Chapter 12

[OP: Revenant Troll

Title: Miniboss hunters?

Guys, I've been hearing some rumors lately that they have seen some players hunt those terrifying [Man-Eating Frogs] a.k.a. Miniboss of the outskirts. Any idea of who they are or which guild are they from?]

Views: 350.9k Likes: 120.8k Dislikes: 46.2k

[Comments:

Gazzi: I've been hearing about them too! I know a guy who said he caught a sight of them taking down that monster.

Kaihwa: Yeah I've heard about them. Some people say that they saw a man and a little girl.

Amv_125: Lmao. Do you guys have nothing better to do than spread fake news? But even if you are going to do so, at least make it believable!

It's only been a little less than four days since the game was released and it's common knowledge that those minibosses are OP af. Heck even the top players can't kill them yet and you're telling me you saw someone do so? Stop spreading lies and grind diligently like Arknight-sama~.

Charlzie: Yeah come up with something else and stop wasting other people's time. I'm playing the game and fought with those mobs and I can speak from experience that they are called minibosses of the outskirts for a reason.

Also, @Kaiwha, I think you're over hyping that man and little girl duo just because of that viral video from the training grounds.

Kaiwha: But it's true though! My friend said he really spotted them take one down!

YOYO_honey_singh: Lies! Attention seeking wh*re.

sk23: Send proof or it didn't happen.

Gazzi: @YOYO_honey_singh, stfu, we didn't say its true, we're saying that we also heard the same rumor from inside the game but I guess you wouldn't know that since you can't even afford to play the game.

Or maybe you could but you're prolly fat and insecure thats why you won't play the game. This would prolly explain why you're ignorant of the rumors in-game.

YOYO_honey_singh: What the f*ck did you say mate? @Gazzi 1v1 me in Ascended Order right now, I'll show you what's this fat and insecure you're talking about.

sk23: LOLOLOLOL someone's triggered. Got exposed?

Gazzi: Aight @YOYO_honey_singh meet me in Beginner Village, Training Ground, Channel 13, in front of that NPC who uses spear. Guys, quote this mofo and if he doesn't show up, roast his *ss.

sk23: Gotchu fam! <<<Screenshot image of the comment section>>> ]

As for the result of the fight, it remains to be seen as the comment section became filled with random and various toxic comments.

That was until a few minutes later...

[ NIhao: Guys! I finally got a pic! My ig friend sent me this! <<<Image Link>>>]

It was a captured image of a blurry tall man wearing dark fit clothes that resembled a rogue's. Next to him was a little girl with blonde hair wearing light armor that made her look much like a young valkyrie.

The two were standing in front of a large collapsed monster and the players were immediately able to identify that monster.

Seconds later, the comment section grew wild.

[ Kaihwa: UOOOHHH! I KNEW IT! I FKING KNEW IT! HOLY SH8 THEY ACTUALLY DID IT?!

Gazzi: Holy crap. Spreading these to other posts quickly.

Unable to show comments due to too many users commenting at the moment.]

At this exact moment, a beautiful woman with long black hair sat crossed legs as she read the comment section with a blank face.

Her naturally sharp eyes and ruby irises made her seem intimidating but also gave her a distinct and dangerous charm.

Her eyes reflected three monitors with various opened applications and websites plastered on the screen.

Her attention however, was focused on the caught image posted by the player Kaihwa.

After looking at the image for a while, she took a deep breath and leaned back on the soft black leather chair.

'That's clearly that narcissist [Hoarder] and the little girl who seems to be an npc...'

She wore a thoughtful look as she confirmed that the player she met was capable of this feat.

This beautiful woman was Jasmine de Bavellion, the one and only heiress to the famous Bavellion Group also known as [Discord] in the game Ascended Order.

She narrowed her eyes as she seemed in deep thought.

'He possesses large amount of money and can take down mobs of that level at this early stage of the game. He's definitely better than other national players... but the question is, who is he?'

Her hand habitually cupped her chin as she continued to ponder.

