"Stupid system! Get me down!" BBtrash a.k.a., Wang GuiYing howled.
This was—to be plainly put—embarrassing. Not a second inside the third assigned level and BBtrash was hanging upside down from a tree. Why was this so? Cause he had come across a booby trap and before even getting the chance to save himself—the trap was triggered and in a heartbeat, he was already propelled up from the ground.
[Invalid request]
Hulk0_0 a.k.a., Zhou XinYi stared at the pitiful sight of his partner who was swinging upside down from the tree, helpless yet angrily cursing and arguing with a system. He calmly looked around his inventory to find anything that could be of use, but before he could do anything to help his partner, BBtrash was already saved by a bluish-green colored flash of light—the afterimage of a sword—that cut down the rope that was holding BBtrash up. With the rope cut in half, Wang GuiYing was thrown headfirst towards the ground.
"How come you are here?" the sword returned to the unexpected man who spoke in disbelief upon seeing the identity of the person he had saved.
Wang GuiYing looked up to see the face of his savior, "Mastermo?"
It was indeed Mastermo accompanied by Li Ling, the team which had coincidentally been assigned to this exact same level.
It was shocking to say nonetheless, especially since this case has simply never happened before; No two players or teams have been sent to the same level at the same time. This could have been a possible bug in the game, maybe they were here by mistake but this theory was soon proven wrong when the system in front of both the teams dinged together.
[Welcome to I-ranked level 5360: Treasure hunt]
Zhihao suddenly understood a few things; Since this was a treasure hunt level, it was certainly possible that they weren't the only players here.
[You have successfully entered the mystical land of beasts]
[This land that stretches as far as the eyes can see is the auspicious land—rich in natural resources and magical beasts. These beasts are rare and can only be found in this region and their main purpose here is to protect the priceless treasures that are hidden deep in these jungles.]
[Each team is given a riddle which after solving would tell them what their magical treasure is]
[Your mission is to find your assigned treasure. Do not fight with the other teams over the treasure, there are plenty of treasures to go around for everyone.]
[The teams can cooperate with other teams to help find their treasure.]
[We wish you all the best! Let's go treasure hunting!]
Zhihao was feeling complicated; on one hand, he was afraid of the fact that this was another I-ranked level and on the other hand, he was elated to be able to play it—to put it simply—he loved a good challenge.
Li Ling, "System, What's the riddle?"
[Answering players question:
The riddle is:-
I am white and shine as I go,
I'm alive, but you don't see me as so.
With three tails and big blue eyes,
I glow at night and run a few miles.]
Zhou XinYi, who saw that the other team got a riddle to solve, followed suit and asked the system the exact same question yet their team got a completely different riddle.
[With the wind, I swing,
On the earth, I dance,
I'm innocent and helpful for people I like but,
Fear me, for my temper, as I also like laying traps.]
BBtrash stood up from the ground and scratched his head, "What the hell is this?"
This guy was the exact opposite of Mastermo—he didn't play games for the sake of enjoyment—he played it with only one goal in mind; to win. As a pro-gamer, this reason wasn't so uncommon.
"I think it's a living creature?" Zhihao asked Li Ling
"Could be but there is also the line that says you don't see me as so. Maybe it's some sort of a living being that we don't regard as such, maybe a plant?" Li Ling responded, completely ignoring the existence of the annoying man whom they had just come across.
"Possibly, but then what about the last line; Run a few miles? I don't think plants would be able to run?"
"Right. Maybe like a pumpkin sedan?"
"... I hardly believe that would be the case." Zhihao sighed
"A fox, maybe?", Wang GuiYing tried to interfere between the two but was bluntly ignored.
Li Ling, "What are your guesses?"
"Maybe the moon?" Zhihao looked up.
"How so?"
"I'm white, I glow at night and I run a few miles."
"Would make sense; The moon is white and glows at night and normally, we see it moving from east to west."
"Yeah, but then it wouldn't explain the line; I have three tails and big blue eyes."
"Exactly." Li Ling nodded
The two made their way towards the forest as they continued their discussion.
BBtrash and Hulk0_0 were left behind, ignored and speechless.
"Yah! Am I air to you?!" Wang GuiYing yelled out, annoyed at how Mastermo ignored him. He dragged Zhou Xinyi by the hand following after the two men who were engrossed in riddle solving.
"Honey! What a coincidence bumping into you like this. hehe... Could this be what they call fate?" Wang GuiYing shamelessly chimed to which Mastermo once again, didn't bother to respond.
Wang GuiYing was a man with thick skin. There was no way in hell he was going to simply let them go like this. One had to know that BBtrash was most infamous for having a weird hobby in which he gained some sort of pleasure and accomplishment by teasing Mastermo every single time; This was also the reason most of the fans would often enjoy shipping the two together and to such fans—he would smile innocently, tilt his head and say 'Don't get me wrong. I'm not into men'—this was the famous line that made his fans laugh at the man for lying to himself.
"Eh! Is this the rumored lover? Wow! You really are a man."
Li Ling glared at BBtrash as he heard him say this, this was the first openly expressed reaction that BBtrash got and so he decided to keep on pestering about it a bit more, "Thank god! When I heard your name, I thought our little Mastermo had cheated on me with some girl. hehe... Now I feel better." Wang GuiYing chuckled and this time it wasn't only Li Ling, who glared at him—this time he received glares from all the other three—each for different reasons.
