My Players Are So Fierce

On October 30, 1111 of the Era, the first autumn rain in Transia arrived as expected. After a night of rainfall, the temperature dropped noticeably the next day. Professor Malcolm wore a windbreaker when he came to work.

Its style was a classic men’s long windbreaker that had never appeared in this world. You have to admit, the otherworldly style clothes made by Lady Aqua’s apprentices gave the already scholarly professor an extra touch of mature male charm, making the young ladies in the administrative office steal glances at him from time to time.

“Winter is coming.”

As the First Deputy Regent, the professor had no time to pay attention to his male charm at the moment.

He stood by the window of his office, looking at the third residential building being constructed in the city, feeling somewhat worried.

“At the current pace, we should be able to move the residents into the new houses before the first snow falls, but I don’t know if the ‘floor heating’ system designed by Grayman will be effective.

Fortunately, the active Bataxin Chamber of Commerce has ensured sufficient food supplies, and the fish catch from the Ice Bay region has already been sent to the underground cellar of Crimson Citadel. Next, we need to have the collectors quickly gather some storable fruits and vegetables.”

The professor turned around and recorded his thoughts in his administrative journal. There were many more livelihood issues that concerned him.

For example, the upcoming recruitment of refugees across the entire Transia region. If those refugees couldn’t be properly settled before the harsh winter arrives, it could easily lead to a terrible disaster.

Luckily, the wise Professor Chen had already provided him with a simple construction plan for centralized shacks with “ground dragons”. Those buildings could be constructed quickly enough, but they would probably need to hurry and plan out several more large concentration camps to accommodate the refugees.

Another issue was the Blood Servant prisoners who were about to be sent back to Transia. Although the plan for settling these fellows had been determined, how to guide them to reintegrate into Lord Murphy’s new order was also a matter that needed attention.

“Knock, knock”

The knocking on the door interrupted Professor Malcolm’s contemplation.

He looked up to see his secretary, who was also his wife and former student, Fiona, walking into the office with several letters.

When they were alone, Mrs. Fiona didn’t hesitate to show her love for her husband. She kissed the professor on the cheek and handed him the letters, saying:

“These are reply letters from your students and friends, sent through the Carpe family’s courier channel. But I think you might be disappointed.

They don’t seem interested in your invitation.”

“Isn’t that expected?”

The professor sighed, opening the envelopes while saying:

“They’re not like Miriam. They already have their own life and career plans. Unless they encounter some life-changing event, I suppose none of them would be willing to give up their comfortable lives elsewhere to come to this isolated place called Transia.

By the way, Fiona, do you still plan to move to Bataxin city with the children? Or should I apply to Lord Murphy to send you and the children back to Shaldor port first?”

“Hmph”

At this question, Mrs. Fiona immediately snorted. She put her hands on her hips and scolded her husband:

“Can I leave now? You’ve found me so many ‘students’ to teach, what about those children in the administrative class if I leave now?

You just keep being naughty!

However, the two children indeed can’t stay in Transia. They need education. We’ll have to send them back to Shaldor port next spring and entrust them to our friends’ care.” ℞ÁΝО₿Е𝙎

“Next spring… Right, we need to send them away before the Black Disaster arrives.”

Thinking of the impending risk of the Black Disaster, the professor suddenly felt guilty towards his wife. He held Mrs. Fiona’s hand and said softly:

“It’s all my fault for insisting on staying here, dragging you into this whirlpool as well.”

“No need to apologize, my Malcolm.”

Mrs. Fiona, however, saw it differently. She smiled and reached out to smooth the professor’s graying hair, saying softly:

“I know you’ve always felt guilty about your life being derailed by the war, and I haven’t seen you so energetic for a long time.

Obviously, you’ve found some kind of belief you’ve been pursuing all your life in this destined land of Transia. I was your student, I know you have a great pursuit.

Moreover, even from a realistic perspective, what kind of treatment could you get if you left here?

If that little girl Miriam can see the bright future, how could I possibly turn a blind eye to it?

Work hard, my husband. As commoners by birth, we might truly be able to secure a lifetime of blessings for our children that they’ll never exhaust.”

“It’s so good that you understand me.”

The professor smiled, holding his wife’s waist that was no longer as slender as in her youth. The two shared a light kiss in the office, but the next second the door was pushed open, and Miriam stood at the doorway with a stack of documents, momentarily at a loss.

“Uh, I’ll come back later, Professor! Sorry!”

The Crimson Regent screamed and ran out, closing the door. But soon she reminded from outside:

“Um, Mrs. Fiona, you’d better change into formal attire quickly. Your knighting ceremony will be held this afternoon. Lord Murphy has decided to grant you the title of ‘Administrative Knight’, and Professor Malcolm will also officially receive the title of ‘Administrative Baron’. Your fief will be arranged in Anderma Hills.

