MMORPG: Birth of the World's Luckiest Player-Chapter 164: The Tide Turns [II]
As Ash001 and Rock001 closed in, Marcus tugged lightly on the reins and eased his horse into a steady trot. At the same time, he activated Taunt on the Leopard Jackal King, the silver-tier boss that had just finished tearing through several Inferno Clan members like wet paper.
He had no intention of cutting Ash001 and Rock001 down in a few clean strikes. That would be quick, efficient, and utterly dull. No, this was better. Much better. Let them feel it first. Let them taste that creeping dread, that helpless realization that things were slipping out of their control.
Provoked, the Leopard Jackal King threw back its head and loosed a savage howl before charging straight at him, a cluster of jackal underlings snapping at its heels. The nearby mages scattered in visible relief, scrambling out of its path as if Marcus had just done them a personal favor. When the boss was only a breath away, claws tearing up the ground behind him, Marcus pivoted sharply and spurred his horse toward Ash001 and Rock001.
’Wait.’
A strange sense of déjà vu flickered through his mind.
’This feels familiar.’
Then it clicked. The panicked expressions spreading across Ash001 and Rock001’s faces confirmed it. He had done this to them before, back in Newbie Village. That time it had been the Mountain Wolf King. He had dragged the boss straight into their path and let it handle the heavy lifting.
No wonder it felt nostalgic. Same trick, different beast. Wolf, jackal, what was even the difference? Both were kings of their packs. Today was simply a reenactment, a little review session for old times’ sake.
Judging by their faces, they remembered it even more clearly than he did. The moment they saw the Leopard Jackal King thundering after him, their confidence cracked. The swagger they once carried vanished, replaced by naked hesitation. Should they rush him and risk pulling the boss’s aggro? Or should they step aside and relive the humiliation of last time?
’Seriously?’ Marcus thought with dry amusement. ’You’re hesitating now? After everything I’ve set up for you, the least you could do is cooperate.’
He gave them no time to decide. Urging his horse to full speed, he shot straight between the two of them, dragging the enraged Leopard Jackal King directly into their midst.
Steel rang out as they lashed at him on reflex.
"Help us! Someone kill this knight!"
Chaos detonated.
Ash001 and Rock001 had barely recovered from their instinctive swings when the Leopard Jackal King crashed into them. They were forced to shift all their focus to the boss’s relentless assault. Under normal circumstances, the two of them together could have managed the silver-tier monster. But the jackal underlings arrived seconds later, fanning out and snapping at their flanks.
Color drained from their faces as their pride evaporated.
"Help! Over here!"
Unfortunately for them, the rest of the Inferno Clan was occupied with two very immediate problems: Highland Jackals ripping into their lines and Soulfire Guild members pressing their attack from the other side. No one was in a position to rescue their commanders.
"You should’ve asked earlier. I’m coming," Marcus called cheerfully, grinning beneath his rabbit mask.
He turned his mount and intercepted the smaller jackals trailing the boss, cutting them down with clean, efficient strikes. From an outside perspective, it almost looked as though he were helping Ash001 and Rock001 by thinning the adds, giving them space to concentrate entirely on the Leopard Jackal King.
According to the Third Rule of Death, players killed by monsters would lose one to five levels and drop one or two random pieces of equipment. As for what fate awaited these two now that they were locked in with a silver-tier boss, that was up to the system.
Marcus watched them struggle, almost sincerely hoping for a generous result.
"You bastard! You’re ruthless! Just wait!"
"I swear I’ll pay you back for this!"
Their hatred burned visibly. This knight in the rabbit mask had single-handedly twisted a guaranteed victory into a humiliating rout. More than seventy of their members were being dismantled by a force half their size. And they still did not even know his name.
Ash001 and Rock001 clenched their jaws so tightly it looked painful, fury blazing in their eyes.
"Retreat!"
"Fall back!"
They could see it now. Their subordinates were dropping one after another, some to jackals, others to Soulfire blades. Blaze001 was nowhere to be found, and the two of them were pinned down by the Leopard Jackal King. The battlefield had dissolved into total disorder. There was no salvaging this.
With no alternative, they issued the retreat order. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
The moment the command left their mouths, they acted. Ash001 began spamming Taunt, forcibly pulling aggro from the Leopard Jackal King and several nearby jackals harassing his guildmates. He kicked his Flame Charger forward, attempting to punch a path through the Soulfire formation. At the same time, Rock001 veered toward a cluster of their archers and mages, trying to extract them before the line collapsed completely.
But It was too much.
The Leopard Jackal King was already pushing Ash001 to his limits. Adding multiple jackals to the equation turned it into a death sentence.
He had not even covered a dozen strides before his health plummeted. Just short of the Soulfire front line, the Leopard Jackal King lunged, its jaws snapping shut around him. His health bar emptied in an instant.
A piece of equipment hit the ground with a dull thud as his body crumpled among the growing heap of corpses.
Marcus could not help scoffing.
’You think you’re some kind of prodigy? You can’t just copy my moves and expect it to work. Not without paying the price.’
He definitely dropped something. The only question was how many levels the system had shaved off.
After that, the outcome was inevitable. Even though the retreat order had been given, escape was impossible. Not even mounted knights could outrun the Highland Jackals once combat had locked them in. One by one, the remaining Inferno members were cut down, their bodies littering the field beside the fallen monsters.
Not a single one made it out.
"Soulfire forever! Soulfire forever!"
As the last enemy fell, cheers erupted across the battlefield. Guild members surged toward Marcus, voices overlapping as they relived the fight, replaying key moments in breathless excitement.
He dismounted just as SoulSync and SoulfireBlade approached. SoulSync clapped him firmly on the shoulder, studying him with something close to disbelief.
"Stone, that was insane. I knew you were strong back in Newbie Village, but I’ll admit it, I underestimated you."
A grin spread across his face.
"You’re not just strong. You’re a monster."
Marcus blinked.
So that was how they saw him.
"Excellent tactics," SoulfireBlade said with a nod of approval before turning to address the rest of the guild. "Everyone, clear the battlefield."
The silver-tier Leopard Jackal King had failed to drop a Guild Creation Token, and the fifty-odd jackals had yielded little of value. But at least half of the seventy Inferno players had fallen to Soulfire hands. By rule, each had dropped one equipped item, and none of it would be trash.
"Time to collect."
The guild members scattered eagerly. Even without the token, this victory was intoxicating. They had walked into a fight they were expected to lose and crushed the opposition instead. The exhilaration of reversing certain defeat and dominating their enemies was worth more than any loot window.
What was more thrilling than snatching victory from the edge of collapse?
Marcus glanced over the battlefield once more. The Inferno Clan members lay where they had fallen, waiting out the ten-minute respawn timer. In death, they could not move, speak, or hear, but they could see. They could see Soulfire boots stepping over their bodies. They could see their hard-earned gear being picked up and examined.
It had to sting. Watching triumph curdle into disaster. Watching strangers walk off with equipment they had fought to obtain.
They could send private messages while dead, but since none of them knew his name, their anger had nowhere to go. They could only swallow it.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
The Furious Three of the Inferno Clan had built their reputation on player killing and resource hoarding, squeezing others for advantage at every opportunity. Outcomes like this were inevitable.
They had chosen this road, now they were walking it.
