Adventure World Online (AWO)

The young gunman laughed heartily, delighted by the coincidence of meeting people connected to someone he once knew—Chang Long. Killer and Murder merely smiled faintly; they still did not know who these two gunners were, even though the pair claimed to know Chang Long. Seeing the twin brothers' faces full of question marks, the young gunman finally stopped laughing and began introducing himself.

"Sorry about that. I got too excited seeing friends of an old friend and completely forgot to introduce myself. I'm Hero, and this is Jane. We're both Snipers. We knew Chang Long a long time ago."

The female gunner lifted her rifle onto her shoulder, striking a pose and giving the twins a playful wink—which made Murder blush bright red. Killer, not noticing his brother's strange reaction, began introducing their side in turn.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Killer, and this is my twin brother, Murder. We're both Assassins."

"Assassins, huh. No wonder you two move so fast. Even with the speed debuff in this area, you still move faster than most players do outside the coral reef zone."

Hero looked genuinely surprised. From their techniques, he had already guessed they were likely Assassins—but their speed was on a whole other level. Even among top-tier players close to level 100, few could match that kind of agility.

"But your movements are different. You're more fluid than Ninjas or even Martial Artists."

Jane voiced the same question Hero had been wondering. Killer smiled, then decided to reveal a little secret.

"Our movements are fast and fluid partly because of our occupation and base stats.

But even that alone couldn't make us as fast as you just saw.

The reason we're this fast is because…"

"Because?"

Jane and Hero echoed, curious.

"Murder, you tell them."

Killer nudged his brother to answer. That was when he finally noticed something was off with him.

"Murder. Hey, Murder? What's wrong with you? You've been staring at Jane this whole time—that's rude, you know? Murder!"

Smack!

A loving yet sharp slap landed squarely on his twin's cheek, snapping him out of his trance.

He blinked, confused, looking back at his brother.

"Ow. What was that for!"

Murder rubbed his cheek, which now bore a red handprint. It was obvious he had not heard the conversation between Jane, Killer, and Hero at all, his mind had been wandering elsewhere.

"Because you were staring at Jane without blinking. And your eyes were all glazed, and your cheeks were red. Don't tell me you were having some perverted thoughts."

Killer's answer made Murder jolt upright. Sure, the moment he had first seen Jane, his heart had skipped a beat, and his face had gone hot—but he was not thinking anything indecent. He could not let her misunderstand that.

"Don't be ridiculous. I was just… looking. I wasn't thinking anything dirty at all!"

Murder shot back defensively. Jane and Hero both chuckled quietly, while Killer's eyes widened. A smile spread in realization—finally understanding why his brother had been acting so weird around Jane, the pretty female gunner.

.....

Initiating First-Stage Ascension Process...

The system notification announced to Chang Long. She was currently fending off enemies to protect Kitsune, while Flatear had reverted to his true kirin form—making him even more ferocious. Even without Murder, Killer, or Luther, Chang Long's group had no trouble handling the beasts attacking them. With the use of the Spirit Realm skill, Devi-chan and Hisa-chan were summoned to aid in battle, ensuring Kitsune's protection was completely secure.

"What's happening, master? Why is Lord Kitsune like that?"

Brownie shouted anxiously as he swung on Anya's hair to stand atop an enemy's body.

"Kitsune is ascending."

Chang Long replied simply. In truth, the game system had only notified her—shortly after Kitsune became a glowing egg—that her little fox had finally gathered the required number of spirits. This prompted the ninth tail, an element of his transformation into a demon god, to start forming. And the reason it was called the First-Stage Ascension was because Kitsune's base level had not yet reached the absolute maximum required the stage where he would become a fully realized Nine-Tailed Demon Fox God.

But gaining the ninth tail would increase Kitsune's power two- to threefold from before.

The prowess that even beast gods at their highest evolutionary stage would find it difficult to defeat him easily.

"Ascension—does that mean he's evolving?"

Devi-chan asked, excitement in his voice. He felt it was worth letting Chang Long even if, in truth, Devi-chan had no authority to give her orders or stop her from doing anything.

