Chapter Fifty-One: Charge!

Gently tapping the “Learn” button, I immediately noticed a change in my skill bar: the position previously occupied by “Combo” had now been replaced by “Enhanced Combo.” Thankfully, the skill level remained at three, sparing me the trouble of starting over from scratch—just the cost of mana potions alone would have been a hefty sum.

I opened the skill details:

Enhanced Combo – Increases the damage of each attack in the Combo skill by 30%, with the bonus scaling higher as the skill level increases.

Damn, I’ve really made it this time!

If a rogue’s Stealth and Ambush are already borderline exploits, then my Combo, after this enhancement, is truly overpowered. With all my stat points invested in Strength, my Combo is now more than enough to instantly kill any cloth-armored class of the same level. Add to that the brutally strong “Frost Slash” as support—unless my opponent is a tanky warrior, no other class could possibly withstand my CD-less triple strike: Frost Slash (which stuns for three seconds), Combo, then Heavy Strike!

I grinned so wide that my face nearly cramped. Looking back, I saw that Captain Roger had squatted down by the campfire again after handing me the skill book. He’d somehow produced a cigarette and was puffing away in his own world.

“Beep~!”

A message from Murong Shanshan: “Lin Fan, I have good news! I ranked up before most players in town, so I got a reward too. Guess what I got?”

“Blue equipment?”

“Nope! Guess again, and I’ll give you a treat if you get it right~”

“Don’t tell me it’s also a skill book?”

Murong Shanshan immediately opened the voice channel, her sweet laughter ringing out: “That’s right—it’s a skill book, Sword Qi!”

I was stunned. What on earth was that?

“Shanshan, what’s special about this Sword Qi?”

“It lets me attack targets within three yards, and anyone standing in a straight line in the direction my sword swings—up to three yards away—also gets hit. So, I’ve basically got myself an area attack now!” Murong Shanshan was bursting with pride; she must have been grinning from ear to ear.

“Is it that everyone gets a reward? None of my colleagues got one, even though they leveled up before you.”

“I don’t know, maybe I just got lucky~” Shanshan giggled mischievously, tapping on the communicator. “Hey, are you jealous?”

I wiped the corner of my mouth, feigning annoyance. “It’s just a straight-line attack, hardly enough to make me drool.”

“Wow, I could hear you slurping from here! Still say you’re not jealous?”

“By the way, I know a spot with a mini-boss. It hits hard, but if three of us take it down, each of us should get over a thousand reputation the first time. Even if the reward diminishes each run, we could probably farm up to ten thousand reputation pretty quickly. Bring a priest and it’s totally safe. What do you think?”

Immediately, Shanshan’s excited squeal came through: “Really? Where? Take me there right now!”

“Hold on, there’s no point rushing. Nobody’s found the proof needed to create a team yet, so even if you hit ten thousand reputation, it won’t mean anything. Besides, most players are still under level twenty, so everyone’s focused on grinding and gearing up. It’s not the best time to start forming teams yet.”

“Then... I still want to hit ten thousand reputation early, no negotiating! Let’s grind all night, okay?” Shanshan’s tone was determined.

“Seriously? Tonight? Don’t you have finals tomorrow? And isn’t it the course you dread most—Politics?”

“How did you know?” Shanshan sounded surprised.

“Hehe, Keke told me. Your finals start tomorrow, right? All-nighter grinding can wait until tomorrow night.”

“Hmph, that traitor Keke, selling me out for a pretty face...”

Seeing where this was heading, I hurriedly changed the topic: “Anyway, I’ve got a quest to finish now. We’ll talk about this tomorrow. Don’t flunk your exams—having to retake as a girl is kind of embarrassing...”

“……”

I turned off the communicator, Shanshan’s sweet voice still echoing in my ears. Such a beautiful girl—no wonder she attracted so many admirers. But as the ancients say, both petty men and women are hard to manage. Best to keep my distance from Murong Shanshan, lest Xu Lin accuse me of seducing clients...

No sooner had I thought of Xu Lin than her message arrived: “Lin Fan, I just checked our bank account and there’s a hundred thousand more in there. What’s going on?”

I picked up the communicator and replied, “Murong Shanshan just paid a hundred thousand to buy two months of my ‘personal freedom.’ I didn’t bother consulting you—I figured you wouldn’t mind.”

Xu Lin laughed softly, “I thought someone bought you outright for a hundred thousand, but it’s only two months? No problem then. Oh, Xin Yu and Xue Han are heading out to the market to pick up some groceries. We’re having hotpot at midnight, want to join us?”

“What? Hotpot in the middle of the night?”

“Yeah, Xin Yu’s idea. Xue Han and I are both a bit hungry.”

“Alright, still three hours to go. I’ll finish my quest first.”

“Okay, see you then~”

At last, I could focus on collecting the Golden Medals. Night had fallen across the grasslands, but player visibility was only slightly reduced. Otherwise, I might have stumbled right into the Golden Knights’ camp, and at my current level, I’d probably be eaten alive.

On a small forest path, a squad of silver-armored knights was advancing slowly from the distance. Judging by their numbers, they were the scouts—twelve in all, each a level 32 Silver Crest Knight, looking impressively formidable. I wondered how strong their attacks were.

I glanced at my stats: Level 27 Swordsman, 1,230 HP, 212 defense. I should be able to take them on.

Using the cover of night, I crept closer to the knights. Just as I was about to leap into action, something happened that nearly made me think I’d seen a ghost!

My body suddenly froze—I couldn’t move!

“Ding~!”

System message: You have been struck by the Silver Crest Knights’ ‘Charge’ skill. Stunned for 1 second!

System message: You have been struck by the Silver Crest Knights’ ‘Charge’ skill. Stunned for 1 second!

…

The same battle notification appeared twelve times in an instant!

Fortunately, they all charged at once; if they had staggered their attacks, I probably would have been stun-locked to death!

Good heavens! A mounted knight squad is truly terrifying!