Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 218 Depravation

“So.. You’re telling me that we need to reorganize the structure of our guild?” asked Bai Mo after taking another bite of the roasted chicken.

Ye Ci shook her head, and a sly smile appeared on her face, “My dearest cousin, guild administration is not my forte. I’m merely stating my opinion. I do not run the guild, so it’s probably not a good idea to ask me such a question.”

Bai Mo expected Ye Ci’s answer to be like that. He was not disheartened when he received her response. “Yeah, you and I both have our own responsibilities,” sighed Bai Mo with a smile, “But, Ye Ci, shouldn’t I make decisions when it comes to things outside the guild as a man, while you worry about things that are going on within the guild as a woman?”

“I’m not your wife. You can save this analogy for when you’re married.” Ye Ci rolled her eyes at Bai Mo. She would help the guild out when she was needed, but managing the guild was not her strong suit, and she would never force herself to do something that she wasn’t suited for.

Using the most suitable person in the most suitable position was Ye Ci’s lifelong principle. She knew that she was not suited to manage guild affairs. The process of handling every single detail and incident in the guild, no matter how serious or how trivial they were, would definitely drive Ye Ci mad.

Bai Mo laughed at Ye Ci’s words, “Why do you sound so bitter?”

Ye Ci rolled her eyes at Bai Mo. She then stood up, and threw the chicken bones to the ground, “Is that so? Then there must be a jar of bitter gourd juice in your heart.”

Bai Mo smiled at Ye Ci’s antics, “Where are you going?”

“That Epic-tier quest of course. I guess I’ll be busy with that quest in the near future.” Ye Ci waved her hand dismissively, and with that, she left without even casting a glance at Bai Mo.

To Ye Ci, her recent days were overly peaceful and quiet. In truth, these days were as normal as any other day, but due to the previous incident, the peace felt very surreal.

Tan Polang would always come home during the weekends. It was however his first time returning to the new home. He was a smart and alert boy and thus, instead of heading straight home, Tan Polang traveled to random locations all around the city before finally slipping into a mall. From there, he called a cab and headed home.

He arrived home in the evening to a dining table filled with Zuo Xiaolan’s dishes. The aroma of the home-cooked meal filled his heart with warmth. Tan Polang stood at the entrance of the house, taking in a few whiffs of the food’s fragrance before entering his new home, “Wow! Is this our new home?” asked Tan Polang with a smile.

“Go wash your hands and come have dinner. We’ve been waiting for you.” said Zuo Xiaolan with a smile as she came out of the kitchen with yet another dish in hand.

“Okay!”

Ye Ci sat in her wheelchair, observing the joyful interactions between her family members, and a thought began forming slowly in her mind. This happiness and warmth is something that is not easy to come by. I must protect them, no matter the cost. I will crush those who seek to destroy them.

“Sister Ye Ci, help yourself to this pig’s foot to supplement your legs. I hope you get well soon.” Tan Polang placed a piece of simmered pig’s feet into Ye Ci’s bowl, with a smile lighting up his face.

His smile was mirrored by Ye Ci.

After finishing their meal, Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan cleaned up the table and logged into the game. Tan Polang, who had not logged into the game for some time, could barely contain his excitement.

Bai Mo and Ye Ci sat on the balcony, enjoying their dessert of fruits. The scenery at night was beautiful. A clear bright moon illuminated the sky, accompanied by the glittering stars. It was a good night. Bai Mo popped a cherry into his mouth, savouring the sweet juice of the fruit that immediately filled his mouth.

“Did you receive any news from Green Hill’s Moon yet?” asked Bai Mo.

“Nope.” replied Ye Ci while casually shoving another cherry into her mouth, “You seem quite anxious about it”

“Indeed, I am.” Bai Mo narrowed his eyes. The expression on Bai Mo’s face was something that Ye Ci was unfamiliar with. It was an expression that was cold and calculative.

“What?” Ye Ci was startled by Bai Mo’s demeanor.

“Little Ci, even a little girl like you understands the concept of seeking revenge when you’re wronged. Do you think that I, as a grown man, do not have the courage to fight back?” said Bai Mo with a smile. It was a smile that did not reach his eyes.

Ye Ci remained silent. At that moment, she was struck by a sudden realization. She had only seen the good side of Bai Mo in her entire life. In her mind, Bai Mo was a gentle and kind person. She did not expect him to have had such a side to him.

“You don’t have to worry about me. I won’t allow myself to get hurt.” Bai Mo could see the worry in Ye Ci’s eyes. He caressed her hair, and smiled warmly at her. It was a pure and sincere smile that was perhaps reserved for Ye Ci alone, “I do not wish for you to get hurt, just like how you do not want me to be in harm’s way. I’ve told you before: No matter what your choice is, I will always be by your side until the end.”

