The Devil’s Cage

While being showered by the gazes of other lone wolves, this player, who Kieran once met before, did not panic. Instead, he nodded at all of them to express his presence.

The other lone wolves nodded back at the player.

Obviously, the others knew this player as well.

“Come on, Garwen, tell us what’s going on?” Lawless rushed the player.

“Blair, I think it’s best that you say it yourself.”

The player named Garwen stepped aside and revealed the other player that was following him.

Compared to the firm Garwen, his friend behind him was much more nervous.

Not only was he breathing in a hurry, he was also trembling slightly. When he looked at Kieran, his eyes were evasive.

The evasive gaze piqued Kieran’s curiosity.

“Have we met?”

“O-Once. I accepted someone’s mission before and was responsible for watching a certain player’s room,” Blair said with a stutter.

“Someone? A certain room?”

Kieran squinted his eyes and recalled the battle with the cunning merchant.

The others were also quite familiar with the incident.

Right away, their gazes toward Blair changed.

The already nervous Blair grew even more nervous when he noticed the different gazes on him.

He didn’t forget to explain himself though.

“I-I didn’t mean anything bad. I was just hired. I don’t have anything against you.”

“I can prove what he said,” Garwen stood up for his friend and assured the crowd.

“Garwen, are you sure?” Lawless asked.

His tone and expression were absent of their usual cheerfulness and humor. The others were also very serious about the topic.

They knew Garwen and were willing to believe in him, but because of that, they worried about one thing that might happen…

Lies!

There were certain reasons why players became lone wolves and played the game solo.

Some were loners by nature, like Kieran.

Some, however, acquired or adopted the loner nature, like the others.

Many of them must have tried to clear dungeon worlds in groups but the final outcome turned them into solo players.

What happened?

The answer was self-explanatory.

The lone wolves that ran dungeon worlds alone did not keep themselves away from reality. Quite the opposite, as they cherished everyone they called friend more than normal people did.

Therefore, they always lingered in Harvest Inn, staying in the place that had friends and allowed them to relax.

None of the lone wolves wished for anything to happen to their beloved ones, neither in terms of people or matter.

“I am sure,” Garwen took a deep breath and put emphasis on his assurance.

After that, Garwen took out the oath contract he had prepared beforehand and wrote his name on it. Blair also wrote down his name without a second thought.

Looking at the oath contract with both of their names, the atmosphere in the inn slightly lifted.

Rhino grabbed a glass of wine and went over to Blair.

“Blair? Rhino.”

Rhino briefly introduced himself and handed the glass to Blair.

Blair extended his hand towards Rhino for a shake.

“I’m Blair… Cough Cough!”

He tilted his neck backwards and finished the drink in his hand, but he had drank too fast. Before he could finish the whole drink, he coughed halfway and almost choked.

The scene attracted laughs from the crowd.

The laughs didn’t harbour any intent to mock him, just plain laughs of kindness.

Amid the kind laughs, Blair clearly felt the barrier between him and the lone wolves around him swiftly going way.

He was slowly becoming a part of this special group.

Huu!

Blair heaved a long breath.

Although his friend had assured him before, Blair was finally, truly relieved at this moment.

After all, he had to face the Fiery Devil that killed without blinking an eye!

Rumours has it that hundreds to thousands of players died in the devil’s hand, and all of them died gruesomely.

Even Broker, who almost ruled the whole city, wasn’t his opponent and was forced to rest temporarily to cure his injuries.

Whenever Blair thought about the fact that he had gone against the Fiery Devil in the past, he would feel very sick.

Since then, he had tried to figure out how he could redeem his shallow relationship with Kieran.

He was especially eager to redeem himself now that he had already deviated from his original dungeon clearing methods and become a lone wolf, a solo player.

He didn’t wish to see himself drinking and chatting with friends in Harvest Inn one moment and then getting killed by the devil in the next moment when he was walking out with his friends.

Coincidentally, an opportunity presented itself in front of Blair.

Blair thought he might have to seize the chance, so he told his friend everything.

His friend, on the other hand, did not let him down. Garwen didn’t just fully support him, he even thought of a plan to approach the situation, although Blair was quite reluctant to sign that oath contract at first.

After truly turning into a solo player, he hated any kind of restrictions on him, but he still chose to listen to his friend’s persuasion.

Now, feeling the kindness around him, Blair was grateful for his choice.

He then sorted his thoughts and said, “I was half a mercenary before this. Aside from completing my own dungeon runs, I would sometimes stop by the transit station to get some easier missions. The mission that required me to watch Sir 2567 was from the station.

“Although I’ve become a solo player now… a lone wolf, I still keep my habit of paying the transit station a visit to have a looksee. Before I came to the inn, I noticed that someone put a bounty on Sir 2567 in the transit station—the sure kill kind.”

Blair was still very nervous in front of Kieran, but the others didn’t care about that, too captivated by Blair’s words.

Transit station, a spot similar to a mission board, but the missions came from players themselves.

No information or traces would be left there, only the mission content being revealed, and after the missions were completed, the player who took the mission would get a corresponding pay.

No one could retract the mission’s payment though, because when the mission was being published, the publishing player had to sign a contract with the system.

The general contract was as such: I, XXX, will give the payment to players who complete my mission, no lies, no dishonesty, etc.

With the existence of the system contract, the mission boards in the transit stations became reliable.

Kieran knew about the transit stations as well. He was quite clear about it, to be exact, because there was one transit station of a sort in Harvest Inn.

The reputation of this particular transit station spread further than the others in the city.

Not just because this transit station was managed by someone, unlike the other automated ones that were scattered and hidden in the corners of the city, but also because this transit station required a high publishing fee.

Kieran had published once before, but as a wanted person on the board, it was a first for him.

“A sure kill bounty? How much?” Kieran asked with slight interest.

“Five million Points!” Blair answered.

Heavy gasps resounded in the inn instantly.