"Are we setting a fashion trend here?"

Aden whispered, as he too carried an egg dressed as a ninja around, even cutting out paper to stick on as eyes.

"These players sure are creative,"

Rafael remarked, impressed.

"But are beast eggs that easy to come by?"

Oliang asked, puzzled because he had always wanted to raise a beast from an egg but never managed to find one for sale. There were only fully grown beasts sold by the Hunter Association.

"I heard that the Hunter Association and the Circus Association collaborated to breed beasts for their eggs. Initially, they planned to sell them at high prices, but with this trend, they decided to sell them off quickly for profit,"

Siegfried, who had been quietly observing, shared, making everyone turn their attention to him.

"How do you know that?"

Draco and Rafael asked simultaneously.

"I'm the guild leader, and you guys would have known too if you weren't so busy looking after your eggs,"

Siegfried retorted, leaving his friends speechless.

"I think I'll take a trip outside the city..."

Chang Long said before promptly leaving. Following her was Davy-chan, who had been nagging Chang Long to train and level up. He smiled contentedly as he followed Chang Long.

Chang Long headed south out of the town towards Royal Cliff, the place Oliang had told her that it was full of high-level beasts. The higher she climbed, the more powerful beasts she encountered.

Beep-beep, beep-beep

"What's up, Siegfried?"

Chang Long looked at her watch as it alerted her to an incoming call and answered upon seeing who it was.

"Chang Long, why did you leave in such a hurry?"

Siegfried asked, sounding concerned.

"Well, Davy-chan urged me to continue training and leveling up. Plus, I was bored of staying idle, so I decided to hunt beasts as Davy-chan instructed,"

Chang Long responded.

'You said you wanted to get stronger, didn't you!'

Davy-chan, floating nearby, scolded, but Chang Long pretended not to hear.

"And where will Chang Long be going?"

Siegfried asked with a slightly brighter tone, upon realizing that Chang Long's hurried departure was not because of him.

"I'm planning to go to the Royal Cliff. Oliang and Wet Trash Can said there are many high-level monsters there,"

Chang Long replied while walking along. She passed female players carrying painted eggs at intervals.

"Will you be okay going alone? Even if you fight beasts of the same level, their attack tends to be more powerful than those in other area,"

Siegfried said with concern.

"I'm fine. I have Devy-chan and Kitsune with me,"

Chang Long responded. Hearing the name Kitsune, Siegfried froze for a moment.

"Has he... entered the game already?"

Siegfried asked, his voice turning slightly sad.

'I totally forgot that I didn't tell anyone about Kitsune,'

Chang Long thought before replying.

"Yes! Something like that."

"Is that so..."

Siegfried spoke softly, almost inaudible to Chang Long.

"It's quite crowded around here. Seems like there are many high-level players with affiliations,"

Chang Long noticed that the path leading to the Pine Forest was bustling with players coming and going, making it very lively. As a result, there were hardly any beasts along the way.

"I think they might be looking for the Pirate King's Tomb. The system announced that the tomb was discovered in the Southern Sea Abyss,"

Siegfried explained, knowing this because as soon as he returned to town, his subordinates, who were taking care of the guild in his stead while he was on the quest with Chang Long, immediately rushed to report the happenings of this starting town to him.

"So that's it. But why are they looking at me like that?"

Chang Long was puzzled by the strange looks from passing players, especially towards her outfit, sword, and the egg in her hand.

"I think it's better for Chang Long to stay away from the main path, before those players start bothering you,"

Siegfried suggested. But before Chang Long could follow his advice, a group of players approached her.

"Hello, little brother,"

one of the players in the group greeted Chang Long.

'Little brother, huh...'

Chang Long looked at the male player, frustrated. He was dressed in a luxurious mage outfit, with a long golden wand intricately engraved throughout, and topped with a fist-sized clear crystal orb.

"Hello, can I help you with something?"

Chang Long asked back with a cold, indifferent tone.

