Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Silver Moon and No Smile both made their way over to the set of coordinates Ye Xiaowu had given them. Both men had ulterior motives, and neither spoke a word in that moment.
No Smile never imagined that he would be given the heavy responsibility of dealing the fatal blow on Thousand Miles Drunk. Even though he had often fantasized about such a scenario, when the opportunity was presented before him now, the first thought he had was not to go for it but cower, instead. All he could think right now was being forced to do something he had no ability of achieving. Could I really end Thousand Miles Drunk so easily? No Smile was wracked with doubts. I must ensure that I have a clear idea of the situation. I’ll make a run for it the moment I sense even the slightest thing off.
Silver Moon, who would not be facing Thousand Miles Drunk directly, being the support and all, was also considering what to do if the plan failed. No Smile was a Thief, which meant that Thousand Miles Drunk would be unable to give chase to him. This equated to Silver Moon himself meeting with the calamity that was Thousand Miles Drunk. That guy’s all-Agility build could easily catch up to his character. I must get a clear read of what’s happening, and I’ll need to make preparations for even the slightest issue, or else, there’s no way that I can make my escape.
Both made their decisions to retreat at the drop of a hat, and the expressions on these two men relaxed by quite a bit, and they each took the time to look at the person beside them at this moment. No Smile was already extremely disgruntled with Silver Moon, while Silver Moon figured that he would need No Smile and Thousand Miles Drunk to be entangled in combat for him to escape. As a result, the expression he was showing right now was beyond cordial.
“Brother No Smile, the time for your name to skyrocket into fame is here! Once you stab Thousand Miles Drunk to death, I’ll get on the forums and help you spread the word far and wide. With you taking the lead at that time, we shall have our comeback together,” Silver Moon said.
No Smile mentally spat in response. Sure enough, this rascal intends to treat me as disposable; it’s apparent with his words here that he’s egging me on to duke it out with Thousand Miles Drunk to death. Even with this thought in mind, he maintained a jovial expression as he laughed. “There’s no need for you to be too humble. This will all depend on the increase of stats from your King’s Command. You must keep close to me; in case that my one attack doesn’t prove to be fatal, you’ll have step up and deal a slash of your own.”
Silver Moon mentally gulped when he heard this and ascertained that No Smile was just as shrewd as he was. It’s as if he noticed my underlying intention, and his reply tells me that I must put an effort and risk my life, too.
“Ha ha ha…” Silver Moon did not reveal anything on the surface, laughing as he said, “By your words, it appears as if we are now two ants on a piece of string, advancing and retreating together. It’s such a pity that I can’t be in Stealth; revealing our presence too early will instead alert Thousand Miles Drunk, and that won’t be good.”
“Oh? Hearing you say that gives me a pretty good idea,” No Smile said.
“What idea?” Silver Moon was suspicious.
“Thousand Miles Drunk and your enmity runs deep, so he’s bound to slay you the moment he sees you, right?” No Smile asked.
“What do you mean?”
“If you reveal yourself while we’re engaging in combat, I believe that you’ll be able to divert a good portion of his attention, and this will make it easier for me to get closer to him, which then translates to us having an easier time succeeding; don’t you think so?” No Smile was flashing him the brightest smile.
“No, that’s no good… The speed at which Thousand Miles Drunk attacks is frighteningly fast. Plus, he has the Blink spell. If I show myself, there’s a high chance of him Blinking right over to me and insta-killing me, barely giving us even a second to react between. Even though it’s nothing for me to lose a level, since I’m only in my 30s, the problem is that not only will we fail to divert his attention, my death also means that the King’s Command buff will be lost. Won’t I just end up implicating brother No Smile?” Silver Moon appealed.
“Brother Silver Moon, you’ve forgotten that there are others ambushing Thousand Miles Drunk; we’ve gotta consider the mana expenditure Thousand Miles Drunk will incur when he takes on these people as well. He’s is a Mage with an all-Agility build, so he doesn’t really have a lot of mana to begin with. The way I see it, by the time it’s our turn to attack, he should have already used up most of his mana, so how will he be able to cast Blink or any damage spells by the time he’s facing us?” No Smile said.
“Bro, we can’t use common sense when it comes to Thousand Miles Drunk,” Silver Moon refuted somberly. “Who knows if he even uses his spells to take those people down? From what I know, he did not use any spells when he was hunting down brother No Smile back then.”
