You Play FPS, So How Can You Compete with an RTS Player?

You Play FPS, So How Can You Compete with an RTS Player?

It was dusk where Murphy was, while the players' real world was probably around dawn. It was also a day off, which was infinitely better than yesterday's cursed work hours.

At the administrator's command, the whole group immediately sprang to life.

A bunch of people frantically sent "1" to show they were ready. Even a few lurkers who hadn't said a word before popped up.

Leading Pigeon: Online, online! Let's go, let's go! Ah, this good pigeon's blood is already boiling! This time, we're going to go all out!

Meow King: @everyone

Don't panic! Once we log in, nobody go running off on your own. Stick to the plan we discussed earlier, and keep your cool. Let's show those condescending developers what our closed-beta crew can do.

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Car: Waaaah, sob, Car-Car still needs two days to respawn. I can only support you guys in spirit this time. But if anyone dies because they suck, we've got some premium spectator seats right here.

A-Cha'en: Pah! You brat, say something auspicious! If I die in the game, I'm gonna kick your ass in real life. Ah, we can log in!

Quick!

Go, go, go!

By now, Murphy had activated his ability to summon creatures from another world. Just like last night, the dark spirit energy inside his body seemed to be squeezed out, dim specks of light dancing and gathering in the shadows before turning into a beam that flashed into the house below where Mirian was.

But this time, Murphy had a strategy. He didn't summon all twelve players at once. Instead, he only summoned six of them over there.

The scout immediately sensed the violent surge of spirit energy.

She jerked her head up, eyes widening. In her faintly glowing gaze, several unknown life signs had suddenly appeared in the house at the far end of the village, which had been empty moments ago.

"It's a summoning spell! We've walked into an ambush!"

She cried out.

The female leader, who held a hunter's sword, reacted even faster. She immediately charged toward the spot where her two companions had been sent earlier. But in the shadow of the water tower, Murphy—hunched over from the strain of the spirit energy—tilted his head back and poured a bottle of Mirian's pure blood into his mouth.

The sweet liquid passed his lips, easing his scarlet craving. Then his bloodlust surged, and the power of the blood filled Murphy with fighting spirit, even replenishing the spirit energy he'd lost.

Summoning spell, second cast!

"Whoosh!"

Another six sparkling points of light flickered on the second floor of the house at the village entrance. It was just like an RTS player using a box-select attack command, and the scout, unprotected in the rear, immediately found herself surrounded by Murphy's little players.

The moment Leading Pigeon appeared in the house, he spotted the two hunting crossbows and a suit of armor the NPCs had prepared in advance. They were the weapons he'd scavenged before getting kicked offline.

Good Pigeon didn't hesitate. He hurriedly threw on the armor, grabbed a hunting crossbow, and rushed to the window. One glance outside showed him Coo-Coo Chicken and A-Cha charging out of the neighboring house to attack the outnumbered female scout.

A-Cha wildly hacked away with a hunting knife, while Coo-Coo Chicken, gripping a shortsword, simply used it like a warhammer.

The slender scout was thrown into disarray, but she could still hold off the attacks of the two noob players. Then Good Pigeon, who'd climbed up behind her, shot her in the thigh several times. She screamed and fell, and Coo-Coo Chicken pounced on her, smashing her a few more times.

"Amber! Damn it!"

The female Witch Hunter leader had been charging toward the ambush house. When she saw her scout knocked down by the enemy's summoned militia, she immediately turned to help. But a sneaky shadow sprang out from the wall beside her, its rapier stabbing forward with a whistling hiss. Muscle memory guided the thrust like a striking serpent, forcing her back several steps.

Murphy stood in the shadows and swung the Blade of Desire. His manner was sinister, but he still addressed the huntress before him with elegant poise.

"Ah, it's always so hard to refuse an ardent admirer. Since you've come for me, let's dance, fiery gray-haired lady. Your teammates' wails will be the music."

"Get lost, vampire!"

Realizing she'd walked into an ambush, the huntress flew into a rage and charged forward, clutching her hunting sword.

The blade seemed to activate some special kind of spirit energy. Blue-green flames roiled along its edge, and the purifying power made Murphy's skin prickle with alarm.

Not good!

This one's trouble!

"There are more at the village entrance! They're about to break in! Quick! All archers, fire! Fire!"

The excited, gravelly shout of a middle-aged man behind Murphy startled Leading Pigeon, who'd been about to support his NPC with crossbow bolts.

He ran to the other side and saw the four Witch Hunter veterans guarding outside the village charging toward the entrance. He started to panic, but then he heard his own NPC's grim voice beside him.

"Don't panic! That carriage blocking the entrance has been doused in oil, and there are Witch Hunter bombs inside. There's a gas lamp by your hand. Turn it on and throw it down!

