Chapter 35.1: Super Crazy Undead

"Assassinate who?" Blossoming Strokes looked up in astonishment.

"Lord Yang, the NPC who sits in the town hall drinking tea. The one you're grinding reputation with!" Give Me Medicine said excitedly. "It's a quest discovered by the laborers. They saw the NPCs not returning to their tents after their shift and went to strike up a conversation. One of them said they were preparing to assassinate Lord Yang and asked if the players were willing to join!"

"Wait a moment, isn't Lord Yang the mage instructor.. and resurrection master for the undead race? If that NPC dies, wouldn't we undead be unable to resurrect?" an astonished Qin Guan exclaimed.

"Don't be hasty. Which NPC issued the quest to players?" Blossoming Strokes quickly gathered up the tools she was using for her current quest.

"It's the NPC next to the armor merchant, the one who teaches the lifestyle class of skinning and butchering. Oh, his name is Manan," Give Me Medicine said.

"The lifestyle class instructor plotting against Lord Yang? What kind of bizarre plot is this?" Qin Guan couldn't help laughing out loud.

"It's not only one lifestyle class instructor. Manan also said that all the advanced human NPCs in the town have united to oppose Lord Yang. It's definitely a major plotline!" Give Me Medicine continued animatedly.

"Let me finish this quest first and we'll go have a look." Blossoming Strokes then asked Give Me Medicine, "How many people have discovered this quest?"

"Um.. it's hard to say at the moment," Give Me Medicine replied hesitantly. "Those laboring players who discovered this major quest individually called their own friends. It was one of my buddies that informed me."

"Whoa!" Blossoming Strokes exclaimed. "Vanilla, hurry gather up everyone. This quest might not actually involve assassinating someone. How can an NPC who teaches skills be killed? But there must be follow-up quests, and we mustn't fall behind!"

"Alright!" Qin Guan took off at once.

Elsewhere, after listening to the two players explain the situation, Zheng Qingyue and the others also hurriedly followed them toward the gathering place of the advanced NPCs..

"I feel like something isn't quite right. Isn't it said that when an advanced NPC dies, certain classes will become inaccessible? Lord Yang is the mage instructor, right? What would happen to players who want to play as mages if he dies?" asked Yang Ying, who was confused, while running alongside.

"Heh, NPCs in games are like the demons blocking the path in Journey to the West. Those without backing are doomed to die. Who knows, they might be sacrificed for a small quest without even getting a death scene transition animation. However, those with backing can't be killed no matter what," Tang Jia said. "Now, besides the combat class and lifestyle class instructors in town, aren't there several others who just idle about all die? I reckon that no matter who we charge at and call out to kill at the beginning, it will be those unimportant NPCs that will die in the end. Let's wait and see how things unfold."

"That's right. In general, NPCs with backstories or quests won't actually be killed," Jia Luo chimed in. "Take Duoduo in JX3, for example, who has respawned many times and would have died long ago if she was replaced by another NPC. But because Duoduo has a special status, she can't be killed no matter what. Whenever a new version is released, the game officials bring her out to show off her lovey-dovey relationship with the player."

Yang Ying listened in bafflement. Even NPCs in the game have to rely on connections? Isn't that too realistic?!

"There are exceptions as well. If it is for the plot, even important NPCs might meet their end," Zheng Qingyue spoke up. "But if it's a true plot death, it means a new expansion pack is on the horizon and a replacement for Lord Yang's position will emerge in the ranks of the advanced NPCs. In any case, it's a plot of internal strife among the advanced NPCs in Exile Town. It wouldn't be too out of the ordinary for someone like Yang, a black mage who seems antagonistic, to meet his demise."

"Uh.. Oh yes, oh yes," Tang Jia no longer held onto her original view and readily supported her childhood friend without any hesitation. "During the breakthrough mission we did before, Lord Yang even killed Morris, the male protagonist in the quest, and used his skull as an ornament."

"Or perhaps Lord Yang won't meet his end but become a boss in a dungeon," Zheng Qingyue added. "They've already introduced monster spawns in the open world, so there's no reason not to introduce a dungeon."

"Boss Entropy is right!" The two other players who were sucking up to Unceasing Entropy were convinced and gave thumbs-ups. "Boss Entropy, if a new dungeon is opened, could you take us along?"

"No problem!" Tang Jia jumped in to take charge before Zheng Qingyue even said anything. "Which instructor are you two grinding reputation with? What job do you guys plan on switching to?"

As they rushed along the road, a group of players who were preparing to log out called out to them out of curiosity, "Where are you guys headed? Grinding monsters this late at night?" historical

"To do a quest." Tang Jia beckoned loudly. "Do you want to join us? It's a large-scale plot quest!"

"What the heck? There's such a good thing?!"

"Count me in! Count me in!"

"Please lead me along, boss!"

With their oil lamps, Hal, Tuttle, and Finley walked in the dark night and arrived at the secret rendezvous point at the designated time.

In a secluded site overseen by a certain zombie NPC, the three extinguished their lamps and huddled in a corner, whispering furtively.

"Has everyone been informed?" Hal asked.

"Everyone's been told." Tuttle nodded.

Finley said, "I excluded Charlie Rex. That fella isn't on the same page as us. When I informed our brothers in the western part of the town, I reminded them not to alert him."

"Well done, Finley. I nearly forgot about that fella. We can't alert him, or he might tip off Yang," Hal praised. "I also gave hints to an undead to assist us in our secret operation.."

During their conversation, Knight Jerome, former tailor Anthony, Butcher Manan, and their fellow Sacred Crow brothers arrived in succession.

"I've been waiting a long time for this day!" Anthony, the tailor, eagerly swung his short sword. "Hal, when do we make our move?"

Anthony, a towering man over two meters tall, used to be an ordinary citizen of the Kenyan Empire and indeed worked as a tailor many years ago. However, he considered that part of his life a "dark history" once he discovered his talent for combat and wholeheartedly joined the ranks of mercenaries.

It was because he had chopped up a guy who mocked him by asking him to "go back to sewing women's underwear" that he, who was originally a lawful mercenary, ended up as a member of a bandit gang.

Anthony, who was very proud of his bravery and talent for combat, had been given the label of "tailor" above his head by Yang Qiu and was tasked with selling waist pouches and backpacks and mentoring players looking to switch jobs to a tailor.

Thus, it wasn't difficult to understand the humiliation that Anthony had to endure.

Compared to the high-spirited Anthony, Knight Jerome appeared worried. "Tuttle, isn't it too risky to move so quickly? We have no idea about the true strength of Black Mage Yang.."

.

"Shut up, Jerome!" Anthony glared at him. "If you're afraid, then go hide in your doghouse and don't embarrass yourself here!"

"Enough." Tuttle raised his hands to placate the duo and said solemnly, "It's true that Black Mage Yang is indecipherable and we might not be able to confront him alone. However, it's not like we don't have a chance. You all know how crazy the undead summoned by Yang are. We can use them, creatures from the dimensional realm, to our advantage."

"Ah?!" Jerome exclaimed in astonishment. "Tuttle, how can you all take such a risky approach?! Those undead are creatures summoned by Yang!"

"Don't worry, Jerome. I guarantee that we can make use of these undead." Hal smiled confidently. "In fact, I've already tried giving hints to a certain undead, telling it that we can give all that it desires if it helps us rebel against Yang. This undead was even more eager than we imagined, and it has already gone to contact its companions!"