Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Simple and Crude, but Satisfying
No matter how hard Lone Ranger wracked his brain, he could never guess that some people’s Talents were so versatile they were practically walking bugs in a game, able to pull off new tricks in every dungeon.
Likewise, he couldn’t possibly fathom that Duan Fei could casually change names—and could even change the names of those around him.
All he saw was Duan Fei pat him on the shoulder, and then the air around them suddenly grew cold.
Xuanxiao Mountain was shrouded in mist, but the temperature wasn’t low; it felt like it was around 25 degrees Celsius.
But now, Lone Ranger felt the surrounding temperature plummeting. A frigid wind seemed to seep through his throat and into his very bones, making his voice tremble from the cold.
Exhaling a puff of white mist, Lone Ranger stared wide-eyed at Duan Fei. "What did you do? Are you controlling the monster talk now? Why can you control it? What kind of special Skill do you have?"
Pressing his palms together, Duan Fei gave a mysterious smile, like an elegant gentleman, and said calmly, "The truth is hidden in the details. You know the same things I do; you just lack the insight to see the details."
"What do you mean?"
"It doesn’t really mean anything. You were just acting all high and mighty for a while, and if I don’t give some of it back, I won’t feel satisfied."
Lone Ranger nearly ground his teeth to dust.
Playing with this bastard Duan Someone, you always had to be prepared for your blood pressure to skyrocket.
However, the next development left him no time to worry about Duan Someone.
A Golden Ball landed in front of him, rolled a few times, and then stopped.
Then, orderly patterns appeared on the Golden Ball’s surface. The entire orb doubled in size before their eyes, and a great deal of red light seeped out from the cracks. A Black Iron Gate materialized in front of them.
Although it was only open a crack, a shockingly loud roar echoed from within. A giant, skinless, nearly-rotting hand reached out from the opening, grabbed Lone Ranger, and said, "Found you, Little Fatty."
"I’m not Little Fatty!"
"It’s too late for regrets now. Reflect on your mistakes in the torments of Hell, Little Fatty."
"I told you, I’m not!"
Despite struggling desperately, Lone Ranger was still dragged through the gate by the giant hand. At the same time, Duan Fei changed his name to Jinghong.
This way, after Lone Ranger completed this monster talk, the completion would count for Jinghong.
’This name-changing function is awesome.’
A few minutes later, a large amount of bloody water gushed out from the crack in the gate.
Before Duan Fei could offer a eulogy for Lone Ranger, the heavy gate was forced open from the inside. Covered in blood, Lone Ranger squeezed out from behind it, looking as if he had just crawled out of Hell.
Spitting out a piece of rotten flesh, he sat down wearily beside Duan Fei and snapped, "What are you spacing out for? Heal me."
"Oh."
Quickly casting [Rough Healing Technique] on him, Duan Fei had to use it fifteen times before seeing some color return to Lone Ranger’s face. By then, his own stamina was depleted.
While eating to recover, Duan Fei asked curiously, "What’s behind the gate?"
"You want to know?" Lone Ranger eyed Duan Fei sideways.
"Actually, not really. I was just pretending to be concerned about you, but it seems like it doesn’t matter whether I am or not."
"...Sooner or later, I’m going to kill you."
Although his stomach was full, Lone Ranger forced himself to sit up to recover his stamina, grabbing a bag of jerky and starting to chew on it.
But before he could finish, he saw his shadow begin to twist and warp. A white smile appeared on the normally black silhouette—it looked somewhat friendly, but mostly just creepy.
Staring at the shadow, Lone Ranger struggled to swallow the jerky in his mouth, his face twisting as he spoke. "What is this? Aren’t you guys triggering monster talks a little too fast!"
Recalling Little Fatty’s cowardly demeanor, Duan Fei nodded and said, "We have a lot of talented people on our team."
"You mean ’talented’ in the opposite sense! To attract the next monster talk this quickly, just how much of a coward is he?"
"Just say it, isn’t he talented?"
"...You just wait, Duan Someone."
Gobbling down the jerky in his mouth with a swig of his drink, Lone Ranger bolted out the door to find a way to deal with his shadow.
After changing Lone Ranger’s name, Duan Fei thought for a moment and then called Jack.
"I’ve got some downtime now. Can you recommend a movie?"
"I don’t know what your situation is over there, but I feel like you’re more suited to being a Demon’s idol. It’s not a horror movie, but I think *The Godfather* would suit you right now."
"Done. That’s the one."
He used Little Fatty to attract a monster talk, transferred it to Lone Ranger by changing names, and then, just before Lone Ranger was about to complete it, changed his name to Jinghong to farm completions for him.
Jinghong had to run around with the Monster Talk Trap - Little Fatty, Bald Qiang and Jack analyzed where the monster talks were most concentrated, and Duan Fei stayed behind to restore Lone Ranger’s health. The whole team operated with perfect efficiency, making Duan Fei feel like a natural-born manager.
’Freeloading—a technique only master players can grasp. I’ve pretty much figured it out.’
Just as Lone Ranger completed his ninth monster talk and was preparing to tackle the tenth, Duan Fei’s phone suddenly rang.
He answered, and an old, cold voice spoke from the phone: "Duan Someone 2, hello. I am Saw. Lone Ranger is in my hands."
"Little Fatty, that’s not a funny joke."
"Duan Someone 2, we are both intelligent men. You should be able to realize that Little Fatty lacks the courage to play this game."
His smile vanishing, Duan Fei asked seriously, "So, you’re really Saw? You were actually materialized from a horror movie by the Evil God?"
"Yes. Your frequent elimination of monster talks has attracted the attention of the producer of horror films, the director of slasher flicks, the untalented yet unrecognized Actor, and the bullshit-spewing screenwriter... What a crappy name this damn Evil God has! Can’t He change it?"
"Right? I think His name is super lame too! Hey, we seem to have a lot in common. Maybe we can..."
Duan Fei was just making small talk, trying to get on his good side and see if he could trick some information out of him.
To his surprise, Saw on the other end went silent for a moment before saying, "Do you know about the cards?"
"...I do. You know about them too, as an NPC?"
"An NPC... Yes, I am an NPC, and I know of their existence. The cards not only grant you a certain amount of reputation and some Skills, but they also allow you to contact other NPCs and refresh their identities. When necessary, you can even use a card to summon them to your side."
Duan Fei fell silent, listening intently.
Saw wouldn’t say something for no reason. He sensed that this NPC summoned by the Evil God seemed to have a consciousness of his own and was plotting something.
After a brief pause, Saw continued, "I will give you a hidden quest. You are all sacrifices for the Evil God, but after all this time, he has failed to claim you. Now, he has decided to act personally. You will face his pursuit and endless harassment from all sorts of monster talks. But if any one of you can survive until dawn, the Evil God will be defeated. When that happens, you will get a card. Choose me, and give me freedom."
"Mm... I understand. But you’ve already captured Lone Ranger, so how am I supposed to..."
"What reward do you want?"
"It’s so convenient dealing with smart people. A full set of legendary Equipment, mythical Skills, and anything else you can think of, whether I’ve heard of it or not. Don’t worry, I can handle it."
"In your dreams. I only have one excellent-grade blue ring. Take it. Of course, if you succeed, I’ll give you an even better reward."
Although Duan Fei was a little annoyed that it was only blue, when the ring appeared out of thin air, he saw its Attributes and felt like it was tailor-made for him.
+5 Spirit when equipped.
Simple and crude, but damn effective!
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