Ye Ci headed straight to the town of Blair after leaving the guild encampment. If she was not mistaken, the person was at that place at this very moment.
The township of Blair was a small town, and unlike the large cities with millions of citizens, the township was home to a mere 40,000. The town was surrounded by lvl40-lvl60 maps inhabited by low intelligence monsters. Humanoids opponents, especially those of the mage class, were a rare sight in these maps. This made them the perfect leveling spot for Warriors, Rogues, and Hunters which utilize Physical Damage. The maps were also frequented by mages who were confident of their abilities, and of course the Life Players who were there in search for materials.
This was why the township of Blair was bustling with activities despite its size.
The presence of a high level player with expensive looking equipment like Ye Ci immediately attracted the attention of players in the town. Her notification was flooded by party invitations the moment she arrived.
"Yo Huntress, do you want to go to the Forest of Sins and hunt for some Golden Lions?"
"Hey beautiful, wanna head to the Murky Swamp? The mosquitoes there offer a lot of experience points."
"Let's head to the desert to kill some snakes! Our party is 1 member short."
...
Ye Ci's identity was not known to the players as she had her name and attributes hidden, but they could tell from her appearance that she was a high level player with decent equipment. They knew that having Ye Ci in their party would make their leveling easier. Little did they know that while Ye Ci was looking to party up, the person who she was looking for was not among their numbers.
The person was very popular in Ye Ci's last life. He revealed in an interview that he once stayed in the township of Blair for a very long time, searching in vain for players who were willing to escort him in his quest to mine a certain type of ore. Of course, not many were willing to help him out, and he was forced to leveling himself up so that he was strong enough to defend himself. Life was very harsh for him until he was noticed by Wolf Pack and was recruited into the guild.
Ye Ci knew that the person was at the lowest point of his life at this moment.
She declined all the party invitations, and the players immediately dispersed once they realised that they were not able to secure the aid of the high level player. Ye Ci continued her search, playing close attention to any and every single detail.
She was quick to spot a lonely figure sitting by the steps of a house, shouting at players who were passing by, "Can anyone bring me to the Underground Cave? I'll pay 100 gold coins per trip!"
A year had passed since the launching of Fate, and with the introduction of the currency conversion system, players were able to get their hands on larger and larger amount of money. Almost no one would concern themselves with such a small amount of money. The person's words would naturally fall on deaf ears.
The person was a male of 25 years old. He was very thin, and his face was pale. It was apparent that he was not exactly healthy in real life. The appearance of the man was fitting of the description he gave himself during the interview. With his ID remaining unhidden, Ye Ci could see the man's name.
Blossom.
That was the name...
Of one of the most famous Grandmaster Goblin Engineer in Fate.
From his elegant demeanor, one would never expect such a person to be the creator of many weapons of mass destruction. In the later stages of Fate, players will be put on a very long waiting list if they wished to purchase an item from Blossom. Some would not even get what they want for as long as three full months. Ye Ci could still remember the amount of money spent just to acquire a piece of musket for self defence through unconventional means in her last life.
What about this life?
The man is sitting in front of me in a very sorry state.
Ahhh… The world is really an unpredictable place. thought Ye Ci to herself. She was now approaching Blossom from a very different position. Is this fate? Or is this that damned butterfly effect?
Blossom sat by himself as he continued to send out request after request. He was depressed, but he did not give up. This was probably why he became so successful. He refused to give up even during the darkest moment. He clung on to the thought that as long as there was hope, that as long as he was alive, and as long as he still held on to his dreams, he would be able to see them fulfilled.
Ye Ci approached the person after taking one last look.
Blossom was still at the same spot as Ye CI walked up to him. He was a Life Player. He had not time to level up like a normal player as he spent most of his time producing various Engineering products. This process, however, required a vast number of ores that were used as catalyst. With each level he gained in his Life Skill, the higher the level of ores required. It came to the point where the lvl17 Blossom was no longer able to handle the enemies in the map. This was why he decided to try his luck by hiring any players willing to act as an escort using the meager amount of money he was able to earn by selling his products.
Even after an entire day spent without a single soul willing to lend a hand to him, Blossom did not give up. He had been waiting for two months straight, and only three players were offered him their aid. Even then, he was still full of hope.
A pair of dark green boots appeared in Blossom's view. It was a pair of well made boots engraved with patterns of exotic looking plants. One could tell from just a glance that they were no ordinary equipment. After spending days at end observing the players passing by the area, Blossom gained the ability to tell a player's level just by the boots they were wearing.
Blossom could tell from the pair of boots in front of him that they belonged to a high leveled player who possessed exceptional skill. He lifted his head, and saw a face.
It was an Elf with pale white skin and long silvery hair. Her amber eyes and cold gaze were telling the world that she was a person that one could not easily approach. Blossom could tell that she was very young, but the glint behind her eyes displayed a level of maturity of an individual far beyond her age. The Elf was staring at him with her blade-like gaze, as if she was evaluating an item instead of a real person.
Blossom had gotten used to different emotions displayed by players during his time spent in the town. He was able to face the sneers and taunts of passersby with a smile, but something about the Elf's gaze made his blood boil.
He was, of course, able to mask his anger well. The only sign of anger betrayed by Blossom was the tiniest hint of ire flickering in his eyes before he was able to quickly regain his composure. He averted his gaze from the Elf, and continued shouting out with a calm voice, "Is there anyone who is willing to escort me to the Underground Cave? I'll pay you 100 gold cons per trip!"
