Plucking the odd bluish white herb with red stripes from the densely yellow-flowered bush, MoonKnight looked at the contents he had. After counting them twice, he passed them to his white-haired partner to confirm the quantity.
Having one more was fine but having one less wasn't. Not the worst thing that could happen to them, but still something that they would like to avoid unnecessary running around.
"Did we get them all?" MoonKnight asked as he looked at WhiteRabbit counting them, his gaze slowly went to the floating white name tag of his partner.
[White Rabbit Lvl 3]
We were lucky to encounter a den of slimes and a weak desert worm. With this, we should be at least in the top 10. Moonknight's thoughts came to an abrupt halt as White Rabbit answered his question with a beaming smile.
"I think we got a few extras."
Nodding at her words, MoonKnight then looked at the surrounding scenery, mostly at the empty wasteland at the far end that seemed more ominous the more he gazed at it. And then, slowly retracting his gaze as he pondered when he would be able to go to explore that area, he turned back to White Rabbit, "Let's get back then."
It was already 2 hours past noon, and as the duo crossed the empty wasteland, the roads, the main city gate, the external market, the central market and finally reached closer to the eastern part of the city, a little three blocks south side, they found themselves back at the front of the same shop that they had visited before.
Though unlike last time, the street was now filled with more than a dozen players standing in front of the shop's gate. Some curiously scanned the shop from outside, while a few more stood in front of the shop's gate.
I guess the news about this weapon shop has spread rather fast. MoonKnight concluded before moving closer to the shop, carrying the items with him, and a little bit of pride in knowing that they were closer to the shop's receptionist than the other players.
But as the distance between the duo and the shop reduced to less than 20 meters, they felt the strange atmosphere around the shop. The players who were far away from the shop were carrying an irate expression on their faces, observing the ones near the gate with a narrowed look. Discussions were being discussed and debates were being debated. It was quite an abnormal situation, akin to a calm before the storm.
"Halt!" (Youngkidseven Lvl 2)
As the duo wondered what exactly was going on, their steps came to an abrupt stop when about a dozen men stood in front of them. Each of them wore a nasty expression as if they were looking at a prey that they were going to hunt, their eyes scanned MoonKnight once, and White Rabbit about a few more times, lusting more with each subsequent second passed.
The one at the forefront, a player named [Youngkidseven], moved a step forward, observed Moonknight for a few seconds before speaking,
"You don't have permission to enter. From now on, the will take control of this shop. If you want to buy anything from here, you have to pay 10 copper to us first!"
It was a ridiculous demand. A thug like demand… but then again, this game wasn't like the others. There was no safe zone here, no police or guards other than those present near the city gates. So while it is indeed immoral to hijack a shop that everyone would come to, unless there is a force that can topple these players, this shop was pretty much theirs to be owned.
While the players can simply combine their power to take over the thugs, the problem wasn't these dozen thugs but the infamous whose boss, a gang leader with more than 100 men to spare. If you end up being their target, and these lunatics decide to kill you until you leave the game, there is little you can do on your own. And obviously, the smarter choice would be to wait and watch rather than to be a hero whom people will briefly support until he starts losing everything, becoming a laughing stock. Or perhaps an object of pity.
"What should we do now?" White Rabbit spoke with a troubled expression. They had worked hard to collect the herbs and were on their way to finish the quest, and perhaps gain even more quests subsequently. But now, with this unwanted trouble in their path, all those dreams started drifting away from reality even more. She observed Moonknight wondering what path they should take, her eyes looking at the calculating expression he was making.
Is it really going to be it? There doesn't seem to be any response from the shop. Under normal circumstances, the shopkeeper should do something given that this could be really bad for business. Or perhaps NPCs won't take any charge of what happens between the players? Moonknight questioned the current situation for a few seconds before deciding to choose a wait-and-watch approach.
"Let's go. We shall come back when there are more people collected here, or at least when our levels are high," he spoke after a quick calculation. While it may delay things for a few hours, or perhaps more, it is better to catch the attention of these thugs and avoid unnecessary trouble. All the more obvious a decision since they may even lose all their items and levels if they get on their wrong side.
Turning around, they bravely prepared to run away from this stupidity. But as luck would have it, it didn't seem like they were getting out of this idiocy that easily.
"Are you guys going to leave just like that?" (Antler Lvl 5)
A bulky square-faced man, who was neither too muscular nor too fatty, wearing iron armour and carrying dual iron daggers tied to his waist, stood menacingly in front of the duo. His short blonde hair was pretty much noticeable amongst the brown and black haired players, and his golden eyes, carrying a glint of lust in them, observed White Rabbit with a rather distasteful look.
