Ember Dragon

Chapter 76: Mantou's Struggle

Baator City's central square.

Players came and went incessantly, making the place extremely lively.

"Buying a set of standard iron equipment!"

"Looking for a Sorcerer master; twenty-man team heading to the mountains to fight snowmen. No Wild Sorcerers."

"Buying a musical instrument."

"Buying all kinds of potions at market price, especially healing potions—will take as many as available."

The team jokingly called the "Slave Quartet" by the players gathered once again. They were still in their novice outfits, unchanged in the slightest, as all the money they painstakingly earned from tasks had been used to repay loans.

Singo asked enthusiastically, "How much faction contribution do you all have now? I'm at 7,985."

Summer Night Autumn Rain said, "I'm at 6,389."

Born Battle Maniac touched his bald head, "7,071."

Mantou's expression had shifted from lifeless to numb: "I only have 5,789."

"Singo, we've been doing hard labor for eighteen days now. The nickname 'Slave Quartet' has become famous on the player forums. When will these days end?"

Mantou stroked the coarse cloth clothes on himself, missing his former leather armor even more. It might not have been stylish, but it gave him a rare sense of security.

Born Battle Maniac patted Mantou's shoulder and said earnestly, "Therefore, when heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a person, it first frustrates his spirit and will, exhausts his muscles and bones, and starves his body. The path to becoming a professional player is not easy."

Mantou looked at Singo, who remained enthusiastic even after eighteen days of labor, thinking to himself that this guy was a complete monster. The cheerful Born Battle Maniac beside him was also not to be underestimated.

Summer Night Autumn Rain tidied her hair, which had become a bit messy from mining: "Any clues about the Tiefling's quest?"

Mantou shook his head and said, "I'm exhausted these days; I don't have the energy to deal with so much."

Born Battle Maniac rubbed his bald head until it almost shone: "I went to ask those Tieflings, but they all kept their mouths shut; some even attacked me directly. Fortunately, I'm a Barbarian with thick skin; otherwise, I'd have lost my first life."

Singo smiled mysteriously and said, "I've already completed the quest."

"A few days ago, I paid off a destitute Tiefling and extracted information from him. Even so, it was quite an effort; they seem unwilling to mention their past, but later I understood why."

"These Tieflings originally came from a city called Northwind Fortress, ruled by Duke Brad Lackman of the Lackman Family."

After Singo finished telling this tragic and bloody history, everyone's panels displayed [Quest Completed], adding 500 faction contribution to their accounts.

After nearly a month of gameplay, most players had developed some sense of identity and belonging toward Baator City; there were even fan clubs for Medrolash appearing on the player forums.

Summer Night Autumn Rain sighed, "Medrolash really has it tough."

Born Battle Maniac said indignantly, "Let's kill those damned vampires."

Only Mantou seemed to recall something and stared blankly, asking, "Where did you get the money? Didn't we use all our gold coins to buy the invitation?"

Singo's expression didn't change as he said calmly, "When I went to get the loan, I found we had surplus equipment, so I only pawned my own, Autumn Rain's, and Battle Maniac's equipment as collateral. I sold your equipment for cash; the money is credited to my account, and I'll reimburse you next time."

"You beast, Singo! You'd rather sell it than return my equipment!"

After suppressing his anger during eighteen days of labor, Mantou finally exploded, rushing up to strip Singo of his novice outfit, wanting to turn him into a second 'Holy Light Brother' and utterly disgrace him.

But Singo, with his agile movements, easily dodged, causing Mantou to nearly crash into the dragon stone statue in the center of the square.

"Calm down. Even if you strip me naked—"

"The equipment won't come back."

While dodging, Singo didn't forget to showcase his sharp tongue.

However, lying on the ground, Mantou suddenly noticed a line of barely noticeable small characters on the base of the statue—

[Dedicated to the master of the Ember Nest, the mighty and noble Red Dragon, the eternal lord of Baator City—Cassius Claudious Norrixius]

"Guys, come and look at this! I've found important information!"

The four of them hurriedly gathered around. Singo, disregarding his image, lay on the ground with his backside up, carefully reading.

"Cassius"

"This name seems familiar."

Born Battle Maniac rubbed his glossy bald head.

After being laborers for eighteen days, even his brain wasn't functioning well.

Summer Night Autumn Rain couldn't help but facepalm and kindly reminded, "Remember that super handsome—I mean, important NPC? His name above his head was [Mysterious Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer - Cassius]."

Singo added, "And he has features of a Red Dragon—scales, dragon horns, golden eyes."

Mantou suddenly realized, "Doesn't that mean that mysterious NPC is the leader of our faction, the human incarnation of the never-before-seen Red Dragon big boss?"

"I'm afraid so."

Singo nodded in agreement.

Mantou couldn't help but exclaim, "Then we've hit the jackpot! Wait, but my favorability with the big boss is already at -10. Singo, give me back my favorability!"

Singo ignored him and turned to the other two, saying, "Have you noticed the recent movements of those big guilds? The president of [Royal Authority], 'Overlord', has started sending people to seize the wall construction tasks. That civil engineering guy 'Bucket Runaway' was recruited with a high salary, and they've contracted the whole area."

"And the people from [Sword Pavilion] have even started mining themselves. Their intentions are a bit too obvious, aren't they?"

Mantou was stunned: "You mean—"

"They've probably already discovered the importance of faction contribution?"

"I'm afraid so."

Singo crossed his arms and said confidently, "But we can now make the quest information public. We each hold 7,000 faction contribution and have already bought the [Mysterious Invitation] in advance. Even those big guilds can't catch up with our progress."

"Now we need to get all players to focus on faction contribution, snatching their tasks to delay the guilds' progress. We can take the opportunity to earn more money and accept the profitable tasks we couldn't get before."

"Mantou, after grinding today, go make a video. I'll post a strategy on the forum; tonight we'll launch directly."

"Oh, okay."

Mantou's tone suddenly became more spirited: "Hmph, the wheel of fortune turns; don't underestimate the young and poor! I'll make those who mock me as a slave know what it means to seize every opportunity!"

But when he was editing the video that night, he rubbed his increasingly thinning back of the head and suddenly felt something was off.

"Damn, everyone's logged off, and I'm still working for Singo—"

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