A/N

I can’t remember if I said anything about [Monocles] that can see a player stat. If I did, sorry for the confusion. [Monocles] only applies to beasts and monsters.

I remembered that I stretched in earlier chapters that the only way for a player to know the other stat is by giving it willingly. Otherwise, there’s no way for players to know except Ren’s [Probe].

I hope it clears the confusion.

—-

As soon as Ren was out of the encampment, he was greeted by a lush forest, towering beasts and plants, as well as all kinds of players and races. They were all over the place and fighting each other for all kinds of reasons, from territorial disputes, items, and beasts, down to pity things like silly quarrels and funny semantics.

It was pandemonium outside, and the weaker ones were already running back into the safety of the clan, where they were protected from any form of harm.

Ren really thought that the PvP would die down a little. But now that the Guild Wars were over, he guessed that the players had nothing to do but wage pity wars against each other.

Ren even heard whispers and murmurs of his name.

“Isn’t that Ren? The one who defeated Scar?”

“Should we attack him?”

“Idiot. Don’t you know that he defeated Scar?”

“He’s alone now. Maybe we can gang up on him. He surely has tons of items for us to pillage once we kill him. You know . . . because he reach top ten”

“And imagine the fame we get if we defeat him.”

At the mention of glory and treasures, it seemed like all eyes shone with greed.

Ren released a sharp sigh. He had finished using [Probe] on some players. The secrets of a stranger may mean the difference between life and death, after all. And he didn’t know where they got the guts to challenge him with those mediocre stats.

Couldn’t blame them. Ren thought. [Monocles] only work with beasts and monsters. And without willingly giving their information, others simply wouldn’t know their stat –– unless they had [Probe] like him.

Ren had a dilemma about whether to attack them or not. There was no benefit to him at all except maybe some common item drops and equipment. The hassle wasn’t simply worth it.

Ren decided to go back inside the camp to wait for the night. At least it was much quieter there.

However, when he turned to take a step inside, his path was blocked. There were at least five players at his back and five more in his front.

Ren could either teleport near the camp entrance or log out before they got the chance to engage him. Once engaged, he couldn’t log out. And he didn’t want to waste his teleportation skill on something like this. He could only activate that thing once a day, after all.

It looked like his only option was to fight his way through. He wasn’t worried, though, but he wasn’t going to play fair either. “While I’m still in a good mood, I’m going to give you a chance to move the f*ck out of my way.”

The other players merely looked at each other, and their lips stretched in mocked laughter.

“Don’t think just because you won over Scar and Black Lion. You can be arrogant about it.”

“You just got lucky. That Guild War is idiotic and full of trash.”

“Faced with dozens of us and in full health, you won’t stand a chance.”

“There’s only one way for you to get out of here, and that’s through us.”

“Or hand over your items, and you’ll leave here without suffering from the death penalty.”

Ren knew that wasn’t going to be the case. They were after the fame as the one who defeated Scar more than anything else.

“Have it your way, then.”

Every DPS were full of vigor as they swung their weapons in Ren’s way. The Mage and support at the back readied their skill and spelled just in case. At the same time, some were eager to steal the kill and items at the side.

In comparison, the players that were merely watching the show thought that it was overkill to gang over one Player. But they enjoyed the show nevertheless. Some even recorded the whole thing.

In the heat of savagery, the DPS were eager to claim the kill while the others waited for an opportunity to KS. Their weapons were at hairs length at Ren’s throat when everything stopped.

The wind, stale. The voice, hush. The players, gone. In its place was a distorted reality. Different colors swirled in their eyes, around and around, left and right, eternal and never ceasing. Their ears were assaulted with buzzing white noises that made their head split into two. Something was clawing their minds and eating their resolve to fight. Fear so visceral made them trembled to the ground.

The players went to their knees and screamed their hearts out. It was chaos and disarray, and no one knew what was going on –– except for Ren, who watched all that happened with an astonished face.

