Chapter 11 He's Red

Nie Yan glanced at his status bar and was dismayed to find that he was a Red Name. Thinking back, it was true that he had attacked first. The situation had been too urgent, and he hadn't considered it thoroughly. In that situation, he had to attack Ye Ying first, or he would have been the one to die!

The system's Red Name rules were like that. To put it bluntly, PK was a game; it depended on whether players could kill their opponents within the rules. Being able to kill opponents without becoming a Red Name was the highest level.

In Nie Yan's situation, it was impossible to make the enemy attack first. It was even less likely that Nie Yan would let those three go. He admitted that he had been impulsive, but who could have tolerated it in that situation?

After killing three of the opponents, Nie Yan's name was glowing red.

However, being a Red Name wasn't a big deal. In his past life, Nie Yan had become a Red Name at least twenty or thirty times. If he ran into some chaotic battles, he could become a Red Name two or three times a day. In this life, with Nie Yan's current equipment, even if he was a Red Name, it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven for others to kill him. If Nie Yan wanted to run, no one could catch him! So, he wasn't worried at all.

With Nie Yan's current Respect value in Calore City, it wasn't enough for him to return to Calore City as a Red Name. If the guards saw him, they would strike him with a blade.

What should he do now? His backpack was full, and he couldn't return to the city. Looking at his status, he needed to kill three thousand monsters to wash away the Red Name. If he farmed Leaders or Elites, the speed of washing away the Red Name would be faster.

Nie Yan suddenly remembered that when he was a Red Name, he could go farm Scale Frogs!

They were a type of monster that quickly removed Red Names, and when farming Scale Frogs as a Red Name, there were additional experience and drop rate bonuses. Sometimes, if you were lucky, there would be a special gift: the Maniac Badge!

Being a Red Name might actually be a blessing in disguise.

From this PK, Nie Yan fully realized that although he had obtained two Chapters of Order and a fragment of Sogot's Shadow, and had great potential for future development—after all, every five levels he would have four more attribute points than ordinary players—because he had spent too much time collecting these things, his equipment wasn't good enough. He needed to raise his level and equipment as soon as possible.

Nie Yan relaxed and looked at the stats of the Level 10 staff that Ju Zi had dropped.

Staff of Dark Wind (Gold): Required Level 10.

Stats: Attack 62-68, with 30 points of burst damage, 30% enhanced damage against beast-type monsters.

Restriction: Only usable by Lawful Good Arcane Mages of the Light Faction.

So that guy was using the Staff of Dark Wind. No wonder his attack was so strong; it was useless even with Nie Yan's high defense. This staff could be used by Tang Yao, who could use it perfectly. After equipping it, they could do quests together. However, since Sacrifice Strike had just been used, it was hard to say. He had to find some better skills for Tang Yao.

Looking at the other two pieces of equipment, the one dropped by Ye Ying was the Blackwing Cloak, which combat thieves wore, so Nie Yan could only give up. There was also a warrior's piece of equipment.

As for the Ghoul King, it did drop a good piece of equipment for Nie Yan.

Ghoul King Legguards (Gold): Required Level 10.

Stats: Defense 29-35, Resilience +12, Movement Speed +16.

Weight: 2 lbs.

User Restriction: Thieves, usable by all factions.

Nie Yan put on the Ghoul King Legguards, and his Resilience and Movement Speed each increased a little.

"How's it going on your end?" Nie Yan sent a message to Tang Yao.

"I just leveled up to 10 and am preparing to return to Calore City. Should we do quests together?" Tang Yao asked. With the Level 3 Arcane Sprite, he was looking for stronger monsters to test its effect.

"Not for now, because I'm a Red Name," Nie Yan said with a wry smile.

Tang Yao was stunned when he heard Nie Yan's words. "Red Name? You PKed just now?"

"I killed three people from Triumph. They wanted to steal my monsters, and I took them down."

"Damn, you're awesome, taking down three people as soon as you make a move. What level were they?" Tang Yao wasn't surprised or regretful because Nie Yan was a Red Name; on the contrary, he was very excited. What was being a Red Name? Taking down three people as soon as you made a move—how cool was that!

"All Level 10."

"Holy crap, Level 10. I thought they were all low-level trash," Tang Yao exclaimed in surprise. He understood what three Level 10s meant—they were elite-level figures from the major guilds. They weren't like him, who had leveled up by farming monsters; most of them had leveled up through genuine skill.

One person had taken down three elites from the Triumph Guild with a similar level—that was awesome.

"Stop chatting, and find a way to transport my stuff back first, then bring me some consumables. I can't return to the city right now," Nie Yan said with a wry smile.

"Okay, where are you? I'll be there in a moment. Don't get killed. If you die, all your equipment will be dropped," Tang Yao's only concern was this. But after thinking about it, he was overthinking things. With Nie Yan's strength, if he didn't bother others, they would be begging for mercy. If others wanted to kill Nie Yan, they should consider themselves first.

