“Fatty, let’s go, there’s this special quest I want you to do with me!” said Zhang Yang to Fatty Han after leaving the dungeon.
“What’s the reward?”
“Increase the effect of using Bandage by 100%!”
“Psh, pointless!” Fatty Han said impatiently, “Fatty here is a Hunter. My baby will block attacks for me, I need no bandages! Little Yang, the pretty babe came to chat with me again. You’re on your own, I’m not following you!”
“D*mn!” Zhang Yang made a disdainful gesture.
Since Fatty Han had refused to join him, Zhang Yang could only go on his own. After Zhang Yang left the dungeon, he made his way out of the valley and proceeded eastward. He went through several forests and finally arrived at a small village.
He went ahead to meet the Village Elder and accepted the quest “Missing Livestock”. Zhang Yang then left the village and arrived at a huge lake. The monsters here were all Level 15 and above while players were generally around Level 10 so they were either raiding Bangar Crypt or grinding on Level 11 or 12 Wild Boars at the Wild Boar Mountain. The site had remained empty with no players present aside from him.
Under the shade of an obscure big tree, Zhang Yang found an old man wearing a white medical coat, his eyebrows and beard were snow-white. He had “Deckard the Head Physician” in a tag above his head.
“Old man, why are you here?” Zhang Yang started a conversation with the NPC.
“Adventurer, I’m the physician of White Jade Castle! I’m currently developing an antidote and need a large amount of [Python Gall]. Can you collect some for me?” said Deckard.
“Ding! Deckard the Head Physician has a quest for you: Collect [Python Gall]. Will you accept it?”
Of course he would!
“Adventurer, those pythons are venomous. It is very dangerous, you must be cautious!” Deckard voiced his concern.
Zhang Yang remembered very clearly that this NPC would send a follow-up quest with an ultimate reward of the title “Physician’s Friend”. When <First Aid> was used, the Bandage healing effect would increase by 100%!
<First Aid> was categorized as a supportive skill that has no relation with class skills. Any player could learn it from the First Aid Trainer when they had achieved Level 20. <First Aid> would allow a player to create a variety of bandages, different kinds healing different amounts of HP. This was an alternative recovery skill aside from potions for non-healer professions.
In order to trigger the follow-up quest, 2 conditions were to be fulfilled: first, the player must not have learnt <First Aid> in the Capital. Second, the player must repeatedly complete the prerequisite quest “Collect Python Gall”. According to a player who had completed the quest in Zhang Yang’s previous life, he had to complete this repetitive prerequisite quest for 99 times!
After the follow-up quest had been completed, Deckard would return to the Capital one day later, which theoretically meant that there was a possibility that all players could obtain the reward.
Of course, Zhang Yang had not only come for the reward alone! A Gray-Silver chest would randomly spawn around this lake and there was a very small chance that the chest would contain the [Recipe: Beginner Anti-Shadow Potion]. This was his main purpose!
[Collect Python Gall] (Difficulty: C)
Quest Description: Deckard the Head Physician needs your help to collect 20 [Python Gall]s to develop an antidote. Those monsters should be in the Tranquil Lake.
Progress: Collect [Python Gall] 0/20
[Missing Livestock] (Difficulty: C)
Quest Description: Those pythons in Tranquil Lake were dreadful. They have eaten a lot of the livestock in the village. Go, kill them!
Progress: Kill Gold Venomous Python 0/40
These 2 quests could be done at the same time coincidentally!
“Take this. This should aid you in your quest!” Deckard handed over a bottle of potion to Zhang Yang.
“Ding! You have obtained item [Diving Potion]!”
[Diving Potion] (Consumable)
Use: Allows you to breathe underwater for 1 hour.
Level Requirement: 10
Zhang Yang consumed the potion and a buff icon appeared on his head, enabling him to breathe underwater.
“Toong!” He dived into the lake.
A dark golden flash sparked on Zhang Yang’s left and a “-14” damage text floated across his head at the same time.
Zhang Yang dived in the water, gaining an underwater vision of the lake.
A 2-meter long golden-lined snake as thick as an arm had stretched its mouth wide and glided towards Zhang Yang.
If it had been on land, Zhang Yang was sure he could dodge this attack. However, his movements were restricted while underwater, so how could he have kept up with the python’s agility?!