“Ha ha! That’s when everyone still had low levels. Besides, I’m just an insignificant character who hardly qualifies as an expert, so of course I will hardly be worth using his spells on. But that was then, and now is now; Brother Silver Moon has also witnessed Broken Water Arrow’s expertise first hand, yeah? There’s no way Thousand Miles Drunk can take care of him as easily as how he’s slain me,” No Smile reasoned.
“Oh, no, no, no. Look here, bro…”
The two continued along the way speaking in this ambiguous fashion. While they appeared to be harmonious on the surface, their conversation was tinged with sarcasm and ridicule, even going as far as to resort to personal attacks. Both had the same line of thought: I’ll be the one getting any advantage, you can go to hell! In the end, they were equally matched, and the ‘harmonious’ discussion they had stuck in a stalemate even when they reached the location, which was really quite a solid effort for these two men of eloquence.
“This place…” The clandestine battle between the two came to a standstill once the two reached the location, and they began to observe their surroundings. No Smile walked all around and discovered that the Trade Exchange was just 200 meters away from the street entrance, and that was a safe zone. No Smile turned around and saw that Silver Moon was still on the other end of the street, looking everywhere around him. He hurried over to call him, pointing to the street entrance as he spoke with a straight face. “Bro, let’s be done with the jokes. The Trade Exchange is right over there. When everything comes to a head, leave me be if you realize that things have gone awry. Hurry up and head in that direction, and I’ll try my best to stall Thousand Miles Drunk.”
Silver Moon froze up, and he promptly seized both of No Smile’s hands tight. “Bro, not another word.”
No Smile pulled one of his hand out and patted Silver Moon on his back. “With your level, I reckon that you won’t have the heart to carry on playing if you lose more levels, so you gotta protect that.”
“By your words, I can’t ever lose another level at any rate.” Silver Moon nodded vigorously.
“Yes!” No Smile nodded as well before looking all around them. “I wonder if the other ambushers are here now…”
“Let’s ask!” Silver Moon said as he sent a message to Ye Xiaowu, telling him that they had reached the location but did not see any of the other ambushers.
“He he! Looks like they’ve concealed themselves very well. Are you two unable to sniff out where they are hiding?” Ye Xiaowu asked.
“Where are they?” Silver Moon was confused.
“Where are the two of you positioned, exactly?” Ye Xiaowu asked.
“We’re standing right by the corner of the T-Junction at the set of coordinates you’ve given us,” Silver Moon answered.
“Look over to the southeast,” Ye Xiaowu instructed.
Silver Moon turned in that direction. “What am I looking at?”
“What do you see?” Ye Xiaowu asked.
Silver Moon came to a realization. “Those two stalls in that street corner?”
“That’s right!” Ye Xiaowu said.
Silver Moon tugged at No Smile, pointing to the two players with their stalls set up over yonder.
“One of us?” No Smile asked.
Silver Moon nodded.
“Those two… Aren’t even level 40!” No Smile knitted his eyebrows.
Silver Moon posed this question to Ye Xiaowu, and the man replied politely, “You’re not level 40, either, but you’re also an important character.”
Silver Moon instantly understood that level was not the key here. What should really matter was that the two probably possessed some sort of unique skill. Just like his King’s Command, and No Smile’s Vanish, ordinary players would not have them, so these ambushers they are working with must have gotten skills through special means as well.
It was unknown just how powerful the skills were, but it should be the fundamental fact that their existence was outside the knowledge of the average players, which was why players would inevitably be at a loss on what to do when they suddenly stumbled upon it. Everyone had plenty of experience dealing with skills like Cyclone, Backstab, and Repeating Fireballs, but what would happen when they came across a skill they did not have complete understanding of?
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All of a sudden, Silver Moon received a huge boost of confidence. He originally thought that those other players used to encircle Thousand Miles Drunk for this plan would be mere cannon fodders, but now it looked as if each one of them had certain tricks up their sleeves, and Thousand Miles Drunk would be left spinning once each of them used their unique skills before finally letting him and No Smile deal the killing blow. This plan is really wonderful!
“Anyone else aside from the two there?” Silver Moon asked again.
“You guys can’t see the Stealthed Thief, and the others will pass by when the time comes,” Ye Xiaowu said.
“I see. You’ve gotten the timing down pat, huh?” Silver Moon asked.
“Having a handle of the situation and terrain and the timing will naturally sync up. Broken Water Arrow is still searching for Thousand Miles Drunk’s whereabouts, so you two should hide yourselves first. Don’t attract anyone’s attention,” Ye Xiaowu informed.