"Let these lunatics experience what it's like to be engulfed in flames!"

Damn, no wonder he's a vampire. What a sneaky bastard!

I like it!

Good Pigeon grinned. He looked around, grabbed the prepared gas lamp from inside the house, and twisted it until a flame flickered to life. Then he mustered his strength and hurled it from the second floor.

The lamp shattered on the overturned carriage. Flying sparks summoned the flames, which surged up like a wall of fire and blocked the four Witch Hunters.

The bombs inside went off too!

The violent explosion knocked the Witch Hunter at the front to the ground and set his cloak on fire. The other three quickly dragged him back, keeping him from becoming a sitting duck for the arrows that followed.

But they'd worried for nothing.

The players' aim was so awful right now that there was no way they could fire arrows accurately enough to be a real threat!

Just managing to loose all their arrows at once counted as a win.

"These are the people who slaughtered the village! These Witch Hunters are the bad guys! Brothers, show no mercy! Shoot them to pieces!"

Leading Pigeon shouted excitedly. The sight of the village's devastation yesterday had left him seething with anger.

The other two middle-aged players hiding on the second floor also turned their crossbows toward the Witch Hunters and fired. Their aim was a little better than Good Pigeon's, and in all the chaos, their shots actually managed to suppress the enemy to some extent.

"Argh!"

A scream rang out behind the huntress who was chasing Murphy.

She stopped and turned around. The door of the house that had been used for the ambush had been smashed apart.

Porter, the one-armed veteran, was pinned to the ground with two long dung forks pressed against his waist and stomach. Two tall militiamen were bearing down on him like men spearing a wild boar, shouting excitedly as they struggled to hold him in place. Another, shorter militiaman hacked at Porter with a hunting knife.

Two had gone in, but only one had come out.

The other Witch Hunter's fate was obvious. The bloodstains on the excited militiamen were proof enough. Those damned vampire worshippers!

The land of Transia was full of parasites like them! This region, poisoned by vampires for four hundred years, was beyond saving!

"Forget about me! Little Natalie! Run!"

The one-armed veteran Porter, pinned to the ground, shouted to his captain through gritted teeth. He pulled out a bomb, intending to take the vampire worshippers down with him, but "Duo Dao Le San Wu Dou" was quick enough to kick it away. Then Mirian came rushing out with a wooden club and screamed as she smashed it into Porter's head.

The rage she'd felt at her home being burned and her village being slaughtered poured out in that moment. The young Transian woman was as fierce as a she-wolf, repeatedly bringing the club down on the veteran before her.

Meow Brother, covered in blood, also charged out of the house.

He'd taken a cut to the leg and was limping, but he was still incredibly excited. He clutched the hunting rifle he'd taken from another Witch Hunter who'd been beaten down with clubs, then struck a pretty convincing kneeling shooting pose outside the house.

"Holy crap! A sniper rifle! A 98K! The mobs dropped loot!"

Coo-Coo Chicken, who'd just beaten scout Amber until she was covered in blood, turned around, panting, and saw Meow Brother looking so cool. He couldn't help but cry out.

"Bang!"

Meow Brother pulled the trigger. The round lead ball shot out of the barrel, but under Murphy's speechless gaze, it hit the ground three feet away from the huntress, kicking up a cloud of dust.

What the hell was that aim?!

He couldn't hit a ten-meter target with a rifle?

"Ahem, it's not my fault! This thing doesn't have rifling!"

Meow Brother knew he'd made a fool of himself. He hastily began reloading and cursed, trying to defend himself.

He had an excuse, okay!

He was a crack shot in FPS games. Who knew that in a real game, he'd be this terrible at shooting?! This had to be a problem with the physics engine, right? How could this be his fault?

He was amazing with a sniper rifle!

"You're so useless, Meow Brother. Move!"

The only girl among the twelve little players couldn't stand it anymore.

She rushed to Meow Brother, snatched the long-barreled hunting rifle from his hands, and worked the mechanism with a click, lowering the barrel and pressing the bloodstained lead ball into place. Then she gave it a professional once-over.

"A classic break-action smoothbore. At least it's not a flintlock; I've never used one of those. But why are the bullets still round? What kind of trajectory will they have?

"How is this supposed to be scientific?"

The girl muttered under her breath. She stood in place, took aim, and held it for several seconds. The moment Murphy and the huntress separated again, she decisively pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

A spray of blood burst from the huntress's back, making her stumble.

The sly Murphy seized the chance to slash the fierce huntress and then kicked the dangerous flaming oak sword from her grasp. The little players around them cheered as one.

"Hey, what do you do in real life, girl?"

