Chapter 1 A Dark Day

Life always has its dark moments, and for Can Mengsi, today was very dark, extremely dark.

Back when he was cornered and bullied by Gu Fei at the resurrection point, and later when he was chased all over the streets, Can Mengsi thought he was already very unlucky. But compared to today, he was too embarrassed to even mention those petty losses.

Due to carrying PK (Player Killing) points, the level 40 Can Mengsi had already dropped to level 36. The experience needed at this level meant that losing one level now was a greater loss than all the levels he lost back then.

Due to carrying PK points, Can Mengsi's equipment had already dropped a total of five pieces. Among them, the Long Zhu Duan Tan (Long Lament, Short Sigh) was an extraordinary piece of equipment; Can Mengsi himself had never even used it, and it dropped so gloriously. The other three pieces weren't as precious, but combined, they were worth hundreds of gold coins.

Still due to carrying PK points, the darkness didn't seem to be ending there. As long as he didn't log off, Gu Fei would always know where he was and could come after him at any time. And even if he did log off, Can Mengsi thought of that thief from earlier. Had that guy been lurking around him all this time? Such perseverance and determination chilled Can Mengsi to the bone. He realized that logging off was like exposing his location even more clearly. That guy would definitely be patient enough to wait for him to log back in.

Can Mengsi recognized Jian Gui (Sword Demon).

He knew that Jian Gui was the number one expert who dominated the Wind Travels world back then, and he also knew that he was one of the victims of his PK gold farming in Parallel World. He had every reason to play Can Mengsi until he died.

However, what Can Mengsi was thinking about at this moment wasn't how to avoid disaster. He was still thinking about how to set up Gu Fei, because he had to retrieve the Long Zhu Duan Tan.

Not because of any attachment, but because of his job.

Can Mengsi was a member of a gold farming studio. His game equipment, accounts, everything was provided by the studio boss, who also paid him a regular salary. And his job was first and foremost to help the boss make money, make money, and make more money in the game. PK'ing people for their top-tier equipment? That was just one of their methods of making money.

From this perspective, the Long Zhu Duan Tan didn't actually belong to Can Mengsi. It was something that had to be handed over to the boss, for him to decide what to do with it. The more valuable the item, the more this was the case.

But this time, it was the first time Can Mengsi had ever dropped such a top-tier item. He had a moment of selfishness and wanted to make some extra money on the side, so he secretly withheld it. He didn't dare use it himself; he just wanted to find a chance to sell it for money.

The auction house? The exchange? Those places wouldn't work. When the item was put up, his name would be blatantly displayed. This kind of underhanded behavior was a major taboo in the studio. Once word got out, he would definitely be fired. The game was just a game, but right now it was Can Mengsi's livelihood, so he really couldn't afford to be careless.

Can Mengsi had of course kept the fact that he was withholding this equipment a secret from all his colleagues. The only ones who knew were two of his private partners, who weren't his colleagues. At this moment, Can Mengsi wanted to quickly retrieve the Long Zhu Duan Tan, but he couldn't rely on the studio's strength. Because their rule was that they had to report any valuable items they obtained immediately. No one knew about the existence of the Long Zhu Duan Tan. If Can Mengsi reported it now, it would be after it had already been dropped... Everyone who was in the same business would understand what kind of trickery Can Mengsi was up to.

If he had just dropped it and the other party had taken it and used it silently, Can Mengsi wouldn't have been so nervous. But the problem was, he believed the other party wouldn't do that.

His group had a notorious reputation in Cloud City. They were the kind of guys who made people's teeth itch just thinking about them. Imagine how satisfying it would be to get a top-tier piece of equipment back from this group. Just for that reason, Can Mengsi figured that this guy would find a chance to spread the word. Once the news got out, not only would he be cursed like a rat crossing the street, but he would also be eliminated from the inside due to corruption. No wonder Can Mengsi's day was so dark.

The most urgent thing was to quickly snatch back the Long Zhu Duan Tan. Retrieve the stolen goods, quickly hand them over to the organization, and then everything would be easy to explain. Right now, he couldn't even think about making extra money off the Long Zhu Duan Tan; he just wanted to keep his job. As for the reduced trust and other issues that would arise afterward, he could deal with that later!

Can Mengsi activated stealth and sprinted down the street. This time, he didn't dare to be careless at all, walking as if he were drifting. At the same time, he was sending messages to his two friends: "Don't go to the city gate..."

"You got killed again..." His friend mourned for him.

"Yeah, where are you? I'm coming to find you!" Can Mengsi needed to keep moving non-stop at this moment.

"We just passed Central Plaza, on Pike Street," his friend said.