Of course, if you’re not satisfied with that fief, we can discuss it. The Countess of Seicob’s domain is also an option.

Lord Murphy has instructed that you can freely choose your own fief.”

This panicked shout made the old couple look at each other and laugh. Professor Malcolm shook his head and released his blushing wife, saying softly:

“Our lord truly understands people’s hearts. He always knows when to dangle a carrot to make us work harder.

Look, you were just talking about the blessings for our descendants, and in the blink of an eye, we have a hereditary fief.”

“We’ll have to choose carefully.”

Mrs. Fiona patted her cheeks to calm herself down. She pondered and said:

“How about next to Bataxin city? The business atmosphere is strong there, and it will definitely become the commercial center of Transia in the future.”

“Mm-hmm, it’s all up to you. I won’t participate in this decision, it’s all yours to decide, Lady Fiona.”

Professor Malcolm made a simple gesture of respect, earning a fierce glare from his wife. She turned to leave but looked back with a charming smile when opening the door, saying softly:

“How does it feel to have a knight as your wife, Baron Malcolm?”

The professor’s expression immediately turned pained.

Judging from his wife’s smile, he knew he couldn’t escape that marital duty tonight. Sigh, getting promoted and becoming wealthy, it seems not everything is good!

——

【Bang】

As white smoke billowed from the exhaust pipe of the miniature steam boiler at the back of the hunting rifle, the bullet accelerated to several times the speed of sound flew out, precisely blowing open the back of a gnoll hunter’s skull from a distance of 300 meters. Its body crashed to the ground, startling the dire wolf beneath it and the bloodthirsty hyenas beside it to run away in panic.

“Cool!”

Electronic Succubus Old Tune revealed a satisfied smile of a cold-blooded hunter, patting the precision engineered hunting rifle he had spent a fortune to purchase from Little Count Sharon. He was quite fond of it.

As a ranger by main profession and gunner by secondary profession, he had put all his skills into the art of hunting. Now with a weapon that suited him well, he could finally unleash his destructive power to the fullest.

Old Tune took out a round bullet from the ammunition pouch on his belt and loaded it into the chamber. This sniper hunting rifle was good in every aspect – range, accuracy, and especially destructive power far surpassed ordinary soldier’s muskets. At a distance of 100 meters, it could easily bring an elite enemy to near death. If aimed well and triggered a ‘critical hit’, an instant kill was not out of the question.

The only downside was this single-shot mode, which was indeed a bit lethal. But considering that the steam boiler provided the kinetic energy, a slower firing speed was understandable.

He didn’t hang out with Meow King today, mainly because Meow King wasn’t online and had gone to discuss something with Onboard Joy Stick who had come from afar. So the members of the “Big Bird Spin Spin Spin” team got a chance to engage in free activities.

Little Hand and the other three took the newly joined Thirty-Year-Old Tobacco Mulberry to farm dungeons for equipment, but Old Tune didn’t participate.

His personality was more of the go-with-the-flow type. Even when playing games, his desire for good equipment wasn’t particularly strong. He enjoyed the fun of playing, and if it weren’t for a group of good buddies leading him, perhaps Old Tune would be more suited for a “lone wolf playstyle”.

He had set a goal for himself.

He planned to grind reputation with the Adventurer’s Guild after the gnoll hunting activity ended. He had privately studied that reputation system repeatedly, and after reaching Revered status, he could ask Natalie or Old Eugene for techniques to tame his own “hunting companion”.

Old Tune had always wanted a fierce and agile hunting falcon, or an eagle that could help in fights as his companion, not only for reconnaissance but also to keep him company when alone.

Ah, this man who often washes his feet is actually a sensitive young man who longs for the comfort of others.

“Aim.”

He raised the hunting rifle to his chest at his chosen sniping spot, observing the distance through the long, thin scope mounted on the gun, then locked onto a gnoll barbarian that was sneakily trying to escape to the distance.

The number of these creatures had sharply decreased recently, especially after the great warlord Kenport Gnawbone was taken down. The gnolls in Transia seemed to have vanished overnight.

But this was good too, doesn’t it mean that this large-scale operation that had lasted for nearly 30 days was about to come to an end?

To be honest, it’s quite boring to keep focusing on killing gnolls. Playing games should involve trying more playstyles.

Thinking this, Old Tune pulled the trigger.

“Bang”

The low sound brought a slight vibration, and the gnoll barbarian’s skull exploded in Old Tune’s scope in the distance, like the bursting of a crimson flower, filled with the desolate beauty that death should have.

