No Smile felt utterly dejected now that he had dropped to level 20. He stood listlessly inside the Thieves' Union, not making any movement. All the players nearby were gesticulating at him.
"You see that guy? He's originally the eleventh-ranked Thief on the leaderboard, but now he's only a level 20 player. Tsk tsk!"
"G*dd*mn it! What is he standing there in a daze for? Get out of the safe zone already; I still want to see the Masked Slayer in action!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha! I've seen him twice!"
"I've chased after him for five streets!"
"Why is he still not leaving the Thieves' Union? I can't wait any longer!"
All the players were anxious, hoping that No Smile would just leave the safe zone and dive head-first into the arms of death like he had done ten times before. Had it not been for the no-physical-contact rule in the safe zones, the situation "tossing someone out of the safe zone to be killed" that Gu Fei had previously described would have already happened to No Smile.
The players nearby waited for the Masked Slayer, but instead saw Oathless Sword and Gale Force arrive. Just like No Smile, the two were core members of Traversing Four Seas. But those players in the know were well aware that Traversing Four Seas was actually mobilized by Oathless Sword, Gale Force, and another player called Youthful Reflection. No Smile was actually a late addition to the core.
Oathless Sword and Gale Force did not say a word upon seeing the large crowd of nosey onlookers, and they just walked up straight to No Smile within the safe zone.
"No Smile," Oathless Sword addressed him firmly.
No Smile lifted his head with a blank look on his face.
"I've spoken with the people from Amethyst Rebirth," Oathless Sword began to say.
No Smile listened wordlessly.
"They have agreed to return you the dagger, Zephyr's Whisper, but under the condition that you leave Traversing Four Seas," Oathless Sword stared at No Smile intensely, "What do you think?"
No Smile's lifeless eyes seemed to spark with life once more, "That's easy. I'll leave the guild. Just add me back in once I have the dagger."
Oathless Sword's eyes quickly flashed with disbelief. No Smile was truly a rotten man. To come up with such a cunning scheme in a moment's notice without batting an eye, his crooked nature was made crystal clear!
Oathless Sword suddenly realized that kicking this sort of person from the guild would actually be beneficial in the long run. It would be hard to accomplish anything if one of the core members had such a terrible personality. With such a thought it mind, Oathless Sword took out Zephyr's Whisper and tossed it to No Smile.
"It's settled, then!" Oathless Sword said with finality and turned to leave with Gale Force.
"What do you mean?" No Smile was stunned.
No Smile got his answer almost instantly.
[System notification: Due to repeated breach of guild rules, Player No Smile has been expelled from Traversing Four Seas. We hope the rest of the guild members would heed this as a warning.]
"Oathless, what's the meaning of this?!" No Smile yelled in anger. Whenever people got angry, they would often throw or damage things to vent their frustration. No Smile raised his hand to do just that. But when he remembered that he was holding Zephyr's Whisper, he immediately lowered his hand and put the weapon into his dimensional pocket instead.
"F*CK!" No Smile roared.
"D*mn. So close…" the crowd around him muttered in regret. Everyone had been looking forward to No Smile mistakenly tossing the dagger while he was in an emotional state!
Gu Fei was actually among the crowd, raring for a fight with No Smile who had been staying in the safe zone for quite some time. Since No Smile got his precious dagger back, he would be elated enough to take it out for a spin, right?
In the end, No Smile kept the dagger and logged off.
"Awww…" the onlookers once more exhaled with scorn. They all decided to take their leave now that the exciting event was as good as over. Gu Fei was staring dejectedly at the leaving mass of people when he suddenly received a message from July, "What are you doing right now? Return to the guild!"
Since Gu Fei had nothing else to do now that No Smile had gone offline, he decided to just head over to Amethyst Rebirth's headquarters. When Gu Fei turned up outside the guild house, he saw that many of the ladies were already gathered inside. Realizing that he was the last to arrive, he quickly stepped inside, just in time to hear July happily announced, "No Smile has been kicked out from Traversing Four Seas."
Gu Fei positioned himself by a corner and faintly smiled, watching all the ladies cheered. His heart was filled with a sense of accomplishment.
"Sis Luo Luo, it's all thanks to you for finding that mercenary group! They are so strong! Just who are they?" many of the ladies asked curiously.
Luo Luo answered regretfully, "I've only met the group's leader, so I don't know who the rest of them are. Even when they were staging a sneak attack, their faces remained covered. It's most likely done to fully conceal their identities."
July nodded, "I originally wanted to thank them all in person as well, especially that Mage of theirs. But I think it would be best if we don't make things difficult for them right now."
The ladies were extremely disappointed, especially Lie Lie whose face was filled with regret, "I really want to know who that Mage is!"
Gu Fei listened to them silently, maintaining a smile on his face.
Although the ladies did not know what Gu Fei had done for them behind their backs, they were at least aware of what he had done in public a while ago. July clapped her hands to get the attention of everyone in the room as she spoke, "Besides Luo Luo who found the mercenary group, we should thank Miles regarding this matter as well. It's due to him stealing No Smile's top-grade dagger that we managed to get out of that sticky situation, as well as gave us a powerful leverage to negotiate terms with Traversing Four Seas."
The ladies' response was not so keen this time. The lukewarm reaction was not due to them holding Gu Fei in low regard, but rather because most of them had treated him coldly before. Even though he had just done them a huge favor, it would have been far too unnatural for them to suddenly approach him with great ardor. The ladies were quite a prideful bunch after all, so they were somewhat reluctant to do a one-eighty on their attitude toward Gu Fei. Thus, they were somewhat confused as to how they should thank him now.
