Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 42 The Top of the Charts

The Rogue waited for a while before he got up. Unexpectedly, more Pew Pew noises resounded, and he once again fell into the embrace of the earth.

“What are you doing! Stop toying with people!” The Rogue almost went mad.

Ye Ci’s hearty laughter rang out from afar as she said, “Hey, hasn’t anyone taught you to observe your surrounding before getting up? I am really leaving this time~~”

The Rogue was so depressed that he was about to weep. He was really unlucky today. Originally, he had just wanted to earn some Kill Glory. Why did this fiend appear? This time, no matter what she said, he firmly decided to not respawn.

However, this time, Ye Ci had not lied. She really left and rode her little red horse, heading towards the Red Lake City through the road of the Desolate Lands.

In order to get to the Red Lake City from the Desolate, one would need to bypass four to five maps, some of which contained lvl 50 mobs. Ye Ci had to be very careful throughout the journey and it took her over three hours to finally reach the Red Lake City. She asked in the guild channel whether it’s time to assemble. A reply told her that the team was already at the entrance. She immediately threw the fishing rod and the fishing basket into her warehouse and rushed towards the dungeon.

Although she had suffered throughout the journey as she rushed back to the Red Lake City from the Desolate Lands, Ye Ci still felt very sorry. When she saw the group of players that had already assembled at the gathering rock in front of the Automaton Formation dungeon, she felt even more embarrassed.

She had never really been that great. This time, she had actually made everyone wait this long during a guild gathering event, which was very unreasonable. Therefore, the moment Ye Ci joined the team, she apologized sincerely to the entire team.

“Everyone, really sorry that I’m late.”

“It’s alright. I heard from Little Blue that you came back from the Desolate Lands.” Zero Arsenic responded, his face full of smiles. Zero Arsenic was a Sorcerer equipped in a top notch equipments. Without the aid of equipments similar to the Brooch Of Deceit, one could tell his G was over 200 with a glance.

Zero Arsenic was the vice leader of the guild and he was also the best Sorcerer in the guild. He stood out among the rest with his superior armor.

Since Zero Arsenic said so, there was no need for Ye Ci to explain anymore. As such, she just replied with a nod.

“Rushing back from that place must have been dangerous. I remember that there were a few high level maps on the route back. “Was it easy for you when you when you were on your way back?” Zero Arsenic’s smiling eyes appeared rather gentle and his voice also sounded extremely gentle. However, from the beginning to the end, Ye Ci felt that his eyes were conveying something indescribable.

His eyes were liike that of a fox, studying its prey.

“I just needed to run along the big road without deviating left or right. Even a level one smurf could run back by following this route.” With neither a servile nor overbearing tone, Ye Ci warded off Zero Arsenic’s probing with a soft answer.

The smile in Zero Arsenic’s eyes became deeper. No one could tell what emotions hid deep within his black eyes. He nodded and stopped talking to Ye Ci. He then turned and said to the team, “Today, two squadrons will advance into the dungeon and explore it. Everyone, don’t be greedy. Just do your best. Everyone will obtain a reward of five points. If we managed to pass it, then the points will naturally be higher.”

Joyful chatter could be heard amidst the assembled group. One could tell that with the stimulation of money, many people were eager to give it a try.

After completing his briefing, Zero Arsenic assigned Ye Ci to the second squadron and ordered the leaders of the two squadrons to lead their members into the dungeon.

The Automaton Formation dungeon was a 25-man dungeon. Steel Blooded Battle Spear’s core members consisted of around a hundred players. They were split into two squadrons to explore the Chilly Wetlands, with 50 players in each squadron. However, the ones who were present to explore the Automaton Formation dungeon, were the cream of the crop. All of them were selected from the Steel Blooded Battle Spear’s core members. Their game sense and awareness were more than a match for normal guild members and wild party members.

The GS of the entire squadron had an average of 240 and above, they were especially eye-catching as they gathered and awaited orders.

Ye Ci followed the second squadron into the Automaton Formation dungeon. She suddenly felt that she went overboard in her attempt to disguise her equipment. In the midst of the second squadron, she stood out the most due to her disguised poor quality weapon.

The person in command was Crimson Millions. His voice had a hint of Jiang Nan[1] accent. His voice was soft and nice, with a little passion in it. But in exploring a dungeon, clearing it was the most important. Anything else simply did not matter.

Ye Ci blended into the midst of the ranged classed players, keeping a low profile. However, due to her superior equipment, her DPS was always at the top. She dealt more damage than the top player of the second squadron, Seductive Dance.

