Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 234 Discovery of Vo’sok

Gongzi You’s words were reasonable and fair. Absalom was unable to refute her words, but he could not bring himself to fully trust in her. After all, there’s no way of knowing what was in her heart. She was a player from the Eastern Continent. Even if she would be an enemy of Golden Era, they would only arrive after a month. Can the words of Gongzi You be trusted? She was caught by Fleeting Time in a position of absolute disadvantage. She might lie to avoid death and the loss of her level and equipment. So… Can I trust in her words?

Absalom voiced out his doubt without hesitation.

“But why should I believe in you?”

Ye Ci raised her eyebrows, “Alright then.. Let’s make another deal.”

“Oh? You have something else that is of value?” Absalom was momentarily stunned. What else does she have up her sleeve?

“I’ll act as a hostage in the Western Continent for seven days. You can send some of your men to keep a close watch on me if you want. I’ll then tell you about the location of the Mithril ore vein so that you can complete the initial stages of the quest. If you’re able to find the ore vein, then you’ll agree to our alliance. If I lied to you, I’m sure it’s easy for you to kill me anyways. After all, I’m alone, aren’t I?” said Ye Ci as she spread her hands in front of her. She knew that it was an offer that Absalom could not resist.

Absalom would be an idiot to refuse the offer. The wiser course of action was for him to agree to Ye Ci’s terms. He had nothing to lose by accepting to offer. Besides, when it came to Mithril, nobody could resist such a temptation.

“Don’t tell me that a million-player guild like Genesis could not allocate enough manpower to form a party to complete the quest.”

Absalom drew a sharp breath. Gongzi You was on point. There was no need for him to decline her offer. However, he was still slightly annoyed. He had been dancing to the tempo set by Gongzi You since the beginning. Even with the benefit that was offered, Absalom was still depressed. He stole a glance at Fleeting Time, and found that the man was staring at Gongzi You.

He sent a private message to Fleeting Time, “What are you staring at? Why do you even fancy such a cunning girl? Why don’t you look for someone who is sweet tempered, loving, and tender as your wife? A person like Gongzi You is not someone you can deal with.”

“Heh!” Fleeting Time laughed, “Sweet tempered? I don’t think your wife Sour Apple suit that description.”

“Hey, hey, hey! This is not about me! I’m giving you an advice as a friend. This girl is really not a suitable wife candidate.”

“How would you know?” Fleeting Time paid no heed to Absalom’s words. If this guy is a good judge of character, why would he marry Sour Apple? And he wouldn’t have gotten bullied by me for 10 years as well.

“You’re such a stubborn person. Look at White Fairytale! She’s such a kind and gentle girl! She has the qualities of a good wife, and she likes you! She’s such a nice girl! Just look at Gongzi You! She’s like a tigress that’s would eat me whole!” Absalom’s heart was filled with grief. Why does such a scary person exist?

“Don’t make me hit you.”

Absalom rolled his eyes, Fine! He needs to learn some hardship in life! He sighed when he saw the look on Fleeting Time’s face as he stared at Gongzi You, and then at the girl’s expression. Fleeting Time’s going to waste a lot of time on this girl.

“I’m just afraid that you’ll elope to the Eastern Continent…” Absalom mumbled to himself before speaking to Ye Ci, “Alright then, I’ll agree to your terms. I’ll send someone to escort you during your stay in the Western Continent. As for the escort…” Absalom cast a glance at Fleeting Time. Ugh.. There’s not much of a choice. It can only be this guy. He had no idea how Fleeting Time would handle Gongzi You, but he was the only person who had the capability of doing so.

Ye Ci then provided Absalom with the coordinates of Western Continent’s Mithril ore vein as a show of good faith.

“As for your escort… I guess Fleeting Time will do. You two are very close with each other anyways.”

Ye Ci’s expression immediately darkened as she pursed her lips, “Says who?”

