A Hunter was a very unique class. In the absence of a Rogue, a Hunter would be tasked with scouting a party. Moreover, a Hunter was a class that could attack and defend at the same time, which meant that a Hunter would have plenty of opportunities to solo a player. This was why a good Hunter would possess a keen sense of perception that no other class possessed.
Keeping one's eyes and ears open was the most basic skill of a Hunter. More importantly, a Hunter would be able to uncover important clues from small details. The better a Hunter was, the better they would be able to do so. Fleeting Time was a good example. His ability to observe his surroundings was a habit that was deeply ingrained in his bones.
Even if he did not intentionally search for clues, he would still remember them subconsciously. Speaking of which, this was also a very tiring thing. However, you would never know when these tiring things would surprise you.
Just like now, when Fleeting Time brushed past the Rogue, he accidentally caught sight of an inconspicuous accessory on the Rogue's chest armor.
It looks familiar.
The ornament was a brooch. It had an ordinary design and was even a little rough. The color was also very dark, almost blending in with the color of the leather armor. There were many brooches like this on the streets, and it was common to see players wearing similar items. But Fleeting Time felt that something was off. He had seen it before. But where had he seen it before?
He could not remember.
Fleeting Time turned around and saw that the Rogue had already disappeared into the Bloody Wilderness. Only a gust of wind could be heard blowing into the mountain pass. Fleeting Time did not stop. He turned around and ran along the Rotten Path towards Saint Light City. But the brooch was still stuck in his mind.
How long is an instant?
There was a record in the Sanskrit Mantra: An instant is a thought. Twenty thoughts are an instant. Twenty moments are a snap of a finger. Twenty snaps of a finger are a luoding. Twenty luoding is a moment. There are thirty moments in a day and night.
If you are a textual reader, you can do the math.
One day and night = 24 hours = 86400 seconds.
Then, one moment = 8640030 = 2880 seconds.
One luoding = 2880 seconds 20 = 144 seconds.
Then, one snap of the finger = 144 seconds 20 = 7.2 seconds.
So, one moment = 7.2 seconds 20 = 0.36 seconds
In the end, it was concluded that one moment was equal to 0.018 seconds.
How long was 0.018 seconds? It might not even take you the time to blink your eyes. What could be done in a split second? I don't know. But there was one thing that was certain. Fleeting Time and Ye Ci had only passed each other for a brief moment.
Ye Ci felt that her heartbeat had stopped, and her breathing had stopped. Even her vital signs had become deathly still at this moment. She stared ahead quietly as the entrance to the Bloody Wilderness appeared in front of her. Her field of vision suddenly widened. What about Fleeting Time who passed by her? She didn't dare to look, didn't dare to turn her head, and didn't even dare to think about it.
There was a bush of plants at the entrance of the Bloody Wilderness and the Rotting Path. It was so dense that a person would not be discovered if they crouched down in the bush. Ye Ci charged through the mountain pass, and immediately jumped down from her horse's back when she saw a bush of plants. She rolled into the bushes without hesitation. The little red horse was not Ol 'Four, it was just a mount. So, as long as the player disappeared from its back, it would automatically disappear as well.
Ye Ci and the red pony disappeared into the Bloody Wilderness in the blink of an eye.
She crouched down and hid among the plants, activating Stealth. Fortunately, her Talent Point had been added to Enhanced Stealth, which made it even harder for her to be discovered. Even so, Ye Ci was still very careful. After all, the player that she had just brushed past was not an ordinary player. He was someone that she could not afford to underestimate. If she was not careful, she would be discovered by him.
Ye Ci hid among the plants as she listened to the sound of the wind whistling past her head and ears. Time seemed to pass by her with the sound of the wind.
Players from opposing continents would not be able to see the red glow on her body when she was in Stealth. This meant that she could remain in Stealth as long as she was not discovered. However, Ye Ci was a Huntress and not a Rogue. She was naturally lacking when it came to Stealth. Even if she had maxed out her Enhanced Stealth, it did not mean that she would not be discovered by high-level Rogues.
