MMORPG: Rebirth of the Legendary Guardian

”Little brat, how much longer are you gonna take??”

”I’m not a gazelle, you buffoon, take it easy, jeez!”

”Well, hurry up, Pride members are lurking about, they had their eyes on the [Pet Mount]! They’re probably gathering their men up as we speak! I’m not risking my neck for you, if there’s too many of them, I’m outta there!”

”Please, no! You are the ferocious and mighty noob tank, surely you can take on a hundred of them, I’ll even send you my cousin’s nudes,” Wei Yan Er was genuinely frantic, even bringing up an ultimate ‘weapon’!

Zhang Yang chuckled, saying, ”Faster!”

He had the {Shadow of the Void} on hand, which was why he was totally unafraid of being rounded up or ambushed! In a worst case scenario, he can still activate the [Lover’s Charm] to be spirited away to Sun Xin Yu’s location. He already had many options planned.

As expected, Floating Fire Ball soon returned with an additional 20+ players behind him, making up a party of 25 players! Zhang Yang fanned his vision across them and saw that there were only five spellcasters. He smiled to himself confidently. Maybe running was no longer needed…!

”Zhan Yu, on second thought, perhaps you should bow to me this time!” Floating Fire Ball was brimming with confidence, as he folded his arms and flashed a cocky grin.

Zhang Yang made an exaggerated show of climbing up his [Mount], and with a shake of his [Battle Axe], he said, ”Well, we could have done this the easy way, but if you insist on being difficult….the hard way it is!”

”...K-Kill!”

All 25 members of the Pride roared in unity, as their long-ranged players started unleashing volley after volley. Zhang Yang calmly gazed up at the oncoming projectiles, and looked back down to see the melee players getting into formation. They started cutting off his routes of escape, and started their advancement.

Zhang Yang rode out on his bear like a Mack truck that bodily met the melee players, sending them flying. Pride was extremely far behind when it came to dungeon progression. Besides Floating Fire Ball who had a full set of Gray-Silver equipment, most of the players were barely past level 50, and had Green-Copper equipment at most. The melee-profession players could not even get past Zhang Yang’s defense value, causing absolutely no damage, and the only threat he faced was from the small bunch of Spellcasters at the back of the party!

Unfortunately, there were so few of them that they hardly made any difference!

Gong! Gong! Gong!

Zhang Yang smacked into a Thief, sending the player flying into a tree. At this point, his [Mount] had considerably slowed down, allowing the other players to round up on him.

{Blood Rage}, {Horizontal Sweep}!

A series of magnificent damage values appeared across the battlefield. The main purpose of this assault was not to hurt his enemies, but to reveal the Thieves who happened to be in {stealth}. To expose them would be to deny them the opportunity of using their {Ambush} skills! Even if they couldn’t hurt him, they would still afflict some annoying status effects!

{Sanction}!

Kindling Chest Hair threw his hammer at Zhang Yang, instantly stunning Zhang Yang for 5 seconds as golden start glimmered around his head!

Without hesitation, Zhang Yang activated {Warrior’s Will}, and jumped right off Whitey. Floating Fire Ball had taken out his [Sealing Leash], ready to subdue the Fire Chocobo Chick!

He was definitely looking down on Zhang Yang if he believed that a single stun would buy him enough time!

Shoof! {Wild Charge}! At Zhang Yang’s mental command, Whitey had charged at Floating Fire Ball, as Zhang Yang forced his way through to the battle line of the ranged attackers.

‘-696!’

‘-742!’

‘-645!’

‘-821!’

The {Fireballs} and the {Frost Arrow} coming from the four spellcasters pounded into Zhang Yang, barely tickling him. With the level 50 Copper-Green equipment on them, their spell damages could not even exceed 700 points.. Even using their most powerful skills such as {Explosive Flame}, and {Frost Dragon Slayer}, which multiplied their base magic attacks by threefold, they simply could not hurt Zhang Yang!

Meanwhile, the Hunter-profession players might as well have been sprinkling Zhang Yang with soy-sauce, as their arrows bounced off uselessly, causing no more than zero damage!

