Chapter 57 – Hunted

The trip north was pretty uneventful. I noticed that there are definitely more players around, but most of them are around my level and thus not a threat. The sea of low-level players actually benefits me as it makes it harder for any high-level patrolmen to single me out with this many people around. I have become surprisingly skilled at spotting the wandering patrolmen and find alternate routes to bypass them. Well, I would have been proud if it hadn’t been because all the patrols seem to do a half-assed job. I suppose you can’t expect much professionalism from players doing menial tasks like this when stuck in an amazing digital fantasy world. At least, I know I wouldn’t if I were in their shoes.

I’m not quite sure why, but Odin, my trap mentor, wasn’t at his workshop this time either. I know he is a grandmaster and thus is probably too busy to deal with teaching mere mortals like myself, but why would he even bother being a teacher if he’s never doing his job? Well, at least he isn’t berating me for not progressing further and faster within my profession like he is prone to do, so it isn’t that bad. It would be nice if he could stop by and say hello every now and then though.

As much as I miss my grumpy old teacher, I’m getting a bit tired of talking to people. An introverted guy like me can only have a finite amount of conversations over a short timespan before I start going crazy. Seriously. I feel like I have done nothing but talk all morning and I’m starting to crave the solitude.

Anyways, I did manage to get out of the workshop in a reasonable amount of time and I can’t really complain when I see what I gained.

[Schematic: Novice Trigger Mechanism - Woolen Tripwire. Common Trap Maker Schematic. Requires: 4x Rough-spun Woolen Thread, 1x Small Wooden Stick. (Product must be attached to a Release Mechanism to function).]

[Schematic: Novice Framework - Wood and Copper Structure. Common Trap Maker Schematic. Requires: 1x Rough-spun Woolen Thread, 1x Small Wooden Plank, 1x Copper Bar, 1x Basic Magic Oil. (Product must be attached to a Trigger Mechanism and a Release Mechanism to function).]

[Schematic: Novice Release Mechanism - Alarm. Common Trap Maker Schematic. Requires: 1x Minor Mana Stone, 1x Large Wooden Plank, 1x Iron Spring, 1x Basic Magic Oil. (Product must be attached to a Trigger Mechanism to function).]

I decided to pick up the next set of schematics to add to my trap making repertoire. It’s nothing flashy, but the schematics offer slightly increased gains when part of a trap. The development path for crafters is usually pretty linear, and I don’t see a reason to mess with the system. If it works, it works. The trick with using traps lies in how you utilize the trap anyway. Being fancy and shiny takes second place. Hell, I probably wouldn’t even have bothered upgrading my current set of schematics if it hadn’t been because I gain a slight experience boost to creating these parts rather than their basic counterparts. Every little bonus helps, I suppose.

Currently, I’m on my way back south towards my hideout to start grinding out some skill levels. Things are going pretty good for me at the moment so I take a second to really lower my shoulders and relax for a change. Nothing can go wrong today, I can just feel it.

[Anna’el Windrider writes: Hey, Ryan! You’re on later than usual. What’s up?]

Oh, right. I almost forgot that I didn’t put my friends list status back to appear as offline during the day. It was intentional though. I’ve been leveling up like crazy lately, and it’s becoming harder and harder to explain to people how I’m leveling up this fast when I’m supposedly only playing during the night. I figure staying online during weekends should help alleviate some of those suspicions. And by people that are prone to suspect me of anything, I obviously mean Anna. The crazy girl that keeps writing to me.

Anna is a pretty weird girl. I accidentally ran into her just an hour after I started up this character. I still don’t understand what happened, but the girl started clinging to me like a wet napkin. We are friends, I guess, even though our entire relationship is based on a lie. She sort of thinks I’m an old man, playing this game just to pass time. I told that particular lie just to get away from her, but she somehow found me fascinating and decided to become my friend. This entire situation is kind of absurd, but she has provided me with a lot of valuable information which has undoubtedly been paramount to my successes so far. I kind of feel bad for stringing her along, but I don’t really know how to break it off with her without making things worse. I just hope karma won’t come around and bite me in the ass at some point. God knows I would deserve it.

[Rynorn Stabberton writes: Hello Anna! Good to hear from you. I have been having a lot of fun playing these last few days so I decided to extend my playing time a little longer over the weekend. I am absolutely fascinated by the complexity of this game, and I’d like to spend another few hours to see how far I can progress.]

[Anna’el Windrider writes: Haha, I know right? This game is just too damn awesome for its own good! I’m pretty much playing for nearly eighteen hours per day myself. I’m hooked.]

[Rynorn Stabberton writes: Eighteen hours? That sounds like an awful lot. The user manual only recommends twelve hours of use per day. Is it safe?]

[Anna’el Windrider writes: Safe? Hasn’t been a problem for me yet. They only put on that warning to prevent lawsuits, really. No matter how idiot-proof you make things these days, there will always be that one person who overdoes it and ruins it for everyone. As long as you take decent breaks every now and then, eat healthily and exercise, you should be all good.]

[Rynorn Stabberton writes: I suppose you know best. So what’s new with you? Did that entire debacle with the Plaguebringer work out okay?]