"Focus on completing your mission. Didn't you fail the last one?" Zhihao dead-panned
Wang GuiYing was not offended in the least and on the contrary, was shamelessly happy to find Zhihao responding to him, "Aye aye. With your help, I can rest assured."
Zhou XinYi grabbed onto his partner's collar preventing him from running and clinging onto Mastermo. If he hadn't done so, then there was no questioning that BBtrash would certainly be cut in half by this Mastermo's partner who was openly glaring at him with unhidden-hostility.
Zhou XinYi was smiling politely when he asked, "Since we have already come across each other like this, would Mastermo mind us tagging along with you?"
Zhihao glanced at the two, wondering how to politely decline the offer—There was no way he'll ever want to work together with Wang GuiYing, This annoying man. If it was only Zhou XinYi—Mastermo would have certainly agreed to let him tag along, but since these two always came in a pair—A buy one get one free offer—Zhihao wasn't so willing but he couldn't outrightly be impolite and so, he remained silent.
"We have no interest in carrying dead weight." Li Ling wasn't as polite. To him; this was like asking permission to tag along with someone on their date, all he saw them as was a third-wheeler and a fourth-wheeler who accompanied him.
Zhou XinYi was certainly taken aback by the hostile reply. He was a pro-gamer as well and to think that this newbie who had attached himself to Mastermo had actually dared to call him a dead weight—It was embarrassing. If the words were spoken by Mastermo, It would have been understandable—not acceptable, but still understandable, however, these words were actually spoken by this person? What qualifications did he have to say that? When comparing the rank of the two players, who was the real dead weight?
Wang GuiYing, on the other hand, was enraged by the response, but instead of lashing out, he decided to stay calm and use his usual means to incite the two, "Darling, we already have such a relationship. Are you really going to abandon me for this new-found mistress?"
"..." Zhihao really didn't like this guy.
When Zhou XinYi saw the faint shadow of a weapon in Li Ling's hand, he automatically pushed Wang GuiYing behind him, he spoke; defending him, "No need to take him seriously. He's not right in the head."
"I'm sorry, but we are really not looking for the extra trouble. If he's like this, who'll look after him?" Zhihao spoke up with a faint sense of annoyance laced along with his voice.
Zhou XinYi nodded, "Your worries are reasonable. Let me be responsible for him. You guys don't have to worry about our safety and if he annoys you too much, you can just shoot him on the spot."
Although Zhou XinYi had said it so easily, there was no way he'll actually let the two shoot the annoying man. This unspoken fact was known by both Mastermo and Li Ling. Zhou XinYi a.k.a., Hulk0_0 was infamously known for being BBtrash's unhired bodyguard. If it weren't for him—it would've been impossible for BBtrash to even get the chance to enter the pro-gamers list. He was as loyal as a dog—daring to even jump in front of a bullet for Wang GuiYing if the situation occurs. Although the two had always said that they were childhood friends—it didn't stop the fans from shipping the two—this ship could most certainly compete with BBtrash and Mastermo's ship or maybe even beat that ship.
"Then I'll take your word for it." Zhihao nodded. In the end, he still didn't want to offend Hulk0_0
Although Zhou XinYi had always followed BBtrash and cleaned after him, this man was still deserving of Zhihao's respect not only for the fact that he was ranked third in the top-gamers list, but also because this man had managed to not choke Wang GuiYing to death and had silently put up with this guy for all these years. Respectable indeed.
"Lucky for you, my A-Zhi is too kind." Li Ling sighed.
Zhou XinYi, "..."
Wang GuiYing, "..."
Zhihao, "..."
Zhihao's ears instantly turned red; This was unexplainably too embarrassing; How could he call him that in front of others?!
Wang GuiYing could smell the scent of a breaking news headline.
On the other hand, Zhou XinYi found himself cringing at the over-the-top sweetness; He was certainly not fond of getting diabetes.
"L-Let's continue moving." Zhihao stuttered, turning around to hide the embarrassment visible on his face.
The group of four moved further into the dense forest that showed no signs of any mythical rare beasts whatsoever. This was quite disappointing for BBtrash who loved slaying beasts; although he didn't actually slay them—most of the hard work was in fact done by Zhou XinYi who caught the beasts and worn them down to the point that they were helpless against BBtrash's final blow.
It wasn't that there were no beasts in this forest—this forest was actually filled with them, but at the moment none of those beasts dared to come forward to entertain this group of visitors.
It was dark and one could not notice it unless they looked over closely—on top of the trees—hiding among the leaves were creatures hardly visible among the darkness of the night. Their glowing eyes followed after the group without blinking. No one knew what they were planning, but they were certainly not planning to attack at the moment—they were only observing the group. Observing each and every step they made.
The night was dark and the only source of light was the moon that glistened atop. There was a cold, soft breeze, hardly noticeable—this change of winds was not actually natural, but the group didn't realize this fact as they kept on walking nonchalantly.
Wang GuiYing was still focused on teasing Mastermo and Zhou XinYi was still rubbing his forehead in worry. Zhihao and Li Ling were walking in front of them, leading the other two and discussing the riddle that they would have to solve.