In his eyes, all players within a hundred-meter radius from him slumped to the ground as they screamed and clutched their heads.

Ren got an inkling of what was happening. He was all too familiar with that spell that had given him and countless thousands of others the trauma of their life.

[Phantasmal Distortion]

One of Evie’s aces.

“Evie . . .” Ren didn’t have to make any effort. His eyes automatically knew where she was.

Standing hidden from a tree, not far from where Ren was Evie. Ren didn’t know what expression she was portraying, but it surely wasn’t joy when she gritted her teeth.

“Ren. Hurry. It’s still low leveled, so it would only last five seconds.”

Ren didn’t know what expression to portray at the moment, but his heart felt full all of a sudden. Until he discovered one of Lily’s cahoots creeping from behind her, aiming for her throat.

“Evie, behind you!”

The last thing Evie saw was the fast-approaching blade nearing her face and the menacing grin of a man.

“Sorry. Nothing personal. Lily just really wanted your mask.”

The edge of the blade zoomed on her throat before a back of a man swallowed her vision. Though her eyes were covered with her mask. Her sight was perfectly fine. And right now, Ren’s back was towering in front of her like a fortress.

For a split second, her vision blurred and what she saw was the back of a man with a cloak while a dark pet hovered around him.

“Evie, get behind me!”

At Ren’s voice, Evie was pulled back to reality. Before she knew it, she was behind Ren while facing dozens of players all at once. And at the side Zack was already turning into particles from Ren’s attack.

“Zack!” Josh called, but the last thing his friend uttered were curses directed at Ren.

“I told you that his attacks aren’t normal.” Ray appeared behind Josh while Kylie and Lily were both on their backs.

“Have you got it?” Lily asked.

Ray scratched his head. “Sorry, Lily. Her LCK must be so high that my [Steal] doesn’t work against her.

Lily pouted, and Kylie reassured her. “Don’t worry. We’ll have another chance when she’s occupied.”

Ren gritted his teeth, and his pupils constricted into a dot. “You brats are really starting to piss me off.”

Evie was surprised at the harshness in Ren’s voice, and the coldness he radiated intensified even more. She even backed a little.

“Nothing personal,” said Josh while he shivered under Ren’s gaze. “We just want her mask.”

“It’s only the two of them,” Kylie muttered. “Let’s wait while they’re distracted and attack again.”

Before they knew it, Ren and Evie were surrounded, and everyone was eager for the kill.

A sweat tickled at the side of Evie’s face at their predicament. But for some reason, she wasn’t the least bit worried. The man in front of her was nothing but calm . . . angry but calm.

And for some reason when she was together with her classmate Ren, she felt at ease. That everything was going to be okay. It was the same feeling she got with the Player Ren she knew.

[Player Ken failed to steal your item!]

[Player Joy failed to steal your item!]

[Player Ray failed to steal your item!]

[Player Ben failed to steal your item!]

A series of notifications rang in both Ren and Evie’s ears. Ren wasn’t worried about those since his ATP was high. He was more focused on Evie and he was glad that she was wearing the [Black Choker] he gave her that added +10 to her LCK.

Ren briefly eyed the girl behind her. At least her items were safe . . . he then narrowed her gaze at their enemies. But those lots aren’t.

“What now?” asked Evie.

Ren didn’t reply as the incoming magical and long-range attacks rained upon them.

He took a step forward and shielded Evie from harm, soaking all the damage their way while smoke and dust enveloped the area.

“R-Ren!” Evie was dumbfounded at Ren’s sudden move. Faced with all those barraged of spells, there was no way that they could survive it.

“Ha!”

“We killed him! We killed Ren!”

“No! It’s me who killed him!”

Arguments rang in all directions, but when the aftermath of the battle settled, heavy silence descended when two silhouettes danced amidst the smoke.

“I have given you a chance to retreat, but you guys just triggered my limit.”

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