What was the main purpose of playing online games? It was all about the equipment, wasn’t it? The differences between Copper-Green and Yellow-Gold were miles apart!

Shoof! Zhang Yang dashed forward towards a caster with {Charge}.

It had taken him less than eight seconds to reach the back row, and the critical attack of {Destructive Smash} which was boosted by the effect of {Warrior’s Will} was still in effect!

‘-8,848!’ {Destructive Smash}, critical hit!

”Argh!” that caster only had a total of 5120 health points, there was no way he could have warded off the blow! He instantly turned into a flash of white light and crumpled to the ground!

‘-136!’

‘-158!’

‘-182!’

Both {Explosive Flame} and {Frost Dragon Slayer} had 10-second cool down periods. As a result, the Spellcasters had could only attack using their inferior {Fireballs} and {Frost Arrows} which only multiplied their magical attacks by two! If the previous volley had been pathetic, this one was even worse!

However, these ranged players had been stationed far away from each other under the rational directing of Floating Fire Ball, to prevent Zhang Yang from having the chance to catch them all in one draft.

The melee attackers of Pride had caught up, and surrounded him once again!

Although these players could not inflict much damage, their status effect skills, be it speed reduction, bind, or stun, were infuriatingly bothersome! Zhang Yang immediately summoned his [Servant - Clear Lotus], and commanded her enter {Stealth} while he charged at Kindling Chest Hair and the others.

{Concussion Shot}, {Speed Reduction Venom}, a bunch of status effect skills were thrown right onto Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang plowed through it all, ignoring their effects. He would only have to ward off {Stun} statuses! It was not worth using up his skills on these status effects that only slowed him down, not stopping him completely in his tracks. The remaining three spellcasters could still fire their {Explosive Flame} and {Frost Dragon Slayer} without any cool down restrictions, and could possibly remove his HP in 20 seconds or so. In the meantime, he would have to kill the players around him!

He still had his {Berserker’s Heal} to be used when the time comes to return to full power in no time!

{Blast Wave}!

Zhang Yang took two steps back, angling himself before sending out the shockwave, stunning all the melee attackers of the Pride for 4 seconds!

{Thunder Strike}!

After two AoE attacks, the his targets were almost close to death. If not for the healers practically breaking their backs in healing their team mates, they would have already been wiped out!

”Sun of the beach, someone get this bear off me!” Floating Fire Ball was screaming at the top of his lungs.

The [Gold-Eared Bear King] is a Yellow-Gold [Pet Mount], capable of dishing out over 1,900 damage per second, while Floating Fire Ball was only dressed in thin cloth armor that hardly provided much defense. As Whitey basically smacked him around with its huge paws, the leader of Pride was dying on his feet already!

Floating Fire Ball quickly activated an {Ice Barrier}, entering an immobile, invincible state. He continued screaming for help.

Zhang Yang laughed out loud and said, ”I’m truly sorry, they’re too busy saving their own asses!”

Although there were four healers of Pride backing them up, Zhang Yang’s repeated AoE attacks had left up to 13 melee attackers stumbling about. The healers could not possibly keep all of them alive at the same time, as Zhang Yang began targeting those who were closest to death!

{Force Strike}!

{Shield Bash}!

With each hit killing one player at a time, even the accompanying damage that came with {Cripple Defense} had reached up to 1000+! Zhang Yang gave a few quick slashes here and there for good measure.

Zhang Yang was 4 seconds away from being cleared of all the status effects, while Pride was left with only nine melee attackers!

{Kidney Shot}!

The Thieves could not afford to wait for the 5-star {Kidney Shot}, the first thief only managing to save up 2-stars before he used it anyway, forcing Zhang Yang into a 3-second stun status.

{Substitute} skill activated!

Zhang Yang went straight into a 5-second period invincibility, and as [Servant - Clear Lotus] was already in {Stealth} as per commanded earlier on, the other opponents could not even hit her as they could not even see her - if they even knew that she existed in the first place!

