Reign of the Hunters

If the enemy doesn’t make a move, neither shall I.

Deciding to not say another word, Ye Ci casted another bait into the water. Although she was fishing, Ye Ci was distracted. Her gaze wandered all over the place. She would even forget to reel in fishes that had bit onto the bait. Her gaze then abruptly rested on the shore not far away from her, where a player dressed in normal looking, or some might even call it, totally garbage equipment, was standing. It was a Human with a thin build, with his brown hair tied into a messy bun behind his head. He was standing in the water with his pants rolled up, appearing to be looking for something.

Ye Ci had excellent eyesight and it wasn’t long before she realized that he was looking for clams.

Looking for clams? There are only two professions that required clams; either the person is a Chef or... a Jeweler. Ye Ci’s instincts told her that the man before her was a Jeweler. The reason being that she had never seen such a poor-looking Chef before.

Upon attaining the Beginner proficiency, the Chef would be able to make food that provides a variety of attribute bonuses, which are highly prized by all when sold in the auction house. Any cook with a proficiency of Beginner or higher would be slightly wealthier than the average player. Since this person in front of her was actually in such a sorry state, she could only conclude that he was definitely a Jeweler. Jewelers, like Engineers, are trashy and poor in the early stages of the game but they would only be considered to be totally awesome in the later stages of the game.

While late stage Jewelers were highly sought by everyone, the early stage Jewelers were abhorred by all as they wasted both materials and equipment alike. A Jeweler who achieved Master tier through his or her own efforts without any support of the large guilds was someone who deserves respect.

The person seemed to have been digging for clams even before Ye Ci had arrived. Based on her estimations, he should have been digging for at least two hours. For reasons unknown, Ye Ci felt a sudden interest towards this person and she made a decision. If that person was still around when she was done with her conversation with Zero Arsenic, she will definitely go over and say hello.

At this moment, Zero Arsenic was sitting in the meeting room all by himself. He was looking at the footage he had received in the afternoon, deep in thought. In the video, a male Dwarven Rogue crept into Steel-Blooded Battle Spear’s guild encampment map, swiftly evading the patrols before dashing to the bottom of the encampment’s wall, disappearing out of sight.

The footage lasted for about 3 minutes and was rather blurry. However, despite all that, it was clear enough to identify the culprit that broke into the guild warehouse. That person was not Gongzi You.

This person had acted on his own.

Gongzi You confessed that she was the one who raided Steel-Blooded Battle Spear. As for her intentions for doing so... Zero Arsenic was able to quickly deduce the sequence of events. She definitely knows about the matter between Thousand Sunsets and Gleaming Sunshine. Zero Arsenic pursed his lips at the thought.

That’s right, their guild was definitely stuck at the third BOSS. However, since they knew that it was no longer possible to get the First Blood, Steel Blooded Battle Spear was not as impatient as before with progressing through the dungeon, instead taking the time to come up with a battle strategy. A few hours had passed since Frosty Wasteland Inner Sanctum was cleared, Tang Dynasty had kept their dungeon clearing video under tight wraps, Upwards Ho! was also silent regarding the matter. Thus, wanting to find out the dungeon’s clearing method was extremely difficult. Just at this moment, with Gongzi You delivering the video to their doorstep, Zero Arsenic could not see any reason to refuse. However, the conditions that Gongzi You had set for the exchange made him believe that she was just a person who had let her interpersonal relations get the better of her.

“Gongzi, you certainly know how to crack a joke.” Zero Arsenic rewound the footage, calmly replying Ye Ci while still observing the nimble movements of that male Dwarven Rogue in the video.

Receiving Zero Arsenic’s reply after so long, Ye Ci was slightly confused, she chuckled in response, not continuing the conversation.

“To be honest, I really do want your dungeon clearance footage, it’s just that...” Zero Arsenic paused for a moment, as though he was trying to keep Ye Ci in suspense.

At this moment, Ye Ci’s bobber moved. She leisurely lifted her fishing rod, took a lively loach off the hook and threw it into the creel next to her. She then replied without much excitement. “What is it?”

“Humans aren’t commodities. Even if you and I are willing to make the trade, they might not necessarily be willing to leave. Don’t you agree?” Zero Arsenic’s words sounded sincere and true, Ye Ci knew that he was just stating facts and couldn’t help but feel slightly depressed.

How would she not understand this logic? However, despite her unwillingness, some things still had to be done. The four of them had grown up together since young, and were childhood friends who saw each other on a daily basis. If she did not take action, it would definitely leave a topic for discussion, but even if she did take action, it might not turn out as she had hoped. With their one-track minds, Yi Cang and Dong Yin would never feel that they were suffering, even if the onlookers might feel otherwise.

