Fatal Shot

It was rather easy to open shops in War.

The game’s NPCs had high artificial intelligence, so hiring one would solve all the trivial daily tasks such as watching over the store, buying and selling items, etc. In fact, once there was a fixed channel, matters of importing and exporting could even be handled by an NPC merchant with high AI.

This was all to say that to open in a shop in War, players didn’t even have to personally keep watch over it. It would be just like some retail shops in real life. All it required was some initial investment and hiring a few NPCs. As they said, invest intelligently and grow your wealth!

For this reason, at the beginning of War, shops were very popular. Almost all the shops in every system city with a good location had been grabbed by players. Star Gaming had also made a good profit out of the system. But, very quickly, the initial investment surge led to a massive wave of bankruptcy within just half a month.

Owning a shop in War wasn’t difficult, but to manage it without losing money was no easy task. If one were to depend solely on items imported from system shops, not much profit could be gained out of the sales.

In the beginning, players tended to have low life professions and skills, so a high rate of crafted items and equipment went to waste. Since the attributes weren’t even that great, it was better to just get default equipment from system shops.

This situation typically persisted for about three months and got better when players upgraded from a normal-level life profession to mid-rank. This was when a player’s shop would start to turn losses into profits.

Feng Luo’s shop was just like that. A month and a half after he had entered the game, he had gotten his small shop in Silvermoon City. Then he had spent more than four months’ time getting the Wind Mark Gun Shop on the right track. The time and effort spent were tremendous. In addition, this shop could have been considered his refuge.

In his “previous life” in the army, Feng Luo’s biggest dream had been to make enough money to retire in a country where the selling and purchasing of guns was legal. There he would find a small town and build a tiny gun shop by the mountains. In his spare time, he would go for target practice whenever he wanted, or even go camping and hunting in the mountains.

Since firearms were actually illegal in the real world, he’d have to realize his dreams here in the game. And because of that, he had put great effort into his ammunition ship, resulted in his overall level being far behind mainstream players. Hence, the shop had a soft spot in Feng Luo’s heart, which was why he flared up at the mention of trouble at the shop.

When Feng Luo got back to Silvermoon City from Storm City, he noticed something strange in front of his shop. There were seven to eight players of different professions hanging about the shop, blocking all the entrances. There was nothing strange about lingering around, but every time a player tried to enter the shop to buy something, the loiterers would give them a menacing look to chase them away.

Normally, players would get pissed off at this, especially since it was easier to lose one’s temper in a game. They would fight anyone who got in their way because no XP would be lost even if they died. But instead, all the other players seem to be leaving quietly—all due to the shiny golden dragon head symbol on these players’ chests.

Feng Luo stood by the entrance. It was hard to tell whether he was gloomy or angry. Beside him stood a few nosy players chatting away.

“Hey, dudes, what’s going on?” someone asked. “Why is the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group blocking the shop’s entrance?”

“Not too sure why, but pretty sure it wasn’t anything good. The shop is doomed just by their presence,” answered another. “If they block it for seven or eight days straight, everyone will know that the shop isn’t in favor of the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group. By the time they’re gone, the business will surely have suffered a disastrous decline.”

“That’s one ruthless move! But are they not concerned about the shop owner reporting them to the guards, getting them locked up?”

“Why would they get locked up? They aren’t physically blocking people. In fact, they don’t even utter a word. Hehe! Could this a flaw in the law?”

“Moreover, the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group is famous among the NPCs. It’s said that NPCs have such high intelligence that they have their very own personalities. Quite often, they treat members of the mercenary group in a different manner.” He sighed. “I’d love to join that group. Too bad it’s already full.”

“Look! That guy is walking straight ahead. Does he not see the situation?”

“Don’t know. Simpletons are everywhere. Let’s just enjoy the show.”

Feng Luo didn’t care what the players thought. He walked grimly toward his shop.

“Hey, my friend. You’re lost!” a droopy-eyed Machine Gunner said in a low voice after Feng Luo ignored the glance that was intended to chase him away. He clearly didn’t recognize Feng Luo.

Although the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group had displayed the wanted order, Feng Luo’s face wasn’t displayed on it. This was due to the game’s identity protection system. All photos or portraits taken would be edited automatically if the owner didn’t grant their permission. That was why the group didn’t have a portrait of Feng Luo. Only a few from Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star’s squad who had met him would recognize him.

“My friend, the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group has some work to do. Let’s not make a scene. We don’t have to…”

The Machine Gunner’s voice got lower as he saw that Feng Luo had no intention of stopping. He didn’t complete his thought by saying “do this the hard way” because it might trigger the system’s provocative language detection. This player was certainly very skilled in these matters,; he knew how to avoid violating the language rules.

Feng Luo stared at his shop as he said frostily, “Get out!”

The machine gunner was stunned for a few moments, as he hadn’t expected Feng Luo’s verbal attack. “You… What did you say!”

“I said get out, all of you!” Feng Luo hissed as he turned to glare at him.

Warning! You have conducted a personal attack with malicious intentions. You are yellow-named for five minutes. Please stop all uncivilized behavior. Otherwise, the punishment period will be extended.

The system reminder only made Feng Luo even more upset. He suddenly felt like hitting someone.

“It’s you! Feng Zhi Luoye!” The Machine Gunner said. He finally realized the truth after seeing Feng Luo’s ID become yellow. His revealed a triumphant smile on his droopy-eyed face. “You finally showed up. I’ve got to say, it’s been hard work looking for you…”

“Boss!” came the soft, sobbing voices came from two NPC salesgirls who were dressed as cowgirls. Their worried faces were looking at Feng Luo from the entrance.

“Hey, Boss! You’re generous with your credits, aren’t you?” said the Machine Gunner. “Can’t believe you hired two highly intelligent and beautiful NPC as your employees. Rich people. In fact, they are quite intelligent. I mean, they did manage to inform you so we didn’t have to wait so long!”

The Machine Gunner had an irritating expression. He was clearly toying with Feng Luo’s emotions.

“But, Feng Zhi Luoye, you’ve stayed hidden for days,” he continued. “It’s actually quite disappointing. Normally—”

Pow!

The sound of a fist hitting flesh was followed by shocked expressions on the faces of all the surrounding players. Feng Luo had thrown a punch at the Machine Gunner to make him eat his words.

Warning! You have physically launched a malicious attack on a person in the city. Your bad behavior has been reported to the guards. Your name will remain yellow for up to 12 hours!

This reminder made Feng Luo cringe at the red-name system in War. But that was the setting in the game. The opponent had managed to avoid violating the laws of the system through selective language and behaviors, while Feng Luo’s choice of words, “get out,” was a forbidden term that was well against the law. And now, his yellow name period had been extended due to his “malicious attack.”

He knew the opponent’s intent. But if he had to give up timidly without even being able to strike someone in this kind situation, then it almost wasn’t worth it to even play this game.

So what if his name was yellow? He’d hit someone if he wanted to!