it!"
The three hidden observers hesitated on whether to go closer to hear what these undead were talking about. And then, they saw bare skeletons rushing into the demonized rat's territory.
Former bandit trio: "???"
As soon as a player stepped into the ruins, the giant rat dozing in a garbage heap was startled. Its red eyes shot open as it sprang up and shot out like a speeding bullet.
"Whoa, f*ck! It's fast!"
The players that were distracting the rat immediately scattered.
"Don't stick! Spread out!" Qin Guan shouted as he dashed away.
"We're spreading out!"
"Split up!" players running haphazardly in all directions shouted out.
"What the hell, why is it charging at—" A player was pounced on by the giant rat, launched into the air, and vanished in a flash of white light.
"Run! Run quickly!" Players spectating from the edge of the ruins shouted in support.
"F*ck! F*ck! Don't attract the rat this way! Run into the distance!"
The escaping players wanted to curse, but the rat was really just too quick. These players couldn't afford to be distracted and instead focused on using their lives as a relay, leading the rat in the opposite direction.
After several players were consecutively slaughtered, the team finally managed to lure the rate far enough, leaving a clear path for Give Me Medicine to do his quest.
Without needing a reminder, Give Me Medicine immediately activated the "Basic Wind Manipulation" he had recently unlocked and shot forward like an arrow.
"Damn, that speed! With wings, he could probably fly, right?" a player responsible for safeguarding his friend's belongings exclaimed enviously.
"It's indeed fast, but unfortunately, only lasts for eight seconds," Blossoming Strokes explained. "After the skill ends, there's a 15-second weakness period where speed decreases by 30%. So, he can't rush out in one burst."
"That's still pretty awesome," another player beside her remarked. "My friend wants to advance to a knight, and the skill he activates after leveling up is 'Basic Battle Roar.' Considering the base strength of the undead, the enhancement isn't that significant, and the weakness period lasts a full 30 seconds.
"At least Battle Roar doesn't reduce strength during the weakness period, though; just that it can't be activated again. In the later stages, with equipment that can increase rage value, you can maintain the skill for 30 seconds straight, making it more practical than the wanderer class's Wind Manipulation."
—In order to facilitate players adapting the class system, Yang Qiu displayed the minimal amount of mental power consumed when activating a player's skill rune as a blue bar/rage bar on their personal panel. Evidently, the players readily accepted this method without any objection.
"My friend said the same, so he insists on grinding knight reputation and not switching to a wanderer class." The first player nodded in agreement. "Hey Blossom, what effect does Beginner Meditation of the mage class have?"
.
Blossoming Strokes, who had just been talking confidently, suddenly fell silent, and her jaw dropped so low it touched her clavicle.
First player: "??"
"Hey, don't poke at someone's sore spot. Blossom tried advancing to the mage class last night with Entropy and failed." The player beside poked the first player's arm. "Their job advancement is different for us wanderers. They can't ask others for help."
"That's harsh." The first player clicked his tongue. "Luckily, I'm grinding wanderer reputation."
"What's so lucky about that? Think about how few players will be able to play as supports in the future if even Blossom gets stuck during the advancement," said the second player. "There are fewer people playing support roles in most traditional games since it isn't that satisfying, but in this game, mage class supports can fight too. There will be a scarcity of healers, and we'll have to form parties based on DPS."
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