Chapter 16: Hungry

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

The scene outside the Foggy Grasslands was spectacular. A player was standing at the village entrance, panting, his armor stained red while countless dead bodies were lying quietly around him. There were many players around these bodies, and they clutched their weapons nervously as they considered whether they should attack this already-exhausted youth…

There were many players clumped near the entrance’s main gate. Some were there to watch the show, some were there for a sneak attack, but not a single one felt comfortable witnessing something so bloody.

But there was one person who was an exception, and that was Blue Snow.

Even though Blue Snow was still angry about what had happened before, she was the kind of person who would still worry about Blue Maple because she believed that Blue Maple was the victim, even if Blue Maple chose to accept this quest…

She felt especially anxious as she watched Blue Maple standing amid a pile of corpses, bloodied and exhausted, and clenched her fists tightly. She was obviously very concerned.

Blue Maple was the main character in this fiasco, but he just stood there like everything around him had nothing to do with him. Even though his body was fatigued, his plain and cold eyes were still intimidating as he stared at the people around him.

Blue maple knew how many people he had killed even without the system’s notice. He had killed 82! Blue Maple had also discerned how maximum number who could attack at one time that the old man had set, which was 9, but Blue Maple didn’t care if that would change or if more players came online. He had only one question: I’m tiring a lot quicker than when I was killing the Barbaric Bull King. It has only been about ten minutes, probably even less, because the first corpse hasn’t disappeared.

Blue Maple was just wearing himself down at the moment. He thought he could regain some of his strength, but he realized that that wasn’t possible because the old man wouldn’t make his life so easy.

Suddenly, a voice burst across the sky. “Heh heh heh, you’re tired, aren’t you, little rascal? It’s your fault that you haven’t eaten anything from the beginning until now! Hmph! You have brought this upon yourself.” The old man’s voice mocked him with a tinge of schadenfreude. This statement undoubtedly reminded many players, and the eyes of the players who were considering whether to enter the fray began to sparkle.

Damn this game…, Blue Maple thought to himself. He suddenly understood why his fatigue had arrived so much more quickly after he heard the old man’s words. He had joined the game in the late morning, but the sun was going down at the moment. He had been fighting the entire time, yet he hadn’t eaten anything, so he had to be fatigued in reality. This game allowed players to go about their daily activities, such as going to the toilet, so how could they overlook the negative effects of hunger? Blue Maple would probably have thought about that if he had cared more about this game.

The game considered every player’s game statistics, but it didn’t care about your physical body’s circumstances in reality. Blue Maple wouldn’t feel hungry from just that little bit of fighting with his physique in reality. However, the game relied on data and statistics. The system allocated everyone similar physiques, and if the system said you were hungry, then you were hungry. A person who was hungry would feel fatigued more quickly.

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“Heh heh, so he’s just a stupid rookie. I really don’t know how he’s managed to obtain his level. Physical fatigue and overexertion in the early stages from not eating properly severely affects training. The hotels and restaurants are too expensive, but some of the small snacks by the side of the bed can still replenish it,” a player watching the show by the village entrance spoke up.

“He is just that strong. He can still fight even though he’s exhausted. Can you do that?” another player retorted mockingly.

“Uh…”

You little gangster! You’re so stupid! You haven’t even eaten anything. He looks like he’s working on a Hidden Class Quest, and he’s definitely not doing this casually. He’s such an idiot! And HE called ME stupid! Hmph!, Blue snow thought to herself, but she didn’t say anything out loud.

“Hey. His overall attributes must have declined. Why don’t we get him now? We won’t have an easy fight once he recovers his strength,” a small group spoke to each other through their party chat.

“Yes, this is a rare opportunity. He has almost completed his quest anyway, so we won’t have another chance if we keep waiting. Furthermore, there is a limit to the number of players who can go up. We may miss our chance if other parties decide to go before we do.”

“Indeed. There aren’t many players outside the village, but there are still many people inside the entrance; who knows what they’re thinking about? Everybody here should have received the same quest, whether they were here early or late. So, we have to prepare.”

Naturally, his last sentence overlooked Blue Snow, because she was the only one who didn’t receive the quest. She didn’t know what was going on.

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Blue Maple stood his ground quietly as he watched a group of people approach him, and he waited for them to attack first.

“Together!” somebody shouted as a party of seven charged forward. Two players, who might possibly be from the same party, charged over from the village entrance at the same time.

Nine people were assaulting him, and he still had to stand his ground, and couldn’t move too far away from the dagger. A similar situation had occurred before this, but Blue Maple’s physical condition was subpar at the moment. Furthermore, those who had the patience to wait until the end had to have some standards!

“Tch.” Blue Maple directly impaled somebody’s torso, dealing 276 damage, which instantly killed the player. He spun around and retreated as he placed his blade horizontally, and his blade spun with his body so that the players who were charging forward had to defend themselves, or they would die otherwise. This was an attack speed which was almost cheating, but Blue Maple had no choice because he was backed into a corner. Fortunately, the game was half-based in reality, so the system had to allow such a form of attack.

Blue Maple’s rapidly spinning body easily overpowered two other players. He had killed a player with a similar attack in the beginning, so the players who came later were prepared. They would place their weapons in front of their bodies to defend themselves. Even though they would still be injured from the shock and impact, at least they wouldn’t be murdered right away.

Blue Maple added in a kick at the end to deal with yet another one, and could only temporarily evade the others’ attacks afterward. Blue Maple did think about whether he could repel more players with his fists and legs, but he realized that even using his other body parts had a limited attack speed. He was almost struck when he was fighting because of that.

