My Players Are So Fierce

Vengeful spirits are traditional “ghosts” in a sense.

They are tormented by the despair and pain at the time of their death, unable to rest in peace, yet they crave that rest.

This conflict in their form of existence causes these vengeful spirits to be hostile towards all living beings from the moment of their birth, while viciously desiring for new souls to join them in experiencing the same suffering.

Vengeful spirits are difficult to deal with.

They have no physical form, making them hard to harm with bullets and blades unless using spirit energy or flames. For more advanced spirits that retain all their intelligence but still hate the living, even flames may not be very effective.

Another threat from vengeful spirits is that these things never appear alone.

They are born in the ruins of massacres or ancient, long-neglected tombs, and once they appear, it’s absolutely a large group, meaning you have to face the soul-hunting pursuit of over 20 vengeful spirits at once.

With such numbers, just the aura of death from the vengeful spirits piling up would cover the ground in an ominous white frost, while their shrill cries could make even veteran human soldiers tremble in terror.

But Murphy is a vampire!

Whether on the “Dark Creature Power Rankings”, the “Notorious Entities Rankings”, or the “Most Reviled by Other Life Forms Rankings”, their race ranks far higher than vengeful spirits.

As the saying goes!

Even among evil beings, there are levels of evil.

When Murphy and Maxim emerged from the sewers, it was already dawn, and there were even diligent little players moving about and scavenging on the ash-covered streets.

And in front of Murphy as he poked his head out of the sewers, Sister Pomegranate stood gaping at him.

Her expression showed that Murphy’s “popping in and out” here had left quite a psychological scar on this graceful young lady. It seems that even a handsome vampire like the great Murphy isn’t dashing 24/7.

He crawls into sewers too?

Wait!

If even the great Murphy crawls into sewers, doesn’t that mean there must be a lot of good places worth scavenging in the underground areas?

Sister Pomegranate’s eyes lit up.

She felt that her clever and beautiful self had discovered another incredible hidden clue.

“Ahem”

Seeing Sister Pomegranate’s expression, Murphy knew what this little player was thinking.

He climbed out in a dashing pose, dusted himself off, and summoned a dark spirit wind to swirl around him and Maxim, dispelling the unpleasant odors from their bodies.

Only then did he speak to the Sister Pomegranate in front of him, who was holding a burlap sack ready to begin her daily scavenging:

“I have just conducted a reconnaissance of the city’s sewer system, my beautiful warrior. The situation is not optimistic! The ebbing of the Astral Shadows means new dangers are emerging. On any other day, I would ask you brave ones to help my subjects deal with those dark threats, but now is not the time.

You still need further practice to adapt to more dangerous situations, and now I require you to immediately proceed to the Witch Hunters’ camp for their training and evaluation.”

As he spoke, Murphy rummaged through his spirit bag, took out paper and pen, scribbled something down, and handed it to Sister Pomegranate, saying meaningfully:

“You are one of the few warriors I value most. Your precious time should not be wasted exploring ruins. Go now, Lady Pomegranate, and create your own miracle.”

With that, Murphy strode off into the dawn with Maxim, successfully diverting Sister Pomegranate’s attention from the fact that he had just crawled out of the sewers.

Meanwhile, Sister Pomegranate clutched the “letter of introduction” in her hand and stared wide-eyed at the quest that had just triggered before her:

【Hidden Quest ‘The Great Murphy’s Favor’ has been triggered!

Quest Description: It seems your outstanding performance has caught the Great Murphy’s attention. He has identified you as a warrior of potential and personally written you a letter of recommendation. Hurry to the Witch Hunters’ camp and report in.

Note!

With “Murphy’s Letter of Recommendation”, you can skip the apprentice evaluation at the Witch Hunters’ camp and directly seek tutelage from the formidable White Knight Sir Finoch Lawson.

Quest Objective: Trigger and complete the Trial of Strength: Black Iron Body within the shortest time (15 days) to not disappoint the Great Murphy’s high regard for you.

Quest Reward: Reputation with Kadman Civilian Self-Defense Force, Blood Vulture Clan, Survivor Camp, and the favor of the Great Murphy.】

“???”

Sister Pomegranate was utterly baffled.

Didn’t the veteran players say hidden quests were difficult to trigger? Why had she already triggered three in less than five days since starting the game? Was it because the others had ugly faces?

“Little Pomegranate, where are you? My two friends and I are online now. We’re at the ruins frontline, want to join us?”

Just as Sister Pomegranate was about to leave, her player interface communications suddenly lit up, and she saw the cheerful message from Lumina.

Because she had to meet new friends to play together today, this poor little girl who usually had to stay up late due to time differences had broken her routine and logged in during the day.

