After a while longer, Corrine finally managed to slay the Blue Garuga on her own. Her two-hour gaming session ended at the exact same moment.
As a rogue, she hadn't listened to the chatter of the onlookers suggesting she kill the three smaller Blue Velociprey first. Instead, she utilized her natural talent for dodging and her increasingly proficient positioning to stay focused on attacking the Blue Garuga.
The moment the quest was completed, the crowd around her erupted in cheers. This caused a proud smirk to tug at the corner of Corrine's mouth, but it only caused Wayne more worry.
The crowd at the door had grown to over forty people. They not only took up half of the narrow road, obstructing horses and pedestrians, but they were also starting to get into verbal arguments. Especially when Corrine had been screaming and moaning earlier, some onlookers on the outer edge—who had no idea what was happening—tried to squeeze their way in, leading to scuffles and a chaotic scene.
Seeing that the goal of promotion had been achieved and fearing the situation would become uncontrollable, Wayne picked up his sign, pointed to Rule 4, and asked Farley and the others inside the room to leave.
Farley was a bit dissatisfied. "Why can't we even stand to the side and watch?"
Wayne replied crossly, "If I brought a group of people to your inn to sit all afternoon without buying a single thing, would you be happy?"
Hearing this, Farley had no rebuttal. As the busiest place around, the Lion's Pride Inn often saw its rooms and tables fully booked at night. If someone truly occupied a spot without spending a copper, his two hired thugs, William and Raymond, would "politely" escort them out.
As the room cleared, Wayne shut the window, pulled the curtains, and hung the wooden sign outside. He stood at the door and shouted, "If you want to play, line up. If not, please leave."
Most people drifted away once there was no more spectacle to watch. However, three passing ruffians who had stood too far back to see anything were still obsessed with the stimulating groans they had heard and refused to leave.
They shouted at Wayne: "Why can't I look inside?" "I like standing right here!" "I want to see what you can do about it!"
Wayne didn't have much of a plan if things turned violent. But at that moment, Corrine walked out the door and uttered a single, cold word.
"Beat it!"
Her bad mood didn't just stem from these three ruffians; it was also because she realized that her screams earlier had been heard by everyone.
Seeing the beautiful Corrine, the three ruffians grew even more emboldened. "Ooh! Those sounds from before were yours, weren't they?" This was followed by a burst of lewd laughter.
Corrine didn't say another word. Wayne only saw her draw a pair of daggers from her waist, crouch slightly, and suddenly vanish.
The three ruffians weren't complete idiots. The one in the middle grew alert, drawing a cutlass while shouting, "So it's a female rogue."
Wayne heard a "whoosh" by his ear—a sound he was familiar with. It was the unique sound of displaced air that occurred when someone in Stealth passed very close by.
He knew Corrine had made her move.
Sure enough, Corrine, who had been right beside him a moment ago, appeared silently behind the ruffian on the left. While he was undefended, she slammed the hilt of her dagger heavily into the back of his neck. The ruffian collapsed instantly.
Wayne thought: Sap!
However, that single action constituted an attack, breaking her Stealth. The other two ruffians immediately raised their blades and charged.
These two were not weak. Although Corrine used her dual daggers to nimbly parry their slashes and thrusts, being outnumbered two-to-one meant she was inevitably falling into a disadvantage.
Farley, worried the trouble would spill over to his inn, sent an employee to find Marshal Dughan.
Back at the shop, the lead ruffian swung his blade down heavily. Corrine had just parried the other man's attack and was about to be hit when her body suddenly curled, and she rolled to the side!
"Hmm?" Wayne was startled.
Others didn't notice, but he did. That dodge was clearly a move from Monster Hunter.
After dodging, Corrine's right hand reached into her waist pouch. She suddenly threw a handful of gray powder at the approaching ruffian. The powder hit his eyes and nose; the burning sensation was unbearable, forcing him to cover his eyes and cough uncontrollably.
Wayne thought: This is the first time I've seen a rogue use Blinding Powder in person.
Now only the leader was left. Seeing his two companions incapacitated, he couldn't hide the unease on his face, but he let out a roar to bolster his courage and swung at Corrine.
Corrine's body suddenly became light and translucent—not completely invisible like in Stealth, but blurred.
The leader swung his blade repeatedly, but she dodged every strike perfectly. She held her daggers in a reverse grip, repeatedly striking the leader's neck, waist, and belly—the soft spots. After five strikes, the leader was clearly unable to hold on. Finally, Corrine performed a jumping side-kick that sent him flying!
Opening with a Stealth Sap on one, blinding another to take them out of the fight, then activating Evasion and using a five-hit Sinister Strike followed by a five-star Eviscerate to finish the leader—it was a textbook battle, even by game standards. Truly a rogue trainer. Wayne almost wanted to applaud.
Of course, since she used the hilts of her blades, the leader was only injured, not dead.
As he stood up, his two companions recovered and stood with him, looking ready to charge Corrine again. But at that moment, Dughan and a squad of guards appeared behind them, immediately surrounding them.
At some point, a red square handkerchief had appeared in Corrine's hand. She had evidently "looted" it from the leader. She handed the cloth to Dughan, who looked at it in shock.
"The Defias Brotherhood! This is theirs?"
Corrine nodded.
Dughan ordered the guards, "Tie them up and take them to Stormwind City!"
"Yes, sir!" the guards shouted. They controlled the three ruffians in groups of four, disarmed them, pinned them down, and bound them tightly.
The spectators watching from a distance turned pale the moment they heard "Defias Brotherhood" and immediately scattered. Within moments, the street was empty.
