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Chapter 4 — Scare you to death!
Ye Nuan ultimately did not refuse to become the apprentice of Chaotic Reputation.
There were two reasons:
The first was because she had promised, and she did not easily go back on her promises.
The second was in consideration of Chaotic Reputation in 《 Second World 》’s ‘prestige.’ If she openly refused, what could she do if he were to fly into a rage out of humiliation and gather people to kill her?
In short, she only had two choices.
Either become the apprentice of Chaotic Reputation or be manhunted as his foe. Or reject Chaotic Reputation and be manhunted by the entirety of 「 Ambitious Hegemony 」.
Being manhunted either way, would it not be better to have a patron?
“Quilt, why do I have so much bad luck? Even if I transmigrated into the game after dying, I have to make such a difficult decision after just entering.” Ye Nuan held Quilt in one hand and used the other to stroke it lightly. The more she stroked, the harder she found it in herself to part from it.
She did not expect this quilt to feel so soft and so comfortable. Although it was a useless quilt, it was a pet. It was okay if it did not have any combat power. Its cuteness resolved everything.
However, this quilt was shy and did not know what to do. After she stopped stroking it, it lay in the palm of her hand for a long while, pretending to be dead. No matter what she said, it lay motionless.
Ye Nuan paid it no attention. After successfully changing classes, she equipped the black set of assassin clothes, switching her weapon as well for a pitch-black dagger.
She tossed her dagger into the air. The dagger made two rotations in the sky before falling down and being caught steadily by her.
This familiar touch drew a helpless sigh of regret from her —— she really had not expected to be able to play a virtual reality game again.
The last time she had tossed and caught a dagger, it was a year ago.
In reality, she did not dare to play like this, too afraid of hurting herself.
Quilt took in the entire scene from its place in her hand, trembling uneasily.
His family’s ‘Owner’ seemed to be a bit powerful?
*
Not long after, Chaotic Reputation arrived.
This Level 99, max leveled, Elf assassin dropped from the sky on a black, four-winged warhorse.
The appearance of this account was several years younger than ‘Smoke Signal.’ Long black hair was pulled back into a high ponytail with a red band, revealing an elegant face that gave off a youthful vigor. At the outer corner of his left eye, there was a tattoo — the bottom half of a rose — that added a bit of romantic charm to him.
This appearance was completely dissimilar to ‘Smoke Signal.’
He sat atop the four-winged warhorse, towering above Ye Nuan. With a laugh, he raised a hand. “Yo, apprentice~”
This appearance of his, paired with the youthful voice, was slightly flirtatious, causing Ye Nuan to raise a brow involuntarily. “Hard to imagine Master being born so charming.”
“Hahaha! Apprentice, you truly can talk!” Chaotic Reputation commented, jumping down from his warhorse. He stowed away his mount and walked to stand in front of Ye Nuan. “There’s no time to lose, hurry and worship me as Master!”
This impatient tone — it seemed he feared Ye Nuan would back out.
Having already looked him up, Ye Nuan naturally knew why he was so hurried. Not revealing her knowledge, she solemnly performed the apprenticeship acceptance rite to him. Both hands cupped, and with a bowed head, she said, “My honored master, please accept the worship from your apprentice.”
Chaotic Reputation: “Apprentice, be good~”
System Announcement: 【 Player Chaotic Reputation has accepted Warm Light at Night as an apprentice. Congratulations Warm Light at Night for becoming Chaotic Reputation’s fourth follower.[1] 】
Ye Nuan absolutely had not expected news about newly established apprenticeships to be broadcasted throughout the entire server. Moreover, she had not expected that she wasn’t Chaotic Reputation’s sole follower.
Now, however, she only wanted to curse —— Chaotic Reputation’s follower, this wording seems ambiguous?
Becoming Chaotic Reputation right after being accepted as a follower, isn’t that great?
System: 【 Player Chaotic Reputation has sent you a friend request. May I ask whether you will accept? 】
Ye Nuan: “Accept.”
