Chapter Thirty: The Blue Ring

“Are you still thinking about Murong Shanshan from earlier?” Xin Yu asked cheerfully as we walked down the street, showing no sign of displeasure.

I shook my head. “It’s not that I’m thinking about her. I’m just wondering when I’ll be able to get my hands on a piece of blue equipment like that. The difference between blue and green gear is enormous—those additional stats actually reach double digits.”

“It’s nothing to worry about. Equipment will come eventually. There’s no point in getting anxious.”

I looked at Xin Yu’s graceful figure and smiled. “You really aren’t in a hurry, are you? Why is Sister Lin supporting all of us? To make money, not just to play games with us. If we can’t get equipment, how can we repay her?”

“I was just joking. Don’t take it so seriously. Come on, let’s go level up and hunt for gear!”

Xin Yu took the lead, her little shoes tapping briskly on the tactile paving, making a crisp, rhythmic sound.

Back in my room, I immediately powered on my computer and logged in. After putting on my helmet, I once again found myself outside the small house near the graveyard. The monsters I’d slain in the morning had already respawned, and even the solitary, elegant flower at the center of the monsters had returned.

I continued using the same tactics as before, watching skeleton warriors fall in droves before me, turning into precious experience points. Seeing the experience bar steadily rising gave me a deep sense of satisfaction.

“Beep~!”

System message: Player Murong Shanshan requests a voice chat.

Huh? What’s she opening the communicator for?

“Hey, Shanshan, do you need something?”

“Of course. Did you go out just now, Green Veggie?”

My heart skipped a beat, and I replied nervously, “Yeah, I went out with a coworker.”

Murong Shanshan laughed slyly. “Not a coworker—a girlfriend, right?”

I couldn’t help myself. “Shanshan, I know you were that girl just now. And the one who was with me really is my colleague, don’t get the wrong idea!”

Murong Shanshan burst out laughing. “Lin Fan, you seem to care a lot about what I think of you.”

“Um…” She already knew my real name. Breaking into a cold sweat, I tried to keep my composure with these women. After a moment’s thought, I said, “Shanshan, I was just clarifying the facts. Maybe you’re the one overthinking things!”

“Alright, alright, let’s not talk about that beauty anymore. What are you up to now?”

“Killing monsters, doing quests.”

Murong Shanshan teased, “Wow, even while chatting with me, you’re still hunting monsters? Did I miss when you became our city’s top player?”

“If I don’t get strong enough, I won’t be able to get gear. And if I can’t get gear, I’ll have to go starve.”

“Lin Fan, are you a professional gamer?”

“Of course. Are you a student?”

“That’s right.”

I swallowed and asked, “You must be pretty well-off, huh? You’ve already spent thousands on the game this month.”

“Wealthy?” Murong Shanshan’s tone was odd. She continued, “If I really had money, I’d buy all your gear without a second thought. Honestly, after buying so much equipment, I’m already struggling with my living expenses for the month.”

“Yet you still go to KFC and get a family bucket—that’s almost eighty bucks, right?”

“That’s normal spending. You’re way too serious…”

And so, I kept slaying monsters while bantering with Murong Shanshan. Through repeated practice, I became more and more skilled; whether luring or slaying monsters, everything became second nature. The range at which I could attract monsters—something ordinary players found hard to control—was now effortless for me. Even weaving and dodging among groups of monsters, I’d reached a level of proficiency that surprised even myself. Despite my relatively low agility, I could dash through a mob unscathed, my movements so uncanny that I almost startled myself.

From our idle chatter, I learned that Murong Shanshan was a sophomore in college, having just celebrated her twenty-first birthday. Her family seemed genuinely affluent—the birthday dinner alone cost nearly a thousand. No wonder she was so generous.

“Lin Fan, my birthday was less than three days ago.”

“So what? Are you hinting at something?”

“What do you think?”

“Well, I have a level 3 white warrior’s belt here. I’ll grit my teeth and give it to you. Want it?” I replied with unusual calm.

“Wow, miser!”

“Um… girls ought to be more reserved…”

“Uh… I just woke up… I forgot everything I just said…”

“…” Waaa, she’s such a rascal!

By the time evening rolled around, close to seven o’clock, I finally finished collecting twenty Elegant Flowers, gaining two levels in the process—shooting from level eighteen straight to twenty. The first four mobs got me to nineteen, but reaching twenty took another fifteen monsters, a testament to how tough leveling had become.

With all the quest items in hand, I hurried to the caretaker’s cabin and placed the Elegant Flowers directly on his chest.

“Ding~!”

System message: You have completed the quest ‘Caretaker’s Request.’ You receive 55,000 experience, 5 gold coins, 250 reputation points, and the item ‘Caretaker’s Ring.’

My heart leapt—another ring? I quickly opened my inventory to check.

Caretaker’s Ring (Blue Equipment)
Strength +15
Stamina +12
Agility +16
Special Effect: Absorbs 3% of the damage dealt to enemies as HP when worn.
Required Level: 20

I rubbed my eyes and looked again to make sure—it really was a blue ring!

It gave a significant boost to both strength and stamina, and even added a hefty sixteen points to agility. Most important of all, it had a lifesteal effect—at my current attack power, each hit on a skeleton warrior would deal about 180 damage, restoring around six HP per strike. With the effect of tomato sauce, I could practically fight skeleton warriors without using any health potions.

I invested all my recent stat points into strength, as had become my habit. Among all the physical damage classes, swordsmen had the highest attack output. Since I was set on being a high-DPS class, I might as well go full strength, letting equipment compensate for HP and defense. Given my current luck and circumstances, getting top-tier gear wouldn’t be a problem.

The caretaker NPC was gone, and the skeleton warriors had returned to their former chaotic state, with nothing left to protect. I couldn’t help but feel elated—this meant no one else would be able to take this quest and get the same blue ring. At the very least, it wouldn’t be easy for others!

Equipping the ring, I checked my attributes and gear:

Green Veggie Soup (Novice Swordsman)
Level: 20

HP: 624
Attack: 95-132 (x110%)
Defense: 75 (x110%)
Reputation: 660
Luck: 0

Equipment:

Two-handed — Forest Pine Greatsword (Green Equipment)
Attack: 24-45
Strength: +8
Stamina: +7
Required Level: 12

Chest — Soldier’s Armor (Green Equipment)
Defense: 22
Stamina: +4
Strength: +3
Required Level: 8

Legs — Wild Wolf Greaves (Green Equipment)
Defense: +8
Stamina: +3
Strength: +2
Required Level: 4

Caretaker’s Ring (Blue Equipment)
Strength +15
Stamina +12
Agility +16
Special Effect: Absorbs 3% of the damage dealt to enemies as HP when worn.
Required Level: 20

Heh, just two words—utterly awesome!