Chapter 12: Light and Hope

Time passed slowly, and two more hours had gone by. The Rhino Leader's health was down to 20%. The once mighty white rhino was no longer visible; in its place stood the dusty Rhino Leader, still struggling desperately. However, its impact on the stone walls had weakened, showing that it was utterly exhausted.

With mechanical precision, Ye Hen fired two crossbow bolts. His arms had gone numb, and he could only grit his teeth, reminding himself not to give up. The Rhino Leader's death was imminent.

When the Rhino Leader's health dropped to 10%, Ye Hen's communicator rang.

"Brother, what's keeping you so busy? Hope I'm not disturbing you," the loud voice of Windfire Storm came through.

Ye Hen loaded two more crossbow bolts and shot them out, then replied with a faint smile, "No, what's up?"

"Well, I just informed Boss Windfire No Tears about our conflict with Blood Dance. He says from now on, no more holding back. Just kill them all! Haha..." Windfire Storm chuckled loudly. Earlier, Windfire No Tears had repeatedly instructed not to engage Blood Dance directly, but now, Windfire Storm had wiped out seven key members of Blood Dance Studio, most of which were taken down by Ye Hen, though Windfire Storm was still involved.

"Your boss is right. Blood Dance deserves to die!" Ye Hen responded calmly. He had long suspected that Windfire No Tears would make this decision. In the past life, although Windfire and Blood Dance had many conflicts, Windfire had always endured and retreated to buy time. But this time, even if Windfire No Tears didn't admit it, his subordinates had indeed killed seven key Blood Dance members. The Blood Dance judges weren't the type to reason; their studio was involved in activities like murder, extortion, and point clearing.

"Boss also asked me to check with you, are you interested in joining our studio? If you do, you can have the vice-leader position when we form a mercenary group." Windfire Storm's tone was a bit awkward. Ye Hen's strength far surpassed even Windfire No Tears. But it was Windfire No Tears' repeated instructions, so Windfire Storm had to follow.

Ye Hen chuckled lightly, firing two crossbow bolts at the Rhino Leader. In the game, mercenary groups could be created once you reached level 10. Ye Hen remembered that in his past life, Windfire No Tears had also invited him to join the mercenary group, offering the position of elder. If it were in the past, Ye Hen might have been tempted by the vice-leader position, but this time, there was no chance. "Please thank your boss for the offer, but tell him I'm not interested in joining a mercenary group for now. However, if you plan any action against Blood Dance, you can let me know."

"Got it! As long as you're willing to help, those Blood Dance people will be running scared in no time. Haha... Oh, and by the way, our boss said, even if you don't join the group, if you need any basic healing potions, we can offer you a 20% discount."

Windfire Storm said somewhat reluctantly. A few hours ago, he had proudly boasted that anyone could directly ask him for healing potions, but now he had to retract it. After all, such rare items weren't under his control.

"Alright, thank your boss for me," Ye Hen quickly responded. He had never planned on asking Windfire Storm for healing potions. He had already felt embarrassed about accepting five earlier.

"Okay, I won't disturb you anymore, brother."

"Bye."

After hanging up, Ye Hen continued his work. Time passed quickly. When the Rhino Leader's health dropped to 5%, it finally stopped fighting and quietly awaited death.

From the first bolt Ye Hen fired to the final shot that took the Rhino Leader's life, over five hours had passed, consuming more than 4,000 arrows.

With a thunderous crash, the Rhino Leader fell to the ground, and two white beams of light drifted toward Ye Hen, followed by two crisp upgrade notifications.

System: You have killed the Rhino Leader, with a 1200% experience bonus for defeating an elite monster. You gain 36,000 experience.

Ye Hen checked his experience bar; he had reached level 3, 29%. The experience bonus for defeating an elite monster was indeed substantial.

"Ha!" Ye Hen exhaled deeply, stretching and walking over to the Rhino Leader's corpse to loot it. The Rhino Leader dropped 10 silver coins, a pair of boots, and a dagger.

