Chapter 184 - Scammers?
...…
When Shin arrived at the Battle Arena, what he saw was a flow a heavy player's traffic. There a lot of players coming in and out of the Battle Arena. If the Town's Plaza was like a busy marketplace, then this place was like a blockbuster concert of some famous celebrities.
The line of players that were waiting for their turn was quite a pain in the *ss if you tried to count the players in the line. But even though that was the case, these players were still patiently waiting for their turn. And while waiting on the line, these players were even discussing some of their battle experiences of their previous fights in the Battle Arena.
What's more, these players were not your average players since most of them were at least an Official Rankers. There were even some Titled ones in the mix. And from the atmosphere that they were releasing, Shin could also tell that most of them were some kind of players that were fond of PvP.
Well, that was also to be expected since this Calderock Town was already comparable to most of the Intermediate Towns in the Saint Heaven Kingdom despite being a Basic Town. And if you added the Mana Towers standing on the four corners of the Town, the Mana density of this place was almost comparable to the player-owned Advance Towns; and due to this high Mana density, this town became one of the places that were perfect to practice some combat techniques or player's skills.
"Tsk! D*mn! That was a long line for me to wait.
" Shin couldn't help himself but to click his tongue after seeing that line of players; he was about to give up for a moment, when he suddenly remembered something.
"F*ck! Why do I need to fall in line like them if I am the owner of this town?
"
Then he smiled evilly before walking towards the entrance of the Battle Arena with a couple of large steps.
But before he managed to reach the entrance, the group of five players on the forefront of the line suddenly turned to their bodies to the players behind them while the Blood Elf Master Archer in the middle in the group immediately started shouting out.
"To all the players that are standing at the back, if you want to have a battle real fast then you guys can come with us. We are generous enough to invite you, all you have to do is to have a sparring with us. And if you are willing too, we can also have some bets in between.
"
When Shin have heard that, he suddenly become interested; especially when he also heard the comments of the other players that were waiting on the line.
"Tsk! Look! Those guys are at it again. They are here to bully some newbies.
"
"Heh! It is better if they are just here to bully. But the real problem in this is they are also here to scam some people.
"
"Yeah, the offer sounds so nice, but in reality, they are only here to extort some money from the clueless people.
"
"Well, it is fine if they are some average players. But these guys are all Maverick Rankers! That was too shameless.
"
…
And while those players are discussing, Shin suddenly got an idea. 'A group of Maverick Rankers, Huh? Let's see what they are made off then. Heh! Let me give them some time of enjoyment.'
Then Shin started walking towards the group. And when he arrived near them, he immediately said.
"Can I take that offer?
"
"Alright, I'll spar with you, guys.
"
But unexpectedly, there is another person that took that challenge.
Shin turned his head at the owner of the voice and see that she was a Female Fallen Naga Master Sorcerer. She was wearing a high-class concealment cloak, but Shin was still able to see here basic information.
----------------
Name: Celine
Race: Fallen Human (Undead)
Level: 101
Class:
-Main: Master Sorcerer (Tier 2)
-Sub: Alchemist (Intermediate)
Affiliation:
-Guild: None
-Adventurer Team: Secret Society
Player Recognition: Ranker (Maverick)
Ranker's Title: None
----------------
'A Maverick Ranker? Heh! She looks so strong. And that Adventurer Team's Name, I think I heard it somewhere before. Hmm... Where was it again?' thought Shin to himself when he saw all of those informations.
At the same time, the Female Fallen Naga Master Sorcerer named Celine, was also observing Shin. And since the latter turned off the visibility mode of his Nephilim's Gemini Mask, the as special effect of it was also been disabled, making the former to also see the details of the swordsman using her own observation skill. 'Sickarius? Oh! He must be the one of the new rising stars of this Kingdom. I wonder how strong he is. Heh, looks like coming to here with captain is a good choice.'
On the other hand, the seemed to be leader of the scammer Maverick Ranker's group, was smiling from ear to ear when he saw that there were two people that took the bait. Then he smiled at the two and said.
"Sure! You two are welcome to join us. So~… shall we go inside now?
"
Then Shin turned his attention back to scammers before nodding his head and following them towards the Battle Arena.
Once they are inside the Battle Arena, the leader of the scammer's group, who is a Blood Elf Master Archer, looked at the two and said.
"Alright, so we are going to rent a room now. I am going to pay for it for the first one hour, and whoever lost a round of battle will pay the room for another hour. How's that sound?
"
"Sound good to me,
" said Shin without having any kind of rejection.
At the same time, Celine nodded her head and agreed to it too.
"Alright, I have no problems on it. But can I hold the key of the room? I feel that my friend is going to come so I wanted to invite her later.
"
"That wouldn't be a problem,
" said the leader as he grinned widely inside. 'The more people joined in, the more profit we could get.'
Then the leader excitedly walked towards the counter for them to have a room. And unknown to him, this day will become one of his worst nightmares.
And when they entered the room, Shin was gotten a huge surprise! The Mana density of this place was too high; much higher than the one on the outside. What's more, it was an independent world with a good space for any class to have some maneuvers. 'Whoa! This place is really good for practicing a player's skills. I feel like if I train here for at least an hour, most of my skills will reach the 95% Skill Completion Rate.'