'Logically speaking, it would be hard to take down those [Man-Eating Frogs] because their average level is between 5-8. Not only that but they possess unnaturally high defense that's unbeatable with the current average strength for players.'

'And before that, I need to consider his level which is, let's say he's on par as with people affiliated with guilds.'

Jasmine opened a wide touch-screen tablet on her desk and there, appeared a statistical list of the average levels of those within guilds.

'The highest is at level 3 while the lowest are level 2 and this is the result of monopolized continuous mob hunting in the outskirts of the village which is the only other source of experience point aside from the dungeon and quests.

She compared their stats towards the stats of the lowest level of [Man-Eating Frog] and shook her head while sighing.

'It's not enough. The disparity between stats is too wide.'

'Of course, they could have additional stats to himself by buying equipment but even a complete uncommon grade set isn't enough to take on that monster which concludes to one thing....'

'He bought rare grade equipment.' Her eyes gleaned upon thinking so.

'Which also means that he is very wealthy in game... so much so that he spent it on stock equipment sold on the Beginner Village's Blacksmith.'

'His willingness to let go of 100 silver coins further supports my claim.'

Her eyes then narrowed as a thought entered her head.

'Achievements could also give attribute and skill points... He could've gained his strength from that method as well.'

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

'I need to get that man under me.'

Thinking so, she picked up her phone and dialed a number.

Seconds later, a respectful knock came from the door to her room.

"You have called for me, My Lady?"

A man with slight wrinkles on his face and greying white hair entered the room with a benign smile. His gait was straight and elegant and the demeanor he showed was one of a scholarly servant.

He wore a european-style butler suit.

Jasmine continued to survey through the game's forum and said, "Ron, What's the status of the bank card that we gave him? Do you think we can track him?"

"By "him", Mistress is speaking about the man named [Hoarder] correct?"

She scoffed sarcastically. "Who else?"

The butler named Ron nodded in understanding and answered, "Unfortunately, we have lost track of him as he wired his money to an anonymous bank account."

"So?" Jasmine gave him a questioning look, "Just trace the money then?"

She didn't understand because she was confident that even if the money was anonymously sent to another bank account, her family's capabilities were more than enough to trace the money.

"That's the issue My lady," Ron grimaced as he said, "We traced the money and found out that it was sent to a bank account in [Alcatraz World Bank] and my lady should know of its prestige."

Jasmine's brow rose in interest, "Ho... it seems that [Hoarder] is quite capable."

One should know that Alcatraz World Bank is one of the most prestigious and secure banks in the world. It was well known for being greatly trusted by influential and wealthy powerhouses.

It was mainly used by wealthy figures to conduct trades and wire money anonymously.

This only made her even more curious since the Alcatraz World Bank could only be accessed by people from the upper class.

'....So does this mean that Hoarder has a considerable background? It must have also been a wealtht family.'

If so, then from which family?

And by following that line of thought, this brings another question;

'Why did he trade precious in-game money for real life money if he's from the upper class?'

Jasmine habitually tapped the arms of her chair while resting her head on her left arm.

'This must mean that his family must be in need of money...'

She then let out a small smile.

'If that's the case, then this narrows down our searching scope.'

Just as she opened her mouth to tell Ron another order, she stopped as she thought of another possibility.

'...What if he's not from an affluent family? What if he's just a normal citizen?'

Then... we're only going to be wasting time looking at the wrong direction.

"Tsk."

Feeling vexed, she glared at Ron who was sitting behind her and said, "Bribe them."

She was talking about bribing the Alcatraz World Bank.

Ron looked surprised for a moment but before he could offer an advice, Jasmine spoke first.

"I'll take responsibility."

"Very well, My Lady." Ron the butler nodded and his steps soon retreated as he exited the room.

Thud.

Now alone in her room, Jasmine remained staring at the monitor in front of her.

The picture of a blurry man accompanied by a small blonde knight girl.

Her eyes narrowed upon his figure.

"Hoarder..."

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Meanwhile, the person in the photo was also looking at the same image in the comment section.

