Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Falcon was a middle-aged man that was over 40. His eyes were as sharp as that of an eagle with hidden murderous intent. He had a hooked nose and straight eyebrows slanting inwards, he was just like a falcon searching for its prey. Although he purposely disguised himself into a refined and cultured gentleman, he was unable to hide that pair of cold, sharp eyes.
‘This is an NPC?’ Lin Jie would never believe that no matter what. Lin Jie had also impersonated an NPC and had seven years of experience from his previous life, his understanding of NPCs and the game were much deeper than normal people.
Although the NPCs in The New Age had high intelligence, they still kept the unique habit of NPCs, such as waking up as the sun rose and resting as the sun set, or the aristocratic etiquette, which emphasized on ranks, and so on.
Maybe others might believe that Falcon was an NPC, but Lin Jie was 100% sure that that NPC was definitely not an NPC, but a player.
Identify!
[Falcon] (Rare NPC)
Level: 50
Health Points: 7,600
Attack: ??? (Unidentifiable)
Defense: 550
Note: Falcon is a space traveler and a space merchant.
‘Health Points 7,600, Defense 550, space traveler, Hmph…’ Lin Jie already had some conjecture in his mind! However, this person’s transformation item was quite powerful, it could even create a system note.
Transforming into an NPC within the Never Setting Sun, he must have other intentions. However, after seeing such a name, Lin Jie suddenly associated it with another person. It was Hungry Tiger, who had grasped three top-tier techniques and was a member of the overbearing mysterious organization.
Lin Jie frowned and was deep in thought. ‘The powerful mysterious organization’s member Hungry Tiger, a teleportation circle that’s ahead of time, Falcon that pretends to be an NPC, is there a connection between the three?’ If he had to make a bold guess and assume that the NPC was the same as Hungry Tiger, they were both members of the mysterious organization, then the teleportation circle that he had encountered that day would most likely be something that they had created. If that was so, then it was highly possible that they had other comrades.
If all his conjectures were true, then what was those people’s goal? Hungry Tiger’s identity had always been that of a player, but the fellow in front had become an NPC, and he also had the note from the system?
Lin Jie could not figure it out no matter how much he wracked his brain, so he decided to first try coming into contact with him. As for the plan to destroy the Guild Base, he temporarily postponed it.
After squeezing into the crowd, Lin Jie queued up like normal players to wait and talk to the NPC. The players that were in the front were all elated, their expressions were those of extreme happiness, but they had to keep it in.
‘That expression…’ Lin Jie was also very familiar with it. Back then, when he had become the Munjo Ogre King and released the “hidden mission”, the pitiful Mage that had accepted the mission also seemed to have such an expression.
Finally, it was Lin Jie’s turn.
When Falcon looked at Lin Jie’s gear, a shred of astonishment flashed in his eyes, as if he was shocked that there was such an expert player with all Dark Gold equipment in the Guild Base. Only the core members of the elite team would be able to own such items.
Meanwhile, normally, the elite team members’ schedule was strictly planned. Basically, if they were not clearing dungeons, then they were on the way to the dungeon. It would be rare for them to have the time to stroll around.
“Hello human from alternate realms, greetings to you, I am the space traveler.” A sense of coldness could obviously be heard from Falcon’s voice, causing his voice to become rigid and mechanical. “I need large amounts of goods to build a spatial teleportation circle for myself, could you help me?”
“Teleportation circle?” Lin Jie sneered in his heart, he was not 100% sure that this so-called NPC was someone that had come out of that mysterious teleportation circle in the Spider Den. “What do you need? Maybe I can help you.”
Falcon’s voice was calm and deep, without any emotions, as if he was reading from a script written by the system. “Time Sand, Space Mirror, Grey Feather, Angel’s Eye… I need 100 portions of each item.”
Lin Jie was astonished. “For Time Sand and Space Mirror, although they are items that can only be found in maps over Level 100, it is still possible to obtain them if we use numbers. However, where can I even find the Angel’s Eye?”
Falcon was elated. From what Lin Jie said, he seemed to even be someone at the level of a team leader or vice team leader? Not bad, the materials he needed now were only dropped in high-level maps, so not to mention hiring those normal players, even if it were Bandits like Shadow Kill’s Grim Reaper or Star Kill, they would not be able to steal the materials out from the map. The only way was to use numbers!
The strategy was to use a massive number of people to attract the attention of the monsters, and then arrange for other people to take the chance to obtain the materials. However, that meant a loss of benefits for everyone in exchange for high-grade materials, whose use was unknown, no major guild would do such a thing.
However, that was Falcon’s only way now. After he heard what Lin Jie had said, he put on an unfathomable look and took out a Skill Book. He smiled slightly. “This is a Skill Book obtained from a land of another space, it’s called [Mountain-Crushing Strike], I ‘ll give it to you first.”
Ding~
—’You received the Skill Book [Mountain-Crushing Strike]’
[Mountain-Crushing Strike]: You jump and deal a leaping slash to any enemy within a 15-yards radius and deal 110% to 200% AOE damage. The higher you jump, the higher the damage dealt. Cooldown time is 20 seconds.
