Chapter 34: Effect

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Hello there, Mister Forest Watchman.”

Ye Kong waved at him warmly, as though he were greeting a long-lost friend.

Unfortunately for Ye Kong, the watchman didn’t feel the same way about him—

“You damned blasphemer!”

Rage welled up in the Forest Watchman, and he said very spitefully, “You’re not welcome here, so don’t ever show your face to me again!”

Ye Kong wasn’t surprised by this treatment, because the Forest Watchman was one of the God of Horticulture – Wally’s devotees—

Horticultural Devotee – Forest Watchman (Level 4 / Unwell State):

Normal Grade Mob, HP 180/180, Unwell State: Character Level is reduced by two levels

Originally, the Forest Watchman was a level six mob, but because he was Unwell, his character level was reduced to level four. Even so, he was still one level higher than Ye Kong, which meant there was a Level Suppression effect in play.

At the moment, Ye Kong’s reputation levels were as follows—

Starry Duchy: “Friendly” (50)

Botanical Church: “Good” (10)

Blind Sect: “Neutral” (0)

Horticultural Church: “Hostile” (-30)

Because he had activated the City Guard Set’s effect, Ye Kong gained a bonus to his reputation with NPCs in and around Qingmu Town. In this case, because the Dark Mist Forest was one of the wilderness maps surrounding Qingmu Town, the Glory effect from the set bonus applied to NPCs in the Dark Mist Forest as well.

However, because the Forest Watchman was a devotee of the Horticultural Church, and Ye Kong’s reputation with them was “Hostile,” even if his reputation score went up one level, in the eyes of the Forest Watchman, he was still only someone with a “Neutral” reputation.

If he didn’t have the “Glory” effect, Ye Kong would have already been attacked by the Forest Watchman!

This explained why the Forest Watchman’s attitude toward Ye Kong wasn’t friendly by any means.

Ye Kong cleared his throat, then tried entreating the watchman again:

“Mister Forest Watchman, I wanted to ask you…”

“Get lost! Scram!!!”

The Forest Watchman vigorously waved him away with a look of pure disgust on his face. Obviously, he didn’t want to speak with Ye Kong any longer.

If the two of them didn’t have a conversation, then the watchman wouldn’t make a request of Ye Kong. This also meant that Ye Kong wouldn’t be able to receive any new story events from him.

Seeing how the situation was unfolding, Ye Kong subconsciously furrowed his brow. “It seems like he’s not going to talk to me…”

It was fine if he didn’t want to talk, but the most important thing was that his Character Overview Window showed that his reputation with the Horticultural Church was already at “Hostile.” If he were to kill another devotee of the Horticultural Church, it would probably drop further to “Hated.”

Furthermore, the Forest Watchman was a “Unique NPC,” so the reputation penalty for killing him was higher than for the average NPC!

The term “Unique NPC” referred to NPCs that were irreplaceable. They were usually closely tied to story events, and were the key figures in the story event’s plot!

For example—

There were tens of thousands of succubi in the entire Demon Realm, and a countless number of these succubi were “nameless.” However, there was only

one succubus named “Lilith.” At the same time, Lilith was also a key figure in the “Stygian Night Invasion” story event!

Other regular succubi were “mobs” rather than “Unique NPCs”!

In light of this, even though Ye Kong had slain hundreds of succubi in his past life, his reputation had remained completely unaffected, because they weren’t “Unique NPCs.” Only characters such as Lilith, Pulitzer, and Modr…

These kinds of characters were “Unique NPCs”!

“Unique NPCs” were generally strong, and the reputation penalty for killing them was higher than for killing other regular NPCs. As such, players preferred to get story events from them, instead of provoking them.

Earlier, when Ye Kong had killed Lilith, it was fortunate that he had received a Super Grade story event for his troubles. Otherwise, he would have suffered a huge loss.

So, generally speaking, unless the motive was quest-related, players refused to attack an NPC—

Because it would bring them more harm than good.

