Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 399 A New Patch

Ye Ci immediately headed back to Red Lake City after collecting all the corpses. She then made her way to the newbie village after replenishing her supplies.

While there was still a substantial player population in the map, it was nothing like the numbers she saw when the server first opened.

She received stares from the players because of her cloak. Some of them even followed her deeper into the village. She buried the bodies, and according to Tamra’s wishes, buried his friend beside him. Her quest was finally complete.

Ye Ci let out a sigh of relief. But before she could summon Andriel from his grave, the ghost of Tamra appeared before her. The new players exclaimed in shock before the ghost even began to speak. This brought the attention of more players to Ye Ci.

“Thank you, my kinsman. You’ve fulfilled my wish. I do not have much with me, but there is something in my former home that you might find useful. I give you my permission to search for it.” and a quest marker immediately appeared in Ye Ci’s view.

It’s the Kira Mountain Range again? It seems that another trip is in order.

Ye Ci then touched Andriel’s grave after bidding her farewell with Tamra. The Elf and his comrades were overjoyed to have finally been able to return home, “My kinsman, I have a feeling that you came looking for me not just because of Tamra’s wish. There’s something you need from me. How may I be of help?”

Can you not be so perceptive? Ye Ci raised an eyebrow, This NPC is too intelligent.

Despite her complaints, she knew that she still had to treat Andriel with respect. “There is something that has been troubling me. I tried my best, but I just can’t find an answer. You’re my only hope. Perhaps you can help in solving this riddle.”

“Oh? What is it? Tell me about it.” Andriel’s interest was piqued.

Ye Ci relayed her adventures and what she saw in the shrine truthfully to Andriel. She also told him why she needed the bow, and expressed her wish that he could help with solving the mystery behind the barrier.

And at this point, even more new players had gathered around her. They would not see her status due to the Secret Cloak, but they knew that she was a very high level player. Many of them were hoping that she would help them out with gaining level quickly, but they did not have the courage to interrupt the conversation between her and the NPC.

Andriel was shocked when Ye Ci recounted what had happened, “You’ve discovered Dau’er’s cenotaph?”

“Yes.”

“How did you find it?”

“A Sorcerer friend of mine led me to the graveyard. That is where Lilatiti’s clothes were buried. Since they’re all buried in the same graveyard, I was able to guess the location of Dau’er’s cenotaph.”

Andriel fell into silence for a long moment before finally nodding at Ye Ci.

He took in a deep breath as memories began flooding his mind, “That shrine… Was where my comrades and I swore an oath to follow Dau’er into battle. It was such a glorious moment for all of us. Even if none of us was able to make it home, it was a price that we had to pay for our ideals. It was our contribution to the land.” and he continued after taking in a deep breath, “Oh how I’ve missed that time. Let me try to remember what I know about that barrier.” and he closed his eyes, appearing to be deep in thought.

Ye Ci remained silent and awaited his answer patiently. Many of the crowd had grown bolder at this point, and a number of them eventually worked up their courage to approach Ye Ci.

She was confused by their behavior.

But Ye Ci was never a good samaritan. Despite their sincerity, the new players were all rejected by Ye Ci. She did, however, give them a piece of advice for free, “Don’t take the easy way out especially when you are still new to the game. You need to learn how to use your skills and hone your positioning so that you will not be a burden to your team.”

Most of the new players reacted to Ye Ci’s words with anger. It did not take long for the crowd to disperse. Only a single Elven Warrior remained, “Is my positioning really that important?”

Ye Ci held some pity for the player Elves were a naturally agile race with high Agility and low Endurance. He was placing himself at a disadvantage by choosing to be a Warrior as an Elf. But there was no weak character classes in the game, and only incompetent players.

“Yes.” she nodded at the Warrior, “It will come in handy in many situations. You can even improve your damage output in a battle with good positioning.”

The Elven Warrior’s eyes immediately brightened up at Ye Ci’s words, “Really? I can increase my damage output by doing that?”

Ye Ci groaned lightly when she noticed his sincere expression, “To be honest with you, Elves are not suited to be Warriors. Humans, Dwarves, and even Orcs were more suitable for this class. But it does not mean that you’re completely useless. Elves have high Agility that can affect one’s movement speed, attack speed, and critical attack. You might not be able to be a tank, but you can still play as a DPS as you will receive more boost in your Agility and Critical Rate than the other Warriors of the same level. As long as you have the right gear, and have a good game sense, you’ll be a very good DPS in your team.”

