Reign of the Hunters (200+)

Chapter 317 & 318

Chapter 317 The Pet Shop

There are many different types of pets in Fate, but the most common ones were the combat-type pets typically used by Hunters and Warlocks. But a Hunter must capture his or her own pet, while a Warlock's pet was summoned. It was impossible for players of other classes to acquire pets of this variant.

Of course, other types of pets exist as well in the form of steed as well as pets used for cosmetic purposes.

They might not be as useful as combat pets, but they were still very popular among players. Steeds have always generally existed in the form of horses before the new patch was introduced. Even a dinosaur like Ol' Four and Fleeting Time's Unicorn were pets unique only to the Hunter class due to their Pet Capture skill. Any hunter players with good luck could acquire a steed-type pet.

And due to a Hunter's inability to trade away his or her pet, players from other classes were not able to enjoy the benefits of having these pets.

But this problem was solved by the release of the new patch, where players could potentially receive eggs as a form of loot drop from dungeon or field bosses.

These eggs would then hatch into steeds or cosmetic pets. The players were ecstatic at the release of this new feature, and many of them immediately joined the hunts for the many bosses in every corner of Fate. And this meant that the game was flooded with a large quantity of pet eggs.

This also brought an unprecedented number of players to the pet shops in each city.

To Ye Ci, steeds were an essential in the game, but pets that exist solely for cosmetic purposes were next to useless. They were highly popular among female players, but Ye Ci was someone who prioritized functionality over aesthetic. No matter how cute a pet might be, it was useless in Ye Ci's eyes if it could not be used in combat.

Ye Ci could see a sea of players with their cosmetic pets from far away, and most of them were female players. These pets were hard to acquire, and not many were willing to work to collect the pets. This opened up windows for male players to woo members of the opposite gender. Male players in Ye Ci's last life would give cosmetic pets to female players that they like to show their love. And this trend did not die off even by the time of her death.

And it was apparent that the trend would continue in her current life.

Female players who received these pets from male players would immediately bring their pets for a walk or put them on display outside pet shops. It was of course a form of flaunting their pets. And these players were not few in number.

Ye Ci brushed her way past a player accompanied by a white bunny, and sidestepped another with a tiny boar pet, then squeezed between two other players with a small butterfly pet and a tiny man eater flower pet before finally making her way to the entrance of the pet shop.

She let out a long sigh. The female players standing outside the shop were either having conversations with their friends or were blatantly showing off their pets. She shook her head in disapproval. Do they not know that their pets will expose their positions in combat?

Of course, it was none of Ye Ci's business. Each player had their own goals in the game, and it was not Ye Ci's place to force her ideals on them.

The first thing that Ye Ci noticed upon entering the shop was that it had been renovated. With the crowd gathering outside and her hood that was limiting her view, Ye Ci was not able to have a good look at the shop's exterior.

But judging from the looks of its interior, the shop had been upgraded into a lvl3 shop. The size of its building had been significantly increased, and here were even NPC helpers in the shop.