Chapter Twenty-Four: Murong Shanshan’s Plea for Help

Xu Lin was somewhat dumbfounded, while Xinyu looked at the leather armor as if she were about to drool. For archers, increased agility meant not only a higher critical hit rate but also a boost in attack power. This piece of equipment had high defense and also increased agility by 8 and stamina by 7, which was quite impressive. All in all, it must be a top-tier item for archers.

It was the first time we had obtained a skill spellbook, and judging from the drop rate, skill books would surely be in hot demand going forward. After all, without skills, you couldn’t get good gear, and without good gear, where would you earn your fortune?

As I walked over, gathering golden needle grass, I teased, “Lin, why not just learn it? Are you thinking of selling it? We’ll only get rich when your level increases~”

A flash of light appeared as the skill book in Xu Lin’s hand disappeared, and then she traded the leather armor to Xinyu.

Xu Lin turned around with a smile and said, “Okay, the quest is done. We made out pretty well this time!”

Xue Han glanced at me and asked, “Is the quest complete? What should we do next?”

“Yeah, we’ve got the golden needle grass, so this quest is done. The follow-up will probably be much harder, so let’s focus on leveling up for now. Xinyu, put on your new armor and stop groping your own chest, or you’ll end up shrinking it!”

Xinyu giggled, “Don’t worry about me. Even if my chest is a little small, do you really think no one would want me?”

Xu Lin quickly stepped in to smooth things over, “Alright, enough joking around. Let’s keep grinding here and level up. Lin Fan, are you going to keep leveling with us or pick up a quest?”

I glanced at my inventory, which was packed. I had five white items for level 10 and above that needed clearing out, and after the priests’ spells, my gear durability was low. Who knew what follow-up quests might appear after turning in the current one? It seemed I should head back.

After telling Xu Lin, I left the three of them to tackle level 18 monsters together. With their combined attack and healing abilities, this spot was perfect for them.

Using a return scroll, I arrived back in Gale City, where the streets were already bustling. The massive trading post was crowded with players from all professions. Having finally reached level 10, everyone was eager to get better gear to strengthen themselves and fuel their drive for the next stage.

I went straight to the alley beside the cathedral, and sure enough, Grand Healer Lance was still there. I hurried over and showed him the golden needle grass.

Lance’s withered hands gripped the herb tightly, making me worry he might die of excitement on the spot. At last, he informed me of my quest reward.

Ding!

System message: You have completed the quest “Healer’s Request.” You receive 42,000 experience, 2 gold coins, 80 reputation, and a follow-up quest: “Rescue Princess Misha!”

[Rescue Princess Misha] (Red Quest—Unique)

Quest objective: Help Grand Healer Lance rescue Princess Misha, who is being held in the basement of the Western Plague Graveyard. Make sure Princess Misha is safe!

A red quest was obviously far too difficult for me at this stage—it’d probably be manageable once everyone reached level 20.

After repairing my gear and grabbing a few white items from storage, with five more on me, I had about ten pieces to sell. At the trading post, I priced each one and put them up for sale. The marketplace now supported online RMB payments, so I listed a white leather armor with 8 defense for 100 RMB—a fair price. Weapons, though, were much pricier. I put up a level 12 white bow with 5–14 attack for 500 RMB. I wasn’t worried about a lack of buyers, only a lack of goods.

By now, the price for sub-level 10 gear was starting to drop. The green sword I’d sold to Murong Shanshan for 3,500 had likely peaked in value. Checking my friends list, I realized Murong Shanshan had already reached level 14, only two levels behind me, matching Xue Han’s level. Without help, she must have decked herself out in top-notch gear to level up so quickly.

Looking at the interface, I noticed a new city-level leaderboard beside the original ranking list—it must have been added after the last maintenance. Opening it, I saw the rankings for all players in our city. My name stood out in third place. The top spot went to a level 16 warrior called “Berserker,” and second place was “Little Ant on a Leaf”—Ye Qiu had made it into the city’s top ten after all. Xue Han was eighth at level 14, closely followed by the warrior Murong Shanshan.

Beep!

System message: Your consigned Thicket Shortbow has been bought by player *** for 500 RMB. After a 2% fee, 490 RMB has been credited to your bank account. Please check your balance!

I hadn’t expected it to sell so quickly. Before I could even rejoice, another system message popped up—this time from Murong Shanshan: “Open the communicator!”

I quickly accepted, and her anxious voice came through, “Sorry to bother you, but there aren’t many people in this city who can help me.”

“What’s the matter? Take your time, don’t rush—” Her sweet voice echoed in my mind, and I couldn’t help but picture her lovely face.

“It’s like this: I picked up a quest to kill a level 21 Stone Golem boss. I brought five friends along, but as the only melee class able to tank, even with two priests, we couldn’t survive the boss’s attacks and ended up being wiped. I lost a level, too.”

“What? You lost a whole level—so you should’ve been level 15? Wow, how’d you level up so fast?”

Murong Shanshan laughed, then complained, “Otherwise, I’d be in the city’s top five by now, and the gap between us would be smaller.”

“Alright, enough of that. Let’s talk about my fee for helping you finish the quest—I’m not one for self-sacrifice, you know.”

“Hmph, I knew you were a shrewd businessman. Fine, how about 300 RMB as your reward?” Murong Shanshan chuckled mischievously and started haggling.

Now was the time to flex my bargaining skills. I couldn’t back down. “You know as well as I do—there aren’t many players at my level in this city. If you want someone else, you’ll have to wait until city teleportation opens in a week. And if you can’t tank it, there aren’t many with that kind of insane defense right now. This quest must be important to you. Why not sweeten the deal?”

Murong Shanshan was silent for a moment, then said bitterly, “You really are a profiteer. Fine, 500 RMB—it’s the most I can offer! Any more and this lady will be broke!”