Although Fleeting Time was the most conspicuous enemy in the Western Continent, it did not mean that there were no other top-tier players in the Western Continent. Just like in the Eastern Continent, Ye Ci lived in a small area and thus did not encounter many top-tier players. However, that did not mean that she was the only top-tier player in the entire Eastern Continent. She believed that it was just that she had yet to discover the presence of other top-tier players. It was for this reason that Ye Ci had to be extra careful in the unfamiliar Western Continent, or her life would be at risk.
She waited in silence for a while.
Ye Ci had thought that waiting for nightfall in the Southern Continent would be unbearable, but she did not expect it to be even more unbearable. She kept a close eye on the time, and every minute felt like a year to her. She finally let out a sigh of relief after five minutes had passed.
Ye Ci had been observing the situation outside through the gaps between the bushes. She was not willing to let go of even the tiniest of clues. During the five minutes, the only thing that she could see in the Bloody Wilderness was the howling of the wind. Not a single player had passed through the gap.
Not even Fleeting Time.
Maybe he did not notice her presence at all. After all, the Brooch of Deceit was an overpowered item. No one else in the game other than Wang Jiangnan would know of its existence. Even a top-tier player like Fleeting Time would not know of the Brooch of Deceit's effects.
Ye Ci was certain that Fleeting Time would not be able to discover her presence. She stood up and snuck out of the bushes in Stealth. She then took out the Goblin Compass and began to locate Vo 'sok.
Vo 'sok was once the home of the Goblins. It was conquered by the Bloodthirsty Undead and the Sinful Orcs after the war between the Gods and the Demon King. Vo' sok was no longer a part of the Western Continent, and the place was no longer marked on the map.
The compass was given to Ye Ci by Orthus. According to Orthus, the compass would only work when one was in Vo 'sok. According to the quest description, Vo 'sok could be found in the Bloody Wilderness. That was why Ye Ci took out the compass as soon as she arrived at the Bloody Wilderness.
The Bloody Wilderness was a huge map that was filled with dangers. Ye Ci was not confident that she would be able to find Vo 'sok without taking any damage. The best thing she could do was to locate Vo' sok as soon as possible. That would save her a lot of time and energy.
But it was apparent that the Goblin Compass had no intention of working in the Bloody Wilderness. Its needle was swinging wildly when Ye Ci took it out, and it did not stop moving in a certain direction.
It seemed that it was impossible to locate Vo 'sok with the Goblin Compass.
Ye Ci sighed. Sure enough, an Epic Quest was not easy to complete. Even if she wanted to take advantage of it, she would not be able to do so. Ye Ci stooped down and picked a random direction to travel into the depths of the Bloody Wilderness in stealth mode.
The scenery of the Bloody Wilderness wasn't bad, at least it wasn't as bloody as its name suggested. There were moss-like plants growing on the black muddy ground. Occasionally, there would be some shrubs growing on the ground. The only thing that could be associated with the Bloody Wilderness was the color of the sky.
In the Bloody Wilderness, the sky would always be red regardless of the season or the weather. It was as red as fresh blood. Everything in the Bloody Wilderness was dyed red by the color of the sky. It looked as if the place was bleeding. That was how the name of the Bloody Wilderness came about.
There were no Normal monsters in the Bloody Wilderness. All of them were Elite monsters. Not only that, but all of them were humanoid monsters with high HP, high HP, and a certain level of intelligence. All of them were around level 60. Ye Ci might be able to handle two of these monsters, but if there were more than two of them, she would have no choice but to run for her life.
The Bloody Wilderness wasn't just filled with high-level humanoid monsters. More importantly, it was filled with leveling up maniacs from the Eastern Continent. They were scattered all over the Bloody Wilderness. If Ye Ci was not careful, she would be easily discovered by the enemy.
Because of this, Ye Ci could only explore a limited area. If there were more than two monsters, she would observe her surroundings. If there were no extra monsters or Eastern Continent players nearby, she would kill them. If either of these conditions were not met, Ye Ci would avoid the monsters.
