Chapter 12 - 12 - Player Killers

Chapter 12: Chapter 12 - Player Killers

After passing through the ancient forest riding Polly, Broken arrived at a massive tree in the middle of a lush meadow, having left the ancient forest behind. Near this large tree was a small shrine that granted players quicker Health and Mana regeneration if they drew closer to the area. This place was usually bustling with players and merchants, but today, it was eerily empty.

This was highly unusual since the area near the Shrine of Regeneration was the most comfortable place to rest and camp. Given that the ancient forest nearby was a prime spot for monster hunting, there should have been many players of the appropriate level in the vicinity.

Broken dismounted from Polly, who reverted to her smaller form. She then frolicked through the grass, rolling around and sniffing flowers, clearly enjoying the area.

"This is really strange," he said to Polly, who responded by staring at him with her wide eyes. "It's odd that there are no merchants here. It looks like we'll have to make the journey to the nearest town," he sighed.

Polly remained silent, observing Broken closely as he spoke. "We can go to the nearest town, Master..." she repeated his words.

Just then, Broken received a private message from the only friend listed on his friend list.

"It's from Booba," he said.

[Booba: Hey, Broken, have you secured your contract with the spirit? Hahaha. I'm on my way to your location. Wait a few minutes. I want to see just how pathetic the spirit you contracted with is.]

Broken checked the map and saw that Booba was indeed close to his position. Did he really come all this way just to find out what spirit Broken had contracted with?

Booba was a player he had met early on in Immortal Legacy. He was very loud and forced his friendship on Broken, who eventually accepted his friend request.

From what Booba had told Broken, he came from a wealthy family, which explained why all his armor and weapons were so eye-catching. He leveled up very quickly and had already reached level 155, while normal players were still around level 100.

In fact, Broken had learned about the rare quest to form a contract with a spirit from Booba. Booba provided everything, from the requirements to helping Broken progress with the quest. He liked to go the extra mile for those he considered friends and was willing to help.

A few minutes later, a figure flew in from the distance on a large bird, or more precisely, a wyvern. The wyvern swooped down, its wings flapping powerfully, causing the grass to sway. Atop the wyvern was a man in swordsman armor with an Asian face, black hair, and a height of 1.85 meters (6.07 feet), quite tall for an Asian from Broken's experience.

"Hey, Broken. Hahaha," Booba walked confidently towards him. "You're still leveling up so slowly. Why do you even bother playing this game? Hahaha," he said casually, laughing heartily.

Broken only smiled in response to his words.

Booba then turned to show off the wyvern he had ridden to meet Broken. "Do you see this magnificent creature? It's grown so large now, hahaha... I can go anywhere riding this wyvern. Isn't it amazing? Hahaha... I made a contract with this Epic-Grade wyvern. Isn't that incredible, Broken?"

"What are you doing here, Broken?"

"At first, I was looking for a merchant, and I planned to go to the nearest town as well."

"Do you know this place is deserted because there are a lot of player killers around here?"

"Player killers?"

Broken had not heard about this, but if what Booba said was true, it made sense why the area was empty. They both immediately became more alert.

"We should leave here quickly. I'm not in the mood to deal with those stupid player killers," Booba explained.

"What are they after? Doesn't the kingdom usually crack down on player killers?"

"They're just a bunch of idiots trying to be edgy, thinking it's cool to join some dumb cult and hunt players for fun. They make it worse by killing Yunatea natives too. They have no brains, hahaha. Maybe they're just broke and can't think of anything smarter to do," Booba said confidently.

Booba then walked back to his wyvern. "I'll meet you in the town. Please let me know if you need my help... You should focus more on enjoying the game and not worry too much about real life. Look at me, I can enjoy this game without a care in the world. See? Haha."

"Shut up, rich kid. You can just play games all day and still have your parents' money to fall back on," Broken retorted.

"Haha, it's not my fault, Broken. It's not like I chose to be born into a wealthy family," Booba responded with a laugh.

He added. "But don't worry, if you quit your job, you can make money from playing this game."

"I wish it were that simple. I was actually forced to quit my job," Broken sighed.

"Ah, that sucks. Well, I'll catch up with you later. Gotta go," Booba said, dismissing the conversation.

Booba then climbed onto his wyvern, and the large creature flapped its wings powerfully and took off.

Broken sighed, intending to log out from the game, as Lily was probably waiting for him. But then, glancing around, he noticed movement among the bushes. Soon, one, two, three, and finally, five players emerged from the foliage. Each one was dressed in a different class. None of them had red game names, so they might not be player killers, but it was clear they had been hiding, waiting for Booba to leave. There was definitely something suspicious about their actions.

"Are you guys player killers?" Broken inquired loudly, his body tensing in anticipation of the possibility that he might have to confront multiple players who could be looking to cause him harm.