Chapter 34: Though the Wound Is Not Severe...
Just as Luo Yong hesitated, almost ready to refuse, the beautiful teammates behind Wendy exchanged brief glances, and one after another, they knelt just as she had, offering their knees in solemn ceremony. Their voices rose in earnest:
"Captain! Captain!"
"Captain! Captain!"
The badge in Luo Yong's palm weighed almost nothing, light as air, yet as he listened to their cries, he felt as if he had been entrusted with a heavy responsibility.
It was a burden whether he accepted or refused... If he didn't, there was the sense of mission, the atmosphere already building to this point. If he did, this was not an easy team to lead—a group who had slain countless monsters yet never seen a single gemstone drop...
It felt like being a rookie lawyer, receiving one’s first formal case only to find it an impossible lawsuit.
As he mulled it over, the calling voices gradually faded, every eye fixed on him, their expressions difficult to decipher.
“Maybe…”
“Forget it. We’re just a bunch who’ve never seen a gemstone from all the monsters we’ve slain—better not drag him down with us…”
“Little brother…”
“Luo Yong…”
With a sigh, Luo Yong read their faces, helplessly shook his head, and quietly fastened the red-and-blue badge to his clothes.
Then, turning to the somewhat dazed, bewildered fat man standing there, Luo Yong called out loudly, “Ge’er, why aren’t you kneeling? Do you not recognize me as captain?”
“Uh, what?!”
The fat man, caught off guard by being singled out, was momentarily stunned. But instantly, he felt the murderous intent radiating from the beautiful teammates behind Wendy—their gazes like tangible weapons, ready to strike him down at any moment.
Thud!
His knees gave way, and he collapsed, prostrating himself flat on the ground.
“Luo Yong…”
Hearing Luo Yong call himself captain, Wendy looked at him with gratitude.
Though she truly believed Luo Yong was better suited for the captaincy, she knew the state of her own group. If they hadn’t met him by chance, they might still be endlessly slaying monsters in the catacombs, unable to gain a single level.
If they continued refusing to yield to the larger powers, they might have been forever trapped in their tiny camp, never stepping out, never seeing a day where they could rise.
But now, they stood within a mid-tier secret realm, freely hunting with the keyholder among their ranks…
In retrospect, it all seemed dreamlike, almost unreal.
That was why she was so eager to seize this chance—why, after careful thought, she decisively relinquished her position and handed over the badge.
But until Luo Yong accepted, she couldn’t be sure what he would choose.
Fortunately, he accepted.
Wendy stood, strode over to Luo Yong, and threw her arms around him in a forceful embrace.
Ah, the customs of this other world…
So quick to embrace at the slightest provocation.
Luo Yong had intended to give a speech to mark his appointment, to make the moment ceremonial, but hadn’t expected his beautiful teammate to throw her arms around him at once.
Seeing this, the barbarian priestess and the others abandoned their prepared cheers for hugs, all rushing over together.
“Luo Yong!”
“Captain! We love you!”
Happiness sometimes arrives so suddenly, so unexpectedly.
After a moment, Luo Yong extricated himself from the cluster of beautiful teammates, speechless, as the barbarian priestess and the cursed witch Elia—almost as if they’d planned it—started fiddling with him, searching every pocket inside and out, as though they’d strip him bare if they could.
“How come there’s nothing here? Was he really emptied out?” the barbarian priestess grumbled in disappointment.
“What do you mean nothing? Didn’t you snatch the brooch already? You were faster than I was…” Elia retorted bitterly.
“And the gloves are with you!” the barbarian priestess pointed out. “The trade isn’t finished yet, so the gloves are still partially ours—you’re not keeping them all to yourself!”
“These gloves are mine! I traded a scroll for them! And the necklace, that belongs to Wendy…” Elia said, a little uncertain.
The others were watching by now, and the storm sorceress said coolly, “The necklace’s in your hands too. And the +5 rune gem, and the Forest Goddess’s Blessing…”
“Hey, those aren’t all for me! I just got them because it was my turn to hunt monsters…” Elia replied in surprise, though a strange excitement flickered in her eyes—could it be that whatever landed in her hands truly became hers?