Slice, dice! Slash, hack!

By the time he was no longer invincible, another three players had fallen!

{Horizontal Sweep}!

{Thunder Strike}!

In the chaotic mess of horrified screams, more bodies fell! Zhang Yang swung his [Battle Axe] up and down, activating another {Destructive Smash} that swept across the battle field, and the last melee attacker crumpled to the ground!

”Mother of god, he’s wiped out our front line!”

”My god, he still has three quarters of his HP! How do we even fight him?!”

The gang of the Pride couldn’t help screaming out loud, faced with a monster of a player! What else could they do?

The difference between equipment grades have been made apparent here!

If Daffodil Daydream was the one who engaging him, she actually stood a chance of killing him in less than 20 seconds! Furthermore, Daffodil Daydream was only equipped with Level 50 equipment. If she got to level 60 while being fully decked out in Yellow-Gold, she would have forced Zhang Yang against the ropes, bringing out all his emergency skills!

Previously, Zhang Yang had slaughtered up to 30 players of Pride while equipped with an incomplete set of Gray-Silver grade equipment. Now that he surpassed his opponents by two grades of higher leveled equipment, it was a total bloodfest!

”F*cking hell! F*ck f*ck f*ck!” the {Ice Barrier} would only last for 10 seconds, and Floating Fire Ball would still find himself smacked around like a rag doll when Whitey resumed its attacks. Thanks to a knight healer busting his ass to heal Floating Fire Ball, he was not yet dead. However, could a Copper-Green grade healer possibly heal more than the damage values inflicted by a Yellow-Gold [Pet Mount]?

That would be a big no!

Zhang Yang was already rushing towards the ranged attackers who cowered in response.

”Boss, we are totally no match to him, we should retreat!” someone cried out. While the spellcasters were able to do some damage, the Hunters had totally given up, seeing how their own attacks inflicted zero damage on their opponent! Some of them even dropped their bows and fell to their knees in despair. The healers glumly stood at their positions as they mechanically healed their team mates. Everyone was shell shocked. Against the god-slayer Zhang Yang, their healing effects were just like fireworks being set off in the midst of actual explosions!

”Retreat! Retreat!” Floating Fire Ball shouted in embarrassment. Dying may not deduct their levels, but their experience points would still be removed. It requires approximately seven days to level up once at their levels, and that amount of time is no joke!

However, can he really get away?

What would be the first thing that comes to mind when you hear about [Pet Mount]s? Speed? To try outrunning a [Pet Mount] would be complete idiocy!

Floating Fire Ball only managed a few steps before he was flattened by Whitey’s paws!

Pak!

A glittering silver hat dropped right on the ground beside the dead bpdy of Floating Fire Ball. Zhang Yang immediately ran over to pick it up. Such equipment was already beneath him, but if he could do it to spite Floating Fire Ball, why not?

The others scattered. Zhang Yang quickly mounted Whitey and gave chase.

Another three of them were brutally killed, before the others managed to tear their teleportation scrolls up, vanishing into thin air.

In his previous life, some high level players would occasionally block the main entrance of low leveled territories and initiate battles of one versus many. Zhang Yang had never understood the purpose of doing so. There was no fun in it at all.

In reality, even a highly trained operative of any renowned special forces would be unable to stand up to a hundred civilians in direct combat. But in a game, with good enough equipment and sufficient levels, such a fantasy could be realized! No wonder the Americans loved producing action heroes, it just felt great to watch a single person take out an army!

Firstly, it was torture for the newbies. It was just unfair and callous. If they had been similarly leveled and equipped, it would have been a different story!

Of course, Zhang Yang would never deliberately go around killing low level players just for the sake of fun and adrenaline, however, he was basically acting in self-defense here! It would be injustice to the entire set of equipment on his body if he did not exercise a display of his power over their bratty sentiments!

Almost twenty minutes later, Wei Yan Er finally arrived, looking more frantic than he had ever seen her, even during large scale battles.