'As I thought... Bringing Lily with me will be too conspicious...'

Jhin sighed as he realized that even though he had been careful to the point of only hunting at the edges of the outskirts, some players still managed to catch sight of them.

He had yet to learn a scouting or detecting skill which is why he couldn't precisely avoid the other players. Jhin planned on immediately getting one after completing their current objective.

Standing in the middle of the [Beginner Village's Plaza], dozens of players could be seen standing in a dark green warping gate.

Most players should now know how difficult the dungeon was and yet why was it that they still remained and still attempted to clear the dungeon?

It's because most of these players were solo players which weren't affiliated with any of the leading guilds. Remember, the guilds monopolized all the killable mobs in the outskirts.

So how else were these players going to level up?

Ten days had also passed in the game so most of them naturally finished the available quests they could get from the Beginner Village and the experience they earned put them halfway through level 1.

Which is why they had no choice but to try and clear the dungeon because clearly, the big guilds wouldn't give them any consideration.

They had tried to ask the GM or Game Masters to resolve this but they were only met with the same reply:

"Deal with it yourselves".

The player's complaints fell on deaf ears and most wanted to quit out of frustration.

But again, this was a game that was dubbed as "The Second World". It was simply too good to pass on.

And the players, most especially the gamers, not wanting to give up such an immersive and thrilling experience, continued to play the game even if the GMs didn't care about them.

So now they're staying in front of the dungeon's entrance and trying their luck to party with everyone else and maybe clear the dungeon.

As for Jhin, he held Lily's hand as they squeezed through the sea of players before finally reaching the front.

Upon approaching the warp gate, A game notice appeared in front of him.

[Beginner Village's Dungeon Warp:

➤Goblin's Nest (Lv. 1)

➤ Locked (Lv. 15)

➤ Locked (Lv. 25)

➤ Locked (Lv. 35)

➤ .... ]

Nests are isolated wherein access is restricted except to those who hold particular items that grant entry to that particular zone. Nests are usually created by powerful creatures to control the entry of those who wish to enter their realm or simply for defensive purposes. Entering a nest unprepared is, most of the time, a swift death sentence due to the powerful creatures who reside the nest, including the nest's owner itself.

The first nest, [Goblin's Nest] doesn't require any particular entry items since it's the first dungeon mainly for beginners.

Jhin looked at the window panel in front of him and selected the [Goblin's Nest] which followed another window to appear in front of him.

[Goblin's Nest (Recommended party size: 4)

Modes:

➤ Easy

➤ Normal

➤ Hard

➤Abyss ]

Nests also have different modes in which the rewards increase along with the difficulty.

The players so far are already having trouble just trying to finish the [Easy] mode which is understandable since there's a huge level gap with the mobs Easy mode already being in level 3-5.

They do gain experience points whenever they successfully take one down. However, they also lose those points or more since they die right after.

Another thing, You cannot exit the dungeon until you killed the final boss or the owner of the nest. And if you were to log out or be disconnected, the game will assume that you have died and you will appear at the spawning circle the next time you log in.

And by dying, the same penalty applies too. Namely the disability to log in the game for three days in real life, loss of exp progression, and lastly, possible loss of equipment.

So, as of the moment, many players are now pondering and devising a plan to successfully clear the dungeon.

That was until some players near the warping portal (Dungeon Entrance) noticed a player with a different quality of equipment accompanied by a little girl wearing light armor and a spear at her back.

"Hey isn't that...."

"No way..."

"Are they about to enter the nest?"

The surroundings immediately began to murmur among themselves. After all, the man and the little girl were a unique iconic duo from the recent rumors. Many of them speculated that they were strong because they were actually hidden martial artists in real life while others were thinking that they weren't players at all but unique NPCs.

[Entering [Goblin's Nest] in 10....]

Jhin glanced at the tensed little girl beside him. He didn't know whether she was nervous because of the players whispering about them or that they were going to face a new monster.

"M-mister?" Lily nervously turns her head up to look at him while subconsciously holding the hem of his clothes.

The reason she was nervous was simple.