"??" MoonKnight's eyes constricted at that man, recalling a few things he had heard from the gaming community. Although there were a few differences, that 'Avatar' along with that name [Antler] was quite infamous among the gaming community.
The Rookie Crusher. Moonknight mumbled in a low breath, before his eyes began looking for an exit to run away to. Though, as the thugs surrounded the duo, all directions now carried minimal survival probabilities.
"What do you want?" Gripping the dagger tightly in his hand, and preparing for any sudden attack, Moonknight asked in a raised voice. He understood what they wanted, and knew what they planned. So the best thing he could do right now was to buy time, enough to make a plan to get out of this mess, if at all possible.
"Give us 50 copper both of you along with your weapons and we will let you go. Else…" Antler, the Rookie Crushur, spoke with the same lustful glint. His eyes barely left White Rabbit's breasts, enough to creep out White Rabbit and take a step behind Moonknight. Even those who were observing from afar felt disgusted at this man, who didn't bother to hide his expression at all.
Moonknight saw this and pondered the best course of action. He was 90% sure that he was going to kill this man here, while the rest 10% were focused on finding a chance where he could at least help Rabbit to escape. Even if he were to sacrifice himself, it wouldn't be as much of a loss if at least one of them were to escape from here.
Though before he could even begin to say the next few words he had carefully selected, the feminine voice behind him roared out in frustration.
"You fuckers!! Are you shitting crazy?!! Do you think we are your ducking slaves or something?!! You creepy son of a b*tch who the fuck are you to monopolise that shop?!! Give me the dagger, Moon. I will slit his throat and gouge out those disgusting eyes by myself!!"
Her disgust had probably reached over the limit she could bear. And the sweet persona that she usually carried was wiped away by a cold, fierce and wild attitude that wanted nothing more than blood and war. Moonknight, hearing those words, was first alarmed, especially given the situation they were in. But then he simply sighed. He knew her temper very well. And even though it wasn't the best of the outcomes, they can't back down from a fight anymore.
"You bi-!!!" ( Antler Lvl 5)
-Critical Hit! Debuff Bleeding has been randomly applied!
"Mind your manners in front of the lady," Moonknight spoke in a graceful tone, his dagger planted into Antler's neck, faster than anyone could react, and more lethal than anyone could have predicted. True that the Rookie Crusher was strong, perhaps experienced in many cases, but neither MoonKnight nor White Rabbit were a rookie. They were veterans who had spent half of their lives playing games and trying to reach perfection in as many of them as possible. For them, the only problem was to adjust the near-realistic features of this game, otherwise running away from these half-baked idiots wouldn't have been a problem either.
-Thud!
Antler's body fell on his knees, and his health dropped to half, he could still look around and perhaps even move for a counterattack. But once again, the near-realistic features of this game were making it hard for his brain to analyse the situation he was in. And the moments it took for him to recalibrate his brain, another strike came at the exact same spot, killing his avatar as it turned into pixels before his body was erased completely.
-Critical Hit!
[You have killed a Player (Antler Lvl 4)]
[You have received +500 Exp]
[You have Levelled Up!]
[+1 Skill Points]
[+2 Stat Points]
[Your Karma has decreased by 100!]
[Your total Karma (-100) has reached a negative value!]
[Your drop rate has increased by 10%]
[Clear your Karma by doing Temple Quests at a nearby ]
The crisp sound of notifications did not blind MoonKnight to his situation. He scanned the dozen players that had the duo surrounded, ready to pound at them at a moment's notice. While they can surely take a few of them out, it is probably impossible to defeat them or run away at this moment. They neither had the items, nor the skills to escape this situation.
"Sorry, Rabbit. It seems like I got us into trouble again." Moonknight chuckled as he scratched the back of his head before taking a steady stance to stab anyone who would approach them.
"It's okay. I would have done it, if not for you." White Rabbit answered with a refreshed smile, unbothered by the situation they were in, or the fact that they were about to lose some of the materials and the hard-earned levels they worked for the entire morning. It was totally unfair, but that's also the fun of multiplayer games.
It didn't take long before one of them moved closer to the white rabbit. A downward slash from a wooden sword, aimed at her head. Pretty easy to predict, pretty easy to dodge.
