A man carefully combed the forest, searching for a rare, treasured plant.
"It should be around here, right?" Jack uttered out loud.
Luckily for him, this place was right next to the edge of the fox territory. This made it relatively easy to navigate. After a while, he finally noticed an orange flower with blue spots conveniently laying in the perfect ambush spot.
Wow, what do you know! Jack couldn't but chuckle as he saw this "treasured" flower. He tiptoed toward it before carefully gathering it.
That's when it happened! All around, players came out of the bushes, trees, and tall grass. Their faces were adorned with grins as phase one of their plan had succeeded.
"What?! Oh my god, I can't believe this!…." Jack cried out in shock as he eyed the newcomers.
They were menacingly approaching him and chuckled, seeing his reaction. Well, it was expected. They, too, would have been frightened by 50 players suddenly surrounding them. They had successfully used his greed against him!
But then he completed his sentence:
"I truly can't believe it. So many of you are homeless?! Wait, do you all not know how to log out? Is that why you were all sleeping here?" He asked them with concern and pity.
That's when their grins turned into grimaces:
"Goddammit, of course, we know how to log out!"
"You're the dumbass that fell for our trap."
"Tch— trying to be a smartass."
"You'll be a deadass real quick!"
"Brothers, let's fuck him up!"
They kept coming closer. By now, the circle was already too tight for him ever to have any hope of escaping. They would just have to swing their sticks all at once blindly, and they were bound to hit him.
Even for Jack, it would be impossible to dodge everything. Then they would be able to body block him by using their numbers. Afterward, it would only be a question of time before they defeated him.
They were all used to PVP and understood that logic very well, hence why they were so confident. In fact, the Mighty Dragons were so confident that they had called for an audience.
Behind the encirclement were many players tasked with witnessing the event.
"Look, guys, How about we call a truce? There is no need to fight in the first place. How about you all apologize for ambushing me initially? A 5 Gold apology should do the trick." Jack amicably offered.
If they hunted foxes, they could gain two silvers per. It wouldn't take that long to hunt 250 foxes with 50 players. All in all, it seemed like a fair deal to him.
But, his proposal was met with clear refusal:
"Are you crazy?!"
"5 G isn't an apology but a poverty sentence!"
"You sure are acting high and mighty for someone who's about to die."
"Hell, how about you give us 5 G, and we might allow you to leave alive."
Somehow his offer had enraged them as they seemed so eager to pummel him to death. They were playing with their stick in anticipation. Why were they so against the idea? But then he came to a realization.
"Ah! Is it that you guys suck at math? 5 G really isn't that much if you're hunting foxes. Hell, the trashy armor I'm wearing is worth more than that." Jack patiently explained.
The spectators sucked a cold breath in awe as they uttered in shock:
"Oh my god, that's insane. More than 5 G?!"
"Wow, that's a huge fucking flex."
"He's wealthier than a top guild?!"
As for the Mighty Dragons, their faces hardened as they sent him death glares. It was fine if he was rich, but did he have to rub it in their faces like that?! Plus, was there anything else more ridiculous than to say such a thing to PK players? They'd kill him for loot!
"Flex? What do you mean a flex?! That's really not it!" Jack protested. After all, his boots and leggings were worn traveler equipment, his helmet was so rusty it barely offered protection, and his chest was nothing more than a butcher leather jacket…
But, it was already far too late. The Mighty Dragons charged at him with a war cry: "Show this punk our might!"
The bystanders couldn't help but shake their heads. What kind of madman would voluntarily infuriate his attackers? Then again, they had already been determined to murder him. They could only silently offer a silent prayer for the Demon King.
It was regrettable, but his invincible reputation seemed to end there. Of course, the Dragons kept claiming they had killed him before, but no one had ever seen him respawn at the town plaza as far as they could remember.
"Alright, bring it on!" Jack valiantly roared, not showing any fear.
He responded by a charge of his own, heading toward the edge of the encirclement. When in a group fight, one had to divide to conquer. Instead of facing 50 of them at once, he could make it multiple 1 v 5. This was his goal.
The dragons' leader was still showing composure as he oversaw the fight:
"Remember, press him without giving him a single break. He may have the damage of 3 or even 4 of us, but he's going to run out of HP pretty fast!"
"Boss is right! Use all your power and screw him over! Dragons never show mercy!"
Jack couldn't help but shake his head. That was just plain wrong. Dragons in Infinite were pretty complex creatures. Hell, the ones that knew healing magic were pretty much exorbitantly expensive flying shiny ambulances.
Then came the first contact.
— Shlack—
— Shlack—
— Shlack—
Five players smashed toward him almost at the same time. Jack instantly moved his body akin to an acrobat, albeit a very slow one since his AGI was pretty low. He managed to dodge two attacks directly.
Then he used his Cluckinator to parry the one that came on his right side. But, his assailants knew how to PK. Two more attacks arrived on his unguarded left side!
-0
They couldn't help but grin. They would draw the first blood, and with this, the momentum would be theirs! But just as their sticks were reaching him, a shield appeared out of nowhere and deflected their attacks.
Creator's Thought
If I'm not mistaken, they mixed red pigments from Begonias with yellow ones from Poppies to make some orange. As for the blue, it was probably from a Chicory. Well, either that or they just bought it...but that's unlikely. After all, the NPCs charge a leg and an arm for life-skill stuff like paint. So yeah, they painted a flower to bait me...quite creative!
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