As she continued to ponder, an unknown anger welled up from within her. What the hell is this?

Zero Arsenic noticed that Ye Ci remained silent and couldn’t help but inquire: “Gongzi, have you made your decision?”

Ye Ci sighed: ”How about this? I’ll only meet them once. If they want to leave, help me make the arrangements. If they don’t want to leave, then you can act as if nothing had happened.”

Unlike Thousand Sunsets, was not a petty person. Unless it was under extreme circumstances, he would not burn bridges with Ye Ci. That’s why he was fully supportive of Ye Ci’s suggestion, even suggesting an additional point. “Of course, I will not tell another soul about the video.”

“Although, this is your problem after all.” Ye Ci was in low spirits. Anyone would be depressed when dealing with an issue like this, which was why Zero Arsenic expressed his understanding towards the matter. He agreed to contact her later on so that they could set up a time and place for the meeting.

Ye Ci put away her fishing rod, ending the most depressing conversation ever since she had reincarnated. Right now, she planned to do something that was not as dispiriting. Rowing her boat to the shore, she noticed that that man was still fervently looking for clams. His IGN was not hidden, probably due to the fact that most Life Players did not see the point in hiding their IGNs. At least it was true for the Life Players who Ye Ci had came across.

It was a familiar name. It was so familiar that Ye Ci was slightly shocked.

Carnivore.

He was the first Jeweler who became a Grandmaster in her past life. A player who had countless major guilds licking his boots. He was a solitary person who had a poisonous tongue, accompanied with a cold and aloof personality. These were the signature traits this mysterious Grandmaster Jeweler had in her past life. However, Carnivore was indifferent towards his negative image. During an interview where he shared about his experiences in the game, he spoke of gruelling and thrifty times. Receiving neither assistance nor respect from other players, he was disillusioned towards the gaming world. As a result, he was unable to forgive those people who had hurt him before even after he became successful. In short, he was a narrow-minded person.

Ye Ci recalled her past self bringing several overpowered equipment to this person for gem socketing but was splendidly rejected in the end. His reason for that was——he would not socket gems for people of poor character.

F**k!! Even though Ye Ci’s IGN was on the list of players with the worst character but Carnivore wasn’t a saint either. Due to his aloof and cold personality, he rejected numerous players and was even listed amongst the top ten Fate players who you do not want to interact with.

It was precisely due to being snubbed by this person that Ye Ci never went to look for him ever again. If it wasn’t for the fact that his reputation resounded far and wide, Ye Ci would have probably forgotten about this player’s existence already. With Carnivore suddenly appearing before Ye Ci in such a dishevelled state, the contrast was almost unbearable for her.

Carnivore watched this female Elf disembark from her boat with envious eyes. People who were able to rent a boat to fish in the middle of the lake had to be wealthy. Looking at the mud on his hands, he let out a long sigh and continued to dig for clams.

“Are you digging for clams?” Ye Ci reined in her negative emotions, before flashing a faint smile at Carnivore.

“Yeah.” The current Carnivore was not the cold and aloof Grandmaster level Jeweler she met in her past life, but a newbie who had just entered the game to earn a living.

“I have a few here, do you want them?” Ye Ci took a handful of clams from her creel and showed them to Carnivore.

Carnivore’s eyes brightened. He stretched out his trembling, mud-encrusted hands with the intention of accepting before he paused, looking up and giving Ye Ci a helpless smile. “Forget it, I don’t have the money to pay you.”

“I don’t need the money, I was also practicing my Fishing Proficiency. If you don’t want it, I’ll just treat them as trash and toss them into the shop.” Ye Ci said cooly.

“T-then, I shall humbly accept your offer.” Carnivore was slightly moved, this was his first time receiving another person’s care ever since he started playing. It also made him realize that there was still warmth in this cruel world of the game filled with cold hearted people.

Ye Ci immediately initiated the trade, passing over more than a hundred clams in her inventory over to Carnivore before faking an ignorant expression and asking. “Are you a Chef who is in need of clams to level up your skill proficiency?”

“No, I am a Jeweler.” Carnivore shook his head, his voice wasn’t loud but it was filled with determination. It seems that he held a fondness towards his profession.

“That is a profession that one rarely hears of.”

“Y-yes.” Under Ye Ci’s gaze, Carnivore suddenly became extremely nervous. He looked down at his dishevelled appearance and wished for a pit to appear so that he can jump inside.