The Great Thief

His PVP points were so high; when would he be able to clear them out?!

Lu Li began to regret undertaking this quest; the strategies he had read never mentioned anything about this. He knew there was something wrong when he saw the human slaves, but didn’t realize that their deaths would increase his PVP points.

“Dammed PVP points system,” he thought.

After completing the quest, Lu Li was transported directly back to the city.

He didn’t want to stay in the Barrenlands for any longer than he had to. Who would have thought that he would accumulate such a large amount of PVP points while in enemy territory?

Lu Li wasn’t sure if this was simply just in his head, but he felt a sense of malice from the NPCs and players who saw him and his 34 PVP points.

He needed to get rid of his PVP points.

After clearing out his backpack, he immediately went to the forums to make a lengthy post. He then went to the Exchange Hall and put in a few more ‘The World is so Big’ before getting ready to go to the Silverwing Outpost.

The remaining scrolls had already vanished. Lu Li couldn’t help but feel it was a pity.

“Ah, my colleague. I’m so happy to see that you made it unscathed.”

Upon seeing Lu Li, Vinda Nightwing immediately moved past the other players to greet him.

‘Dammit, how can you say that I made it unscathed?’ Lu Li wanted to cry at him, but instead said, “Thanks to your generous blessings, I was able to complete the quest. All glory to Elune.”

“Here is your reward. I hope you will continue to provide your great services,” Vinda Nightwing said with great satisfaction.

The system prompted Lu Li that he had gained EXP; he was now LV21 at 33% EXP. The second place on the Level Rankings was taken by Azure Sea Breeze who was LV19. Everyone else was LV18.

In addition to the EXP reward, there was also a piece of equipment.

However, it was worse than what he already had equipped, so he had to sell it.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain equipment that was better than what he already had.

Lu Li left the Silverwing Outpost feeling dejected. He didn’t want to be the hero that burned down the Orc’s supplies. In his heart, he repeatedly cursed at the PVP points system.

This system was something that had been phased out a long time ago in the virtual world, but was now seeing a new resurgence.

Lu Li noticed two players who began to walk towards him. They were laughing among themselves, but he couldn’t help but feel like their laughs were a little fake. He also saw that one of the players had just taken out their Magic Staff, while the other was holding their Bow and arrows.

Whoosh…

Arrows flew towards him and skills were being channeled. If Lu Li hadn’t glanced at them, they might have successfully pulled off their sneak attack.

Gale Steps!

This blocked all the attacks and put Lu Li into Stealth.

“No wonder his PVP is so high – this Thief has Gale Steps. This isn’t Water Fairy right?” the Mage shouted, as his skills hit nothing but air.

“Shouldn’t be – he has a male stature. Be careful though,” the hunter said, as he summoned his pet.

This was strange – his face was definitely covered. How could they have recognized him?

Lu Li scratched his head in wonder before suddenly noticing a few faint words floating above their heads.

Names above heads had long since been removed, so these words couldn’t be their names. Lu Li looked carefully and discovered that they read “Punisher”.

Punisher… isn’t that the word used for a Bounty quest?

The new system was more likely to designate a bounty to players with high PVP points. Players without PVP points would never be designated a bounty.

After receiving a Bounty Quest, a PVP list would be displayed, which showed the PVP points of players in a descending order.

However, this list did not display the names of those players – there was only a digital code in that column.

As such, players who took Bounty Quests never really knew the true identity of their targets. They just needed to kill their target to gain their rewards.

Lu Li felt depressed. His PVP points were easily the highest, so it was no wonder that he was so quickly recognized. While his two assailants had the word ‘Punisher’ above their heads, they also saw a word displayed above their target.

This word was a particularly incriminating one: ‘Guilty’.

Punishers would obviously exert their punishment on the guilty.

Dammit, how could I have been so dumb?!

The fact that there was a bounty on Lu Li didn’t anger him. In fact, it made him happy.

This was his opportunity to deplete his PVP points!

Lu Li ignored the two players who had taken his Bounty Quest. He immediately ran towards the Return Point, transported to Astrana and went straight into the Mercenary Hall.

“Respected Elder, I want to take a Bounty Quest.”

Lu Li handed over a gold coin and presented his request to the old, Elven Clerk with a smile.

The elderly wizard took the gold coin and tossed a badge at Lu Li.

“Choose a target from this list. This badge will record all your information – do not lose it.”

The badge, which was of a normal size, resembled a small skull that represented death. Its front face had the word “Kill” on it, while the back read “First Order Bounty Hunter”.

The Bounty Hunter Badge was the identity of the Bounty System Hunters. With this badge, a player could take and complete quests to accumulate points. When a player had enough points, they could become a more advanced Bounty Hunter.

Lu Li opened up the PVP list. To his surprise, it was quite lengthy. There were about one thousand players who had accumulated PVP points.

The player with the highest PVP points on the list was No.1189 at 34 points. Next to this entry were 32 stars, which corresponded to the 32 Bounty Hunters who had accepted that quest. These players could periodically pay the system to check Lu Li’s coordinates.

The interval between queries was determined by a player’s Bounty Hunter level. It was unlikely that any player had reached the second level, so all queries would have had a one hour cooldown.

However, there was a way around this. Players could query the system and share the information between a few players in their party. This would allow them to make multiple queries in the hour, but even still, only one person would be able to complete the quest.

The top player with 34 PVP points was a very attractive target, but Lu Li could only tearfully ignore it.

The second player, who was No.263, was quite far behind at only 9 points. Even he was still marked by a dozen stars.

Nine points were nothing to be scoffed at – to accumulate so many without dying meant that he was quite strong.

Lu Li confirmed his selection of No.263.

He then queried the system for the coordinates.

89216, 36725, 48.

His target wasn’t actually too far from him. Lu Li knew the location clearly in his mind and bolted towards it.

Haste was necessary, as this was the nature of Bounty Quests. What if the target was moving? Or if someone else got there first? If he failed the quest, his gold deposit might get deducted from.

There was a farming location just outside of Astrana which primarily spawned LV18 “Suffering Souls”.

Level 18 monsters were currently mainstream, as most players were also around this level.

A lone Mage was leisurely casting his spells when he felt a cold sensation in his back. A figure with a black mask, cloak and attire had appeared behind him.

Within a rotation of Cheap Shot, Backstab, Ambush and Slit Throat, the Mage’s lifeless corpse fell onto the ground. The words ‘Punished’ were printed on his face and the player was summoned into a cell.

Even a Healing Profession player wouldn’t have had time to revive him.

With 9 PVP points, it would be at least nine hours before he got out of jail.

“Bounty Quest,” said the Thief, as he picked up two pieces of equipment from the floor and disappeared.

The whole time this happening, the surrounding people stood dumbfounded.