She did not have any supplies or consumables, and she was in a foreign land. It was definitely not the best time to fight a war of attrition. Furthermore, Ye Ci was here to search for Vo 'sok, not to farm for Honor Points. If she used up too many arrows and potions on players and monsters, she would not be able to last long in Vo' sok. That would be the same as wasting her own time.
Time was something that Ye Ci could not afford to waste.
Her movement speed in Stealth was only half of her normal running speed, and she had been slaying quite a number of monsters in the Bloody Wilderness. She took a look at the time and realized that 6 hours had passed by the time she started to feel hungry. Ye Ci killed the last Bloodthirsty Undead Scout and hid behind a small tree. She then logged out of the game to have dinner.
After dinner, Ye Ci told her parents that she had a very important quest to complete, so she would not be logging out of the game for dinner. Zuo Xiaolan and Ye Nantian were players as well, and they knew that there were some special circumstances in the game where players would not be able to log out of the game. Although they were worried, they still filled Ye Ci's gaming capsule with two bottles of the best nutrient solution they could find. They also reminded her to take care of her body, and to log out of the game to rest whenever there was a certain phase of the quest.
Ye Ci went to take a shower and logged into the game. She had no idea how long she would have to stay in the game, just like how she did not know how long she would have to stay in the game before she could leave the Western Continent. In order to save time, she decided not to log out of the game.
Ye Ci was greeted by a forest of small trees when she logged into the game. She did not forget that she had hidden her character among the trees before she logged out of the game. Even though she was in stealth mode when she logged out of the game, she would have to go back into stealth mode when she logged back into the game.
Ye Ci did not care if there were any players from the Eastern Continent around her. She activated stealth the moment the trees appeared before her. She quietly crouched in the bushes for a while. After confirming that there were only a few undead scouts roaming outside, she slowly walked out of the bushes.
Dark clouds had gathered in the sky at an unknown time, contrasting with the sky that was as red as blood, giving people a feeling of irritation. Muffled thunder rumbled through the dark clouds. From time to time, a few bolts of lightning would streak across the sky, adding a terrifying aura to the seemingly peaceful Bloody Wilderness.
Looks like it's going to rain.
This was a very bad situation.
As Fate was a 100% simulation of real life, changes in the weather were very common in the game. Not only that, but the changes in the weather in Fate would also affect the players. There was nothing much to say about sunny and cloudy days because they were more common and wouldn't affect the game or the players. However, it was a different story when it came to other types of weather.
For example, when it rained, the players' visibility would be greatly reduced, and their clothes would be wet. This was not a problem for Leather Armor, Chainmail, and Plate Armor classes, but it was a huge problem for Cloth Armor classes. If it rained in the wilderness, the robes of Cloth Armor classes would stick to their bodies like in real life, greatly limiting their movement and ability to use their skills.
If it was windy, the ranged classes would be in trouble. This was because the wind would greatly affect the skills of ranged classes. If the players did not know how to adjust the deviation of their skills according to the wind speed, it would be very difficult for them to hit their targets.
If it was a snowy day, Chainmail and Plate Armor classes would be very unlucky. This was because their equipment was made of metal, and they would be turned into ice during the snowy weather. Even if the players had taken Cold Dispelling Potions, their skills would not be affected if their equipment was turned into ice. However … if the equipment was turned into ice, the weight of the player would increase, and the player's movement speed and attack efficiency would decrease.
This was something that was different from other virtual reality games. Even the experts of the virtual reality games would need a long time to adapt to the weather in Fate before they could fully grasp how to increase their attack efficiency in different weather conditions.
It was going to rain.
The rain would definitely cause the ground to be muddy, which was very bad for Ye Ci who was in stealth. She would leave footprints on the ground, and Ye Ci's visibility would be greatly reduced when it rained. The visibility in the Bloody Wilderness was already very limited, and she would have to be even more careful when it rained.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.
Ye Ci took in a deep breath and activated her map before the rain began to fall. She continued her journey through the Bloody Wilderness, hoping that she would be able to locate Vo 'sok before the rain began to fall.
