My Players Are So Fierce

The newly opened faction “Blood Rat Gang” now has only 4 people including Dorothy. They’ve just set up their stall outside the entrance of Sewer No. 7, and immediately about a dozen waiting players crowded around them.

These were all folks planning to pursue thief and stealth paths. They had been longing for similar class changes before, but this damn game only introduced stealth gameplay now, which was really disappointing!

Bah! Extremely poor gaming experience!

However, the little players who came excitedly left disappointed one by one, because the stealth assassins in this damn game seemed to be slightly different from the image they had imagined of killing someone in ten steps without a trace.

“What? What did you say? Stealth? Yes, I know stealth, but that visual concealment effect you mentioned isn’t something an ordinary Professional like you can learn! To summon shadows to cover your body so Proficiently, you need to be at least Black Iron Rank.”

“I can teach pickpocketing skills too, but don’t you need to practice? If your technique isn’t good when stealing wallets on the street, you could get beaten to death!

Look, there’s a pot over there, see? Use two fingers to pick it up after the sand is heated, if you succeed in one try, you’re considered a Novice. After that, practice picking up soap with your fingers in a basin of hot water.”

“Who’s throwing flash powder randomly? How can you throw it like a smoke grenade? Your technique is too poor!”

The 4 members of the Blood Rat Gang were quite exhausted by the players’ endless questions. It wasn’t until now that Lady Dorothy realized what a hot potato she had taken on.

She was getting a headache from the players’ strange requests, and remembering the skills she learned in the “Basic Civil Servant Course”, she simply shouted to quiet everyone down, then somewhat clumsily used the Computation Bead she was issued to give them daily quests to eliminate ghouls.

Want to learn skills? No problem! Bring me 10 pairs of ghoul teeth and claws first.

With this move, the 4 members of the Blood Rat Gang finally got a moment of peace.

After the noisy little players left, Dorothy sat tiredly on a wooden barrel and said irritably to her 3 subordinates who were looking at her:

“What are you looking at? Get to work! Set up our camp first. Daisy, when they come back later, you teach them how to shadow walk. Freeman, you teach these guys how to pickpocket and cut purses. Old Pete, teach them searching and disguise.

After they’ve all learned, I’ll teach them how to connect with shadows.

These rookies heard from somewhere that they can instantly melt into shadows and disappear suddenly. Damn, I’ve only heard that shadow elves might be able to do such high-level techniques, but it took me several years to learn!”

Dorothy ranted thoroughly, but the work still had to be done.

As she was directing her 3 subordinates to work, she suddenly saw a figure wrapped tightly in black cloth sneaking along the wall towards her.

This outfit made Lady Razor laugh outright.

“Hey, you over there, are you dressed like that because you’re afraid people won’t notice you in the crowd? Read too many third-rate knight novels, right?

Hurry up and get rid of that unfortunate outfit.”

She sat on the wooden barrel and said to this little player who was stunned in place, with an air of seniority:

“The first thing to do if you want to be a thief is to learn how to disguise yourself, but definitely not like this. I suggest you go to the main street and see what kind of people are the most ordinary, then learn to disguise yourself as them.

When others never notice you, you can be considered a Novice in the thief profession.

In our line of work, the lower your presence, the better.”

“Oh.”

That little player was quite obedient.

After Dorothy finished speaking, he quickly took off his “night clothes”, revealing the novice squire leather armor he was wearing underneath.

This guy’s face was quite young, a very young fellow, but he seemed very reluctant to interact with others, his eyes constantly wandering, not daring to look at Dorothy.

“This won’t do,” said the Blood Rat Gang’s big sister, shaking her head.

“Your demeanor is very suitable for being a petty thief, but that’s not how we do things in the way of thieves. Come on, chest out, head up, tell me what’s your name?”

“Frostfang Claw.”

The little player answered honestly, but he was clearly keeping a low profile.

From the mind microphone plugin inserted in the Computation Bead, it was clear that this guy was also someone with “some wealth”. Little players who could spend 20 gold coins on plugins right after entering the game were still a minority.

“You want to be a thief?” Dorothy asked again, and he nodded vigorously.

“First go and get the ghoul teeth and claws, bring them back to prove your determination and potential. Of course, as a thief, you can’t just think about fighting, so you can also try to steal the wooden boxes our Rat Gang left there from among the ghouls on the third level of the sewers.”

Lady Razor waved her hand and said:

“We left in a hurry earlier, and many things were left there. If you can bring them back, it shows you have a talent for this line of work. But I must tell you, stealing from ghoul-infested areas is much more dangerous than face-to-face combat. Those creatures are very sensitive to scent and life.

You weigh it up yourself.”

“Is one enough?” Frostfang asked softly, and Dorothy nodded.

She thought for a moment, then took a very special small wooden tag from her waist, carved in the shape of a rat as an identity marker.

She said:

“Some of the ghouls on the third level of the sewers carry these, which proves they were once members of the Rat Gang. It’s difficult for me to collect their remains now. But if you can bring back one identity tag, I can also count it as completing your initiation task.

If you steal it back, I’ll personally teach you how to be a thief, but let me be blunt.

