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Join the ServerShangui’s face darkened as he raised a hand to stop the others. “I… naturally I can’t compare to our teacher, but that doesn’t mean I’m completely useless, does it?”
“Wrong. You are completely useless. In bearing, strategy, magnanimity, courage… you fall short in every way.” I didn’t spare his feelings or give him a friendly face. After all, if I could sow discord, I wouldn’t miss the chance to stir up internal strife in Sword Sweeping the World. “At least Jiangu doesn’t use such stupid pick-up lines.”
I could see Shangui struggling to suppress his anger. His hand gripping his staff trembled incessantly. At this point, just the slightest provocation would make him order his men to surround and kill me.
“If this is someone’s honey trap, then tell them they almost succeeded.” Shangui took a deep breath and finally managed to maintain his composure. He knew that if he attacked, he would truly lose in terms of bearing.
Honey trap? This guy sure has a vivid imagination.
“Think what you will…” I waved my hand dismissively. “Now move aside, will you? I’m about to log off. Don’t you dare keep me from sightseeing.”
“Add me as a friend. Even if it’s a honey trap, don’t expect to get something for nothing. At the very least, you have to pay a price.” Shangui still blocked my way.
I really wanted to kick him into the Spider Cave, but unfortunately, even if I did, the instance wouldn’t teleport me into the dungeon realm. Kicking him would be useless; he’d just get stuck at the entrance, and I still wouldn’t be able to get in.
What an annoying mechanic! There’s even a queue to enter an instance!
It seemed this guy was dead set on adding me as a friend and wouldn’t give up until he succeeded. Helpless, I had no choice but to accept his friend request. “Let me make this clear: I’m blocking you right away, so don’t even think about harassing me!”
[You have successfully added Shangui as a friend.]
“Oleander?” Just seeing my name, Shangui looked as if he had been struck by lightning, his face pale with a bitter smile. “You’re Oleander?”
I had no idea what had gotten into him all of a sudden. “That’s right, that’s right! It’s me! Now move aside, okay? If you don’t, watch out or I’ll beat you to a pulp!”
“So… so it really… really is you who has to take this away too… Jiangu…” Shangui’s expression turned vicious, instantly putting me on guard. “Jiangu…”
“If you want to show off your love, go do it somewhere else! Whatever reason you have for calling out Jiangu’s name so affectionately, you should keep your promise and move aside, right?” I weighed my ID in my mind, my expression unfriendly.
“Mm.” Shangui stepped aside from the instance path, his face complicated. “Jiangu… you beat me to it again…”
I pressed confirm, and the scene shifted. I was now standing inside the Spider Nest on Hard difficulty.
Awesome~
It seemed Sword Sweeping the World wasn’t an unbreakable monolith after all. I just hadn’t expected this behemoth to voluntarily expose its wound to me.
Should I tear that wound open?
Nah, I’m not willing to sacrifice my looks…
So, Spider Nest, Hard difficulty, raid begin!
Raid party size: 1!
****
After Shangui left the Spider Nest, it wasn’t long before he re-entered the cave. He had only stepped out to buy some non-tradeable supplies from the shop, but by sheer coincidence, he happened to run into that “Oleander.”
The mention of Oleander reminded him of another matter.
Before logging off, Jiangu had asked him to find someone to destroy a small guild called Gunfire Rose. With Sword Sweeping the World’s strength, crushing a small guild was just a matter of a single order.
“Just assign some warmongering guild ranked 30th or below to wipe them out. After the job is done, grant them access to exchange equipment at the main guild.” Shangui gave the order to his assistant before continuing the boss fight.
In the next 24 hours, no matter what, Sword Sweeping the World had to finish their business related to the Spider Nest. They had already wasted too much time on this instance.
If they cleared it, the lost time would be compensated by the experience and equipment. But if someone else took the perfect clear on Hell difficulty first and caused the instance to close, all their lost time would be utterly wasted, severely disrupting their early-game progression!
All guilds understood this, so they were racing against time, frantically pushing forward. They gathered all their top combat personnel, using every means and method to be the first to figure out the trick to clearing Hard difficulty!
“The intel we have so far is: The first boss requires powerful healing. The second boss, the Spider Queen’s clone, must be attacked with lightning element. The third boss needs ice element… The final boss, the true form of the Spider Queen, needs holy element attacks to deal high damage; all other elements are heavily reduced… But currently, the only holy element skills are Divine Judgment and Holy Light Blessing, both priest skills. How can a priest possibly deal damage…”
Chan Juan was an elite mage from the first squad of Ten Thousand Souls Hall, an instance analyst, and a rare beauty who combined looks and skills.
As a super-guild on par with Sword Sweeping the World, Ten Thousand Souls Hall naturally wouldn’t back down on the Spider Nest matter.
However, it was now 9 AM, not peak online time. So, for both Sword Sweeping the World and Ten Thousand Souls Hall, their main squads could only discuss via chat tools instead of participating in actual combat.
But even without being online, the discussion was still important.
“Maybe, once we log in, we could sacrifice other classes and form a team of 4 priests and warriors to try beating the Spider Queen?” said Jiu Ge, the burly shield warrior who had been the first to stand up for Gunfire Rose back in the day.
“That’s… a makeshift solution at best.” Chan Juan frowned. “Anyway, as long as a player has 0% progress, they can join any instance progress. Since we only have the Spider Queen left, we could replace those three in the party with priests. Sure, the three elites who get replaced will suffer a loss, but at least we can ensure the first-kill reward doesn’t fall into another guild’s hands.”
“You guys keep chatting. I’ve got a call.” Jiu Ge said as he left the video meeting room.
The discussion continued, but it wasn’t long before Jiu Ge logged back in. “Bosses, I’ve got something I need your input on…”
“What is it?”
“Sword Sweeping the World has launched an attack on Gunfire Rose. The members of Gunfire Rose who were online at this time have been wiped out, all trapped at the respawn point, too afraid to go anywhere.” Jiu Ge explained.
“Gunfire Rose?” Chan Juan frowned again, pondering for a moment, then suddenly understood. “Oh! I remember. That’s the little guild that dared to pull the tiger’s whiskers of Sword Sweeping the World, completely oblivious to the heavens and earth. I recall their guild leader is a skilled player, and they have a few members with decent technique?”
“Exactly.” Jiu Ge nodded. “So here’s the problem now… Their guild leader just sent us a distress signal. Should we help? It’s a small matter… but since the game just launched, it’s a sensitive period. So I need to consult everyone, especially the guild leader’s opinion.”
With that, Jiu Ge turned his head toward the black-robed man at the head of the table.
Dong Jun, the guild leader of Ten Thousand Souls Hall.
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, Jinho's Story is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : Jinho's Story