“Urmm…” Absalom grabbed at his hair and said in a serious tone, “You’re my hostage, so you have no say in this. Besides, nobody in our guild is as idle as him…”

This is how he rates Fleeting Time…

Ye Ci’s expression darkened even further. She could see the pure and innocent grin on Fleeting Time’s face as she stole a glance at the man. She could barely hold off the urge to punch Fleeting Time on the face.

He’s the most idle person in Genesis… Come to think of it.. A large guild like Genesis would be busy with constantly expanding their territory and influence, and this guy is the least busy person in the entire guild?

Then again.. If he’s not the most idle player in Genesis, he wouldn’t have the time to track me down a few hours after we brushed past each other in the Putrid Trail.

Fleeting Time, who was unaware of Ye Ci’s opinion about him, continued to smile as he took a seat beside Ye Ci, “We’ll be depending on each other in the next seven days, Little Gongzi,” and he extended his hands towards Ye Ci, “Let’s shake our hands to ensure our mutual happiness.”

Ye Ci rolled her eyes at Fleeting Time. This guy is up to no good. You want me to shake your hand? No f*cking way! She the snorted coldly at him.

However, Ye Ci was no match for the shamelessness of Fleeting Time, who grabbed hold of Ye Ci’s hand and shook it hard. He then stood up with the grin still on his face before she could even react, “I’ll go see Absalom off.”

“Huh? The rain is so heavy right now! Where do you expect me to go?” Absalom who was staring at the sources of his gossip was shocked. That bastard! He’s chasing me away?

Fleeting Time pulled Absalom up from the ground and pulled him to the mouth of the cave, “Don’t you have something to do? Like getting people to check the ore vein out?”

“Can’t it wait until the rain stops?” Absalom immediately voice out his objection.

“Where’s the stuff I told you to bring along?” Fleeting Time was not at all courteous with Absalom.

“It’s all here.” Absalom handed all the items to Fleeting Time without making a fast, “Is Gongzi You having troubles resupplying in the Western Continent?” he asked in a low voice.

“Yup.” Fleeting Time replied absentmindedly. He narrowed his eyes as he recalled Gongzi You’s appearance as a male Rogue during their brief encounter. What sort of skill is that? Does it come with a time limit? If I did not run into her just now… Will she resupply in a city with that skill?

Absalom who was oblivious to the thoughts going on in Fleeting Time’s head was slightly puzzled by his behavior. He stole a glance at Gongzi You and spoke in an even lower voice, “So… She’ll be depending on your to resupply then?”

“Nope. We will be depending on you.” Fleeting Time smiled insincerely.

“ME?” Absalom’s eyes widened, “Do you think that I’m as free as you? How can you expect me to do something like this?”

“Do you want people to see her here? Or perhaps do you perhaps want the players from our guild to think that you’re colluding with the Eastern Continent?” Fleeting TIme was someone would speak as he pleases. However, things that he meant as jokes would often sound real. As a friend of Fleeting Time for so many years, Absalom was supposed to be immune to his antics. For reasons unknown, whenever Fleeting Time blurt random things out from his mouth, Absalom would always be the one who was tricked.

He once again fell for Fleeting Time’s words. After a long moment of thought, he came to the conclusion that he must keep this matter a secret before they could solidify their hold on the Mithril ore vein. Nobody else must know of Gongzi You’s presence in the Western Continent.

Despite the trouble, he knew that Gongzi You must not be left alone to her own devices in the Western Continent. A person who could make her way unnoticed into the heartlands of the Western Continent and had the knowledge of the location of the continent’s Mithril ore vein was too dangerous to be left alone.

But… Absalom stared at Fleeting Time, is it really a good idea to have him keeping an eye on Gongzi You?

“You shook hands with her with this hand, right…” Fleeting Time grabbed hold of Absalom’s right hand and squeezed down hard without warning. Absalom let out a yelp, and Ye Ci stared incredulously at the duo.

“What are you doing?”

