CHAPTER 665

【 BOOTLICKERS 】

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Following his senses, Mars soon spotted two more elves wandering through the forest.

Both possessed strength at the peak of the low silver rank, one as a warrior and the other as a mage. From the way they’re looking around the surrounding trees, it was clear that they were searching for something.

Mars adjusted his appearance, then imitated their behavior and pretended to search for something too as he slowly approached the place where they stood. He made sure his manner appeared natural, as if he were simply another elves investigating the area.

He then deliberately pressed his boot into a patch of snow, producing a loud crunch that echoed through the vicinity. The sound instantly drew the attention of the two elves, who turned sharply in his direction.

“Bro, something’s out there.”

The elven mage spoke cautiously.

Both raised their weapons, one lifting his staff and the other gripping his steel sword, preparing for combat.

However, when they saw Mars emerge from the bushes and step into view, especially when they noticed the impressive gear that marked him as a silver-ranker, their tension faded away at once.

“So it’s not a monster after all.”

“Unbelievable, so it’s just another person wandering around hiding their usernames.”

They shook their heads, did not even look at Mars again, then turned and headed elsewhere.

Mars: “…”

Wait, they are not even going to greet him?

The golden dragon felt confused as he watched the two elves briskly turn and walk away.

Sure, they did not attacked him this time, but this complete lack of basic etiquette left him baffled.

Still, since they had not try to attack him, Mars thought for a moment and decided to take the initiative.

He cleared his throat and called out:

“You two friends up ahead, please wait.”

The two elves stopped.

“Do you need something?”

the elven warrior asked.

Mars nodded and delivered the explanation he had already prepared beforehand.

“My fellow friends, I seem to have lost my way in this forest. Could you tell me how to reach the nearest town from here?”

The moment he said this, Mars immediately noticed the expressions of the two elves turn strange.

…Hm?

Was there something wrong with his question?

Unease stirred in the old golden dragon’s heart.

“What, don’t tell me you didn’t buy a map? Seriously? You dare explore the northern region without a map?” the elven mage asked in disbelief.

Mars paused for a moment, touched his head, and gave a sheepish smile.

“Well, you see, I accidentally lost my map.”

Elven warrior: “…”

Elven mage: “…”

The two of them looked at him with an expression that clearly said: Are you messing with us?

“Let’s go, little bro.”

“Alright, big brother.”

The two elves nodded to each other without giving Mars another glance and turned to leave.

Mars: “…”

Hmm? Was there something wrong with what he said?

The gold dragon thought about it, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not figure out where he had gone wrong.

However, after the two elves had walked a few steps, the younger mage could not hold back as he turned his head and said:

“Look, big guy, if you did not buy a map, then just say so. Stop making up some lame excuses, or at least make it believable. Maps are stored in the system, so how could you lose it?” ṙа𝐍οＢΕＳ

Mars stood there in confusion.

System?

What was that?

He suddenly felt that after sleeping for two hundred thousand years, he might no longer understand this world at all.

But one thing was certain. His current slip-up was clearly related to this so called map. It was the weak point in his story.

Thinking this, he once again put on a simple, honest smile.

“My apologies, it is indeed my fault. As you said, I truly did not buy a map. Therefore, could the two of you guide me to the nearest town? I am even willing to pay you for your service.”

Elven warrior: “…”

Elven mage: “…”

The two gave him another odd look before exchanging a brief, silent glance. A couple of seconds later, the older one finally spoke.

“…No need for payment. If you need one, we can simply send our map to you. Maps of the northern region are dirt cheap these days, anyway.”

After saying this, he spaced out for a moment, then added:

“But reveal your username first.”

“Reveal my…username?”

Mars froze.

“Duh,” the younger mage interjected, sounding almost exasperated. “If you don’t reveal your username, how can we send it to you? Without it, we simply cannot exchange files. Aren’t you a silver-ranker? Don’t tell me you didn’t know that hiding your username also blocks the system’s targeting function.”

The elven warrior looked at him suspiciously.

The more Mars listened, the more confused and embarrassed he became.

Even though he had used Language Comprehension, which allowed him to communicate clearly and understand the meaning of each word, once the sentences connected together, he suddenly could no longer grasp what they were trying to say.

“Um, it is fine, I am not in a hurry. If you two do not mind, I can accompany you for now. You are heading toward the town as well, correct? We can part ways once we arrive.”

Mars said this.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, the two elves immediately became alert.

“Which guild are you from? The First Legion or the Scourge Knights? I bet your guild also summoned its members earlier to search for the dragons, right? Let me make this clear. We are from Moe Moe Committee. You know what our Guildmaster Salty Cat is like. If you are trying to join our party to spy on us, then you can forget about it,”

The elven warrior said, frowning.