Bullhide Boots (Silver Tier):

Movement speed +5

Strength +5, Agility +5

Equip requirement: Agility 30, limited to Warrior, Assassin, Archer, Swordsman.

Bull Horn Dagger (Bronze Tier):

Physical Attack 12-18, Strength +3, Attack Speed 2.1

Equip requirement: Strength 15, Agility 20, limited to Assassin.

"Not bad, a silver-tier pair of boots." Ye Hen was surprised. Generally, elite monsters drop two items, mostly of bronze tier, and silver-tier items have a drop rate of less than 30%. His luck was quite good, getting a silver-tier item on his first head monster kill.

Equipping the boots and dagger, Ye Hen's stats increased significantly. He now had four pieces of higher-tier equipment.

Ye Hen looked at the game time. The game would close in half an hour, and time had passed quickly. He dusted himself off and walked toward Mingsha Town under the setting sun. The head monster would respawn in three days.

Back in Mingsha Town, Ye Hen logged out of the game. In-game, it was dusk, but in reality, it was morning.

Ye Hen removed his helmet, stretched, and walked to the living room. Ye Ke had already prepared breakfast and was waiting at the table.

Seeing Ye Hen come out, Ye Ke immediately smiled brightly. "Brother, come eat breakfast, I made green bean porridge today, hehe."

"I've told you so many times, don't wait for me. We'll be late for class," Ye Hen said as he walked to the table with a mildly reproachful tone.

Ye Ke placed a bowl of green bean porridge in front of Ye Hen, wrinkling her little nose and playfully scolding him, "I just want to eat with you, it's so boring eating alone."

"Be good, why are you still wearing that old cotton jacket? I bought you a down jacket, why aren't you wearing it?" Ye Hen took a sip of the porridge and asked.

"I want to wait until my birthday to wear it," Ye Ke replied, also picking up her bowl and chopsticks. "By the way, brother, your birthday is in half a month!"

"Yeah, getting older," Ye Hen smiled. Only Ye Ke remembered his birthday.

"Of course not, brother, you're still in your prime," Ye Ke said, pouting slightly. She then suddenly asked, "By the way, brother, is the game fun? I heard from my classmates that the scenery in 'Sword of Dominion' is even more beautiful than in real life!"

Hearing Ye Ke's curious question, Ye Hen froze with the spoon halfway to his mouth. Probably, except for Ye Ke, all the students in her class had game helmets. For those high-achieving students in prestigious universities, 2000 yuan might just be pocket money. He, as her older brother, felt useless.

"It's beautiful. I promise you, within three days, I'll buy you a game helmet." Ye Hen's eyes flashed with determination. In his past life, he had only earned enough money to buy a game helmet for Ye Ke after a month of entering the game. This time, things would be different. As her only support, he couldn't let this happen again.

"No, brother, you don't have to worry about me. I was just asking. Don't take it to heart..." Ye Ke quickly said, her eyes reddening. She had always been very sensible. How could she let her brother feel burdened? She knew very well that Ye Hen didn't play games for fun, but was struggling to support the family. Though she didn't fully understand the hardships of being a professional player, she had heard of some.

"It's fine, it's only 2000 yuan. Trust me!" Ye Hen said confidently. As a reborn person, he had many ways to earn money. Even if he couldn't earn enough, he could sell a few pieces of equipment and should be able to cover the cost of a game helmet.

"Okay." Seeing Ye Hen's determination, Ye Ke nodded heavily, showing two sweet dimples. She knew that her brother would never brush her off.

They finished breakfast in a warm atmosphere. Under Ye Hen's insistence, Ye Ke changed into the new down jacket he had bought her and left for school. Ye Hen stood by the door, watching her figure disappear, feeling filled with light and hope in his heart.

TL Note:

I hope you're enjoying the translation! If you like my work and would like to support me, feel free to leave a tip at my Ko-fi page: https://ko-fi.com/sheinzo. Any support is truly appreciated and helps me continue improving my translations. Thank you so much for your kind support!