Chapter 56: Contrast

Both Shadow Sadwind and Wastrel were unconsciously developing an inward awe towards Nie Fan. Since Blade of Tyranny was a world where might makes right, top players would always be respected by everyone else.

And now, Nie Fan had made a sufficient display of his ability to gain their full confidence. They no longer hold any objections as he led them on the path of clearing Black Nymphs.

“Have you learned Frozen Ring?” Nie Fan turned to ask Shadow Sadwind.

“I did.” He nodded.

“Join up with Wastrel to lure monsters then. Leave the damage to me.” Nie Fan said, since having Frozen Ring would make things much easier.

Wastrel had baited over a dozen Black Nymphs at once, luring them to a clearing. Shadow Sadwind ran towards them and picked a suitable position and loosed one Ice Ring—a powerful stream of frost immediately spread across every direction from him in a circle.

Bang-bang-bang! The feet of every Black Nymph caught in the frost were immediately bound in thick ice and kept fixedly where they were.

Then, Nie Fan launched skill after skill, and the Black Nymphs dropped to the ground one after another.

With Shadow Sadwind and Wastrel working together, the Black Nymphs became living targets no thanks to their extraordinary slow speed. As such, Nie Fan could cast his spells continuously, and the ground was littered with Black Nymph corpses soon enough.

Around five minutes had passed, but they had already pushed three hundred yards into the Heartlands of the Wood Nymphs’ Forest—a progress that would leave anyone speechless.

They just might take down the Nymph King in five minutes.

At some unknown point in time, Shadow Sadwind and Wastrel no longer doubted what Nie Fan told them.

Even if both of them could be considered top players, they paled in comparison to Nie Fan.

At the same time, Nie Fan had also observed Shadow Sadwind and Wastrel through their mutual exchange in the midst of monster farming. Shadow Sadwind was a person of few words, but he was also simple, honest and not the scheming-type. As for Wastrel, he had some pride despite his lazy, indifferent appearance. Still, it was true that both of them had fine attitudes and were worth connecting with.

“One Cleric’s Copper Robes.” Nie Fan traded the item to Lin Suyue after picking up the item dropped from a Black Nymph.

After resting and reorganizing for a bit, the party continued forward. Elite Black Nymph Warriors were beginning to appear amongst the usual Black Nymphs, with several appearing at once on occasion. The players who had come before must have been stopped by those Elite beasts, and eventually were forced to abandon their quests.

Shadow Sadwind and the other assumed that their progress would be much slower with the appearance of the Elite Black Nymph Warriors, but Nie Fan’s horrific devastation soon enlightened that their worries were unfounded—despite being Elites, the Black Nymph Warriors could not survive more than a few barrages of Nie Fan’s attacks.

They were also rewarded handsomely as well, since those Black Nymph Warriors had dropped a lot of fine items.

By now, the Nymph King that stood over six meters tall was visible in the distance. Despite feeling heavier pressure with the increasing numbers of monsters, everyone was feeling an irrepressible excitement.

***

Meanwhile.

Moxxi, base of Tempest Wings Studios.

“Boss Infernal, here’s a video we just got from Tajit.” A Warrior player said as he sent Infernal Lefthand a video.

“What video?” Infernal Lefthand opened it puzzledly to find a Druid casting a barrage of skills at an Elite Goblin Warrior, blowing off a chain of damage numbering around two hundred to three hundred. “Such high attack? Find out who he is!”

And why did they only get news now that there’s such a powerful Druid in Tajit Village? Could it be someone from the top of the leaderboards?

“Boss Infernal, we already know who he is.”

“And?”

“He’s from our own studio.”

“Our studio? No way!” Infernal Lefthand cried out by reflex. There’s no way he wouldn’t know if there’s such a powerful player in their studio. If they did, they would be falling over themselves to worship him!

“He’s a fringe member; his ID is Dark Night.”

“Dark Night?” Infernal Lefthand drew a blank for a moment before exclaiming in astonishment. “Him!? Impossible! Didn’t Heavenly told us that he’s new to the game? How could it be him!”

The look on Infernal Lefthand’s face was amazingly colorful then, as his brain seemed to freeze up. From what he could tell, Nie Fan was a newcomer with no background and not much experience with VR games. Therefore, he shouldn’t be able to do well, not to mention that the cumbersome daily quests the studio assigned him every day should have left him utterly miserable—and yet, Infernal Lefthand’s own underling had presented him a video claiming that it’s him.

Such immense contrast!

“Boss Infernal…” The Warrior quietly prodded after Infernal Lefthand stayed silent for a long time.

“Are you sure that’s him in the video?” Infernal Lefthand growled when he recovered.

“Yeah. We’ve checked, it’s definitely him!” The Warrior replied with a nod—the source of that information was quite reliable.

“Don’t tell Boss Heavenly about this. Get it? Even if he asked, tell him you didn’t know, and we never received this video. Do you understand?” Infernal Lefthand growled and glared at the Warrior.

The Warrior felt a chill all over his body from that cold glare. “Got it!”

Even if he didn’t understand why Infernal Lefthand would do that, he wouldn’t dare to disobey since he wouldn’t want to lose his job.

Nonetheless, Infernal Lefthand was determined to cover up the fact that Nie Fan was a great player for the time being, even if Heavenly Lefthand would know about it eventually. After all, he considered Nie Fan his love rival, and when Nie Fan wins Lin Xinyan’s affection with his position progressing by leaps and bounds, Infernal Lefthand wouldn’t stand a chance.

Furthermore, Heavenly Lefthand was one who had others work but does nothing himself despite being the major shareholder in Tempest Wings. Infernal Lefthand therefore still had a chance since he was the one who handled every daily business.

Still, Infernal Lefthand felt seriously threatened as he watched Nie Fan in the video. A player like that would make the top echelon in any studio and enjoy the best treatment. Heavenly Lefthand definitely would promote him immediately if he caught winds of the news—after all, would he continue benching him as a fringe member and wait for other studios to claim him?

That being said, Infernal Lefthand would lose his authority in Tempest Wings if he chased off Nie Fan right now and other Tempest Wings Studio members caught on. Having Nie Fan disappear was impossible since it would ruin the good image he had built in Heavenly Lefthand’s mind, although after some thinking, Infernal Lefthand decided that he could not be blamed if another studio scouted Nie Fan. Ultimately, Nie Fan was a fringe member and he probably would leave if another studio offered better conditions.

Since it was also rumored that Demon God Studios were recruiting skilled gamers far and wide with lucrative conditions, they just might be interested in Nie Fan.

Infernal Lefthand decided to try it at the very thought. He sent a mail to an old friend of his who now works at Demon Gods Studios, with the video attached to it.