‘Ding! You are affected by <Gold Python Venom> (Stack 1). Reduces 10 HP every 3 seconds. Lasts for 15 seconds!’
Zhang Yang’s face turned dark as a debuff icon appeared on his avatar.
[Gold Venomous Python] (Normal)
Level: 15
HP: 750
Zhang Yang’s defense was high so the physical damage received was very minimal. However, the python’s venom was magic damage so it would be troublesome if he stacked too much of them!
Zhang Yang grabbed his sword and began attacking these monsters as fast as he could.
His damage output had already been high since the beginning and with the 4 new Green-Copper equipment that he had gotten today, his HP increased to 950 points while his attack damage had reached 115 – 123. Truly remarkable!
Only 3 – 4 strikes were enough to kill the python. Zhang Yang stretched his hand and easily looted the gall and with luck, 2 [Venomous Python Fangs]. They were White-tiered ‘Etc’1 items that were to be sold for money.
The lake was full of Gold Venomous Pythons. Zhang Yang had no idea where the chest could have spawned so he could only make rounds to explore the whole lake.
An hour later, he had collected 23 [Python Gall]s while the quest “Missing Livestock” had long since been completed. He had already killed over 100 pythons!
Since the [Diving Potion]’s buff had worn off, Zhang Yang could only go back to Deckard to complete the quest.
“Brave adventurer, citizens of White Jade Castle will never forget your good deed!” Deckard praised Zhang Yang generously but did not reward him with any actual item. “Adventurer, are you willing to help me again?”
Could he not ‘willingly’ accept it? Zhang Yang sighed and accepted the same quest once again.
He went back to where he had come out from the lake and jumped in again, hunting for [Python Gall]s while searching for the chest.
Zhang Yang had already forgotten how many times he had completed the quest and how many times he had taken the [Diving Potion] for he had been killing pythons to the point of sickening monotony when his eyes suddenly gleamed as he spotted a silver chest on a rock at the bottom of the lake!
He had finally found it! This f*cking lake was ridiculously huge! He had swam for so long only to have searched two-thirds of the place.
However, there were 4 pythons guarding the chest but they were all normal mobs, not bosses or even elites.
Zhang Yang took aim at one of the pythons and launched <Charge>, dashing towards it.
“-105!”
The other 3 venomous pythons immediately swam over in attempt to attack Zhang Yang with their bloodied fangs.
“<Block>!”
“-84!”
“-84!”
“-84!” <Block> reflected damage.
“-183!” <Shield Bash>!
“-224!”
“-215!”
“-231!”
“-222!”
“-20!”
<Horizontal Sweep> had caused 4 damage texts and had simultaneously triggered the necklace’s <Shadow Wrath>.
2 seconds later, all 4 pythons charged towards Zhang Yang again.
‘Ding! You are affected by <Gold Python Venom> (Stack 1). Reduces 10 HP every 3 seconds. Lasts for 15 seconds!’
‘Ding! You are affected by <Gold Python Venom> (Stack 2). Reduces 20 HP every 3 seconds. Lasts for 15 seconds!’
‘Ding! You are affected by <Gold Python Venom> (Stack 3). Reduces 30 HP every 3 seconds. Lasts for 15 seconds!’
‘Ding! You are affected by <Gold Python Venom> (Stack 4). Reduces 40 HP every 3 seconds. Lasts for 15 seconds!’
These pythons were truly cumbersome!
Zhang Yang focused his attacks on a python and killed one instantly, the second following.
Zhang Yang had already stacked 5 stacks of <Gold Python Venom> by the time he had cleared all 4 pythons. His HP had reduced to 358 points when the python’s venom effect had disappeared. That was more than half of his HP!
Monsters with DoT effects are not something you could just ignore! Zhang Yang sighed as he opened the chest.
DoT, Damage over Time, a continuous damage effect over a fixed duration such as the python’s venom as described above and <Curse of Water and Fire> by the second boss in Bangar Crypt.
10%, 20%, 30%, … 100%!
‘Tsst’. The chest opened.
Zhang Yang looted and –
[Undine’s Lungs]: Special Item. Allows you to breathe underwater without equipment. A must-have for leisure travel and killing people!
Meh, even though it had taken a slot in the inventory, at least he would not have to find Deckard after every one hour.
[Treasure Map Piece (2)] (Gray-Silver)
Use: Put together all 3 pieces of the treasure map and obtain a [Complete Treasure Map].