Seeing Zhang Yang from afar, she screamed in her high pitched voice at Zhang Yang, ”Noob tank, is my baby still there?”

Zhang Yang frowned a little and spoke softly the party channel, ”Little girl, don’t you know there is something called the party channel?”

”I love to shout, why can’t I?” Wei Yan Er ran over to Zhang Yang, scanning his surroundings, and immediately spotted the nestling. Her face cracked into a joyful grin and she ran over to it, ”Hey birdie, you’re going to be mine soon, wahahaha!”

”... You did not just watch some other series like ‘A Bride for a Ride1’, did you?”

”Hmph, I don’t have time for you now, leave me be!” Wei Yan Er took out her [Sealing Leash] from her backpack, but she held on to it, clasping it between her palms as the prayed, ”To all the gods up there in the sky, please give me your blessings, let me get it in one attempt!”

She chanted those lines a few more times like some weird mantra before throwing out her [Sealing Leash] in excitement.

10%, 20%, 30%... Pak, failed!

”Sigh, this brat is such a pain to deal with, even those gods weren’t bothered about you!” Zhang Yang could not help himself but ridicule her.

”Hmph! They’re just lazy, I don’t believe in gods anyway!” Wei Yan Er took a 180 degree turn from her apparent polytheism, and she threw another [Sealing Leash], uttering a completely different line, ”I believe in Chun Ge2, that there is a bird!”

Zhang Yang almost fell off his mount, choking on his own breath as he howled in laughter.

Pak, failed!

Wei Yan Er roared furiously, ”Chun Ge is also unreliable!”

Zhang Yang collapsed in laughter and said, ”Little girl, two [Sealing Leash]es are worth 200 gold pieces!”

Wei Yan Er bitterly glared at him, ”Noob tank, you must compensate me!”

”Why?”

”You called me over for this! If you hadn’t called me over, how would I end up wasting two [Sealing Leash]? This is causality! Cause and effect, understand?”

Zhang Yang felt the familiar drip of cold sweat running down his head. This pair of sisters had a level of stinginess that could be categorized as a unique form of art by itself!

”Little girl, why do you two...save up so much?” Zhang Yang could not hold his urge to ask her anymore.

”If I don’t save up, not even 50,000 dollars will be enough for me!” Wei Yan Er told him poignantly.

Zhang Yang blinked stupidly for a moment, then he asked, ”You spend over 50,000 dollars in a month?” From his point of view, these two could have stingily abstained from spending even a fraction of that in a month, it was very much like them!

”Sigh, perfumes, handbags, the money will be gone after a few simple purchases, and I have to ask anything more from cousin sister! Cousin sister used to only have 50,000 dollars as her pocket money, so she would scrape anything more than that from me, she caused me so much pain that I eventually I learned how to save up money myself!” Wei Yan Er pouted her mouth discontentedly, and continued, ”Now that cousin sister has become rich, she’s become a total miser! Sigh... To eat a meal in her house, I would be required to do house chores! She used to have a maid in her house, but ever since I started going over for meals, the maid was discharged, my life is now bitter!”

... so much self-contradiction in such a twisted history!

”Yea! I got it! I got it!” Wei Yan Er jumped up in joy, as the fifth attempt was successful!

[Fire Chocobo] (Gray-Silver Battle Mount)

Level: 0

HP: 50

Little girl immediately summoned the nestling out, and due to the ‘Summoning Bond’, the nestling naturally behaved in a way that made her look like the surrogate parent. It continually nuzzled its little head against the ankle of Wei Yan Er, looking extremely cute while doing so!

”Noob tank, I’ve got a birdie now!”

TL Notes:

1. A Bride for a Ride: A comedy that revolves around Foolhardy Tiger Wong who is annoyed with his mother’s constant nagging for him to get married. He therefore snatches Chow Man-bun, a pretty man disguised as a girl, who later met his sister and turned into a bizarre triangle.

2. Chun Ge: The stage name of a female singer in China (Chris Lee) who dresses up androgynously, then the term was altered over the time and became a cultural spoof.