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6.12 – I want to dig out his eyes
editor: alamerysl
This was an instance set in a pleasure house. Because the Sealed Devil was good looking, he was sold to the pleasure house as a teenager. He used some means to ensure that he did not have to receive guests, and became a manservant following a young maiden who had also just entered the pleasure house instead.
The young maiden had been chosen to become the focal point of the pleasure house. She was very attractive, seemed soft and gentle, and was as pure as water from head to toe. She was proficient in playing chess, calligraphy and painting, her personality was soft, and completely unable to stand up against the old proprietress. In this kind of environment, the obedient and well-behaved types were the ones that delighted customers the most.
She was simply the most perfect person in the world. She had clearly been born in the mud, but she remained untainted by it. She was not scheming, and the Sealed Devil felt that she must have been a god’s favorite in order to have lived to reach her current age.
But that thought was ridiculous, because if she was really a favorite, she would not have been sold here.
After seeing this part of the plot, Xue Ling did not even want to waste energy commenting on the pointlessness of placing such a ‘Holy Mother’ here. The creator of the game must have fallen into a trap of stereotyping while writing the script, because the Sealed Devil’s story appeared to be tragic just for the sake of being tragic from a narrative angle. A ‘Holy Mother’ like her could make everyone around her like her, but she just had to fall in love with the Sealed Devil, who had already made some minor modifications to his appearance and was no longer eye-catching.
This instance was made up of three bosses. The first stage required players to pass through the head guard of the pleasure house. He had a large number of guard underlings whose attacks were not that strong, but they had a lot of HP. They were also not the type to rush mindlessly at the players; once they became severely injured, they would start to run away. This was completely in-line with their character settings as lackeys who lacked courage and feared death, but the instance settings also required them to kill off all the lackeys before they could move forward. So, they could only use some abilities to lock the guards in place and kill them off one by one.
This kind of scene was very bloody and cruel. Quite a few members of the party adjusted the authenticity of their displays to avoid feeling like they were killing seemingly unarmed people and making themselves feel bad.
This was yet another 10 person instance. Other than Thousand Miles Without Pause and Listening to Rain on a Bridge who held the key to open the instance, and Xue Ling and Su Xuanyan who were here to participate in the fun, everyone else were all people from Thousand Miles Without Pause’s guild that he had called over. For some reason, everyone who joined were all girls, and after they noticed Xue Ling, they all gathered together to whisper as their eyes swept back and forth across Xue Ling’s body. It wasn’t malicious, just a little too nosy.
The first stage of the instance required a long time to clear, but it also had a time limit. If time ran out without clearing the courtyard, players would be ejected from the battle area and everything inside would be restored back to how it was. There were no shortcuts.
Xue Ling knew how to cross this level, but it was inconvenient for him to speak out, so he could only hit a wall with them together on the first run through. After they had been ejected, he finally opened his mouth to suggest, “It’s a bit difficult to kill them when they’re running around like this. I can use a skill to lock them in place, and you can split everyone up so that each person is responsible for DPSing several guards each. That way, we’ll be able to kill them all within the time limit.”
Normally, it was Thousand Miles Without Pause who acted as the party leader, and the team had long become accustomed to listening to their leader’s commands. There was confusion now that someone else had spoken up, but after they heard Thousand Miles Without Pause speak up to tell them to do as Xue Ling suggested, they began to count the number of guards and assign them according to each person’s strength.
There were two healers on the team. They had very low attack power, but they would lose very little HP, so they were each assigned a single guard to slowly kill off. As for the rest, regardless of whether they were tanks, melee, or ranged DPS, were all assigned several guards per player. Listening to Rain on a Bridge had been very hardworking, but was still only level 15. In a situation where everyone else was around level 20, and the leaders Thousand Miles Without Pause and Xue Ling were level 26, his level was too low to even mention. He was only assigned a single guard, and for while, his expression turned ugly.
In fact, he was not a DPS profession, but rather a general one. Although he had joined Tianxuan Gate, he did not learn many aggressive skills, and even the ones he had had only been learned reluctantly. Only, Listening to Rain on a Bridge had always lacked self-awareness, and he only felt unhappy as he pressed his lips together and clung to his frustrations by himself.