“No problem!” Silver Moon and No Smile were no amateurs in this aspect. When Silver Moon relayed to him what Ye Xiaowu had said, he also felt his confidence surge. He originally thought that everyone was going to brave their deaths to succeed in this attempt, but when he realized just how thorough this plan was, his sense of security increased as well.
The two men each tried their best to blend into their surroundings, patiently waiting for the time to pass. Just thinking of them having the chance to slay their nemesis, Thousand Miles Drunk, left the two of them feeling anxious and excited that even the back of their hands started sweating.
“Take note!” It was unclear how long had passed when the two suddenly received a message from Ye Xiaowu. It was like the arrival of their adversary as Silver Moon and No Smile each clutched their weapons, hurriedly replying, “Which direction?”
With the various roads and alleys leading to the street that they were on, the two men needed to know which path Thousand Miles Drunk was taking. In the end, just as they fired off their query, they saw a whole bunch of players barreling out from various roads. It was unclear what they were here for, but they were apparently heading toward the junction that the two of them were currently positioned.
“F*ck! Is this how they would ‘pass by’!” Silver Moon was seething, feeling that these players were all too unreasonable. Was the plan not for them to pretend they were just pedestrians? Running so energetically like that was far too conspicuous! It was far too different from those two players who had set their stalls up. It would be a huge problem if the quality of these players were too low. Why, back in the days when I was guild leader…
Silver Moon’s thoughts accidentally wandered too far, while the players that came trampling along began looking all around them once they reached the junction, a display that was utterly overt that even Silver Moon could not stand it. Though he felt that he should not expose his hiding spot beforehand, seeing these people do things that made it seem as if an entire trap was about to be sprung here… What was the point of him hiding so well?
Silver Moon thought to raise his hand and signal to these players before him to make less of a scene. Waiting until the person was facing his direction, Silver Moon moved to gesticulate when he caught sight of that person’s face. It was as if his throat had automatically seized up, as he twisted his head away in the last second as he wondered to himself, WHY IS HE HERE‽
This ‘he’ that Silver Moon was talking about was just another average player, but what surprised him was for this person to have been a comrade of his old Past Deeds in Yueye City.
If this person saw Silver Moon, he would surely call for his head on a spike. This was when he understood a little of the pain Ye Xiaowu had undergone for this plan; it was no wonder that he kept feeling as if his participation in this plan was so minute. It turned out that it was because there were such other players involved, and it would truly be rather troublesome if they met. Limiting his involvement to just this one attack at such a crucial moment was clearly the best choice here.
With such a thought, Silver Moon adopted the mentality to consider the overall situation, pretending to be a person passing by as he sought to distance himself from that man. Pretending was something Silver Moon was very adept at by now.
Sure enough, the player did not recognize him. Rejoicing this fact internally, Silver Moon thought to get No Smile to remind these people to be less conspicuous with their action in his stead or to look for the two players with their stalls.
After a round of deliberation, Silver Moon felt that it might be a little too obvious to get No Smile and figured it would be easier to just privately relay this to the players pretending to hawk their wares. In the end, when his eyes went over to those two players, he instead found them panicking when they witnessed that pack of players gushing into the junction. In that moment, the two were packing their items and taking down their stalls while they looked as if they would leave.
“Is Thousand Miles Drunk about appear, so they are acting this way?” Silver Moon’s eyes searched all around him, yet he was unable to spot that figure which inspired great fear in him.
At this point, the two players had finished packing everything and was ready to leave. That was when Silver Moon suddenly sensed something was off and was about to send a message to inquire about it when he received No Smile’s message. “I’m in trouble! I saw my adversary!”
“Your adversary?” Silver Moon was confused.
“July from Yunduan City. I have no idea why she came all the way here!” No Smile said.
Silver Moon was startled. He chanced upon his ex-comrade from Past Deeds whom he now had enmity with, and No Smile met the woman whom he had a huge fallout. Meanwhile, those two players with their stalls had run off on their own…
“Oh, crap! Could this have been a trap!?” Silver Moon replied.
“What?”
“I’ve met my enemy as well! Plus, those two players with their stalls set up in the distance has left. Where are you now?” Silver Moon asked.
“I’m Stealthed,” No Smile replied.
