Aunt Su sneered, "You really don't know, kid?"
Li Ling, "System, what is my rank?"
[Displaying player status:
Nickname - Devilmagiclover.
Rank - 7]
Li Ling sighed in relief, this rank was still low in comparison to the rest of the team members' individual ranks, or at least he hoped it would be.
Wang GuiYing, "System, show us the updated top ten players list!"
[Top ten T.I.A.D. players:
1. Mastermo
2. Yingli
3. Hulk0_0
4. Jiangshi
5. BBtrash
6. Kaze17
7. Devilmagiclover
8. Richlord
9. Andyzz
10. Loudbitchnextdoor]
Aunt Su laughed, "Since I'm at the bottom of the list now, I'll be the one to accompany my dear nephew."
Kaze17, "So how do you want to divide the teams?"
Zhou XinYi responded, "Let's do this: Mastermo, loudbitchnextdoor, and Kaze17 can form the first team. Me, BBtrash, Andyzz, and Li Ling will be considered the second team."
Wang GuiYing frowned when he heard this, "I want to follow my darling."
Zhou XinYi sighed in response—he really did not want to fight over a mere team distribution.
Zhihao, "I'm not taking either of them with me."
Aunt Su, "Then, what do you suggest?"
Zhihao, "Let's make three teams. Two teams with 2 members each, and one team with three members. Since our purpose is to distribute the three pre-existent teams, let's do it like this: I'll go with Kaze17. Li Ling can go with Hulk0_0 and the remaining three can form a team."
Zhou XinYi pondered over it for a minute, before agreeing to the idea, "I'm in."
Li Ling felt amazed at how Mastermo had actually dealt with the situation. He didn't want to go with either of the two annoying players so he made them form a team and conveniently chose a new guy that they had just met, Kaze17.
This Kaze17 was silent for the most part of it and seemed to have a calm composure. The only times he had opened his mouth, to state his views, were all valid and intelligent remarks, hinting that this guy wasn't a total knucklehead. There was also another fact that couldn't be ruled out; this guy had the highest rank in Aunt Su's team—this was also another reason why Zhihao had chosen him—he knew that this guy was being used by his Aunt, just like he was at one point in time.
Wang GuiYing and Aunt Su shared a look, their ambitions had been crushed, however, they couldn't say anything, any further.
Kaze17, "I agree."
Wang GuiYing, "Honey, but I wanted to go on a date with you."
Li Ling glared at BBtrash, "Or maybe, you'd like to go with me instead?"
When Wang GuiYing saw the hostile look in Li Ling's eyes, he shuddered at the thought. If he were to be left alone with this man, he would end up being thrown in a ditch, without hesitation.
With a faint trace of fear laced in his voice, Wang GuiYing replied, "No, Thank you. I'm good."
"....."
Zhou XinYi, "So, it's settled?"
Aunt Su rolled her eyes, "I guess so."
Zhihao, "Great! We'll head forward. Li Ling and Hulk0_0 can head east, the other three can take the west."
Wang GuiYing smiled innocently, "What if we go off course and, by chance, meet each other?"
Zhihao, "Not possible. If I see you on the road, I'll cut you in half, just in case. I don't want to risk you being an imposter."
"..."
Wang GuiYing, "And what if it's really me?"
Zhihao, "We'll know, once you have been cut in half."
Wang GuiYing's expectations took a dip, he could only pray that he doesn't go off course.
The three sub-teams did not waste further time and headed in the direction they were assigned.
As he went further into the forest, Zhihao found that he had made a good decision, choosing Kaze17 as his partner. This man, throughout the way, did not utter a single word, and even when attacked by low-ranked beasts, Kaze17 pulled out his gun and made sure to not only watch his own back but to also watch Zhihao's back. Zhihao found this small gesture greatly touching.
This was exactly how teammates should be and Zhihao was suddenly lucky to find so many worthy teammates. However, even if he were to be given another chance to choose between Li Ling and Kaze17, he would still choose to be Li Ling's partner. The reason? There was no reason behind that choice, it was just that, He found Li Ling to be very easy-going and it was comfortable to be around him; It was the same sense of comfort he had felt when he teamed up with the Gamemaster. The two were clearly different, but still alike in so many manners.
On the other side, Li Ling was frowning as he walked lifelessly behind Zhou XinYi. Not only did he miss Zhihao but he also felt like this man was, what you'd call, an empty shell without a soul—somebody who had come straight from a funeral. This kind of feeling could only be explained with a single word; boring. Li Ling really didn't like the man, although he had done nothing outrightly wrong to Li Ling.
Zhou XinYi, "Why are you so dead? Miss your boyfriend already?"
Li Ling choked on air. Among the two, who was the dead looking one?!
"Talk about yourself. Without your husband, you look no different than a dead corpse." Li Ling retaliated.
Zhou XinYi, "I thought so. I saw that look in your eyes and realized it right away, you're in love with him, aren't you?"
"Don't talk like your all that innocent, it's disgusting." Li Ling deadpanned.
Zhou XinYi laughed sarcastically, "I really don't like you."
Li Ling, "Nor do I."
The two walked for another ten minutes, without sharing a single word with each other and then, as if to break the awkward silence, Zhou XinYi was the one to speak first, "Do you know why he made you go with me?"
Li Ling glanced at the stuck-up man, "I can guess."
Zhou XinYi nodded, "He trusted me with you. The other's would have just been useless. I can see that he cares deeply for you."