"I'm coming. Do you have any clothes?" Can Mengsi asked.

"What, got your butt kicked naked?"

Can Mengsi burst into tears. Jian Gui had just poked his clothes away with one strike. When he resurrected at the resurrection point, he was wearing only a skin-tight undershirt and pants. It was so embarrassing. The way that undershirt and pants looked, Can Mengsi felt that running around naked in his underwear would be better.

Fortunately, he could stealth! Can Mengsi was truly an optimist. He had already fallen to this point, but he was still good at finding humor in the ordinary.

The two sides met on Pike Street, but Can Mengsi didn't reveal himself, continuing to maintain his stealth state as he said to his friend, "I'm here, right here!"

His friend naturally couldn't see him, but he heard his voice very erratically, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right.

"Can't you just stand still?" his friend wondered. Judging from the sound, Can Mengsi seemed to be circling around them.

"No, it's dangerous! Don't say anything, pretend you don't know I'm here. We'll continue talking through messages." Can Mengsi was very alert at this moment. Perhaps Jian Gui was nearby, he thought.

"You guys keep walking, I'll follow behind you," Can Mengsi said.

So the two friends started walking, and Can Mengsi asked, "Have you found the right people yet?"

"We posted a task announcement, but no one has replied yet. Let's wait, or should we go to the mercenary guild and wait there?" his friend said.

Can Mengsi needed to strike at Gu Fei, but he was suffering from a lack of manpower. Gu Fei was clearly not someone who could be ganged up on and killed by a small team of ten or so people. There was no other way but to find outsiders to help. Hiring mercenaries was naturally the simplest and most effective method.

But the problem was that Can Mengsi was hiring people to engage in PK, and a considerable number of harmonious gaming mercenary players wouldn't take on such a task. Some large mercenary groups paid even more attention to their image, publicly stating that they wouldn't take on tasks that were detrimental to the unity of the people. But everyone understood: publicly stating that meant they wouldn't take them on openly. If there were such tasks, they could discuss them privately.

Tasks involving PK players couldn't be issued through the system, of course, but where could this stump players full of wisdom?

In Cloud City, there was a "Teach Paggy Keith a Lesson" task. This task was extremely easy and completely impossible to require outside help. Those who issued this task were actually asking for help with PK. Paggy Keith, written in English, was paddy keith, abbreviated as PK! Mercenary groups who understood the hint would contact the other party if they were interested, and then they would discuss the real deal privately.

At this moment, Can Mengsi had asked his friend to post a "Teach Paggy Keith a Lesson" task, and he had clearly specified the type of players needed.

Dealing with Gu Fei was difficult, mainly because he ran too fast and could also teleport. Ranged classes couldn't kite him, melee classes were in danger of being kited by him, and he could detect the stealth of thieves. After thinking it over, Can Mengsi felt that the safest and most effective method was still this: traps.

Traps currently had a relatively high exposure coefficient, but players had already mastered the hard skills of burying their own traps. If it was just a single trap, the probability of stepping on it was still much greater than the probability of not stepping on it, but what if it was many traps?

Therefore, this time, the mercenary task that Can Mengsi issued emphasized that he needed multiple high-level players with excellent trap skills.

It would be great if there was a group of players who all played with traps and formed a mercenary group together. Perhaps they were often together and could coordinate some ingenious trap formations. Can Mengsi thought so.

Currently, the more famous coordinated formations in Cloud City were the Mages of Pouring Wine Under the Moon and the archer formation of Zongheng Sihai (Across the World). If these two teams set up an ambush, Can Mengsi felt that the threat would be very great. But the problem was that these were both large mercenary groups under large guilds, and their fees were ridiculously high. Moreover, large guilds had many experts, some of whom were Can Mengsi's clients. Although he tried his best to hide during each sneak attack, there were still guys like Jian Gui who could spot him in an instant. What if he accidentally ran into such a guy? Wouldn't that be throwing himself into the net?

So, traps were economical, safe, and practical. He just didn't know if he could recruit enough manpower.

Just as he was walking towards the mercenary guild, his friend suddenly sent a message: "Someone contacted me!"

"Oh?"

"It's a mercenary group. He said that most of the members of their group are trap masters with excellent skills!!!"

"There really is?" Can Mengsi was pleasantly surprised. He had originally only fantasized about such a group. Because the power of traps was still quite limited at the moment, each person could only throw one, and they could only trigger one at a time. It wasn't yet the time for a large-scale trap legion. He didn't know which expert had such extraordinary insight to start cultivating them so early!

"Where are they?" Can Mengsi asked.

"They're in the guild, waiting for us!" his friend said.

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Traps galore, crises abound, can you feel the suspense, students?