"Oh, yes, actually. We are curious where you got the outfit you're wearing, and the sword you have at your waist, could we take a look?"

The male mage said politely yet threateningly.

"Do we know each other?"

Chang Long asked curtly.

"Huh? Uh... no, we don't know each other, but what does that have to do with anything?"

The mage replied, puzzled, as his three friends standing behind him looked equally confused.

"Just as you said, we don't know each other at all. So why should I give my things and answer the questions of strangers I don't even know their names?"

Chang Long replied loudly and clearly, then walked away immediately, causing considerable dismay to that group of players.

"Wait a minute, little brother. Are you saying you won't comply with our request?!"

The male mage stepped in front of Chang Long, blocking her way, his three friends spreading out to surround her.

"Wow, you're really slow, aren't you? I thought I made myself clear,"

Chang Long replied with an aggravating tone, causing their eyebrows to twitch in irritation.

"Are you looking for trouble?!"

A male player in martial artist outfit yelled bitterly, drawing his saber, attracting the attention of nearby players.

"It's your ears that are looking for trouble,"

Chang Long frowned, arguing back without showing any fear of the male player.

'Don't be rash, missy. These guys are all around level 40, especially that mage, he's level 50,'

Davy-chan quickly warned with good intentions, because even though the players surrounding Chang Long had lower levels than her, there were four of them. Chang Long was not very skilled in combat yet, she was clearly at a disadvantage.

'It's okay, Davy-chan. I've got a trick up my sleeve, we'll get out of this without a scratch,'

Chang Long mentally reassured Davy-chan, full of confidence.

'What trick are you talking about?'

Davy-chan asked back, puzzled.

'Behind that bush, see!?'

Chang Long told Davy-chan, trying to act as normal as possible. Davy-chan floated into the bush Chang Long pointed out, then floated back with a satisfied grin.

"We'll give you one more chance to answer our questions properly and hand over that sword to us,"

the male player in martial artist outfit barked at Chang Long, clearly agitated.

"Oh, so you're robbing me now, aren't you?!"

Chang Long shouted back, making a mocking face at the male player, which made him so angry that his friends had to restrain him from attacking Chang Long.

"Little brother, I must apologize on behalf of my friend for his rudeness. How about I introduce myself so we can get to know each other better?"

The male player in the mage outfit spoke up politely. Chang Long shrugged but did not say anything. She just tried to kick a pebble on the ground, without letting the group surrounding her notice.

"We are members of the Dark Horse Guild. I'm the leader of the group known as Merlin's Top Protege. The one who yelled at you just now is called the Lost Martial Artist, the woman in the priestess' outfit is named Rose, and the one in knight's armor is called Boron. And what's your name, little brother? It would be nice to get to know each other,"

the mage introduced himself and gestured for his friends to stop surrounding Chang Long.

"Sorry, but I'm not really interested in getting to know you guys. Thanks for the kind introduction, but I'll be taking my leave now,"

Chang Long replied with a smirk and slowly walked towards the bush, irritatingly relaxed. She thought that if these people backed off peacefully, she would not act on her plan, but if not, things would get interesting.

Meanwhile, Siegfried, hearing that Chang Long was being hassled, became restless to the point of being unable to sit still, especially after his call was abruptly cut off. His guild members watched their guild leader's anxious behavior with surprise until Rafael noticed and asked with curiosity,

"Sieg, what's with you? Why are you so restless?"

Rafael, carrying an egg, came to sit next to Siegfried and asked.

"I'm going to the Pine Forest!"

Siegfried stood up and immediately walked out of his office.

"Wait, Sieg, why are you heading to the Pine Forest? Did you find a lead on the discovered Pirate King's Tomb?"

Rafael ran after him, startled, and shouted loudly, catching the attention of Draco, Peach Blossom, and Aden, who joined in.

"No!"

Siegfried did not know how to respond because Chang Long was not a guild member, so he did not want to involve his guild friends, fearing future complications. Especially, since the players bothering Chang Long seemed to be from another guild.