The Defias Brotherhood was a group of bandits entrenched in Westfall, about a fifteen-day journey west of Goldshire. Their main base was in an abandoned gold mine called "The Deadmines." It was said their leader was plotting how to overthrow Stormwind and establish his own kingdom.
Like the Gnolls and Kobolds, they were one of the greatest threats to Goldshire. Their identifying mark in battle was the red silk mask Corrine had stolen—tied over the head to cover the face, leaving only the eyes exposed. It hid their identity and signified membership in the Brotherhood.
However, given the stupidity of these three ruffians starting a public brawl in town, they clearly weren't high-ranking members. They might even just be impostors using the name to intimidate and extort people.
Dughan exchanged a few polite words of thanks with Corrine before leading the prisoners away with his guards.
Corrine sheathed her blades and asked Wayne, "Can this thing... improve combat strength?"
During the fight, she had felt her strength and speed increase slightly. That sideways roll had been a natural reaction in the heat of the moment; she had never dodged like that before. Having not been in a fight recently, she knew she couldn't have gained experience naturally. The only explanation was those two hours of gaming.
Wayne nodded. "You noticed. I wanted to mention it earlier, but no one would have believed me. You only feel it after experiencing it for a while."
"So, do you want to keep playing?"
As soon as Wayne asked, Corrine reached for her pocket. Wayne knew she had quickly done the math in her head.
In the world of Azeroth, an adventurer wanting to improve their abilities from low to mid, then high, and finally expert level, needed to constantly complete quests for various factions and participate in battle after battle. As their rank increased, they had to take on harder missions and kill stronger targets. It was a matter of risk being proportional to reward.
However, fighting in the wild meant risking one's life. In this world—unlike the game—there was no such thing as resurrection for those following the normal path. Those who could be saved were only those heavily injured and on the brink of death; once someone was truly dead, they were gone. No matter how powerful the healer, there was no bringing them back.
But in his net cafe, one could participate in all sorts of battles and improve their strength with zero risk. The only thing that might get hurt was the wallet. It was as if a dungeon had appeared in a world where everyone was on Hardcore mode, and dying inside didn't delete your character.
This was the true power of his net cafe. Wayne had only realized this after playing it himself. Seen this way, the price of 5 gold for membership and 1 gold per hour wasn't expensive at all.
Corrine felt her pocket, and a faint, almost unnoticeable trace of embarrassment appeared on her expressionless face. "I didn't bring enough money. I'll come back tomorrow."
Wayne felt helpless and pointed to Rule 1 on the wooden sign. "You played today, so you can't play tomorrow. Come back the day after."
"Fine." Corrine's reply was still brief as she turned to leave.
After the farce, going from a crowded room to being alone, Wayne counted the thirteen gold coins he had earned over the past two days, thinking about how to complete the quest to recruit ten members.
And there was another pressing issue. Corrine had helped when the Defias ruffians caused trouble, but what if something happened next time? What would a combat-useless person like him do?
Just then, a man dressed as an officer pushed open the door and walked in. Wayne remembered him; he was from the military camp west of Goldshire, "Westbrook Garrison."
The garrison was established west of Goldshire to defend against the large number of gnolls gathered in that area and prevent them from attacking Goldshire and threatening the capital, Stormwind. More importantly, he was a man with money.
"This is it?"
"You're Argus the blacksmith's nephew?"
Wayne nodded.
"Hmm. In my memory, you were still a kid around ten years old. I didn't expect you to grow up so much. Dughan told me you opened an extraordinary so called 'net cafe', saying it has some very novel stuff to experience. I don't know what a 'net cafe' is, but that guy described it so vividly I had to come try it. What's this?"
Wayne: "It's called a screen."
"A screen? I'll try it."
Wayne followed the usual routine, bringing the wooden sign in and showing him the rules.
"7 gold? Just for these two chairs, a table, and a black iron plate? You're charging this much for nothing?"
Wayne said impatiently, "Are you playing or not? If you are, pay up. If not, please leave. I don't offer a chatting service here."
"Fine, you've got guts kid. For Dughan's sake, I'll try it." He pulled out six gold coins, but added before putting them on the table: "But listen up—I don't have any friendship with your uncle. Even if Dughan introduced me, if I find out you're swindling people, I'll burn this shop to the ground!"
Wayne nodded. "Alright, I'll remember that. If you want to burn it later, the blacksmith shop next door has plenty of charcoal."
"Oh? Oho? Interesting!"
Just as Wayne finished collecting the gold, the screen popped up: Game starts at 3:00 PM, ends at 4:00 PM.
Ten minutes into the game, the Sergeant let out a blood-curdling scream and fell out of his chair! He scrambled to tear off the goggles, his hands frantically feeling his chest and face.
"Holy Light! What kind of witchcraft is this?!"
Wayne: "It's just a game. I can turn off the pain sensation."
"Turn it off! Quickly!" He was still clutching his chest. Although he could no longer feel the pain, the sensation from a moment ago had been so real.
Sure enough, once back in the game, he felt no more pain. Facing his third member, Wayne continued to guide him patiently from the side.
Although he was a Sergeant whose heart wasn't really in the garrison—having gone to Westbrook just to build his military resume so he could return to Stormwind for an easy promotion—the constant threat of gnolls in the army recently had been a source of stress.
And the hunting world in this game was practically a world made for warriors! Without the fear of death, he gripped the two-handed greatsword and charged at all kinds of wild beasts, enjoying the thrill of slashing and the smell of blood spray. He felt like a bloodthirsty orc, awakening all the wildness within his heart.