This is basically sending you to your death.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

The little player saw that he had triggered a Hidden Quest, and immediately perked up. Without waiting for Dorothy to speak, he turned and ran out, making Lady Razor shake her head.

She had seen many reckless Transians before, but this was the first time she had seen someone as reckless as this. However, the language of these guys is so strange, it’s not the language of the mountain people at all!

Dorothy grumbled in her heart:

“I’ve traveled the continent, and I’ve even hidden from pursuers in the mountain people’s forests. If these guys are really mountain people, I’ll cut off my head and give it to that cunning vampire lord. Where on earth did he find these impostors?”

——

“Hey, buddy! That sword you’re carrying is interesting, where did you get it?”

Onboard Joy Stick, who had wrapped himself up tightly, was riding his tall horse up and down the street, preparing to go to the library in the Blood Vulture Halls to find some information about “Transia Treasure”, when he unexpectedly saw a bald new player carrying a very exaggerated-looking sword on his back, moving wood at a construction site.

It sounds a bit miserable.

But for newly entered players with empty pockets, coming to construction sites to move bricks to earn some extra money and grind character levels is also a very good choice.

However, the weapon on this guy’s back caught Joy Stick’s interest.

As an old player who entered the game at the very beginning, he had never seen such an obviously “impractical” weapon appear around Crimson Citadel. Brother Stick vaguely remembered seeing something similar in some corner of the internet.

It seemed to be a weapon from a manga with a strange style.

“Ha, you’ve noticed my cool weapon, right? Brother Stick.”

Seeing that Joy Stick was attracted by his weapon, the new player with the ID “Kind-Face Giant Shark Uncle” crossed his arms proudly and laughed. He introduced proudly:

“Isn’t my giant shark blade awesome and powerful? I spent a gold coin to have this custom-made! It’s a perfect match for my appearance, right?”

“Wait, I remember where I’ve seen it before, you little guy are a madman!”

Joy Stick retreated a step hesitantly. He stared at the slightly crazy bald player in front of him and said:

“Where did you get this weapon custom-made? It’s solid, right? Are you sure you, as someone who just entered the game, can lift it? It’s as tall as you are!”

“It is a bit heavy, but it doesn’t matter. If I can’t wield it now, I’ll just treat it as physical training. As long as I pass the Black Iron Trial, I’ll definitely be able to pick it up and kill all around!”

The bald player pouted, saying a bit reluctantly, which made Onboard Joy Stick laugh out loud. This brother had spent money to get himself a completely useless “cosmetic” weapon?

“You still haven’t told me where you got the weapon custom-made?”

Joy Stick asked again. The Giant Shark Uncle, busy moving wood, pointed to the camp and said:

“There are two brothers over there who opened a blacksmith shop. They started doing business yesterday. It’s cheaper than what NPCs sell and they can customize the appearance. Not just me, many brothers have ordered from them.”

“Oh? Have the life profession brothers finally figured it out?”

Joy Stick immediately became interested. He said goodbye to the brick-moving Giant Shark Uncle and rode his horse towards the forward camp outside the city. From a distance, he saw a tent surrounded by several people, with some engaged in transactions:

“Buddy, you can customize weapons, right? Give me a Frostmourne!”

“Don’t be silly, that’s a two-handed sword. You can’t even lift a solid one, choose something else.”

“Alright, then how about a Yamamagatsu sword?”

“Hmm, that’s no problem. Go pay the deposit over there! Come back in 4 days to pick it up. Do you want decorations and a scabbard? That’s an extra gold coin if you do.”

“I want a ‘Moon Cutter’!”

“Get in line at the back, how dare you cut in line.”

A group of new players were arguing noisily, making Joy Stick sigh that skilled people could always find work anywhere. He got off his horse and walked to the edge of the tent, casually picking up a ‘curry stick’ that the two blacksmith players had just made and examined it.

As soon as he activated item identification, Brother Stick quickly lost interest.

It was a standard Recruit level item, with nothing exceptional in terms of craftsmanship or Quality. The only advantage was its unique design and beautiful Damascus pattern.

However, this was indeed slightly better than the squire swords currently used by new players, because it had two additional properties: 【Durable】 and 【Easy to Maintain】.

“Brothers, isn’t your pricing a bit low?”

After the players who had ordered custom weapons left, Brother Stick walked into the tent and said to the two life profession players busy around the anvil:

“I think with these two additional properties, you could sell them for 3 gold coins and people would still buy.”

“Go away! Where did this profiteer come from?”

“Hundred Forging Great Horse”, whose face was blackened with soot from forging, waved his hand impatiently and said:

“Brother, we’re busy grinding our forging proficiency here. Selling things is just a side benefit for our brothers. Besides, these iron ingots used for skill grinding are public property of the camp. We’d like to sell them for more, but the NPCs won’t allow it.

If you’re not ordering a weapon, then get lost. We’re training apprentices here, no time to chat with you.”

“I’ll order, who said I won’t?”

Joy Stick’s eyes rolled, and he took out a small bag of gold coins from his Spirit Bag and threw it on the table nearby. He said to the two manufacturing players who were obsessed with forging blades and had several NPC apprentices:

“I’m planning to form a guild, and it’s a good opportunity to get a batch of standard weapons for my brothers.”