A [Treasure Map Piece]!
Zhang Yang’s eyes glinted. There were numerous treasure spots in ‘God’s Miracle’ but it could only be dug when a [Complete Treasure Map] had been obtained. Naturally, different grades of treasure maps would lead to corresponding treasure spots!
What a pity, there was only one piece, another 2 more to go!
Again!
[Recipe: Silk Belt] (Leather Work Recipe)
Use: You learn how to craft [Silk Belt].
Requirement: Beginner Leather Work
“Ding! You have obtained 50 silver coins!”
The chest became transparent and eventually disappeared.
“No more?” Zhang Yang sighed, the obtained recipe was not the one he had wanted!
Continue grinding!
Zhang Yang began to grind non-stop. With [Undine’s Lungs], he did not need to leave the lake for air so he grinded until all 40 slots of his inventory were filled. He then got out from the water and completed the quest for [Python Gall]s.
At the end of the day, Zhang Yang logged out at 12 am. He had completed “Collect Python Gall” quest for a total of 14 times. It was still a long way to go compared to the 99 times the player had mentioned! However, Zhang Yang had gained a level but he was still not enlisted on the Player Level Ranking. He wondered if those ranked lunatics had ever logged off to actually sleep!
Fortunately, he was still motivated because the [Beginner Anti-Shadow Potion] recipe had still not been found. Otherwise, he would definitely lose his patience grinding on those crappy snake again and again!
Gray-Silver Chests would only be spawned once every 3 days, and that meant that he could only spiritlessly grind mobs tomorrow.
Translator Notes:
1 Etc/Misc. – A category which stands of etcetera or miscellaneous loot. These are loot that have no other purpose in the game (not for crafting/quests/equipment) and can only be sold off to NPCs for a small amount of money.
A new day had arrived. Zhang Yang went online at 8.30 am and did a Hardcore Mode Bangar Crypt run with Crimson Fire and his party as per yesterday’s arrangement and went straight to Tranquil Lake after that to resume his endless farming of [Python Gall]s.
It was around 3 pm when Zhang Yang’s body flashed a golden ray after he killed yet another Gold Venomous Python.
‘Ding! Congratulations! You have achieved Level 13. All attributes +1. Obtained 5 SP!’
‘Ding! Your level has fulfilled the conditions to enter the Player Level Ranking. Would you like to be enlisted in the ranking?’
Zhang Yang had not expected that there was an additional option other than the usual level up system notification.
“I can be enlisted?” Zhang Yang was stumped, he did not realize that he had been gaining experience so quickly as he had been focused on killing the pythons! Then again, it was expected. Zhang Yang’s high attack power was undeniable and nothing else was on his mind as he had been grinding the whole day, thus his level had risen so quickly!
He checked the Player Level Ranking and saw that all top 9 places were Level 13 while the tenth spot was a Level 12. If he had selected to be enlisted, he would then replace Folk Stories, a Templar.
In his previous life, Zhang Yang had entered the game 2 years too late, consequently he had never gotten the chance to be enlisted on the Player Level Ranking. That was why he did not know he had a choice in being enlisted on the ranking.
He contemplated and eventually selected ‘Reject’. Right now, it would be better for him to stay out of the limelight while he accumulated his wealth!
After Level 10, Zhang Yang had changed his way of assigning his AP, investing all of them into Vitality. Before this, he had been completely equipped with White-Wood equipment which had then required him to assign his AP to increase his attack and maintain aggro. Now that he had Green-Copper gear, his damage output had significantly increased which subsequently required him to invest into his HP instead as monsters and bosses in Level 20 dungeons were all ferocious beasts. Furthermore, some of the bosses were magic-based and their skills would have been unavoidable with evasion or <Block>! If he had not invested in his Vitality, he would be in a tight spot!
Since he had gained a level, his farming speed had also increased. Just in a single day, he had submitted [Python Gall]s for the Repeatable Quest 15 times.
On the third day, Zhang Yang made it to Level 14 and completed the [Python Gall] quest 14 times.
On the fourth day, just as he entered the dungeon, Zhang Yang had heard Crimson Fire say, “Zhan Yu, you’ve gotta slow down your leveling speed. We still want to break the dungeon speed record. If you zoom your way to Level 16 then our results won’t qualify!”
