Upwards Ho! suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Full Moon's Night.
It was a very hot topic in the Eastern Continent forums, and it was obvious that the post was submitted by a Full Moon's Night member. There were quite a number of screenshots taken from clever angles, creating the illusion that Upwards Ho! had indeed suffered a horrendous loss. Even with the system announcement announcing that Full Moon's Night's victory was a pyrrhic one, it did not stop their members from spreading the news.
Once the post was out, it was like a stone causing a ripple on the surface of the water. Upwards Ho! was very famous. It was the guild that Gongzi You, the top Huntress in the entire Eastern Continent, was in. It had also managed to win in the Dragon Dance Competition. Despite its small size, Upwards Ho! was a major guild in the eyes of many.
That was why the post had garnered 3 million views within an hour, becoming the hottest topic in the forum. The comments section was also bustling with activity. Some of the commenters were from Upwards Ho! while there were also members of Full Moon's Night. There were also those with neutral standing that were only there to watch the show.
When Ye Ci noticed the post on the forum, she was treating Ol' Four to roasted quails. Quite a number of Upwards Ho! members who knew the truth were enraged. They were about to go to the forums and call Full Moon's Night out on their lies, but Ye Ci was not even concerned.
"What can trash talking give you, other than a belly full of anger? The most important thing at hand now is to go pioneering in the dungeon."
Despite Ye Ci's words, the guild members of Upwards Ho! were still unsatisfied. Remote Depths let out a hearty laugh, "We're here for the First Blood. This dungeon is of the utmost importance to our guild. Who cares about the result of a Guild War at such an early stage of the game? Unleash your anger upon the monsters in the dungeon!"
Bai Mo's words had managed to achieve its intended effect. The guild members stopped their grumbling, and when all 50 of them were gathered, they headed into the Frosty Wasteland Inner Sanctum. Overflowing Ink was the person in command, and nobody objected to his actions when he selected the Normal Difficulty.
Frosty Wasteland Inner Sanctum was the first official 50-man dungeon in the Eastern Continent.
In the later stages of Fate, most dungeons in the game were 10-player, 25-player and 50-player dungeons. But due to the sheer difficulty of a 50-player or 100-player dungeons, they were not very popular. The case was especially true for the 100-player dungeon. They were usually the final dungeon in a dungeon cluster, and were quite rare.
After all, preparing and sustaining a team to explore a 100-player dungeon was not an easy task.
The scenery in the Frosty Wasteland Inner Sanctum was quite similar to the scenery of the Frosty Wasteland. But when players entered the dungeon, the first thing they would see was a very tall mountain. Those with sharp eyes were quick to notice that it was the nest of the third BOSS in the Frosty Wasteland. The players were amazed, and began pointing at the mountain as a lively discussion ensued.
The mood within the party was boisterous. It was as if they were out on a tour rather than exploring a dungeon.
The monsters at the beginning of the dungeon were easy to handle. Even if this was the first time the first squadron and the second squadron were working together in a dungeon, they'd come to know each other very well, and had a close relationship. Their teamwork was perfect, enabling them to defeat any monsters in their way easily.
Ye Ci had always slacked off when it came to clearing away the weaker monsters. She was soon to discover that she was not the only one slacking off. With the exception of Remote Depths who was the MT, at least 5 other administrators were slacking off as well. They were chatting with a solemn mood in the guild admin's channel, "These people leaving and joining are so annoying."
"What can we do? Aren't they here because of the level 5 guild encampment? With our fortifications now in such a sorry state, and Full Moon's Night's bragging in the forums, of course they'd leave." Icy Cold Little Hands let out a snort, "They're only here for the benefits, it's not hard for them to just leave like that."
"It's so irritating! It's as if our guild is like a market or something!" Pickled Pepper Phoenix Claw was clearly annoyed, "If they are only here for the benefits of a level 5 guild encampment but refused to contribute to the guild , we might as well not let them in. There's no such thing as a free lunch!"
"Yep! Nice one!"
The guild admins chattered on about the opportunists among the guild members, and Ye Ci laughed, "What's there to be angry about? We don't need a large guild. We'll be fine as long as we have 200 regular members."
Ye Ci was totally unfazed by the issue. A major guild would have thousands of members; if a guild had less than 5000 members, it wouldn't be counted as a major guild, and Ye Ci's target of 200 fixed members was very low in comparison.
Ideal Height 1.7m immediately understood Ye Ci's words, "200 regular members? That'll be 2 100-player squadrons? 4 50-player squadrons?
"Yes. PVP in this game is actually more individual-oriented. Group PVP opportunities are few and far between in comparison. Group activities tend to involve more PVE."