“Oh, a rich guy.”

“Master Broken Blade” next to him picked up the small bag and glanced at it, saying:

“What style are you planning to order? And we have quite a lot of orders piled up here, you’ll probably have to wait half a month before you can get your goods.”

“I’m not in a hurry,”

Joy Stick said with a smile.

“And I don’t want these standard goods for newcomers. Can you make Masterwork weapons with special properties?”

Upon hearing this, the two guys who were skilled at forging blades in reality and even more at home in the game immediately exchanged glances.

Their faces showed an expression of “finally met a sucker”.

Master Broken Blade rubbed his hands and enthusiastically invited Joy Stick to the tent next door. He said:

“To be honest, brother, my younger brother and I have been researching the manufacturing system in this game. We’ve found that to forge equipment with special properties, we need to add some special materials.

Here’s the deal!

You bring us the materials we need, we’ll only charge for labor.”

As he finished speaking, under Joy Stick’s astonished gaze, a quest frame suddenly popped up in front of him.

【Order Quest – ‘Pursuit of Masterwork’ has been triggered!

Quest Content: Crimson Citadel’s official blacksmith “Master Broken Blade” requires you to help him collect a series of rare materials to forge custom weapons for you. The list of requirements is as follows.

Time Limit: 48 hours.

Quest Reward: Custom Masterwork weapons X10, can be collected after forging is completed.】

“!!!”

Brother Stick widened his eyes, looking at the smiling Master Broken Blade in front of him. He exclaimed:

“You can give quests to other players? This is really off the charts!”

“Hey, what’s so surprising about that? This is the ‘exclusive benefit’ for us manufacturing players.”

Master Broken Blade waved his hand and said:

“Brother, I stay in this blacksmith shop all day long, and I’m not interested in fighting. Where do I have time to go out to level up and find materials? This is exactly where you combat professions come in handy.

Let’s put it this way, you bring back the materials, we help you make Masterwork weapons, and we can grind our proficiency at the same time.

Hey, killing two birds with one stone.”

“Wait!”

This was the first time Joy Stick learned about the special mechanism of manufacturing players. He quickly asked in confusion:

“But if you don’t fight monsters and only grind skills, how do you handle the Black Iron Trial?”

“Oh, that’s a trial only for you combat professions. We craftsmen don’t pursue these things, our trial is called the ‘Craftsmanship Trial’.”

Master Broken Blade explained:

“It can be triggered when the blacksmith profession reaches level 10. The requirement is to independently and consecutively craft three Masterwork – Veteran weapons with more than three special properties.

And manufacturing and combat professions don’t conflict. Everyone has three profession slots, right? If we get tired of crafting, we can go out and fight some monsters too.

Anyway, I approve of this game’s degree of freedom.

By the way, are you going to accept my quest or not? And what style of weapons do you plan to order for your guild members? Do you want fantasy-style or more practical classic styles? Do you want me to recommend some?”

“No need, KA-BAR will do.”

Joy Stick accepted the order quest and said, which immediately made Master Broken Blade’s eyes light up, instantly knowing this person’s unusual background.

He said in a low voice:

“Do you want the classic version or the commemorative version? I’ll tell you in advance, the quality of the iron ingots provided by the camp is average, so even if it’s Masterwork, don’t expect it to be as durable as the original.

Also, the commemorative version costs extra!

And the waiting time will be longer, because the special anti-rust treatment and handle are more troublesome to make. My younger brother and I still need to get some specialized tools in the game before we can start working.”

“If you can make the commemorative version, that’s even better! Money is not an issue, after all, you can’t buy it in reality, so it’s fine to play with it in the game.”

Joy Stick’s eyes lit up.

Then he looked at Master Broken Blade with a strange expression. With a sense of awe, he said in a low voice:

“What do you do in reality, brother? From what you’re saying, do you have commemorative versions in stock? Willing to sell?”

“Oh, I’m just a humble man with a small knife company, making a living.”

Master Broken Blade grinned and waved his hand, saying:

“We do have stock, but I’m afraid you can’t afford that price. There’s no need to be a sucker in reality if you’re not a dedicated collector. Anyway, this game is so realistic, it’s good enough to play here.

My younger brother and I are preparing to start replicating classic knives in a while, why don’t you pre-order one?

Since you’re a fellow enthusiast, we can negotiate on the price.”

“Alright!”

Joy Stick thought for a moment and said:

“Let’s start with a Napoleon command sword.”

“Piece of cake. Deposit 30, full payment 100, pick up in two months. Guaranteed Quality above Masterwork Veteran.”

“Damn! Why don’t you just rob people? With this money-making speed, I’m thinking about switching to blacksmith too.”

“You can. My brother and I also take apprentices. Pay 10 gold coins as tuition, and we can start now. Don’t think it’s expensive. You know Lady Aqua, right? She’s a famous fashion designer, born with the ‘Master Tailor’ talent. The three tailor NPCs in the camp are now her apprentices, and she can even get special allowances from the administration.

Sigh, indeed, knowledge is power!”