Ye Ci stared at Blossom, capturing each and every expression he made in her eyes. The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips, "A hundred gold coins each trip?"
"Yup." Blossom had never in his wildest dreams thought that the Elven Huntress would respond to his request. She did appear to be in need of money. He knew that he would never be able to afford any single piece of equipment she was wearing with a mere hundred gold, which was why he did not expect the Huntress to even respond to his request.
"Let's go then." Ye Ci had always been a goal-oriented person. Now that she was sure of the person's identity, she would try her best to win him over. Everything else was not a concern to Ye Ci. She ignored Blossom's slight hesitation, as it was not something that should be her concern.
"You're saying that you're willing to bring me to that place?" Blossom could not believe his ears. She's not making fun of me, is she?
"What? You don't want to go there?" Ye Ci raised her eyebrows. She was annoyed by Blossom's words. Why does he sound like I'm trying to pull something on him? I mean… He really is having doubts about me! But can't he be more subtle about it?
"No. It's just that… Do you even need to go to the Underground Cave with those equipment and that level? Are you being sincere?" Blossom was scarred by his experience of being abandoned by players who pretended to offer their services, which was why he was suspicious of Ye Ci. Is she pulling a scam on me as well.
But with what she has… Does she even need to do that??
"It's only natural that you do not have trust in me. Why don't we sign a contract?" said Ye Ci as she called up the game console, and generated a contract for Blossom. The man was relieved when he received the contract, but as he laid his eyes upon the name that was signed on the contract.
"Gongzi You…" Blossom could not believe his eyes. He rubbed his eyes, and continued staring at the name. It was none other than Gongzi You.
A lot of new accounts with the name "Gongzi" had appeared since Gongzi You's rise to fame, and players could easily mistook them as the real Gongzi You if they were not careful. Even Blossom himself had encountered several players going by the name "Gongzi" in the town of Blair. He was naturally surprised when he met face to face with the real Gongzi You, "So you're Gongzi You?"
"Yes." Ye Ci motioned for Blossom to sign the contract.
He immediately received a party invitation from Gongzi You when the contract was signed. Blossom was still in amazement even as he was on his way to the Underground Cave with Ye Ci.
He stared at Ye Ci's relatively tiny figure as he followed behind the Huntress. Why did Gongzi You appear in the town of Blair? And why did she agree to escort me to the Underground Cave? These are questions that were left unanswered as the duo headed to their destination.
Blossom was quick to realize that being in a party with Gongzi You was way safer than being escorted by his hired mercenaries. His low level would always attract a high aggro value from the surrounding monsters, but Gongzi You was able to dispatch any enemies that were within 12 yards of the duo. Compared to the players who only reacted when the monsters had already gotten into range, Gongzi You's preemptive attacks was able to keep him safe.
Gongzi You would even stop whenever ores were spotted, and waited patiently as he gathered the ores.
"Gongzi You, how did you know that I'm looking for ores?" Blossom was curious.
Ye Ci responded without turning around as she continued moving forward, "Well, it's impossible for a lvl17 player like you to come here for a quest. The quests in the town can only be unlocked by a character than is above lvl30. Besides, paying 100 gold coins to get someone to help leveling you up is a very low price. The only reasonable explanation is that you're a Life Player, and you have to gather materials that are unique to the Underground Cave. This place is known for its ores, so…"
Realization dawned upon Blossom before Ye Ci finished her sentence.
He nodded at Ye Ci's words, she's quite intelligent despite her age.
The Underground Cave was located deep underground north of the Dark Forest. The cave was populated by Dark type monsters with levels ranging from lvl40 to lvl60. The monsters had a short respawn timer, and had very high movement speed. Not many were willing to venture deep into the map without a Priest, choosing instead to remain near the entrance. With the game at its current state, most players would definitely stay away from the deeper parts of the cave.
Ye Ci immediately spotted the dozen of parties leveling near the entrance of the Underground Cave as she entered the cave. Even the mining areas were occupied by players. Without even much of a thought, she headed deeper into the cave with Blossom in tow.
The players continued to thin out the deeper they went. By the time the duo was 200 yards away from the entrance, there were no other players around.
Ye Ci summoned Ol' Four, and tossed a few pieces of meat at her pet before directing it against the monsters in the area. As long as there were no Elite monsters around, Ol' Four could take on 6 monsters at the same time. Paying no heed to the beast, Ye Ci spoke to Blssom, "Do you have a fixed mining spot?"
"I've never came so deep before. This is… My first time here." Blossom shook his head.
Ye Ci raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Then the 100 gold coins you spent is totally not worth it! They should at least make sure that you've explored the entire cave!"
Blossom almost coughed up blood when he listened to Ye Ci's words. He did not know of the extent of Ye Ci's capabilities, but the fact that she was crowned as the King of Soloing of the Eastern Continent by the officials meant that she was an exceptional player. Someone like her would never understand the difficulties faced by a player like him. "That's the price for them to get me 100 yards into the cave. There's no way I can fully explore this cave without a party of 20…"
Ye Ci scratched her head. She was slightly embarrassed. Her first visit to this town in her last life was when she was almost lvl80. Even when she was currently lvl60, she was an exceptional player and she had Ol' Four with her. She would never understand the plight of someone like Blossom.