Silver Moon was on the verge of tears, for with a lift of his eyes, he spotted another former comrade of his from the eradicated Past Deeds. Seeing twice at one go like this, it could not be mere coincidence anymore, right? These people all looked to be searching for something or someone… Could it be me? No Smile’s enemies have appeared as well, so are they actually searching for No Smile? No Smile has Stealth, and even if he runs, he’ll be fast enough to escape, but what about me? Besides, my enemies are far scarier than his! Old comrades, old foes, how many people will that be combined? Are all of them here already?
Right now, Silver Moon dared not to even take another look at these players arriving at the junction. He pretended to be a passerby as he unhurriedly went his way. Even though he deeply wished to flee from this area, he knew deep down that he could not go about it urgently.
“Silver Moon, where do you think you’re going?” Silver Moon heard this question being shouted, and his face went white as sheet. As he had expected; the moment this was shouted, every player present was all stirred and devoted their attention right on to him; their eyes were fixed right on the player who was passing by.
Was it No Smile, that *ssh*l*? Silver Moon was unable to discern whose voice it was, but he immediately thought that it could perhaps be No Smile intentionally shouting this in order to divert everyone’s attention away, so he would have the chance to slip away. In the end, before that notion cemented in his mind, he immediately heard another cry out. “No Smile, don’t you Stealth away!”
Trap! It’s definitely a premeditated trap! It was in this instant when Silver Moon no longer suspected anything else. Indubitably, this was a big trap set up for No Smile and him. Silver Moon pulled out his friends list in his rage and demanded an answer from Ye Xiaowu. “What’s the meaning of this? Why did you sell us out?”
Ye Xiaowu was the one who had given them this set of coordinates, and the entire ambush plan was strategized by him as well. At this point, Silver Moon finally understood that there was no ambush waiting for Thousand Miles Drunk right from the start, but there was an encirclement laid here, and its targets were for No Smile and him.
However, Silver Moon could not make sense of things. Neither he nor No Smile had any animosity with Ye Xiaowu, so why would that man need to come up with such a plan? It was Ye Xiaowu who had pulled him out from the figurative fire before, yet he was also the one who pushed him back into it for later; just what exactly was going on?
Silver Moon’s message went out like a sinking stone in the ocean; he received no reply. At the moment, he no longer dared to maintain his composure, as while it was unknown who had shouted before, it caused all those ex-comrades of his to inspect all the players leaving the area. It would be really strange if they would fail to identify him in such a scenario. In fact, Silver Moon already saw two players making their way to him. With a quick sweep of his surroundings, Silver Moon raised his sword, bestowed a shower of golden light on himself, before making a break for it.
“It’s Silver Moon; he’s here!” These players knew what Silver Moon’s King’s Command looked like when activated, so they immediately recognized him the moment he swathed himself in that golden light. A good number of players instantly turned in this direction and pounced on their target.
With that 30%-stat increase from single targeting himself with King’s Command, and the fact that Silver Moon had his Torc of Leadership, which let him completely utilize King’s Blade to its fullest potential once more, his sword’s damage was nothing to scoff at. Silver Moon slashed at the two players that had come forward to obstruct his path as he burst forth. He no longer had any other options right now. He needed to make it to the Trade Exchange, which was just 200 meters away…
It was No Smile who had pointed it out to him while exchanging verbal spats as they were making their way over. Silver Moon did not really believe that the guy would be so kind as to lure out an escape route for him, but at the moment, he was truly left with no choice.
Meanwhile, No Smile’s situation was indeed far better than Silver Moon’s. He was in no hurry to reveal himself since he had the advantage of Stealth, and he had been secretly watching Silver Moon’s action this whole time.
Once he saw Silver Moon began his move to the Trade Exchange, No Smile took the route he had picked out before…
Indeed, No Smile had not pointed out the Trade Exchange to Silver Moon out of the kindness of his heart. Once everything went south, he had already expected Silver Moon to seek temporary shelter in the Trade Exchange building, which he had previously learned the location of. This was as good as letting No Smile know what everyone would proceed to do as the angry mob present would naturally head over in that direction to intercept the man.
All No Smile wanted was to obtain this opening opportunity, but this was originally intended as a countermeasure against Thousand Miles Drunk. He never truly expected for things to turn out like this and for so many opponents to appear in just such a short time. However, no matter who the enemy was or how many there were, Silver Moon ultimately only had that one escape route.
No Smile sighed in relief upon the discovery that more people opted to chase after Silver Moon than to stick around.
Nevertheless, he did not dare to act rashly, for he had already spotted Thousand Miles Drunk appearing on this street.