Timely Rain was the person who could relate to Ye Ci's words the most. He had always been a strict and careful person, and was also the Treasurer of Upwards Ho!. He nodded his head after listening to what Ye Ci had said, "That's right. PVE is the best way to make money. Acquiring First Blood will raise the ranking of a guild. When we've had enough practice, we could even form parties specialized in earning money. This is something very profitable. PVP is something that will only drain our resources such as gold coins, scrolls and equipment maintenance fees. Besides..."
Timely Rain continued after a brief calculation, "Since we have a faction system in Fate, I'm pretty sure that PVP in the future will mostly involve players from different factions. Fights between players of the same faction are no different from internal strife. It's a waste of resources and manpower. It's quite meaningless."
"But, if we don't have the numbers, we'll still be at a disadvantage in a faction war." Icy Cold Little Hands felt an uneasiness in her heart even after Timely Rain's explanation.
"Are you dumb? Do you think we alone can change the tide of a faction war? We need all the guilds in the Eastern Continent for that! Wolf Pack, Tang Dynasty, World Conqueror, Blade of Abyss and Blank Space, any of them are easily stronger than us. All we can expect to do is some guerilla warfare here and there, or launch surprise attacks on the enemies."
Since the conversation had shifted to productive ground once again, Ye Ci did not say much. She listened in on their discussion, and contributed more in clearing away the monsters.
Before long, the party had reached the first BOSS. This first pioneering effort was very important to Overflowing Ink. He had spent a lot of effort preparing for the dungeon and even had insomnia last night, and had only managed to get a short nap before going online. He was quite nervous.
It was the first time everyone in the party had faced the first boss of Frosty Wasteland Inner Sanctum. Despite watching countless videos and coming up with countless strategies to defeat it, they were quite nervous when they had to face it for real.
Everything went well in the first stage of the boss fight. The only thing the party members had to do was dish out as much damage as they could and be careful of being OT. The problems began to emerge in the second stage.
In the second stage, the boss would fire off a random Freeze Ray. Those who did not position themselves well enough would easily get hit by the Freeze Ray. Freeze Ray was different from the Heat Ray. Heat Ray would cause massive burn damage to an affected player and they would suffer from continuous burn damage, but he or she would not die instantly. A Freeze Ray however, had a lower hit rate, but would instantly kill its victim.
Due to the difference between the command style of Overflowing Ink and Mi Lu, the members of the first and second squadron were unable to react to his commands well enough, and problems began to surface. The party fell into disarray, and quite a number of them were hit by the Freeze Ray and died instantly.
Overflowing Ink, who was already nervous, panicked. He immediately called for a retreat.
Although some members were not used to Overflowing Ink's command style, they appeared to have reached an understanding when it came to the word "retreat." The surviving members immediately backed out of the BOSS's range and exited combat.
Ye Ci couldn't hold back her laugh, and Mi Lu let out a chuckle as well, "Looks like both squadrons are able to cooperate the most when it comes to running away."
Since they were still pioneering the dungeon, nobody expected them to defeat the first BOSS in one go. Nobody dwelled too much on their first failure. The party members sat on the ground and began discussing solutions to the problem they faced. Overflowing Ink stood near the BOSS and surveyed the area. After doing some brief calculations, Overflowing Ink spoke up, "Our positioning earlier was slightly off. Remember to move with me when we fight the BOSS later. The BOSS will channel the Freeze Ray before it fires. Y'all must pay attention to me. Once I give the order, move. Don't be too greedy in dealing damage. I want you to move immediately."
The party members nodded their heads collectively.
The party gathered again for another try, but tragedy struck. Ideal Height 1.7m was the culprit. She said innocently as she laid on the ground, "Well, actually, I felt that I could still make it after firing off that Mystic Shot..."
"Take a look at your feet!" Let Go Of That Girl immediately roasted her with a look of clear disdain on his face.
Ideal Height 1.7m was hurt. Her pride as a Gnome was once again hurt. She knelt on the ground and drew circles continuously while cursing Let Go Of That Girl.
During their third try, they were able to handle the first and second stage well, but failed in the third stage because the Clerics were unable to position themselves well enough.
Overflowing Ink was annoyed. He was in command of all the members of the first and second squadron along with Gongzi You. He knew that Gongzi You had led quite a few expeditions into dungeons, and that fact alone brought a lot of pressure to him. He felt that Ye Ci would criticize his capabilities, and whenever he failed, he would secretly glance at Ye Ci.
"Guild leader, how about you take over?" Although Ye Ci did not show even a hint of impatience, Overflowing Ink was nervous, and he finally gave up.