[Anna’el Windrider writes: Oh my god, don’t get me started on that shit. We followed your directions for a few minutes, and we did indeed find his lair. Or, what was left of it, I suppose. The place was cleaned out. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, do you? *winkyface*]

[Rynorn Stabberton writes: No, sorry. I was a bit busy running for my life.]

[Anna’el Windrider writes: I’m just messing with you Ryan. *lol*. The important thing is that it has all been taken care of now. Well, mostly. Big sis somehow got a big stick up her arse about another Thief Lord, but that happens at least once a week anyway. Nothing new there.]

[Rynorn Stabberton writes: Sounds worrisome. Is it perchance the same Thief Lord you ran into last week?]

[Anna’el Windrider writes: Nah, probably not. This one was a much higher level and we’re not even certain this one even exists. It doesn’t matter though. If there is another Thief Lord out there, then big sis already has it covered.]

[Rynorn Stabberton writes: Covered?]

[Anna’el Windrider writes: Yeah. I can’t say any more about it though. Guild secret. Sis is already kinda pissed Brian and I told you about the sewers in the first place. *poutyface*.]

Oh crap. This doesn’t sound good. Guild secret? What does she mean by ‘having it covered’? That sounds ominous as hell. I need to know more. Please, Lady Karma, don’t smite me for deceiving this kind soul another time…

[Rynorn Stabberton writes: Oh, that sounds bad. Should I be worried? Is it still safe for me to enter the sewers?]

[Anna’el Windrider writes: Hmm. Yeah, you should probably still be safe down there, but I can’t guarantee anything. Just be careful and stay away from dark alleyways. They are a bit jumpy. Sorry, but I can’t say anymore.]

They are a bit jumpy? Who the hell are ‘they’? Did Aria send someone to hunt me down? If so, then who? High-level Perception players? Assassins? … I don’t like this. If Anna is this confident about their success, then I need to tread carefully here. If this is some sort of specialized tracking team, then I’m not sure how long I can dodge them. Something doesn’t quite add up though. If Aria has some sort of special unit for tracking down players, then why are they classified as a guild secret? A high-level guild having a tracking squad should be a given considering the scale the Dark Pegasus guild is operating on. Could this be something else? Why do I have to avoid dark alleyways? Is it because they know that’s where they’re most likely to run into Villains and thus is a prime location to set up an ambush?

Doubtful. The city is huge, and I doubt anyone would spend hours, possibly days waiting in the same spot for a Villain to walk past. Hell, it would probably be easier to sit and wait in the sewers all day. It would still take a long time, with little guarantee of running across any Villains, but their odds should still be better than hanging out in a random alleyway. What’s even odder is that Anna already hinted to the sewers being reasonably safe. Wait. For all she knows, I’m still a Trap Maker. I should be safe from other players wherever I go to begin with. Why would it be any riskier for me to walk around in alleyways than anyone else? Regular players can’t fight other players in safe zones.

This is a puzzle. For what reason should I stay out of alleyways? Are they going to use traps to catch me? No, probably not. If they fill the city’s alleyways with traps, then they are more likely to kill random NPCs rather than Villains, and that would cause them to take huge hits to their renown with possibly no gain. Why would I… Wait. What if it isn’t about me after all? What if it’s they who need to move in the alleyways? Could that be it? … I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense. The only way that would make sense would be if they were Villains like me, and that would be preposterous. Aria would have to be one hell of a gutsy woman to try and pull off a special squad of-

...

Oh. My. God. It makes perfect sense. A group of people whose job is to hunt down Villains, who also need to operate from secluded alleyways and are threats to regular players, on top of being a heavily guarded guild secret? I can’t believe she would actually do that. To create a squad of Villains to hunt for other Villains. Who is better suited for the job of hunting an overpowered character than using several overpowered characters? It’s brilliant. Gutsy, risky, and utterly brilliant. I have really underestimated Aria.

This changes everything. I need to prepare for this, and fast. I need to gain a whole lot more power. If I am truly being hunted by a group of Villains who most likely are much higher levels than I am, then I need to stick my head in the sand and hope they won’t find me.

The only thing I really have working for me is that they don’t seem to be a hundred percent sure I even exist. That could change if Greg and Kevin suddenly decide to grow some balls and tell Aria, so I need to make my damndest sure they keep their mouths shut. Other than that, I need to lay low for a few days. If they can’t find any trace of my existence, then they will probably give up after a few days. They still need to level themselves, after all. I can outlast them. I need to stick to the shadows and only pull off safe heists.

The sewers are therefore off-limits for a few days. I can’t risk running into any scouts near any entrances. While the alleyways may see a lot of Villain traffic during the next few days, the odds are still fairly low of our paths actually crossing. Especially if I focus on performing jobs that are located far away from any sewer entrances or places of interest. If I stick to doing jobs for a few days, they will eventually give up.

[Anna’el Windrider writes: Are you still there, Ryan? You haven’t said anything for ten minutes.]

Oh, shit. I forgot about Anna.

[Rynorn Stabberton writes: Oh, sorry. I was in the middle of a really tricky segment of making this trap, so I sort of lost focus. I need to wrap this one up. Can we talk more later?]