“Watch where you place your hands on.” Fleeting Time raised his eyebrows and patted Absalom on his shoulders. He then pushed him out of the cave, “And please be more tactful. You should disappear from this place now.”

“Fleeting Time , you bastard! How could you value your lover more than friendship? I hope that your son is born without a p*nis!” Absalom cried out in dismay. With the rain pouring down hard on him, he could only summon his steed and made way to Light Saint City at the best possible speed.

A Mithril ore vein… Is that possible?

“These are for you.” said Fleeting Time as he placed the arrows and consumables beside Ye Ci.

Black Feather Arrows! Those are good stuff! thought Ye Ci as she saw the arrows. At the current stage of the game, Black Feather Arrows could said to be the best arrows in Fate. Despite its lack of special effects, Black Feather Arrows had a high damage value. These arrows were not sold by any NPCs, and could only be acquired by crafting. How generous of him to give me 20 stacks of these.

“You have a lot of good stuff.” Ye Ci did not even thank Fleeting Time as she stored the arrows into her inventory.

Fleeting Time was apparently not expecting Ye Ci to express her gratitude. Her straightforward attitude was something that he liked, “You have some good items with you as well.” said Fleeting Time with a smile.

He must be talking about the Brooch of Deceit, thought Ye Ci to herself. She had no intention of telling Fleeting TIme about the secrets of the brooch as it was none of his concern. This was why Ye Ci chose to remain silent.

Fleeting Time shrugged when he received no response from Ye Ci. Despite his curiosity about the male Rogue, he would not force the answer out of Gongzi You. After all, he was not someone like Absalom.

“Alright, Absalom is gone now. So why don’t you tell me what you’re really here for?” Fleeting Time went straight to the point.

Ye Ci stared at Fleeting Time for a long moment before finally speaking up, “Why don’t you tell me the things that you’ve figured out so far?”

“Alright then.” Fleeting Time raised his eyebrows, “You’re here in the Western Continent for a quest. If I’m not wrong… It could be an epic-tier quest.” and a confident smile spread across his face, “And if I’m not mistaken, your quest has something to do with the Bloody Wilderness. There’s no way you’ll stay in this map for hours without a reason.”

Ye Ci was not surprised by Fleeting Time’s words. This man was intelligent, and he hid his intelligence very well. It was no wonder that he could see through something so simple.

“You requested to see Absalom as a measure to keep yourself safe, and to ensure that you can complete your Epic-tier quest in the shortest possible time. Your plan is to get Absalom to send an escort who will serve as your guide and your means of resupply. You’re right, you can’t possibly benefit directly from the Mithril ore vein, but you can still use it to achieve the greatest benefit. Isn’t that a good thing for you?” there was a glint in Fleeting Time’s eyes as he smiled at Ye Ci.

Ye Ci let out a sigh. This guy… He’s able to correctly guess my intention. Is it a good thing, or a bad thing?

“Don’t you want to know why I’m able to guess such a thing?” even as Ye Ci remained silent, Fleeting Time could read her true feelings from her expression, “Because if I were you, I would’ve done the same thing too.”

“I’m looking for a place called Vo’sok. Do you know where it is?” Ye Ci had nothing more to hide as Fleeting Time was able to figure out most of the truth.

“Vo’sok?” Fleeting TIme was momentarily stunned when he heard the name.

“That’s right. It’s in this place according to my quest description. It seems that you’ve been here a lot. Don’t tell me you don’t know where that place it.”

Fleeting Time smiled at Ye Ci’s words. He stood up and stared at the rain that was already becoming lighter, “The former home of the Goblins?”

“How do you know about the home of the Goblins?”

“I spend a lot of time in the National Library. Everybody knows about minor details like this.” responded Fleeting Time, “The rain’s stopping soon. Get ready, we’ll be heading out when it gets lighter.”

