Ashen Dragon

Barto City Central Square.

Players came and went, bustling about, making the square lively.

"Buying a set of standard iron equipment!"

"Looking for a magician, a group of twenty to go into the mountains to fight snowmen. No wild sorcerers."

"Buying a musical instrument."

"Buying all kinds of potions at market price, especially healing potions. As many as you have, I'll take them."

The small team humorously called the "Black Slave Team" by other players gathered again. They were still in their newbie sets without a single change. After all, the money they worked so hard to earn from tasks was all used to repay loans.

Xin Dog asked enthusiastically, "What's your faction contribution? I'm now at 7985."

Summer Night Autumn Rain said, "I'm at 6389."

Natural War Maniac rubbed his bald head, "7071."

Mantou's expression had shifted from lifeless to wooden, "I only have 5789."

"Xin Dog, we've been doing labor for eighteen days now. The title 'Black Slave Team' is already famous on the player forum. When is this going to end?"

Mantou caressed the rough fabric of his clothes, longing for the leather armor he used to wear. It wasn't particularly stylish, but it gave him a rare sense of safety.

Natural War Maniac patted Mantou's shoulder, speaking earnestly, "When heaven assigns a great responsibility to a person, it must first toughen their spirit, exhaust their muscles and bones, and starve their body... The path to becoming a professional gamer is not an easy one."

Mantou watched Xin Dog, who remained enthusiastic even after eighteen days of labor, and thought to himself, "This guy is a complete monster." The cheerful Natural War Maniac beside him was also not to be underestimated.

Summer Night Autumn Rain tidied his hair, which had become a bit messy from mining, "Any clues about the Tiefling task?"

Mantou shook his head, "We're so exhausted these days, I haven't had the mind to think about it."

Natural War Maniac rubbed his bald head until it almost shone, "I asked those Tieflings, but they all clammed up. Some even attacked me directly. Fortunately, my Barbarian skin is thick, or I'd have lost a point of health right there."

Xin Dog smiled mysteriously, "I've already completed the task."
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"A few days ago, I paid off a destitute Tiefling for information. It took a lot of effort even then; they seemed very reluctant to talk about their past. But later, I understood."

"These Tieflings originally came from a city called 'Northwind Castle,' ruled by Duke Brad Rackman of the Rackman Family..."

When Xin Dog finished telling this sad and bloody history, their task panels all displayed "[Task Completed]" with 500 faction contributions added to their accounts.

After nearly a month of playing, most players had developed a sense of recognition and belonging to Barto City. There was even a support group for Mezulash on the player forum.

Summer Night Autumn Rain sighed, "Mezulash has it tough..."

Natural War Maniac echoed with anger, "Let's wipe out those damned vampires."

Only Mantou suddenly remembered something, wide-eyed, "Where did you get the money? Didn't you use all your gold coins to buy the invitation?"

Xin Dog kept a calm face and said, "When I went to get the loan, I found there was some surplus in the equipment. I used my own, Autumn Rain's, and War Maniac's equipment as collateral. I sold yours for money. I'll make it up to you next time."

"You beast, Xin Dog, you'd rather sell them than return the equipment to me, huh!"

The anger Mantou had suppressed during the eighteen days of labor finally exploded. He charged at Xin Dog, trying to strip off his newbie set and turn him into the next "Holy Light Bro," completely disgraced.

But Xin Dog, with his notable agility, easily dodged, causing Mantou to nearly crash into the giant dragon stone sculpture in the center of the square.

"Calm down. Even if you strip me—"

"The equipment won't come back."

Xin Dog dodged, showcasing his sharp tongue.

However, Mantou, lying on the ground, noticed a line of barely perceptible text on the statue's base—

"Dedicated to the master of Ashen Nest, the mighty and unparalleled Red Dragon, eternal lord of Barto City, Cassius Claudius Norixius."

"Holy crap, come look at this! I found important information!"

The four of them hurried over. Xin Dog, ignoring his image, lay on the ground, butt raised, carefully examining.

"Cassius..."

"This name sounds familiar."

Natural War Maniac rubbed his now shiny bald head.

After eighteen days of labor, even his brain was not functioning well.

Summer Night Autumn Rain couldn't help but facepalm, kindly reminding, "Remember that super handsome— I mean, important NPC? His name displayed above is '[Mysterious Dragon Vein Sorcerer-Cassius]'.

Xin Dog added, "And he has features of a Red Dragon, scales, dragon horns, golden eyes."

Mantou suddenly realized, "So that mysterious NPC—is actually the leader of our faction, the humanoid form of the Red Dragon boss who's never appeared?"

"It seems so,"

Xin Dog nodded in agreement.

Mantou couldn't help but sigh, "So we've hooked a big fish, huh— Wait, my favor with the boss is already -10. Xin Dog, give me back my favorability!"

Ignoring him, Xin Dog turned to the other two, "Have you noticed the recent actions of the big guilds? The president of [Royalty], 'Tyrant,' has started assigning people to take the wall construction tasks. That civil engineering guy 'Bucket Runner' was hired heavily, and they took over the whole area."

"Also, the people from [Sword Pavilion] have even started mining themselves. Their intentions are becoming too obvious."

Mantou was stunned, "You mean..."

"They've already discovered the use of faction contributions?"

"It seems so."

Xin Dog crossed his arms, looking confident, "But we can already make the task information public now. Each of us has around seven thousand faction contributions and have bought the [Mysterious Invitation] in advance. Even those big guilds can't catch up to us."

"Now we need to get all players to work on faction contributions, snatch tasks from those guilds, and delay their progress. Meanwhile, we can take more profitable tasks that we missed before and make more money."

"Mantou, after today, work on the video directly. I'll post guides on the forum. Tonight, we'll go all in."

"Oh, okay."

Mantou's tone immediately regained some confidence, "Heh, thirty years to the east, thirty years to the west. Don't underestimate a poor young man! I'm going to show those who mocked me as a slave what it means to seize opportunities everywhere!"

But while editing the video that night, he rubbed his increasingly sparse back of the head, suddenly feeling something was a bit off.

"Damn it, everyone's logged off, and I'm still working for Xin Dog—"