Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Special Tasks

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Still not good enough, there’s still a slight gap from standing till dawn.” Li Yao sighed while taking back the arrow tower.

Li Yao shook his head, no longer tangled, and now the main task was to get copper ore and blueprints.

Li Yao knew of a place where he could get a contract for a mine as long as he completed the task. Once he got the contract, the mine would belong to him personally. As for making him spend time learning mining, please don’t tease him. Being a miner in a rebirth is simply too humiliating.

Even in the real world, a single mine only needs three or four people to manage it, and mining is set up with a computer program. No one cares what you do in your spare time.

After the rebirth, he naturally wants to proceed in the most efficient and speedy way. Once he owns the mine, he could get 30 percent of the income from players and NPCs mining in it. How cool is that?

However, the mine is currently occupied by monsters and needs him to complete tasks in order to acquire it.

“Bro, run!” Just as Li Yao was considering the quickest way to get the mine, he heard a player shouting in the distance.

Li Yao turned towards the direction of the sound and his face instantly changed. He saw a big fat man running towards him at a speed that did not match his size. Behind him, dozens of Demon Wolves were chasing the fat man.

“Damn.” Li Yao cursed under his breath at the shameless fat man, and also started running quickly.

“Don’t run towards me.”

“Bro, there’s nowhere else to go.” The muscular man panted as he ran and shouted.

“Bro, you’re hurting me.” Li Yao was helpless, but his pace was not slow, and he never let the fat man overtake him.

The two ran wildly for ten minutes before they finally shook off the Demon Wolf Army. They panted under a large tree, and the fat man was already sweating profusely.

“Bro, you’re good. You’re actually faster than me. You must have speed-boosting equipment.” The muscular man extended his greasy hand and said, “Let’s get to know each other, I’m Muscles.”

“Shouldn’t that be ‘Flabby’ instead? Also, please wipe your muddy and sweaty hands before shaking hands with me.” Li Yao took a few steps back and said, “Prairie Fire, just an unknown soldier.”

Li Yao also knew this guy in his previous life. He was a thief in the Beacon War Team, ranked in the top fifty among thieves. Don’t underestimate the top fifty, you have to know that ten years later almost two hundred billion players entered the game, among which there were twenty to thirty billion thief players. Being in the top fifty out of twenty billion players is almost godlike.

Later, he was known as the fattest High Elf in history. His appearance was completely at odds with the High Elf’s beautiful and thin image. Though infamous for his lecherous behavior, his character was decent and he had interacted with Li Yao before.

“Which team are you from, bro? Your equipment is so luxurious, much stronger than mine.” The fat man, looking embarrassingly sweaty, leaned against the tree and continued to pant.

“I don’t belong to any team. But you, you’re too damaging. You deliberately attracted so many monsters. If I didn’t have speed-boosting equipment, I would have been killed by you.”

“Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, bro.” The muscular man looked aggrieved: “You don’t know, our team leader was stimulated by some ‘Spark of Stars’. He heard that ‘Spark of the Star’ could solo bosses and got impatient. So, this morning, he decided to lead us to kill level 4 elites. Not willing to be outdone.”

“So, you guys ended up tragedy?” Li Yao asked curiously.

“Sigh.” The muscular man sighed: “More than a tragedy, it was too miserable. At the beginning, we killed a level four elite, but in the process of killing the second one, our MT died, and then we bloodbathed. We ran, but as we ran, there were fewer and fewer people, and more and more monsters. In the end, I was the only one left.”

Li Yao also burst out laughing, saying: “It seems like you’re enjoying this tragedy.”

“Ha ha, you’ve found me out. Do you think I can’t be happy? Now I’m the highest level in our team. And, you know, it’s not just our team, from the news I got, all of the large guilds and clubs suffered terrible losses this morning. It’s dreadful, ha ha ha. That ‘Spark of the Star’ really messed everyone up.”

The fat man laughed loudly, and continued: “But I like it, I like it. I really want to get to know this ‘Spark of the Star’ guy. He’s so bad, ha ha ha.”

Li Yao’s mouth twitched slightly. He didn’t expect this outcome. It was easier to kill a two or three level elite, why do they need to challenge higher levels?

“Sigh, let’s stop yapping. The team leader has revived. I’m leaving now. Bro, we can chat later.” The muscular man sent a friend request.

Li Yao accepted it. The fat man waved his hand, went into stealth and walked away. His name appeared on Prairie Fire’s list.

Li Yao shook his head slightly, not caring at all how severe the large guilds’ losses were, and headed towards his destination, lamenting not having a mount.

The Mogul Mountain Range is located north of the Tower of the Sun. It’s necessary to bypass two areas of level four or five monsters. Li Yao took the safest route and bypassed the areas of mutated seedlings and lynx. If he couldn’t bypass an area, he’d release the arrow tower to clear them off. As long as he didn’t foolishly take a bunch of monsters, there were no safety issues. He didn’t need to take the main road, saving a lot of time.

The Mogul Mountain Range is shrouded in a light poison fog all year round. Players without anti-poison equipment or antidote potions will continuously lose blood, so it’s very quiet here. Li Yao looked from outside the mountain range and didn’t see a single player.

The outer area of the mountain range is populated with level four golden arrow poison frogs. This incredibly poisonous creature on earth is just a low-level poison monster in the game.

