Chapter 350 - Sword in the Stone

Chapter 350 - Sword in the Stone
Before Shi Feng could celebrate his success of stealing the last hit, he felt deep-seated malice directed at him from all directions.
Although Shi Feng was wearing the Black Cloak, and nobody had yet recognized Shi Feng…
The system notification that appeared after the Mechanical Slayer died had betrayed Shi Feng.
Star-Moon Kingdom System Announcement: Congratulations to Black Flame for being the first player to kill a Mutant. Rewarding 50 Reputation Points in Star-Moon Kingdom, 30 Free Mastery Points, and 30 Gold Coins.
White River City System Announcement: Player Black Flame has killed the Mechanical Slayer that invaded White River City. Rewarding 50 Reputation Points in White River City, 10,000 Merit Points in Star-Moon Kingdom, and 20 Gold Coins.
…
These two notifications popped up three times. After reading these notifications, even a fool could tell that the cloaked figure covered in a golden glow was none other than Zero Wing’s Guild Leader, Black Flame.
Now, not only Shi Feng had obtained a wealth of EXP by killing the Mechanical Slayer, but he also received a bountiful reward from the system. How could others not be envious?
“Sure enough, his reputation is well-deserved. He actually stole the last hit while Weissman and the Mechanical Slayer fought.” After watching Shi Feng’s previous performance, Red Feather could not help but compare himself to Shi Feng. Suddenly, Red Feather discovered that, regarding timing, he was inferior.
“Black Flame is quite good. However, at the end of the day, he still can’t make it onto the Secret Pavilion’s Experts List. How powerful could he possibly be? On the other hand, Big Brother Red Feather is an expert ranked within the top 900 on the Experts List,” Flourishing Willow giggled, smiling faintly.
The Secret Pavilion’s Experts List contained the names of 1,008 great experts in God’s Domain, and it was extremely hard to place on that list. After all, there were too many players in God’s Domain. Moreover, that number continued to increase. Hence, even if it were the 1,008th ranked player on the Experts List, that expert would be a monster-like existence.
In the virtual gaming world, players took pride in ranking on the Experts List. Not only was it a symbol of strength, but it was also a symbol of honor.
Since Red Feather ranked in the top 900, it sufficed to say that he was very powerful.
On the other hand, Black Flame’s absence from the Experts List showed that the Secret Pavilion judged him as inferior to Red Feather.
However, Shi Feng did not care what others thought about him. Without hesitation, he started picking up the items the Mechanical Slayer had dropped.
After the Mechanical Slayer died, over a hundred items had scattered around its body. Needless to say, everyone present knew that if one could take all of these items for themselves, it would massively assist Guild’s development.
Seeing as the Mechanical Slayer had been such a powerful monster, even the worst items it dropped should be Fine-Gold rank.
At this stage of the game, Fine-Gold ranked weapons and equipment were extremely rare. With over a hundred weapons and equipment of such quality, they could either fully arm a 20-man team, qualitative improve a 50-man team, or significantly upgrade a 100-man team.
“Damn! All of you, go! Those drops are mine!” Lone Tyrant shouted in rage. Clenching his fists, Lone Tyrant’s eyes resembled a poisonous snake’s as he glared at Shi Feng.
The Dark Star members who had been on standby all this time charged forward.
Naturally, the players from other Guilds did not lag behind. They all simultaneously dashed towards the dropped items.
Of course, Shi Feng would not let anyone have any of the drops. However, due to time constraints, he could only take a limited number before the tide of players crashed down on him.
One… Two… Five pieces…
The moment Shi Feng’s hands reached an item, he would immediately throw the item into his bag, not even bothering to look at what he had picked up.
“No! Get rid of him! All mages, bombard him with AOE spells!” Lone Tyrant’s heart bled as he watched Shi Feng claim items, one after another. This was his biggest chance to recuperate Dark Star’s losses. At this moment, however, Shi Feng was destroying that chance right before his very eyes.
As for the others, they, too, realized that they could not leave Shi Feng alone. They needed to kill him immediately. Otherwise, there wouldn’t even be scraps left.