"I'm in the Blackflame Mine. I thought of a way to farm monsters to remove the Red Name. First, go to the Starry Night Potion Shop in the main city to get some money from Bird Perch Asunder, buy all the consumables for me, and then buy some Mist Dust in Teso Village," Nie Yan said, explaining the matter about the Starry Night Potion Shop. Tang Yao was very surprised that the Starry Night Potion Shop, which was causing a stir in Calore City, was actually opened by Nie Yan, but after thinking about it, he understood. Nie Yan must have many secrets, but he would definitely keep them for Nie Yan.

"Mist Dust? What is that?" Tang Yao asked, puzzled.

"You'll know when you get there. Bring more money; the price there is five gold coins for a stack of twenty. I'll have Bird Perch Asunder give you six gold coins."

"Damn, what is so expensive that five gold coins can only buy twenty? That's terrifying," Tang Yao gasped.

"Don't ask for now; I'll explain it to you later."

"Okay, I'll hurry."

"I'll farm monsters for a while. Send me a message when you're almost ready," Nie Yan said. He could only farm ordinary ghouls here first to wash away some of the Red Name.

Under Nie Yan's instructions, Tang Yao ran to several NPC stores that sold consumables as quickly as possible, including the Mist Dust that cost five gold coins for a stack in Teso Village. Five gold coins were gone in the blink of an eye, making Tang Yao's heart ache. Five gold coins, if exchanged for Intermediate Instant Recovery Potions, would be enough for him to use for three months; if exchanged for equipment, it could get him a set of gold equipment. But in Nie Yan's hands, it had turned into twenty units of Mist Dust, whatever that was. What a waste!

"I'm here. Where are you?" Tang Yao asked.

"Coordinates 23838, 23828," Nie Yan sent Tang Yao the coordinates.

"It's nearby; I'll be there in a moment."

After a while, Tang Yao ran over, panting. The Arcane Sprite was closely following him.

"I'm exhausted." Tang Yao was shocked when he saw Nie Yan's Red Name. "How can you be so red?"

"You'll be just as red if you kill three people," Nie Yan said with a wry smile.

"You're fierce," Tang Yao said, laughing.

"Okay, stop gloating here, and help me bring all the stuff back. I'll give you permission. Put it in my personal storage first," Nie Yan said.

"Ah, I have to run one more time?" Tang Yao said in distress.

"My backpack is full. You can't expect me to throw everything away, can you? There seems to be a gold-grade piece of equipment in there that you can use."

"Gold-grade equipment? Where?" Tang Yao's eyes lit up with a green glow when he heard about the gold equipment.

"Here." Nie Yan tossed the Staff of Dark Wind to Tang Yao.

"Awesome, so cool. You should have said earlier that there was a gold-grade staff." Tang Yao was delighted when he saw the stats of the Staff of Dark Wind. Without saying a word, he equipped it. "I'm at your service. I guarantee that all the equipment will be delivered to your personal storage within three minutes, and then I'll be back here within twenty minutes."

"Hurry up," Nie Yan said, laughing and cursing, and handed everything over to Tang Yao.

Tang Yao used a Return Scroll to help Nie Yan send the items back, and then returned.

"Where are we going next?"

"Let's go farm Scale Frogs together. I'll party you," Nie Yan sent Tang Yao a party invitation.

System: Player Tang Yao has joined your party.

After partied up with Tang Yao, Nie Yan led Tang Yao to the Scale Frog spawn area.

Leaving the Blackflame Mine and heading south, they entered a deep jungle. The trees here grew lushly, and occasionally some Ox monsters passed through the forest.

"Pay attention to concealment, and be careful to avoid monsters. Don't disturb them!" Nie Yan reminded Tang Yao.

"Where are we going? Why do I feel like this place is very dangerous?"

"This is the Level 30 Wild Ox monster area, so be careful. However, these Wild Oxes are relatively docile. As long as you don't get within five yards of them, they won't pay attention to you."

"Level 30 monster area." Tang Yao's eyes almost popped out. Coming to the Level 30 monster area at this time was like courting death. But after thinking about it, he didn't say anything. Nie Yan had taken him to the Level 25 monster area of Hems before. Since the Level 25 monster area was accessible, the Level 30 monster area couldn't be much different.

Passing through layers of dense jungle, occasionally one or two Wild Ox monsters passed through. They had sharp horns and were covered in black scales, very strong and tall, looking very fierce.

All of this made Tang Yao fearful. He wasn't like Nie Yan. Nie Yan was a thief, and even if he encountered danger, he still had a good chance of running away, but he was a mage, cloth-wearing and short-legged, running slowly. If he was targeted by a high-level monster, it would be dangerous.

Passing through a large area of Wild Ox monsters, Nie Yan finally reached the Scale Frog spawn point.

Scale Frogs were a Level 25 monster, covered in hard scales. They were slow-moving, but their attacks and poisons were very powerful. In his past life, at least Level 30 players had to come in groups to dare to come here.