“I’ll come find you guys.”

Sister Pomegranate still valued her clever new friend very much.

She skipped along, turning to run towards the frontline, and sent a message to Lumina:

“Oh my gosh, I just saw the Great Murphy and Maxim crawling out of the sewers, and then to avoid embarrassment he gave me a hidden quest!

Tsk, the incurable pride of men.”

“??? Was it ‘The Great Murphy’s Favor’?”

Lumina immediately replied:

“You got that quest too? It popped up right when I logged in. I asked in the group, and it’s not just you and me, all 16 veteran players from the first test batch got it, but so far from the second batch it seems only you have.

But the Great Murphy crawling into sewers and stuff, are you sure? Would such a dashing and elegant NPC do that? Don’t lie to me!”

“No way, I took photos as proof!”

Sister Pomegranate sent a sly grin emoji, saying:

“I’ll post them on the forum later!”

“Crack”

Murphy, who had by now returned to the frontline, darkly crushed the apple in his hand.

Having obviously screen-peeked and seen the chat log between Sister Pomegranate and Lumina, he then took out a handkerchief, elegantly wiped his hand, and produced a small black notebook.

“Spreading blackmail material about me, huh?”

The Great Murphy narrowed his eyes, cursing inwardly:

“I advise you to be good, little Pomegranate! If I really see that damn photo on the forum, be ready to become a member of the ‘Blackhand Gang’!”

On the other side, below Kadman City’s frontline, this area had completely become a safe zone.

Not only was there Lady Tris’ alchemy workshop, but also a supply point from the Survivor Camp. A few blacksmiths and tailors had been dispatched here by Miriam, specifically to provide equipment repairs and resupply for the Kadman Civilian Self-Defense Force and the Great Murphy’s warriors active in the city ruins.

Also, because players had scavenged massive amounts of money from the ruins with nowhere to spend it, leaving them with no real concept of its value, the “NPCs” stationed here were all raking it in hand over fist.

Naturally, their attitudes towards the little players were extremely friendly. Even if they couldn’t understand their words, normal transactions could be handled through gestures.

“Wow, this apple tastes exactly like in reality, and that crisp texture, how is that possible? Wuuu, I feel like I’ve really been transported!

My childhood dream has come true in this way!

Mom, Dad, I’m not going back to that boring reality!”

Next to Lumina, an adorable, short girl in beginner gear was munching on some apples.

She had a cute round face and a lively, energetic ponytail. Just her height was quite unfortunate, probably the shortest of all the current players.

At most 155 cm tall.

This was “Sword Saint Ashina”, one of the two lucky ones from Lumina’s private social group who got test slots. Her name alone showed this girl played dangerously.

And next to her was a tall, long-legged girl.

Her features were much prettier than Lumina’s or Ashina’s, at least 178 cm tall, about the same height as the striding Sister Pomegranate. Compared to the energetic Ashina still marveling at the realism of the game, the seasoned traveler “Fatal Orchid Huahua” appeared much more composed.

She observed the various fruits the NPC had arranged in a basket, studying the overly detailed facial expressions of the NPCs around her.

Finally, her gaze settled on the ruins of Kadman City, now bathed in sunlight again after the Astral Shadows had receded.

“Typical medieval style, with different functional areas spreading out from the castle as the center. The towering city walls were to prevent enemy invasions and better protect the lord’s property. The lower city housed commoners and shops, while the upper city was structured into different residential areas based on hierarchy of power.

It’s practically identical to some European ruins.

No, this is evidently even more logical!

Damn!

Why no camera!

These photos would be enough for me to get a good few freelance deals.”

Orchid murmured to herself, prompting Ashina, who had finished her apples and taken up a handful of malt candies, to roll her eyes, thinking the traveler’s occupational habit was showing again.

“Yo, two new friends, how are you both!”

Sister Pomegranate came running up, first hugging Lumina tightly and vigorously ruffling her silky long hair, amid the latter’s shrieks, then greeting the other two new friends.

The gathering of four girls naturally drew the attention of the other 18 people who had entered the game this time, but no one came over to chat.

This wasn’t reality, so there was no urgency for flirting or anything.

This batch of 20 people inserted into the game by Murphy still employed “internal recommendations.”

However, unlike last time, Murphy did not include any recommendation slots from the original veteran players this time.

They already showed a tendency to form cliques. While some healthy competition was good, Murphy currently needed to deal with the Blood Vulture Passage issue, so he couldn’t let the little players waste time on jealousy and infighting.

“So you’re little Pomegranate?”

Orchid looked Sister Pomegranate up and down, her gaze finally resting on the latter’s buxom chest as she muttered:

“Where is she small?”