"Not quite. This is the ascension of his ninth tail. His final evolution won't happen until he reaches level 150."

Chang Long answered. She was not all that excited, not because she was not happy about Kitsune gaining his ninth tail, but because she knew that this ascension might bring danger to her group before they could reach King Island safely.

"Is that so? Then when's he coming out of that glowing egg? If it takes too long, it's going to be bad—look. The beasts are swarming because of him."

What Devi-chan said was true. The beasts within the shallow coral reef zone, instead of fearing the bright light, were rushing toward it as if it were some precious treasure. Even some seaweed around them began photosynthesizing, spreading and growing unnaturally fast. At first, when they were small, everyone thought they were just gently swaying with the current—but once they grew dozens of times larger, they realized those were actually beasts capable of attacking players.

"This is turning into a real mess!"

Hisa-chan muttered with a chuckle. It seemed that the radiance and warmth emanating from Kitsune did not just attract beasts—it also drew in players from afar. Those within visual range began approaching out of curiosity, only to get caught up in the same chaotic battle.

"It's really Master Chang!"

Killer shouted down to his companions in excitement. After getting to know Jane and Hero better, the twins had confirmed that the two were truly old friends of Chang Long, with a positive history between them. So, they agreed to backtrack along the path to look for her together. Soon after, they heard the sound of fierce battle. Killer volunteered to climb up the coral branches to see what was happening.

Amid the chaos, the young assassin saw countless beasts rushing toward a glowing egg at the center. Chang Long's group was fighting to protect it, while several curious players—six or seven of them— who had approached to watch, were also being attacked by the swarming beasts.

"What do we do? That area's too dangerous for long-range fighters like us."

Jane muttered anxiously. She was happy to be able to see Chang Long again—

but she had not expected it to be under such dire circumstances. Earlier that morning, she and Hero had already spent a good amount of ammo fending off surprise attacks from the beasts. If they got involved in this battle, where new enemies kept appearing endlessly, their bullets might run out long before they reached their destination.

"It's alright. We understand. Everyone has their own fighting style. You two can stay here if you want—we'll go in and help Lord Chang ourselves."

Killer said kindly, without taking offense. Murder nodded in agreement. There was no reason for Chang Long's old friends to risk themselves. This kind of job was better left to them—because they were assassins, and what assassins excelled the most, was killing.

"But that makes it sound like we're cowards—like we're too scared to help a friend in need."

Jane looked embarrassed when she heard Killer's words.

"How about this? To save ammo and avoid unnecessary risk to our oh-so-fragile lives,

Jane and I will provide covering fire from the outer perimeter. We'll pick off anything you miss and finish them cleanly."

Hero offered a solution. while conserving ammunition at the same time. Hearing that, the twin brothers both grinned mischievously.

"Fine by us. But just so you know— we've never left a job half-done for someone else to finish."

Hero slung his rifle over his shoulder and grinned slyly in response.

"That's too bad. Because we're not wise men— we're assassins."

With that, the twins dashed straight into the battlefield—not even waiting for the two snipers, Jane and Hero, to find a proper vantage point. Their excitement for battle was so palpable that it left the gunners momentarily stunned. They could not believe how, in just a short time since they had last met Chang Long, her taste in travel companions had become this terrifyingly bold.

.....

The Nine-Tailed Fox—a divine beast recorded in the game's lore—was a race capable of choosing to become either a celestial or a demonic being. Like many other divine species, that could pick a side when reaching their final evolutionary stages. However, even if they chose the side of the divine, they could still turn into a savage beast if they lost control—a condition the game described as "Entering a Frenzied State".

What made certain beast species especially coveted by players—one of them being the fox race—was their ability to cultivate spiritual energy or absorb souls until they attained nine tails. Such creatures wielded tremendous power, mastering magic, abilities and both divine and demonic arts without succumbing to madness.

A species so rare that no player had yet managed to obtain one was about to appear before everyone's eyes—in a place as improbable for a nine-tailed fox—as this shallow coral reef zone, the very path leading to King Island, the site of the Pirate Kings' Supreme King Battle.

