Chapter 38: The First Confrontation (2)
As Shen Jingbin had spent all her time either hunting monsters, clearing dungeons with Shen Jingchen and Quiet And Steadfast, or doing quests on her own, all of the other guild members from Jade Sea Pavilion, save for the ones who had helped battle Du the Unvanquished, were unfamiliar to her.
The four Weirdos were said to be good friends who lived in the same dormitory. Three of them had used the leader of their posse as the basis for their character creation, so Shen Jingbin immediately caught sight of four people who looked like they'd been born from the same womb.
All four of them were Liches and made up a bulk of the party's DPS. They charged at the head of the vanguard, displaying exceptional bravery. After confirming that there were slightly more guild members on the side of dry land, Shen Jingbin slowly shifted her position and prepared to quietly slip into her guild's forces.
Just then, she felt murderous intent wash over her from behind and a clang could be heard. The sound of an unsheathed sword sliced through all of her prudence. A ray of white light that was accompanied by a sharp aura sped towards her back like lightning.
Dodge!
That one word was the only thought in her head. Shen Jingbin relied on her many years of experience to immediately crouch down and roll to the side, rolling out of her opponent's attack range. However, the murderous intent still remained, the sensation causing the hairs on Shen Jingbin's back to stand on end. She unconsciously took up a defensive posture and looked towards her opponent.
It seemed as if her opponent hadn't anticipated that she'd be able to react so quickly and dodge his attacks. Their hands paused for a moment before they raised their sword to once again strike. Their manner of attacking wasn't beautiful like the one that the system had intended, but rather, each attack was precise and targeted her vitals.
It looks like she happened to come across an expert.
It'd been a long time since she felt threatened like this, and she could feel the long dormant violent traits within her body stirring once again.
She herself was originally quite violent. This, coupled with the guidance of Old Master Shen, who stood at the peak of martial arts, meant that there were few who could stand on equal footing with her after she finished her apprenticeship with him. As time went on, she started to feel bored and she unwillingly set aside the restless feelings within her heart.
But now…
After revealing her horsetail whisk, Shen Jingbin flicked her wrist, causing her whisk to wrap itself around her opponent's long sword and arm as they pushed and pulled. A moment later, her opponent who'd been caught off guard had their long sword tossed to the side. An ear piercing screeching could be heard as the sword slid across the ground.
Her opponent's reaction wasn't slow either. The moment they lost their weapon, their left hand reached into their backpack and pulled out a dagger. As Shen Jingbin retracted her whisk, her opponent borrowed its momentum to pull themselves along and lunge straight at her face.
The dagger arrived in front of her eyes in less than a second. Although she was fast enough to react, she had no means of avoiding the attack.
However, she wasn't the type of person to sit and wait for their death!
Shen Jingbin lowered her waist and leaned past the edge of Sea Moon Island. Due to inertia, she fell off Sea Moon Island after dodging the attack.
As she was trying to assess the state of the battle, Shen Jingbin had positioned herself at the edge of Sea Moon Island. So when her opponent attacked, both parties were dancing on a knife's edge as they moved about the island's periphery. The main island of Sea Moon Island was a far distance away from the ground. In accordance with the game's lifelike setting, falling from such a height would definitely result in serious injuries, let alone falling into the midst of a battle.
A look of astonishment appeared on the face of Shen Jingbin's assailant. They never thought that she'd use such a self-destructive approach to dodge their attack. But before they had the chance to reign in their astonishment, they suddenly felt something tighten around their hand. They didn't even have the chance to take a good look at their hand before they felt a tremendous force tug at their wrist, pulling them off the edge of the island.
All of these things happened in just mere moments. There was no time at all for the person to react.
And just like that, both parties fell right into the midst of the battle.
Shen Jingbin felt her vision go black the instant she landed on the ground. Her head was buzzing from the impact, the pit of her stomach was overcome with pain, and it felt like a few of her ribs were broken.
"Life is precious, treasure your life. Notification: You have received a serious injury, please administer treatment without delay."
A "ding" rang out, and the system's familiar notification could be heard once again.
Shen Jingbin didn't bother with the system's notification. She instead grit her teeth, struggling to stand up as she look towards the person she had dragged down with her.
At some point, the players closest to them had stopped their battle. They tightened their grips around their weapons and stared at the two people who fell from the sky.
Evidently, from their ash-coloured face, the other person's injuries weren’t light either. They were currently in a half kneeling position as they stared at her through clenched teeth and hate-filled eyes. Shen Jingbin hadn't noticed it before, but now on closer inspection, she realized that the other person was actually a girl!
The girl had a slender build and looked to be over 1.7m tall. She had a handsome face that lacked any of the tenderness and grace that a girl should have. Instead, she possessed a heroic aura. Shen Jingbin shot a glance at her chest and noticed that it was as flat as a washboard. Unable to bear the itch in her throat, she issued several hoarse coughs. The four Weirdos noticed Shen Jingbin when she fell and immediately rushed up to her upon seeing her pale face. Two of them supported her arms, while the other two stood in front to protect her as they brought her to safety.
I'm Not A Weirdo and I'm Really Not A Weirdo helped to support her back to their guild members. At first her party members, National Treasure and Lingering White Clouds, weren't able to recognize who the two Weirdos were holding on to. However, they immediately began raining recovery spells on her after noticing the dire condition she was in.
"Thank you." The corners of Shen Jingbin's lips curled into a smile as she thanked them once she felt a little better.
The two of them were stunned. But it wasn't just the two of them. Everyone who was around them, including the ones who happened to chance upon this sight, froze when they saw her smile. My god, that expression of hers was enough to drive them all into depression!
"You're…Nutty?" National Treasure was the first to recover, so she gave voice to her question in an attempt to probe things out.
Shen Jingbin nodded her head and saw National Treasure's expression distort in that instant.
I'm Not A Weirdo patted her shoulder and said, "Don't cry Little Treasure, you'll get used to it after a while."
I'm Really Not A Weirdo, "You won't find her ugly once you get used to looking at her, regardless of whether or not she's really that ugly."
Shen Jingbin: …
This was their first time seeing Shen Jingbin in person for many of the guild members. Without being given the chance to brace themselves, these people were all given a ruthless shock.
Although Shen Jingbin had done her best to erase her presence when she entered the guild, that brother of hers, Shen Jingchen, and her extraordinary luck, had prevented any of that from happening. Those things, coupled with the fact that she frequently partied with Quiet And Steadfast to run dungeons and clear quests with him, meant that she'd become a thorn in the side of many of the female members within the guild.
As the number one player in the game, Quiet And Steadfast naturally had countless women coming up with any number of excuses to strike up a conversation with him. Even though Slight Chill was eyeing him covetously, who knows how many women were willing to court death just to approach him.
Shen Jingbin had only played this game for a short period of time. If she wasn't in some deserted locale hunting monsters, then she was inside a dungeon. As such, her love rivals had no means to see her appearance, and they could only use their heads to fill in the blanks. They had all imagined that the person Quiet And Steadfast gave special treatment to must be a top-tier beauty.
But…
This was like they'd been forcefully slapped across their faces!
Pa pa pa!
In what way were they lacking when compared to this ugly monster!
At that time, the mental states of countless women collapsed as they lost control of their emotions.
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