Chapter 43: Shared Mission

We lured all the skeleton warriors, each at level 26, in three rounds before finally wiping them out. I managed well enough, but Murong Shanshan, that silly girl, was another story—her clumsy steps sent her straight into a mob, dragging me along in her wake as we were chased by monsters all the way to the little bridge. Only after the monsters dispersed did we dare to catch our breath.

Murong Shanshan shot me a glare and complained, "It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t pushed me just now, I wouldn’t have charged into the horde."

"You’ve got some nerve saying that!" I retorted.

"Why shouldn’t I?" she replied stubbornly.

…

After we cleared the monsters in front of the hut again, Murong Shanshan pressed her face to the crack in the door and peered inside. Not seeing anything unusual, she turned to me and said, "You open the door!"

"Coward," I whispered, pulling her behind me. I used my sword to break the latch on the hut’s door and then kicked it open.

"Ah!" Murong Shanshan shrieked theatrically. I stuck my head in for a look, but there were no ghosts or ghouls—only a few human workers, huddled inside and staring at us in terror.

"Grand lady, what are you screaming for? Nearly scared me to death!" I patted my chest, her outburst having startled me more than a little. I had half-expected something like Sadako to appear inside.

Murong Shanshan clung tightly to my back, her soft, supple body pressed firmly against me, a wonderful sensation somewhat ruined by the system’s prompt asking if I wished to activate the anti-harassment warning—which I immediately dismissed. Who would want to miss out on the attention of a beauty like Murong Shanshan!

"Alright, looks like there’s a quest here. Let’s see if we can take it! If you can, you should take it first and get your reputation up to ten thousand," I said, pulling her from behind me and quickly pushing her inside.

Murong Shanshan exchanged a few words with the workers, then turned to me hesitantly. At that moment, I received a system notification: Accepting team quest—help the lumber mill workers eliminate nearby undead and collect one hundred rib bones from skeleton squad leaders to deliver to the workers!

"So this quest can be done as a team!" Murong Shanshan exclaimed happily.

I was surprised too. "That’s perfect—whatever you get, I can get as well!"

"Let’s go kill skeleton squad leaders, then! There must be follow-up quests," Murong Shanshan said cheerfully, putting extra effort into slaying skeletons. Unfortunately, collecting those rib bones proved difficult; after half an hour and nearly fifty skeleton squad leaders, we’d only gathered a handful, though we earned plenty of experience. Murong Shanshan, who had just reached level 20, gained another third of a level in half an hour. I gained nearly a quarter of a level myself—at this rate, I might reach level 28 by the end of the night, assuming everything went smoothly.

We kept at it from ten in the evening until seven the next morning, finally collecting all the quest items. After such intense grinding, I had reached level 27—killing level 26 monsters no longer yielded much experience. Murong Shanshan’s progress was even more astonishing: in one night, she went from level 19 to level 25! Ordinary players could only dream of such rapid advancement. Most lacked the gear to kill monsters so efficiently and had to proceed cautiously, but Murong Shanshan, wealthy as she was, guzzled health potions without a second thought. I played the role of her tank most of the time, making the process even faster.

Back at the hut, Murong Shanshan went to submit the quest. The system’s notification rang in my ears: Quest completed—Lumber Worker’s Request. Experience gained: 62,000; gold: 5 coins; reputation: +520.

"Wow, that’s 520 reputation points at once!" Murong Shanshan exclaimed with delight.

"Me too, though it’s a shame there’s no equipment reward."

"No worries, reputation is the most important thing right now! There’s a follow-up quest!"

System notification: Since the lumber mill was overtaken by undead, no living soul has entered. Several unfortunate workers have been trapped inside for nearly two weeks. They’ve learned that these terrifying undead creatures were summoned by an undead mage. Defeat the undead mage to resolve the crisis at the lumber mill. It’s said the mage is in the warehouse deep within the mill. Be careful—there’s no sign of life there! (Quest is unique and can be shared. Team members must not exceed three.)

Damn—a unique quest, but two of us managed to accept it together?

Murong Shanshan smiled, "This undead mage should be a boss. Fantastic! Let’s go do it now!"

I checked my gear—most had almost no durability left after ten straight hours of intense fighting. The most worn pieces were down to less than one-tenth durability, but it should still be enough for a boss fight. If we didn’t take him down now, next time we logged in, we’d have to face swarms of monsters at the entrance.

Murong Shanshan pointed ahead with her sword. "That way—the round building should be the warehouse."

I pushed her forward. "Lead the way. My gear’s low on durability; I need to conserve it."

She shot me a glare and rushed ahead with her sword. Luckily, we had already cleared most monsters in this area, so only a few remained. Soon, we were at the warehouse door. This time, Murong Shanshan dutifully opened it herself, and a faint aura of darkness drifted out.

Murong Shanshan glanced inside and turned to say, "Lin Fan, there are five level 30 elite skeleton warriors in there. The undead mage is at the back—I can’t see its level. Do you want to go in first, or should I?"

The undead mage was a level 32 boss—I could just see its level. The five elite skeleton warriors at level 30 were clearly formidable. I wasn’t sure how their attack and defense compared to the level 27 squad leaders outside.

"Shanshan, how many health potions do you have left?"

"Four medium health potions, and one mana potion."

"Alright, give me three health potions. I suspect the undead mage can resurrect the elite skeleton warriors. I’ll tank all the attacks, and we’ll focus our fire on the mage. Ignore the skeleton warriors for now."

"Okay, should we start now?" Murong Shanshan traded me three health potions, a hint of anxiety showing on her beautiful face.