Clearly, he had been the one to trigger the quest chain that led to this instance. Why was it that everyone’s gazes still fell on Xue Ling? Did everyone only care about appearances even in the game world? He would also have upgraded his looks if he’d known!!!
Su Xuanyan and Thousand Miles Without Pause were in charge of the boss, and would help the others after they had dealt with him. The group all agreed on the plan to clear the first stage, and then entered the courtyard and triggered the boss again.
Because Xue Ling’s main attribute was ice, many of his skills had large area of effects. The bone fan held in his hand cracked as he opened it after he stepped within range, and a complex spell array appeared in the air. A thousand years of frost and snow swept through, and the entire ground became frozen with a thick layer of ice, locking all the guards’ feet in place.
This was a group control ability that Xue Ling had just learned. It could only be used for a limited amount of time, and he had to stand still for the skill to stay in effect, meaning that he could not attack any of the mobs himself. This was an ability that Xue Ling did not find very useful since it could only come into play in a team setting, but it was just right for the current situation, so he had brought it out.
Su Xuanyan and Thousand Miles Without Pause killed the boss quickly, and then began to clear up the basic mobs. All the guards in the courtyard were cleared up within the time limit, and the player with who usually had the best luck with drops went around collecting loot.
Unfortunately, they didn’t find anything good. A single piece of equipment was dropped, and it was only suitable for Listening to Rain on a Bridge. Thousand Miles Without Pause made the executive decision to give it to him directly.
Listening to Rain on a Bridge had not expected his own luck to be so good, being able to obtain a piece of equipment without much effort. He kept his lips pressed together as he looked at Xue Ling, as though wanting to see any hint of unwillingness from the other party, but was unable to discover any.
True, as long as he wanted it, anyone would be willing to give him equipment like this.
When he thought like that, Listening to Rain on a Bridge’s dislike towards that face became even stronger.
The second stage took place after players entered the pleasure house saw the scene of the women of the pleasure house accepting guests in the main hall. The women of the pleasure house were one type of monster, while the round faced, big headed guests were one type, and the relatively handsome gonzi yet another type. Perhaps there were some repeats, but there were all kinds of different men, and it could be seen that the creators of the game had invested a lot of effort in this instance.
This stage’s boss was hidden amongst these monsters, and the team could only clear the stage by finding and killing him within a predetermined time limit.
The attacks of these mobs could be divided into two types. The pleasure house women would throw their personal belongings, and players needed to be on guard against becoming stunned or confused when they were hit by underwear or other things. The guests were much simpler, and their attacks were made by throwing money. Regardless of what type of monster it was, they all used money, only the type of money they used might be gold, silver, or bronze in different sizes and shapes.
It sounded very cool, but the attacks were very intense, and if players weren’t careful, they could get knocked dizzy, and then their HP would plunge straight down to the ground.
There were too many mobs in this stage; the team would simply be totally destroyed by the sea of people. The party stood outside to discuss tactics and think about ways to successfully pass this stage.
There was nothing else to this stage – one could only rely on killing, and if their luck was good, they would be able to kill the boss and clear the stage. If their luck was bad, they could kill until their team was wiped out and still not find who the boss was.
This kind of struggle that relied on luck had always been particularly easy for Thousand Miles Without Pause’s team. After discussing for a while, they could not come up with any better ideas, and could only smack their foreheads and rush in to kill.
As a DPS, Xue Ling was very lethal. Thousand Miles Without Pause used a longsword; he used a sword. The two blades cooperated endlessly, and relentlessly carved out a bloody path.
Su Xuanyan was not happy as they were happily hacking away. Although he consistently displayed the same lethality as the two men, his level was not quite there, and he had no weapons to take advantage of. He did not attract people’s attention at all, and those YY little girls did not notice him. Most of them were excited about Xue Ling and Thousand Miles Without Pause, going on about how they cooperated faultlessly and were really a super well matched.
Su Xuanyan lowered his gaze, glancing at Listening to Rain on a Bridge standing not far away who had his hands clenched into fists and was gritting his teeth as he killed mobs, and something flashed across his eyes.
