Chapter 921 - 870: The NPC Used as Bait to Tank the Boss
With the entire city cursing him, Da Fei hurriedly left the city.
Da Fei felt a little frustrated; what if these jokers go so crazy that they don’t even spare NPCs? Of course, such situations are rare. But what if a fight breaks out and my disguise gets exposed? Will my name end up being on the opponent’s info?
If my disguise is busted, where will the face of the world’s most famous person go? I might as well find a place with no people, shed the disguise, and stealth all the way there? The problem is walking in Stealth State is slow, especially in the forest! I’m in a hurry!
While agonizing over this, Da Fei was already on the forest road outside the town, surrounded by players running past to check out the excitement. Da Fei felt even more conflicted; being an NPC has its downside—you can’t run, especially NPCs like priests, who always walk calmly. Who’s ever seen them running?
Ah, whatever. This time, let’s just treat it as testing out the disguise effect. If time gets delayed and the meeting fails, there’s always next time. I didn’t plan on meeting the Duke this time anyway.
Not long after, Da Fei saw a red warning sign by the roadside, with three big words on it: "Bear Appearance."
Alright, it’s just a Furry Bear, not a threat to a god-slaying Dragon Slayer like me, and even regular passersby players ignore the sign. Judging by the street market stalls’ hollering, the Furry Bears and moose here shouldn’t be ordinary wild monsters but commercial specialties.
After ten minutes of walking, Da Fei arrived at the Black Forest Wooden Bridge on the map, with this end of the bridge crowded with onlookers, and as expected, about a dozen red-named players with a bunch of shield archers blocked the other end.
The current chat channel was filled with shouting:
—"Solemn warning! From midnight to 5 AM, the area north of the Black Forest River is our Mad God Guild’s working area and time! No one is allowed to cross the bridge, challenge us if you dare!"
Damn, why are you guys so cocky!
As the calm and composed NPC he was, Da Fei didn’t stop and strode through the player crowd with head held high, walking onto the wooden bridge.
At once, the previously neglected NPC suddenly became the focal point of every player’s gaze present.
Instantly, the onlooking players heckled, "Mad God jokers, didn’t you say no one could cross? Kill the NPC if you have the guts!"
"Yeah, you’re already red-named anyway; it doesn’t matter if you kill one more. Not killing him makes you spineless!"
Damn! You guys are a hot mess; do you have beef with NPCs? You deserve to be cleaned out; none of you are any good!
In the moment, Da Fei gritted his teeth but had no choice but to brace himself and continue forward. He could only hope that the players from Mad God Guild had normal intelligence; otherwise, he’d be massively embarrassed.
The red-named players at the bridgehead immediately replied, "Damn it! I’ll let him pass if I’m happy, and you guys can follow him across the bridge too. I guarantee I won’t kill you!"
Da Fei let out a sigh of relief, fortunately, their intelligence was normal!
There are two types of red-named players: one kind is blindly rampant, killing indiscriminately. The other kind, like these, are venue-red named, red for the sake of profit, so they would never wastefully kill NPCs and incur bigger losses. Not to mention the NPC’s power and status are often mysterious; killing the wrong person, like a Duke’s guest, might mean they can’t operate in this area in the future.
Thus, Da Fei crossed the bridge safely and soundly, passing through their formation into the reserved area.
Being an NPC is awesome! Da Fei felt an urge to laugh out loud. But his biggest urge was to summon the Hell Horse mount for travel; otherwise, it’s a pain to walk all this way. The problem is, once he summons the Hell Horse, everyone would immediately think, doesn’t Da Fei also have a Hell Horse? A priest riding a Hell Horse seems off!
Ultimately, it’s about not being prepared for the disguise. No matter, there’s still time to walk over; at worst, I’ll learn from the dwarf Second Prince, having only three minutes of audience time.
Just then, a red light flashed before Da Fei, radar showed a blinking yellow dot, revealing an animal trap hidden among the leaves on the roadside.
Da Fei couldn’t help but laugh, curious as he sent the Blood Eagle into the air, surveying the forest full of green player dots and traps. Damn, so many traps; no wonder they’re reserving the area for a big task, eh? So, what boss are they dealing with?
Soon, the forest leaves in front of the Blood Eagle rustled with growls, and a golden-haired giant bear appeared in the Blood Eagle’s sight. The giant bear ran through the forest at an unbelievable speed, chasing a few players who were luring it, then with a snap, a bear paw got caught in a trap, the speed sharply reduced, and nearby players immediately rushed in to shoot arrows.
The giant bear then randomly chased the player shooting it, only to be led to another trap, another snap slowed it down, and the players launched another assault, endlessly repeating the cycle.
Ah, so, the Mad God Guild’s plan is to use these traps in the field to sap the boss’s blood or Stamina. For a forest where troop deployment is inconvenient, this is indeed an efficient method, though it might take a bit of time.