Mars: “…”

“No, no, I am not trying to spy on you, nor do I belong to any guild. I am just a hunter who got lost,” he said, shaking his head.

The elven mage raised an eyebrow.

“…A solo player?”

Mars did not understand what the term ‘player’ meant, so he simply nodded to play along.

“Huh, a silver-rank solo player without one? Did you leave your previous guild?” the elven warrior asked in surprise.

“No, I have always been alone,” Mars replied cautiously after a moment’s thought.

“Oh, I see! How rare—a pure soloist,” the younger elf exclaimed.

Mars noticed the two elves suddenly regarding him with a hint of respect.

“Hey, are you perhaps interested in joining Moe Moe?”

Mars shook his head.

“No, thank you. For now, I prefer traveling alone.”

The two elves seemed slightly disappointed.

“In that case, let us go. Join our party for now, although we still need to explore the forest for a while.”

the elven warrior said.

“Alright. My name is Mercury. May I know how I should address the two of you?”

Mars replied cheerfully.

But immediately after, he saw the two elves again giving him the same expression as before, the one that said: Are you kidding me?

The younger elf sighed.

“Look, big guy, enjoying role-playing is fine, but taking it this far isn’t good. Can’t you just show us your username?”

Again with the username topic…

What was a username, anyway?

Mars remained completely confused.

Outwardly, he continued smiling sheepishly.

Seeing his goofy, clueless expression, the elven warrior rubbed his temples.

“Forget it. You role-players are always like this.”

He then pointed at himself.

“I am Huludao-the-1st.”

Then he pointed at the elven mage.

“This is my little brother, Huludao-the-2nd.”

He looked at Mars, wearing an expectant expression. But when the latter showed no reaction to their names, the two seemed slightly disappointed.

Mars noticed these small changes in their expression and immediately realized that these two were likely well known individuals among the elves. He quickly cooperated by giving a friendly smile.

“So it is the two of you! Indeed I have long heard of your names.”

Only then did the elven warrior smile with satisfaction, speaking with a modest tone.

“No, no, it is all undeserved. My reputation is exaggerated. I only started playing early.”

But while the older elf was speaking with Mars, the younger mage tugged at his sleeve and whispered in his ear.

Even though he lowered his voice, Mars, with his keen hearing, could still hear every word they were saying.

“Big bro, the username Mercury isn’t on the system list.”

The elven warrior’s smile faded at once as he looked at Mars with displeasure.

“Listen big guy, role-playing is fine, but giving a fake name isn’t cool, you know?”

Mars: “…”

They actually had a way to know he was using a fake name?

He was shocked.

However, just as Mars was about to make up an excuse, he suddenly saw the expressions of the two elves shift to delight.

Yet, their delight lasted only a moment, before quickly turning into seriousness, then changing again into suspicion.

After that, they both looked at Mars with a scrutinizing gaze, leaving him confused.

Of course, unbeknownst to the clueless gold dragon, the two elven players were privately exchanging chat messages at that exact moment.

༺⟐༻

On the other side, in the players’ chat interface.

At the moment, Moe Moe Committee’s exclusive chat channel had already exploded with activity.

Player A: “Holy crap. I heard two silver dragons just appeared at the base of the Starry Night Wanderers Guild.”

Player B: “What? For real? That small guild that secretly build its base in the northern region?”

Player A: “Yeah, its absolutely true. Someone already uploaded some screenshots. Here’s the link. Http//w…”

Player C: “Wait a moment. Aren’t those two elves? And they are even wearing our standard equipment.”

Player A: “Lol, dragons can shapeshift. Did you forget about Meryer? Also, according to the game’s lore, silver dragons naturally enjoy taking humanoid forms to roam through towns.”

Player D: “Lmao. These two dragons clearly tried to disguise themselves, but haha, they blew their cover in less than ten minutes. xDD”

Player B: “How did they blow their cover?”

Player D: “The guildmaster of the Starry Night Wanderers has a contracted young silver dragon companion. It apparently immediately smelled the scent of its own kind on them. Not to mention, they tried pretending to be players, but they know nothing about the system functions at all. After a few questions, they were quickly exposed. :D”

Player A: “Well, they are NPCs after all.”

Player E: “Lol, currently everyone that’s searching for the dragons has gone crazy and are now rushing to the Starry Night Wanderers base. What a bunch of bootlickers.”

Player D: “Can you blame them? They are mythical-rank dragons after all. Based on the description from the server-wide quest, these dragons are real big shots. Just getting a couple of dragon scales from them would make anyone instantly rich ¯_(ツ)_/¯”

Player B: “What are the names of those two silver dragons?”

