VRMMO: Passing of the Sword

“That’s great! Sister Red Tea, there is a treasure hunt after all!”

Blue Maple turned his eyes toward that group of players when he heard a young girl’s voice.

This team had five players, and they all had different classes. The player inquiring about the quest was a male Warrior, and the girl who had just spoken was an Archer. There was another male Thief, and a Priestess. The last player, a Wizardess, seemed to be in charge, and seemed like a more mature and beautiful lady.

Women leading a team was very normal from Blue Maple’s perspective, and he wasn’t surprised at all.

Furthermore, she was a very beautiful lady, and her level was high. Men who followed her as admirers and girls who followed her as worshippers were very normal.

The inquiring player turned towards the older lady and asked respectfully, “Chairwoman, I’ve taken a look at this quest. The difficulty seems a little high. Should we still take it?”

“Let me take a look.” The lady was calm as she perused the quest’s contents.

Blue Maple glanced over curiously at the quests available to him. He didn’t want to give up and softly asked the NPC in front of him, “Are there any treasure hunts for individual players?” thinking that the other five players wouldn’t hear him.

“Greetings, sir. I’m sorry, but there aren’t any more. Are you looking for quests of other types?” the male NPC answered quietly.

There aren’t any more? What a pity.

“Hey, handsome! Are you looking for a treasure hunt too? Sister Red Tea, if this quest is too difficult for us, we can find someone else to join our team. That should do it.” The Archer began looking around while her leader, the Wizard, was reading about the quest. Blue Maple had a very cold face and appeared aloof, and his outfit was also relatively strange. There was no way he wouldn’t catch her attention.

Therefore, she heard about the quest he was asking for. She asked him before turning to her team leader.

“We can find someone else. But he seems like a very strange player.” The Wizardess heard the Archer’s question, and even glanced at Blue Maple before she replied.

Blue Maple did appear strange. He was wearing a handsome-looking blue windbreaker with a high collar, and he didn’t look like he had any equipment at all. Nobody could tell what his Class was, and his information was also hidden.

He seems so familiar, the Wizardess thought to herself when she looked Blue Maple over.

“Little Wen, don’t try to pull him into our team just because he’s a handsome boy. We don’t even know anything about him!” the Priestess giggled as she teased the Archer.

“Uh, I’m not doing that because he’s handsome. Aren’t strange people usually powerful? But he does look handsome.” The Archer blushed a little as she tried to explain before she stared at Blue Maple with starry eyes.

“Maybe he’s just pretending to be mysterious,” the Thief chimed in with a tinge of hostility.

He didn’t have a choice. No man wanted another man who was more handsome and more outstanding to join his team. Perhaps he just didn’t want another man to join his team because there was a beautiful lady on his team.

“Little Bubu is feeling threatened!” the Priestess continued teasing mercilessly.

“I’m just speaking the truth!” the Thief retorted a little unhappily.

“You’re envious.” The Archer stuck out her tongue as she made a face at the Thief.

The Priestess turned towards Blue Maple and asked, “Hey, handsome! Are you interested in joining us? But you have to convince someone that you’re worth our time.”

The Wizardess didn’t say anything from the beginning to the end, like she was thinking about something.

Blue Maple glanced at the Wizardess before he answered the Priestess,“Not really.”

“Haih, even our beautiful leader’s charm isn’t working today? We have been rejected.” The Priestess wasn’t afraid to say anything as she turned towards the Wizardess.

“Hmph, pretentious!” the Thief grunted.

“Just as Little Na said, do you want to consider joining us? Aren’t you also looking for treasure hunts? But you have to be strong enough.” The Wizardess didn’t listen to the Thief as she spoke for herself.

“I just think a treasure hunt will be more interesting, but I don’t want to join a team.” Blue Maple’s answer was plain.

“Everything becomes more interesting if you’re with a group. Furthermore, there’s only one treasure hunt. Other quests shouldn’t be as interesting.” The Archer was reluctant to give up as she continued persuading him.

“Can’t you see? He wants to go solo. He doesn’t think we’re good enough, and likes to be by himself.” The Thief was whining a little.

Blue Maple did like to do everything solo, but he didn’t perceive them disdainfully. Blue Maple didn’t consider anything disdainfully, and only thought about whether he was interested in doing something or not.

“Is there another more interesting quest that isn’t about killing monsters or people?” Blue Maple started minding his own business and turned back towards the NPC he had been talking to.

“Mister, if you’re looking for such a quest, are you interested in a quest to escort some merchants into town?” the NPC answered very politely.

Escort? There should only be some bandits causing trouble. That’s probably more interesting than killing monsters.

“That’s fine.” Blue Maple ignored the Wizard and her team as he accepted his quest.

“Hey! Do you hate joining teams so much? The reward for escorting merchants is very low.” The Archer sounded a little worried, like she didn’t want to let this handsome guy disappear from her sight.

“Don’t you think joining a team once in a while can be interesting too?” The Wizardess also seemed like she really wanted Blue Maple in her team.

