Chapter 179 – Ripples of the Heart
Translated by: Deception, Vk, GGP
Edited by: Sac, Video, Seb, Noah
This chapter was sponsored by Michael McFarland, Matthew Luther, John Ford, Bob Van Der Wende and Julius Rumbutis! Thanks!
Late at night, Ba Huang City.
Sitting quietly under the northern gate’s walls selling stuff, I gained 900G in just one night. The drops I acquired from the Five Barbarians Desolate Tomb sold like hot cakes and were gone extremely quickly. Now that the preliminary level cap provided by had increased to 150, equipment that was lower than level 100 became a part of the ‘temporary equipment’ category which meant I had to clear my inventory fast. If the average level of the players increased, equipment under level 50 would lose their market.
“Di!”
A message from Wolf came, “Brother Xiao Yao, have you seen the official information bulletin update?”
“No, what about it?”
“There’s going to be an event that starts tomorrow at noon called ‘Demons’ Descent’. In all three cities, boss level monsters will start sp.a.w.ning at a high frequency and have a high drop rate. Brother Xiao Yao, we have to take advantage of this event!”
“Is that right?” My heart skipped a beat. “Then, be prepared by 10 AM tomorrow. Everyone in the studio must be online; we can’t let this event slip through our fingers!”
“Yup, I’ll go offline and rest!”
“Okay!”
……
Turning off the chat, I quickly visited the game’s official website and sure enough, on the sidebar was a huge banner saying ‘Demons’ Descent’. In order for this event to start, an Emperor Tier boss had to have been defeated; it seems like our completion of the Five Barbarians’ Desolate Tomb quest line progressed the main storyline.
Opening the event details, there was an abundance of information.
【Demons’ Descent】 When the first Emperor Tier boss had been defeated, his soul’s death caused earthshaking tremors throughout the continent. All of the boss’ that were hiding in seclusion will begin to stir and will appear. All major cities will be ambushed by 3 Emperor Tier bosses, 10 Purple Tier bosses, 20 Gold Tier bosses, and 50 Silver Tier bosses. These bosses will give out generous rewards and killing these bosses will greatly improve your fame in the city. Please do not abandon your city in their time of need, young adventurers; the time to display your power has come!
Monster Drop Rate Overview
【Emperor Tier Boss Drop Rate】: Emperor Tier Equipment (10%), Purple Tier Equipment (40%), Guild Creation Tablet (70%), Guild Prestige Tablet (20%), SS Ranked Skill Book (5%), S Ranked Skill Book (20%)
【Purple Tier Boss Drop Rate】: Purple Tier Equipment (20%), Guild Creation Tablet (40%), Guild Prestige Tablet (5%), SS Ranked Skill Book (2%), S Ranked Skill Book (5%)
【Gold Tier Boss Drop Rate】: Gold Tier Equipment (50%), Guild Creation Tablet (20%), Guild Prestige Tablet (2%), SS Ranked Skill Book (1%), S Ranked Skill Book (3%)
【Silver Tier Boss Drop Rate】: Silver Tier Equipment (50%), Guild Creation Tablet (10%), Guild Prestige Tablet (1%), SS Ranked Skill Book (0.4%), S Ranked Skill Book (1%)
……
Looking at the Boss Drop Rate Table, my eyes almost turned bright red: this was a great opportunity! Zhan Long was still in its infancy but the main foundation had already appeared with Old K, Dong Cheng Lei, Wolf, Matcha and me as the close combatants, Darling Duck as the Healer and Fox as the long range support. Combine that with a couple new recruits, we had a total of 21 members! Among these players, I was already on the CBN Battle Network Leaderboard top 1000 and thus I would be the centerpiece that attracts other experts to join. Given time, when Old K, Dong Cheng Lei and Wolf become experts in their own right and when the Zhan Long Studio’s funds have surpa.s.sed 100,000, only then would we have finally been able to establish a foothold in Ba Huang City!
