Chapter Twenty-Five: The Ambush

I didn't reply immediately, and as expected, Murong Shanshan continued indignantly, "Seven hundred! Seven hundred at most. Any more than that, and I'll have no choice but to sell myself on the street!"

Could it be that she too...? I never expected that young ladies these days were so common—a chill ran through me. I quickly said, "Don't take it so hard. Seven hundred it is, I'm not one to kick someone when they're down. Tell me a place to meet."

Murong Shanshan laughed, "Alright, let's meet at the south gate. My friends and I will be waiting for you there."

...

After closing the communicator, I headed straight for the east gate. Fortunately, the church was quite close to the south gate, and ten minutes later, I had arrived. From a distance, I could see Murong Shanshan standing there with her long hair flowing, casually leaning on the greatsword I had sold her, looking completely at ease—nothing like someone who had just lost a level.

Standing beside Murong Shanshan were five other players. By the looks of it, two were priestesses, one was a female mage, and the remaining two males were beastmasters. As expected, the only one able to take hits was Murong Shanshan, the swordswoman.

On the drawbridge at the south gate, Murong Shanshan was truly a rare beauty. The gleaming breastplate wrapped tightly around her graceful figure, and a fiery red cloak billowed behind her, giving her a heroic air. I couldn't help but stare in a daze.

"Stop staring, it's time to get on with the quest!" One of the girls waved her hand in front of my eyes, giggling as she spoke, shooting Murong Shanshan a teasing glance that made a rosy blush bloom on Shanshan's fair cheeks.

"Let's go!" Murong Shanshan suddenly tapped me with the hilt of her sword and pushed me out the gate.

"Hey, hero, can you tell us what we should call you? Green Veggie Hero? Or maybe Jade Soup Hero?" The pretty girl continued to smile mischievously in front of me.

Murong Shanshan laughed as well. "Yeah, I've known you for a day and still don't know your name. How about we just call you Little White?"

"Never mind, that's not important. Let's talk about your quest. Is it just killing a boss? That simple?"

"It's not that simple. The Stone Golem's attack and defense are both very high. It took us ten minutes to chip away a quarter of its health. I estimate it has at least ten thousand HP."

I was shocked—what a formidable boss!

"How much defense do you have? How much damage do you take from its attacks?"

Murong Shanshan thought seriously and said, "My defense is forty-six. It does about eighty damage to me each time. With my current HP at three hundred eighty-five, I can take five hits, more or less."

"Alright, my defense is sixty, health four hundred sixty-two, not much different from yours. When we fight, you tank first, then when your health is low, switch out and I'll take over. I can attack and tank at the same time."

"Alright, let's do that."

To the south of the main city were mostly non-living monsters—low-level Skeleton Warriors and Stone Golems that crumbled under our team's firepower. Along the way, everyone introduced themselves.

Murong Shanshan was a university student, albeit a rather unorthodox one. The three girls playing with her were her roommates; the two guys were their protectors—knights in not-so-shining armor. Besides Shanshan, who was level fourteen, the other five were around levels eleven or twelve, so their attacks didn't do much damage to the Stone Golem.

According to lively Coco, one of the girls, the two guys had both harbored feelings for Murong Shanshan at some point, but she delighted in putting boys in their place, shutting them down with just a few words.

After clearing a path through the open field, we headed straight for the innermost Stone Golem.

"Shanshan, let my pet go first this time. It can tank a couple of hits," one of the beastmasters offered eagerly.

"No, pets are our main source of damage. If we lose them, what's the point of you two?" Murong Shanshan's words left the two guys embarrassed, while the three girls just smiled in silence.

"Ready? Shanshan, you go first!" I nudged her forward, feeling a little nervous as I looked at the massive golem.

Murong Shanshan gave me a glare. "You have no chivalry at all—making a frail girl charge in first!"

"Frail? Besides, I'm not a knight. I actually wanted to be a rogue, but never mind. I'll take the first hit, you follow up and be the main attacker. Priests, keep an eye on Shanshan's health."

After agreeing on a strategy, I charged in first, striking the Stone Golem with a heavy blow. Its defense was high, but my ninety-seven attack still slashed off one hundred twelve HP. Murong Shanshan was left speechless in surprise, and I quickly withdrew, pushing her forward. "Go on, big sister, your turn!"

She shot me a glare, then unleashed a combo—"thirty-four," "twenty-eight"—her damage numbers floated up. Sure enough, her attack wasn't as high as mine. I checked my health—the golem's attack had only taken off fifty-four HP, not too painful.

"Shanshan, do you know what the quest reward is?" I asked.

She smiled, "No idea. I just heard it's a level twenty blue item. Why else would I go all out for this quest?"

"A blue item? Really?"

"What, never seen gear before?"

"I just didn't expect blue items to appear this early… I was just surprised."

"Hmph, little veggie, what's the story between you and Coco? Don't tell me you don't know her~" Murong Shanshan eyed me mischievously.

I said nothing, focusing on fighting. As expected, she couldn't hold it in and asked, "Hey, do you have a girlfriend?"

Thinking of Xinyu, I shook my head. "No."

"Good."

"What do you mean, good?"

"Nothing, I just like saying 'good.'"

...

With me taking the hits, Murong Shanshan fought with ease. The two beastmaster pets kept attacking the boss, and after twenty minutes, the golem's health was nearly gone.

"The blue item is almost ours..." Murong Shanshan was nearly grinning from ear to ear.

But something happened that none of us expected. Just as the Stone Golem was about to fall, a red glow flared behind Coco, our priest. Her body trembled twice, then turned into a white light—she was sent back to respawn.

Rogues! Malicious PK!

There were three rogues ambushing us!

With our main healer Coco down, the other priestess soon fell to the surprise attack as well. It wasn't that her skills weren't up to par, but compared to those three rogue players, she was clearly outmatched—she didn't even have a chance to fight back.

Once a rogue uses Stealth, they can't enter stealth again for a minute. Murong Shanshan and I seemed to have a tacit understanding—without a word, we both abandoned the nearly dead Stone Golem and charged straight at the three rogues.