Player E: “The male is called Mars. The female is still unknown.”

Player B: “So two silver dragons…? but those northern region recording showed three dragons in the sky, right?”

Player A: “Yeah. There was also a golden dragon. According to the game’s lore, golden dragons also enjoy interacting with sentient beings, although they prefer to transform into animals.”

Player E: “Huh? Wait a sec… Animals? Someone in the chat mentioned seeing a mutated bear running incredibly fast earlier. I thought it was odd since it is now winter and bears should typically be hibernating. Guys, could that have been the golden dragon we are looking for?”

Player F: “What’s that about a fast running bear? Speaking of which, we also happened to ran into a very fast wind wolf earlier during our search.”

Player E: “Where did you guys encounter it?”

Player F: “In the northern region. Coordinates 2366, 678.”

Player E: “When?”

Player F: “Around half an hour ago.”

Player E: “Eh? No way dude… Could it really have been the golden dragon? O___O; The others saw the bear near your location as well, only a bit later.”

Player F: “Fuck. Feels like we missed out on a fortune. We thought it was just a prey. We even took a shot at it a few times lol…(ಥ_ಥ).”

Player A: “holding shoulder meme.jpg”

Player B: “Well better luck next time…”

Player C: “yh better luck next time…”

Player D: “You guys sure effed up big time lmao. xD”

Player F: “(ಥ____ಥ)”

Player E: “Everyone exploring in the northern region, listen up. Be careful when you are out in the wild. Do not attack recklessly if you encounter any strange animals. It might be the golden dragon in disguise.”

Player A: “Also, be careful around players hiding their username. They might actually be the gold dragon disguised as elves, just like the silver ones.”

༺⟐༻

Back to the two elven brothers who were reading the chat log: …

They exchanged glances and both saw suspicion in each other’s eyes.

“Big Brother, do you think this strange role-player we encountered could really be the golden dragon in disguise?”

the younger mage typed.

“It is not impossible. Based on the coordinates posted in the chat, the sighting was near us.”

the older warrior replied.

The two of them fell silent for a moment and swallowed nervously.

“Should we use a specific earth knowledge to confirm?”

“Yeah let’s do that. Same old procedure?”

“okay.”

After exchanging a few messages in their chat group, the two elves looked toward Mars again.

This time, their eyes carried a seriousness and a strange sense of expectation.

Mars felt bewildered under such stares.

He could faintly sense that their attitude toward him had shifted once again.

Hm?

Perhaps he once again did something wrong?

Mars silently wondered.

At that moment, the elven warrior suddenly revealed a bright smile.

“Well then… you’re Lord Mercury, is that correct?”

For some reason, his tone had become unusually respectful.

“Um… indeed, yes.”

Mars nodded.

“Would you be willing to answer a few questions for us?”

the elven warrior asked again.

Seeing the anticipation in their expressions, Mars hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded.

The elven warrior straightened his posture, then spoke with a serious expression:

“Is it true that odd number changes, but even number does not?”

Mars: “…?”

The younger elf stepped forward as well:

“What about the phrase, Heavenly King covers the earth tiger?” ¹

Mars: “..??”

“Did you know the terms, hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron?”

Mars: “???”

“Before my bed, the bright moonlight?” ²

Mars: “????”

Seeing the strange role-player completely confused, the two elves fell silent. After several seconds of silence, the two players suddenly became enthusiastic.

Mars was startled as they rushed over with excitement, grasping both of his hands firmly while plastering flattering smiles on their faces.

“Lord Mercury, you wish to go to a town, correct? No problem, no problem at all, we suddenly remembered that we actually have plenty of free time!”

“Exactly, exactly! come with us, please! We just did not pay attention earlier, but now that we take a proper look, we feel a strong sense of closeness to you. Us meeting up here must be fate!”

“Yeah! Since fate have brought us together, we must be destined to be friends!”

“Have you eaten, Lord Mercury? Tonight, the us two northern brothers will treat you to a tasty barbecue meal. It is our specialty!”

Mars: “…”

¹ 天王盖地虎 – “The Heavenly King covers the Earth Tiger.”

This phrase is actually part of a popular Chinese slang or secret code used in older films and stories. It is often followed by the response:

“And the pagoda suppresses the river demon.”

Together, it forms a sort of secret handshake phrase used humorously or to signal camaraderie, often in movies or chinese online culture.

² 床前明月光 – “Before my bed, the bright moonlight.”

This is the first line of a famous Chinese poem by Li Bai called Quiet Night Thoughts. It expresses homesickness and longing while gazing at the moon at night.

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