Chapter Eight: Endless Sea
Zane was not a great benefactor; since he had taken action, he had to weigh whether he could bear the consequences.
If it weren’t for Starry, Zane wouldn’t have had such confidence, especially since, in the early stages of the game, the human sea tactic had an absolute advantage.
However, it was now 2v2.
Once the effects of the skills were over, Starry and Zane turned back to head straight for the remaining two.
“You actually killed our boss! I’m going to fight you!” Yuhua yelled angrily, charging forward with his sword.
“Break the Waves!” Yuhua Zhang called out.
“What’s going on?” Yuhua Break the Waves turned around, puzzled.
“This is all a misunderstanding! We accidentally triggered the Slime’s skill and almost wiped everyone out. It’s normal for two experts to be angry. Let’s just apologize, and we can move on,” Yuhua Zhang said hurriedly, fidgeting as he spoke.
Yuhua Break the Waves clenched his fists but eventually let them go. “I’m sorry; it was our mistake.”
“…” Zane almost rolled his eyes; he was quite the actor.
Forget it, it’s better not to offend miscellaneous forces in the early stages. Although he wasn’t afraid of them, it would be troublesome if they targeted him.
After harvesting the remaining Slime, Starry and Zane turned around to leave.
“Are we just going to let them go?” Yuhua Break the Waves said angrily.
“Of course! Do you think we can beat them? That girl could probably kill you with two swords!” Yuhua Zhang scolded.
“How could that be?”
“How could it not be? You think that Slime’s 12 defense is fake? With your current 4 defense, you might get one-shotted!”
“…”
…
They collected a total of 70 pieces of slime, and one had to say that the slime drop rate was quite high, almost one every two or three slimes.
“Uncle, the slime you wanted, I’ve collected it,” Zane called out to the busy uncle.
“Eh?” The uncle obviously didn’t expect Zane to successfully collect the slime and said in surprise, “The little ones are quite capable! Want to help me carry things?”
Zane quickly waved his hand. “No need… I think I’m better suited for combat!”
“Haha, that makes sense. Bring out the collected slime,” the uncle said, pulling out a large bowl.
“Okay.” With that, Zane and Starry stepped forward and poured all 50 pieces of slime into it.
As the level of the bowl rose, the uncle’s jaw almost dropped to the ground.
“My goodness, you… did you wipe out the Slimes’ entire clan!?” the uncle exclaimed in shock.
Zane scratched his head. “Not to that extent.” After all, another Fire Seed had spawned when they left.
“That’s enough! This is already enough for a long time,” the uncle shouted.
Only 50 pieces of slime couldn’t satisfy him? Uncle, you’re weak. Of course, Zane only thought this; if he said it out loud, what would happen to his reward?
“Who would have thought that at such a difficult time for the village, there would be warriors like you. It’s truly an honor for our entire village!” the uncle said, delighted. “Now, Fengchen Yanhua and Starry, because you have exceeded the task, here’s your reward.”
“Ding”
System Notification: Earned 1000 Experience Points, 1 Silver Coin.
With a flash of golden light, Zane reached Level 5, meaning at least he could deal a small amount of damage now to avoid not getting experience.
Starry, however, was only at Level 5 with 70% experience.
Just as Zane was about to leave, “Wait, young man.”
“Uncle, do you have something else?” Zane asked, confused.
“Alas,” he sighed deeply, pulling out an exquisite necklace from a wooden box. “My daughter went missing when she was 10.”
“She longed for the outside world. I think she must have left this village.”
“I don’t know how she’s doing now. The birthday gift I prepared for her… Could you help me deliver this necklace to her? And this letter,” the uncle said, pulling out a worn envelope.
“If… if you can’t find her, then you can keep that necklace,” the uncle’s tone was filled with sorrow.
“Sure, I’ll do my best. Can you tell me her name?” Zane asked.
“Yeye, that’s her nickname. Most people in our village have the surname He.”
“Ding”
System Notification: He Xin has issued an S-rank quest “Finding He Xin’s Daughter” to you. Do you accept?
S-rank quest? Why would a simple search for someone have such a high difficulty rating?
Although a bit hesitant, he still chose to accept the quest; there was no penalty for failure, so why not?
Accepted!
System Notification: Quest accepted successfully. Find He Xin’s daughter and deliver the necklace and letter to her.
Stepping out of the cabin, Zane looked at the necklace’s attributes.
Exquisite Necklace:
Rarity: White
Description: Quest item, cannot be dropped, cannot be traded, cannot be used.
The envelope was also a quest item, and it didn’t seem very useful, so he tucked it away in his bag to gather dust.
The Slimes were no longer meeting their demands, and on their way back, they saw many players already forming teams heading toward the Slimes’ territory.
They were going deeper.
After walking around a few iconic small houses, there were no gains; either the doors were closed or the people were busy.
Just earlier, when Zane tried to force a conversation, he lost some affinity… He wondered if this would affect his leveling later.
Speaking of which, when the old man issued an S-rank quest to Starry, he mentioned that most of the village’s young people had fallen victim, which meant that the Apothecary should be in high demand.
But after a glance around, the Apothecary was also closed.
Something was off.
…
Zane pressed his ear against the Apothecary’s door, trying to hear the sounds inside.
Starry watched beside him.
“Oh, look who it is, the useless little bro! You’ve hit Level 5 so quickly? And the beautiful Starry is here too,” he suddenly heard a voice greeting him.
Zane turned around to find it was Endless Sea, the one who had mocked him earlier in front of everyone.
Endless Sea had also reached Level 5. Achieving Level 5 so quickly alone wasn’t easy.
“Who are you?” the male avatar he hadn’t seen before was trying to play it cool.
“Didn’t the beautiful Starry mention me? I saw you when you first fought the Slime; the beautiful Starry’s movements were incredibly sharp — the monsters never hit her. It’s the first time I’ve seen such ethereal movement. As for you… I’ll give you two points for sacrificing yourself for others,” Endless Sea commented.
Zane felt like he had a black line on his forehead; don’t just critique others!
“What are you here for?”
“I just finished handing over a quest to level up and am just wandering about. I saw you here… x door.” Endless Sea seemed to realize he had misspoken and corrected himself, saying, “Don’t worry; I won’t spread anyone’s xp around. You can be assured of that.”
Zane suppressed the impulse to stab him with Starry’s sword. “I wanted to listen to the sounds inside. Maybe there’s some special plot.”
“Oh? Did you hear anything?” Endless Sea became interested.
“Not yet… wait, there’s a sound!” Zane suddenly noticed a growing noise of footsteps.
They’re coming!
The door was opened carelessly, and Zane was caught off guard, falling onto the figure at the door.
Before Zane even reacted, he saw the system message.
“Ding”
System Notification: The Apothecary Boss He Caixia’s affinity for you decreased by 50.
System Notification: The Apothecary Boss He Caixia’s affinity for you decreased by 50.
System Notification: The Apothecary Boss He Caixia’s affinity for you decreased by 50.
