Ember Dragon

Chapter 74: The Advancing Players

Suddenly, Cassius spoke, breaking Mantou's fantasy of diving while riding a dragon.

"It's getting late. Please return, everyone. I hope that next time we meet, you will have made full preparations."

Then, he waved his hand lightly, and a portal burning with raging flames appeared before them. Before the four could react, a powerful magical force shoved them inside, leaving no room for struggle or resistance.

They felt a flash of white light and found themselves back in the small house.

The words on the invitation had dimmed and extinguished; it seemed there was no second chance to use it.

Summer Night Autumn Rain recalled the recent experience and couldn't help saying, "This shop is so cool—no, I mean, this NPC is so important."

Singo felt some regret for writing that strategy guide too early: "I really didn't expect faction contribution to have such a big role; I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"That warrior's advanced class [Crimson Scaled Conqueror] is definitely the strongest early-game class, bar none."

Born Battle Maniac touched his bald head: "I also want to try out the dragon bloodline; it feels very strong."

Singo agreed: "Yes, just the natural armor alone can widen the gap with ordinary players, not to mention the attribute bonuses and spell abilities."

Mantou said quietly, "Then shouldn't we keep this information to ourselves and not let others know?"

Summer Night Autumn Rain and Born Battle Maniac nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

From their professional gamer mindset, monopolizing information to widen the gap with others was very normal.

But Singo objected: "No, we must make this information public."

Mantou was puzzled: "What if someone else snatches the Crimson Scales?"

He was now focused solely on becoming a dragon knight; there was no room in his mind for any other thoughts. After all, being a knight is every man's romance!

Singo gave him a contemptuous glance before saying, "Of course, we won't announce it immediately but wait for a certain opportunity."

"What opportunity?"

"Observe the movements of those big guilds; wait until they start competing for faction contribution quests."

Summer Night Autumn Rain immediately understood and explained, "In the early stages, gold coins are scarce. Those big guilds might focus more on equipment and won't spend money on quest items, but once they develop, they will definitely try to purchase quest items like the [Mysterious Invitation]."

"And after they understand the role of faction contribution, they will definitely monopolize the information and start grabbing those faction contribution quests they previously didn't want. At that time, we should release this information to mobilize more solo players to compete with the guilds and slow down their progress."

Born Battle Maniac added, "And before that, during this period, we can widen the gap with others in terms of faction contribution."

Mantou suddenly realized and exclaimed, "You top professional players have really dark minds."

Singo said, "What do you mean by dark minds? This is called gaming strategy. If you're not good, practice more. By then, you'll be responsible for making videos, I'll be responsible for writing guides, and we'll directly boost our traffic."

"Alright."

Born Battle Maniac looked at the invitation on the table, which was no different from ordinary paper: "Should we buy another invitation first? That thing probably isn't supplied infinitely. It wouldn't be good if those guild bastards snatched it, especially that Royal Authority."

"Do you have a grudge against them?" Mantou asked curiously.

Born Battle Maniac smiled honestly, touching his bald head: "It's not a big grudge. In the previous game 'Star Domain', I blew up their guild's mothership with a ship-cutting blade. I'm afraid they'll target me once they develop this time."

Cold sweat broke out on Mantou's forehead. He thought to himself, "This guy is really ruthless; better not provoke him lightly."

Summer Night Autumn Rain asked, "Where can we get so many gold coins? The ten gold coins last time already cost us everything."

Singo sneered confidently, "Do you know that the Baator City Exchange has recently launched a new service—gold coin loans, requiring only one-tenth the value as collateral."

Mantou noticed that Singo was eyeing him unkindly—more precisely, eyeing his equipment. His face immediately darkened.

"I worked hard to grind for this equipment; don't even think about it!"

"Mantou, don't you want to become a handsome dragon knight?"

Singo approached with a sinister smile, his words like the whispers of a devil.

"Ah—"

"Don't forcefully strip my equipment—"

"At least leave me some shorts, Singo."

Summer Night Autumn Rain blushed and covered her eyes, but still peeked through her fingers, her face growing even redder.

Born Battle Maniac awkwardly scratched his bald head and said, "Singo is just like that; don't mind him."

When Singo turned around, Mantou looked utterly defeated. He had returned to his innocent appearance when he first entered the game—a simple cloth outfit, full of the charm of a cute newbie.

Singo himself also led by example, stripping all his equipment clean.

Singo wore a gentle smile on his face: "You two, I won't need to trouble you, right?"

Summer Night Autumn Rain witnessed Mantou's miserable state through her fingers, instinctively hugged herself tighter, her cheeks slightly flushed.

She hurriedly said, "Don't come over; I'll do it myself."

Afraid that Singo might turn into a tentacle monster and do something inappropriate.

Born Battle Maniac touched his bald head and straightforwardly took off his beast-skin clothes—anyway, barbarians didn't need much equipment; they just needed to go berserk.

"Snap!"

Singo clapped his hands with a smile.

"No objections from anyone, so let's start grinding! Let's widen the gap with other players, starting now!"

"I'll take these equipments to the Exchange for a loan, and once we get the gold coins, we'll immediately grab the Mysterious Invitation. Battle Maniac, Autumn Rain, and Mantou, you three go to the square to take on quests. The more faction contribution, the better. Also, pay attention to the quest to investigate the Tieflings; all these need to proceed simultaneously."

Mantou, wearing simple cloth clothes, collapsed on the ground, his eyes empty.

"Is this the world of top professional players?"

"I have objections..."

However, Singo seemed not to hear, holding the pile of equipment that Mantou longed for, and hurriedly left.

Born Battle Maniac patted Mantou's shoulder with his big, strong hand: "Mantou, don't take it to heart. Singo is like this; we often have mental breakdowns too. You'll get used to it."

Summer Night Autumn Rain stood by, looking at him sympathetically, softly comforting him.

Mantou was on the verge of tears: "Who takes Singo's words to heart? I'm thinking about the equipment I painstakingly grinded for ten days—"

More than ten days later, a legend of the "Black Slave Four" spread in the city.

They were four famous popular professional players. Strangely, each of them wore only the simplest newbie cloth clothes. Some players reasonably suspected they had been robbed and were heavily in debt.

These four "great players" were not picky about tasks at all; they accepted any work, whether it was moving bricks, smearing ash, repairing walls, delivering letters, or mining. Even when encountering pure faction contribution tasks that ordinary people avoided, they eagerly accepted them.

In just over ten days, they had raised their faction contribution to nearly five thousand, shocking the forums and earning the nickname "Black Slave Four".

"Achoo!"

Mantou wiped his sweat in the dark mine and sneezed for some reason.

"What 'Black Slave Four'..."

"I'm a man who wants to become a dragon knight!"

He thought to himself, his determined gaze faintly shining in the darkness. However, behind him came the scolding of the hobgoblin overseer and the sound of whips.

"What are you doing? Daydreaming? Hurry up and work!"

"Oh, okay."

Mantou swung his hoe again, his movements becoming more skilled.