Chapter 11:

It was dusk for Murphy, but likely early morning in the real world where the players resided, conveniently being a weekend. So at the admin’s command, the entire group immediately became lively. A bunch of people frantically typed “1” to indicate they were ready, even those few lurkers who hadn’t spoken before joined in. LeadingPigeon: 【Online! Let’s do this! Ah, my pigeon blood is boiling, this time we must make a big fuss!】 MeowKing: 【@All Members Don’t be disorderly! When we go online later, everyone must remain calm, just follow our previous plan. We need to act calmly and try to show our alpha tester spirit to teach that disrespectful dev team a lesson.】 InvincibleTyrannosaurusCheche: 【Wuwuwu, o(╥_╥)o, it’ll be 2 more days before I can revive. This time I can only provide spiritual support. But if anyone gets killed for being a noob, we’ve got great spectator seats.】 AhYuen: 【Tsk, you ungrateful son, say something luckier! If I die in the game, I’ll spank you in reality. Ah, we can go online now! Quick! Charge!】 At this point, Murphy had activated his Otherworld Creature Summoning, and just like last night, the dark spirits within his body seemed to be squeezed out, with dim flickering points gathering in the shadows and transforming into a beam of light that flashed into Miriam’s house below. But this time Murphy used a strategy, not summoning all 12 players at once, only summoning six players over there. This intense spirit fluctuation was immediately sensed by that scouting Witch Hunter. She suddenly looked up with widened eyes, in the flickering glow of her eyes, what was originally an empty village house at the end now had several unknown lifeforce auras appear. “It’s a summoning! An ambush!” She cried out in alarm. The female leader beside her holding a hunter’s sword reacted even faster, charging towards the position her two previous companions were sent to patrol. But in the shadows of the water tower, Murphy, compressed into a ball from spirit exhaustion, looked up and poured Miriam’s vial of pure blood into his mouth. The sweet liquid entered, the crimson thirst was quenched and bloodlust arose, the power of blood greatly increased Murphy’s fighting spirit and even replenished his depleted spirits. Summoning, second wave! Swish Six more flickering beams of light appeared upstairs in the village entrance house, like an RTS player using the box A-move trick, immediately surrounding that unprotected scout left in Murphy’s trap. Leading Pigeon, appearing in the house, immediately saw the hunter’s crossbows and a set of armor that the NPC had left there earlier, the weapons he had looted before being kicked offline last time. The good pigeon wasted no time putting on the armor haphazardly, grabbed a crossbow and rushed to the window, spotting Gugu Chicken and Ah Yuen charging out from a neighboring house to surround that lone female scout. Ah Yuen wildly slashed with his hunting knife, while Gugu Chicken treated his short sword like a warhammer. The slender scout struggled to fend off the two noob players’ attacks, but was shot in the thighs by Leading Pigeon’s surprise archer attack from the high ground, screaming as she fell, and pummeled by Gugu Chicken. “Amber! Damn it!” The female Witch Hunter leader, who had been charging towards the ambush house, saw her scout beaten down by the enemy summoned militia and immediately turned back to support her. But an eerie shadow unexpectedly leapt out from behind a wall, its whip-fast sword slashing like a striking viper forcing her back a few steps. Standing in the shadows, Murphy elegantly swung his Blade of Desire and said to the Witch Hunter, though mockingly: “Ah, an ardent pursuer is always hard to refuse. Since you’ve come for me, let us dance together, fiery gray-haired lady. Your comrades’ wails shall accompany our duet.” “Get lost, vampire!” Realizing she had fallen into an ambush trap, the enraged Witch Hunter gripped her hunting sword and charged forward. The blade seemed to activate some special spirit energy, green-blue flames swirling around it, its purifying power immediately putting Murphy on alert like needles pricking his back. Not good! This one’s gonna be tough! “There are still people at the village entrance! They’re trying to break in! Quick! All archers, fire arrows! Fire arrows!!” From behind Murphy, the middle-aged man’s hoarse shout made Leading Pigeon, who had been about to provide crossbow support to the NPC, shudder in shock. He rushed to the other side and saw the four veteran Witch Hunters originally guarding the village entrance now charging in, making him panic a bit, until he suddenly heard his NPC’s gloomy voice beside his ear: “Don’t panic! The wagon blocking the entrance has been doused in oil, there are Witch Hunter bombs inside too. There’s a gas lamp prepared beside you, twist it open and throw it down! Let these madmen experience being engulfed in flames!” Damn, these vampires are devious enough! I like it! The good pigeon grinned, grabbed the prepared gas lamp, twisted it haphazardly until the flame sparked, and hurled it down with all his strength. The