Chapter 6: One Tree Less

Qian Zemin was not having the best of days. The morning had started with there being no milk for breakfast or coffee. And his job was just another routine day. Then, when he logged into Glory as One Less Tree, he was called to chase a scrap picker before he could get into a dungeon. The materials that were stolen were ones that were to be used to put finishing touches on equipment for Team Samsara. And the Team wanted it badly.

Then Tea Time Taker led her team set a record. Without him!

Finally it turned out the scrap picker he was searching for was the one who had taken his place on his team, Cold Bear.

He felt like all luck had abandoned him.

And after finding out that Cold Bear was both the scrap picker and the new member that seemed to be the reason for a team of a sub Guild of Samsara to break a dungeon record, now twice, the Guild leader, Three Realms Six Paths, seemed adamant to recruit him.

Orders went from kill to corner. Cold Bear seemed to have disabled the option to receive friend requests so the Guild leader wanted them to get Cold Bear to come to the negotiation table.

Hopefully to recruit him. Guild Samsara always wanted more experts.

"Boss, can I make a suggestion?" One Less Tree asked.

"Let's Hear."

"We can both agree he is using equipment to boost his speed. If we do the same we might be able to trap him."

"Good Idea, but we don't just have that kind of equipment lying around."

"Actually we do." One of the experts of guild Samsara said. "I already have several Assassins, Battle Mages and other classes equip such stuff. They should be here in a few minutes. They are also bringing several sets for us."

"Then let's keep on him!" Three Realms Six Paths said and the pursuit continued.

When the reinforcements arrived they ran past everyone else, and began closing in on Cold Bear.

But even they could not keep up.

"Fuck, who is this guy, or what is he?" one of the player following Cold Bear asked.

When the reinforcements arrived One Tree Less was surprised that he too was handed a set of equipment that boosted his speed. Equipping it he continued charging ahead. He had never played with a character that had a boost in speed like now. It was an experience different from anything else. But even with their speed, they could not keep up with Cold Bear.

But now they had more speed and Three Realms Six Paths began coordinating with other teams on how to trap Cold Bear. They chased him into a canyon area and began blocking of access to it. It was clear Cold Bear was not familiar with the canyons.

Their net was cast. When Cold Bear reached the centre of the net, they began reeling it in.

"Finally we have him!" One Less Tree shouted.

As they closed in on him, they felt more confident and began dealing slight damage to Cold Bear to keep him from escaping. They formed a circle around Cold Bear who was still dodging their long range attacks effectively.

Seeing himself surrounded, Cold Bear charged the players nearest to him. As he charged he activated skills and began kicking up dust around him.

"What is he doing?" one of the experts asked.

"He is trying to make himself a smokescreen. Clever man." Three Realms Six Paths said as he moved forward to talk to Cold Bear.

At that moment the dust cloud had enveloped a large area and those preforming long range attacks were not sure where to attack.

As Three Realms Six Paths came close to the cloud, a glow erupted from the middle. One Less Tree recognised the skill being used.

Teleportation!

The cloud disappeared and they saw Cold Bear disappear.

"Hacker!!!!" One Less Tree and several others shouted. Strikers were a fighter type, using their fists and definitely did not have access to teleportation.

They had no idea where cold bear teleported too. Teleportation had a limited range, but if he really was a hacker then for all they knew he could teleport to the other side of Heavenly Domain.

"Give up for today." Three Realms Six Paths said. "I'll have the admins look into him"

With that One Less Tree and the others were dismissed. He returned his borrowed equipment and received a message from Tea Time Taker.

"Did you catch him?"

"No, he teleported away. I think you might just lose that record you set."

"You think he is a hacker?"

"How else do you explain a striker teleporting?"

"Extra skill on silver equipment."

"He has silver equipment?"

"Yes. He is making Brick a new shield and sword too."

"Wait you have him as a friend?"

"Yes."

This made One Less Tree feel very stupid. He could have just asked Tea Time Taker if she could put them in contact with Cold Bear sooner.

"The Guild leader wants to speak to him."

"Really, I'll tell him when I see him again. He just went offline."

"Thanks."

Seeing that he was still with the Guild leader's team he ran up to him and reported that Tea Time Taker had Cold Bear on her friend's list.

"Good." Three Realms Six Paths said. "We just received a message from the admins too, telling us he is not a hacker."

"So are we going to try pull him in." one of the experts asked.

"Definitely. The equipment development division might be glad to have him on as a talent. Otherwise our elite time will just get a whole lot stronger."

"And the rare materials?" One Less Tree asked.

"Fuck. Forgot about that." Three Realms Six Paths said. "Scrap pickers usually sell those items so we might be able to buy it back."

Just then Three Realms Six Paths got a notification of a Wild Boss spawning. He and the rest headed to engage the Wild Boss, while One Less Tree headed out to join Tea Time Taker for more dungeon runs.

As he played alongside Tea Time Taker he remembered when he joined her team the thought he had that day.

"Looks like I'll always have something interesting to do when I am with her."

When they logged in the next day, they all had received messages offering them to join the main Guild of Samsara. Everyone accepted.