Ye Ci was baffled. Why don’t we wait for the rain to fully stop? Fleeting Time turned around and noticed Ye Ci’s expression, “Most of the players leveling up in the Bloody Wilderness are using character classes with cloth armor. They’ll all resume their activity when the rain stops, and it’s not easy to traverse through the map with them around.”

“You lead the way then.” Ye Ci agreed to Fleeting Time’s words. Under such circumstances, it was best to avoid any contacts with Western Continent players.

Vo’sok was situated at the southern part of the Bloody Wilderness. It was a gigantic crater with large gaping cracks that looked like wounds suffered by the ground that could never be healed. The crater and the cracks were filled with wilting trees. Countless parasitic plants thrived on the fallen trees, giving off an air of eeriness especially with the weather in the Bloody Wilderness.

At the point, the stormy rain was already a drizzle.

The place was quiet except for the sound of the rain splattering on the plants. Despite the silence, Ye Ci knew that things were not as quiet as they seem after years of playing Fate. Danger is always lurking in a quiet place.

“What sort of monsters would usually appear in that place? There’s nobody around. I guess the monsters in this area are quite high leveled then?” Ye Ci voiced out her observation. She had only been to the place once in her past life, and was unfamiliar with the map.

“I have no idea. Nobody has ventured into that place before.” Fleeting Time shook his head. He had attempted to enter the area multiple times in the past, but he had always been thrown out of the place by an unseen force during each of his attempts.

“Then how do you know that this is Vo’sok?”

Fleeting Time pointed a a section of crumbling wall not far away. Strange writings that held no meaning to Ye Ci were etched a stone tablet near the wall. “That’s Ancient Goblin language. We can learn it in Western Continent’s National Library by paying 1,000 gold coins. Don’t you have something like this in the Eastern Continent?”

Ye Ci shook her head, “Only Ancient Orcish is available in Eastern Continent’s National Library.” she then stared at stone tablet, “What do the words say?”

“Vo’sok, the Paradise for Goblins…” Fleeting Time pursed his lips, “There’s also a smile line at the back that says ‘Vo’sok, the land of sins’.”

This must be it. Ye Ci cast a sideway glance at Fleeting Time, and started walking towards the crevice. She was immediately pushed back by an unseen force in the next moment. Ye Ci staggered backwards by the force, and would have fell if Fleeting Time did not reach out and catch her arm in time.

“You were pushed out as well?” Fleeting Time was already used to such an occurrence, “Many of us attempted to enter, but were all thrown out as well. I thought you’d be able to enter that place because of the quest. Apparently you can’t enter that place as well.”

“There’s an old ruins covered with weeds in front of you. Your heart was moved as you stared at the ruins. There’s something that you have to find in the ruins, but a shield was keeping you out from your destination. Think, what do you have to do to get in?” a system notification rang out and an old voice began its narration.

The narration reminded Ye Ci of the Goblin Compass. The needle of the Goblin Compass was glowing with a bright shade of red as she pulled the compass. A mechanical voice rang out following a flurry of beeping sounds, “Vo’sok detected. Attempting to locate DeFrei… Target is out of range… Please enter Vo’sok for another scan.”

Fleeting Time heard the voice from the Goblin Compass as well, “So this is the quest item?”

“Yes.” Ye Ci nodded, “But I’m not sure if I can get into Vo’sok with this.”

“Well, it’s worth a try.” said Fleeting Time as he walked towards the shield. Despite the shield’s transparent form, Fleeting Time stopped half a yard away from the shield, as if he could tell its correct position. He then waved at Ye Ci, “Over here. You won’t be pushed away by the shield from here.”

Ye Ci nodded and walked up to Fleeting Time. She could once again hear the old voice when she stood by Fleeting Time’s side, “You searched through your inventory, and found a dusty object. You pulled the object out from your inventory and blew away the dust. Cough cough. By the Gods, just how long have you been neglecting this thing? You’re quick to realise that the object is actually a beautiful Goblin Compass. You seem to be able to enter the boundaries of the shield with the help of this object. Your heart is full of excitement. Yes! This is the object that you were looking for!”

