Novice Village 4443 was a small village nestled deep in the forest.
Though it had few houses, it was fully equipped with essential functions: a village chief issuing quests, a blacksmith forging equipment, a merchant trading items…
The scenery was beautiful, with birdsong and fragrant flowers, giving it the serene charm of a hidden paradise.
After receiving their quest, Bai Yue Ling and Ying Ye immediately left the castle, traversed the forest, and followed other players’ footprints to locate Novice Village 4443.
Watching the light-faction players bustling in and out of the village, Ying Ye, hiding in the bushes, grumbled,
“Why is their novice village so nice, while we’re stuck in that creepy, gloomy castle?”
“No choice—that’s the fate of dark-faction players,”
Bai Yue Ling replied, a spark of inspiration flashing in her eyes.
“But I’ve got a great plan to crush them.”
“What?”
“We kidnap all the NPCs in this village, drag them back to our castle, and thoroughly ‘reeducate’ them into the dark faction’s mold,”
Bai Yue Ling said smugly.
“Without NPCs, they can’t take quests and will have to fend for themselves.”
That short sentence packed kidnapping, brainwashing, and corruption—three heinous acts.
Bai Yue Ling expected Ying Ye to reject such a dark, evil plan outright.
To her surprise, Ying Ye pondered it seriously for a moment before saying,
“But… with just the two of us, can we kidnap that many people?”
Bai Yue Ling was taken aback. From what she knew, early-game Ying Ye was a genuinely good girl who’d never agree to such a wicked scheme.
Yet now, she showed no resistance.
Had something changed her behavior?
Could it be… dark corruption?
[Player “Ying Ye” current dark corruption value: 25%.]
Seeing Ying Ye’s lack of objection, Bai Yue Ling grew excited.
“Actually, it’s totally doable.”
She extended her sleeve, summoning her slime pet.
“This slime has a ‘Gigantification’ skill. It can swallow all the village’s NPCs without harming them, so we can bring them back to the castle.”
“Eh? That’s actually possible?”
Ying Ye said, slightly shocked.
“I thought you were just joking, Little White.”
Do you think I’m some clueless kid?
Bai Yue Ling shook her head.
“But there are still two problems.”
“What?”
“First, the village is full of players who’d gang up on the slime.
Second, there’s a super-strong paladin NPC named Aiya.
We need to complete Luoluo Yue’s quest to corrupt her to the dark side first.”
Ying Ye calmed down.
“Either way, let’s check out the village first.”
As she stood to leave, Bai Yue Ling grabbed her thick, shapely leg.
“Little White… what are you doing?”
“Are you a completely clueless weakling?”
Bai Yue Ling whispered, her face sneakily rubbing against Ying Ye’s long, plump thigh.
“Sky Treader Guild is probably hunting us for revenge. If you walk in, they’ll recognize you instantly.”
Ying Ye frowned.
“Then what do we do?”
“Hold on, I’ve got a plan to ensure we won’t be spotted…”
***
Xue Zhongxun Mei sat dejectedly on a village bench, in a foul mood.
After losing the slime boss, she’d been summoned to the guild leader’s office and chewed out for a full hour, loud enough for half the building to hear.
Getting scolded was bad enough, but now the entire Sky Treader Guild knew their vice-leader had led twenty people against two, with a ten-to-one advantage, and still got obliterated.
Humiliated, she couldn’t face her colleagues, skipped lunch, and sulked back to her gaming pod.
Why… why did those holy light orbs deal such high damage?
She racked her brain but couldn’t figure out where she’d gone wrong.
Sigh, the boss is gone, I’ve been scolded—what’s the point of dwelling on it?
Xue Zhongxun Mei stood abruptly, smirking as she regained her arrogant swagger.
Workplace stress?
She’d vent it in the game.
“How many people have joined our guild?” she asked.
A nearby guild member replied,
“With our guild’s prestigious name and generous benefits, we’ve recruited over a hundred new members.”
“Excellent. Gather everyone—we’re taking over this novice village!”
In a village of just a few hundred players, Sky Treader’s hundred-plus members could dominate.
“That hill has nice scenery—kick out whoever’s up there. It’s ours now!”
“Those players fishing by the river? Send people to steal their fish. That river belongs to us too!”
“Too many players near the merchant? Fence off the area. Only Sky Treader members can trade with that merchant—everyone else, get lost!”
Xue Zhongxun Mei sneered, directing her guild members to run rampant in the village.
Her specialty was leveraging the guild’s power to bully solo players within the game’s rules.
“What? You solo players want to resist?”
“Sorry, our guild has higher levels, better gear, and stronger unity.”
“You rabble dare challenge me?”
Gradually, players realized that resisting was futile.
Joining Sky Treader to oppress others was more profitable.
As a result, more players joined, and Novice Village 4443’s atmosphere grew increasingly toxic.
***
Whoosh!
An arrow pierced a solo player trying to ambush her.
Xue Zhongxun Mei patrolled her “territory” with her group, nodding in satisfaction.
Nearly half the village was under Sky Treader’s control.
Solo players couldn’t access quests or leveling spots, and the gap with guild members only widened.
“With so many new recruits, I’ve made up for my mistake,”
Xue Zhongxun Mei sighed, then gritted her teeth.
“But it’s a pity I haven’t found that damn priest hero!”
A new guild member asked curiously, “Vice-leader, what’s with this priest hero?”
“She stole our guild’s world-first boss kill!”
Losing a boss that was within their grasp was infuriating.
Xue Zhongxun Mei had marked Bai Yue Ling as her lifelong enemy.
She wouldn’t rest until she’d killed that big-breasted girl back to level 1!
Suddenly, she stopped, spotting two sneaky figures.
“Hold it… you two, stop! Yes, you!”
Xue Zhongxun Mei shouted.
“You’re the priest hero and Ying Ye, aren’t you?”
“Who’s the priest hero? We don’t know her,” one of them replied calmly.
“No more lies—it’s definitely you two!”
Xue Zhongxun Mei said confidently.
“Impossible! Our disguises are flawless,” Bai Yue Ling exclaimed.
“Think I’m blind? Two pieces of tattered cloth on your faces count as a disguise?!”
Xue Zhongxun Mei roared.
Indeed, Bai Yue Ling and Ying Ye were dressed the same, just with black cloths covering their faces.
Ying Ye ripped off her mask, mercilessly retorting,
“Little White, this is your so-called perfect disguise?”
“Uh… sorry, I don’t know how she recognized us,” Bai Yue Ling sighed.
“But I’ve seen others disguise themselves like this.”
She clearly remembered players in her past lives hiding their identities with face cloths.
Why did it fail when she tried it?
Xue Zhongxun Mei couldn’t take it anymore.
“Idiot! Because I’ve only ever seen one silver-haired, big-breasted girl who’s five feet tall—you!”