NOVEL NEXT Chapter 73: Honey Trap
Chapter 73: Honey Trap
Daytime stretched on within the game. After parting ways with her companions, Blossoming Strokes didn't log out immediately. Instead, she perched herself on the steps near the entrance of the Wanderer Guild, her gaze sharp and focused as she observed the advanced NPC seated within the newly inaugurated guild hall—Assassin Instructor, Hal Maxwell.
Of the three Wanderer Guild instructors, Hal was the one with the most volatile temperament, whom players found easiest to provoke. He had an appearance which looked like of Latino and Slavic descent, with chestnut hair and relatively fair skin. His facial contours were smooth, but his features held a certain depth. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be around 35 years old. He sported a meticulously groomed small beard, although remnants of food could sometimes be seen on his clothes, indicating a degree of sloppiness.
In the faction led by the veteran beta trio, more than sixty percent of players had advanced to the wanderer class. Those who didn't fancy bows and instead relished the thrill of critical strikes with knives all ground reputation with Hal.
Even Give Me Medicine, who had obtained the Critical Strike Dagger, had once hesitated whether to grind Hal's reputation. He only decided against it as it was genuinely hard to let go of the effort he had put into grinding reputation with Finley.
Since it's Hal's inner demon, the monster in the instance dungeon should have a direct connection with this instructor. I wonder if any information can be extracted from Hal? Blossoming Strokes stroked her chin and mused.
Deep down, Blossoming Strokes was well aware that the potential partnership between Vanilla (Qin Guan) and the warrior girl they were trying to rope in couldn't be compared to the duo of Stuffed Gummy (Tang Jia) and Yang Ying.
In other words, while she hadn't explicitly voiced it to protect her companions' morale, she understood clearly that in terms of clearing this instance dungeon, their side's progress couldn't possibly match that of Unceasing Entropy's team…
This didn't go down very well with Blossoming Strokes. It wasn't that she held a grudge against Unceasing Entropy's group, but rather, she simply didn't want to lose.
Thinking that women lacked competitiveness was the greatest form of gender bias.
The number of females with a strong competitive spirit certainly wasn't lesser than males. Just that women's competitiveness was seldom respected, acknowledged, and sometimes, even despised; while a man's competitive drive was often attributed to ambition, determination, and lofty aspirations, women could easily be labeled as "overbearing" or "ignorant of their limitations."
While her usual actions and speech might not show it, deep down, Blossoming Strokes was indeed a competitive person. Trivial matters usually didn't concern her much, but when it came to something substantial, she was actually the one that's most competitive.
Her desire to win wasn't solely about helping her friend Qin Guan maintain his advantage in terms of territory prestige, nor was it for proving herself. It was as simple as wanting her companions to triumph.
Hal, who was "on duty" as per usual, noticed the undead that had arrived roughly ten minutes ago and had been staring at him all this time.
He frowned, though not overly concerned… Hal was now wise enough to give up trying to decipher the logic behind the actions of these undead that hailed from some unknown dimension. Rather than pondering what this undead was up to, Hal was considering how to pass the upcoming long night ahead.
Having sent off an undead who had come to take on a quest, Hal turned to Finley, who was nearby, and grumbled, "Having to stay indoors for three consecutive nights every now and then, this new rule is truly absurd. Does Yang think that our lives are too easy? He's finding all sorts of ways to torture us."
The guild hall was simple, an open square slightly under 60 square meters. Besides the small partitioned rooms set up for resting, each of the three job instructors had a set of desks and chairs for work and a cabinet for storing quest-related tools.
Directly opposite the guild hall's entrance, against the wall, was actually a wooden sofa and coffee table set—actually the sort of recliner chair and three-panel coffee table that were a common park fixture, which was something Yang Qiu had purchased online.
Not having to stand outside in the sun or rain was certainly a perk for these former bandits. However, optimizing the workspace had burdened them with the responsibility of caring for a group of nearly blind women, as well as the cost of being subjected to curfew every ten days or so. This was enough grounds to give Hal something to grumble about.
Finley remained silent, his eyes giving Hal a peculiar once-over. Then, he turned his gaze to Tuttle, who was still busy dealing with the undead and assigning tasks. There was a certain subtle complexity in his expression.
"Hey, Finley. What the hell are you up to?" Hal grew visibly uneasy.
"…Nothing." Finley's reply was clearly perfunctory.
Hal regarded his comrade with a look of incredulity.
Finley hesitated for a bit, then stood up from his workstation and walked over to Hal's desk. Leaning forward, he said, "Hal, do you really… think there's nothing unusual?"
"Just say what you want to say, stop beating around the bush." Impatience was clearly shown in Hal's frown, and his serious demeanor made Finley sit a little straighter.
Finley tried to say something, then faltered before shaking his head. "Never mind, maybe I'm just being overly sensitive."
Hal noticed the way Finley's gaze was completely off. "Hey, hey, Finley, don't scare me… Have you been seeing things lately?"
"Of course not," Finley retorted irritably. "Believe me, I'm fine. My perception isn't even as keen as yours and Tuttle's."
"That's true." Hal relaxed once more and waved his hand dismissively. "Don't overthink, old friend. Those were the words you've said to me before."
Finley shook his head and returned to his desk.
As Finley pulled out his chair, he heard the sweet crisp voice of what sounded like an inquisitive young lady from behind him.
