The Almighty Ring

When Jiang Fei arrived home, his parents interrogated him. As Han Tianyu had helped him concoct a convincing story, they were quickly silenced.

That night, Jiang Fei logged in to the game once again.

“Brother Fei, where did you go yesterday? You did not even come to school today!”

Zhao Feng was the first to send him a message.

“Ah Fei, where have you been all day? You did not even pick up your phone!”

Sun Mengmeng’s message followed right after. It was not like Jiang Fei had the choice to ignore her calls. When old man Hai had captured him, his phone had been confiscated. He only returned Jiang Fei’s phone when Han Tianyu’s helicopter came roaring through.

It did not take long for people like Rosette Rose to add on to the flood of messages. They all asked the same thing. Jiang Fei made up a random excuse to appease the noisemakers.

As he passed through Dawnlight City’s streets, Jiang Fei noticed that other people were using rides as well. He quickly opened the Level Ranking Board. It seemed that five players had reached Level 30!

The number one place had been reclaimed by Cold Feather Hee (Chen Xi). The next in line was Happy Drunk, followed by Lady Casanova and Night Shadow. Jiang Fei had fallen to the fifth place. Right behind him was the lazy Han Tianyu.

As he had not been online for a day, Jiang Fei’s progression was the lowest among those who had reached Level 30. Naturally, he did not pay that much heed. His primary objective now was to acquire high-grade blueprints to increase the level of his mysterious ring. The secondary objective was to acquire some gold, in exchange of the Health Potions that Han Tianyu had asked for.

Three thousand bottles of Health Potions was equivalent to a hundred sets, which required 1,000 gold coins. The previous Jiang Fei would not even bat an eyelid at that. However, he could not do that now. Jiang Fei had spent most of his money on buying information from Smart Tomato.

He had less than 200 gold coins with him. Borrowing was out of the question, so he had to look for another way, quickly!

As he walked along the streets of Dawnlight City, Jiang Fei suddenly discovered something unusual!

“Eh?”

Jiang Fei was surprised to see two NPCs acting suspiciously, just up ahead. One look told him all he needed to know. These two were up to no good.

“Is this some emergency or a hidden quest?”

Jiang Fei’s attention was immediately latched onto them.

Jiang Fei crept up before hiding behind a corner and using his mysterious ring to investigate the two NPCs.

Bordeaux (Humanoid, Hotel Staff)

Level: 15

Health Points: 2,000

Attack Power: 100

Skills: None!

Remarks: A spy from the Brotherhood of Katya!

Dominius (Humanoid, Traveller)

Level: 35

Health Points: 14,000

Attack Power: 1,250

Skills: None!

Remarks: A small leader from Brotherhood of Katya!

“Aha! I knew something was off!” Jiang Fei said to himself. If other players were attempting to identify these NPCs by name alone, they could only read their cover identities. Although these two looked suspicious, their names were in green in color. Regular players would not pay too much attention to them!

Thanks to the mysterious ring, Jiang Fei could identify their actual roles. Jiang Fei was not unfamiliar with the Brotherhood of Katya. It was the largest gangster organization within Dawnlight City. They also happened to be the sworn enemy of Dawnlight City’s human forces. The leader of Katya was so formidable that not even the city’s guards dared approach him.

If players came across members of the Brotherhood of Katya, they would most definitely be monsters with red names. However, these two fellows had concealed their identities and entered the city. As long as their cover was not blown, their names would still be green!

At that moment, these two fellows from the Brotherhood of Katya were just about to leave. Jiang Fei quickly followed after them. Although he was not of the thief class and could not conceal himself, he hid around corners and behind objects. The two NPCs never took notice of him.

Several turns later, the two NPCs arrived in front of a house. Dawnlight City was made up of several private properties. Apart from the neighboring shops, most of the houses there for the background. As there were few NPCs here, players rarely came to this side of town.

Jiang Fei saw them entering the house and crept after them. If any player were to pass by in a rush, that player would not have noticed anything odd. However, Jiang Fei was deliberately in search of traces of the Brotherhood of Katya. Upon close observation, Jiang Fei discovered a Star of David’s marking at the bottom left corner of the doorframe. This was the symbol of the Brotherhood of Katya!

“Hehe, if I were to inform the guards about this, I should be able to get quite a handsome reward. I would at the very least gain a lot of Reputation,” Jiang Fei mumbled to himself. He could use the increased Reputation in exchange for higher level quests. He could also use it to increase his guild’s level. Either way, Jiang Fei would be able to make use of it!

*Creak*

Just as Jiang Fei turned around and was about to report to the guards, the door suddenly creaked open!

“Ah!”

“Eh?”

“This is no good!”

Jiang Fei and the two NPCs were all taken by surprise. The three of them had not expected this to happen. Jiang Fei had not expected them to suddenly double back out, while the two NPCs definitely did not expect to see someone right in front of their doorstep!

Right in front of Jiang Fei’s eyes, the names of the two NPCs had turned from green to yellow. Jiang Fei could opt to attack them and uncover their identity as spies of the Brotherhood of Katya. However, he could also attempt to appease them and not get into a fight!

“What should I do? Should I attack them or wing it from here?”

Jiang Fei’s thoughts raced. Either action could reap in some potential rewards. As for the two NPCs, Jiang Fei was very confident that he could kill them both. However, would this yield him more rewards than trying to cheat them both? Jiang Fei was not too sure.

If he were to blackmail these spies from the Brotherhood of Katya, Jiang Fei was sure to gain a fair bit of benefits. However, if Jiang Fei came to an agreement with these two members of the Brotherhood of Katya, his Reputation in Dawnlight City’s human Faction would decrease significantly.

It could land him in some really hot water! He had already gotten into trouble with the Elf Race once. If he got into trouble with the Human Race as well, he would be left with nowhere to go!

Jiang Fei was still part of the human race for now. By default, that made him an enemy to the Beastman Race and the Specters. However, as a player, they begrudgingly treated him as a neutral entity. However, they would sell their wares to him at marked-up rates. Other than that, he would not even be able to receive high-level quests.

Therefore, most players would only purchase potions or repair their equipment within their own race’s NPC. They would only take on quests from their own race or from the same Faction’s race. That way, they received better rewards for quests of similar difficulty.

Just as Jiang Fei was still hesitating, the two spies from the Brotherhood of Katya spoke, “Great adventurer, if you are willing to turn a blind eye, we are willing to pay you handsomely!”

“Oh? What kind of price?”

Jiang Fei intended to find out what these two fellows were willing to offer before making his final decision.