As Crimson Millions commanded the squad orderly, he opened up the damage chart habitually. He was flabbergasted after just one glance. Gongzi You was at the top of the chart! Her damage dealt was several hundred thousands points more than Seductive Dance. And on the damage taken chart, Gongzi You was at the bottom of the list. She hadn’t taken any damage!!!

This attracted the attention of Crimson Millions.

Despite her two dungeons First Blood, and her First Blood of Wild Boar King with World Conqueror, Crimson Millions view of Ye Ci was similar to Peacock Blue. In his opinion, Ye Ci was merely lucky.

Crimson Millions had been paying attention to Gongzi You ever since they’ve entered the dungeon. But she appeared to be mingling in the midst of the ranged classes, and did not appear to have much of a performance. He was more convinced than ever that Ye Ci was merely lucky with her First Bloods.

That was, of course, until he took a look at the damage charts.

The Automaton Formation was filled with tiny metal balls that would explode and deal damage in a wide area. Even Purple Corydalis, one of the best players with the best positioning skills in the second squadron suffered some damage. But this Huntress had not even suffer a single point of damage!

For an average player, the charts were simply rows of numbers. But in the eyes of an expert or a commander, it was the thing that determined the strength of their party members.

Dishing out the highest damage while receiving none.

The automated generated charts would never be wrong. Crimson Millions perspective of Gongzi You instantly changed. This Huntress was just like what Zero Arsenic described. Her strength was very well hidden.

Crimson Millions closed the damage charts and continued giving out orders, “DPS beware of your aggro, be careful of any OT.” Ye Ci took a glance at her aggro after listening to Crimson Millions’s words. Her aggro was among the lowest.

Seductive Dance noticed the damage charts as well, and his facial expression changed. He had been gaming for almost eight years, and he was always playing as a DPS. His skills are undeniably good.

He also had very excellent equipment. His damage could even be on par with Zero Arsenic. After being used to be on the top of the damage chart for so long, how could he retain his composure after being placed in the second spot?

Since Ye Ci was in the midst of the ranged classes, she could see the facial expression of Seductive Dance.

Sorcerers are different from Warlocks. They do not have much aggro controlling skills during the early stages of the game. If they did not control their damage output, their aggro would almost always rise to the point where they could no longer control it.

In a short period of time not more than 10 seconds, the Elite Guardian that was focused on the MT and secondary tank turned and charged towards the ranged classes.It was the first time such an incident occured under Crimson Millions’s command.

“The sorcerer Seductive Dance is now OT!” a system notification chimed in. Crimson Millions shouted, “Seductive Dance, stop! You’re OT! MT, do your job, don’t let the mobs reach the ranged classes!”

Before his words died away, before the MT could arrive, Crimson Millions saw a light and nimble figure jumping out from the group of ranged classes. A red mark immediately appeared on the elite guardian’s head. Seeing this, Crimson Millions was shocked again as he exclaimed, “The Mark of Hunter!” He didn’t expect that a hunter in their team would know how to use this skill!

When he saw the one who had jumped out, he suddenly felt that everything made sense.

Of course, this person was Gongzi You.

Empowered Hunter’s Mark, Falcon Protection, Snake Venom Needle and Ol’ Three’s Taunt were casted in that short moment. She then made a 180 degrees turn and changed course in midair.

Ye Ci released Rapid Fire and Decoy in midair, dealing four to five critical hits with 2000 damage each. She had successfully transferred the Elite Guardian’s aggro to herself from Seductive Dance.

As the Elite Guardian was dashing towards the ranged classes, it suddenly stopped and made a turn, heading towards Ye Ci. The danger of the team of ranged classes was alleviated.

Her movements were extremely quick. From defending to attracting aggro, it only took her three seconds. Her beautiful and acute control amazed everyone.

Even Crimson Millions stopped in surprise. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Could an ordinary Huntress get up this way? Can an ordinary Huntress borrow external forces and fly in the air as if the force of gravity didn’t exist?

“Mortal! You have enraged me!” Although the elite guardian was not the Boss but it was still one of the monsters in the dungeon that were very hard to deal with. The Elite Guardian roared and dashed a few steps forward. The instant it approached Ye Ci, it casted Fear towards Ye Ci.

It actually hit!

Ye Ci had just descended the ground and was about to jump when she got stunned. Her whole body trembled and she could no longer make any movements, showing a rigid state. This was the normal behavior of someone that was hit by the Fear.

The duration of the Fear was 5 seconds and Ye Ci counted the time. The elite guardian could release two attacks during these five seconds, and Ye Ci didn’t know whether she could endure it or not.

As the sound of the wind blew, the Elite Guardian had already caught up to Ye Ci and with the raise of his hand its blade swooped down and it hacked down towards Ye Ci…

Translator’s notes:

Jiang Nan: A province in China