PLAYING THE PIGS TO EAT THE TIGER
LUO JIN glared at the closed door. Who was that guy? He looked so phony, like some trying hard wannabe gentleman. And the way he's speaking and that tone of voice, it just gave Luo Jin the creeps. Not the one that made you feel scared but the one that just made you feel disgusted.
"Ah Jin, put this in your Items Tab," Luo Yan said, taking out the Invisibility Cloak from his own Items Tab and putting it on the table. "I'll temporarily lend it to you."
Luo Jin looked at the Invisibility Cloak. He'd seen Luo Yan used it a number of times already. He even let him tried it one time. But why did he have to lend it to him right now? Even so, he still put it in his Items Tab. "Why lend it to me though?"
"So Ah Jin could use it later when we counter-attack against Essaint and his two friends," Luo Yan answered.
Luo Jin suddenly remembered what that creepy wannabe said earlier, about that Essaint guy planning to use them. "Is this about them using us or some shi- crap?"
"Yes."
Luo Yan answered happily, as if amused by the very idea that someone even dared to think of using them. But that should be just Luo Jin's imagination, right? Right?
"Let's talk using private chat later. It would be bad if Essaint and his friends heard what we're talking about right now." Because it that were to happen, then it would ruin Luo Yan's plan. "And Ah Jin, try your best not to lose your temper. If you really couldn't take it anymore, just look at my face."
"Why should I look at your face?" Luo Jin asked, confused.
Luo Yan smiled. "Because looking at my face will definitely put you back into good mood." He put both hands on both of his cheeks. "After all, I'm this pretty."
Luo Jin's face contorted a bit. Seriously, what's with his brother and the word 'pretty'? Did his brain waves somehow mutate during his seven-year coma?
A few minutes later, Essaint came back with a male player and a female player in tow. The male player was a human race just like Essaint. He was wearing a light armor and a sword was strapped on his side. The girl was an elf wearing a short yellow robe and a pointed hat.
"I'm sorry for being late," Essaint immediately apologized.
Luo Yan shook his head. "It's okay. We didn't wait that long."
"These are my friends, Bronzed Leaf and Apricot," Essaint said introducing the male and female player respectively. And then he turned to his two companion. "And these were the ones I told you about earlier. Noctis and Jin."
Noctis looked at the two and smiled. "Hello."
Luo Jin chose to just ignore them. Just like what his brother said, ignoring them would
Bronzed Leaf looked at Luo Yan's face and there was a visible disgust shown in his eyes. He probably thought he hid it well but Luo Yan easily saw through it.
The girl, Apricot, was the complete opposite. Her eyes brightened and immediately sat beside Luo Yan. "Nice to meet you, Noctis."
She tried to hug his arm but Luo Yan tactically avoided it. And then said, "But is it really alright for us to team up with you? We're only both level 36 after all."
Bronzed Leaf looked smug after hearing that. "It's fine, we'll just have to carry you weak—ah, sorry, I mean, we'll carry you with us through the whole dungeon."
"You don't have to worry at all. I'll definitely protect you," Apricot added.
Luo Jin glared at the woman. What protect? He could definitely do that himself.
"That's right. Beside, we're going to enter the Normal mode of the dungeon. So it wouldn't be too hard," Essaint said.
Dungeon raids usually had three modes. The captain of the team could choose to play Easy, Normal, or Heroic mode. Easy being the easiest and Heroic being the hardest.
Luo Yan smiled. "That's fine then."
"There's no teleportation scroll that would directly bring us to Mount Rage, so let's just teleport to the nearest village to it. What do you think?"
The Mount Rage Essaint mentioned was the location of the instance portal that would lead them to the Infernal Chasm dungeon.
"I think that's the perfect idea," Luo Yan said.
"I already have a group teleportation scroll that would bring us there. So, let's go?"
All agreed. They went out of the Moonriver restaurant and used the group teleportation scroll.
When Luo Yan opened his eyes, they were already in front of a village. Apricot was happily holding his arm. Which he skillfully removed. And then Luo Jin immediately inserted himself in between them. Of course, not forgetting to glare at the woman.
"Brat, what are you glaring at me for?" Apricot said, putting both hands on her hips.
"Sorry, my brother just doesn't like people getting close to me," Luo Yan apologized.
"Oh? You are brothers?" She looked down again at Luo Jin. "Heh… so you're a bro-con then? Tch… tch… you shouldn't be like that. How can your brother find a girlfriend if you keep clinging to him?"
What girlfriend? His brother was still a kid, there's still no need for him to have something like that. Luo Jin only snorted and didn't talk to the annoying woman. He might just lose his temper if he did.
"Stop stalling and let's just go," Bronzed Leaf impatiently said.
"Yes!~" Apricot said, she winked at Luo Yan before walking after Bronzed Leaf.
While walking, Luo Yan opened his Status Window and sent a message through private chat to Luo Jin. Since a player's Status Window could only be seen by themselves and not by other players, the three walking ahead wouldn't think that the two were actually chatting.
Noctis: [Ah Jin, when I give you the signal later, used the Invisibility Cloak I lent to you.]
AmazingYoungMasterJin: [What exactly is happening?]
Noctis: [The final boss of the Infernal Chasm dungeon has a certain skill that would activate once its HP reached 1%. It would use two consecutive life draining skills that would immediately kill the player. Then it would go into rampage for five seconds. During that time, all its attack would be twice as stronger. After that, it wouldn't be able to move for three seconds. Giving a chance to the remaining players to finish it completely.]
After reading that Luo Jin immediately understood what these three guys were planning.
AmazingYoungMasterJin: [Don't tell me, their planning to use us as bait so that dungeon boss would use that life draining skill on us?]
Noctis: [Wow! Ah Jin is so smart. I actually thought of the same thing.]
Luo Jin was so annoyed. How dare those three even think that they could make a fool out of him and Luo Yan? But that annoyance lessened a little when he thought that at the very beginning, his brother already saw through their ploy. Now he wasn't sure anymore if the words 'naïve' and 'innocent' could still describe him.
AmazingYoungMasterJin: [Then why did you agree to team up with them if you already knew what they're planning?]
Noctis: [To get revenge, of course! Isn't Ah Jin angry that they actually think we're that stupid?]
Luo Jin grinned. That thinking was kind of childish. But he liked it.
AmazingYoungMasterJin: [I suspect you already have a plan.]
Luo Yan grinned playfully.
Noctis: [Yes. We're going to play the pigs to eat the tiger.]