The Libertine

Zhan Xiaobai wanted to send a squad into the abandoned village to scout out the situation. The five skilled players from Shadow Squad immediately volunteered and accepted the mission. The squad was named "Shadow" mainly because of their captain, Shadowless, who excelled at using the terrain to conceal his movements and approach targets silently. The other four members were equally adept at this craft. Entrusting them with the reconnaissance mission was undoubtedly the best choice.

Under the watchful eyes of the group, the five players, each armed with an iron sword, vaulted over a broken picket fence, moving in a wedge formation to cover each other as they carefully advanced deeper into the village. There were signs of humanoid NPC activity inside, and since they couldn't determine friend or foe, caution was paramount.

The rest of the players sat down by a stretch of intact fence, chatting and laughing at ease.

Zhan Xiaobai remained standing, quietly observing as the five members of Shadow Squad crossed a patch of barren farmland and then disappeared behind the corner of a half-collapsed thatched hut. After waiting for over a minute without any disturbance, he felt somewhat reassured—no news was good news, as it meant no danger so far. The village was fairly large, and a thorough search would take at least ten minutes.

Spring Autumn Youth rested his iron sword on his shoulder, leaning against the wall to recover his stamina, and said with a laugh, “Don’t worry about them, big brother. Even if they run into danger, those guys are masters at retreat and guerrilla tactics—no one can catch them. I’ve leveled with them for so long—whether it was fighting horse bandits or gray wolf bosses—I’ve never seen them get into real trouble.”

“Oh?” Zhan Xiaobai sat down as well, smiling. “Are they really that impressive?”

The other squads laughed. “Absolutely. Shadowless is amazing—when he takes off, the rest of us don’t stand a chance of catching up. He’s downright admirable.” “That’s real skill for you—no buffs or special skills, just pure technique, using every bit of the terrain for leverage. That’s raw power.” (All players have the same base running speed, but skills and equipment can boost movement speed.)

Wutong asked curiously, “How does he do it?”

“How? Relentless training. If you spend three years focused solely on footwork and movement, you might even outpace Old Shadow!”

After chatting a while, Zhan Xiaobai gained a clear understanding of Shadow Squad’s strength. The captain, Shadowless, was a hardcore veteran with over ten years of virtual game experience; though everyone had the same movement speed, he could always find subtle terrain advantages to stay ahead. The other four members, while not quite his equal, were still outstanding.

As they spoke, a sudden clamor of shouts, curses, and fighting broke out from within the village. The players jumped up in alarm and looked toward the abandoned settlement. The five members of Shadow Squad burst into view, disheveled and sprinting for their lives, pursued by a dozen or more humanoid NPCs brandishing clubs, cleavers, and machetes.

“Damn, that’s a lot! What kind of enemies are they?”

Zhan Xiaobai was taken aback, a sense of foreboding gripping his heart. If they got caught in a wild melee with so many NPC enemies, at least half the team would be badly wounded, with several likely to die and respawn back in the village—which would seriously disrupt both his leveling and bandit-clearing plans.

“Retreat, quickly!” Zhan Xiaobai shouted, bolting away with Spring Autumn Youth and Wutong. Fierceblood One shook his head and hefted his greatsword to follow. The rest of the group hurried after them, but none were more frantic than the Shadow Squad, who brought up the rear. After a desperate sprint, they finally escaped the abandoned village’s boundaries.

Peace returned to the deserted village.

The team halted to catch their breath, regrouping with not a single member missing—not even a scratch among them.

Zhan Xiaobai breathed a silent sigh of relief, grateful for their quick escape and avoidance of a chaotic battle. He asked, “Shadow, did you get a good look? What kind of hostile NPCs were they?”

Shadowless, still a bit embarrassed by their failed excursion, explained, “They were thug NPCs—ruffians and brutes, probably around level 15 to 20. We spotted them as soon as we entered and avoided them carefully. But we heard something inside the administrative courtyard and snuck in to investigate. We startled a doorman brute and suddenly a whole mob of NPCs poured out from every corner. There were too many—we panicked and just ran for it...”

Zhan Xiaobai waved it off; that wasn’t the point. What puzzled him was why so many hostile NPCs had appeared in a player-abandoned village. Had they migrated here from elsewhere to make it their lair? Perhaps they should go back and take a closer look.

Spring Autumn Youth seemed to grasp Zhan Xiaobai’s thoughts and licked his lips. “Big brother, those hostile NPCs aren’t even that high-level—some might even be below us. Why not go back and grind a little? Killing these enemies should give good experience. Besides, they might be part of the bandit faction.”

Everyone agreed enthusiastically. Being chased by NPCs was one thing; grinding for experience was another—going back to slaughter a few ruffians would be a good way to vent their frustration.

Eager to uncover the origins of these NPCs, Zhan Xiaobai gladly led the group back to the abandoned village. It was quiet—now and then, a lone ruffian or thug wandered through the ruins.

For leveling, they could only target these stragglers, minimizing potion use and maximizing safety.

The group quickly formed a plan: the five members of Shadow Squad would take turns entering the village to make some noise and lure out isolated ruffians or thugs. The rest would ambush them by the fence, bringing them down one by one. However strong these NPCs were, they couldn’t withstand the frenzied assault of so many top-tier players.

Shadowless went first, attracting a lone ruffian and leading him out of the village.

The level-15 ruffian chased after him, but—what weapon did he have?

The team peered over the fence in confusion: the ruffian’s hands were empty. How was he going to fight?

“Who wants to try him first?”

“I’ll go,” said Spring Autumn Youth, eager for the chance to solo a humanoid NPC.

Shadowless emerged, the ruffian hot on his heels. Spring Autumn Youth leaped over the fence and slashed, dealing over twenty damage. The fight was on.

“Ow, that hurts!” Spring Autumn Youth yelped as a sharp pain shot through his wrist—his iron blade nearly dropped from his grip, and he instantly lost 10 HP. Looking closer, he exclaimed in shock, “Damn, it’s an embroidery needle!”

The others shuddered in horror.

A ruffian wielding an embroidery needle—now that’s vicious!