Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 209 Axia Mist

Western Continent, Genesis guild

The Genesis guild had been farming equipment for their members.. When the dungeon had been cleared, Absalom commented on the performance of his members. “ You guys did a good job today. Axia Mist, great job with interrupting the BOSS’s skill. Your Backstab was timed nicely as well.” he then began looting the BOSS that had just been defeated. A Purple quality Rogue’s dagger was among the loot. “Hmm… Axia Mist seems to have a bit worse than the average equipment in the party. I think this dagger…”

Axia Mist spoke up before Absalom could finish his sentence, “Guild leader, I don’t need that equipment. Can you give me some gold instead?”

This was not the first time Axia Mist refused to receive an equipment after a dungeon raid, and Absalom had turned a blind eye to Axia Mist’s behavior beforehand. “Mist, you do know that your equipment contributes to the overall strength of the guild. You are part of the guild, and the quality of your equipment will affect the guild’s combat power. Shouldn’t you show some team spirit?”

“Guild leader, I know that. But I’m still going to ask for gold instead. I don’t want that dagger.” Axie Mist shook his head.

Absalom wordlessly handed the dagger to another Rogue, while taking 100,000 gold coins from the Rogue to Axia Mist. As Absalom traded the gold coins to Axia Mist, he stared at his young face and said in a serious tone, “Mist, I have to ask, did something happen in real lif-”

“It’s nothing, guild leader. You don’t have to keep guessing. I’ll give you an answer when the time comes.” Absalom was cut off mid sentence by Axia Mist, who accepted the gold coins.

Absalom nodded at Axia Mist, and dismissed the party. He cast a glance at Axia Mist, and walked towards Fleeting Time, who was harvesting meat from the fallen monsters. “Say, do you really need to do this every time you see the carcass of a dead animal? Do you really need that many meat?” said Absalom as he knelt down beside Fleeting Time.

Fleeting Time cast a glance sideways, “Someone who does not have a gluttonous pet has no rights to talk to me about this.”

Absalom could only offer him a smile. He knew the hardships of being a Hunter. Almost every Hunter he knew was doing the same thing. They would scrounge for every ounce of meat they could get their hands on, so that their pets could enjoy better food. Even a God-tier player like Fleeting Time could not escape from such a fate.

“Fine! Can I ask a favor from you?” Absalom knew that this was not a topic that he could have a debate with Fleeting Time, and immediately shifted the conversation.

Fleeting Time did not even stop his movement when he spoke up softly, “If you want me to go have a talk with Axia Mist, then the answer is no.”

“Oi oi oi…” even after his intention was seen through and rejected by Fleeting Time, Absalom did not give up, “Fleeting Time, have you ever been kind?”

“I’m a nice guy! I’ve always been kind.” Fleeting Time did not even look at Absalom as he spoke out the words.

“If you’re kind, you wouldn’t have rejected my request!”

When his words created a silence, Absalom unleashed his inner monk, and began nagging at Fleeting Time, slowly chipping away his mental resistance. Fleeting Time was quite impressed by Absalom. The man could spout streams after streams of nonsense when he was trying to persuade a person or give someone a moral lesson. What impressed Fleeting Time was that he never repeated himself, even while talking about pointless things. He was doing the same thing to Fleeting Time, starting from how God created the world and how it was a sin for Fleeting Time to not help him out.

Even Fleeting Time began to doubt himself after listening to Absalom’s words. Am I really a bad person?

After 20 minutes of nonstop jabbering, Fleeting Time’s will was finally broken. He felt his life slowly seeping away under Absalom’s psychological attack. His life was going to end there and then, and he was slowly heading towards his grave, skipping the part of his life where he could get married and have children.

For the sake of his life, Fleeting Time was forced to agree to Absalom’s request despite his reluctance. He was very fond of the idea of staying alive.

“Fine, fine! Stop the nonsense! What do you want?”

A victorious smile appeared appeared on Absalom’s face when he noticed Fleeting Time’s impatient expression. He was saying the following to Fleeting Time with his smile: Hehe… It wouldn’t have come to this if you just listened to me from the beginning~~ Fleeting Time could feel his anger and the urge to include Absalom into his blacklist slowly rising when he saw that wicked smile.

“It’s actually very simple. I want you to talk to Axia Mist and…”

“You want me to find out why he kept refusing to receive equipment and share the gossip with you am I right?” Fleeting Time cut Absalom off mid sentence and finished the sentence for him.

“Why are you like this? I’m just worried! What do you mean gossip? Do I look like someone who loves gossipping?” Absalom shook his head as a sign of protest.

Fleeting Time snorted with clear disdain, “Is there any difference at all?”

“Whatever! Just go already. I’ll be waiting for you in the conference room.” Absalom immediately urged Fleeting Time to go do his bidding.

“Can’t you do it yourself? I’m not the most suitable person to have a heart-to-heart talk with someone. Don’t you think you’re forcing me to do something very difficult?” Fleeting Time stared at Absalom’s expression, feeling that this face was asking for a beating.

“I’ll give you a bonus this month. A month’s worth of bonus! How bout that?”

Fleeting Time shot him a disdainful glance, “I’m not interested in money lately.”

“So where do your interests lie?” Absalom inched closer to Fleeting Time when he heard his words. Despite his close friendship with Fleeting Time, Absalom knew that his friend hated anything to do with guild administration. He would need to offer some benefits in return for making Fleeting Time to run errands for him.

“Picking up girls.” Fleeting Time narrowed his eyes and stared at Absalom with a glint of mischief in his gaze.

