Chapter 142: Despicable Player

"Ha, I never expected to find such an unexpected harvest in a place like this! Haha! This time we really are sharing weal and woe! None of you are allowed to steal this from me; that punk leading the high-tier beast is mine!"

Among the five figures galloping in from afar, the Elven Archer running at the very front scanned the three players dressed as archers ahead with the gaze of a predator, quickly locking onto the one among them with the highest strength and the most dazzling equipment.

As his voice faded, a low, cold laugh immediately came from beside him:

"Heh, Monk, are you certain you can swallow that all by yourself? Open your eyes wide and take a look—that beast is at least level 35 or higher! Don't go dying without even knowing what hit you."

"I say, Old Three, is it really because I missed a beat during the killing earlier that you're holding a grudge against me now? At least I'm still protecting you right now..." The Elven Archer said with an awkward, ingratiating smile.

"Monk, you have the nerve to bring that up again? If you hadn't botched it earlier, would I have been continuously wanted for six hours? Now look, dawn is only three or four hours away. If we can't find a safe spot, I'll be imprisoned for fourteen hours the moment I die! Fuck!!"

The Wolf-Clan Warrior, addressed as Monk, glared at the Elven Archer with a gloomy expression, making no effort to conceal the contempt in his eyes.

"Fine, fine, at worst I'll suffer with you later. What's six hours of being wanted, right? Deal! The two archers leading the beast are both mine later! Imprisonment for imprisonment, how's that?"

Hearing the Elven Archer put it this way, the Wolf-Clan Warrior merely curled his lip and did not continue arguing with him.

However, the other two members who did not have red names were not about to agree.

One of them was a Dwarf standing less than one meter thirty tall; the other was a giant over three meters tall, gripping a four-meter-long, pitch-black spear made entirely of metal.

"Hey, there's no reason you two should dictate our will over your petty mess! Heh, let's agree on this: three of us, one each. Old Three, don't you dare try to hog the biggest share!"

As the Giant spoke, his voice boomed like a thunderclap. The Elven Archer and the Wolf-Clan Warrior winced simultaneously, squinting to brace against the deafening noise at close range.

"Exactly. Or do you think that because I, your Second Brother, am short and easy to overlook, you can just ignore me altogether?"

With the Dwarf putting it that way, what more could they say?

The Elven Archer curled his lip and smiled bitterly, "Wasn't I just trying to talk some sense into Monk? If you guys aren't happy with it, we'll stick to one each, but it's settled—the one leading the big guy is mine."

"Forget it, you're always like this, always looking to take advantage of petty gains. I can't even be bothered to argue with you... Fine, I'll take a bit of a loss; the one pulling the minor mob goes to me. Big guy, you deal with the one who ran off."

When the Dwarf, Second Brother, said this, the giant immediately let out a helpless, bitter laugh:

"Second Brother, you make it sound so nice, what loss are you taking? The punk assigned to me bolted the moment he saw us—he's clearly just a scout, even weaker than the one pulling the monster. I'm taking the worst deal of all..."

"As the youngest, you shouldn't talk like that. Taking a loss is a blessing! Second Brother is just looking out for you."

The speaker was the Elven Archer, a guy who thoroughly enjoyed schadenfreude.

Just as the youngest Giant was about to retort, the Dragon-Wolf Knight, who had been silently watching the three figures ahead, suddenly spoke up:

"Stop messing around! This time might not be as easy as you think..."

As soon as these words were spoken, they seemed to carry an inexplicable magic. The four of them instantly wore startled and solemn expressions, falling silent at the same time to gaze at the three targets, whose situation had just undergone a new change!

Indeed!

While they were dividing up their prey, the appearances of the three distant targets and the magical beast had become clearly visible!

Four hearts shivered in unison!

This is...

Four pairs of eyes stared fixedly at the beast they had previously assumed to be an advanced magical beast of level 35 or higher. Its imposing aura and appearance left no doubt about its identity as a boss!

A Boss!!!

And it appeared to be a rather formidable boss at that...

In an instant, the strength of the three targets in their minds was elevated by several tiers, and all four grew solemn simultaneously.

At this moment, the situation ahead changed once more!

The 'archer' who had been facing the boss alone suddenly swapped positions with the scouting 'archer'... The one who had previously been scouting turned and sprinted far away; meanwhile, the archer clad in sleek black tight-fitting gear suddenly rushed straight toward them with a speed that made their hearts tremble!

"Damn it!"