Ye Ci let out a long sigh, “Alright then.”

Bai Mo nodded, appearing satisfied with Ye Ci’s answer, “Let me know if you get anything from Green Hill’s Moon.”

“I will.”

Bai Mo stood up. In the past, Ye Ci was always the first to leave when she had a conversation with Bai Mo. He would always be the one to stare at her silhouette as she left. However, he had been the one to take initiative to stand up and head to his room. He patted Ye Ci on her shoulder as he walked past her wheelchair, “Little Ci, there’s no right or wrong in this world. It’s all a matter of perspective. We’re simply protecting ourselves. You don’t have to feel guilty about anything.”

Ye Ci’s heart clenched. So Bai Mo knew. Bai Mo had always known what Ye Ci was thinking. He was simply waiting for the right time to make it known to her. Ye Ci lowered her head, and popped another cherry into her mouth. The sweet cherry juice spread into all corners of her mouth, just like anxiety that was spreading in her heart.

..........

Potions, check.

Consumables, check.

Attack buff items, check.

Arrows, check.

Ye Ci carefully made an inventory of the items she was carrying with her to make sure she hadn’t overlooked anything. She was prepared for anything that might happen when she entered Andrei’s treasure vault.

Even after a few days, Bella was still floating around the spot where she and Ye Ci parted ways. When Ye Ci initiated the conversation with Bella, she received the same response. She immediately chose the first option, indicating that she was ready to explore the Andrei’s treasure vault. “I wish you the best of luck, my dearest friend.” said Bella, and a boulder in front of Ye Ci disappeared into a mass of light blue light.

It was a familiar sight for Ye Ci, as the light was an indicator of a dungeon’s entrance.

This is actually a dungeon? Thought Ye Ci to herself as she walked into the mass of light.

It was indeed a dungeon. As she entered the mass of light, Ye Ci was transported into a dark cave. The indicator in the map identified the place as a dungeon. With that, Ye Ci was sure that Andrei’s Treasure Vault was a dungeon, and that it was a single-player dungeon.

With the exception of Ye Ci’s current location, the rest of the map was grey. This meant that the other areas of the map was unexplored. After noticing that she could not pick out any any clues from the map, Ye Ci decided to begin exploring the dungeon.

Of course, Ye Ci remembered the hint about the dungeon given to her by Bella. Andrei’s Treasure Vault had been infested by the spirits of the dead since Bella’s death. Of course, they were not the Undead that were a playable race by players. The creatures in Andrei’s vault were semi transparent beings like Bella. They were ghosts.

The monsters in Fate were divided into several classes, from the lower class life forms such as Slimes and Man-eating flowers to the various animals in Fate and the humanoid monsters and magical beings like Angels and Demons.

The combat capabilities of different monsters varied greatly with their class. An Angel would possess a vastly superior offensive and defensive capability compared to that of a Slime. Most of the monsters that Ye Ci had faced in dungeons were beasts and humanoids. It was her first time going up against Undead. Although these beings were classified as humanoids, they were stronger than the other humanoid life forms.

Even with their average level damage and defensive capabilities, Undead were still tough opponents to deal with. Players would often find the odds stacked against them in a battle against Undead opponents because of their skills that would allow them to call upon the spirits of the dead to fight by their side. Players could only rely on Priests in the process of clearing dungeons full of the Undead. A party lacking adequate firepower would easily be wiped out by Undead opponents.

Hunters were able to fare better against Undead opponents compared to characters of other classes. As long as a Hunter was able to keep his or her distance and kite the Undeads well, the Hunter’s would be able to survive an encounter against the Undead.

Ye Ci knew that the dungeon was full of Undead enemies because of Bella’s hint, and had prepared a lot of Fire Arrows for her journey. Holy Arrows were the most effective countermeasure against Undead opponents, but because of her current level, Ye Ci was forced to employ Fire Arrows as a substitute. Despite their significantly lower damage output, Fire Arrows dealt additional burn damage to Undead opponents, which made them the best option in a situation where Holy Arrows were unavailable to Ye Ci.

This was why a fire type mage was the most popular choice in clearing a dungeon full of Undead monsters, assuming the party was unable to recruit a character with the Priest class to their party.

Ye Ci was assaulted by a gust of chilly wind when she entered the cave. The stench of death and rot immediately entered her nostrils. Ye Ci felt as if she herself would soon join the ranks of the Undead.