Meow Brother's cheeks were burning. He stared wide-eyed at the dashing "Lumina Sunscar" beside him and couldn't help asking. She rolled her eyes, reloaded with a click, shrugged, and answered softly:

"I'm a student. I just go to the shooting range twice a week. What? Didn't you have any hobbies in school?"

The huntress, ambushed and surrounded, realized she'd fallen into a hopeless position. The damned vampire was about to rush her again, and there wasn't enough time to draw her sword, so she stepped back and reached for the weapon she'd been carrying behind her.

It was heavy in her hands. Even an experienced Witch Hunter needed both hands to wield it.

A ring-shaped magazine made of metal was fixed to a wooden frame, with a small steam boiler inside. It ignited and built pressure, while the gold-burning catalyst vaporized in the propulsion tubes. As high-temperature white steam poured from the exhaust pipe, silver-gray gears whirred faster and faster, setting the intricate mechanism in motion with a piercing clatter.

She aimed the black-mouthed Automatic Hunter Crossbow at Murphy, who was charging toward her.

Murphy sprang aside like a monkey, startled. One of the middle-aged duo, "Bulldozer Man Attack," was still firing away on the second floor. He glanced back, his eyes widening in horror.

"R-R-R-Ratling Gun!"

But it was already too late.

The bolts flew out in a gale and rainstorm. Under huntress Natalie's control, they swept across the higher ground, easily piercing the walls and turning the three little players who'd been holding the high ground against the reinforcements outside into pincushions. Then she swung the weapon around and started spraying the damned vampire-worshipping militiamen with bolts.

The little players immediately scattered, ducking and scrambling for cover. Their crude plan hadn't accounted for the Witch Hunters pulling out something as unscientific as this "Ratling Gun."

"Get inside! Hurry!"

Mirian dragged the female player Lumina Sunscar, whose leg had been broken, into the house. Lumina felt the pain, but it wasn't as bad as she'd expected.

It seemed the pain suppression was working. She even struggled and tried to fight back with the hunting rifle in her hands, but Mirian held her down firmly.

Hearing the roar of the Automatic Hunter Crossbow outside, Murphy's temporary assistant knew that as a student at the artisan university, with the enemy armed with that weapon, Murphy's ambush plan was now on the brink of failure.

And if Murphy and his summons lost, she certainly wouldn't be treated kindly.

So Mirian gritted her teeth and made up her mind. She reached inside her bodice and took something out, then turned and stuffed it into the hands of a burly player beside her. She pointed at the huntress outside and made a stabbing gesture.

A-Cha's athletic buddy, "Chen Dian Niu Niu Not Afraid of Difficulty," looked at the object in his hand, then at the female NPC urgently pointing outside.

He immediately understood. After taking a deep breath, he charged out carrying the hopes of the entire village.

Forced to run in every direction by the Automatic Hunter Crossbow's overwhelming fire, Murphy looked like a classic anime or movie hero, forced to unleash a vampire's mobility in the shadows as a line of deadly bolts chased him.

Wood splinters flew, and dust scattered.

Murphy could only dodge for his life. He didn't dare stop for even a moment.

The huntress adjusted the aim of the hunting crossbow in her hands. Each rotation of its steam-powered magazine fired more than a dozen bolts, giving it a rate of fire comparable to an automatic rifle.

Murphy felt like he was dodging for his life through a hail of bullets. The slightest mistake would turn him into a pincushion.

But he also noticed the little player charging out of the house.

The player came running with a ferocious expression, eyes bloodshot and nostrils flared as he charged like a wild bull. He held something aloft in his hand.

It was a metal cylinder, shaped like a fountain pen. It was perfectly round and didn't look handmade. There was a button at the very top. Chen Dian Niu Niu pressed it hard, and a long, thin needle sprang out of the other end, gleaming in the sunset with a chilling glint.

The huntress sensed the wind behind her.

But she couldn't stop firing, because Murphy was changing direction and charging at her too.

She raised her wrist.

The sight was already locked onto Murphy.

All she had to do was pull the trigger, and a cunning, evil soul would vanish from the world.

Time seemed to stretch endlessly in that instant, then returned to normal the next.

Click.

The hollow sound of the magazine spinning empty made Natalie's eyes blaze with fury. At the same time, the athletic player Chen Dian struck.

"Pfft." A tiny, barely audible sound, like an insect bite, as the sharp needle pierced her neck.

The next moment, a terrifying dizziness and numbness surged through the body that had been strengthened by natural spirit energy. Natalie gritted her teeth and hurled the hunting crossbow at the vampire before her, but he nimbly dodged it and kicked her.

Thud.

She hit the ground in a dusty heap. As her vision spun, the last thing she saw was the vampire raising his sword toward her in the evening sunlight.

The hunt was over, but she had failed.

How humiliating!