Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
Chapter 437: Building a Reputation
Chapter 437: Building a Reputation (2)
“This is your honor!”
The Village Chief of Xilin Village solemnly declined the wolf leg offered by (Player Name) (M).
“Thank you for helping us drive away the ferocious monsters. This is already a great kindness. Besides, we are just ordinary people. Eating monster meat just fills our stomachs, but it is said to be very beneficial for professionals like you.”
The villagers were unwilling to eat it.
(Player Name) (M) could do nothing about it.
Monster meat was indeed very beneficial for professionals, but this Sandstorm Wolf was too low-level to be of much use to him now. Eating it might not even increase his Experience Bar by a tenth.
Don’t be fooled by the villagers’ generosity; their lives were not good at all.
From what (Player Name) (M) could see, the roofs of many villagers’ homes were leaky, and their faces were gaunt. The smiles they wore had only bloomed tonight, and one could still see the hidden fatigue and haggardness beneath them.
It was clear that their lives had been difficult over the past month due to the harassment of the Sandstorm Wolves.
So many camels had died.
This was a heavy blow to the villagers.
Camels were the villagers’ means of livelihood.
They usually relied on riding camels to collect medicinal herbs in the Gobi Desert near Black River City and to enter the Death Desert to find centipedes and scorpions to sell for money.
To the villagers of Xilin Village, camels were as essential as a fishing boat to a fisherman or needle and thread to a tailor. Without camels, their future lives would be precarious.
They were genuinely happy now.
But beneath their smiles lay bitterness.
(Player Name) (M) knew he wasn’t a good person, but he still had basic empathy.
He accepted all the Sandstorm Wolf meat, packing up whatever he couldn’t eat into his Space Backpack.
However, as he left, he handed the Rank 4 Magic Core of the Sandstorm Wolf to the village chief.
This Magic Core was worth about 300 Gold Coins.
It was the most valuable part of the entire Sandstorm Wolf. With the sale of this Magic Core, the villagers of Xilin Village could buy a new batch of camels to sustain their livelihoods, and the remaining Gold Coins could be used for house repairs and the overall development of Xilin Village.
“This item is too valuable. I cannot accept it.”
The Village Chief of Xilin Village was a white-haired old man. Holding his rough hands, (Player Name) (M) knew that this seemingly stern elder must have been a sword-wielding battle-hardened individual in his youth.
“I know you will say that this is the honor of our Mercenary Group.”
(Player Name) (M) smiled andstufffed the Magic Core into the village chief’s hand, gripping the chief’s hand to completely enclose the Magic Core:
“But I want you to understand that killing the Sandstorm Wolf is not our true honor. If our honor is to be built on a village where the villagers cannot eat or dress warmly, then we would rather not have such honor.”
With that said, (Player Name) (M) turned and left under the village chief’s respectful gaze, leaving without a trace.
Consequently.
The reputation of the Candy Super Sweet Mercenary Group immediately became fiery with the deliberate propaganda of those with intentions.
But (Player Name) (M) felt it wasn’t enough.
In just three days, he led the Candy Super Sweet Mercenary Group to continuously accept difficult missions from the Adventurer’s Guild mission board.
They found a dog that Big Mama Sam had lost for two years (though only bones remained); they helped an eighty-year-old man cure his frequent urination, urgency, and impotence, and the old man even made a banner for the Candy Super Sweet Mercenary Group; they helped a widow in Luobing Village find her beloved, a woman over 300 pounds but very wealthy. (Player Name) (M) took a different approach, finding a handsome young scoundrel who didn’t want to work hard. One sought sexual satisfaction, the other sought money; the bachelor and the widow hit it off immediately. Afterward, they went to the Patry Mountain area near Black River City to eliminate a group of Goblins, opening up a more direct trade route, and incidentally helping women who had fallen into trouble and were captured by the Goblin Tribe find their way home.
In less than a week, the Candy Super Sweet Mercenary Group had become a model Mercenary Group in Black River City, almost a benchmark for all Mercenary Groups to learn from.
The members of the Candy Super Sweet Mercenary Group, not only the leader (Player Name) (M), but also the beautiful young Claudia, the expressionless Crusader, and the smiling Star Magus, all gained a group of Adventurer fans.
They even acquired various cool nicknames.
For example:
Bloody Gut-Ripper – (Player Name) (M).
Lady of Flame Blast – Claudia.
Star Guide – Phil Tols.
Iron-Faced Meat Grinder – Crusader Legion.
…
…
In the private quarters of the Candy Super Sweet Mercenary Group.
(Player Name) (M) was looking at a piece of parchment in his hand with a depressed expression.
This was intelligence submitted by the Crusader.
“Why was such a disgusting nickname given to someone as handsome as me?”
He smacked his lips.
“What the heck is ‘Gut-Ripper’? Isn’t ‘Ripper’ more appealing? It’s too much…”
But no matter how depressed he was, the nickname had already spread throughout Black River City, and it would be very difficult to change it unless he did something earth-shattering in the future.
Claudia sat aside, covering her mouth and chuckling.
“Who told you to fight in such a perverted way? You always use those underhanded tactics~”
She could still recall the miserable deaths of those Goblins.
They were sprawled on the ground, with their own clubs sticking out of their butts, their dark green faces contorted in pain, clearly having suffered greatly before death.
It should be known that Goblin clubs were more like rudimentary maces, covered with spikes. One could imagine how “refreshing” the Goblins’ experience must have been at the time.
“Any move that works is a good move.”
(Player Name) (M) leaned back, clasping his hands behind his head, resting comfortably in his chair with a swaying posture.
“Besides, if I hadn’t used such underhanded tactics back then, you wouldn’t have become my wife, my little A’ Ya~”
Speaking of which, a lewd smile appeared on his lips.
Claudia blushed immediately upon hearing this.
Her mind also began to replay the scene of her first encounter with (Player Name) (M).
She really didn’t know what spell he had cast on her to end up with such a scoundrel.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
She couldn’t help but pinch (Player Name) (M)’s ear.
“Ouch!” (Player Name) (M) cried out in pain and quickly begged for mercy.
“Wife, I was wrong! M-Madam, spare me!”
“Do you dare mention this again?”
“No, I don’t dare!”
Just as the two were playfully bickering.
A Crusader knocked on the room door.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
“Leader, a merchant wishes to see you. Should I turn him away?”
(Player Name) (M) stopped teasing Claudia, and a meaningful smile spread across his lips.
He knew.
The fish had taken the bait!