Hiya minna-san! Here’s another awesome chapter of the awesomesauce translated by an awesomtacular translator (which is me, by the way!), soooo.... Enjoy!!!

I hope life’s treating you people good. I’m not sure if it’s the weather, but I have not been feeling good this entire week. Anybody in Melaka notice that the weather is considerably hotter than usual? Yeah, climate change is a thing bois DX

Anyways... Thanks for supporting Reign of the Hunters! Until next time!

Going into combat against the Undead was not scary because of the carefully designed environment that was meant to scare players out of their wits. It because of the fact that players would never know where their Undead foes lurk. They could remain hidden behind walls and underneath the soil, springing into action to attack unsuspecting players, and eventually overwhelming them with sheer numbers.

Ye Ci immediately summoned Ol’ Four. Although the Hunter class excels in ranged combat, a Hunter was always vulnerable at melee range. After all, there was no information about this dungeon in Ye Ci’s last life. It was possible that the player who completed the Epic-tier quest kept the information about the dungeon to himself. There was also a possibility that the player had never managed to explore this dungeon as well. No matter what the case is, Ye Ci could not recall any information about the dungeon. She was exploring this unknown territory for the first time.

As a contrast to Ye Ci’s caution, Ol’ Four was bold and cheerful.

As an Epic-tier monster, the Dragonia was probably the only life form that was superior to Ol’ Four. That was why the beast showed no fear despite the dark and eerie environment as it ran jovially all over the place.

Of course, it was something that Ye Ci was able to use to her advantage. Ol’ Four’s movement would definitely attract the attention of the Undead in the area. The Undead population within the dungeon, which comprised mainly of semi-transparents ghosts and zombies with semi-decomposed bodies launched ferocious attacks on Ol’ Four as a sign of their hatred towards the invader.

Ye Ci and Ol’ Four who were at lvl45 were hard pressed in a battle against lvl50 opponents. However, as an Epic-tier life form, Ol’ Four did have some advantage over the more common monsters. With such an advantage, and with the additional burn damage from Ye Ci’s Fire Arrow, they were able to defeat their foes, which turn into experience points that flowed into the experience gauge of Ye Ci and Ol’ Four.

A Solo Dungeon meant that only a single player was required to clear the dungeon. It was the favourite for solo players. In a dungeon like this, players could level up without fearing of going into conflict with other players, and all the loot drops would belong to a single person. That was why solo players would flock to any Solo Dungeon that was discovered and spend days in the dungeon until they were finally fed up with the place.

Ye Ci, of course, was no exception.

It had been a month since she logged into the game. During that window, many of the players have caught up with her in terms of level. Those who were very fanatic about leveling up have even surpassed her level. Ye Ci sighed in defeat. There is always someone stronger than you, however strong you are. If Ye Ci could not even have an advantage in terms of level as a reincarnator, it would be embarrassing for her. This was why she made the decision to kill every single monster she found in this dungeon. The dungeon would serve as her training grounds. In this place, she would earn back all the experience points that she missed.

With her decision made, Ye Ci immediately went to work.

Time flies when one is focused on a task at hand. To Ye Ci’s delight, the dungeon was rather easy to clear. Other than their high HP, the Undead in the dungeon was no challenge as all. The only opponent that posed a threat to Ye Ci was the Necromancer, which could summon hordes of lesser Undead to its aid. A Necromancer would be able to summon a sea of lesser monsters in relative safety if it was not defeated.

As she was unfamiliar with the dungeon, and with the monsters having a level advantage over herself, Ye Ci was very cautious as she explored the dungeon.

Ye Ci depleted half of her Fire Arrows in the span of 4 hours, and was able to raise her level from lvl45 to lvl49. As she took a rest, Ye Ci began roasting some meat that she brought along for the trip, feeding herself and the starving Ol’ Four up. She was satisfied as she glanced at her character window to find that she was halfway to lvl50. Her trip to the dungeon was worth it. Her leveling progress alone is satisfying enough.

After making sure that her Fatigue level was recovered, and that Ol’ Four already had its share of meat, Ye Ci immediately went back to work. Before long, her character was enveloped in a golden light, signifying her advance into the realm of lvl50. Before she had the chance to rejoice, a chilly voice reverberated in the cav.

“I smell fresh meat. The meat of an Elf. It’s been a long time since I’ve tasted something like this...” said the unpleasant voice, that was so distorted that it was impossible to tell the gender of its owner. The voice did not come from a specific direction, and was instead coming from all around Ye Ci.

Just then, a system notification appeared: You have reached the level to explore the dungeon. Good luck.

Ye Ci was baffled by the system notification. So that’s why I feel like I’ve been going in circles, and there was nothing on my map! The only thing she could do during her four hours stay was to slay the monsters in the cave. So this is what it is...