White Rabbit had put most of her extra attribute points in agility, making it easy for her to observe and dodge the incoming attack before delivering a swift kick to the stomach of the attacker. It barely reduced a few per cent of his HP but it was enough to push him back a few steps.
On Moonknight's side, two players rushed to kill him. But before they could make an impact, a voice that was neither too loud nor too low, echoed in the entire street.
"When did this city become a lawless zone?"
There seemed to be nothing special about this voice. It was averagely masculine, a bit low-pitched, carrying a little bit of enthusiasm in it. It felt quite cool, but nothing out of the ordinary. Yet somehow, it was impactful.
It stopped everyone's movement, halting the attackers' attack and the defenders' defence. Making people hold their breath for a few seconds, urging them to find the source of the voice.
When tracing the origin of the voice, people turned towards the north, where a red-haired man, wearing a similar red leather coat with a scaly pattern on it, was walking towards them. Carrying half a dozen books in his arms, he walked slowly, while his fiery ember eyes observed and analysed the players that were causing the commotion on the street.
[??? Lvl ???]
His name couldn't be seen.
His level couldn't be seen.
The black coloured text, which denoted overwhelming strength, stood out like a black coloured spot on a white canvas. It instilled fear in the onlookers as they subconsciously took a step back, their eyes didn't dare to look away from this guy, this animosity that had just appeared out of nowhere, his purpose unknown.
Before anyone could understand the situation, the presence of that red-haired NPC was erased, his figure vanished in an instant. And in the next brief second, he appeared again, standing between MoonKnight and White Rabbit, his calm expression containing the same smile as before.
When did he?!!! Moonknight and White Rabbit were taken aback, their body failed to react to the fast movements of the red-haired NPC. The NPC looked at the duo with a kind smile before speaking,
"My name is Falcon. It was truly amazing to see such a gentleman in today's age. Can you hold this for me, please?" (Falcon)
Passing on the books to MoonKnight, he then looked at the thugs who had surrounded them.
Falcon?! Isn't that the name of the weapon shop?!! White Rabbit recalled as she formed a subtle connection between the man and the shop. Her eyes didn't leave the NPC as he simply sighed before continuing,
"You all seem like good kids."
-Thud! Thud! Thud!
All the surrounding players fell on their knees, as if something heavy was holding them down to the ground. The pressure made some of them nauseous while the others were barely holding on to their consciousness.
"Don't do anything stupid like this. I am kind, so I will forgive your naivety this once, but if you try to do this again, trust me, I will make sure that you can't even enter this city again." Falcon spoke with the same kind and honest smile, but his words and actions felt far more monstrous than the ones that the players had encountered until now.
They understood that it was a warning. A warning from someone they can't afford to go against.
-Click!
With the click of his fingers, Falcon released the pressure before looking at the duo. Horrifying them for a few seconds as they questioned his motive, they saw him moving his hands towards their head… and patting them lightly.
"Come with me. I'll give you a treat for the commotion that you have faced right now. Can't lose valuable customers, can we?" Falcon chuckled lightly before moving towards the shop's door, his back seemingly felt wider than it was.
…
[Forum]
[Anonymous3: Hey, have you seen that weapon shop in Mirag City? I heard it sells basic weapons.]
[Anonymous7: Yeah, though I couldn't go there because of those Stroma bastards. Sobs]
[Anonymous21: Ah! I just saw them getting defeated by a powerful NPC. ]
[Anonymous31: Hmmm? Who are those players with him? Did they get any quests?]
[Lullaby001: Hey! Did you guys know? There is a shop in the Border Town, the Everyday Array Shop that sells special items. Damn! I am Jelly! ]
[IamZero0191: I heard the NPCs were two cute girls with witch outfits. Leena and Anna. I think they were from the trailer.]
[LeenaFan1: We are creating a fan site for Leena and Anna! Donations are welcome!]
[Anonymous49: Did anyone find any rare or unique quests? Any hints on the mainstream quest?]
[IamZero0191: Don't know. Though from what I have heard, there are a few clues regarding that. Something about Brothers of Salvation. I think it's related to a group of strong NPCs.]
[Anonymous01: I have also heard a few NPCs talking about them. I think the names were Adam Wesker and Neptune.]
[Anonymous 03: O.o]
[IamZeroa0191: I think we might need to wait for the guilds to find out more about them. Especially who is keen on finding out about the lore.]
[Anonymous01: Waiting!]
[Anonymous49: Waiting!]
[Anonymous03: Waiting!]