Second World

”Take this, assholes!” Bowler yelled as four magic bolts burst out and shot towards the man holding the large sword called Bigarm.

Since Bowler had made such loud noise, Bigarm was already aware of his attack. He brandished his sword and slashed on the incoming projectiles. Three out of the four shots were destroyed by his slashes. The last one landed on his body and caused 14 damage.

ʼMagicianʼs spells can be defended that way?ʼ Jack was surprised seeing that. He took note of this if he ever met a Magician as an enemy.

The girl used this chance to move away from the men. The men didnʼt pursue her. Instead, they were hostilely staring at Bowler. Bowler was not intimidated, instead, he continued to scold those three men as if someone had stepped unto his tail.

”You bunch of degenerates! How could you treat a girl like that? There are three of you even. Why donʼt you bully someone your own size? I bet you treat your mother the same way, didnʼt you? No wonder the three of you were born with such ugly faces. Pig-faced shameless idiots! You must have been bred and raised in a pig-sty to be so morally rotten!”

Jack was dumbfounded and impressed at the same time hearing the strings of scolding that came out of Bowler. This guy was rather timid and polite before, Jack didnʼt expect he could explode like this just because of seeing that girl getting bullied. The guy still continued with his scolding, which was getting incoherent. He started using vocabularies that Jack found difficult to interpret their meanings.

The men who were the target of his scolding had no chance to retort with their words, as Bowlerʼs words were like rappers who didnʼt need to breathe air in order to speak. Their faces getting darker the longer they heard his words. Since they couldnʼt retaliate with words, one of the men using a dagger decided to speak with his weapon instead. He threw the dagger which flew in a very precise line heading towards Bowlerʼs head.

After Bowler cast his Energy Bolts, he didnʼt make any more assault against the men other than verbal assaults using his mouth. He was shocked when the dagger suddenly flew towards him. His reflex however, was good enough that he managed to bring up Magic Shield at the last second. The dagger hit the bright shield hard with a clanging sound, then bounced and fell to the ground.

That was a skillful throw, Jack thought. Is it a rangerʼs skill as well? or the guy was that good? He needed to ask Peniel later. He was familiar with Fighterʼs and Magicianʼs skills, but his understanding of Ranger was mostly presumption. In case if he had to fight with that class again, itʼs better if he knew what they were capable of.

Bowler, meanwhile resumed his berating, ”is that all? You scum-filled assholes! Group of perverts and rapists! Do you have any ability other than bullying and sneak attack?” He had completely forgotten the fact that he had also sneak attacked them in the beginning.

”You are the one that has no ability, do you know who you are talking to?!” One of the rangers finally found a chance to talk back.

”Why would I know a scumbag? I only hang out with gentlemen!” Retorted Bowler.

”You…! Let me tell you here, you ignorant fool! Our big bro here is Bigarm, an expert that had been well known in many VR games. He is already a level 11 Fighter. Not only that, he is also a member of the famous guild Death Associates. If you know whatʼs good for you, you will kneel and beg for forgiveness.”

The other Ranger chimed in, ”how can we let him off that easy! He should at least let us beat him till we are satisfied.”

Not to be outdone, his friend said, ”no, no, he had to give us all his equipment and items first. Only then will we let him kneel down and have us beat him.”

Bigarm? Jack did feel like he had heard that name before. But rather than famous, he should be described as infamous. He and his guild Death Associates were mostly known for their kill stealing and killing other players for their equipment. They had become many playersʼ nightmares and most of the other guilds tried to keep their distance from them.

”Are you done, you retards?” After letting them said their piece for a while, Bowler retook control of the conversation. ”If you want someone to kneel and beg, why donʼt you do it to each other? I bet even a dog would find it difficult to look for a reason to obey your needs. Even animals would find it disgusting trying to listen to your voices.”

Bigarm did not plan to hear this verbal match any longer. ”No need to listen to his bullshit, I will shut his mouth. Eagle, you deal with his friend there. Ball, you take care of the girl,” he commanded his two underlings, which proceeded to act without hesitation.

Bigarm took big strides advancing towards Bowler. Seeing the guyʼs approach, Bowler immediately cast Magic Bullet. The magic ball shot through in a straight line.? It would be easy for Bigarm to evade by sidestepping, but he didnʼt bother to. He slashed his large sword and cut the ball in half and proceeded without slowing down.

Intimidated by the guyʼs unstoppable advance, Bowler made several backsteps to maintain distance. He used his staffʼs inherent energy to shoot out standard range attacks in order to halt Bigarm, but the guy continued to use his large sword to swat his attacks. Those he failed to strike or parry only managed to deal small damage. Bowler turned and ran, but his speed as a Magician was no match for Bigarm. Bigarm slashed at Bowlerʼs legs and caused him to falter and fell.

Bigarm brought his large sword up high. He grinned with sadistic glee. ”Letʼs see how your mouth saves you, eh?” He said, and let his sword plunged down.

It struck the Magic Shield which Bowler hastily conjured. Bigarm twisted his wrist and his sword went in a circular motion, smacking Bowlerʼs staff to the side. Bereft of protection, Bowler could only watch as Bigarmʼs sword made another drop towards him.

Before the sword arrived on his head. A shadow swooped over and crashed onto Bigarm. Bigarm and the shadow both flew sideways and rolled on the ground a few distances before stopping. The shadow was the Ranger called Eagle.

ʼWhy does this feel so familiar?ʼ Bowler thought. He turned and saw Jack came walking leisurely.

”go help the girl,” Jack said. ”Iʼll deal with them.”

Bowler rose up, and gave the two men on the ground a cold grin.

”You are in trouble now,” he said to them both, then went to help the girl.

Bigarm stood up and looked at Eagle with displeasure. ”Whatʼs wrong with you?” He asked.

”He… he is very strong,” Eagle said, a trace of fear in his voice. ”He took away half my health with just one hit.”

”What?” Bigarm was stunned. Clearly, he should have heard wrong? He looked at Jack who stood there calmly.

”You seem to be a fellow expert,” Bigarm said. ”Whatʼs the point of having that weak sidekick? Follow us. We can keep each other alive. When we find my brothers from Death Associates, I can vouch for you to join.”

Jack smiled.

Seeing the smile, Bigarm perceived it as the expert was interested in his proposal. He decided to up the ante to seal the deal. ”That girl over there, we can let you have the first taste. Take it as our welcome gift for you joining our group.”

Jack looked at the girl. She was actually in advantage against the Ranger called Ball. With Bowler arriving to assist her, Ball was struggling even more.

”You donʼt need to take action,” Bigarm continued. ”We will dispose of that weak friend of yours, so you donʼt need to feel guilty with your conscience. We will then subdue the girl to let you play with her.”

”Will you shut up already?”

”Huh?” Bigarm thought he heard wrong.

Jack stared at him and gave him a cold smirk. ”If your Death Associatesʼ members are all as fussy as you, I would be a moron to join them.”

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