System: 【 Player Chaotic Reputation has invited you to join Guild Ambitious Hegemony. May I ask whether you will accept? 】
Ye Nuan: “Accept.”
“Oh~kay, you are henceforth a member of Ambitious Hegemony.” Chaotic Reputation said, patting Ye Nuan’s shoulder. He then added, “I still need to help boost accounts, so I’ll be getting off first la!”
“Boost?” Ye Nuan understood immediately. “Smoke Signal is not your account?”
No wonder the appearance was so different.
“Righto, it’s my client’s account.” Chaotic Reputation did not conceal the truth, but he lowered his voice right after to add, “You must, by all means, tell no one about this.”
Afraid his clients would be manhunted?
Ye Nuan laughed lightly. “Sure, Master.”
“Mn, obedient apprentice. I’ll immediately have your senior apprentice brothers come and carry you.” After Chaotic Reputation said this, he switched to a private message channel and said something. Immediately, someone sent Ye Nuan a friend request.
System: 【 Player Hundred Miles Uncrystallized[2] has sent you a friend request. May I ask whether you will accept? 】
“Hundred Miles Uncrystallized?” Ye Nuan raised a brow.
Chaotic Reputation: “Oh, it’s your eldest apprentice brother.”
“Good.” Ye Nuan accepted the other’s request, worry-free.
Chaotic Reputation: “If you have any problems, ask him ba. I’m off!”
Ye Nuan: “Okay.”
Chaotic Reputation flashed her a smile before vanishing —— he went offline.
Ye Nuan looked at where he vanished and could not help becoming dazed for a bit.
Hundred Miles Uncrystallized roused her from her stupor with a message. 【 Younger apprentice brother? Nothing to say after adding me? 】
Ye Nuan recovered then. She felt that the eldest apprentice brother’s voice was clear but chilling, sounding unexpectedly far more mature than that Master Chaotic Reputation.
Wait a minute, younger apprentice brother?
【 It’s younger apprentice sister. 】 Ye Nuan corrected.
The moment her voice rang out, the other side remained silent for a long while. He then opened his mouth to respond. 【 Where are you? I’ll come find you. 】
Ye Nuan did not think much of this and informed him of her map location and coordinates.
A while later, a four-winged warhorse flew over —— Hundred Miles Uncrystallized really came, but not on his lonesome. Behind him sat another person.
Ye Nuan looked at the titles hovering in the sky above their heads.
Chaotic Reputation’s Eldest Follower: Hundred Miles Uncrystallized (Level 48)
Chaotic Reputation’s Second Follower: Four Seas Fragrance (Level 36)
A glance above her head revealed, as expected, a title.
Chaotic Reputation’s Fourth Follower: Warm Light at Night (Level 13)
Oh, the three IDs surprisingly rhymed.
Chaotic Reputation probably did not deliberately look for apprentices with names that end in -ang?[3]
Ye Nuan quickly realized her guess was wrong when she saw her third apprentice brother’s ID on the master-apprentice interface — Uninhibited, Level 29.
Hardly unexpected, her senior apprentice brothers were all Elf assassins.
After Hundred Miles Uncrystallized and Four Seas Fragrance landed on the ground, they sized up Ye Nuan.
Hundred Miles Uncrystallized narrowed his eyes and said nothing. Four Seas Fragrance clicked his tongue twice. “Chaotic really did accept a woman. To catch his eye, you should have some ability?”
Hundred Miles Uncrystallized indifferently glanced at him but remained silent.
Ye Nuan, however, saw the subtle change in expression on his face. He seemed to have surmised why Chaotic Reputation accepted her as an apprentice.
Ye Nuan blinked, not sure why a seed of bad premonition sprouted —— Chaotic Reputation said he would make her senior apprentice brothers come to carry her. Two of her senior apprentice brothers came, but there was not the slightest bit of intention to carry her.