The sky was getting darker, and the bright red color of the sky had turned into a dark red. The dark red color of the sky could easily cause one's heart to become restless. Ye Ci's heart felt like it was being scratched by a cat as she listened to the rumbling of thunder and stared at the dark red sky.
Ye Ci took out the Goblin Compass to confirm her direction, but the compass did not show her the location of Vo 'sok.
"Phew!" Ye Ci's stamina was about to run out. She looked around and found a large piece of wood. She hid under the wood, and began munching on the food she had been given. She had lost count of how many times she had replenished her Stamina, but Stealth consumed more Stamina than normal running. Therefore, she had to sit down and eat frequently. Otherwise, if she used up too much Stamina, her character would become extremely tired and unable to use Stealth or skills.
Ye Ci's heart sank as she looked up at the sky that was filled with dark clouds.
Fleeting Time stood in the workshop of Saint Light City. The workshop had always been one of the most populated places in the game.
As the levels of the players increased, the equipment of the players became better, and the drop rate of gems from monsters increased. In Fate, different gems had different effects. Some increased Strength, some increased Agility, some increased Critical Rate, some increased Health, and some increased Movement Speed.
The gems were categorized according to their levels: Broken, Cracked, Complete, Flawed, Slightly Flawed, Flawless, and Perfect.
An NPC could synthesize 9 low-tier gems into a high-tier gem. The success rate of synthesizing gems was 100%, but it cost a lot of money. Even so, there were still many players who came to synthesize gems. After all, there was a limit to the number of holes that could be drilled into equipment. The higher the quality of the gems, the higher the stats of the equipment.
The drop rate of low-tier gems was very high. Monsters in dungeons and monsters above lvl 30 in the wild were very common. However, high-tier gems were very rare. They could only be dropped by high-level monsters, and only Elite monsters and above could drop them. Furthermore, the drop rate was very low.
Fleeting Time was only able to obtain a Slightly Flawed Gem thanks to the bottle of Blessings he consumed. Normally, he would be lucky if he could get a single Slightly Flawed Gem after a whole day of hard work.
There were three NPCs in charge of synthesizing Gemstone Knights, while there were hundreds and thousands of players surrounding them. With so many players crowding around them, it would not be easy to squeeze in and find them to synthesize a Gemstone Knight.
Fleeting Time might be a famous player in the Western Continent, but his identity as a God was not an easy task when it came to synthesizing gems. Fleeting Time was usually able to squeeze through the crowd with his Dexterity, but he did not feel like squeezing through the crowd as he tried to recall where he had seen the brooch on the Rogue's chest.
"Where are you now?" Absalom sent a message to Fleeting Time just as he was trying to recall where he had seen the brooch.
"I'm with the Synthesizer."
"You've been gone for more than an hour. Why are you still there? Do you have that many gems to synthesize? "
"I'm still queuing up. There's so many people here." Fleeting Time was frustrated by Absalom's interruption. He was about to think of something, but Absalom's interruption caused him to be unable to think of anything else.
"A Hunter like you is queuing up? Is your Dexterity just for show? "Absalom expressed his disdain," My wife asked me if you're coming back for Chinese New Year. "
Fleeting Time was stunned. Since when did Absalom's wife care so much about my schedule? It should be someone else.
"Don't beat around the bush when you're talking to me."
"Heh heh, you know that … That … That …" Absalom scratched his head as he spoke. It was obvious that his wife was forcing him to do something beyond his ability.
"She's not married yet?" Fleeting Time was getting impatient. He hated it when things got messy.
"She's liked you for more than ten years. Shouldn't you give her something in return? It's not easy. She's never had anyone in her heart since she was a little girl. Don't you think it's too hurtful? " Fleeting Time's indifference was within Absalom's expectations. He could not help but let out a sigh of regret.
"If a pig has liked you since it was born, and has liked you for more than ten years, shouldn't you give it something in return?" Fleeting Time snorted. He knew that a war of attrition was the worst way to convince Ye Ci.
