Chapter 88: Ambitious Enough to Challenge One’s Own NPC

The battle had reached its final stage, growing especially fierce. Huang Yunshuo darted about the center of the battlefield, his health never rising above a hundred points. Seeing his hit points dropping dangerously low, he dared not take further risks and settled into a steady rhythm, joining a group of blue archers in ranged attacks while continuously spraying himself with healing mist.

In the end, the first confrontation between NPC armies concluded with a victory for the blue side. When the last red archer fell, the blue side still had over fifty archers and just over a hundred infantry remaining. The archers were in decent shape, but the infantry were mostly on the brink of collapse.

At the outset, the fight was closely matched. The tide turned only because Huang Yunshuo, Morning Dew Frost, and a handful of other skilled blue players had consistently landed finishing blows and used crowd-control skills to rescue wounded soldiers. Their advantage accumulated little by little until it became overwhelming, resulting in the dramatic casualty disparity.

Huang Yunshuo kept a close watch on several red players. Anyone who wandered too close was hit with a cannon blast, and those stubborn enough to endure the damage were bombarded repeatedly until they fell. By battle’s end, more than twenty red players had been downed by his cannon.

“Twelve stacks of attack buff now—twelve percent bonus! Sixty-four to seventy-three damage output, that’s a big leap from before.” Satisfied, Huang Yunshuo watched as the NPC troops seemed intent on advancing further, leaving him momentarily stunned.

“Can’t we make them stop?” he asked Morning Dew Frost anxiously.

There were only about 150 of them left, most barely clinging to life. If they met the enemy’s second, fresh unit, they'd be wiped out instantly. It was also possible that enemy players would gather to wipe out this NPC force, though judging by how both sides’ players were scattered and aimlessly running about, the odds seemed low.

Still, it would be best to halt the advance.

“You’re currently the highest scorer on the field, with the title ‘Champion Warrior.’ Your status with the NPCs has increased; try speaking with their lead general,” Morning Dew Frost suggested.

Huang Yunshuo checked his status—twenty-four soldier kills and other contributions had earned him 515 points, nearly 300 ahead of second-place Morning Dew Frost. His title was “Champion Warrior,” Morning Dew Frost held the title “Heroic Vanquisher,” and the third place, a blue assassin named Jing Xu, was called “Evergreen Warrior.” Only the three of them had earned titles; the rest had none.

Huang Yunshuo was certain Jing Xu had a hidden class—his stealth skill had an unusually short cooldown, allowing him to remain hidden most of the time and launch high-damage, bleeding backstab attacks from behind his targets. He’d managed to finish off nearly ten red soldiers himself—a respectable achievement.

Huang Yunshuo approached the general, who had only ten percent health remaining, and stopped him in his tracks. “Can we stop advancing?”

The general replied solemnly, “Our purpose is to fight!”

“Very well. There are plenty of wild beasts and enemy adventurers nearby—let’s hunt them instead. That’s also battle, isn’t it? Or are you particular about your opponents?”

The general considered this, then nodded. “You make a fair point.”

With a command, the 150-odd NPC soldiers marching up the main road abruptly changed direction and charged at a den of hyenas.

This pack was enormous—thirty strong—making it one of the largest neutral monster dens on the map. The hundred or so infantry formed a shield wall, while the fifty archers in the rear began their assault.

“So these NPCs aren’t idiots after all; the melee fighters don’t rush in while the archers are firing, and did you notice that all fifty archers are focusing on just ten hyenas at once?” Huang Yunshuo commented as he and Morning Dew Frost followed along.

“Yes, and players are gathering,” Morning Dew Frost warned. Huang Yunshuo glanced back and found several hundred players swarming around the NPC soldiers, eager for the final blow and the loot that would drop—materials and copper coins.

“Those rascals—didn’t dare step up before, but now they’re all lively,” Huang Yunshuo snorted. “Trying to steal from me? Not a chance.”

He quickly spoke with the general, who immediately dispatched fifty infantry to drive the players away.

“What’s your problem? You want all the loot from this den?”

“This is too much—greedy, aren’t you?”

“Just because you can command NPCs doesn’t mean you’re all that. Hand over your weapon and see if I can do better!”

The players broke into protest, some even trying to attack the NPC soldiers. The furious general had them executed on the spot.

Those slain received a system message: no revival, no logging out, no leaving the instance—forced to wait helplessly in-game until it ended. They were left dumbfounded.

“Unbelievable—don’t dare fight the enemy’s NPCs, so they come to PK our own. Must be out of their minds!”

Huang Yunshuo laughed until his sides ached at the sight of the white lights rising from the fallen players.

The neutral zone monsters were stronger than those near either faction’s base, with attack increased from forty to fifty and defense up to twenty. It hurt more to fight them, but better that than sending the NPCs to their doom.

Huang Yunshuo fired a shell, blasting back more than a dozen charging hyenas, while Morning Dew Frost slowed the healthiest ones.

As for Jing Xu, the assassin, Huang Yunshuo hadn’t blocked him, but the young man in his early twenties couldn’t find an opening and didn’t dare rush into the hyena pack without ranged skills, so he was left standing on the sidelines, watching the action.

The hyenas howled savagely, hurling themselves forward. In the end, three wounded ones managed to break through the NPC infantry’s defenses and charged toward Huang Yunshuo.

“They’ve got a hundred to two hundred health left—still a bit much. We can’t let the soldiers finish them,” Huang Yunshuo called out. “Leave these three to me and the Heroic Vanquisher!”

At his command, the NPC archers and the approaching infantry held back, leaving the three hyenas for the two of them.

Morning Dew Frost slowed the healthiest hyena, while Huang Yunshuo fired a shell at one that leapt at him.

Critical hit—ninety points of damage. Only a sliver of health remained.

He fired two more rounds, sending the hyena howling to the ground, its body slowly fading away.

“Stop fighting and come loot the drops,” Huang Yunshuo called to Morning Dew Frost, as he turned to the next wounded hyena.

Morning Dew Frost shot a warning glance at Jing Xu, who stood at the edge, then quickly began collecting the loot.

Jing Xu could only stand by in silence.

With his remaining rockets, Huang Yunshuo finished off the second hyena, then immediately turned his attention to the last, whose slowing effect had worn off and who still had close to four hundred health left.