Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 47 In Command of the First Squadron

Receiving no reply from Ye Ci, Thousand Sunsets assumed her silence was due to a lack of trust. And so he smiled and said, “I’m just asking. It’s okay if you don’t feel comfortable answering.”

Ye Ci stared at Thousand Sunsets. She knew he had misunderstood her silence. But she merely nodded and didn’t try to offer an explanation.

“May I know your name in Underworld OL?” Thousand Sunsets cautiously asked after seeing Ye Ci respond.

This was an especially hard question for Ye Ci. For her, that memory was from a time long long ago. Even back when she’d been famous in Otherworld, it hadn’t necessarily meant that she remembered everything that had happened at that time. She tilted her head, and racked her brain before shifting her gaze over to Thousand Sunsets, and replied, uncertainty evident in her eyes, “I think… It’s… Oceanic Lantern…”

Her voice was soft, so much so that Thousand Sunsets missed the uncertainty within her voice. Yet the name itself still managed to stir up his emotions. He was also a former player of Otherworld, and was familiar with the name Oceanic Lantern since it was quite renowned.

She was a Sorceress with top notch skills and an unprecedented position. Although she appeared immature in some ways, it was an undeniable fact that Oceanic Lantern was one of the best Sorceress in the entire Otherworld.

Thousand Sunsets had already learned from Zero Arsenic that Ye Ci was Oceanic Lantern. But he’d had his doubts.

Despite being skillful, Oceanic Lantern was immature and somewhat impatient. She’d never been as ruthless or efficient as Gongzi You was. Besides, Oceanic Lantern was a difficult person to interact with. She was rebellious, cold, and selfish. The direct opposite of what people claimed Gongzi You was.

So as a guild leader who needed to always stay cautious, Thousand Sunsets felt he needed to make a final confirmation that Ye Ci was indeed the famous Oceanic Lantern.

A hint of surprise flash past his eyes but he quickly took hold of his emotion. He then smiled and went on to say, “I always thought that Oceanic Lantern was someone older, but it turns out you’re the same age as Yin Yin.”

The nickname Thousand Sunsets had given Dong Yin caused Ye Ci to cringe. She was curious about Thousand Sunset’s intention. He’d had Dong Yin contact Ye Ci and then talked to her about the game Otherworld. What was he hoping to achieve by doing this?

Regardless, Ye Ci still remained silent.

In the past 10 years, Ye Ci had learned a valuable lesson.

In the process of making a deal, one must always let one’s opponent be the one getting the ball rolling. The calmer you were, the more distressed your counterpart would be.

With that, Ye Ci merely laughed and stared at Thousand Sunsets.

Thousand Sunsets knew that Ye Ci was only 18 years old. It was an age where people tend to be fickle and immature, and their thoughts could easily be grasped. They would usually be placated by a few praises. Despite this, he was still unable to figure out Gongzi You’s thoughts.

She was not as naive as Dong Yin and Yi Cang, nor was she as impulsive as Liu Chang. She was calm like water, both silent and unmoving. It was as if her silence could swallow everything he tried to throw her way.

Thousand Sunset’s current situation was the perfect example of this. Even after praising Ye Ci for her exploits in Otherworld OL, she remained unmoved. She merely kept on silently gazing at him, as if those things had nothing to do with her.

Thousand Sunsets lost his patience. He was trying to be friendly and intimate to Ye Ci, and with that he could take the opportunity to show her some favors and ensure that she would stay in the guild and remain loyal to it.

He did not expect Ye Ci to do nothing but smile and silently gaze at him. The conversation immediately turned into a one-sided dialogue.

Ye Ci couldn’t help but yawn after realizing that she had wasted almost an hour in this room. Thousand Sunsets was able to maintain his composure. Must Ye Ci compromise and give him what he wanted? Well, sorry to disappoint, she wasn’t planning on doing so.

Ye Ci stood up and said, “Guild leader, I have a friend asking me for help in clearing a dungeon. If you have nothing else to say, I’ll be taking my leave.”

Ye Ci turned around and was about to leave without saying anything else. But Thousand Sunsets could not longer hold himself back, “Gongzi, I have something else to say. Please hold on.”

“What is it? Is it about Otherworld OL?” Ye Ci turned around, seemingly sneering at him.