"I have a little errand. See you,"

the young man said, pulling out a cloak to cover his face and attire completely, then ran off at high speed.

"What kind of errand is he rushing off to? Should we contact Oliang and Wet Trash Can? I heard those two said they were going to hunt beasts at Royal Cliff,"

Draco commented.

"No need. Sieg wouldn't tell even us what errand he's on. Let's leave it. He's the guild leader. He should be able to take care of himself,"

Rafael said. Everyone nodded in agreement and then went their separate ways to attend to their own tasks.

.....

"You dare disrespect us to this extent, you should die!"

The player named Lost Martial Artist from the group that approached Chang Long shouted, charging at Chang Long with great speed. Chang Long smiled calmly and kicked a stone she had nudged with her foot earlier towards the back of the bush she had targeted with all her might.

Roar!

A roar of pain echoed from the bush, and Chang Long saw that the beast behind the bush was hit squarely by the stone, making it groan and look towards her menacingly. Chang Long quickly ducked and rolled away into nearby bushes, seeing the beast about to leap towards her.

"Level 75 Two-headed Lion Beast King appears, preparing to attack!"

The system's voice boomed in Lost Martial Artist's head, making his eyes widen in shock, but he could not stop himself in time. When the two-headed lion saw Lost Martial Artist charging at it with a saber in hand, it assumed he was the one who threw the stone at its head, causing it to swell. So, it decided to attack Lost Martial Artist immediately in retaliation.

Boom!

A fireball was thrown at the body of the two-headed lion beast king's body, forcing it to leap back and roar in displeasure at being interrupted. Merlin's Top Protege came to stand beside Lost Martial Artist, who had braced himself so hard his body arched, along with Boron, while Rose, who was a European priestess, stood behind in support.

Players who witnessed the scene panicked and ran away as soon as they saw the two-headed lion beast king, especially players below level 40. Other players chose to watch rather than help, following an etiquette in the game where unless asked for help, players do not interfere, unless the fighting team is utterly defeated, or a team wipe occurs.

The party of four was now targeted by the two-headed lion beast king, all stood pale-faced, not knowing how to combat it. The beast king was nearly ten meters from head to tail and five meters tall, plus having two heads..

Given that this area was the pathway leading up to Royal Cliff, encountering a royal class monster was not something unusual. However, these four did not come to fight beasts. They came in search of the entrance to the Pirate King's Tomb. Even though the tomb's treasures were already looted, various guilds wanted to study the path leading to it to prepare for other tombs.

"What do we do, Aek? Just the four of us probably won't make it,"

Rose said, her voice filled with worry, after she had been using a skill that increased her friends' stats by five percent for fifteen minutes.

"The rest of the guild members are really taking their time,"

Lost Martial Artist complained, as they were still waiting for reinforcements to join them later.

"Stop. You are the reason this mess happened,"

Rose scolded Lost Martial Artist, who showed no sign of remorse.

"Tch! Scared of just one beast,"

Lost Martial Artist retorted to Rose.

"Enough, both of you. Boron and Lost Martial Artist, lure it deeper into the forest. I'll use fire magic to prevent it from following us. Then, I'll quickly follow. Oh! And don't forget to switch to the group communication channel so we can coordinate easily,"

Merlin's Top Protege shared his plan. Boron nodded and immediately charged at the two-headed lion, while Lost Martial Artist hesitated before following.

"What are you planning, Aek?"

Rose, puzzled by Merlin's Top Protege's strategy, asked through the group communication channel.

"We're fleeing. But if I told you to flee in front of so many players like this, our guild would lose face. That's why I'm having Boron and Lost Martial Artist lure it into the forest first. Then, I'll use fire to block other players from following us,"

Merlin's Top Protege explained his plan to his female friend.

"Alright,"

Rose nodded, ready to execute Merlin's Top Protege's plan immediately, knowing that even if they managed to win, they would be severely injured. Plus, the main purpose of coming to the starting town was not to hunt beasts but to find the Pirate King's Tomb.

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