“I told you to get lost. Didn’t you hear me?!”

The Forest Watchman was using a very nasty tone and seemed to have locked on to Ye Kong’s weakness. Ultimately, Ye Kong’s reputation with the Horticultural Church was simply too low. If it dropped further to “Hated,” then even with the City Guard Set, he would have a hard time conducting his business in Qingmu Town.

Although the guards in Qingmu Town had already been replaced with soldiers from the Winter Army, Thors’ had yet to implement the changes he planned to make to the city. The bulk of the NPCs in the city were still “Horticultural Church devotees,” and if Ye Kong’s reputation with them was “Hated,” it would be hard to move about freely.

In conclusion, the Forest Watchman wasn’t afraid of Ye Kong. Instead, his attitude toward him became even more severe—

“I’ll say it one more time. You better get the hell away from here now!”

“Okay, I’ll leave right away.”

Sure enough, Ye Kong nodded his head in agreement. Then, he lowered his head and walked forward. He seemed to have given up on trying to talk to the Forest Watchman.

“Hmph!”

The Forest Watchman snorted coldly, his face filled with disdain.

At the same time…

The distance between the two of them was shrinking…

However, Ye Kong kept his head down the whole time, as though he had completely given up on trying to talk with the other. In the next moment, as the two of them brushed shoulders, Ye Kong did nothing.

“Hmph!”

The Forest Watchman snorted coldly once again, his gaze deepening with contempt—

“When all is said and done, he’s just a cowardly blasphemer…”

Fwah!

Ye Kong abruptly spun around and swung out with his right hand—

Whoosh!

The flash of a sword flickered suddenly, and slashed toward the stunned and defenseless Forest Watchman!

“What?!”

The Forest Watchman couldn’t react in time as Ye Kong’s gray blade cut into him—

-18!

A bright red number popped out from the Forest Watchman’s head. At this point, his mind went blank, and he was only left with a sense of horror.

“Why? Why does that lacuna still dare to attack me?!

“Isn’t he afraid of becoming a ‘wanted’ criminal (becoming ‘wanted’ refers to getting a ‘Hated’ reputation)??!!”

Swish!

At this time, Ye Kong’s body glowed with an imperceptible dark light—

He had activated the “Special Effect – Camouflage”!

Special Effect – Camouflage: When the player kills NPCs around Qingmu Town, as long as no one else witnesses the killing, the player’s reputation score won’t be affected, and the player’s actions won’t be exposed.

This was the temporary effect that Blind Priest – Modr had personally bestowed upon him earlier. The effect had a duration of 70 minutes, and as luck would have it, only a total of 45 minutes had passed since Ye Kong finished the “Stygian Night Invasion” story event!

In addition, taking into account the time it took him to travel from Qingmu Town to the Dark Mist Forest, he still had around 10 minutes left to use the “Camouflage” effect.

The fact that the City Guard Set’s Glory effect could be activated in the Dark Mist Forest proved that the “Dark Mist Forest” zone was considered a part of Qingmu Town’s surroundings. By extension, the effective range of “Special Effect – Camouflage” was similarly “within the surroundings of Qingmu Town,” so it could be applied here as well!

Nobody could have expected that a temporary effect that was about to run out would come in handy once again out in a place like this!

Whoosh!

Ye Kong didn’t care how surprised his target felt, and instead turned his hand to strike out again.

-19

The Forest Watchman had lost around 20% of his HP, and was now left with 150 points of health!

“You?!”

The Forest Watchman finally came to his senses, his face filled with a mix of panic and fury. He raised his iron rod to defend himself, but Ye Kong’s arm twitched in response, and the gray novice long sword was immediately filled with energy—

“I’ll be taking my leave at once, but before I do that…”

Whoosh!

A dazzling ray of light flashed out as the sword streaked through the air like a shooting star, sweeping straight toward the terrified Forest Watchman—

“I’ll first take your worthless life!!!”