The boss in this stage was ultimately killed by Listening to Rain on a Bridge, and the girls in the team finally started to marvel at his good luck and express their hope that he would become a mascot and guardian angel for the team. Listening to Rain on a Bridge laughed cheerfully and let them surround him, but his eyes quietly drifted towards Thousand Miles Without Pause, unexpectedly discovering that the other party had their eyes on Xue Ling. In that moment, the disquiet in his heart became even stronger.
How come he felt like he had begun to follow the plot line of becoming a vicious mistress?
Xue Ling touched his sword, and discovered that Su Xuanyan was walking behind him. He raised his eyebrows, somewhat curious as to why the aura around him seemed so off. “What’s wrong? Who offended you? Or were you just mesmerized by the women of the pleasure house’s underwear?”
“I want to dig out his eyes.” Su Xuanyan leaned close and whispered beside his ear, “And make it so that he can no longer brazenly look at you.” His eyes were completely glowing purple, but because his gaze was lowered, Xue Ling did not notice.
Xue Ling turned his head with some surprise and was hit straight on by Thousand Miles Without Pause’s gaze.
Thousand Miles Without Pause nodded slightly to him, seemingly signalling something, and there was no trace of embarrassment at being caught staring.
Xue Ling frowned and twisted his head back to say something to Su Xuanyan, but he unexpectedly met with a pair of eyes that were completely different from before. It was a pair of very evil eyes, the entire pupil was purple, the initial purple darkening as it reached the pupil, until the centre of the iris was a purple so dark that it seemed to be black. There was no amusement at all in those eyes, and they appeared extremely serious. Xue Ling realized that if he did not stop him, Su Xuanyan really would go and dig out Thousand Miles Without Pause’s eyes in the next second.
Even if it was within a game, that was not allowed.
Xue Ling’s brows wrinkled slightly.
He reached out a hand and touched Su Xuanyan’s face, whispering quietly, “Let’s talk after we leave.” Earlier, he had strung him along for a few days because the main computer would always watch him closely for a while every time he returned, and it would arouse the main computer’s suspicion if he was to be seen together with Su Xuanyan. It would be inconvenient for him if the main computer decided to make its move earlier than expected, but now, when he looked at Su Xuanyan’s current appearance, Xue Ling felt that some things may not be completely within his grasp.
This game had always been on where absolute strength was king. The main computer watched him because it wanted to swallow him up, and absorb all the data of an artificial intelligence for its own use. It would use his strength to make itself stronger, so that it could find traces of the virus, confront it, and thoroughly erase it. Xue Ling had not wanted to involve Su Xuanyan in the battle between him and the main computer, given that the man’s status in this world had not seemed very high or powerful.
Although his status was very high in the game, and his potential for development in the future was very good. With Xue Ling’s help, he would be able to experience an immense increase in power after the disconnection between the game and the real world, and then Xue Ling could retire with him into the wilderness after dealing with the protagonists.
Now, it seemed like some things may be different from what he had previously understood.
Human beings did not have that kind of purple eyes.
Xue Ling was not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, because the man in this world was extremely dangerous.
When Su Xuanyan heard his words, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, the purple in his eyes faded, and he reverted back to his usual appearance as a gentle and soft iceberg. He gave an affirmative answer, then lightly bit at Xue Ling’s ear.
Xue Ling covered his ear with his hand, turning his head to glare at him as he got up and said, “Let’s go to the next stage.”
“Good.” Several voices rose up to answer him from various places as everyone’s gazes fell on him and Su Xuanyan, their expressions full of ‘so it was like this’.
Su Xuanyan seemed satisfied that they had finally realized who in the team was the best match for Xue Ling, curved his lips, and even helped Xue Ling rearrange his robes.
Xue Ling: “…” In fact, the man was still repressed and bottled up… it was just that it was more and more deeply hidden, and sometimes it had become necessary for others to needle him a bit in order for it to be exposed.
alamerysl: awww MC so considerate of ML
thanks Reall & MaevaLily for the kofi’s~