On the contrary, it seemed like they came to see a monkey?[4]
Ye Nuan stuffed Quilt into her belt and played with her dagger, tossing it into the air and catching it. With a smile, she asked, “Senior apprentice brothers, are you not taking me to level?”
As she spoke, she casually gave the two senior apprentice brothers a once over.
Hundred Miles Uncrystallized dressed like an assassin, except he was clothed entirely in white — seemingly not at all afraid others would discover him.
Four Seas Fragrance was even more excessive. His features were already enchanting to an incredible degree. His body was clothed in a robe dyed a red so flirtatious the word could not properly describe it any longer. This person was akin to a blooming red spider lily.
Ye Nuan carefully examined the two men and couldn’t help but release a deep sigh. —— The people in this world were truly fantastic oddities of every description.
Who knew what appearance her third apprentice brother had?
At Ye Nuan’s question, Hundred Miles Uncrystallized continued to be silent. The one who spoke was naturally Four Seas Fragrance. “Do you know who our Master is?”
Ye Nuan had a general idea, but she smiled lightly and replied, “I don’t.”
Four Seas Fragrance’s eyes brightened, as expected. “It’ll scare you to death! He is the person with the highest value of hatred throughout 《 Second World 》!”
Ye Nuan: “Oh.”
Four Seas Fragrance: ???
Four Seas Fragrance: “No, this is your reaction? Do you not even know what it means to have the highest hatred value? That as his apprentice, it is practically the same as being the enemy of 《 Second World 》?”
Ye Nuan has long been prepared for this, but hearing that she would be the enemy of all of 《 Second World 》, it was still momentarily shocking.
She had not expected the ability of her family’s Master to draw hatred to be far more profound than she imagined……
Taking note of Four Seas Fragrance’s expectant gaze, Ye Nuan wondered whether her slight display of shock was enough to satisfy him.
She thought it over and then tossed it aside. Ye Nuan, in regards to her acting skills, had a b-number in her heart.[5]
Therefore, she straightforwardly said, “This I understand, and then?”
“Fuck, you understand? Understand yet still……are you truly fearless or slow to react?” Four Seas Fragrance was a bit worried. “Are you ready to be hunted down by everyone? Avail yourself now, quickly break off the master-apprentice relationship with Chaotic. Otherwise, don’t even think about leveling. It will be difficult enough to not drop levels!”
Ye Nuan raised a brow.
She listened carefully. Four Seas Fragrance did not want her to become Chaotic Reputation’s apprentice. Furthermore, she discerned from his tone that it was not in consideration for her, but in consideration for Chaotic Reputation.
Why? Was he afraid she would ruin Chaotic Reputation’s prestige?
Interesting.
Ye Nuan originally thought that in the game, a master accepting an apprentice was merely a formality to receive master-apprentice rewards.
It now seemed that it was not like this?
Ye Nuan did not care in the first place about who she apprenticed to, but since she already worshipped a master, she could not sever her apprenticeship with Chaotic Reputation as Four Seas Fragrance suggested.
Therefore, Ye Nuan not only did not panic when facing Four Seas Fragrance’s ‘threat,’ she instead laughed lightly. “Senior apprentice brother, did you not come here with the task of taking me to level? It does not matter if you feel it is impossible. I can go leveling by myself.”
“Wow, so you are this type of person……” Four Seas Fragrance rushed forward, only to have his arm yanked back by Hundred Miles Uncrystallized. He came to a stop with a grunt.
Immediately after, Hundred Miles Uncrystallized’s clear, chilling voice rang out. “We’ll speak frankly. Apprentices’ rankings on the experts list directly affect Master’s honor. Everyone can, at most, accept five apprentices. If one apprentice of the five drops the ball, Master’s honor will be adversely affected. This then heavily reduces the rewards received from the apprenticeship.”
So it was all for the rewards?
Fancy that, she had thought these two were concerned about Chaotic Reputation’s prestige……
“Ai.” Ye Nuan sighed.
Four Seas Fragrance: “Why are you sighing?
