Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

As Kaizen and Jayaa made their way to the Light Lands, a well-known low-level hunting area on the outskirts of the Royal City, they heard loud laughter and a conversation that was morbid to say the least.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Don't make me laugh to the point of peeing my pants!"

"I'm serious! HEHE! The guy was so scared of me he paralyzed! Tell them, bro!"

"It's true! Then the guy begged for his life, saying he had kids and all, but we solved it by killing him and his kids! HAHAHA!

"I wish I had been there to have seen that!"

Immediately, Kaizen and Jayaa hid themselves so as not to be seen by these men. Although the pair were not carrying any light sources, because the moon was illuminating the road, they could be seen if any of the men were distracted from their conversation.

'They didn't notice us.' thought Psyker, noticing that the men kept laughing like hyenas.

He then looked at Jayaa, who silently pointed with his eyes to the left. When Kaizen looked to the left of his group partner, he saw that a man was pissing in a bush, away from the other men, who were standing around a small fire. At that moment, Kaizen decided to check with the <Analyzer Eye> the strength of this NPC.

[NPC: Deák Ferenc

Level: 10 | Race: Human | Gender: Male

Profession: Thief

HP: 150 | MP: 5

Attack: 10 | Defense: 9 | Speed: 7

Strength: 9 | Wisdom: 2 | Endurance: 11

Skills: [Hidden Content]]

'Are they all thieves?' Kaizen wondered and used the skill on the men who were near the campfire. 'Yes, there are five thieves, all low level.'

"Cara, can I confess something to you?" Jayaa whispered to Kaizen after the estranged thief began to return to his group. "It wasn't some players who killed Isa and me, it was these thieves."

"Wait a second. You died to level ten NPCs?"

"Uhum, it's embarrassing to admit, but they are coordinated... And how do you know they are level ten? Standard clothing?"

Kaizen denied with his head. "Actually, I have a class skill that allows me to see the stats screen of monsters, NPCs and players."

"Ow, so there is such a skill? What title or profession is required to acquire it?"

"Watch out, Jayaa!" Kaizen shouted and suddenly pushed Jayaa aside, preventing an axe blow from hitting the bard's head.

All it took was for Psyker to lose focus for a second and the pissing thief got too close.

"Hahahaha! You have good reflexes!" Deák Ferenc praised Kaizen and then pushed hard to get his axe off the tree trunk that Jayaa was just now leaning against.

"Take some distance!" Kaizen ordered his partner. At the same time, he delivered a left-handed punch to the face of the thief standing before him.

Deák Ferenc was tall and wore a regatta so tight for his dense muscles that hairs protruded through the collar of his clothing. This man had a degenerate smile on his face, but when Kaizen punched him, the sound of his nose being broken was heard like the snapping of a twig, shattering his overbearing smile.

"No you won't!" To Jayaa, shouted one of the thieves standing near the campfire. At that very moment, this man raised his bow and shot an arrow at the bard.

The tensioned string launched the arrow at high speed, but suddenly the arrow stopped in mid-air, leaving the archer, as well as Jayaa, Deák Ferenc and the other thieves in shock. Soon after, the arrow traced the same path as it did to be shot, only in the opposite direction and stuck in the archer's eye, making him howl in pain.

"AAAAH! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? GET THIS OUT!"

The other three thieves who were holding swords didn't care to help their colleague, continuing to run as fast as they could in Kaizen's direction.

'I'll soon be surrounded if I continue here.' Kaizen thought, but he was too proud to run from level 10 enemies, so he shouted to the bard, "Give me cover!"

Jayaa was thinking that their plan was to run as far away as possible, so he was surprised when he turned back and saw his broad-shouldered friend investing against three thieves with swords.

"Shit! If it's a cover you want, it's the cover you'll get." The bard muttered as he pulled his lute out of inventory.

Unlike in real life, in Rise Online Jayaa's hands and fingers were full of calluses. This was not because he was very dedicated to exercise or because he was always waving his sword in training, but because his favorite thing in Rise Online, above graphics, nature and everything else, was the magnificent sound produced by his lute, capable of reverberating in even the rottenest hearts.

The fingers of his right hand strummed the strings softly. The sound emitted was so fine and calm that it resembled that of a harp. Every hair on Jayaa's body bristled, his lungs expanded, and he closed his eyes so quietly that the archer's cries of pain faded away. For the first time since he had installed this game, he knew that it was impossible for him to be hit, because he trusted Kaizen completely.

The notes he played initially seemed to be in harmony with the rustling of the trees, but when he began to sing, the trees were no longer just part of the backdrop of his beautiful melody, but rather elements that formidably danced under the light of the stars and the moon.

"Trace the heads of your enemies with your blade to free our way~. The darkness that consumes you in my dreams, perhaps it is your destiny. Walking through the snow I find you with an empty heart. A hollow and lifeless shell~. Life goes on, like a note, always teaching me to callous myself~." 🎵

As the words were uttered almost instantly from Jayaa's mouth, the rustling of the trees grew louder and the roots scattered beneath the woodland floor moved. The thieves didn't notice this until it was too late, because when one of them looked down and noticed that the ground was more unstable than usual, a hole appeared in the ground, engulfing him.

"Way to go, man! Now my job gets easier!" Kaizen thought, looking at the two thieves who were running towards him. Wielding the Butterfly Bear Sword, he knew that these thieves didn't stand a chance.