Volume 4, Chapter 19 – Lin Yumo Never Retreats

“Why is it you two?” Yumo’s eyes widened.

This was completely different from what she had imagined.

Outside, she had heard several loud crashes right after Bucket Bro entered the room, so she had immediately rushed in.

She had never expected to find the two NPCs who had traded with her.

Could it be that they had been captured by Bucket Bro?

And where was Bucket Bro himself?

As Yumo lowered her head, she inadvertently saw Bucket Bro’s corpse lying miserably on the floor.

There were two wounds on his back.

One ran from below the neck all the way down to level with the abdomen.

The other was a slash on the right side of the spine.

Yumo had not turned on the game’s gore filter, so the bloody scene was displayed in full before her eyes.

She staggered back several steps in a daze until her back hit the door.

Only then did Yumo come to her senses.

“Y-you did this?” She pointed at Anran, who was still holding the Crimson Blade.

Who else could it have been?

“Yep, it was me. That’s right. You want to avenge him?” Anran flicked her blade and glared at Yumo fiercely.

At the same time, her other hand very naturally stuffed the money from the chest into her bag. Aila was not idle either and was helping Anran gather up the cash.

“You…”

Yumo gripped the hilt of her sword with both hands and leveled it at Anran.

She had originally resolved to fight Bucket Bro to the death, but who would have thought that in the brief moment she had been away, Bucket Bro would already have been cut down by the NPC in front of her.

This was way too real.

More importantly, Yumo saw the thread-bound book lying by Anran’s feet.

*Detailed Explanation of Swordsmanship*.

It was a profession knowledge book.

It could help her advance to Basic Swordsman.

At first, Yumo had been developing her character with a small peddler, but she could not afford it. A few days later, when she went back to look again, she discovered that Bucket Bro had taken the book, while the peddler himself had been crippled by Bucket Bro’s underlings.

Yumo could not beat Bucket Bro, so the only thing she could do was buy the knowledge book from him.

But Bucket Bro had named a price of 10,000 Bilu.

“…”

She had no choice but to find a way to make money.

In truth, Yumo was also tempering her own character.

In real life, she had been born into an old family of classical swordsmanship.

Her talent was exceptional.

Unfortunately, however, she had an older sister whose talent was even better.

From the moment she was born, she had carried crushing pressure on her shoulders.

Over more than ten years and fifty-some challenges, she had lost every single time without exception.

Yumo’s life had run into an enormous crisis.

By now, she could not even meet her sister’s gaze head-on.

She could only flee into this little town in the game and rebuild herself.

Even against a powerful opponent, I won’t back down anymore!

Only by challenging stronger people can I become stronger. Right and wrong no longer matter!

“Come on, then. I absolutely won’t lose!”

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Yumo took up a defensive opening stance.

“You’re definitely going to lose. Trust me.” Anran spoke casually as she picked up the chest and knocked on it, discovering there was no false bottom.

It could not be helped. Yumo was level 9 now, above average among the player base.

But in front of Anran…

Even if she were holding a firearm, at such close range it would still be meaningless.

Let alone a pitifully weak wooden sword with lousy stats.

“How will I know the result if I don’t try?!” Yumo was brimming with courage.

Anran was tempted.

Because she suddenly realized that she had never killed a player before, and she had no idea whether killing players would give rewards.

Her blade practically itched for Yumo.

“Come on! I won’t retreat even a single step!” Yumo shouted softly.

Slash slash slash—

The instant Yumo finished speaking,

Anran, who had long since been eager to act, struck out with three slashes.

Leg sweep.

Chest stab.

Upward kick to the crotch.

All in one smooth flow.

Then Yumo turned into a corpse, and ten seconds later dissolved into a ray of light and returned to the respawn point.

Anran was in an extremely good mood.

Aila, on the other hand, had no particular reaction.

After seeing how Anran had dealt with Sandi, she felt that Anran was actually rather gentle with girls.

As expected of Anran.

“You have killed player Yumo and obtained 700 EXP.”

Killing one level 9 player gave 700 EXP.

Anran then compared that to the dozen or so NPCs she had killed earlier, which had yielded only 1,900 EXP in total. Even adding Bucket Bro only brought it to 2,500.

The gap was just too real.

Bucket Bro had at least been a level 10 NPC.

Looking at it this way, the game was really malicious.

The game was basically encouraging her to kill fewer cheap NPCs and more valuable players, sending her further and further down the road of becoming a BOSS.

Sinister intentions. Impure motives. It was way too calculating.

Even Anran was tempted.

She could not let herself cave too easily.

She had to stay steady.

“Accumulated kills: 1 player. You have obtained the NPC Template-exclusive title [The Most Wicked].”

“…”

Anran was stunned stiff.

It even handed out exclusive titles.

How terrifying was that?

She opened the interface and took a look.

Title: [The Most Wicked]

(On the path of a BOSS’s growth, blood and slaughter are inevitable. Step on NPCs with your left foot and players with your right. Don’t let yourself become a limping clown.)

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What the hell is this?

Progress: 1/25

Effect: HP +50, Strength +1, Agility +1, Endurance +1, Intelligence +1, Spirit +1, Charisma +1

Holy crap!

Anran’s eyes widened.

It was actually a title that boosted all attributes.

It even added 1 point of Charisma.

Did it really have to be this ridiculous?

Was the game trying that hard to tempt her into killing players?

Forget it. No time to worry about that now.

“Search again. See if there’s any soup left un-drunk,” Anran said to Aila.

But Aila did not understand that sort of slang.

“(⊙_⊙)?”