That’s strange. Red Tea has taken the initiative to invite somebody else onto her team. Is that really because this dude is handsome? No, this fellow appears familiar. The Warrior who was inquiring about the quest glanced at the Wizardess, and then at Blue Maple as he thought to himself.

Joining a team occasionally? Blue Maple thought for a few moments before he answered, “That does sound interesting.”

“Hehe. Isn’t that right? But you have to show us your strength if you wish to join us. I have to apologize for that, because I have to think about my team.” The Wizard smiled faintly, and she spoke with an apologetic tone.

“Oh, so do I just have to defeat one of you?” Blue Maple answered casually, like winning was something easy and normal for him.

“That’s outrageous! I have to teach you a lesson today!” The Thief immediately went invisible. He appeared infuriated by Blue Maple’s calm demeanor, and didn’t feel friendly toward Blue Maple in the first place.

“You’re such an idiot. Shouldn’t you talk a little more and strike up a conversation so that you can figure out what his class is?” The Warrior rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Blue Maple was still quietly standing in place. He wasn’t wearing armor, and he didn’t have a weapon in his hands, like he was just there for anyone to kill. Blue Maple was even more annoying because his hands were in his pockets, like he didn’t care about anyone else.

The other four who were watching, including the Priest and the Archer, appeared a little doubtful and nervous. They couldn’t understand why Blue Maple didn’t want to draw his weapon, and were worried. Of course, they overlooked the fact that Blue Maple had put his hands into his pockets.

They seemed to recall something towards the end as their eyes sparkled a little, before their expressions turned into surprise. They both turned towards their chairwoman afterwards, and they seemed to understand something when they also saw that the Warrior’s eyes were also calm.

The Thief didn’t know what his teammates were thinking about or feeling. He wasn’t thinking straight because he was directly involved, and he was already upset before he joined the fight. He didn’t care about anything else.

The Thief was within Blue Maple’s range to sense him accurately, and was about to make his move. This range was only one meter in diameter; how many players could react in time if he attacked immediately after breaching this range? Unfortunately, Blue Maple was one of them.

A ray of blue light appeared behind Blue Maple’s back, and seemed to hit something in mid-air.

Ding! A dagger was suddenly sent flying through the air, and the Thief revealed himself behind Blue Maple in shock.

“You thieves always target the same point with your daggers?” Blue Maple turned around at the Thief as he spoke plainly.

“You… you… are you that guy who duelled with Crippled Feather?” The Thief stared at Blue Maple in disbelief. He finally recalled something.

“No.” Blue Maple’s answer was always so simple and direct.

“He looks like he’s changed his equipment. Everyone couldn’t recognize him before. Am I right, team leader?” The Thief ignored Blue Maple’s response.

“I only understood after I heard our chairwoman’s invitation,” the Warrior spoke up.

“Stop looking at us. We only realized it when the fight began,” the Priestess explained when she saw the Thief’s displeased stare going in her direction.

“Forget about her. You didn’t warn me, brother Rong. How can I beat this guy? He’s the one who defeated Crippled Feather, and he sent my dagger into the air without using a weapon at all.” The Thief sounded aggrieved as he turned towards the Warrior.

“You needed to be taught a lesson, you rascal. You’re always envying everyone else, every single minute of the day!” the Warrior answered mercilessly.

“Oh.” The Thief stumbled dejectedly as he picked up his dagger, while the Archer and the Priestess giggled at him.

The Thief was annoyed that Blue Maple had even deigned to fight with him, and he didn’t have any business gossiping about the player who was a “god”.

“My name is Half Cup Red Tea, and I sincerely invite you into our team, should you be willing.” The Wizardess stretched out her hand with a pretty smile as she extended her invitation to Blue Maple.

Her smile was so beautiful that Blue Maple’s eyes coursed with rare emotion.

She’s just so beautiful, almost like there’s nothing else in the world…

“My name is Little Little Wen, and you can call me Little Wen!” the Archer introduced herself excitedly.

“My name is Lian Na. I think I’m older than you, so you can call me by my name or sister Na,” the Priestess introduced herself.

“My name is Glorious Warsong. You can call me brother Rong or by my full name,” the Warrior introduced himself.

“Uh, my name is Scarlet Heart. I hope you forgive me for what just happened, just treat that like I was too blind to see,” the Thief introduced himself a little awkwardly.

Everyone turned towards Blue Maple at this moment.

I thought I could just casually join this team to finish the quest. Seems like their warmth has exceeded my expectations. Blue Maple felt a little difficult.

Forget it. I have revealed my identity before, and since this team seems so close to each other and warm to strangers, they don’t seem like the type to gossip everywhere they go, Blue Maple thought to himself.

They could be inviting Blue Maple because of his strength. However, Blue Maple had always been good at judging people, even though he didn’t trust them. Blue Maple’s approach was always the same, and he didn’t really care if what happened wasn’t related to his greater benefit.

Besides, he was in this game world, which meant nothing in reality.

Perhaps, I might find this interesting. Then…

Blue Maple walked over and stretched out his hand.

“My name is Blue Maple, please advise.”