The Reason for Refusing the Mission

This time, the other party did not reject him instantly.

Xiao Fan breathed a sigh of relief: "It seems it was because I didn't use honorifics before."

Damn it, does he even know that the person sending him a request is the only Player in the game to possess a God-Tier Skill!

Just as he finished speaking, Xiao Fan discovered he had been rejected once again.

Xiao Fan: ...

Fortunately, this time the other party gave him a reply.

"Sorry, the Night Blade Mercenary Group is not taking on any business recently; we posted a message on the World Channel a couple of days ago."

Xiao Fan was stunned.

He hadn't even left the Novice Zone yet, so he couldn't see the World Channel.

"Why can't you look after novice Players and post a thread on the Game Forum!" Xiao Fan said, exasperated.

When he decided to look for the Night Blade Mercenary Group earlier, he hadn't bothered to record information for any other mercenary groups.

Now that the Night Blade Mercenary Group wasn't taking jobs and he couldn't leave the game, how was he supposed to hire mercenaries to find his Uncle?

Xiao Fan felt like crying but had no tears.

"If only I had memorized the IDs of a few more mercenary groups before entering the game."

"What do I do now?"

His Uncle's situation was urgent, and he didn't know how to contact any other mercenary groups.

Xiao Fan paced back and forth anxiously.

"Should I go ask Wind Snow Traveler? He has been in the game for so many years, after all; maybe he knows something about mercenary groups."

Thinking of this, Xiao Fan quickly left his room and hurried toward Wind Snow Traveler's residence.

Wind Snow Traveler had just returned home after patrolling the Novice Village and saw Xiao Fan running over in a panic before he even stepped into the courtyard.

"What happened to make you so anxious?" Wind Snow Traveler asked in surprise.

Xiao Fan stopped and panted heavily as he asked: "I have an urgent matter, do you know any game mercenary groups? Preferably ones with a high ranking."

Wind Snow Traveler looked troubled: "I'm sorry, Jiu Chen, I really don't know anything about that."

Although he hadn't entered the game late, he had always stayed in the Novice Zone; how could he possibly have any connection to mercenary groups?

Xiao Fan asked again, unwilling to give up: "What about others? Does anyone else know?"

Wind Snow Traveler shook his head: "You know the situation in Zone 18. To put it bluntly, the people who come here don't have very good family backgrounds in reality; they wouldn't know anything about mercenary groups."

Xiao Fan felt his entire spirit deflate.

"Sorry to bother you, I have something else to do, I'll be going now." Xiao Fan turned and left in disappointment.

"Is there really no way? I already promised Aunt before I came, and now that I can't find a mercenary group and can't notify my family, if something happens to Uncle because of this..."

Xiao Fan's face turned pale, and he felt a sense of powerlessness in his heart; he didn't dare to think any further.

"Are you looking for a mercenary group?"

Just as Xiao Fan was in despair, a cold, feminine voice came from behind him.

Xiao Fan turned around and was instantly stunned.

"It's her?"

The familiar black clothing—it was the girl from Zone 1!

This was the first time Xiao Fan had seen the girl in her entirety.

Her skin was like congealed fat, her lips red and teeth white, and her eyes, while beautiful, were terrifyingly cold.

Xiao Fan had only ever seen her curled up in a corner before, which made her seem petite and frail. Now, he discovered she was over 1.68 meters tall, and her tight black outfit highlighted her exquisite, slender figure. She gave off a cold, unapproachable vibe.

She was the most beautiful girl Xiao Fan had seen since crossing over to Blue Star, bar none.

Of course, none of that was the point.

The point was that this girl had just asked him if he was looking for a mercenary group; it was clear she had overheard his conversation with Wind Snow Traveler.

Xiao Fan suddenly remembered that the girl in front of him was from Zone 1 of the Novice Village, where the Players generally had deep backgrounds. She must have known some contact information for mercenary groups to have come looking for him.

