Qingmu Town, along the central street
Boom!
The footsteps of the large battalion of Skeletal Soldiers rumbled like roaring thunder. To the fleeing closed beta testers, it sounded like the god of death was approaching, and the noise weighed so heavily on their hearts that they were gasping for breath.
The closed beta testers could only flee for their lives like dogs without a home to return to.
"I'm really in some deep sh*t now!"
Bigcat finally stopped caring about his image and angrily swore out loud. The next moment, when he turned to look behind him, he saw an elegant figure standing still and alone within the vast sea of undead.
"Lacuna..."
Bigcat quietly repeated the name to himself, committing it to his memory. "Who on earth are you, really? Which expert 'smurf' is this? As skilled as you are, you're definitely not a nobody, especially when you have such mastery over story events... It's something to be feared!"
Beside him, strollingkitty also turned back to look, and the player's silhouette reflected in her pretty eyes. "With the strength of a newbie player he successfully assassinated Pulitzer and single-handedly triggered the 'Stygian Night Invasion,' making it start a whole quarter of an hour early!
"This lacuna fellow really is impressive..."
Alphabetkun, butterkid, and the other players didn't have the time to entertain such thoughts. At this moment, there was only one thing on their minds.
Escape! They needed to survive at all costs!
Otherwise, if they died at the hands of the Stygian Army, they would lose all the experience points they had accrued thus far, and would be saddled with the "Vulnerable" state for an hour. If that happened, their early start to the game would be completely ruined!
It was a ridiculous turn of events, as though the Fates had a sense of irony—
In his previous life, Ye Kong fell behind the closed beta testers because of the "Stygian Night Invasion."
In this life, the closed beta testers, faced with the "Stygian Night Invasion," could only flee for their lives!
Their positions had been reversed!
This time, Ye Kong was the true "beta tester," while the closed beta testers...
They were just a pack of "old homeless dogs"!
......
"This is really embarrassing to watch."
Ye Kong looked at the fleeing closed beta testers and unconsciously shook his head. He didn't show a shred of remorse, even though he was the "main culprit" of the incident. He gave off the appearance of someone who was cold-blooded, showing that he was willing to step over others to ensure his success.
Then again, truth be told, there was nothing that Ye Kong was willing to devote his all to, aside for his little sister.
Just then, Ye Kong felt a strange sensation in his hands, and when he looked down at them, he saw the black-red colored Assassin's Sword disintegrating into a cloud of sparkling dust. It scattered away into the air, and in a few moments was gone without a trace.
The Assassin's Sword was no more.
Quest equipment was always meant to automatically disappear after the quest ended. Moreover, the Assassin's Sword was an item with a "God-blessed Enchantment," and was a gift from the God of the Blind - Hodr.
When its purpose had been fulfilled, Hodr would naturally take it back, rather than allowing it to remain in the hands of mortals.
Following the disappearance of the Assassin's Sword, Ye Kong felt his body grow heavy. Evidently, his attributes had returned to their normal state.
Even so, the City Guard Set was comprised of Bronze equipment, and the bonus attributes they provided were pretty decent. This made Ye Kong's Character Overview Window still more impressive than that of other players of the same level.
"Huh?"
Ye Kong had the Sense +3 attribute bonus from the Emblem of Potential, so his ability to perceive things was sharper than other people's. He was, therefore, the first to realize an "incongruity" among the horde of mobs—
"Players from the Stygian Night Kingdom Server?"
Ye Kong studied the situation more carefully and immediately discovered a few players he hadn't noticed before. Almost at the same time, the players also slowed down their pace, noticing his presence.
"Quick, look over there! It's a Yggdmillennia Server player!" decadentdude cried out in surprise, and the companions around him looked where he was facing, also quickly noticing Ye Kong's presence.
"Nicely done, decadentdude!"
"Haha, decadentdude has the best eye as usual!"
"Come on, let's go and get him!"