“I mean, see if there’s anywhere else money might be hidden. We need money in a lot of places, so we’ll take as much as we can get,” Anran explained.

Aila immediately understood.

She started rummaging through chests and cupboards even before Anran did.

What a good assistant.

They were searching enthusiastically when the door was suddenly pushed open again.

The one who came in was Yumo, freshly back from the respawn point.

Brandishing her little wooden sword, she charged in once more.

Her gaze happened to sweep over the *Detailed Explanation of Swordsmanship* lying on the ground.

“Again!”

Slash slash slash—

Anran dropped Yumo again in three moves.

“Ignore her. Let’s keep going.”

Anran spoke while they happily counted the 2,000 Bilu they had just found in a wall cabinet.

Anran also took a look at the new title.

After killing Yumo again, the count still remained at 1.

Only then did she notice the note attached at the back: once the same player had been killed by Anran for the first time, no matter how many times Anran “showered them with affection” over the next twenty-four hours, it would only count once.

Apparently, finding a single player and farming them for kills was not going to work.

Bang!

“Again!”

“…”

Speechless, Anran looked at Yumo, who had rushed in yet again.

“Is there something wrong with your head? You can’t beat me, so why do you keep coming back here to die?”

“I’m tempering my swordsmanship!”

This time, Yumo switched her opening stance.

Since pure defense was useless, then she would attack!

The women of the Lin family never retreated either!

Yumo’s gaze sharpened. Dressed in her plain, old-style clothes, she now carried a rather gallant air.

She looked quite striking.

There really is something wrong with her head!

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Anran decided to shatter Yumo’s fantasy.

So this time, she simply pulled out a pistol.

Bang!

Yumo collapsed.

This time she was shot clear out through the doorway.

In the end, she once again turned into a ray of light and vanished.

“Emmm…” After thinking for a moment, Anran said to Aila, “Forget it. Let’s just leave. Otherwise that nuisance will come back and stir up trouble again.”

“Are we not going to keep searching?”

“There can’t be much money left anyway.”

“How about you keep looking, Anran? I’ll stop her,” Aila suggested.

“No need.”

Anran refused. She was worried Aila would leave the girl with psychological trauma.

That would not be nice.

“Oh.”

Aila looked reluctantly at Bucket Bro’s house.

Bucket Bro, lying there on the floor, must be furious.

Anran shook her head, picked up the knowledge book, and had only just reached the courtyard gate when she looked at Yumo hurrying toward them with a pained expression.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Anran charged at her with blade in hand.

“If you want me to be your sparring partner, that costs money, you know!”

Yumo raised her sword too.

The women of the Lin family would not be defeated by a minor setback like this.

She was going to reclaim herself now. She absolutely could not retreat again.

Slash—

The Crimson Blade, wreathed in a crimson blade-light, shot straight for Yumo’s chest.

So this opening move is a chest strike?

Then I’ll parry to the right!

Yumo moved.

Then her wooden sword was sent flying.

This crappy sword…

Anran glared resentfully at the wooden sword.

Apprentice Swordsman starter wooden sword.

Undroppable item!

Then Anran leaped up and—

“That’s what you get for asking for trouble!”

“That’s what you get for asking for trouble!”

Yumo had already instinctively raised her hands to block.

But the slash she had expected never came.

Instead, her head got smacked.

“That’s what you get for asking for trouble!”

Anran thumped Yumo on the head.

“-1,” “-1,” “-1” kept floating up over her head…

Yumo immediately covered her head with both hands and cried out softly, “Ow, ow, ow…”

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“That’s what you get for asking for trouble!”

Anran seized both of Yumo’s arms and threw her backward with an overhead suplex!

Bang!

“-9”

“That’s what you get for asking for trouble!”

Then she went right back to smacking her on the head.

Yumo curled up into a miserable little ball.

Beside them, Aila’s eyes were wide open. She had even forgotten to perform the programmed action of blinking.

Wow, Anran was angry.

Only after beating Yumo down to half health did Anran finally let go in satisfaction.

She raised the Crimson Blade high, about to send Yumo on her way again.

Then she suddenly remembered something.

Anran lowered the blade.

She hauled Yumo back to her feet. “Right. Let me ask you something first.”

Yumo looked at Anran without saying a word.

What a stubborn girl.

Sigh.

Anran pulled out the *Detailed Explanation of Swordsmanship* and waved it.

“You actually want this, right?”

“Mm.”

Yumo expressed her desire with blunt honesty.

“Then let’s make a deal. Tell me whether that Bucket Bro guy had a car, and where it is, and I’ll sell you this book,” Anran said.

“How much?” Yumo asked in a small voice.

“How much money do you have right now?”

“Th… 2,500 Bilu.”

Yumo paused for a moment.

“Done. Then it’s 3,000 Bilu!” Anran patted Yumo on the shoulder.

“You…”

Yumo’s eyes widened, and then she let out a defeated sigh.

“Deal.” It was as if all the air had been sucked out of her at once.

“That’s more like it.”

Like an indulgent older sister, Anran rose on tiptoe and patted Yumo on the head.

“…”

Yumo froze. Th-this, this, this…

Aila froze too, suddenly feeling quite displeased.

“You can’t beat me. If you really want to temper your swordsmanship, you’d be better off leaving this dump sooner and joining some faction. Only real combat will sharpen you properly,” Anran said casually.

Yumo replied, “Only by challenging stronger people can I temper my sword heart!”

Sword heart?

What?

Some kind of wandering swordsman thing?

“Anyway, take me to Bucket Bro’s car first.”