Chapter 11: The Price of a Nine-Tailed Fox

Su Yingning found herself surrounded once more.

At this moment, she stood precariously at the edge of the safe zone; even a single step forward would propel her beyond its protection, leaving her vulnerable to the high-level players who had long coveted her, ready to strike her down with a flurry of blades.

The player, Yujian Lin, who also happened to be the guild leader of the faction besieging Su Yingning, stood proudly before her. He was clad in a suit of glistening mithril chainmail, shimmering with a faint emerald glow, its undeniable value apparent at a single glance, and he gazed at her with a mocking smirk.

“You’re certainly stubborn, aren’t you? Refusing to retreat into the safe zone, refusing to call your friends for help, preferring to die pointlessly all day long.”

“Hmph, come again.” The young woman’s pretty face was set like frost, showing no inclination to waste words on her opponent.

“Hold on, beautiful,” Yujian Lin corrected his stance, shedding the mocking expression from his face. “Dragging this out offers you no advantage whatsoever. In any game, the first three days after launch are golden; seize the initiative, and you’ll reap immense benefits. As a guild leader, you must understand this perfectly.”

“What does it matter? I’m just one person, yet you’ve deployed half your guild to wear me down,” Su Yingning instantly saw through his petty machinations. He wasn’t thinking of her well-being; he was clearly growing anxious.

Her continuous deaths at ever-changing resurrection points meant his guild had to station players at each one, constantly lying in wait, unable to relax for even a moment.

Thus, while she repeatedly died and remained at level one, it was ultimately her opponents who suffered the greater loss.

Through countless deaths, Su Yingning had memorized the face of every single killer. More than once, she had observed familiar faces vanish, only to be replaced by new ones. Locating a specific face amidst the teeming masses, all clad in identical novice rags, was an incredibly draining task. This indicated that, by now, many of his players must be utterly exhausted, their stamina depleted, and their will to continue this attrition broken.

Had Su Yingning not possessed such striking looks and high recognizability, those camping players would likely be dizzy and disoriented, forcibly kicked offline by the system.

In other words, after such a prolonged stalemate, this was no longer merely a siege on a guild leader; it had devolved into a mutually destructive situation.

“Half the guild? No, no, it’s not that exaggerated. What you see is merely a small fraction of our guild members, and I will compensate them appropriately afterward. Furthermore, to deal with a level one alt like you, we only need to deploy similarly low-level characters. Our main force has already surpassed level ten and departed the newbie village. Did you truly believe I’d be foolish enough to waste our elite on you?”

Despite his casual tone, Yujian Lin surreptitiously wiped away a bead of cold sweat.

While it was true the guild’s main force hadn’t been deployed, to maintain secrecy, he had sent none other than his most trusted confidants!

His original intention was to cultivate these trusted allies into the guild’s backbone, into figures of real power. Yet, if they continued to be bogged down here, they would fall behind the main contingent, all the prime resources would be swept clean by the vanguard, and their strength would stagnate. By then, even if he granted them key positions, they would lack the authority to command respect!

In this game, strength reigned supreme!

Su Yingning hadn’t been wrong after all; he truly couldn’t afford this prolonged engagement!

However, recalling the heaven-defying power of high-tier pets, glimpsed in the scattered official hints, he found himself compelled to persist!

As long as he acquired that Nine-Tailed Fox! As long as she traded the Nine-Tailed Fox to him! Everything would be worth it! Even if it meant the collapse of his guild, it would be worth it!

In the early stages of the game, before high-quality items were fully available, a pet capable of growing alongside its master was a veritable weapon of mass destruction, capable of felling a hundred foes!

The mere thought of such a scenario sent his blood surging with excitement!

“I advise you to cease struggling. Even if you don’t consider yourself, surely you must consider the guild you painstakingly built from the ground up? If you are truly a guild leader, you should know that your choices represent far more than just yourself! Not only will a low-level guild leader fail to command respect, leading to a swift disintegration of morale and the guild’s eventual collapse, but if you continue this stalemate, you’ll have no time to familiarize yourselves with the game system, no time to organize your guild for various large-scale events, and the strength of your entire guild will be severely impacted.”

Every word Yujian Lin uttered pierced Su Yingning’s heart. Sensing her wavering, he stoked the flames further: “And are you truly entirely uninterested in the colossal official event scheduled for next month?! If you’re not interested, do you think your members won’t be? That grand event presents an unprecedented opportunity for guild development! A person, when in their position, must fulfill their duties. A guild leader cannot solely consider their own gains and losses.”

Uttering these words, Yujian Lin showed not the slightest hint of a blush or shame, completely oblivious to the fact that his current actions utterly disregarded his guild’s interests.

Su Yingning’s hesitation lasted only a moment; the next second, she shook her head with a desolate air.

“Though I founded this guild myself, it will never crumble in my hands. You’re right, which is why I didn’t call them here. Therefore… in a moment, I will transfer the guild leader position to someone else.”

Yujian Lin watched Su Yingning, grinding his teeth. ‘How ruthless! This woman! So cruel to herself!’

As a fellow guild leader, he understood perfectly the immense difficulty of establishing a guild. Every player was an individual, concerned only with their own interests. Tying the guild’s welfare to their personal gains was a feat every guild leader struggled to achieve. Only with this foundational understanding could one foster rapport with members and win their loyalty. This was a complex endeavor, requiring a guild leader’s painstaking effort and certainly not something accomplished overnight!

Yet, for the sake of a mere pet, she was abandoning the fruits of her long and arduous labor!

“To you, that Nine-Tailed Fox is merely a pet, but to me, she is my sole sanctuary in this world, my only kin, the last tie that binds me. Even if you kill me for another year, even if you kill me until the game shuts down, I will never abandon this game, nor will I ever surrender her to you! Because she is still here, waiting for me to find her, because she still regards me as her master!”

Su Yingning’s words rang out, resolute and firm. Having spoken, she lifted her leg, planting one foot heavily outside the safe zone, directly into the blood-scented encirclement.

Yujian Lin’s face turned ashen. “Then… die one more time and cool your head! Nobody move; I’ll do it!”

“Boss! Your murder value is maxed out! If you die, all your equipment will drop!”

“It’s fine,” Yujian Lin waved a dismissive hand. “Which one of us here doesn’t have maxed murder value? This is just the newbie village; no one would dare lay a hand on us!”

*Snap.*

Before his words had even faded, a streak of white light, flecked with emerald, shot forth as if from beyond the heavens, slamming violently into Yujian Lin’s right cheek.

[Precise Strike -79]

[You have been attacked by player Ning Beibei. As you initiated damage against them within the last thirty minutes, this is considered a legitimate counter-attack and will not increase their murder value.]

‘What? Attacked by Ning Beibei?’

‘What kind of joke is this? She’s standing right in front of me with her eyes closed, practically offering her neck for the slaughter!’

‘What a garbage system! Spitting out bugs randomly!’

Before he could even fully register what had happened, another streak of white light descended from the heavens, heading straight for Yujian Lin’s left cheek!

“This! What is this?!”

[Precise Strike -79]

[You have been legitimately killed in self-defense by player Ning Beibei. Due to your excessively high murder value, the opponent will gain 1% of your total experience, 5 reputation, and 5 chivalry points. All your non-locked equipment has been dropped.]

The world gradually faded to black and white, his soul detaching from his body. In the final moment before his spirit drifted towards the resurrection point, he glimpsed his own corpse, and the two small, dark green projectiles deeply embedded in his face.

‘What in the hell was that…?’