Decadentdude was a Server Load Test player, and the class he chose was the Ranger, which had the best starting vision range out of all the classes (the Ranger's Class Advantage - Eagle Eye provided a bonus of 20 points to their vision range). As such, he had taken up the responsibility of scouting out the enemy.
Aside from decadentdude, there was also a Berserker, a Sorcerer, and an Assassin in their small party. They were all core members of the "Spirit Alliance Guild," which happened to be one of the renowned guilds in the Stygian Night Kingdom Server. In later years, they would be no less famous than the Soul Temple Guild of the Ishtar Federation.
Case in point, only the top tier professionals from the Stygian Night Kingdom Server would be qualified enough to come here at this point and accompany the Stygian Army in its invasion!
The four of them were all players from the Server Load Test, so the equipment they wore and their gaming skills were head and shoulders above the rest of the regular players. Hence, when they saw "lacuna" there, they became excited and quickly made a beeline toward him.
(Note: Server Load Test players are 2nd Test players who entered the game one phase earlier than 3rd Test players. 3rd Test players are also known as Real Alpha Testers who started one phase earlier than Closed Beta players. Closed Beta Testers are thus the most inexperienced players, or 4th Test players.)
By killing players from an enemy faction, one could receive a "reputation score" reward (this was limited to players with a reputation level below "Friendly"). To a player in the early stages of the game, such a reward was an irresistible temptation.
This was especially true for these Stygian players, as their main motive for joining the invasion with the Stygian Army was to kill players from the Yggdmillennia Server. They wanted to quickly farm up their "reputation score" so they could get a bigger head start in the early stages of the game!
With a high reputation level, players could get access to unbelievable perks when carrying out story events!
For example, Ye Kong's successful assassination of Pulitzer was in part thanks to his "Good" reputation with the Blind Sect.
Swish!
At once, the four players rushed to attack Ye Kong from four different directions, but Ye Kong didn't move in the slightest. Instead, his lips curled into a mocking sneer—
"Foolish."
Just as he said this, the first player to reach him, the Assassin - blackgoat, had already drawn his dagger and was about to attack Ye Kong—
Swish!
Blackgoat suddenly stopped in his tracks, a shocked expression forming on his face, as though he had just seen a ghost.
"Blackgoat?!" The Berserker was puzzled for a moment, but when he swung the axe in his hands, in the very next moment, he reacted the same as blackgoat.
Boom!
The Berserker forcibly changed the path of his attack as the axe brushed past Ye Kong and fell to the side, crashing into the ground.
At the same time, the expression on the Berserker's face was one of wonder.
"This... this guy!"
The Sorcerer, who was some distance away, canceled the Poison Fire Spell she was casting. Her beautiful eyes were filled with amazement—
"This player has a 'Friendly' reputation level with the Stygian Night Kingdom's forces!"
Finally, decadentdude, who was about to perform a sneak attack on Ye Kong from behind, also put down his bow and arrow, a look of helplessness on his face. Because when he was about to shoot his arrow, he received a notification from the system—
System Notification: The target you are attacking is an ally, and the target's reputation level is higher than your own. Please take note!
"What the hell!"
Decadentdude put away his weapon. The opponent's reputation level was higher than his, so if he tried to attack this opponent, he would incur a "Hated reputation" effect. When that happened, they would become the targets of the Stygian Army's attacks!
From this information they could infer that the player lacuna's reputation level was at least "Friendly." This was the only way he could be at a higher reputation level than their reputation level of "Good."
"How did he do it?"
The four of them studied Ye Kong, and as they did, they discovered something slightly unusual—
The Skeletal Soldiers charging along all made an effort to avoid him, and the Black Armored Knights leading their squads would even stop to bow to him when they passed by!
When they saw this scene...
The four top tier players, who had thoroughly experienced the game's Alpha Testing phase, all had the same thought enter their minds...
"Am I dreaming right now?"