There were five left. Blue Maple sidestepped, bent his back, and parried… he unleashed a combination of moves as he struggled to evade their attacks. He could have dodged their attacks easily if he didn’t have to be less than three feet away from the dagger.

Blue Maple started retaliating after dodging those attacks. He targeted and slew a player who he felt was the greatest threat to him. He didn’t attack that player in the beginning because that player seemed to deliberately slow himself down during the initial charge, and there was no way that Blue Maple could reach him.

That player’s previous attack was the craftiest, because he targeted the end of Blue Maple’s attempt to evade, so he had to parry this attack, as he couldn’t dodge it.

Blue Maple hacked down at that player with his sword as he thought to himself, Is there finally someone who’s relatively powerful? I wonder if the old man called him here.

Blue Maple’s angle of attack was also very tricky, and that player couldn’t dodge the attack, so he had no choice but to use his sword to parry.

With a clang, that player was sent tumbling backward. Even though Blue Maple wanted to go forward to end his life, he couldn’t step away from the dagger, so there was nothing he could do but give up pursuing. He also couldn’t ignore the other remaining players. Those who were kicked away and those who were sent tumbling back hadn’t returned, and leaving four players beside him. These four players charged at Blue Maple as he sent the previous player tumbling away.

Blue Maple used the same move in the beginning to deal with such an idiotic move. Furthermore, these four players seemed very cooperative.

Blue Maple held his sword horizontally as he began to spin around…

-278, -282, and -267! Blue Maple killed three of them in one go, and elegantly evaded the last player’s charge.

“Great job, you gangster! Kill these evil people!” Even though Blue Snow didn’t feel comfortable watching such a bloody scene, she still managed to shout out excitedly.

“Idiot,” Blue Maple plainly muttered at the player who was charging at him.

Indeed, those four players did lose their minds. They wanted to prevent Blue Maple from dodging attacks, so they charged together in one row, and didn’t even use their weapons to defend themselves. He ended up killing three of them with one slash.

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Blue Maple quietly stood there as he waited for more players to attack him. Four other players had gathered at this point, probably belonging to another team. However, they all seemed very nervous. That player who posed a threat to Blue Maple had retreated intelligently, because he knew that he would just die if he attacked again. He was by himself and not with his team, so he didn’t risk his life with an attack.

The remaining four players probably signed some contract to complete this quest to the best of their ability, even if that would cost them their lives. Otherwise, nobody would risk their lives for the others’ benefit when they were all strangers to each other.

Blue Maple quickly dealt with the remaining four players without any further incident.

He was starting to feel a lot more tired than before. He was ninety percent through with his quest!

The old man’s annoying voice appeared at this moment. “Tsk tsk. Not bad, you little rascal. You’re still so energetic even though you’re hungry. If I had known that, I would have arranged for more players.”

“You’re such a bad old man! You knew that he was hungry, yet you deliberately gave him an impossible task. Bad old man! Bad old man!” Blue Snow started to speak up for what she thought was right.

“Uh… I’m not a bad old man. Let me repeat that again.”

“You are!”

“I’m not!”

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

“You are!”

“I… I’m not going to lower myself to your level, little girl. Hey! Rascal, you are lucky. There’s nine more,” the old man paused momentarily. “Have you seen that? What do you think about dealing with that rascal?”

“Thank you for your gift, sir.” A respectful voice could be heard in the nether, but Blue Maple didn’t move at all and remained silent even when he heard that voice, but surprise and doubt flashed across Blue Snow’s pretty eyes.

“Not bad, you are quite confident. Go, beat him up!” The old man’s voice was filled with excitement.

Just as the old man finished talking, a sphere of white light flashed by some open space not far away as nine silhouettes appeared.

There was this handsome man among them with fair skin and good features. He had a faint smile on his face, and his appearance made even girls jealous. He was confident that his looks could mesmerize all the girls in the world. At this moment, he wasn’t even looking at Blue Maple, who was the target of his quest. Instead, he was looking at Blue Snow, who was standing at the village’s entrance. It almost seemed like Blue Maple didn’t deserve his attention at all. His behaviour and what he had just said showed that he believed that claiming his prize was just a walk in the park.

“Little Snow, I didn’t think we’d meet again so quickly. Seems like we are quite fated,” the man spoke respectfully and courteously to Blue Snow, but every discerning individual could tell that this man’s eyes radiated evil intent.

“Hmph, nobody is fated with you, and you are not allowed to call me Little Snow! I don’t want to see you at all!” Blue Snow was infuriated the moment she saw this man, and felt even angrier when she heard his words. If Blue Snow’s reaction was surprise and doubt when she heard this man’s voice before this, then her attitude had changed to contempt now!

“How can you say that? I’m still your admirer, after all, and I’m older than you by a few years. Calling you Little Snow shouldn’t be a problem, should it?” The man continued speaking with that tinge of evil in his voice. His pale face almost seemed a little demonic at this moment.

“Bah! You’re a disgusting freak. You, gangster, help me beat that freak up!” Blue Snow exclaimed furiously. Everyone’s eyes returned to Blue Maple when she mentioned him, while that man turned his dark gaze towards Blue Maple after being called a freak.

Everyone was silent, and “tch, tch, tch” was the only sound that could be heard. It came from Blue Maple.

Blue Maple didn’t care about anyone else, and was just minding his own business. He was squatting down, and dragging a corpse with his hands as he threw the body over the dagger before he started muttering under his breath, “It has actually disappeared. So troublesome…”

Blue Maple seemed to feel that everything around him had gone silent in the end, and he suddenly surveyed his surroundings like he had just woken up. He shocked everyone by asking, “Are you done talking?”

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