Zhang Yang took a glance, noticing that everyone in the party was either Level 12 or 13. In comparison, his leveling speed was indeed a little fast.
“Right now, leveling is the most important aspect of the game. Don’t put all your efforts into dungeon raids!” said Zhang Yang. He had suffered enough in his previous life for leveling slower than everyone else. Moreover, the reward for obtaining the Hardcore Mode’s first clearance was SP while rewards for Hardcore Mode’s fastest clearance ranking were only runes and gems. The difference between these two rewards was too much!
However valuable runes and gems were, there were just as many ways to obtain them. Zhang Yang did not value them as much! If he had delayed his leveling for these gems and missed the following first dungeon clearance, that would be his biggest loss!
“Ahh! Please don’t!” Crimson Fire tried to persuade him. Although Absolute Defense’s equipment had been beefed up in the past two days and had the capabilities to tank Hardcore Mode now, ultimately he was still thousands of miles away from Zhang Yang’s survivability, offense, and aggro control! Plus, they key to speed clearing Hardcore Mode was time and a tank’s capabilities would directly affect the efficiency in clearing the dungeon. It was only understandable that Crimson Fire did not want to let such a strong player like Zhang Yang off his grasp as he hurriedly turned to Silky Snow and signaled her to persuade him as well.
Silky Snow laughed depreciatingly. For the past few days, even though she had become closer to Zhang Yang, their relationship was not any different from the others, what difference could she make in persuading him?
Crimson Fire persuaded Zhang Yang once more but seeing that he had steeled his desire to maintain his current leveling speed, he could only give up. As a guildmaster, it was naturally his duty to prioritize the advertising effect of the red server announcement spam! As of now, Lost Paradise was the only guild that has cleared Hardcore Mode Bangar Crypt. He had to maintain this status quo and take it a step further by ranking in the Fastest Hardcore Clearance Ranking!
Now that Zhang Yang could not be depended upon anymore, Crimson Fire had to find another solution!
After clearing the current Hardcore Mode, Crimson Fire had stopped asking Zhang Yang to reserve his dungeon entrance count for the next day but had assigned Absolute Defense to be the main tank, training the teamwork of the new party.
Even though Zhang Yang felt that losing the 1,000 gold coins of income each day was a pity, he did however earn 4,000 gold coins in the past 4 days and with the 10,000 gold coins that Crimson Fire had owed him earlier, he almost had enough funds to initiate his plans!
Returning to Tranquil Lake, he resumed his endless farming of [Python Gall]s. Once again, he had managed to unlock another chest but he had only obtained another [Treasure Map Piece] with no [Beginner Anti-Shadow Potion] recipe in sight. He would have to wait for another three days.
From the fifth day onwards, there were an increasing number of players present for the quest. While there were still not that many players around, Zhang Yang’s crisis awareness had still rang. He was not afraid that they would take up all the monsters, but it was them stumbling upon the Gray-Silver Chest and looting it that he was afraid of!
Moreover, this chest would spawn at random places. The only thing quelling his worries was the fact that there would always be 4 Gold Venomous Pythons guarding the chest when it had spawned so random players could never take on the monsters alone!
It was lucky that the poison effect of these pythons was utterly annoying and underwater maneuverability was tough, so most players would just leave the place once they had completed the quest unlike Zhang Yang who had already made the lake his second home!
The fifth day had passed and Zhang Yang had reached Level 16. He had submitted [Python Gall]s for the 73rd time. Since Fatty Han’s equipment had ‘graduated’ because of the Hardcore Mode runs, Zhang Yang did not raid dungeons anymore and had instead spent his entire day farming at Tranquil Lake.
On the sixth day, Zhang Yang reached Level 17 and submitted [Python Gall]s for the 88th time.
---
The seventh day. Around 2pm.
Zhang Yang brought the last 20 [Python Gall]s to Deckard and completed the 99th ‘Collect [Python Gall]’ quest. As of now, he had reached Level 18 and if he wanted to, he could have been in the top 3 of the Player Level Ranking! Of course, that was excluding the fact that there could be others like him who did not wish to be ranked.
“Young adventurer, your bravery impresses me, your persistence awes me!” Deckard was finally moved, looking at Zhang Yang with admiration, “Your kindness is akin to Buddha’s! Oh, bless you young adventurer. you must lend me your aid for one last time!”
Finally!
Zhang Yang cleared his throat and said, “I will do my best!”
