Reign of the Hunters

“Balm of Blessings x1”

Balm of Blessings was a rare item which could increase a player’s luck. To Ye Ci, the Balm of Blessings was something with multiple purposes. When an unlucky person drank a bottle of Balm of Blessings before looting a monster, his or her chance to obtain a high-leveled item was increased by 20%. When a player applied the Balm of Blessings to a weapon, the attack power of said weapon would be increased for a period of time. The Balm could even be used when refining items with the effect of 20% increased success rate.

Everybody knew how precious that thing was. Not many were willing to use it in the earlier stages of the game. First of all, they did not have the need of such an item as their level was still too low. There’s also the fact that the item was simply too rare.

Ye Ci blinked. You must be joking?

To obtain such an item after obtaining gold coins thru dozens of tries was just too intense. Couldn’t her life be more normal? God must’ve dozed off, thought Ye Ci, it would be impossible for somebody with her luck to get such an item otherwise. It was simply...

Unimaginable.

Hence, this stingy person silently slid the Balm of Blessings into her inventory, and made the decision to take a photo of it. Even if she would be extremely unlucky for the next 10 years, it would be proof that she had experienced some luck at some point of her life.

With the appearance of the Balm of Blessings, Upwards Ho!’s points soared by 500. This was a shock to all the players. Who got what? Bai Mo intervened before the members could start a discussion about the matter, “Pay attention to what you’re doing. They’re all parties with 100 players. We are at a disadvantage here. Don’t forget what we’re here for.”

Although Bai Mo was pretty average when it came to his managing skills, he radiated the aura of a guild leader. He enjoyed a good relationship with other players, and was fair. He was able to have an imposing figure despite his humble behavior. The whisperings stopped right after he spoke up.

He was right. Upwards Ho! was nothing compared to the other guilds. Even then, there was always a time where the weak could shine. At this point, nobody wanted to go home with a third place. They were aiming to be the champion! The guild members immediately hastened to open more pearls after listening to Bai Mo’s words.

Right at that moment, Customer Service No.094 announced the arrival of the Apex Guild from the Northern Continent into the arena for the 4th round.

The countdown timer began as soon the Apex Guild entered the arena. With their 1 minute and 47 seconds advantage, Upwards Ho! had already accumulated 1729 points.

Ye Ci took note of the points of the 3 other guilds while opening more pearls. She felt remorse that the world’s top guild, Storm Totem was unable to advance to round 4. She had always wanted to meet their mysterious guild leader.

The place was even more crowded with the presence of Apex Guild. The other guilds, however, paid no heed to them. The distance between the players clustered together showing clearly that they were from 3 different teams.

Such contests of luck meant that advantages came from numbers. The more members there were, the chances that somebody obtaining a rare item became higher was well. Despite a few members in Upwards Ho! possessing very good luck and obtaining quite a few equipment and skill books, most of them had only acquired materials or potions. With only 72 members, their speed and luck was at a disadvantage when compared to the other 100-player parties.

After 5 minutes into the round, the other guilds were slowly catching up to Upwards Ho! despite their lead of 1729 points. Genesis exceeded their points at the 6 minutes and 34 seconds mark, followed close behind by Apex.

The members of Upwards Ho! was dispirited, and they slowed down.

Ye Ci knew how they felt. She spoke up calmly, “It’s okay even if we ended up third. Just keep opening the balls. Don’t forget that all the items that we open belong to us.”

Ye Ci’s words were able to stir up their spirits. Since they were here, they must make the most out of it. The guild members then continued their journey to open more colored balls.

However, Ye Ci still felt unwilling to let it go that easily.

To give up on being the champion just like that? The reward was a lvl 5 guild encampment and an Epic tier title! Just the lvl 5 guild encampment was very enticing by itself. It would cost a tremendous amount of gold and prestige points to upgrade a guild encampment to lvl 5, with a lot of conditions. The reward would raise the level of a guild encampment to lvl 5 unconditionally. If they did not seize the opportunity, they would lose it forever.

Ye Ci lowered her eyes and resumed opening more colored balls while calmly observing the points of the 3 parties.

Although Upwards Ho! was surpassed by the 2 other parties, the differences between their points was not much. The competition was tough, with a 100 point gap, which was the amount of points awarded for obtaining a skill book.

Fruit Jelly was able to obtain another skill book, and their points exceeded that of Apex Guild’s. A blue equipment from another member was able to grant them a 60 point lead over Genesis. But they were once again overtaken by their opponents in the blink of an eye.

The points of the 3 guilds were very close. Their scores constantly surpassed each other. It was a very close competition.

If Upwards Ho! was unable to widen the gap between their points and the other two guilds, they might lose to the other 2 parties. Even if everybody else believed in their luck, Ye Ci did not share their confidence due to her “black hand” aura.

2 minutes were left.

Ye Ci paused for a moment, and took the Balm of Blessings out of her inventory. Even if it was the one time she was lucky in her entire life, she knew that her gain would not make up for her loss if she kept it to herself. Even if it was just one short moment of luck, so be it.

Ye Ci gulped down the bottle of Balm of Blessings. She pursed her lips. It tasted like Sprite.

“The Goddess of Luck appears to have descended upon you. You feel a stroke of good luck.” A system notification rang out, and a BUFF called Lucky Aura that increased her Luck by 20% and lasted for 2 minutes appeared.

Good. It was the final 2 minutes of the competition, and Ye Ci hoped that Lady Luck would smile upon her.

Reality proved that Balm of Blessings was an overpowered presence in the game. Even Ye Ci, who was unlucky for the entirety of her life, was able to improve her luck after consuming a bottle of Balm of Blessings. Her colored balls no longer yielded gold coins, but materials instead.

