Chapter 182: Stop Using Me as a Shield!
MoonPetal immediately cast.
"Frost Prison!"
Ice formed around Kareth’s legs.
The boss shattered it instantly.
Shen Tian fired.
Power Shot!
BOOM!
The arrow struck the helmet.
Critical Hit!
Kareth turned.
MoonPetal shouted.
"Shen!"
"I know!"
The knight charged.
Shen Tian waited.
Thirty meters.
Twenty.
Ten.
Five.
MoonPetal’s heartbeat accelerated.
"Shen Tian!"
At the final second...
Quick Step!
Shen Tian disappeared sideways.
The sword missed.
Jiang Feng arrived.
Wandering Blade!
CLANG!
His sword struck Kareth’s exposed back.
MoonPetal followed.
Lightning Spear!
LittleMaple threw her dagger.
It bounced off the boss’s helmet.
"..."
Everyone paused.
LittleMaple lowered her hand.
"I helped."
Jiang Feng nearly laughed during combat.
Kareth roared.
The battle continued.
78%.
64%.
51%.
At fifty percent...
Everything changed.
Kareth slammed his sword into the forge.
Molten metal erupted.
The entire battlefield divided into small safe zones.
MoonPetal became separated.
"Shen!"
Shen Tian looked.
Kareth turned toward her.
Jiang Feng was trapped behind a stream of molten metal.
Too far.
Shen Tian wasn’t.
He moved.
MoonPetal saw the boss raising its sword.
Her teleport remained on cooldown.
She couldn’t escape.
Then...
Something wrapped around her waist.
Her eyes widened.
Shen Tian.
He grabbed her.
Quick Step activated.
The world blurred.
They landed on another platform.
Kareth’s sword struck where she’d been standing.
MoonPetal remained pressed against Shen Tian.
For several seconds...
She forgot they were fighting.
His arm remained around her waist.
Her hands had instinctively grabbed his chest.
Their faces were close.
Very close.
Shen Tian looked down.
"You okay?"
MoonPetal stared.
"..."
"Moon?"
Her brain restarted.
"Y-Yeah."
"You sure?"
"Yes!"
She immediately released him.
Her virtual face became bright red.
Shen Tian smiled.
"Good."
Then he turned and fired.
MoonPetal remained frozen.
Jiang Feng saw everything.
LittleMaple saw everything.
LittleMaple whispered,
"Oh."
Jiang Feng immediately responded.
"Don’t."
"She definitely..."
"Maple."
"But..."
"Focus."
LittleMaple smiled.
"Captain knows."
Jiang Feng sighed.
"Everyone knows."
MoonPetal heard them.
"SHUT UP!"
Kareth swung at her.
She screamed.
"NOT YOU!"
Jiang Feng burst out laughing.
Eventually...
Kareth fell.
[Hidden Boss Defeated!]
[Undersized Party Bonus: +150% Experience]
[First Clear!]
Then...
The reward appeared.
[Forge Master’s Seal]
Jiang Feng picked it up.
A hidden door opened behind the throne.
Golden light shone from within.
Xu Ning appeared.
[There.]
Jiang Feng stepped forward.
Then...
Shen Tian suddenly noticed another passage.
Barely visible.
A Ranger perception marker appeared.
[Hidden Mechanism Detected]
Xu Ning smiled.
[Host.]
Don’t tell me.
[There’s another route.]
Shen Tian pressed the mechanism.
A section of the wall opened.
Jiang Feng stopped.
"...What?"
Shen Tian smiled.
"Found something."
MoonPetal walked closer.
"Of course you did."
They entered.
The hidden passage descended.
At the bottom...
Two treasure pedestals waited.
The first held the Guild Foundation Fragment.
The second...
A bow.
Xu Ning immediately displayed the original Fate.
[Originally, Jiang Feng discovers both.]
[He cannot use the bow, so he sells it.]
[The money funds his first guild headquarters.]
Shen Tian looked at the weapon.
[Eclipse Longbow]
Epic Grade
His eyes lit up.