"That's right, do you have contact information for any mercenary groups?" Xiao Fan asked impatiently, as if grabbing onto a final straw.

"I have the contact information for the top ten mercenary groups in the Dragon Nation Zone."

The Black-Clad Girl's expression remained cold as she spoke, but Xiao Fan didn't care about that at all right now.

"What do you need mercenaries for? I can help you recommend a suitable group." The Black-Clad Girl continued.

They were complete strangers, yet the Black-Clad Girl was willing to help him, and a surge of gratitude welled up in Xiao Fan's heart.

There are still many good people in this world.

But the next second, he heard the girl's voice, which was cold to the bone: "However, you have to promise me one thing."

Xiao Fan: "." Retracting that moment of gratitude.

Even the best of people can be bought by the right price.

For the sake of his Uncle, he couldn't afford to care about anything else.

"What is it?" Xiao Fan asked.

"You have to agree to let me join your team." The Black-Clad Girl blurted out without a moment's hesitation, clearly having considered it beforehand.

Xiao Fan nodded in agreement without even thinking.

As his level increased, his team composition was already starting to fall behind; he had originally intended to recruit more people anyway, so why not her?

Not to mention that the girl in front of him was once a genius Player in Zone 1.

Xiao Fan's prompt agreement actually caught the Black-Clad Girl off guard: "You're agreeing just like that without even asking about my situation?"

"Doesn't matter, I'm here anyway." Xiao Fan shrugged nonchalantly.

The Black-Clad Girl couldn't help but roll her eyes. How could someone be this confident?

But when she thought about how the person in front of her likely possessed two Heaven-Tier Skills at level five—something that had never happened since the game descended—she felt he had the capital to be arrogant.

"I have a relative who went missing in the game, and I want to hire a mercenary group to find his whereabouts," Xiao Fan confessed.

Hearing this, the Black-Clad Girl spoke up immediately: "If you're looking for someone, I recommend the Night Blade Mercenary Group. Their leader, Ye Bugu, has a special skill that makes finding people very convenient."

Xiao Fan shook his head: "Are there any other mercenary groups?"

The Black-Clad Girl raised an eyebrow: "Do you have a grudge against Night Blade?"

Xiao Fan: "I approached them before, and their clerk said they aren't taking any missions lately."

"Is that so?" The Black-Clad Girl rubbed her chin: "I have Ye Bugu on my friends list. Do you want me to ask him why?"

Xiao Fan: "." Sometimes he really envied other people's connections.

"Then thank you very much." Xiao Fan didn't stand on ceremony.

The Black-Clad Girl tapped the air back and forth; she was likely communicating with Ye Bugu.

A moment later, she looked up at Xiao Fan: "Ye Bugu reached level 60 a couple of days ago, and he's been preparing to create his twelfth ring skill. Until he successfully creates that skill, the Night Blade Mercenary Group won't be taking on this mission."

"So that's how it is." Xiao Fan frowned: "Are there any other decent mercenary groups you can recommend?"

The Black-Clad Girl hesitated for a moment before speaking truthfully: "There are many mercenary groups, but the Cloud Sea is inherently dangerous. Most missing people don't last long enough for a group to find them. Night Blade has the highest success rate for finding people alive; other groups take on search missions regardless of whether the target is dead or alive."

Hearing the Black-Clad Girl put it that way, Xiao Fan felt a surge of anxiety.

In the current situation, every second wasted meant his Uncle was in that much more danger.

"Can you talk to Ye Bugu and ask him to help find the person first? I can pay double the Core Power."

The Black-Clad Girl shook her head: "I already asked him just now, and he refused. You know how important skills are to a Player; at a time like this, Ye Bugu won't give up his skill-creation time for a bit of Core Power."

"Creating a skill?" Xiao Fan's eyes lit up.

"If I help him create a Heaven-Tier Skill, will he be able to help me find someone?"