In addition, we needed to establish our guild soon since skilled players would start being discovered and right now would be the perfect time to attract them. If we missed this opportunity then our compet.i.tive strength would be severely affected as we would be left with no choice but to recruit second rate players!
I looked at the boss drop rates with joy. Ah, the [Demons’ Descent] event was simply something for us to use as preparations; we had to grab a Guild Creation Tablet during this event! Furthermore, since Ba Huang City would be visited by 83 bosses in total, and we would have a 10% drop rate for the tablet from the Silver Tier bosses while there was a 70% chance of it dropping a Guild Creation Tablet from the Emperor Tier bosses. That was practically a guaranteed drop and thus this event was for sure the optimal opportunity to establish our guild!
……
Looking at the clock, I realized it was past 11 and thus sent a text message to Wan Er.
“Wan Er, you and [Hero Mound] will most likely be partic.i.p.ating in tomorrow’s [Demons’ Descent] event, right? You should get to sleep early tonight and wake up early tomorrow to prepare. I’ll be sleeping early too.”
Wan Er replied back to me on the chat, the sound of her sweet laughter coming through loud and clear, “I’m currently helping Dong Cheng with her quest! Q-Sword has already set up the preparations needed for tomorrow’s event, so there won’t be any confusion tomorrow. Ah, that’s right! You still want to establish Zhan Long and this is a once in a million opportunity. It’s perfect for you since all of the Guild Creation Tablets being sold in any of the three cities are at least over 50,000 RMB, you wouldn’t be willing buy one at all.”
I stayed quiet, “It’s not that we can’t afford one, we just aren’t willing to buy one…..Wan Er, Zhan Long can fight and kill any Purple Tier boss, that’s for sure. It’s the Emperor Tier boss that poses a problem. If possible, would you and Dong Cheng come to Ba Huang City and fight alongside us?”
Wan Er hesitated slightly, “B…but I’m already [Hero’s Mound]’s deputy chief, it’s hard to say if I can come over and help you… At the most, I could, not partic.i.p.ate with [Hero’s Mound] and not join the event with you, so no one would be offended? Xiao Yao, work hard, you have to get a Guild Creation Tablet this time. Set up Zhan Long as soon as you can, so that Dong Cheng and I can join~!”
I couldn’t help but smile, “Yea yea, I got it, are you hungry? How about I go and get you something to eat?”
Wan Er smiled in return, “There’s no need; it’s raining at the moment. You should really go to sleep and eat breakfast with Dong Cheng and me tomorrow! Although… although right now that idiot Dong Cheng is whining about how hungry she is…”
Clapping my hands, I asked again, “Come on, don’t be like that! Say what you want to eat, and I’ll go buy it for you…”
“In that case…” Wan Er’s chat icon looked particularly lovely in this case, her hesitant lips pursed together, “Then… go buy two fried chicken drumsticks, I’m actually a bit peckish myself. Remember to bring an umbrella with you, the rain is getting heavier…”
“Alright, I’ll give you a call when I have the food.”
“Okay, I’m hanging up now.”
……
After hanging up, I put on a black outfit and left.
Sure enough, I could hear the constant rhythm of the autumn rain splashing down around me as my icy cold hands were clasped in my clothes to conserve heat. Crossing the rain filled fields, I walked into the fried chicken restaurant,and in two to three minutes, I bought the two fried chicken meals. Soon after, I was outside the lobby of the girls’ dormitory, crouching under a tree as I gave a call to Wan Er. But as the phone rang, a girl waved from within. It was Wan Er.
“Li Xiao Yao, come on over!”
Jogging over in front of the girls’ dormitory, I saw Wan Er dressed in a beige dress and carrying a green umbrella. She looked like a green lotus flower blossoming under the rain. She opened her beautiful eyes wide and looked at the raindrops on my hair and shoulders. Unable to remain silent about my plight, she said: “You’re already drenched… I thought I told you that you didn’t have to buy us food…”
I laughed: “No worries. Look, the fried chicken is still warm…”
Wan Er winked while pointing off into the distance, “Dong Cheng said she wanted to eat salad, let’s go and buy two boxes from the store over there.”
