I Am the God of Games

“Why are you just standing there?!”

Simba was the first to recover, having often been chased around Lancaster by the city watch for his thievery.

He turned to find the noblewoman, who had not spoken to them much on the journey because of her lofty stats but was somehow left witless by the old man’s words.

“Run!” He shouted, frowning.

The noblewoman did a double take, throwing trouble glances between Simba and the skinny old man before picking up Gwendolyn and hurrying away.

“Simba, what should we do?” Zazu asked worriedly—it was obvious that he didn’t want to get mixed up in the affairs of nobility.

“It’s too late to run.” Having rich experience in making his escape, Simba observed the speed of the city watch soldiers, did a mental calculation and quickly got a conclusion. “We’ll have to stay here and hold them off.”

“Is that necessary?” Zazu asked, puzzled. “We are not their targets… right?”

“Zazu, look carefully,” Simba instructed him instead of answering.

“What?” Zazu was only left confused.

“The names over those Codo Bosra soldiers are red, and there’s a HP bar beneath.”

Simba slowly drew his sword and said with composure. “According to Uncle Mufasa, they are enemies.”

“That’s it? That’s why we have to fight the soldiers of a city?”

Zazu held both hands over his face and looked at Simba as if he was crazy.

“That’s not it. I want to fulfill my promise to Uncle Mufasa too,” Simba said seriously.

“Promise? Oh, protecting those people…”

“Brother, Gwendolyn and her mommy… they need help…” Nala whispered, gently tugging at Zazu’s sleeve.

Though they did not know each other for long, the two girls were almost the same age and had already sparked a friendship.

“Aaaaaargh! I know, I know, okay?!”

Zazu drew out an arcane staff that was almost his height behind him, and assumed an attacking pose.

Simba nodded in pleasure as his eyes sharpened.

While they could pretend to be ordinary children and talk to the soldiers, delaying them without fighting, the city watch was not people-friendly policemen. In fact, they were closer to—or worse than—those cops who would start firing their guns the moment something doesn’t strike their fancy.

After all, killing a handful of irritating peasant brats was nothing noteworthy to the city watch.

Therefore, attempting conversation with the soldiers would be handing them the initiative.

Moreover, Simba did not want to experience the feeling of placing his own fate in the hands of others, after having gone through so much difficulty to become a believer of the God of Games and obtain the power he strived for.

“Alven, Bethune! Get those brats, and kill them if they resist!” One of the city watch soldiers who probably was the patrol captain ordered without hesitation. “The rest of you, with me! We’re getting the women!”

***

The patrol captain had gained considerable trust from the mayor, having led his city watch squad in raiding the manor of several nobles.

Naturally, he didn’t consider Simba a threat. Even if the children had their weapons out and looked like lion cubs ready for a fight, they were no more than paper tigers in the eyes of the city watch.

Although they might fear the well-equipped personal army of certain nobles, they definitely wouldn’t flinch at the sight of several scrawny children.

Soon, they realized that they were wrong.

The three children were no mere pebble in their path but a sturdy steel plate—as they rushed headlong towards it, their heads split and spurted blood in utter defeat!

It was apparent that the children were weak and could only stay back even after gaining EXP from the swamp fishmen and human-faced fish monsters, with their average Player level in between seven and eight.

In fact, in the past, Players of that level could only fight against skeletons or goblins.

However, the Players of the present were very different from the past.

Despite having learnt skills, the earliest Players’ lack of actual combat experience was clumsy in a fight and had not the faintest idea about combos.

Still, as those veteran Players tirelessly studied skills and combat style, determined what they lacked through observing the waves of Players and spread those details in the forums, newer Players seemed to have gained a game walkthrough beforehand. While their stats and skills were not superior compared to older Players, their strength in combat shouldn’t be compared to older standards.

If one were to use a Warrior player as an example: such a Player’s first reaction in encountering a monster at lower levels would be to throw away his weapon, wrapped his arms around the monster for the early but most devasting skill called Suplex, and then pick up his weapon again to fire other skills on his target.

Still, doing that was throwing away the precious time that the staggering from Suplex bought.

Now, the Players had all basically developed a smoother combat style. They would probably start with a Stinger and follow it up with an Air Launch—and with the monster floating above, they would go for a Slippery Slash that sends it flying even further.

And when the monster finally lands, they would fire a Divine Earthsplit Blade, stab their weapon into the ground and only then rush up for a Suplex, before pressing their advantage with a low kick in the head. After that, they’ll retrieve their weapon, pull away from their target while Stinger comes off cooldown…

That was how the three children stood off against the dozen soldiers, bringing down half of their ranks by using their combat style that surpassed common sense which none of the soldiers were familiar with. After having delayed them for over twenty minutes, they finally died to the patrol captain’s blade, as Nala had yet to learn Revive despite being a Cleric.

“Captain, what should we do now?” One of the uninjured soldiers approached the patrol captain and asked softly.

In turn, the patrol captain looked down at the groaning soldiers who were lying on the ground, his face as black as a pot.

Those had been his ordinary minions, and it was not as if he was the only patrol captain of Codo Bosra. For people like him to stand out, he could only rely on his personal soldiers.

“Second team leader, bring out my Lytai Blunt Rhino!” The patrol captain seethed hatefully at the soldier. “They’re not getting away from me!”

***

Meanwhile, the figure of three children appeared beside the Lifestone of the Unnamed Town.

“The Ankh of Revival Uncle Mufasa bought us was really useful! I thought I was going to be locked in the Black Hut for three days…” Zazu said, touching his chest and remembering how his heart had been pierced with a single stab. “Should we buy more just in case?”

“That thing costs 3000 game coins each, and only works for one Player per day,” Simba said with a straight face. “That aside, you two should get ready to teleport directly to the Lancaster Hideout, and try to come up with something to meet up with Gwendolyn and the others. Codo Bosra’s city watch won’t take this lying down!”