"Hey, she's not a pig. She's a beautiful girl. Fleeting Time, it's fine if you go overboard, but can you please watch your mouth?" It was his wife's good friend after all. Absalom had to put in a good word for her. "It's fine if you ignore me in the game, but can't you at least give me some face in real life? My wife is still there. Don't make things difficult for me."
"To me, humans are no different from pigs when it comes to things that they're not interested in." It was a waste of time for him to dwell on a topic that he did not care about. Hence, he changed the topic without hesitation. "Oh right, I have something to ask you."
"What is it?" Absalom was in a dilemma. How am I supposed to explain this to my wife? Women are so annoying!
"There aren't many players in the game who wear brooches, right?"
"Yup."
"Do you have any impression of this brooch?" Fleeting Time described the brooch on the Rogue's chest to Absalom.
"How would I know? If you're interested in jewelry, you should talk to my wife about it. " To Absalom, no matter how detailed Fleeting Time's description of the brooch was, it was just an ordinary brooch. He was not interested in jewelry, and he was of no help to Fleeting Time.
Fleeting Time immediately hung up on Absalom. He was never stingy with talking to someone who was of no help to him.
Absalom was speechless as he listened to the beeping sound in his earpiece. What kind of person is this? I'll talk to you if I can be of use to you, but if I can't, I won't even care if you're dead or alive. After ending the conversation, Absalom turned to the Fire Mage beside him and scratched his head.
"How is it? Did he say that he's coming back for Chinese New Year? "The Fire Mage was none other than Absalom's wife, Sour Apple. She stared at Absalom expectantly, and the glint in her eyes made Absalom feel pressured.
"Honey, it's only September. Isn't it a little too early to talk about Chinese New Year?" Absalom finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.
"Of course it's not early! It's already September! Chinese New Year is coming soon! You should be prepared … "Sour Apple pouted.
"Alright, Apple … Stop asking." A Cleric in a white robe stood behind Sour Apple. It was White Fairytale. Her heart was empty when she heard Absalom's words. Does it hurt? Maybe, but I'm already numb to it.
She was classmates with Fleeting Time, Absalom, and Sour Apple in junior high school, and she had fallen in love with Fleeting Time ever since she first met him. At first, she thought that it was just a little girl's fantasy. But as she grew older, her feelings for Fleeting Time grew deeper. When she saw Absalom and Sour Apple together, she could not help but imagine that she and Fleeting Time would one day be like them.
But ever since Fleeting Time found out about her feelings for White Fairytale, he had been indifferent to her. Sour Apple had said that Fleeting Time was just shy, and White Fairytale thought the same. She thought that Fleeting Time would accept her once he got used to it. But after so many years, not only did Fleeting Time not get close to her, he had even become a stranger to her. He had never accepted her kindness to him. His attitude towards her was only slightly better than a stranger's because she used to be his junior high school classmate.
But White Fairytale could not help but feel her heart break when she saw the cold look in Fleeting Time's eyes. If it was possible, it would be best for Fleeting Time to not have this relationship at all.
She had always thought that she would continue to love him like this for the rest of her life. Even if one day he got married and she got married, her heart would still love him so humbly. But every time she thought of this, her left chest would hurt so much that she could not even breathe. She did not dare to think about the future.
Both Sour Apple and Absalom knew what White Fairytale was thinking. Sour Apple had thought of many ways to matchmake the two of them, but Fleeting Time ignored all of them. She could only vent her frustration on Absalom.
When Sour Apple heard that Fleeting Time was going to play Fate last year, she tried to matchmake the two of them in the game. But she was afraid that Fleeting Time would be wary of her, so she secretly found out that Fleeting Time was going to be a Warrior. She immediately asked White Fairytale to be a Cleric. But just when Sour Apple thought that she had gotten her way, she was surprised to find out that Fleeting Time had chosen a Hunter class. Sour Apple almost vomited blood when she saw that.
She would never forget the moment she stormed into Fleeting Time's solo training session and asked him why he did not play as a Warrior. "Because I like it." Fleeting Time replied with a smile.