“Alright!”
As I turned to leave, she pulled my sleeve with her hand, “Let me go with you too!”
Looking at her umbrella, I was confused, “But your umbrella is too small to fit the both of us…”
“What?” She looked up and examined her umbrella with amus.e.m.e.nt, she laughed: “I don’t think so, let’s go…:”
“Okay…”
Turning to walk out, Wan Er followed me with her umbrella up in the air. Her body’s fragrant scent mingled with the smell of autumn rain, making my heart waver. The umbrella was too small, however, so Wan Er’s right arm was a.s.saulted by the rain and became wet. I couldn’t bear the sight of it, so I took the umbrella and held it over her head to shelter her further from the rain.
Wan Er’s face went red while leaning ever closer against my arms. Bowing her head, her long eyelashes blinked away the rain that had fallen on them.
“Ahem…” I gently coughed to break the awkward atmosphere.
Wan Er looked off into the distance, where couples were roaming around intimately under umbrellas. Raising her head to look at me, she immediately ducked back down, whispering, “Idiot…”
Biting my lip, I let my hand wrap around her shoulder and helped her wipe off the rest of the rain from her snow-white arm. Soon after, I automatically drew myself closer to her shoulder, though for some reason Wan Er’s shoulder trembled slightly as her face got even more red, just like an apple in autumn. The wind blew the rain under the umbrella and the rainy mist stuck to her eyelashes forming raindrops on it. As if covered in morning dew, she looked even more elegant, beautiful and captivating than before.
My heartbeat quickened to abnormal levels; even utilizing my Royal Air strength was insufficient in suppressing my stubborn heart rate; I knew that my heart was astir. Despite being at the Royal Air level, I was unable to remain in control. This should be in part due to Huang Ning’s imprint chip from the First Heaven restaurant. Li Wan Er, was the sole reason of my constant vexation! But in reality, the chip had little control over my mind. The peak of the Royal Air is far above the comprehension of the average person and Huang Ning’s understanding of Qi was far inferior to that of my own and so, he was unable to fathom the spiritual power that I had. Thus I was perfectly capable of erasing such a trivial memory imprint or not. However, it seemed as if… I was reluctant to part with those memories.
“Wan Er…” I said as I held her close, I was having difficulty finishing my sentence.
Wan Er tilted her head as she looked at me, “Yes?”
Seeing the shops in the distance, I secretly wished that this moment would last forever, hoping that the autumn rain would stay forever! Looking at Wan Er’s elegant face, I was at a loss for words. I didn’t know what to say and even when I did, the words would disappear when they reached my lips. I pursed my lips and looked at her once more. Distracted, I didn’t even realize I was standing in the same spot, silent.
Wan Er looked at me as her face reddened. Her two beautiful eyes looked as if they could stare into my inner heart, though I knew that she was not using her mind reading powers. If she had been trying to do so, my Yi Hai would had started to ripple in agitation.
Suddenly, Wan Er turned and faced me, her right arm wrapped tightly around my neck as her body remained closed to mine. Our bodies felt warm as she hugged me tightly; the gentle pitter patter of the rain hitting the umbrella was all that we could hear. I heard only incoherent murmuring as she spoke softly to herself. Even then, I still managed to piece together the words, “I’m not… If so, events in the future… No… At that time, please protect me… ”
Then, Wan Er looked up at my face; a pair of beautiful eyes stared straight into mine as her mouth curled into a beautiful smile. Her voice grew in strength as she said, “I don’t care how much of it you heard, I’ll only say that once…”
I lowered my head and said “Actually, I heard all of it…”
Wan Er’s face flushed with that declaration, “No…no way, you couldn’t have?”
I laughed and bowed slightly. My arm wrapped itself around Wan Er’s waist tightly and I said, “Wan Er, you are the one fated to change my life…”
Wan Er stopped walking and after some time, with a hint of longing in her voice, she said, “You too…”
I didn’t answer her.