This... Was this the so-called “20% increased chance of obtaining high grade items?” Were these materials high grade? Ye Ci was very puzzled. Even something as overpowered as the Balm of Blessings could not change her luck.

“Balm of Blessings x1.” A system notification suddenly chimed in. Ye Ci smiled after a moment of surprise. Oh boy! There goes another bottle of Balm of Blessings. Even though Upwards Ho!’s points soared, they did not have much of a lead on Genesis who were in second place.

It was still a good sign. At least their lead was significant enough.

With the sudden increase of points, Upwards Ho! was leading the competition with 300 points. It was not much, but it was able to boost the morale of the guild members. They immediately hastened, not wasting a single second.

After obtaining the second bottle of Balm of Blessings, Ye Ci’s luck finally improved. She began obtaining green and blue equipment and an occasional skill book. Just as Dragon Battling Heavens had said, her black hand was the factor that dragged down the overall luck of Upwards Ho!.

The 2 other parties were following close behind in terms of score in the final 30 seconds. The party channel was as silent as a grave. The movements of nearly 300 players in the arena was fluid like flowing water. It was an awe-inspiring sight.

“Balm of Blessings x1.” Ye Ci’s eyes brightened up. She almost jumped in delight. With this bottle, their remaining 100 point lead was raised to 600 points. Although she was still unable to let her guard down fully, at least Upwards Ho! had a 50% chance of winning the first place.

“Balm of Blessings x1.”

Another bottle appeared. Ye Ci’s breathing almost stopped. She could not believe her luck.

It was impossible to close the gap of more than 1100 points within 30 seconds.

Unless their opponents were able to produce 2 Balm of Blessings within the 30 seconds.

The score of Genesis suddenly increased by 500 points. Ye Ci was slightly shocked. 13 seconds left. It seemed that Genesis was able to obtain a bottle of Balm of Blessings as well. The outcome of this competition was unpredictable. Ye Ci took in a deep breath and continued opening her colored balls.

10 seconds left.

8 seconds left.

5 seconds left.

Genesis and Apex both had their score suddenly increase by 500 points. Ye Ci was slightly panicked. There were 5 seconds left and her guild was only leading by 100 points. They might...

“Balm of Blessings x1.” A system notification rang out in Ye Ci’s ears and the score gap widened once again.

Ye Ci had always felt that she had a strong heart, but at that moment, she felt weak. Dear System, can you not play with my feelings like that? Not everyone could withstand such ups and downs.

1 second left.

The round ended.

Upwards Ho! was emerged victorious with a 397 point lead over Genesis that was in second place while Apex was in third place.

It was... Finally over. The Lucky Aura BUFF ended as well.

Ye Ci let out a long sigh. Such a test of luck was not something that she, as a member of the black hand army, could easily pass. Her heart... Had almost stopped.

“We’re the champions!”

Upwards Ho! members lept up and screamed out their joy after a moment of silence. Their cheers were thunderous.

“The victor was decided. All players will now be transported away from the arena. Stand still, it might be a rough ride...” Wang Jiangnan said with a mysterious tone after clearing his throat.

Right after he spoke, all the players felt a sudden lost of weight and they fell.

“Ahhh!” All of them screamed out in horror.

“Bump! Bump! Bump!” The continuous dull thuds were testimony that quite a lot of objects had fallen from a high place.

“Ouch...”

“It hurts...”

......

The countless screams were transformed into moans of pain after the fall. The contestants realised that they were back in the arena of the first round. However, they were not alone. A gigantic arena had appeared, and all the eliminated teams were seated in the spectator’s seats.

They included not only the heavyweight category, but the medium and lightweight categories as well.

After a short observation, Ye Ci concluded that there could easily be almost a million players in the arena. As expected of the world’s best server, Ye Ci thought to herself, not even a hint of lag even with so many players at the same spot. It was simply too awesome.

“Congratulations on being the champions.” The leader of Genesis was a Sorcerer called Absalom. He smiled warmly and walked up to Bai Mo to shake his hand. As a Human Sorcerer, Absalom’s facial feature was clearly that of a Westerner.

As expected of a top guild, they were able to accept a loss. Even if they were defeated by a small and unfamous guild such as Upwards Ho!, Genesis guild was able to maintain their composure. Absalom smiled in a friendly manner at Bai Mo.

“Will you think that I’m pretentious if I congratulate you for getting the second place?” Bai Mo winked slyly, and Absalom was momentarily stunned. He then let out a hearty laugh.

“This is an event. The next time we meet on the battlefield, I will not hold back.” Absalom was very honest.

They belonged to the Western Continent, while Upwards Ho! was from the Eastern Continent. Even if they were friendly towards each other right at that moment, they were still sworn enemies.

“Same.”

Ye Ci retracted her gaze from where Bai Mo was standing alongside Absalom. She calmed herself down and walked towards the members of Genesis.

If Absalom and Bai Mo were conversing with each other for diplomacy’s sake, Ye Ci’s action was a little out of the ordinary.

Although she was very famous in Fate, as a party member, what was she doing?

The players’ gazes followed Ye Ci’s steady footsteps as she walked steadily towards the gathered Genesis members.

Ye Ci straightened up, and extended her hand towards that person...

This is Double Chapters yo! Don’t forget to hit that “Next Chapter” button! xDD

Calling out to all those artistic souls out there, if you’re interested in drawing fanarts for Reign of the Hunters, feel free to send it to me to my email:

First to comment type: First Blood!