Lin Jie was astonished. Mountain-Crushing Strike was not rare, one would learn it from their mentors, but the learning condition was… one’s level had to reach 80 and complete the second job advancement. Now, he could learn this skill directly! Lin Jie’s eyes lit up, and in the next instant, the Skill Book turned into a ray of white light. Another icon appeared in Lin Jie’s skill list.
“Hehehe, you’re quite satisfied with the reward, right? If you complete my mission, I can even give you a Job-Changing Token, it’s a Holy Angel job from the land [Heaven],” said Falcon.
Lin Jie sneered in his heart, ‘Heaven? There wasn’t such a map that was released in the seven years of my previous life! But the method of first hooking someone with some benefits, then mercilessly deceiving them and ripping them off, it’s pretty similar to mine. I like it!’
Lin Jie pretended to be surprised and said, “Sure! Since it is so, you don’t need to release missions here anymore, I’ll immediately gather people and arrange to go and collect the materials. F*ck it, even if we die thousands of times, I don’t mind!”
Falcon smiled slightly and nodded, then he started following Lin Jie.
It was similar to the “follow” state of NPCs in the process of the mission.
“Respectable merchant, you are a space merchant, so you must have many goods stored, right? Are there any items that could increase the success rate of the mission?” asked Lin Jie inadvertently.
“Human from alternate realms, when you need it, I will take it out.” Falcon smiled. “I was lost in a space vortex, so there are not many items on me. If you gather the materials for me and build the teleportation circle, then I will bring some presents for you on my next travel. In my previous travels, I seem to have obtained a Sub-Legendary Fragment…”
Seeing how the NPC stopped speaking at such a crucial point, it was akin to extreme temptation to players.
However, Lin Jie was clear, no matter what he said, even if he talked his head off, it was all bullsh*t! That was because no mission notice had appeared even until now, only inexperienced normal players would think that it was a hidden mission.
The two of them left the Guild Base quickly, and under Lin Jie’s kind invitation, Falcon followed Lin Jie to the City of Light.
The City of Light’s grade had already been raised through the system’s remodeling! The originally tall buildings could already be described with the word “majestic”.
The Blacksmith’s Shop had become a large building made of steel that looked like a condominium. Master Blue’s grade was also increased to Grandmaster, and he did not need to personally forge items anymore as he now had over 10 Blacksmith NPCs. They were able to forge Silver equipment like Blue previously.
Within the Potions Shop, all the prices of the potions were decreased by 10%, and every six hours, 1 to 10 rare potions would be randomly refreshed. Therefore, the Potions Shop was filled with players, trying their luck. If they were able to buy a Limitless Mana Potion, they’d earn a fortune!
No matter the structure of the appearance, the other buildings increased by one level too—they all became magnificent and domineering. Compared to the other main cities, the City of Light seemed to be the true main city, the other main cities were just towns, which were more developed only!
That was the benefit of players being the City Leader, within Lin Jie’s city administration list, each of the NPCs performed their own duties to guarantee the operation of the city. Of course, Lin Jie could also plan the development direction of the main city according to his will.
“This is the City of Light?” Falcon was slightly surprised, a shred of disdain and contempt flashed across his eye.
Lin Jie smiled slightly and did not reply. Instead, he started to put on all his equipment, including the Lone Wolf Helmet, which signified his identity. Then he stood in front of Falcon calmly.
“Human from alternate realms—”
“Enough, you don’t need to pretend anymore.” Lin Jie waved his hand and said, “This is the City of Light, and I am the City Leader! No matter how strong you are, I can order the NPC guards to directly kill you. I know your identity, you aren’t an NPC, so you don’t need to use any methods to try and deceive me. In terms of playing tricks and deceiving others, you’re still wet behind the ears.”
“Hahhaa… Hahaha. Lone Wolf is indeed Lone Wolf, the instant change in attitude is without equal. Even I was deceived by your acting at the start.” Falcon threw his head back and roared with laughter, but his face turned distorted as he gritted his teeth. “Why? You want to kill me here? There seem to be no benefits for you?”
“Benefits, there are still some. There’s quite the number of Skill Books on you, materials, and equipment too, right? However, those don’t pique my interest in killing you. Instead, the information that you are privy to is what I value the most.” Lin Jie smiled. “You might know a little about me, I really like cooperating with people, everyone who has worked with me sincerely has received plenty of benefits.”
Falcon scoffed. “Benefits? From what I see, they were forced by your power. Who knows if those few sly old foxes in the Steel Allies won’t betray you?”
Since Falcon’s identity was exposed, he stopped pretending and talked normally. While avoiding Lin Jie’s words, which were as sharp as blades, he tried to sow discord between Lin Jie and Steel Allies—his mental fortitude was quite strong.
“In such a matter, I see it more thoroughly than you. As long as my strength doesn’t stagnate, they will not betray me. Instead, it’s you guys…”
Lin Jie narrowed his eyes. “Why did you all come here? Let me tell you, one of your members, Hungry Tiger, was defeated by me. But, he was tactful and immediately chose to work with me. Why do you think he was able to successfully build the teleportation circle? It’s all because I was helping him secretly. As for the details of our deal, naturally, it would be the treasures on all of you…”
Falcon’s expression changed. “Was it possible that you destroying the teleportation circle was also part of your plan? You caused us to become like this, it’s just like becoming an NPC…”
“Oh? Becoming an NPC? What do you mean?” Lin Jie was stunned.