That's right! Sour Apple was so angry that she almost fainted on the spot! Fleeting Time was obviously trying to prevent her from matchmaking him with White Fairytale! How dare he say it so naturally! From then on, Sour Apple no longer went against Fleeting Time. She knew that she was not on the same level as the sly man, and Absalom became the perfect messenger for her. She had no choice but to rely on Absalom for the job.
"Don't ask any questions. It's good that he's back. We can all go out and have fun together …" Sour Apple winked at White Fairytale.
White Fairytale let out a sorrowful smile. She was conflicted. On one hand, she was despairing about her future with Fleeting Time. On the other hand, she could not help but feel a little bit of hope because of Sour Apple's matchmaking.
White Fairytale remained silent after hearing Sour Apple's words. It was obvious that she was looking forward to it.
Absalom, on the other hand, was helpless. He knew Fleeting Time's personality better than anyone else. There was no chance that White Fairytale would end up with him. But White Fairytale's infatuation with Fleeting Time would only hurt herself.
"Oh right, we'll be running a dungeon tonight. You'll be in the same party as Fleeting Time. Focus on his HP." Sour Apple smiled.
White Fairytale's face darkened. There was a secret that even Sour Apple did not know about. Because Genesis was very strict about ineffective healing, every Priest had to learn how to use their healing on the most suitable person. She had been in the same party as Fleeting Time ever since they started running the dungeon, but she had never had the chance to heal him. This was because Fleeting Time never gave her a chance to heal herself.
"I still have some things to sell. I'll talk to you tonight …" White Fairytale turned around and left.
"Fairy Tale." Absalom could not help but feel sorry for her, "Fairy Tale."
White Fairytale stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at Absalom.
"Fleeting Time is a rotten man. What's so good about him? Look at all the outstanding men in the guild. Tell me who you like … Ouch!" Sour Apple smacked Absalom on the head before he could finish his sentence.
White Fairytale knew exactly what Absalom was trying to say. She let out a bitter smile and turned around to leave. Her footsteps were filled with desolation.
"What are you doing?" Sour Apple glared at Absalom, "Can't you see how sad she is? How can you say something like that? "
"Honey, don't you think that the cruelest thing you can do to her is to let Fleeting Time shatter her hopes?" Absalom sighed.
Sour Apple was well aware of that, "I know. But if you can see how much she loves Fleeting Time, you won't be able to stop yourself from helping her."
A figure suddenly appeared in Absalom's mind. It was a woman who was as fierce as Fleeting Time. Is Fleeting Time's feelings for her real? Or is it just a game?
"Whatever it is, don't meddle in their affairs. It's pointless." Absalom reminded Sour Apple absent-mindedly, but his mind was filled with Fleeting Time's excitement when he talked about that woman.
Where in the world had he seen it before?
Fleeting Time tossed the gemstone to the Synthetic Master and crossed his arms in front of his chest, his fingers dancing nimbly on his arms. He lifted his head and saw an elven huntress with a ponytail running across the street not far away. His mind felt like it was being filled with wisdom.
Fleeting Time finally remembered where he had seen the brooch before.
It was on Gongzi You's chest!
Fleeting Time had seen the brooch during their first battle in the Dragon Dance Competition, but he did not pay much attention to it. That was why he did not realize when he saw the same brooch on the Rogue.
Now that he thought about it, Gongzi You had been wearing the brooch for a very long time. She had not changed the brooch for the past ten months. Furthermore, the brooch was extremely well-hidden. If one didn't pay attention, they wouldn't be able to discover it. He thought that those who had interacted with her before wouldn't be able to discover the brooch if they didn't look carefully. Furthermore, the brooch's position wasn't easy to see.
A brooch that Gongzi You had not changed for the past ten months was definitely not something ordinary. How could such an extraordinary item appear on an ordinary Thief? What kind of luck did that Thief have? Where did he get this thing?
Or …
Fleeting Time was stunned. He could not believe his own thoughts.
Is it possible? Is it even possible?
Is it even possible for a player to travel to a hostile continent alone? And to travel deep into the Bloody Wilderness near Saint Light City?
No, it's possible!
Nothing is impossible as long as it's Gongzi You! (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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