Li Ling tilted his head and chuckled, "You're dumb."
"Huh? Am I wrong?" Zhou XinYi looked back at him, clearly offended by the insult.
Li Ling, "You are nowhere near the right answer. He didn't trust you with me, he made sure that the third team was helpless. He set your partner, BBtrash and Aunt Su up to their probable doom."
"....."
Li Ling, "I don't really need your protection, as you might have already noticed."
Zhou XinYi was annoyed with the conniving look on Li Ling's face, "I don't need your protection either."
Li Ling, "I don't think you get what I'm talking about?"
Zhou XinYi gave him a dirty look in return, "When it comes to anything you say, I usually don't."
Li Ling smirked, "I'm not saying he sent me to protect you or for you to protect me, He did it so that I can keep an eye on you and separate you from BBtrash. Are you not his guard dog? Without you, he'll surely get himself killed."
Zhou XinYi, "That's just your wishful thinking, is it not? Do you really think I am the sole reason why Wang GuiYing is a pro-gamer?"
Li Ling, "Yes, I honestly do."
"...."
"Without you, I don't see any potential in him."
Zhou XinYi smiled, "Most people don't. Everyone thinks, I'm the reason why he's so successful, but not many people know that the reason, I've been standing here as a pro-gamer, is all because of him."
Li Ling, "Is this the part, where you tell me, a tragic story of how that coward saved your life or something?"
Zhou XinYi looked amused, "If I was, would you be willing to listen?"
"Not at all!" Li Ling deadpanned.
In turn, Zhou XinYi laughed, "I wouldn't have told you, even if you asked. Just know this, BBtrash is only named 'trash', he's not actually trash."
Li Ling, "We'll see about that."
All of a sudden, somewhere on the west side of the forest, Wang GuiYing sneezed; "Who the hell is talking behind my back?"
Aunt Su snickered, "Probably that damned Mastermo."
"It can't be him! No way. He hates even mentioning my name." Wang GuiYing smiled innocently.
Aunt Su looked back at the man, "So, you are self-aware?"
"Hahahaha..."
Andyzz, "I don't think I have introduced myself well. I'm Andy."
Wang GuiYing looked at the man who was alike a shadow that would always silently follow you, but would never be noticed, "Eh, brother, where did you come from?"
"..."
"......"
Wang GuiYing laughed, "I was just joking. My fault! My fault! Hehehe..."
Aunt Su, "Don't bully him, he's young."
"Got some fresh blood, I see. I've heard about you." Wang GuiYing beamed.
Andyzz, "Heard about me?"
Wang GuiYing nodded, "You're the newbie who made it to the 'top ten players' list."
"Ah, That! Yes, that's me."
Wang GuiYing stopped as he took a closer look at the guy, "But... There's something weird about you."
Aunt Su also looked back, "What do you mean?"
Wang GuiYing, "Are you sure you're a boy?"
"..."
Aunt Su sighed, "Trash, that's rude."
Wang GuiYing shook his head, "I'm serious."
Andy, "..."
"Trash! Look ahead!" Aunt Su moved a step back as she warned him in an alarmed tone.
BBtrash looked up, only to realize that there was a ferocious beast that lunged at him from atop the trees.
The beast looked like an oversized abomination of sorts; with six hands, three on either of the sides, and two antennas on the head. The shell on top of it was hard like the exoskeleton of a cockroach and the skin under it was a slimy mess like that of a leech. Its mouth was wide open, with no visible teeth, aiming straight at Wang GuiYing's face.
BBtrash took a sharp breath in as he took in all of this hideousness.
Aunt Su, "System, what is that?"
[Answering player's question: You have met a mid-ranked hybrid beast, Face-sucking leech.]
Aunt Su had a twisted expression on her face as she screamed, "Freaking disgusting!"
[New mystical beast discovered: Face-sucking leech]
[Face-sucking leech: This beast is a hybrid between a cockroach and a leech. This over-sized leech owes its size to its appetite. When this beast is born, it eats its siblings and grows in size, after all the siblings have been eaten, it moves on to eating other living creatures. The larger the beast is, the more prey, it had devoured. It tries to aim for the prey's face and once it manages to get a hold of it, with a strong jaw, it rips apart the front portion of the skull.]
Wang GuiYing's eyes twitched at the description.
This was annoying! Without Zhou XinYi beside him, he'll have to fight this hideous bug himself.
Wang GuiYing, dodged the attack in the last possible second with a super-fast jump that got him to land, ten meters away from the beast. He flipped through his inventory and before the beast could bring itself to aim for a second attack, he activated a bomb and fed it directly into the hungry beast's mouth.
The Face-sucking leech blew up with a disgusting burst of gore; flesh and blood flying everywhere.
"Eeeewwwww." Wang GuiYing cringed as he tried to wipe the bloody mess out of his clothes.
Aunt Su, "I did not sign up for this crazy shit."
"Nor did I." Wang GuiYing huffed, "I did not know it had blood. Do leeches have this much blood inside them?"
Aunt Su looked at the young man with an odd expression, "Of course, Don't leeches normally ingest blood to survive?"
Andy suddenly felt like 'the-odd-man-out'. How is he, the only one, who didn't know BBtrash was capable of this?!
Beating a mid-ranked ferocious beast was no easy feat. And, this man did it so easily? How?!
Just when the group of three thought everything was over, they heard rustling coming from the trees.
It was going to start raining creepy leeches!