"Hello, Hal. Was there ever a period where you found yourself overthinking things?"
Finley snapped his head back.
There was of course no possibility of seeing a young lady in Exile Town.
Standing before Hal's desk and saying those words was, unsurprisingly, a skeleton.
Finley: "…"
Hal, who was being addressed, wore a bewildered expression.
"Would you like to have a chat with your undead friend, Hal?" Blossoming Strokes tilted her head to the side in an attempt to act cute. "I overheard your conversation and I'm quite interested."
"…Get out of here!"
…Five minutes later.
"Damn it, not being able to bring my stunning beauty into the game is such a loss!"
Blossoming Strokes, who had been chased out of the Wanderer Guild's hall, stormed the Warrior Guild construction site angrily and found Qin Guan before dragging the latter back to the Wanderer Guild construction site where she borrowed Give Me Medicine's Orb of Deception.
"What are you up to, Blossom?" Qin Guan was rather puzzled.
"Put this on." Blossoming Strokes thrust Orb of Deception to Qin Guan's face, then pointed at the Wanderer Guild's hall. "Follow me later. Just stand by my side and smile. Don't say anything and let me handle it."
Qin Guan's mind went to work, and he quickly caught on. "A honey trap? You want to fish information out of Hal? Wait a moment, calm down. This Orb of Deception came from Finley. All three of the Wanderer Guild instructors are all in the same building. It might not work!"
"We won't know unless we try!" Blossoming Strokes waved her skeletal hand dismissively. "Finley might not fall for it, but who knows, maybe we can trick Hal? The assassin instructor is naturally dumb!"
Qin Guan: "…"
Give Me Medicine, who was slogging away with a manual labor quest: "…"
Well, not grinding Hal's reputation wasn't a great loss, especially since the assassin instructor was quite dumb…
A couple of minutes later, Blossoming Strokes and Qin Guan, in his illusory disguise of a top-tier beauty in an evening gown, strolled into the Wanderer Guild's hall.
Finley, who had just taken a sip of water, spurted it all out when he saw the stunning beauty walking beside Blossoming Strokes.
The Orb of Deception had been given out from his end, so he had quite a deep impression with this illusion—when that undead with a male voice conjured up this appearance in front of his tent, Finley had spent quite a long time wondering about the genders of these undead.
As for Hal and Tuttle, who hadn't seen this illusion before, it could be said that the illusion was super effective. The moment Qin Guan stepped through the door, these two former bandits, who had been idly chatting, stopped and stared wide-eyed.
Blossoming Strokes noticed this and poked Qin Guan with her finger.
Qin Guan immediately put on a demure smile.
Well, he was, after all, a relatively decent-looking content creator in real life and could still manage his expressions. The illusion radiating with beauty, combined with this smile, was practically divine…
Blossoming Strokes led Qin Guan to Hal's desk and said in her naturally sweet, girlish voice, "Hal, would you be willing to chat with your undead friends?"
Qin Guan turned his gaze to the stupefied Hal and smiled bashfully.
Hal froze for a moment, then suddenly jumped up, went around the desk, and pulled two chairs out for Qin Guan and Blossoming Strokes. "Of course, of course. Please have a seat, both of you. Is there anything I can help you with?"
The shift from haughtiness to humility was drastic…
"Wait, Hal. T-this lady is actually—" Finley gestured at Qin Guan, wanting to expose the fact that the one wearing this illusion wasn't even an undead woman.
Qin Guan looked over and flashed Finley a charming smile.
Finley was immediately dumbstruck.
It had been at least a couple of years since he had last seen a young woman.
If not because he knew this lady was actually an undead and also had a questionable gender, just that smile alone would have gotten him to think up potential names for their child together.
Blossoming Strokes discreetly gave Qin Guan a thumbs-up. Qin Guan had said he didn't wish to, but he was still playing the role diligently and doing it so well—indeed, it was often men who understood other men best!
Seizing the moment while these three advanced NPCs were still captivated by Qin Guan's beauty, Blossoming Strokes quickly utilized her sweet, girlish voice to start fishing information, "Hal, I noticed your accent sounds like that of a northerner. Are you from the north?"
"Yes." Hal reluctantly drew his eyes away from Qin Guan and acted relaxed and interested, as if he was ready for a casual and extended chat. With great enthusiasm, he started to share, "I am indeed from the north, just like Anthony. We both hail from the Kenyan Empire. While Anthony was apprenticing as a tailor in the capital, I was studying in the industrial heartland of the north."
When one voluntarily brings up their past, it indicates a strong desire to share, and when their words intentionally or unintentionally enhance their image, it suggests not only a desire to share but also a strong need for self-expression.
To better craft convincing dialogues for her web s, Blossoming Strokes had watched countless interview videos to learn the conversational habits of people from various age groups and backgrounds. While she might not be particularly adept at coaxing interviewees into self-expression like a seasoned journalist, she at least knew how to go about it.
Hal went on quite a long account of himself—during his youth, he had been a slightly rebellious city boy with an extensive social circle. His family was well-off, his uncle owned an airship club, his father had a penchant for expensive Kenyan hunting dogs, and his mother had a fondness for exotic beast hide decorations from foreign continents… and so on.
The two players hearing the exaggerations in his stories only thought one thing: For a mere beginner town NPC, his background sure is complex!