The Task

Xiao Yu expanded his search range by more than 10 meters after finding that the nearby woodland had the marks of being disturbed. As he moved further ahead, he saw a wooden fence extending into the distance. When he looked above the fence, he could see white roofs of densely situated within the fence.

"This should be the gnoll's camp." Xiao Yu walked along the fence, looking for the entrance to the camp.

The gnoll's camp occupied several hundred square meters. He walked more than 10 meters and found the entrance to the camp. The entrance was barely wide enough for five people to pass through shoulder to shoulder, with one sentry guarding on each side of the entrance. After looking into the camp, Xiao Yu found that there were many gnolls moving around inside. The closest gnoll was merely seven or eight meters away from the sentries. As such, if he alerted the sentries, he might invite all the gnolls to attack him.

By now, Xiao Yu had realized why An Yu was willing to spend 1000 yuan to hire him for the task. He had already found out the strength of Xin Huo, the thief, who was the weakest in An Yu's team. Hence, there was no way Xin Huo could accomplish this task. If they hired a team to finish off all the gnolls in the camp, that would be impractical and more costly, which was why An Yu thought of him.

"I found the place," said Xiao Yu as he adjusted his observation perspective of camp.

"We'll be there soon," replied An Yu using the voice system.

"One… two… three…" Xiao Yu counted the number of gnolls through the only crack at the entrance. "There seem to be at least 20 gnolls."

Xin Huo was the first one to arrive next to Xiao Yu and hid in the grass.

"Where is the loot box?" Xiao Yu asked Xin Huo while keeping an eye on the situation in the camp.

"In a tent in the southeastern corner. I guess it's about 60 meters from here," replied Xin Huo. After witnessing Xiao Yu's capability, Xin Huo had full confidence in him. If Xiao Yu couldn't do it, then nobody would be able to complete the task.

"Any guards by the loot box?" inquired Xiao Yu.

"I have no idea about this because no guard map was provided for this task," returned Xin Huo. For some reason, Xin Huo, who was usually shy, behaved prudently when Xiao Yu was present, and he answered Xiao Yu's question earnestly.

"What is in the loot box?" asked Xiao Yu. He didn't inquire about how Xin Huo got the task or the content and rewards of the task. All he needed to do was to complete his job, and his job would be over once he obtained the item for Xin Huo. He had no intention of asking about other information regarding his employer.

"It's a task scroll, about three inches long with a golden cover," answered Xin Huo while gesturing with his hands. He then added after he thought of something, "More importantly, this is a special loot box. It will take you five seconds to open the box. During that time, if you are attacked, the action of opening the box will be interrupted."

Xiao Yu nodded to indicate he understood.

A few minutes later, An Yu and the others had finally arrived. They hid in the grass while looking in the direction of the gnoll's camp.

"This camp is very big, and there are many places to hide. If you can find a place to hide, you will have enough time to wait for the cool-down of the stealth-travel to finish," An Yu said to Xiao Yu while observing the gnoll's camp.

"Tell me your plan," said Xiao Yu. He believed that An Yu must have had a plan in his head.

"My plan is to draw the gnolls by the entrance away. Then you take the opportunity to sneak inside the gnoll's camp. Once inside, you have to do whatever you can based on your own intuitions. You have to be careful because there are many traps in the camp. After you arrive at the destination and obtain the item, the gnolls in the camp will have a riot. By that time, you might encounter some troubles. Send us a message after you obtain the item, and we'll launch some attacks over here to draw the attention of the gnolls. You have to escape from the other entrance of the camp, which is located in the southwest portion of the camp. There are probably 50 meters of distance from the tent to the entrance," said An Yu.

"Fine. Let's proceed according to your plan," said Xiao Yu. Speaking of escaping, he was pretty good at it. In addition to stealth-travel, he also knew the hiding and escaping skills. It should be easy for him to escape from the gnoll's camp, but the troublesome part was sneaking into the tent and opening the loot box.

"I thought of hiring a team to clean out the gnoll's camp, but I gave up on the idea," said An Yu while looking at the edge of the wooden fence.

"Why?" asked Xiao Yu, feeling curious. If An Yu spent money to hire a team to do the job, it shouldn't be very difficult because there were only about 20 gnolls in the camp. He wondered why An Yu had given up on the idea.

"One reason is that there are too many traps in the gnoll's camp, so it's too dangerous in there. Secondly, the gnolls are very clever. When they are attacked, they won't go more than 10 meters outside their camp, and they will run back to the camp if they find they are being overpowered by their enemies. Thirdly, they have many crossbows. Look over there," said An Yu while pointing to a tower by the fence in the distance. "That is a sentry tower. I've counted, and there are seven of them in total in the camp. One gnoll is stationed at each tower, and they are equipped with a powerful crossbow, which is very formidable with long-range capabilities. The sentries on the tower can look down at the entire camp. I figured I would need a large team of at least 200 level-10 players to complete the task if I wanted to overwhelm the camp through force."

This seemingly quiet gnoll's camp turned out to have so many traps and obstacles. It turned out that An Yu had better observational skills than Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu reminded himself that he should learn from An Yu. The next time he encountered a similar situation, he shouldn't take the task too lightly. He tried his best to remember what he experienced that day.

"You must be careful about the crossbows once you're inside the camp. Try your hardest to avoid being discovered by the sentries on the towers. If you are struck by an arrow from the crossbow, you will be killed at once," said An Yu.

If what An Yu said was true, it was indeed dangerous inside the camp. He would be finished if he made a slight mistake. Turns out, the reward of 1000 yuan wasn't so easy to earn. But he had to solve the problem for his employer since he had taken their money. Xiao Yu was a thief who abided strictly by the ethics of his profession.

To become a professional player, this would be the first step, so Xiao Yu had no way to back out of it.

"Besides, there must be a monster leader in such a large camp. You have to be careful. If you encounter the leader, don't fight him. If you can't complete the task, flee as quickly as you can. Don't sacrifice yourself. Let us know when you encounter troubles during your escape. We'll back you up outside the camp," instructed An Yu.

Xiao Yu could tell what An Yu said was sincere. He let out a faint smile, saying nothing.

"Let's start," declared Xiao Yu after listening to An Yu. Then he headed to the gnoll's camp.

Looking at Xiao Yu's back, An Yu sighed slightly. He wanted to be a friend to Xiao Yu, but Xiao Yu seemed to repel any friendly intentions judging from the ever-present, undisturbed expression on his face.

After waving his hand, An Yu said, "Let's get ready. Xin Huo and Fan Ye, follow me. Be prepared to protect Xiao Yu."