Ye Ci was not happy at all when she heard the narration… Since when have I forgotten about the compass? I’ve been tinkering with it a few hours ago! Quest narratives such as this are so annoying!

A system notification rang out the moment the narration stopped, “Two players from opposing factions are attempting to enter the map. According the the laws of the Goblins, no warring factions are allowed to enter their territory. You are allowed to enter Vo’sok as a party. Do you want to form a party?”

With that, a party request appeared on both Ye Ci’s and Fleeting Time’s screen. The system allowed freedom of action to the players. This was why both Ye Ci and Fleeting Time were offered a choice to form a party instead of being immediately forced into a party.

Fleeting Time confirmed the request without a slight moment of hesitation. After casting a sideway glance at Fleeting Time’s handsome face, Ye Ci confirmed the request as well. The duo was immediately placed in a party created by the system, which would only be disbanded when they left the boundaries of Vo’sok.

Well, it seems that I’m stuck with this guy now. Ye Ci let out a sigh. However, she was not worried that Fleeting Time would be a burden to her.

As the saying goes, “one should not be worried about Godlike opponents, but should beware of teammates who are like pigs”. Even when such a scenario would never happen to the party, it was still unsettling for Ye Ci to be in the same party with Fleeting Time. Aren’t we supposed to be rivals who would kill each other on sight? Why are we trying to complete a quest in the same party? It feels so wrong no matter how you look at it!

“Alright, let’s go.” said Fleeting Time. The Goblin Compass was designed to send notifications of any clues to the party members, and it had been beeping for quite some moments.

When the duo once again approached the shield, they were able to enter its boundaries. A system notification then rang out in their ears, “You have discovered the Forgotten Land.”

It was obvious that the place was a dungeon… A hidden dungeon. Such dungeons could only be activated by very specific quest items or conditions before they were made available to player exploration. A time limit would be imposed on players who were exploring a hidden dungeon ranging from a day to a month. The system would then determine what would happen to the dungeon based on the player’s completion. Under normal circumstances, a hidden dungeon with a 90% completion rate would be converted into a normal dungeon, while hidden dungeons with a lower completion rate would experience a reset.

The hidden dungeon that was completed by Ye Ci and her friends was converted into a normal dungeon due to their performance. The dungeon was filled with monsters that had a high respawn rate, which made it an ideal dungeon for new players.

Ye Ci and Fleeting Time were excited when they realised that Vo’sok was a hidden dungeon. After all, hidden dungeons were very rare in Fate, and were generally more challenging than normal dungeons.

Ye Ci stared at Fleeting Time as he fiddled with a dagger. It was as if the dagger was alive, and was dancing between the fingers of Fleeting Time like a fairy. She could see the excitement in Fleeting Time’s eyes. It was the same excitement exhibited by a child who had just found a new toy. Excitement… It’s such a good feeling.

“Ahh.. So this place is currently known as the Forgotten Land instead of Vo’sok.” said Fleeting Time with a smile, “Do you have Hawkeye?”

“Not yet.” Ye Ci was aggravated when the skill was mentioned by Fleeting Time. She obtained a large number of skillbooks at the early stages of the game, but was unable to acquire the Hunter skill, Hawkeye, which was one of the few detection skills that could be learned by the Hunter class. It was also a lifesaver for Hunters in difficult situations.

Fleeting Time laughed when he noticed the sadness in Ye Ci’s voice, “Hawkeye has a rather high droprate in the Western Continent. If you’re not able to acquire one by the time you complete the quest, I’ll get one for you from our guild warehouse.”

“You’re giving me something that is a property of your guild?” Ye Ci stared at Fleeting incredulously, “I’m a player from the Eastern Continent! Aren’t you asking for trouble by doing that? Don’t you think it’s a good thing if I can’t acquire the skill? Are you daft?”