But the next second…

【Ding! The number of gnolls within Transia’s borders has been reduced below the safety threshold. The ‘Gnoll Disaster’ quest officially ends! Starting calculation now, score pool sealed!

Settlement will be completed in 4 hours.

Congratulations to tester ‘Electronic Succubus Old Tune’ for making the final kill, personal score +50, team score +50!】

“Holy shit! Awesome!”

Old Tune immediately grinned, feeling that his bad luck had finally turned around. He stood up, slung his beloved hunting rifle over his back, and opened his character interface to carefully look at the now “closed” personal scoreboard.

Apart from the top two “psycho killers” Brother Mao and Sister Pomegranate who had already touched the edge of 10,000 points, the score differences between other top-ranking players were not significant.

Four tough guys from Brother Mao’s team were on the list, Onboard Joy Stick also took a spot, as well as Little Ashina from the girls’ team. The remaining few were occupied by student players.

Meow King and his team, due to dying once before and missing the start of the activity, had their best performer, Old Tune, only ranking 13th. Unexpectedly, this accidental addition of 50 points allowed him to break into the top 10.

He was just 3 points ahead of Invincible Tyrannosaurus Cheche who was in 11th place.

This was awkward.

“Damn! You cheated, right? How can it be like this? Cheche is not convinced, Cheche wants to file a complaint!”

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Cheche’s composure immediately crumbled.

He complained to Old Tune, leaving the latter at a loss for words. Who knew that the last kill in this score activity would have an additional score reward?

With no choice, he could only try to pacify Cheche, promising to give him one of the seven ‘Hunter’s Keys’ he could get with his current score. This finally calmed Cheche down.

Old Tune felt guilty, after all, according to the original ranking, this 10th place should indeed have belonged to Cheche.

But he soon became excited.

The top 10 would be rewarded with an additional Clan Warrior Treasure Chest Key, which was one of the few ways to obtain the best equipment currently available in the game.

He didn’t expect to get anything good, but at least it shouldn’t be like last time when he got something he couldn’t use, which would be a big loss.

After thinking about it, Old Tune came up with a good idea.

He privately messaged Cheche:

Electronic Succubus Old Tune: 【I know you want that Clan Warrior Treasure Chest Key. How about this, after I get the key, you come and open it!】

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Cheche: 【??? Are you crazy? You’re just giving it to me like this? I was just complaining, it’s really not necessary, Old Tune.

You earned that 10th place with your skills, it’s not like you really exploited a bug. I was just venting, nothing else, don’t think too much about it.】

Electronic Succubus Old Tune: 【No, no, I’m serious. You know our team is like it’s been cursed by something dirty. Whenever we need luck, we can never have good results. I feel like I won’t be lucky this time either, so what I mean is, you help me open it.

If it opens something you can use, you take it and give me some gold coins as compensation.

If it opens something I can use, I’ll give you gold coins as compensation.

If we can both use it, then】

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Cheche: 【Then it’s yours, nothing to say, after all it’s your key. Ha, Cheche is going offline now to take a good bath and put on some perfume to boost my luck!

Tonight, let’s see how I can make you red-handed!】

Electronic Succubus Old Tune: 【Mm, I leave it to you then, young man. clasped hands emoji】

Meanwhile, on the other side, Sister Pomegranate, who was preparing to take Lady Aqua, Frostfang Claw, and several other newbies to the Blood Vulture Halls team dungeon in Crimson Citadel, suddenly felt her phone vibrate.

She told her companions she was AFK, then took off her helmet and picked up her phone to take a look. She found it was a call from Meow King. After answering, Meow King, who had been drinking to welcome Brother Stick and was so drunk his tongue was thick, still managed to stutter out his request, leaving Sister Pomegranate bewildered.

What?

Give me all your keys to open?

Are you planning to leech off my luck?

Don’t even think about it, you cunning social person. Although I don’t know why your team seems to be cursed by something dirty and extraordinarily unlucky, the lessons are there. Sister Pomegranate, although a true-blue materialist, also feels it’s better not to associate too much with Meow King’s gang of black-handed mafia before opening treasure chests.

What if I turn black too?

And she has her own things to do, where would she find time to help Meow King and his team open treasure chests?

“Go find Fangfang, yes, Frostfang Claw. That kid has great luck. When fighting the Rat King Doomsday dungeon, he got a hidden drop on his first try.

I heard that Typal, who went to fight the dungeon with him, also had good luck. It’s said he triggered a Hidden Quest or something in the dungeon. Go bother them.

That’s it then, I’m waiting to do a team dungeon here, hanging up.”