The Wolf-Clan Warrior known as 'Monk' cursed loudly and pulled back; even their leader, the Dragon-Wolf Knight mounted upon the Dragon-Wolf beast, quickly halted his forward advance, revealing a look of slightly uneasy gravity.

"Don't make a move yet! Number Four, Youngest, go over and tell them we mean no harm!"

While swiftly issuing orders, the Dragon-Wolf Knight felt a surge of tension:

We were careless this time!! Far too careless!!

He had never expected that this fellow had actually not activated Sprint while leading the boss, yet even without Sprint, he already possessed the speed of a Dragon-Wolf Knight. If he activated Sprint... he would definitely be no slower than a Gryphon Knight!

Terrifying!!

He even began to regret not having Second Brother, Number Four, and the Youngest come over to check out the situation first. Under the current circumstances, the other party would certainly know they came with ill intent...

"Let's hope we can still make amends..."

The Dragon-Wolf Knight anxiously watched Number Four and the Youngest, who were already greeting the approaching figure with solemn expressions, hoping the other party was a 'reasonable' person—he certainly did not wish to fight such a terrifyingly fast enemy in this environment.

At this moment, the Elven Archer and the Giant had also judged from the opponent's speed that this was not someone they could casually push around, and they immediately put away their previous hostile expressions...

However, the moment the two of them came face-to-face with the newcomer, they could hardly believe the information fed back by the system...

Scavenging Qilin, Level 29 Magic Bow-Warrior.

Good grief...

What kind of joke is this? A Tier 2 rookie possessing such terrifying speed? And to top it off, he was a Bow-Warrior, a class always rumored to be trash??

What a ridiculous troll setup!!

Aside from the shock, a look of undisguised contempt naturally crept onto their faces, and they quickly relayed this information to the three behind them...

Right at this moment!

The Tier 2 archer had already rapidly come to a halt thirty meters away from them, and his voice rang out with utter overestimation of his own abilities: "Stop right there!"

...

"Stop right there!!"

As I shouted those words, I had already gained a preliminary understanding of the situation regarding these five individuals.

An Elven Archer; a Giant Spear-Warrior; two red-named players consisting of a Dragon-Wolf Knight and a Wolf-Clan Warrior; and finally...

My gaze lingered for a moment on the last, diminutive figure, quickly noticing that the weapon he held was not a Dwarf's customary large axe or heavy hammer, but a dagger...

My sense of vigilance spiked instantly!

A Thief!

If I wasn't mistaken, he was a Dwarf Thief! The strength of these five should all be above Tier 3... which meant this Thief definitely possessed stealth capabilities.

"This is going to be troublesome."

I wasn't afraid of encountering any other class, but Tier 3 Thieves made me somewhat wary. After all, I hadn't yet learned the Tier 3 Archer skill 'See Through'. Once the other party turned invisible and entered stealth, I would be in danger.

This was also the exact reason I had abandoned my plan to directly 'snipe the red-names'—avoiding combat was the best possible outcome!

...

Receiving the intel passed by Number Four and the Youngest in the team channel, the three individuals in the rear displayed two completely contrasting expressions!

The Dragon-Wolf Knight and the Dwarf both wore cautious, thoughtful looks, while the Wolf-Clan Warrior, 'Monk', stood stunned for a long moment. After carefully verifying the information once more, he cursed and walked back:

"Tier 2? Damn it! Scaring the hell out of me like that! How humiliating... Second Brother, what are you still standing there for? Take care of these three rookies and let's see if we can wipe out the boss as well."

The Dwarf frowned as he glanced at him, then looked toward the Dragon-Wolf Knight and asked:

"What should we do?"

"Let's pull back... What the hell!! Number Four, stop!" Just as the Dragon-Wolf Knight was about to call off the hunting expedition, he suddenly saw Number Four charging fiercely toward the opponent and shouted in alarm!

...

Earlier, the Elven Archer had thought the Scavenging Qilin before him was extremely formidable and a tricky customer, but upon receiving the opponent's stats, he immediately relaxed completely: "Hmph, so it's just a Tier 2 rookie, making me worry for nothing."

However, the arrogant opening statement shouted by Scavenging Qilin as he charged up directly provoked him. Having no intention of tolerating disrespect from a Tier 2 newcomer, he charged straight forward!

Just as the Dragon-Wolf Knight shouted his warning, the Elven Archer had already galloped within twenty meters of Scavenging Qilin and directly drew his bow...

Seeing the situation spin out of control, the Dragon-Wolf Knight could no longer care about anything else and hurriedly barked: "Second Brother!"

Before the words had even faded, the Dwarf beside him had already activated Stealth in advance...