Jiang Feng looked at him.
Then at the bow.
Then back.
"You want it."
Shen Tian didn’t bother pretending.
"Yes."
Jiang Feng laughed.
"Take it."
Xu Ning froze.
Shen Tian blinked.
"Seriously?"
"You’re the Ranger."
Jiang Feng picked up the guild fragment.
"This is what I came for."
Shen Tian took the bow.
Golden Fate immediately shifted.
[Ding!]
Major Opportunity transferred voluntarily.
Original Fate Asset acquired by Host.
Fate stolen: 3,500
Jiang Feng Current Fate Value: 176,000
Shen Tian stared.
Xu Ning stared.
Then she smiled.
[Host.]
What?
[You stole his Fate by being his friend.]
Shen Tian looked toward Jiang Feng.
The man was happily showing LittleMaple the fragment.
"..."
That’s disturbingly efficient.
[Extremely.]
Shen Tian equipped the bow.
Then...
A second notification appeared.
[Hidden First-Clear Condition Achieved]
Four-player clear of Ancient Mine of Kareth
Reward: Guild Reputation Token
Jiang Feng’s eyes widened.
Xu Ning’s expression changed.
[Host.]
Shen Tian looked.
The item dropped directly into his inventory.
Because...
He had dealt the highest damage.
Jiang Feng stared.
Then laughed.
"You’ve got to be kidding."
Shen Tian inspected it.
Guild Reputation Token
Can be consumed to instantly increase a newly formed guild’s regional reputation.
Xu Ning displayed another panel.
Destined Asset: Windfall Guild Reputation Boost
Fate Value: 3,000
Shen Tian smiled.
Jiang Feng narrowed his eyes.
"You aren’t giving me that one."
"No."
"I knew it."
"Making my own guild eventually."
Jiang Feng laughed.
"Fair."
[Ding!]
Destined Asset stolen.
Fate stolen: 3,000
Jiang Feng Fate Value: 173,000
In a single dungeon...
Another 6,500 Fate disappeared.
Yet Jiang Feng didn’t feel robbed.
He’d gotten exactly what he’d entered for.
His fourth fragment.
Shen Tian smiled.
This...
Was much cleaner.
Later...
The four sat outside Silverbrook.
MoonPetal remained unusually quiet.
Shen Tian noticed.
"You okay?"
She looked over.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that today?"
"Because you’re quiet."
"Maybe I like being quiet."
LittleMaple immediately responded.
"No you don’t."
MoonPetal glared.
LittleMaple hid behind Jiang Feng.
Jiang Feng sighed.
"Stop using me as a shield."
"Captain duty."
"That’s not a captain’s duty."
"It is now."
Shen Tian laughed.
MoonPetal looked toward him.
And...
There it was again.
That stupid feeling.
Her heart accelerated.
She hated how easy it had become.
A smile.
A laugh.
Him saying her name.
Him grabbing her during the boss fight.
She knew it was virtual.
She knew their avatars weren’t their actual bodies.
But Eternal Realm simulated touch frighteningly well.
She could still remember his arm around her waist.
MoonPetal looked away.
Then...
She made a decision.
"Shen."
"Hm?"
"Can we talk privately?"
Jiang Feng immediately stood.
"Come on, Maple."
LittleMaple blinked.
"But..."
"Now."
"But I want to..."
Jiang Feng grabbed her shoulders and guided her away.
"Privacy."
LittleMaple looked backward.
She smiled.
MoonPetal’s face reddened.
"Stop looking!"
LittleMaple called,
"Good luck!"
"MAPLE!"
Jiang Feng dragged her away.
Shen Tian watched.
Then looked toward MoonPetal.
"So..."
"What happened?"
MoonPetal suddenly became nervous.
Which annoyed her.
She didn’t normally get nervous.
"It’s nothing bad."
"Okay."
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(Author’s Note: IMPORTANT!)
SEND POWESTONES!!!
ALL SUPER GIFTS (Magic Castle, Space Ship, Golden Gachapon) = MORE ChapterS!