But none of this concerned Da Fei; what he needed to watch for were any traps along the main road; stepping into one would be a major embarrassment.
At this moment, in the Mad God Guild command room.
For the China Region, the most famous are undoubtedly the top three professional guilds with tens of thousands of offline members: Dragon Slayer, Star, and Ninth Heaven. These guilds are not only massive titans in the China Region but also possess country-rivaling strength in foreign regions, essentially representing China Region’s power.
But besides them, there are many smaller guilds in the China Region with only a few hundred to a thousand members, which really are normal gaming guilds. Some focus on managing a specific area, or take advantage of being nimble, going wherever there’s a benefit. Their numbers are just right, and they live very well. The Mad God Guild is one of those guilds.
At this moment, Mad God Shitian, the leader of the Mad God Guild, received a report from a guild member blocking the bridge: "Boss, an unknown NPC crossed the bridge, and we let him through."
Mad God Shitian furrowed his brow. How could there be an NPC? So he quickly pulled up the video of this NPC: "From the church?"
Then a younger member quickly reminded him: "Boss, a church convoy came through yesterday too, seemed pretty high class."
Mad God Shitian gave an "Oh": "So this NPC is likely to be a master?"
The member replied: "Someone who can enter Duke’s Door can’t be a noob."
Mad God Shitian’s heart skipped a beat, immediately having an idea: "It’s good if he’s a master! Have the brothers lure the bear towards the NPC, let the NPC tank it for us!"
The member exclaimed in surprise: "What if the NPC dies from tanking?"
Mad God Shitian laughed heartily: "If it’s killed by the bear, it’s not us who killed it, so it’s none of our business, right?"
The member rejoiced: "That’s our boss! As long as the NPC tanks for an extra minute, we gain an extra minute!"
Mad God Shitian laughed again: "A minute is not enough, at least ten minutes, first see the situation, heal him when needed, then cut off the healing to let him die, so it doesn’t affect our drops."
"Understood!"
...
Just as Da Fei was striding down the forest path, something seemed off; the green dots, representing players from the Mad God Guild on the radar, started closing in on him, tailing him.
Da Fei’s eyebrow twitched, was this a setup to ambush him? Couldn’t be! If they were going to ambush, they could have done it on the bridge; why bother creating a bunch of red-named players here?
Just when he was puzzled, the roar of a giant bear came from the forest, growing louder and closer! Then on the radar, several green dots led a massive red dot charging straight towards him!
Damn! Da Fei finally understood; they wanted the NPC to be their scapegoat! Without further thought, he’s going to run!
But just as Da Fei was about to turn and run, he suddenly realized he was surrounded by Mad God Guild players, who had already formed up using him as the bait!
Da Fei’s jaw hit the ground! Speaking of which, if he just ran now, wouldn’t he seem too un-NPC-like? At least go a round with the boss, then run and lead the boss towards them, right?
Alright, as an actor, I’m going all the way! Plus, with 320 attack, 250 defense, 20 damage, 1800 health, I want to see how this mere Bear Appearance can tackle someone as strong as a city wall like me!
Closer, it’s getting closer, Da Fei ignored the Mad God players in front and behind, ignored the roars in the forest, striding forward like nobody else was there.
Finally, several nimble figures rushed out of the forest, charging towards the walking Da Fei, and in the next moment, with a deafening roar, leaves and branches flew towards him like a storm, and a golden giant bear, tank-like, broke out of the forest, reaching Da Fei in an instant!
Been waiting for you! Da Fei thrust his spear! "-140!" "-10 Frost Damage" "-1 Paralyzing Anemone Poison Damage!" "-3 Flame Shield Damage!"
Alright, I admit my spear’s too weak!
Meanwhile, the bear’s paw, as big as a tire, came crashing in—"Knockback! -100!" Da Fei flew out like a kite with its string cut!
—Bang! The kite crashed into a big tree! "-60!" "Stamina -30!"
"Wow!!! Such high attack and defense!" The entire Mad God Guild was shocked!
Two consecutive hits and stamina reduction, hell, how is this even playable? Da Fei was dumbfounded on the spot!
From this first round of exchange, Da Fei roughly gauged the giant bear’s strength, attack and defense around 200, but its health must be in the tens of thousands, plus with the knockback stamina reduction special skill, this bear can’t be soloed, I have to flee! If I really can’t run, I’ll find a place in the forest or river for Stealth.
As the giant bear charged again, Da Fei was about to flee when a few streaks of Healing Golden Light descended, +50, +50, +50! Da Fei’s health was instantly restored!
Da Fei was stunned again! What’s the meaning of this? They really want me to tank it out? Fine! If a boss comes knocking, I’d be a fool not to kill it! (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)