“Yo, hello there, little Pomegranate. I’m…ahem, can’t use real names in-game, alright, just call me Ashina.”

The petite girl was quite outgoing, immediately shaking Sister Pomegranate’s hand, but her 155cm height meant she had to look up to see Pomegranate’s pretty face, which annoyed her a bit.

The next second, though, Sister Pomegranate let go of Lumina and scooped up Ashina, giving her a fright as her legs kicked in the air.

“Wow, this little lady is so cute!”

Sister Pomegranate exclaimed wide-eyed:

“So the smarter the brain, the prettier the face that grows from it? Those doll-like strange eye colors, hey, cutie, are you mixed race?”

“Put me down! You weirdo strong woman!”

Ashina yelled fiercely, prompting Sister Pomegranate to shrug and set her down. Lumina immediately explained:

“Ashina’s family is settled domestically now, but don’t underestimate her. This girl’s marksmanship is really formidable, probably because her mother has Texas blood and they actually have a farm, so it’s a family tradition of sorts.”

“Pfft”

Hiding behind Lumina, Ashina squinted her eyes, made a finger gun gesture at Sister Pomegranate and mimicked firing sounds. This mischievous personality made Sister Pomegranate even more pleased.

This was the kind of teammate she wanted.

“And this one? Not going to introduce her?”

Sister Pomegranate turned to Orchid.

No need for Lumina’s introduction here, as Orchid stuck out her hand openly to Sister Pomegranate:

“Just call me Orchid. I’m a photographer. Heard you want to join our little group? I don’t mind, the others probably don’t either. We all hope for fresh blood, but Sister Concrete isn’t very approachable.

She’s the group leader, and currently has no plans to enter the game.”

“Whoa, do I need an interview?”

Sister Pomegranate scratched her head, saying:

“Why don’t I fly over to you guys? Getting leave from this new job is pretty convenient.”

“Can’t come, awoo.”

Ashina gestured seriously:

“Orchid is traveling in Antarctica, her parents won’t let me and that weirdo meet. As for Sister Concrete, if you went to her, you wouldn’t be coming back out.

It’s just on the outskirts of research, but it’s still in a military restricted area, awoo~”

“Yeah, in the group right now you can only meet me out of the seven of us.”

Lumina sighed:

“I’m the most useless of the seven. These girls are all hidden talents. Even the self-proclaimed ‘perfect housewife’ Lady Aqua has at least two bodyguards following her when she goes out to buy vegetables.

Ah, marrying into a wealthy family is just different!

We’re all equally smart people, so why is there such a big gap in our lives?”

“No way!”

Ashina scoffed, hugging her arms as she snarked:

“We’re not as dumb as you! The average IQ of us five is 10 points higher than yours! If we count Sister Concrete, it’s 15 points!”

“Hey, you rude little beansprout are going too far!”

Lumina clenched her fist and bopped Ashina on the forehead, making her yelp and jump up. Sister Pomegranate just laughed as she led the three towards the Witch Hunters’ camp.

At the frontline, Khaki Tony Tai and Path of Mud and Oil were “lecturing” the newbies, really they’d just taken a “New Recruit Guidance” quest from Miss Miriam, requiring them to provide an orientation for the new players.

“Listen up, you lot better be grateful, got it?”

The veteran-looking Khaki Tony Tai, clad in a slick soldier’s armor and shouldering his double-bladed spirit axe, clearly an elite model, shouted at the 18 little players gathered around him:

“The newbie village you see, the computation beads you’ll soon get as player interfaces, even the new job system you can learn right when entering the game, we senior predecessors had to painstakingly shit and piss out all that for you newcomers!

So hurry up and thank your seniors!”

“Hey, you’re getting more and more outrageous, don’t say such gross stuff.”

Path of Mud and Oil just wanted to finish this quest quickly so he could go scout the Witch Hunters’ camp.

Rumor was they had loads of “Witch Hunter self-used, 90% new” equipment for sale over there.

Seeing the ranting Khaki Tony Tai about to channel his inner Underachiever Senpai, he immediately cut him off, smiling at the curious new players:

“Come on, each take a burlap sack, go scavenge the ruins, then trade that trash with Brother Dump Truck in the Survivors’ Camp for some starter funds.

Make that circle and you’ll learn everything, aye aye aye! Don’t grope me!

You’re a guy, I’m a guy too! And I must stress, I don’t like guys!”

“No, I just think your weapon looks really cool, glowing and all. Bro, can I touch your weapon?”

“No way! I traded my life for this. Don’t touch the armor either! You there! Don’t take off your pants, damn it! NPCs will fine you if they see!

New players, you don’t want to start the game already in debt sweeping streets, do you?”