“They sure are fast.” Shi Feng wrinkled his brows, his hands moving even faster than before.
Unlike the items dropped by Dungeon Bosses, there was an additional rule for the loot from Field Bosses.
Even if a player obtained an item from Field Boss, if someone killed them within two hours, that item would drop from their dead body with 100% certainty. It was the same for players who picked up the item later on. Only after two hours, would this item not fall from the player’s bag.
Due to this reason, even if it was at the cost of their lives, the players charging forward wanted to destroy Shi Feng. After all, Shi Feng had already picked up over 30 items.
The Mechanical Slayer had dropped over a hundred items. Yet, Shi Feng had already claimed over a fifth of them for himself. How could anybody accept such a situation?
Shi Feng’s anxiety grew at the sight of the approaching crowd. Suddenly, however, he noticed an inconspicuous-looking item among the many drops.
To be precise, this item was a sword fully encased in a crystal.
Although this sword appeared ordinary, Shi Feng could not help his attention shifting towards this ordinary-looking sword.
At the moment, Shi Feng was eight yards away from this sword. If he used the time to run there instead of picking up the items around him, he could still claim at least two or three items. Moreover, the approaching players were only 40 yards away right now. Some Rangers had even begun to aim and fire at Shi Feng.
Should I go for it or not? Shi Feng hesitated.
If he went for the sword, he would definitely lose the other items. Moreover, before the item was firmly in his hands, he could not confirm the quality of the sword. If he darted for it only to find out that he had picked up a Common item, he would have missed out on obtaining items of better quality.
As Shi Feng hesitated, an arrow flew towards his head.
Shi Feng responded quickly. With the wave of the Abyssal Blade, he slashed this arrow in half. In the next moment, however, dozens more flew at him.
After Shi Feng reached Level 34, his various Attributes had improved immensely. Taking a step forward, he brandished his two swords. While dodging the incoming arrows, Shi Feng sliced apart those that he could not dodge.
I’m running out of time. Shi Feng decided to make the gamble. Immediately, he charged towards the sword in the stone.[1]
Even with so many items surrounding him, only this sword attracted his attention. There must definitely be a reason for this. Thus, Shi Feng decided to trust his instincts this time.
After Shi Feng picked up the sword in the stone, the crowd arrived and surrounded him. Every one of them was like a hungry wolf as they glowered at Shi Feng, malice flashing in their eyes. They only wished they could swallow Shi Feng whole.
“Black Flame, don’t even think about escaping this time! Know your place and hand over the drops and all of your equipment!” Lone Tyrant laughed as he smirked at Shi Feng.
The encirclement around Shi Feng was different this time. There was no forest for him to hide in. Moreover, players had him surrounded. Shi Feng had no hope of escape.
At this moment, Red Feather, who swiftly approached the scene, sent a whisper to Shi Feng, “Guild Leader Black Flame, you are a Red Name at the moment. You have killed so many players inside White River City. If you die, the penalty you will receive will be extremely heavy. Why don’t you hand all the drops over to me, and I’ll help you leave safely?”
Shi Feng sent a contemptuous gaze at Red Feather, looking at Red Feather as if he was a fool.
Now that there were thousands of players simultaneously casting their skills at Shi Feng, only a fool would believe that Red Feather could help Shi Feng escape safely. Red Feather only made such an offer to convince Shi Feng to approach him before taking the opportunity to end his life, obtaining an easier time collecting the drops.
This sort of trickery might deceive a child, but to deceive him? Maybe in another decade.
TL Notes:
[1]sword in the stone (石中剑): logically, this item should be referred to as crystal-encased sword.
In this chapter, the author described that the sword Shi Feng noticed was encased in a crystal. Meanwhile, 水晶石 = crystal in Chinese. Here’s the breakdown for the term:
水晶石 = crystal (direct/google translation: crystal stone)
http://www.ichacha.net/%E6%B0%B4%E6%99%B6%E7%9F%B3.html
水晶 = crystal
石 = stone
Meanwhile:
石中剑 = sword in stone
石 = stone
中 = in
剑 = sword
(No, it’s not stone in the sword. Chinese works differently from English.)