To the NPCs, Nest dungeons were known as the most dangerous place in the world of Ascended Order as they were a breeding ground of sorts for monsters. What makes them more dreadful is that they cannot be permanently destroy or closed.

Those nests will always be open and available.

Lily was also told that her parents died because of those nests and so, her current anxious state was understandable. Add in the fact that Jhin didn't explain anything and the little girl simply follows behind him with no questions asked.

Had Jhin known what happened to her parents beforehand, then he would have taken the time to explain.

But he didn't and right now, he thought Lily was simply bothered because of the dozens of players looking at them.

And so he placed his hand on her small shaking shoulders. With a smile, he gently said, "Don't worry kid... You're strong."

Lily's eyes quivered for a moment before she looked down and took a deep breath.

"You're right mister..."

Remembering everything she went through the past few days along with the monsters she slayed before, Lily forced a confident smile.

"Lily is strong!" She spoke with conviction.

Jhin nodded in satisfaction. "That's right."

That was when they were suddenly approached by a stranger.

"Hey, are you two looking for a par-"

He was unable to finish his sentence as both the little girl and the man disappeared.

The stranger's eyes grew wide.

"N-no way... are they attempting to clear the dungeon with only the two of them?"

The other players also saw how only two of them disappeared which meant that the man and the little girl entered the dungeon at the same time.

The stranger's murmur of disbelief cause the others to be shock as well. It didn't take long for them to spread it in the Ascended Order forums.

And one particular player looked at the news with delight.

This player's eyes narrowed and glinted dangerously.

'Finally, I found you...'

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Jhin and Lily found themselves in the entrance of large cave. The interior was dark as night which was natural considering that goblins had night vision. They are nimble and adept in small places such as the caves, tunnels, and caverns. Which would explain why they made this location as their nest.

Behind Jhin and Lily was a thick forest with the leaves of the trees completely occluding the skies so little to no sunlight was there to light up the forest.

Not only that, but the wild grasses and plants reached over three meters high. Each leaf or blade was enormous enough that the players would feel like they were ants in a forest.

After studying their surroundings, Jhin then tapped on Lily who was looking around cautiously.

"Alright Lily, as you should've known by now, our enemies this time are goblins."

The little nodded to him in response.

"I'll show you how to deal with them so stay close to me, alright?"

Lily nodded once more.

With that, the two ventured into the darkness.

They immediately heard distant echoing cries of creatures as soon as they entered the cave.

"Krieeek!!"

"krieeee!"

Without a single source of light, Lily held unto her spear nervously as it was the only thing she could rely on to protect herself. After her eyes readjusted to the darkness, She could only vaguely see her surroundings and stuck near Jhin. She would fidget at every sound that occurred near her, making Jhin laugh at her.

"Are you really that scared of the dark?" Jhin asked.

"Y-yes... is that no good?" Lily's face looked a little disheartened, thinking that  that she might have disappointed him.

Jhin shook his head, "Not at all. I think it's normal to be scared of the unknown."

The reason people were scared of the dark is because they feared that something or someone might harm them and they wouldn't be able to see or intercept it.

"If it bothers you that much, then you can use your [Fireball] skill. However, I'll only permit you to use that for now but next time, you need to get used to the darkness since the future dungeons we'll conquer will be darker than this."

Lily nodded softly before using her [Fireball].

A ball of flames in the size of a fist appeared on her palm, immediately lighting the dim surroundings.

Lily looked around curiously as the cave was wider than she thought and that there were multiple holes in the cave.

"Besides," Jhin spoke after a short while, "You wouldn't need it since the goblins' eyes glow in the dark."

"Glow in the dark?" Lily asked quizzically.

Jhin nodded. "Yeah, something like that over there."

Saying so, he pointed in front of them where a pair of sharp glowing yellow eyes gleaming in the distance.

Lily's fireball light couldn't reach all the way there so she couldn't see the monster's appearance.

But that wasn't the case for long.

"KRIEEEE!!!!"

The monster cried at them before running towards them frantically.