shattered lamp spilled onto the fallen wagon igniting it, a gout of flame like a rising wall that blocked the four charging Witch Hunters. The bombs inside were also ignited! The explosive blast knocked down the one in the lead, setting his cloak ablaze, while the other three quickly dragged him back to avoid becoming live targets for follow-up arrows. But they were being too cautious. “Just a student. I go to the range to practice twice a week. What, didn’t you guys have any hobbies in school?” The ambushed and surrounded female Witch Hunter realized she was in an absolutely losing position. Seeing that damned vampire lunging at her again, she had no time to draw her sword, so she retreated a few steps and grabbed something she had kept on her back with both hands. It was heavy, requiring both hands even for a veteran Witch Hunter to wield properly. A metal ring housing arrows was fixed onto a wooden body, with a small internal steam boiler igniting and pressurizing, vaporizing flash powder propellant into the firing channels. As white superheated steam vented from the exhaust pipes, silver gears spun rapidly, accelerating the entire precise mechanical structure with a shrill whirring noise. She aimed this black maw of an automatic repeating crossbow at the approaching Murphy. The latter shuddered and agilely dodged aside. At this moment, one of the middle-aged duo shooting from upstairs, “Bulldozer Man Charging”, looked back, went pale and cried out in alarm: “Gu-gu-gatling gun!” But it was too late. The bolts flying out like a storm advanced under Natalie’s adjustment, easily punching through the walls to riddle the three players providing overwatch fire from the high ground, before swinging around to rake those damned vampire cultist militiamen. The small players immediately scrambled for cover, diving and rolling. Their crude plan hadn’t accounted for the Witch Hunters having such an unscientific “gatling gun” weapon. “Get inside! Quick!” Miriam dragged the leg-wounded Lumina Yanghen into the house. The latter felt the pain but it wasn’t as bad as imagined, it seemed pain suppression was in effect. She struggled to ready her rifle to return fire, but Miriam firmly held her down. Hearing the howling automatic crossbow outside, Miriam, as an Engineering Academy student, knew that with this weapon Murphy’s ambush plan was hanging by a thread. If Murphy and his summons were defeated, their fate would definitely not be merciful. So gritting her teeth, Miriam made up her mind, reached into her bodice to take something out, and stuffed it into the hand of a nearby burly player, gesturing a stabbing motion towards the female Witch Hunter outside. The athlete “Precipitation Niuniu Is Not Afraid of Difficulties”, brought into the game by his buddy Ah Yuen, looked at the object in his hand, then at the frantic NPC gesturing urgently outside. He immediately understood, taking a deep breath and charging out carrying the village’s hope. Pinned down by the relentless automatic crossbow, Murphy was left running typical anime or movie evasion tactics, forced to employ a vampire’s agility in the shadows as the deadly line of bolts pursued him. Wood chips flew, dust clouds erupted. Murphy could only desperately dodge, not daring to stop at all. The Witch Hunter adjusted the crossbow’s aim, the steam-powered quiver rotating to loose over ten bolts per cycle, rivaling the fire rate of an automatic rifle. To Murphy it felt like he was frantically weaving through a hail of gunfire, any slight misstep meaning being riddled full of holes by the mechanical monstrosity. But he also noticed the small player charging out of the house. The latter’s face was contorted with exertion, eyes bloodshot, nostrils flaring as he charged like a raging bull, raising something gripped in his upraised hand. It was a metal cylinder like a pen, rounded without looking handmade, with a button on the top end. As Precipitation Niuniu frantically pressed it, a slender needle shot out from the other side, glinting ominously in the evening sun. The Witch Hunter sensed the movement behind her. But she couldn’t stop suppressing fire, for Murphy had also changed direction to charge at her. She raised her wrist. The gunsight was locked on Murphy. All she had to do was pull the trigger, and this cunning evil soul would vanish from this world. Time seemed to infinitely extend in that moment, then instantly resumed its normal flow. Click. The empty spinning of the crossbow’s cylinder rang out, making Natalie’s eyes go wide, as Precipitation Niuniu’s attack also landed simultaneously. Pffft, an almost inaudible soft sound like a mosquito’s sting, as the needle stabbed into her neck. In the next instant, horrifying dizziness and numbness exploded from her naturally spirit-enhanced body. Natalie gritted her teeth and swung the crossbow at the vampire, only for him to nimbly avoid it and deliver a kick in return. Thud She collapsed face-first in the dirt, her spinning vision catching a final glimpse of the vampire raising his sword towards her in the evening sunlight. The hunt ends, but she has failed. How shameful!