Chapter 45: Chapter45-Hunting Guild

"Have you ever heard of the [Hunting Guild]?"

After a long silence, John suddenly raised his head and looked at everyone, asking, "A player-established organization."

"Never heard of it, John. Are you making this up to fool us?"

"Do I need to? This Hunting Guild was formed by thief players. Due to the unique nature of their class, they struggle to gain an advantage in dungeons and large events, so they turned their attention to other players instead.

Though they aren't skilled at dealing with monsters, when it comes to killing, thief players are among the best.

So they gave up competing in large events and instead targeted players who received valuable rewards but lacked significant strength, and then they struck."

At this point, John paused, a memory surfacing in his mind.

"The thief class has a special ability called [Cloud Hand], which allows them to loot or even steal equipment from other players."

"John, how do you know so much about this?"

"..."

John chose silence, unsure of how to answer Exiled Immortal.

Should he reveal that he was once a member of the [Hunting Guild]?

John felt ashamed.

"In any case, from now on, be vigilant. Whenever you encounter thief class players, stay on high alert and never fully trust them. Understood?"

"Understood, John."

...

"Are you insane? You're killing people!"

"Of course, I know what I'm doing. So, if you don't want to die, hand over the [Epic] equipment you just got, and maybe I'll consider sparing your life. Otherwise, you know what your fate will be."

In the alleyway,

held the dagger in a reverse grip, pressing it against the player's neck. The passerby player felt a chill run down their spine, fear gripping them.

"Aren't you afraid I'll spread the word about this?"

"As long as you give me the item, you can say whatever you want. Reputation? I don't care."

In this damned apocalypse, reputation and integrity are the most useless things!

Surviving at any cost is the ultimate rule!

"My patience is limited. You'd better hand it over. I'll give you three seconds. Three, two..."

"Stop! I'll give it to you!"

Feeling the blade pressing closer to his neck, the passerby player couldn't withstand the pressure and handed over the [Epic] equipment he had just obtained and hadn't even used yet.

Such scenes played out all over Calia.

"I understand your intention, but now is not the time."

Hearing Lily's suggestion, John immediately vetoed it without a moment's hesitation.

"But why not?"

"This is only the third wave. Who knows how many more there will be? If we waste your ultimate move this early, the pressure will only increase later, and we still won't be able to hold out. Let's manage for now. If any of you get Chant Essence, give it to me right away.

As long as we have enough Chant Essence, the golem can temporarily withstand the pressure."

Seeing that the number of elite goblins had dropped to less than a hundred, John exhaled deeply.

"And besides, we can still hold on!"

With that, Lily bit her lip, unsure of what to say, and let out a soft sigh.

She began to cast buffs on John and the others while using Spirit Summoning to bring the fallen elite goblins back into the fray.

The time it took to fend off the third wave was even longer than the combined time of the first two waves, but they managed to pull through without any major incidents.

However, Helena and Exiled Immortal were now almost completely exhausted.

The massive consumption of stamina couldn't be recovered in just a few minutes.

Even though John had prepared some potions, it was like a drop in the ocean...

"Wait, potions! How could I have forgotten!"

If there was anything other than large-scale magic that could deal with this situation, it was undoubtedly poison!

The goblin race's natural weak resistance to poison meant that the poison would be 120% effective. With Exiled Immortal present, applying poison to their blades would easily decimate the monsters!

With this in mind, John didn't hesitate for a moment.

He took out the existing poison, giving part of it to Exiled Immortal and part to Helena.

The rest he applied to the surface of the trigger magic traps.

Using the remaining time to repair the damaged trigger magic traps, John then cleared out his backpack and opened the points shop.

At the two-hour mark, the points shop had already opened, but John had been too busy to check it until now.

Finally, he could see if there were any suitable items for him.

The moment the list appeared before his eyes, John instantly noticed an [Epic] quality item that perfectly fit the current situation!

"Redeem item 013 for me!"

[Item 013 costs 20,000 points to redeem. Proceed with the redemption?]

"Redeem it, quickly!"

[Processing transaction... Redemption complete. Current points balance: 165.]

[Congratulations! You have obtained the Epic item: Chant Essence Core, which has been added to your backpack.]