At the same time, the leader looked at Shin and Celine ,and said.
"Alright, let two of my groupmates spar with each other first, then you two can decide who is going to go next.
"
Shin and Celine have no complaints and just nodded their heads before looking for a corner to stay while waiting for their turn.
Then 'sparring match' between the two members of group lasted for a few minutes before it ended. And that was the signal for Shin and Celine to decide who was going to take the stage next. They looked at each other for a moment before Shin gestured to Celine that she could go first. The latter, on the other hand, had no problem with it and gladly taken the stage.
And as if waiting for that, one of the members on the other group immediately offered her a 'sparring match'. But before they start the fight, the other guy offered to Celine.
"You know, it is too boring if we just fight without nothing at stake. Do you want to make a bet?
"
"Truly a shameless one, Huh?
" muttered Shin to himself and as he watched them on the sidelines.
Good thing that the others didn't heard him as they are too focused on how Celine. And they became excited when she answered at it.
"Sure! What do you want to bet then?
"
The guy is Dark Elf with a Master Archer as his Class; an agility type class with fast attack speed and movement speed. What's more, he also have a very long range so it is pretty much obvious that his class counters a magical class. And asking Celine to have a bet match with him is really a shameless act.
But Celine didn't seem to mind it and just accepted the challenge with a straight face. And that response surprised Shin a little and as he started mumbling to himself.
"Heh, She must be really confident with her strength. I wonder how strong she is. She didn't seem to be an ordinary player either.
"
At this point, the Dark Elf guy seemed to become a little excited when they hear Celine's reply, but he was still able to hold on his facade and said.
"I'll let you put your offer then.
"
"If that was the case then let's go with the 'Winner-takes-it-all mode'. How's that sound?
" said Celine in a nonchalant manner.
The whole group suddenly taken aback with what she had said before throwing her a suspicious look after a few moments.
At the same time, Shin was also gotten a little off guard at what she had said. It was not because the know what that means, but because he didn't know what those words exactly mean. But based on the name of the mode alone, Shin could tell that those are not simple (Isn't that already obvious?).
Given that, Shin immediately opened the online forum and looked for the words 'Winner-takes-it-all'. And what he saw a bunch of topics about it. Then he looked for the random one that discussed the meaning of those words.
A 'Winner-takes-it-all' mode was a type of bet that some players made before doing a PvP. The meaning of it was actually quite simple, both sides were just going to make a contract that had a condition of whoever won the battle, he
/she will take everything that the loser had; and that includes that loser's quests and level. All of the active quest that the loser had will be transferred to the winner while his levels will be returned back to zero (nothing will be given to the winner, that is going to be too broken after all).
"This is too ruthless,
" muttered Shin as he read that simple details
In the meantime, the Dark Elf Master Archer looked at his leader asking for his opinion. And when he saw that the latter nodded his head, the former agreed with Celine's demand.
"Sure! We can do that. Let us make a contract right away.
"
For this guy, this challenge was a good opportunity to show off some of his strength. He and the others were Maverick Rankers after all. But contrary to his expectation, he just bumped on a steel wall this time.
It was because, the moment he formed a contract with Celine and started a battle, a sudden disaster suddenly assaulted him. He died a miserable death without being able to put up a good fight; it was just a one-sided slaughter.
The other members of the group, on the other hand, were even starring blankly at want had happened. Celine casting speed was too insane; she kept using the 'Silent Casting' on all of her spells (combat technique for insta-casting a spell with using chants and mudras). It didn't matter whether it was a special basic or a rare one, should cast it instantly like some random basic spells.
And after the battle… No… It is not a battle… Anyway, after that, the Dark Elf-guy was immediate kicked out of the Battle Arena and was sent to a certain beginner's village.
At the same time, Celine walked down the PvP stage before standing on the sidelines once again. It was as if she didn't do anything special at all.
Meanwhile, Shin didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the current situation. The scammers group suddenly got scammed by their own target. What's more, those guys couldn't back out now since they were already caged with this scary woman. If they want to get out of this place now, they needed to beat her first because she currently holding the key of the room.
While Shin was thinking of those, he suddenly felt a gaze being directed towards him. And when he turned his head at the direction where that gaze was coming from, he saw Celine looking at him with a provoking expression on her face. It was as if she was saying to beat these guys better than her.
Shin shook his head and smiled bitterly when they saw that. Then he turned his head at the 'scammers group' for a moment before walking towards the battle stage.
And when the other guys saw him, they started being cautious and directly send their captain instead of the others.
Shin didn't wait for the other side to say something to him and said.
"Let's go with the same condition as the previous one.
"
The leader-guy nodded his head before forming a contract with Shin. And immediately pulled his bow from his back while quickly putting an arrow on it. But when he took his aim at his front, he suddenly noticed that the body of 'Shin' who was standing few distances away from him, was already starting to fade away from his sight.
'An afterimage!?' that was the last thought that the leader-guy had before his sight suddenly turned dark. Poor him, he didn't even know how he died.
...