After drinking a low-level antidote potion, he’s already ignored the poison fog. Of course, the antidote potion only lasts for fifteen minutes, and he’s drunk a day’s worth of a normal player’s income.

Ordinary monsters around the periphery aren’t any threat to Li Yao. Poison arrows essentially do no damage due to the antidote potion. Li Yao proceeds smoothly into the mountain valley and finally finds a cave with the help of his memory.

There are no monsters in the cave, only a pile of ashes and a skeleton. As soon as Li Yao touched the skeleton, it turned into ash.

Li Yao held his breath, cleared the ashes with a branch, and finally saw a ring with a green light.

Li Yao carefully lifted the ring, blew the ashes off and saw tiny words engraved on the inside of the ring, “To my beloved Ai Li – Dalkhan.”

Dalkhan was the greatest traitor of the High Elves. He was the one who revealed the weakness of the Sunwell barrier to the Lich King, allowing the undead army to penetrate the unprepared kingdom.

After this battle, the King of the High Elves and the leaders of the Silver Moon Council were almost all killed or injured. The Ranger General at the time, Sylvanas, now the queen of the Undead Clan, died defending the kingdom and was controlled by the Demon Artifact Frost Mourne to become a Banshee. The Sunwell was then contaminated.

The population of the High Elves dropped by 60% instantaneously. The High Elves, who had recovered from their previous injuries over millennia, suffered unprecedented damage.

Li Yao filled an empty bottle with ashes. These ashes could help him complete a high-difficulty high-reward task.

Dalkhan’s Engagement Ring

Quality: Exceptional Blue

Strength: 8

Agility: 6

Enchantment: Resistant to low-level toxin damage

Equipment level: 4

Explanation: This is the betrothal token Great Mage Dalkhan gave to his lover when he was young

Just based on the attributes of the ring, it’s an extraordinary item. Furthermore, Dalkhan imbued it with poison resistance. It’s even superior to a piece of purple equipment.

Without any hesitation, Li Yao put the ring on and his attributes immediately increased. Even the ring alone was equivalent to the stats he would gain from two level increases.

“Indeed, good equipment is the real game-changer.”

Li Yao casually made this remark before he left the cave,

To complete the mine contract quest, he had to finish the prerequisite quest first. Li Yao found an NPC lying on the ground on the northeastern side of the Mogul Mountain Range.

Seeing Li Yao, the male High Elf lying on the ground struggled to speak: “Young clan member, I need your help.”

Li Yao helped the High Elf, Freyr, to his feet and asked, “How can I help you?”

Freyr strained to speak: “I encountered a Corruptionist in the Mogul Mountain Range. I am severely injured and have no supplies. I need to restore my health and remove the toxins from my body. Are you willing to help me? I’ll reward you when I’m free.”

“System: Freyr has issued a mission, Rescue in Danger, do you accept?”

Rescue in Danger

Mission difficulty: a

Mission description: Freyr has lost his mobility and hopes to be rescued.

Mission objective: Bring Freyr a bottle of beginner’s life potion and a bottle of beginner’s antidote potion.

Reward: Freyr’s Friendship, 5% of current level experience.

Considering this mission would cost about four or five silver coins, regular players wouldn’t accept it. In his past life, this special mission was completely overlooked.

Not until years later, when a player who had re-rolled their character had enough free time to accept the mission. After spending two days completing the follow-up, they revealed the truth about the mine. Only then did players understand the value of Freyr’s friendship.

Li Yao handed the two potions to Freyr without a second thought. Freyr’s eyes sparkled; he didn’t hesitate to drink the two potions immediately.

A moment later, Freyr stood up, full of spirit, saluted Li Yao and said, “From now on, young clan member, you are my friend.”

“Prairie Fire, I’m glad to be your friend.” Li Yao paused before he continued, “My dear friend, I plan to continue my training on this mountain range. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Freyr started laughing and said, “My friend, you really are kind. Actually, yes, I am in need of a batch of Golden Dart Frog’s poison glands for research. Would you be willing to help?”

“System: Freyr has issued a mission, Collect Toxic Glands, do you accept?”

Collect Toxic Glands

Mission difficulty: a++

Mission description: Freyr needs a large quantity of toxic glands for research; the more and the higher the quality the better.

Reward: +3000 Favor with Freyr, one piece of blue equipment.

At this point, Freyr’s generosity starts to show. Li Yao accepted the mission and started hunting Golden Dart Frogs. The gland of an elite Dart Frog equals the glands of ten normal ones and gives a lot of experience. With the Spike Traps and Arrow Towers, plus his extraordinary archery, Li Yao was nearly invincible.

A normal Dart Frog would be mercilessly killed just by Li Yao installing one Arrow Tower. While for the elite ones, three Arrow Towers, a bleed trap, the Exploding Sheep, and Li Yao’s powerful output would still be more than enough.

While collecting materials his experience also increased substantially. Li Yao continued sweeping the area of the mountain range, and time quickly went by.

*Bang*…

Having just slain an elite frog, Li Yao suddenly heard the sound of a fireball exploding and a Dart Frog shrieking.

Li Yao was shocked, he had not expected to encounter another player here. He cautiously moved towards the source of the sound.

In the faint green fog, he saw a dwarf being chased by three Dart Frogs. Before Li Yao could make sense of why a Goblin would appear in the High Elf’s Beginner Village, he noticed the special Dart Frog chasing the Goblin player.

Silver Elite. Li Yao’s heart skipped a beat…