Liu Ye immediately created his water whip and prepared to defend himself against the incoming enemy but contrary to his thoughts, he wasn't being targeted.

[Masked Bandit - Lvl. 7]

[HP: 200/200]

[MP: 55/100]

Three masked bandits ran in his direction while chasing after a familiar figure.

[Black Rose - Lvl. 4]

[HP: 35/140]

[MP: 15/30]

Looking at Black Rose's critical condition and her pursuers' high levels, Liu Ye couldn't be happier that she stole his quest. Even he would perish if he were to be bombarded with fire missiles this early in the game.

-10

+10

-10

Black Rose clearly used a medium health potion to recover her HP but her back continued to burn with flames as the bandits fired at her nonstop. She blocked some attacks with slashes of wind while dodging the rest, but she still got hit.

Liu Ye couldn't even imagine how much pain the burning caused her and he had no plans on testing it.

He casted his whip away and sprinted in the opposite direction. The bandits would surely switch their target once they killed Black Rose. Liu Ye couldn't stay too close, or else he would be next.

Too bad, today wasn't his lucky day.

"Grind God! Help me!" Black Rose cried out as she followed after him. "We can defeat them together!"

Was Liu Ye a bad guy for not even turning around to reply? He completely ignored her while randomly changing directions to lose her. She asked for it by messing with him earlier.

"Huh?"

Liu Ye was sure he could outrun her but the sounds of footsteps behind him were growing louder. When he was midair after jumping past a wall of bushes, he looked over his shoulder, and to his surprise, Black Rose was right behind him.

What made it worse, the Masked Bandits were tailing closely behind them.

"So you chose death?! Die then!" a bandit shouted angrily, prompting Liu Ye to swiftly jump to the side.

Swoosh!

Massive waves of heat flew above his head as that bandit spewed flames from his mouth. Black Rose copied Liu Ye's move by rolling to the other side so the cloud of flames completely missed them both.

To his relief, the three bandits were focused on Black Rose and were ignoring him as if he didn't exist to them. Liu Ye expected Black Rose to continue running away after her failed attempt yet she wasn't moving at all. Instead, she tapped on her inner forearm and pulled out a red crystal from her inventory.

"Is this what you want?!" Black Rose questioned loudly as she waved the crystal around. "One step closer and I will destroy it!"

She seemed confident with her blackmail at first, but the three Masked Bandits were not fazed at all and her show of bravado crumbled.

"You don't even have the strength required to crack it, not to mention destroy it. Our flames can't affect it either, so you have no leverage on us," the leading bandit replied while his palm burst with fire. "Any last words?"

"Yes!" Black Rose nodded and exchanged glances with Liu Ye. "Catch!"

She threw the red crystal to him like a baseball, sending it flying right past the bandits' noses. Liu Ye's hand moved on instinct, blocking the object from hitting his face but he regretted it right after.

[Ding! You accepted a Unique Quest: Stolen Treasure]

Liu Ye couldn't do anything as the crystal appeared in his inventory and the quest forced itself on him, displaying the details on a transparent screen.

[Stolen Treasure]

[You carry a stolen treasure of the Masked Bandits. Fight back, or run for your life!]

[Difficulty: A]

[Quest Clear Conditions: Kill all the Masked Bandits or reach the safety of the Village.]

[Clear Reward: Unknown]

[Quest Failure: -2 Levels]

With just a quick glance, Liu Ye finally understood why the bandits were completely unharmed while Black Rose was running away frantically. With her Air Element and high dexterity, Black Rose probably thought she could outrun them but she underestimated their strength.

While he was distracted, Black Rose sat down as if her limbs had lost strength and waved at him with a weak smile.

"Good luck."

[Black Rose - Lvl. 3]

Her level dropped by one but Liu Ye had no time to figure out why.

"You must be the robber's partner!" the leading bandit cried out as he punched forward, releasing a blast of flames towards him. "Die!"

Oof!

Liu Ye dodged in the last second with a roll on the ground. The fire scorched the patch of grass just inches away from his arm, turning them into ashes.

Those ashes could have been him!

"Fuck," Liu Ye cursed as he got up and lunged in the direction of the village.

No matter how brave and skilled Liu Ye was, he would not risk his life against three Level 7 firebenders. They already displayed three abilities while he only had one. The flat experience he would receive upon killing them and the levels he could lose if he failed made only one choice reasonable.

Run!

Fire missiles flew past his shoulders as he randomly changed directions and dodged them with his reflexes. Liu Ye didn't hesitate and gulped both medium health and Mana potions on the run before spawning his faithful water whip. He swung it up and down behind his back like a snake, trying to block all the missiles coming his way.

One attack finally struck him!

-20

Liu Ye silently gritted his teeth as flames splashed on his back, igniting his black armor.

[Ding! Fire Missile applied burn. You will lose 10 HP every second for the next three seconds.]

-10

+10

Liu Ye recovered as much HP as he lost but his back burned for the whole three seconds before the pain disappeared. As he had a pretty monstrous pain tolerance due to his old line of work, the burn barely affected him. What baffled him was how Black Rose didn't even flinch when she ran like a human torch.

"There is no place you can run!" one of the Masked Bandits cried out. "Surrender and we might spare you!"

Liu Ye only squinted his eyes as he continued to dodge and run. One wouldn't find the word 'surrender' in his dictionary.

[Quest Item - Stolen Treasure]

Liu Ye tried to check the red crystal in his inventory but the item was still locked, preventing him from pulling it out. Why did the system give Black Rose a way to pass the quest to someone else while he couldn't?

It was a useless question because Liu Ye would never give up easily.

Swoosh!

Another fire missile passed by his face, grazing his cheek with heat. Liu Ye had been using the trees to block the attacks but when he reached the end of the forest, he was back in the open grassland with no terrain advantage.

While thinking about a new survival strategy, he heard a laugh ahead.

Players!

Three men in brown leather armors were walking towards the Waterfall Forest with smiles on their faces. They still didn't know one of them would have his day ruined.

[Flaming King - Lvl. 2]

"Haha! See? I told you this game will be awesome! We can even create flames with our fists! If only we didn't die at the start, it would have been perfect." Flaming King was laughing while walking backwards when he realized a peculiar change in his buddies' expressions. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Watch ou—"

His friends tried to warn him but Liu Ye came in like a storm.

Liu Ye crouched and lunged towards the unfortunate player, slamming the back of Flaming King's knees with his shoulders. After catching his legs, he flipped him upside down and continued to run towards the Newbie Village with his new human backpack.

"Ah!!! What the—!" Flaming King screamed while struggling to get away but Liu Ye held him tightly.

The pitiful Flaming King didn't realize what was going on even after the first fire missiles struck him.

"Bastard! Let go of me! I'm going to die!" Flaming King cursed but Liu Ye ignored his cries. He didn't have two levels to lose from a failed quest.

"Drink health potions to survi—" Liu Ye told him, trying to buy himself more time when the legs he was holding disappeared.

Dead!

One fire missile and two ticks of burn were enough to kill him. Luckily, Liu Ye had already thought of a new idea after seeing the crowds of players roaming the grasslands.

"Everyone! Three Raid Bosses appeared! Let's kill them all together!"