Ye Nuan: Nothing. I just had a thought. If I were a man, you two would probably not try to persuade me like this.”
Hundred Miles Uncrystallized and Four Seas Fragrance exchanged looks, not replying.
“Because I am a woman, therefore, you both sentenced me to die from the start? I say……” Ye Nuan tilted her head. “Why do you believe I cannot appear on the experts list? What if later on, my ranking is higher than yours?”
“Fuck, no matter how strong you are, your glib talk is awesome,” Four Seas Fragrance said.
“Flatterer, flatterer.” Ye Nuan laughed. “If you want to know my strength, it’s simple ah. Won’t you know after a battle? What do you think? Coming?”
She had done her research in advance. 《 Second World 》’s expert list was more or less filled with players she had played with in previous games, all of which she had battled within the arena to accumulate points —— a win meant gaining points, a loss meant losing points.
In order for every player to experience the joys of the arena, the arena adopted revised measures. Namely, when players of different levels entered the arena, levels could be adjusted to be the same. Weapons and equipment could also be changed into the default equipment of their classes.
In other words, victory completely depended on skill.
Ye Nuan currently had neither level nor equipment, but if she staked everything on her skill, she would not lose to anyone!
Four Seas Fragrance clicked his tongue and muttered, “Never saw such a mad woman……” After saying this, he sent Ye Nuan an arena PK request, no hesitation in sight. “Come, you afraid?”
He then immediately added, “If you lose, you’ll instantly sever your apprenticeship with Chaotic!”
“Sure ah.” Ye Nuan straightforwardly agreed. “But, since you have a demand, then shouldn’t I also be able to make one?”
“Four Seas Fragrance: “Speak.”
Ye Nuan: “If I win, then you’ll do whatever I want.”
Four Seas Fragrance: “Holy shit! You’re this excessive ba?”
Ye Nuan smiled. “So nervous about what you’ll be made to do? Afraid to lose?”
Four Seas Fragrance froze, a flash of insight racing through his head. —— Right, how could he possibly lose?
Hundred Miles Uncrystallized vaguely sensed something happening and frowned.
He turned his head to look at his second apprentice brother, as if trying to remind him of something. He appeared to be on the verge of speaking but then hesitated, his sight returning to Ye Nuan’s figure in examination.
Ye Nuan exchanged glances with him before unobtrusively moving on to face Four Seas Fragrance. “What’s up? Betting?”
“A bet is a bet. It’s settled!”
“Mn, settled.”
Ye Nuan, after she spoke, exposed a crafty smile. She then accepted Four Seas Fragrance’s PK request in a very straightforward manner.
Come, I’ll immediately let you experience younger apprentice sister’s awesomeness, second apprentice brother~
Footnotes:
[1] Different characters from what I translated ‘apprentice’ from in CN. This can be translated as disciple/follower. To match the later line of it being ambiguous, it was translated into ‘follower’ instead
[2] Technically .5km, but logistics; 里 (li) is a trad. Chinese unit of distance also known as the Chinese mile. Thus why I used ‘mile,’ plus it flows better
[3] Hundred Miles Uncrystallized | 百里无霜 | Bǎi Lǐ Wú Shuāng
Four Seas Fragrance | 四海飘香 | Sì Hǎi Piāo Xiāng
Warm Light at Night | 夜有暖光 | Yè Yǒu Nuǎn Guāng
As you can see, all three IDs end with the -ang phonetic
[4] Joke, sideshow, along those lines. Basically, instead of training, it’s like they are visiting the zoo/freak show
[5] B-number is a meme. “Don’t you have a b-number in your heart?” is one of the usual ways it is used. It is slang from NE China, basically meaning “are you mentally retarded.” AKA Ye Nuan knows her acting skill are horrendous and is not going to bother to try acting
Kii’s Corner:
Ah, yes, my first ship has appeared. Cold, elegant, OP eldest brother x Flamboyant, foolish, cute second brother
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