The system determined that Ye Ci would not be able to clear the dungeon with her level, and transported her to a leveling level. The dungeon was then made available to her when she was at lvl50. So this is why the monsters in this place yielded such a high amount of experience points, but had little to no loot drops.

With that thought in mind, Ye Ci immediately called up her map. To her delight, the map that was originally empty was once again back to normal. She, on the other hand, was still standing at the entrance to the dungeon.

Although Ye Ci was sure that she would be able to clear the dungeon even at lvl45. However, the system was forced to follow the programmed instruction of the Fate developers. This meant that Ye Ci’s skill level was not taken into account.

Whatever, I am but a mere player, aren’t I?

After making a quick inventory of her remaining arrows and consumables, Ye Ci was certain that she had sufficient supplies to clear the dungeon, and she immediately headed into the dungeon.

Of course, the difficulty in the dungeon was way higher than that of the leveling area. The level of the monsters were all at lvl55, and the opponents that Ye Ci faced possessed certain level of intelligence. They even began employing smart strategies in their fight against Ye Ci. The monsters saw through her method of sending Ol’ Four forward to attract aggro while she launched range attacks at the monsters from relative safety. If Ye Ci was not able to clear her opponents away in time, they would began throwing more and more of their numbers at Ol’ Four, while some of the monsters with higher amount of HP will rush at Ye Ci.

Ye Ci was caught off guard as it was her first time in such a situation. She was forced to kite the incoming monsters and put great effort into putting them down. Ol’ Four nearly lost its life during that encounter.

After that close call, Ye Ci began to exercise caution in her fight against the intelligent monsters. She did not want to die before even reaching the BOSS.

The Undead in the dungeon yielded a huge variety of loot drops from potions to gold coins to various consumables, arrows, and some miscellaneous items. There was also a special item drop, “Spirit Emblem”. These items had no clear description, and could not be sold. Since they did not take up much of her inventory space as 1,000 Spirit Emblems could be placed in a single inventory slot, Ye Ci allowed the Spirit Emblems to stack up in her inventory.

In a solo dungeon, every item that was dropped belonged to a single person. It was a boon as well as a curse. A player would have to carry everything alone, and if there was no merchant NPC in sight, the player’s inventory would quickly be filled up. This was a problem that Ye Ci was quick to realize. Even after tidying up her inventory slots before entering the dungeon, and considering the fact that there was no much of a loot available to her in the leveling area, Ye Ci’s inventory was almost full.

It was rare for any merchant NPCs to appear in a solo dungeon like this. In such a situation, players would be forced to throw some of the less valuable items away to make space for items that could fetch a price.

Ye Ci was no stranger to such a method. She was a notorious solo player in her last life. It was something that posed no trouble to Ye Ci. After making a quick inventory of her items, Ye Ci ventured deeper into the dungeon.

The dungeon was made up of 3 deep caves arranged in a triangular pattern. However, there was no BOSS in any of the caves. After defeating all the monsters in the dungeon, Ye Ci discovered that she has cleared the dungeon.

There’s no BOSS?

How can there be no BOSS in a dungeon?

It was a very strange situation. Even an experienced player like Ye Ci was baffled by her discovery. She walked around in circles within the dungeon with Ol’ Four, and found it empty. There was nothing left in the dungeon.

The BOSS did not appear... I must’ve missed something, or done something wrong. Thought Ye Ci as she stood at the middle of the map. She then wandered to all corners of the dungeon, carefully inspecting every speck of dust. She found clusters of oddly-shaped rock formation along the way, which were easy to miss with their dull gray color. They were all pointing towards the spot where Ye Ci was nearly defeated by the dungeon monsters.

She found a simple puzzle which revealed the location of the next puzzle after it was solved, which led to yet another puzzle. The third puzzle led Ye Ci back to the middle of the map, where an odd-looking mechanism appeared.

“Oh? You can’t wait to be my dinner eh? If that’s the case, then so be it...” said a voice immediately after the mechanism was activated.

Even before the voice faded away, the ground trembled. If Ye Ci did not lay flat on the ground, she would definitely have lost her footing.

Before Ye Ci could stand back up on her feet, a strong wind bellowed at her, and a chill crept down her spine. Ye Ci rolled to a side out of reflex, and looked up. A gigantic skeleton in a suit of armor was rushing at her with its long weapon.