“As long as Little Gongzi does not have it, I’m willing to give it to you, even if it spells trouble for me. I don’t mind if you call me an idiot.” Fleeting Time narrowed his eyes and a smile formed on his lips, “My willingness to do something is priceless.”

Ye Ci was baffled by Fleeting Time’s words. Even without taking his intention into account, it was just outright impossible for a person to retrieve an item from Genesis’s guild warehouse without a good reason. Even she herself could not access the guild warehouse of Upwards Ho! at will. Why does Fleeting Time sound like it’s not a big deal?, “Won’t your treasurer say anything if an item went missing?”

“The treasurer?” it was a word that was not heard often by Fleeting Time. After giving the matter a long thought, Fleeting Time realised that there seemed to be such a person in his guild.

Ye Ci could tell from Fleeting Time’s expression that he had never cared about the regulations of his guild. One could even say that he had no conscience about such a thing.

There could only be two logical explanations:

1.Fleeting Time had never taken anything from the guild warehouse, which was why he was unaware of such the regulations.

2.Somebody was always covering up for Fleeting Time whenever he took items from the guild warehouse without permission, which was why he had never even interacted with the guild’s treasurer.

Based on her knowledge of Fleeting Time, the ruffian was most probably the latter…

As expected, Fleeting Time’s answer after his long moment of thought proved Ye Ci’s point, “Well, it’s just a skillbook. Absalom will take care of it.”

Ye Ci sighed loudly, “I’ll definitely not grant you access to the guild warehouse if you’re a member of my guild…” Ye Ci felt pity for Absalom when she stared at Fleeting Time’s repulsive expression. Nobody knew just how many times Absalom was forced to clean up the mess made by Fleeting Time.

Fleeting Time was unfazed by her words, “Stay here, I’ll go scout the place out. Make sure to stay hidden.”

With that, Fleeting Time began heading to higher grounds while Ye Ci immediately entered stealth.

Hawkeye was a Hunter class skill that grants its user an additional visual range of up to 200 yards, and had a chance of spotting enemies who were camouflaged or stealthed. This ability was especially useful for Hunters who were sent to scout out an area for a party. If a Hunter without Hawkeye was described as a glass cannon, then a Hunter with Hawkeye was a mobile observation platform that was armed to the teeth, and would play an entirely different role in a party. The ability would last 30 seconds upon casting, with a cooldown timer of one minute. It was a very useful skill in combat.

Fleeting Time returned to Ye Ci’s side after a short moment and began briefing her on their surroundings, “I can see an abandoned city. Most of the buildings are made by would, just like the birthplace of the Elves. I can see a lot of Goblins in that city, but I can’t tell if they’re friend or foe. Their names appeared to be yellow, so something might trigger a reaction out of them and make them hostile. There’s a small road ahead of us leading to a city, but from all the growths and vegetations I can see around the road, it has probably not been used for many years. There might even be traps waiting for us. I have yet to spot any Bloodthirsty Undead and Corrupted Orcs. This might not be their .”

In the short 30 seconds, Fleeting Time was able to collected and analysed vital information for the two-player party. If he was acting as a scout for a much larger party, he would be able to increase the survivability of the party exponentially.

“Goblins are very good engineers. Even if the average Goblin has no knowledge about Gobin Engineering, they can still create machines with high destructive power. Have you learned the skill Detect Machine?” said Ye Ci after a brief moment of thought.

“I do, but this will be the first time I’m using it.” Fleeting Time scratched his head. With the low number of mechanical type monsters in the current stage of the game, he barely had the chance of putting the ability to good use.

“I’ll scout ahead, you stay behind me, and don’t summon your pet.” said Fleeting Time as he activated Detect Machine and entered stealth. Ye Ci, who was also stealthed, followed close behind. The duo began advancing into the dark city ahead.

What a wonderful journey, to complete an inexplicable quest in an inexplicable dungeon with an inexplicable teammate.

But… Isn’t this exactly the thing that makes life fun?