"Master Chang. Master Chaaang!"

A familiar voice shouted from afar. Chang Long smiled faintly at the corners of her lips when she saw the twin assassins charging through the horde of monsters toward her group—who were trapped within the encirclement, protecting Kitsune's cocooning body as he awaited ascension.

"Unbelievable. Those two are fighting their way through that swarm just to reach us!"

Devi-chan's eyes went wide in disbelief. If it had been any other players, they would have none would have dared rush straight into danger like this.

"You know what they're like. You shouldn't be surprised, really."

Hisa-chan laughed as he swung his blade, knocking two enemies off in a single sweep.

"You're right."

Devi-chan smiled. Ever since he had begun following Chang Long as the spirit of a former Pirate King and as a spirit he had always had a fondness for Killer and Murder. He secretly hoped they would continue to serve (?) his heir forever.

"Hahaha. Looks like it's still lively around here. And here I thought it was already late."

Killer laughed triumphantly, thrilled that they had managed to reach Chang Long's group without hearing a single gunshot from Jane or Hero.

"But what's that glowing orb over there? Some kind of new beast?"

Murder asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Not only was it bright enough to be seen from afar, but it also seemed to be the very thing attracting the endless waves of beasts from the shallow coral reef.

"Oh, that? That's the little fox. He's in ascension—growing his ninth tail. So things have gotten a bit hectic."

Devi-chan replied half-jokingly, causing the twin assassins' eyes to widen like saucers. They realized they were about to witness a real Nine-Tailed Fox—a creature of legend—come to life before their very eyes.

"Kitsune? Awesome! I can't wait to see it."

Killer said, his excitement plain on his face. Murder nodded eagerly beside him. Normally, his demeanor was quiet and detached, his joy reserved only for moments of battle— where his expression often twisted into one of unnerving delight. But now, even the thought of seeing Kitsune's nine-tailed form had him visibly excited.

.....

"Hey, don't you think our travels have been going more smoothly lately?"

Peach Blossom spoke up with an observation.

After walking since midmorning, it seemed the number of beasts along their path had clearly decreased—though no one knew why.

"Hmm, even if it hasn't dropped by much, I do feel like we're encountering beasts less frequently now,"

said Valentine, another beautiful woman in the group, agreeing with Peach Blossom's point. Even though they were far away from Chang Long's position, they could still sense that the density of beasts along the route had noticeably diminished.

"Yeah, that's true—but I'd say that's a good thing, isn't it? Otherwise, someone here might've ended up looking like haggard old granny again, just like yesterday."

Oliang took the chance to tease Peach Blossom the adorable girl who, after fighting beasts in the shallow coral reef zone, became so disheveled—her arms and legs weak, her face oily, and her head a mess—she had nearly lost all traces of her beauty.

"T... tch. You're one to talk. You guys didn't look much better yourselves—like a bunch of worn-out old men past your prime,"

Peach Blossom shot back sharply. Her retort made all the men flinch, instantly recalling how they had looked yesterday—their first time fighting within the shallow coral reef zone—if they were as bad as she had said. Valentine could not help but giggle at the expression on their faces.

"N... now, Peach Blossom, that's a bit harsh. I'm sure we didn't look that bad,"

Lidded Wet Trash Can spoke up awkwardly, remembering that he had looked only slightly better than a zombie.

"Come to think of it, does anyone else feel the same as me? The longer we stay in here, the more slowe movement effect seems to be fading away."

Aden brought up an observation that was far more interesting than Peach Blossom's initial remark. Everyone had noticed it to some degree, though it had not been obvious before. But since Aden—who was faster than most of them—was the one to mention it, it made the idea much more credible: perhaps the slow debuff really might fade away altogether if they survived in the zone long enough.

"Now that you mention it, I really do feel like I'm moving a bit more freely than yesterday,"

Draco said, flexing both his arms experimentally before glancing down at his legs as they walked. Even though his gait still looked like something out of a gangster movie, he truly was walking a little faster than the day before.

"So this must be one of the secrets of the shallow coral reef zone—something most players still don't know."