The Warrior grew even more excited when he listened to Ye Ci’s explanation, “Thank you! You’ve filled me with hope! I was actually thinking of deleting my account.”

Just then, Andriel seemed to have broken out of his train of thoughts. Ye Ci nodded at the Elven Warrior and gestured with her hand that she had a quest to complete. The Warrior nodded and stood to the side.

“I remember it now. Dauer was the one who placed the bow into the barrier. How did he do that again?” Andriel nodded after a slight pause, “Ah! He has five arrows with him. Each of them has a different color, which represents a different type of magic. The barrier disappeared when he placed all five of his arrows on the altar, and it was restored when the arrows were removed.”

“Five arrows?” Ye Ci raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. I believe Tamra has handed you a Poison Arrow. It was one of Dau’er’s five arrows. You’ll be able to unlock the barrier by gathering all five of Dau’er’s arrows.”

“Thank you, great hero.” Ye Ci bade her farewell with Andriel after receiving the answer she needed.

She noticed the Warrior still standing nearby and raised an eyebrow, “What is it?”

“Hey, you seem like you’re very good at the game. Can you be my teacher? I don’t need you to help me with leveling or with my gears. All I need is for you to give me some pointers from time to time.” requested the Elven Warrior.

Ye Ci shook her head at the player, “I’m sorry, but I do not like doing something like this. If you want to improve, you’ll have to train yourself. If you want, you can talk to Timely Rain of Upwards Ho! when you get to lvl60. He’ll sort you out.”

“Upwards Ho!?” the player’s eyes widened with surprise, “Are you perhaps Gongzi You!?”

Ye Ci responded with a wave of her hand, “I hope you’ll be joining us in the future!”

“I will!”

Of the five arrows of Dau’er, both Ye Ci and Fleeting Time had already collected two of them each, but the location of the Frost Arrow remained unknown.

That was why Ye Ci decided to contact Fleeting Time and ask about the fifth arrow. After all, things would be easier if they could work together.

With the decision made, Ye Ci traveled to Hero City of the Middle Continent.

She received a system notification before she could arrive at her destination. It was a message informing players to log out of the game as a new patch would soon be introduced to the game.

A frown appeared on Ye Ci’s face. What is Wang Jiangnan doing? Didn’t the officials make an announcement that they will not be releasing a patch so soon two days ago? Of course, she knew that there was no use pondering the question. Her priority at the moment was to look for a suitable spot to log out of the game.

Her character’s status would be rolled back by the system if she was still online when the servers were shut down. She decided to log out of the game while still in the air, as even if Ol’ Six was returned to her pet inventory, she could always activate Featherfall to prevent any fall damage.

Ye Ci immediately went to her computer once she was out of the game, and began searching for information about the patch.

It was the first patch released by Wang Jiangnan as the lead developer of Fate. It was a deciding moment for the man’s career.

Her heart was thumping fast despite her confidence in Wang Jiangnan’s abilities. Her reincarnation had caused a butterfly effect that might change the course of history that she knew, and she was worried for Wang Jiangnan.

The patch introduced many new dungeons into the game, as well as something known as the Space-time Maelstrom. Players could explore many mysterious maps by traveling through the maelstrom, and it was also one of the few things that were able to gain Ye Ci’s interest.

Many changes were also brought upon the game by the new patch.

The requirements for Life Players to level and master their skills were lowered, but blueprints and recipes became rarer in the game. They could only be obtained from loot drops of BOSSes or quests designed specifically for Life Players.

There was also a series of systems in place to make the game friendlier to new players so that they could get used to Fate easier and catch up with the progress of the older players.

And the Fortress System was finally introduced in the game. Guilds could occupy empty fortresses scattered across different maps, and declare war on fortresses held by other guilds.

The new patch also saw the addition of hidden races that were mutations of the original races available to players that came with their own unique skills.

There were also a few minor changes made to the skills of each class that were already in the game. But the changes meant little for Ye Ci as only a few melee skills that she barely used in combat were changed.

A smile spread across Ye Ci’s face as she read through the patch notes. The new patch introduced a whole new world to Fate. The game had lost a significant number of players due to Golden Era’s actions, and Wang Jiangnan’s new patch would be able to attract even more players into the game.

She could tell that Wang Jiangnan was working hard to obliterate the threat posed by Golden Era and force the guild out of the game.

Good job, Wang Jiangnan!