“Ahhhhh!!!” Absalom exploded with excitement. He has known Fleeting Time for more than 12 years, and this man has never shown any interest in the opposite gender at all. He had even began to suspect his friend of being homosexual. The words that left Fleeting Time’s mouth were like red rain pouring down from the sky. “Really? Is that for real? Why do I feel like I’m dreaming?”

Fleeting Time’s mood improved when he saw Absalom’s expression. He secretly enjoyed looking at a person’s crazy expression.

“Dear Lord! Just what the hell is going on with today? Why did I suddenly receive such shocking news? What should I do?” Absalom tore at his hair as he paced back and forth in front of Fleeting Time, basking in his own excitement. He did not even notice the mischievous grin on Fleeting Time’s face. Without warning, Absalom stopped in front of Fleeting Time and rested his hands on Fleeting Time’s shoulders, “Brother, tell me, since when have you become so enlightened?”

Fleeting Time raised his eyebrows.

Absalom then shook his head, “No no no… This is not important. The more important thing is: What sort of girls do you like? Those with big boobs? Those who are flirty? Or those who are young and cute? Or maybe even those girl-next-door types? Just tell me which girl you like and I’ll make sure that I’ll find you a girlfriend like that! We have a lot of beautiful ladies in our guild, and I’m sure that they’re very willing to be your girlfriend. So, which type of girl do you like?”

Fleeting Time held back his laughter and stared deadpan at Absalom. He had always felt that Absalom was the real life embodiment of busybody. It was a shame that he was born with the wrong gender. Absalom would have made a good female guidance counselor. Despite his reluctance to run errands for Absalom, it was very worth to see such a rare expression on his friend.

“Are you sure you want to know?” Fleeting Time raised his eyebrows and let out a sigh, showing a rare sign of hesitance.

“Of course, of course!” Absalom’s head was bobbing up and down enthusiastically.

Fleeting Time narrowed his eyes at Absalom, and for some unknown reasons, a name left his mouth, “I want Gongzi You.”

“Eh?” Absalom was dumbfounded.

Even Fleeting Time himself was surprised by the answer. He had never thought that he would speak of that name. He was simply joking around with Absalom. However, for some reason, the name slipped out of his mouth when he was questioned by Absalom.

Fleeting Time lost interest in making fun of the dumbfounded Absalom. There was a ripple in his heart. A question began to surface in his mind. It was a question that he had no answer for.

Why her? Why did I say her name?

However, when Fleeting Time thought of Gongzi You’s intense and ambitious expression, a smile appeared on his face. When he imagined the face of Gongzi You who was provoked into anger by him, his mouth curved into a cheeky grin. All of a sudden, Fleeting Time’s question was solved. There’s no “why”.

Yup… Gongzi You is definitely the one.

Fleeting Time was never someone to ponder too much on a question. As long as he had an answer that he believed in, he would no longer care about anything else. He would see it as the only answer, and would never have a change of heart.

Absalom could not believe the answer he heard from Fleeting Time. He poke his pinky finger into his ears, digging around. The earwax must have affected my hearing. “Did you just say ‘Gongzi You’?”

“Yup.”

“You must be kidding?”

“Then… Do you think it’ll be better if the name that I said is yours?” Fleeting Time narrowed his eyes, with warning clear in his voice.

“Gongzi You it is then.” Absalom rubbed the bridge of his nose. Although he had always suspected that his friend was not interested in women, he never felt that he could arouse Fleeting Time’s interest.

“Aren’t you going to play mediator? You can go try contacting her for me.” Fleeting Time enjoyed watching Absalom’s shocked expression, and decided to make fun of his friend as he packed the meat up.

“Oi, oi… Are you really talking about that Gongzi You from the Eastern Continent?”

“Isn’t there only one Gongzi You?”

“You can’t be serious!”

“Why can’t I be serious about it?”

“I thought that you were just teasing her for fun! Don’t scare me like that!” Absalom could not bring himself to believe Fleeting Time’s words.

“Have you seen me teasing any other girl before.” said Fleeting Time with a voice full of confidence. He had even almost managed to convince himself.

“But… But…” Absalom knew the truth behind Fleeting Time’s words, but he could not fathom the thoughts of his friend, “Why would you take an interest in someone like Gongzi You? She’s a female player who is crowned as a God-tier player. People like this are either very lascivious or very capable…” Absalom immediately corrected his words when he noticed a glare from Fleeting Time, “Of course, Gongzi You is one of the latter. Why would you like a strong woman like her? Shouldn’t guys like cute and helpless-looking girls?”

“What if I like queens?”

Absalom was lost for words. He could feel liquid flowing in his nose. He felt as if blood was about to burst from his nostrils, “Fleeting Time, you have quite a heavy taste…”

Fleeting Time narrowed his eyes once again. He had a sudden urge to beat Absalom up. Why have he not noticed that his friend of so many years is such a busybody and a pervert?

Paying Fleeting Time no heed, Absalom continued, “Then again… I don’t think Gongzi You has the body figure of a queen. She’s too flat…” before Absalom could finish sentence, he felt a stabbing pain on his face, and he stumbled backwards before falling onto the ground.

“Fleeting Time, you’re crazy!” Absalom sat up a few seconds later, clutching at his nose. This time, it was bleeding for you.

“If you have any inappropriate thoughts about the woman I like, I’ll beat the shit out of you.” Fleeting Time knelt in front of Absalom with a cold smile on his face, “In real life.” he said with a warning tone.

Being beaten up… In real life… Absalom was completely stunned.

By the time he recovered from the shock, Fleeting Time had already stood up and left the dungeon, ignoring the cries from Absalom.

Hiya minna-san! Here's another awesome chapter of the awesomesauce novel translated by an awesomtacular translator (JIMMINX!!!!)! Hope you people enjoy!!

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