“No.” Thousand Sunset let out a sigh. He really felt helpless now, this little girl was quite good, since she was able to force his hand, “No, it’s not that. The guild would like to nominate you as the vice commander of the Guild Battle Command”, he sent a trade request to Ye Ci, which containing a virtual account, “You’ll be paid a salary of 10,000 RMB per month through this account. Of course, there will be other bonuses as well. All you need to do is to help us clear the dungeons. You’ll be offered lots of rewards if you’re able to secure the First Five for our guild….”

10,000 RMB was a large sum for an 18 years old girl. So Thousand Sunsets’ intention had been made very clear.

Was he trying to buy her loyalty? Ye Ci narrowed her eyes.

Steel-Blooded Battle-Spear would definitely take the opportunity to boost their public image if Ye Ci were to accept this offer. The guild would definitely reveal her identity as Oceanic Lantern in the forums. Even when she hadn’t been the best player, she’d still been the only female player to be crowned as the top 10 experts of the game. If Steel-Blooded Battle Spear used this fact to promote their guild, they would easily be able to increase their fame. And with so many First Blood being secured by “Oceanic Lantern”, the sheer benefit…

Only idiots would not able to understand the reasoning behind it.

Ye Ci remained unmoved by Thousand Sunset’s offer. She hated being used by someone else. Besides, she could not guarantee that she would be staying in Steel-Blooded Battle Spear forever. Why would she sell herself out for something so trivial?

Was she worth so little?

“I don’t like to be in a position of power. I also don’t want a salary. I’m just playing for fun, money is not really something important to me.” she smiled slightly, and declined Thousand Sunsets’ offer without hesitation. Which left Thousand Sunsets slightly embarrassed, “If you need my help in clearing dungeons, I will of course do my best.”

At that point, Thousand Sunsets had given up trying to appear courteous, “Then go clear the Automaton Formation with the first squadron,” he paused, then continued, “You’ll be put in charge.”

Ye Ci nodded her head, “You think highly of me. I’ll try my best.”

Ye Ci left the conference room, and Zero Arsenic stepped into the room a moment after, “How did it go?”

Thousand Sunsets creased his eyebrows and sighed, “I’m beginning to doubt that she’s only 18. She too cunning. I can’t take advantage of her.” Zero Arsenic raised his eyebrow as Thousand Sunsets continued, “She refused to be a Battle Commander, but she did not oppose to the idea of being a party leader.”

“What about that thing about Otherworld…” Zero Arsenic’s eyebrows also began to crease.

“She almost did not say a word. I was f*cking talking to myself like some sort of ape!”

Zero Arsenic played the voice recording he set up in the conference room beforehand. He listened for a short moment and sighed, “Her voice is so unclear, we can’t possibly use it to publicize the fact that Oceanic Lantern is now in our guild.”

Thousand Sunsets grimaced, “Let’s just forget about it, and stop thinking of using such things to publicize our guild. It’s flashy but it ain’t useful. As long as our guild is able to progress well in terms of dungeon clearing, we will gain popularity anyways.”

Ye Ci had managed to guess that Thousand Sunsets wanted to use her, but she hadn’t expected them to even go so far as to record her voice.

At 6 in the evening on the second day, Ye Ci punctually went online and led the already formed party into the Automaton Formation dungeon. Since the second squadron had already cleared the dungeon, the members of the first squadron had gotten wind that the Huntress with the unprecedented performance would be the one who led their party into the dungeon. Some of them rejected her and so kept a distance. This was human nature. It was clearly shown when they chose to keep a distance from Ye Ci.

Ye Ci did not mind at all. Her job was to help them clear the dungeon. She was not there for camaraderie.

To take command of a party was not something new for Ye Ci. She had experience doing so in her past life. Due to certain reasons however, no guild had been willing to accept her.

It had been awhile since she had to take charge of a group of players, which made her feel quite nervous.

She regained her composure after a short time. Ye Ci’s style of commanding was both simple and concise. She would only repeat something twice, and her style relied heavily on the cohesion of the entire party. One would need to expend a considerable amount of energy to focus on her words and also needed very good team work.

The first squadron was not used to Ye Ci’s style. Added up to their initial rejection of Ye Ci, they were unable to bring out their full potential. So everything erupted into chaos when they were fighting against the Elite Guards and three tanks instantly died from an Ultimate Skill from a monster. The fourth and fifth tank were unable to follow up and the failure of the healers to control the aggro caused the aggro to go OT, which caused dozens of players to die within seconds.

……

The party channel was flooded with grumbling, complaints, and even curses. They were regretting not being able to kill Ye Ci to vent their frustration and anger.