‘Ding! You have accepted the quest: The Last Python Gall!’
[The Last Python Gall] (Quest Difficulty: S)
Quest Description: Deckard wants you to head over to the Python King’s Nest, west of Tranquil Lake. Slay the Golden Venomous Python King and obtain its python gall! Adventurer, please be cautious! Golden Venomous Python King is extremely strong, it would be better if you could bring your companions!
Progress: Obtained [Golden Venomous Python King’s Python Gall] 0/1
Quest Reward: <Specialist First Aid>, Title “Physician’s Friend”
[Physician’s Friend]: Increases Bandage healing effect by 100%!
Awesome, the quest had directly rewarded <Specialist First Aid> skill! Zhang Yang was delighted. To increase <First Aid>’s skill level, he must continuously make bandages, from [Beginner Linen Bandage] to [Coarse Cloth Bandage], [Cotton Bandage] and [Silk Bandage]… Each level would require at least 1000 of its respective bandages and above to level up!
This quest had rewarded Zhang Yang with <Specialist First Aid>, saving him the trouble of going through Beginner, Amateur, Advanced and Professional – a total of 4 levels and time to make more than 4,000 bandages!
Since the reward had been revealed, the quest score would be irrelevant! Regardless of an ‘Average’ or ‘Perfect’ score, the final reward would remain the same.
Exactly what level would this Golden Venomous Python King be?!
Zhang Yang went to his Friend List and was about to invite Fatty Han to slay this boss together when to his surprise, found that the guy was not online!
“Oh well, let’s try it once. If I fail, then I’ll find someone for help!” Zhang Yang thought and headed west.
A few players were killing pythons by the bank. When Zhang Yang traveled passed them, they did not pay him any attention.
The west of Tranquil Lake was a thick bush. At first glance, it did not look anything like a King’s Nest.
Zhang Yang dived into the water to examine the bush closer. After 10 minutes or so, he finally found a hidden cave.
Was this the Python King’s Nest? It looked nothing like one!
Zhang Yang went into the cave and slowly swam inwards. The cave was very narrow and after several meters deep, it was completely dark. Even with his eyes wide open, he could not see anything and all he could do was follow his gut feeling and continued swimming forward.
After a while, Zhang Yang could obviously tell that the water level was decreasing from his head to his chest, then to his stomach and knees. Finally he had stepped on land. Since it was a game, once his character left the water, his clothes and equipment dried immediately.
Turning around the corner, a wide swathe of plains greeted his eyes. Zhang Yang found himself exiting a hollow trunk of a huge fallen old tree!
He checked the mini-map and found that he was still in Tranquil Lake but this place clearly did not resemble anything like the lake. How did the game developers design this place?
Not far away, a huge python was coiling its body. Its girth was thick as a bucket but its length could not be determined since it was coiled. A rough guess would estimate the length of the python to be at least 10 meters long! Resting peacefully beside the python was a Gray-Silver Chest.
“The chest!” Zhang Yang’s eyes glinted. No wonder he could not find the chest after a whole day today. It seems like it had spawned hidden in such a secluded place!
Highlighting the python, the huge beast’s information window hovered in front of Zhang Yang.
[Golden Venomous Python King] (Green-Copper Boss)
Level: 20
HP: 60,000
Zhang Yang was filled with anticipation. He knew that he would get a handsome reward if he could beat this boss. However, high returns meant high risks! Even though this boss’ HP was not as dreadful as a Hardcore Mode’s boss, he did have a party of 10 players in Hardcore Mode!
“Let’s just try it first!” Zhang Yang decided and unsheathed his sword, using <Charge> on the boss.
“-110!”
Such strong defense! Zhang Yang was surprised. His current attack power could have dealt 143 – 151 damage but he had only managed to deal around 100 damage on the boss. It was evident that the boss had a strong defense – probably 40 points or so!
The higher a monster’s level, the shorter it would take to recover from being stunned. The Python King had recovered in no more than 1 second and shot towards Zhang Yang with a hiss.
“<Block>!”
‘-58!’ <Block> reflect damage.
‘-156!’ <Shield Bash>.
The Python King did not manage to land any of its attacks so it had quickly whipped its tail about in an attempt to coil Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang hurriedly withdrew, evading the attack while simultaneously brandishing his sword to counterattack.
‘-103!’
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