[Anna’el Windrider writes: Aww, all right. Too bad my party and I are out of town for the day or I would swing by your trainer for a little chat. We still have that raincheck on the dinner, and I’m planning on cashing it in soon!]

[Rynorn Stabberton writes: Haha, don’t worry. Just tell me when.]

[Anna’el Windrider writes: I will! Ttyl! *winkyface*]

I make my way back to my hideout in silence. Ideas are bouncing back and forth inside of my mind, but all I’m getting is static. Aria and the Dark Pegasus guild seems to have a stick the size of a skyscraper stuck up their asses when it comes to Villains. Any regular person wouldn’t go to these lengths just to root out a single player in a city housing thousands. Perhaps I should pack up my shit and move north towards Karlrys? That city may be a lot smaller, but there probably won’t even be a fraction of the number of crazy guildies running around down here. At least not for a couple of months more when Aria decides to expand her operation. It could probably buy me a month or two of relative peace and quiet.

I probably shouldn’t though. The game world changes pretty much every week and I should stick with the devil I already know. Besides, running out into the wild this close to cities during these earlier stages of the game is next to impossible without running into at least half a dozen players every hour. Nah, I need just buckle up and brace myself until the ride slows down. I got this. It shouldn’t be too hard as long as I keep my head down.

With a sigh, I enter the hideout and head deep underground. The place is pretty deserted since Cobra brought everyone out to play, so it’s pretty much only me and the Poisoner down here. Since there is no reason to bother the mute crafter, I head into my own little workshop to try and get started on those alarm traps I promised to make.

I’ve gotta say, I’ve become quite proficient at making traps this last week. There are a few tips and tricks one can do to speed things along, and most of the tough parts require a special technique to get working correctly. Like most things in a man’s life, it’s all in the wrist. It might be because of my ever-growing Dexterity attribute, but I like to think I’ve become better on my own. I do my best to follow Odin’s counsel of making all the individual parts of the completed trap simultaneously. It may increase the risk of ruining the whole thing, but I’ve noticed I gain more experience by doing it this way, as well as there being a bigger chance of the completed trap jumping up a level in quality.

The traps aren’t overly convoluted, and the only ‘new’ part of the trap is the release mechanism. Unlike the liquid canister or the wooden flail I usually make, the alarm mechanism is actually surprisingly simple. While several individual parts are making up the schematic, they are all rather bulky and doesn’t require a lot of fine-tuning for the whole thing to come together. I just need to reshape the copper bar into a funnel and use the mana stone to power a simple enchantment. From there, I only need to attach the contraption to a wooden base and hook the outgoing wire to the metal string and I’m all set. Thank god for gaming logic, am I right? I don’t think anyone could really make a functioning trap with these random materials, but the game is the way it is I suppose. There are probably a ton of people complaining about their immersion being broken though. I don’t particularly care, as the entire process still requires a decent level of skill to complete. It’s not like I would ever want to learn how to create a real trap anyway.

By the time I manage to make about a dozen completed alarm traps, Cobra returns with the rest of my underlings. I don’t even need to check the job notification to know if the job was successful or not since I doubt the gang would be cheering this much if they failed.

“So, how did it go?” I ask my Cobra as I step into the common room.

Cobra guffaws. “Glad you ask, boss! The boys can probably give you a better answer than I can, or what do you say!?”

“O-rah!”

“Damn straight!” He chuckles, slumping down onto a wooden bench.

“Did anything go wrong?” I ask.

“Nah, it went as smooth as a maiden’s breast. We placed some of those traps of yours by the back entrance while the rest of us made a ruckus at the front. I swear, those smugglers must have pissed their pants twice over as they scrambled over one another trying to flee. It was almost too easy, actually.” He roars with laughter, bringing the level of celebration up a notch across the entire room.

Smiling, I open up the notification as my underlings conjure mugs of ale from whatever depths of cyber hell they come from.

The Job: Drug Smugglers Struggle is Successful!

We live in a goblin-eats-dog world where the weak will always be prey for the strong. Tonight, there is one less prey, and your coffers are filled to the brim. Be careful though, Thief Lord. There are always larger predators.

Rewards: 500 Experience, (412) Crafting Reagents, (3) Miscellaneous Items, 6 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Copper.

Not bad. There are even more crafting reagents this time around, and all the ingredients are a step up. There’s even a couple of new upgraded poison recipes for my Poisoner to start working on.

[Recipe: Novice Paralyzing Poison. Uncommon Alchemy Recipe. *Contraband*]

[Recipe: Novice Blight Poison. Common Alchemy Recipe. *Contraband*]

[Recipe: Novice Damage Poison. Common Alchemy Recipe. *Contraband*]

I can work with this. My stock of poisons is due for an upgrade. I might have to buy a couple of ingredients from storekeepers though, as the new ingredients are all over the place. With what I have, I can’t even start producing the novice paralyzing poisons, and those are the poisons I crave the most. There’s not much I can do about it now though. I need to act as quickly as possible before my pursuers start flooding the area.

“So, Cobra. Are you boys up for another job?”