Two words, “Blade Soul”, were engraved on the skeleton’s sword. It was the BOSS’s name. One must not blindly attack an unknown BOSS. The correct strategy to deal with such a foe was to launch small probing attacks to gauge its strength while finding a way to defeat said foe at the same time. Ye Ci gave the order for Ol’ Four to charge at Blade Soul as she sprinted around the cave, firing her skills at the BOSS, and observing the damage they dealt to Blade Soul.

It did not take Ye Ci long to figure out the amount of damage she could deal to Blade Soul with her skills. A strategy began to formulate in her mind as the battle progressed. A Hunter was undefeated as long as a foe was 8 yards away from the Hunter. Once a Hunter’s foe was able to close in, however, the Hunter was doomed. This was why Ye Ci made the decision to stay as far away from Blade Soul as possible.

It was, however, not an easy task for Ye Ci. Blade Soul was a very tall NPC. Despite its low movement speed, each of the BOSS’s stride could cover more ground than Ye Ci could manage in a few steps. Keeping a distance away from Blade Soul became Ye Ci’s top priority.

Fortunately for Ye Ci, it was relatively easy to defeat the BOSS as it was a bonus reward for the player for clearing the dungeon. Ye Ci kept her distance and kited the BOSS from afar, and was able to dispatch her opponent in a short time.

Other than a quest item that was dropped by the BOSS, Ye Ci received no loot drops for defeating Blade Soul. Are you kidding me? I get nothing for defeating the BOSS? thought Ye Ci.

After a day of hard work, Ye Ci’s level was already at lvl55. She was 8 levels higher than the player who ranked number 1 in the Players Level Ranking. This filled her heart with joy.

Bella greeted Ye Ci warmly when she left the dungeon, “Hey! My dearest friend! I’m glad that you’re able to return safely!”

After having a small talk with Bella, Ye Ci headed to the Doran Thieves Guild to hand the quest item to Andrei. She could only curse at the developers for the seemingly meaningless quest as she was on her way to the SIlver Tin Vein.

Andrei was happy to see the blade. After receiving praises from the NPC, Ye Ci’s prestige with the Doran Thieves Guild increased.

With her prestige at the Doran Thieves Guild at Intimate, Ye Ci could finally interact with all the NPCs in the bandit encampment. She immediately sold all the miscellaneous items to the merchant that was closest to her. Ye Ci’s mood improved when she saw the amount of gold in her inventory.

Before she left the bandit encampment, Ye Ci spotted a weird-looking NPC that she had never seen before during. It was a Gnomish NPC with the name “Special Items Merchant”.

When a player had a certain level of prestige with a faction, the player could purchase special items with his or her prestige points. This was a fact known to Ye Ci, who was unable to locate the merchant NPC until now. Could this NPC be the one she was looking for?

Ye Ci was stunned by the items displayed by the merchant NPC. She finally knew the true worth of the solo dungeon.

As expected of an Epic-tier quest. The rewards offered by completing the second stage of the quest was indeed bountiful.

The items sold by the merchant were all lvl55 and above. The various equipment sets, weapons, jewelleries, enchanted items, and rare Life Skills skill books that were all overpowered.

The currency used by the merchant was not gold. It was the items that Ye Ci has collected earlier in the dungeon: Spirit Emblem.

The prices of the items varied by their rarity, with the most expensive ones at sold at 5,000 Spirit Emblems, while the cheapest items were sold at 1,000 Spirit Emblems.

Holy shit! Is there something more overpowered than these items?

Ye Ci had more than 3,000 Spirit Emblems in her inventory, which was enough to purchase a cape. She immediately bought one without remorse. When Ye Ci stole a glance at the description of the cape, the muscles on her face twitched. It was not out of anger, nor was it because of sadness. At that time, Ye Ci was filled with delight.

The reason was simple: The items were not bound to her after the purchase. It would only be bound to its owner once it was equipped.

Doesn’t it means that I’ll be able to sell all these equipment if I can earn enough of those Spirit Emblem? mused Ye Ci. When her customer was the entire player population of Fate, money was definitely not a problem.

Ye Ci could feel herself falling into depravation. She was someone who was noble and virtuous, who thought little about money. However, her views changed after the recent incident. She came to realise the power of money. A person with money is like an overpowered character in a game. With her current financial position, she was deeply in need of money.

The items sold by the merchant were like gold falling down from the sky. She had the urge to look up to the sky and shout her thought out, HURRY AND CRUSH ME TO DEATH WITH ALL THOSE MONEY!

However, Ye Ci was quick to discover a serious problem in her plans. A quick run in the dungeon yielded only 3,000 Spirit Emblems. She would have to explore the dungeon multiple times to earn more of them. Her road to wealth depended entirely on the settings of the dungeon.

What if... I can only clear this dungeon once?