Some items were considered 'top grade', so some people could naturally be considered as 'top grade' as well.
Lie Lie, who had always been biased toward Gu Fei, graciously changed her attitude toward him. She approached him and courteously said, "I couldn't tell before, but you ain't half bad!"
Gu Fei's face was still plastered with the same smile, as he placidly accepted her compliment by saying, "Thanks."
Seeing Gu Fei's almost emotionless response, Lie Lie stalked away sheepishly.
July felt the awkward atmosphere as well, so she quickly announced, "Alright. Now that this problem is resolved, let's be at ease and continue enjoying the game!"
Everyone applauded, and huddled together once more to gab about that legendary Masked Slayer.
"Thank you!" July walked toward Gu Fei at this moment and earnestly thanked him.
"Ah, it's nothing. I may be a temporary member, but I'm still a part of your guild right now. It's only natural that we should help one another in times of trouble," Gu Fei smiled.
July was tongue-tied. The girls in the guild had never considered Gu Fei as one of them, and Gu Fei had never acted as if he was a part of them either. Yet in such dire straits, this temporary member had actually contributed the most out of everyone in the guild.
"Don't mind how the girls treat you! They are just… Uhm…" July could not find the proper word to describe the present situation.
"Don't worry about it," Gu Fei said, "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave. Is that alright?"
"Mmhmm. Go ahead!" July said.
Gu Fei turned and was about to exit the guild house when July suddenly stopped him.
"Yes?" Gu Fei turned his head.
"Uhm, where's your straw hat? Weren't you always wearing one?" July questioned him.
Gu Fei's heart skipped a beat, before he quickly replied, "Heh, I was a noob back then, and was unaware that we can't simply equip whatever we want. A Mage like me isn't supposed to wear a straw hat, so I threw it away."
"Oh…."
"I'm off," Gu Fei waved goodbye as he exited the guild house.
"What? Are you thinking that Miles is that Masked Slayer?" Luo Luo went over to July's side once Gu Fei had left.
"I heard that the Masked Slayer wears a straw hat, a beginner mage robe, and is at level 30. Isn't that too similar to how Miles used to dress?" July said.
"True. Plus, Miles and that guy like using swords. When Miles fought with Xiaoyu, he wielded a sword as well," Luo Luo commented.
"But…" Luo Luo immediately added, "Miles couldn't beat Xiaoyu. Without my assistance, he would have died back then."
"Did he purposely lose to Xiaoyu?" July asked.
"I couldn't tell," Luo Luo answered.
"If he couldn't even beat Xiaoyu, while the Masked Slayer could effortlessly kill No Smile... They couldn't possibly be the same person," July surmised.
"Who knows? Maybe, the Masked Slayer saw Miles' comical outfit and decided to purposely disguise himself like that to better hide his identity!" Luo Luo suggested.
"He's got quite the sense of humor, then," July laughed.
"But still, there's a possibility of Miles being the Masked Slayer," Luo Luo said carefully.
"True. I guess we'll just find out in the future…" July said.
Gu Fei became aware of this problem as well upon leaving the Amethyst Rebirth's guild house. Due to his very unique equipment choices, July, Luo Luo, and the rest of those who had met him before could connect the Masked Slayer's identity to him. This would make things seriously annoying for Gu Fei! He should seek Young Master Han and the rest of the gang's advice regarding this. As he was pondering on this, Young Master Han sent him a message, "How're you doing, Mr. Slayer?"
"No Smile went offline," Gu Fei replied.
"You should take a break after ten kills as well! Come back to the bar. There's something important we've got to do," Young Master Han said.
"What's that?" Gu Fei asked.
"Splitting the reward," Young Master Han answered.
"Oh! I'll be there right away," Gu Fei quickly said.
The five were seated together awaiting Gu Fei inside Ray's Bar. There were ten coin pouches stacked on the table shaped like a little mountain.
"Open them and pour everything out!" Royal God Call's voice trembled slightly, "1000 gold coins! I want to see them piled together! It must be quite the sight!"
"Pathetic!" The other four men criticized him as they salivated.
"How much did we earn last mission?" Royal God Call asked.
"210 gold coins. Miles took 60, and we all took 30 each," Young Master Han said.
"There's actually so much this time… The ladies of Amethyst Rebirth sure are rich!" Royal God Call remarked.
"So how are we splitting it this time?" Brother Assist asked.
"Hmm… Miles put in a lot of effort this time. He'll take half and we'll split the remaining equally; what do you all think?" Young Master Han asked.
"Sounds about right," Sword Demon nodded his head.
"Half is about 500 gold coins," Royal God Call felt hollow inside as he said this.
"100 gold coins each isn't too bad. You should be thankful as it is!" War Without Wounds said, "I can finally buy myself a better weapon."
Brother Assist swept the room, "Among us right now, only Sword Demon's Frost Memories and Royal's Great Lunar Bow could be considered as top-grade items!"
"My bow isn't top grade; its Attack Power is just slightly better than the average bow. Sword Demon's dagger is the real deal, though. 30% chance of a fatal blow! If my bow had that trait, I would become an unrivaled existence!" Royal God Call proclaimed.
"You may want to lower your voice. The King of Slayers is right behind you," War Without Wounds warned as he patted Royal God Call.
Royal God Call turned around and saw Gu Fei standing right behind him.