Just as she was about to get excited, the wild hunter snapped, “Then hurry up and hunt! I’m waiting for my turn to summon a level-16 savage bear!”
“Yeah, and my Holy Light needs to teach those biting rabbits a lesson!” the barbarian priestess growled suddenly, a hint of ferocity in her tone.
“All right, focus on leveling up,” Luo Yong said, waving a hand to end their pointless bickering. “As captain, I must improve the team’s gear… But don’t get too happy; I can’t provide everything.”
“Little brother—no, Captain, what gear do you plan to help us with?” the barbarian priestess asked, eyes bright.
“First, everyone gets a storage… item.”
He almost said “ring”—those carried a special meaning back on Blue Star, though customs here might differ. Better see what storage items are available first.
“Just storage gear?” the barbarian priestess pouted, feeling her theatrics had been wasted.
“Storage gear is usually rings or belts—not very expensive, but…” Wendy blushed as she spoke.
Though not costly, they did require some gold coins. And often, even if they had enough coins, they were reluctant to spend them.
After all, they’d never had much to store. Unlike Luo Yong, who, without his hoarder spider, would have no way to carry all his loot—a single one-cubic-meter storage ring clearly wouldn’t be enough.
As for other gear, like top-tier equipment summoning scrolls, that was still out of reach—even Luo Yong lacked plenty of equipment himself.
Still, after this trip, he should finally be able to get a pair of signature boots.
“Not satisfied with storage equipment?”
Luo Yong looked around, found the hoarder spider lurking nearby in disguise, grabbed it, and with a flourish, poured out several fist-sized gems. “If I hand out gems directly, you’ll need somewhere to put them!”
A wave of disbelief swept across the faces of the beautiful teammates—and the fat man, who, standing a bit further away, was equally stunned. In fact, he felt secretly relieved; if Matthew and the others hadn’t dismissed his abilities, he’d never have had the nerve to join Luo Yong or enter the secret realm with him…
“Where did those gems come from?”
“What’s that thing hiding over there?”
“How can we catch it?”
The beautiful teammates were captivated by Luo Yong’s apparent ability to produce gems from thin air.
“Is it… could it really be… that—” the barbarian priestess, lost in thought, pointed at the invisible thing in Luo Yong’s grip. “That disgusting spider?”
“Disgusting spider? If you talk like that, you’ll hurt its feelings…” Luo Yong shrugged, temporarily disengaging the magic automaton’s disguise so everyone could see it clearly.
“Ugh, that thing!” The barbarian priestess recoiled instinctively, almost launching a Holy Light spell at it.
“It is a bit gross… But Aman, you know this thing?” the storm sorceress asked.
“Yeah, that time Luo Yong and I fell into the catacombs—we found it in a chest,” the barbarian priestess replied.
“You found it together?” the wild hunter asked.
“Not exactly. I got the staff, you all saw that. Luo Yong got the disgusting spider… He even asked if I wanted it. No way I’d want something like that!” the barbarian priestess pouted.
“That’s right—I asked her first, she refused, so I kept it,” Luo Yong said, tossing the twitching spider automaton aside. It scurried off into the grass and vanished again under its camouflage.
“Missed opportunity—such a good item…” the storm sorceress sighed.
“Heh, as if you could even use it,” Elia, the cursed witch, retorted coolly, then strolled away from the shade of the tree to hunt and level up.
The storm sorceress watched her go, speechless. Elia’s taunt wasn’t especially damaging, but it stung all the more.
With the boost from her gear, her level reached sixteen. For her, this forest secret realm was a treasure trove: rare alchemical ingredients, highly poisonous creatures, and more.
Her green poison spells were evolving toward more lethal toxins.
Unlike other heroes, her class was unique. The damage she dealt rarely came all at once—it needed time to ferment.
For instance, she might cast a green poison spell on a coyote, which wouldn’t die immediately but would keep losing health. By the time she circled back, the coyote would be on the brink of death, and with a flick of her dagger, she’d finish it off.
The monsters in this forest secret realm were generally high-level, many resistant to magic, some highly resistant to poison.
But that didn’t stop the cursed witch from poisoning them relentlessly…