Chapter 9: A Handsome Reward
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
This second quest had only asked for 3 Refined Fire Essences but that did not mean that this quest was easy to complete.
In fact, Zhang Yang had only managed to farm his first Refined Fire Essence after 20 minutes!
Farming the second Refined Fire Essence was rather quick, as it only took the following 5 minutes. The third one though, took him a whole hour.
“What luck!” Zhang Yang examined his hands as he walked back to the village.
He checked his EXP gauge and realized it had already reached 73%, not far from advancing to the next level. After all, he had been going beyond his level and grinding on Level 10 monsters. The EXP obtained were noticeably much more.
Returning to Farion to submit the quest, the man had rewarded him a handsome amount of 5,000 EXP and said, “Young warrior, you’ve completed the task I entrusted you with, again and again, leaving me an impression that you do have slight talent! Alright, this is the last material needed – The Frost Giant’s Soul! Different Frost Giants would have different power in their souls and of course, different strength levels. You may select the difficulty to challenge according to your own capability and courage!”
“Ding! You may choose one of the following difficulty levels to complete for this quest. The higher the difficulty level, the better the reward! Please choose: Extremely Difficult, Hard, Average, Easy!”
“Extremely Difficult!” Zhang Yang decided without hesitation. Obviously, the chance of obtaining ‘Perfect’ score would only be available in this level of difficulty.
“Haha, a bold selection! I hope that you’re as what you’ve chosen to face, greenhorn!” Farion passed Zhang Yang a sparkling crystal-like rock. “Take this Frost Stone and place it in the center of the magic circle in the basement. The circle will be activated automatically and it will summon the Frost Giant!”
“Ding! You have accepted the quest: Materials to Craft a Blade (III)!”
“Ding! You have obtained the item, Frost Stone!”
[Materials to Craft a Blade (III)] (Difficulty Level: S)
Quest Description: To obtain the last material, you must use the Frost Stone to summon the Frost Giant, defeat it, collect its soul and pass it to Farion. This quest must be completed alone. The quest will fail automatically once a second player gains aggro from the Frost Giant.
Progress: Collect Frost Giant’s Soul 0/1
S-Level quest, it looked like the time to obtain the ultimate reward had finally arrived!
The basement was situated underneath the Village Hall. Zhang Yang spent 5 to 6 minutes to reach the base walking through a winding path. He had wondered about the purpose of this basement previously when he first played the game. He had finally gotten his answer now.
The basement was lit with torches all around and was very spacious. Right in the center was an intricately drawn magic circle. Zhang Yang took out the Frost Stone from his inventory and mounted it to the empty hollow within the circle.
“Hong!”
Endless white light emanated from the ground, dazzling and captivating! A low voice then echoed in the basement.
“Who…Who summons Malatog! Malatog was slumbering. Whoever awakes Malatog must receive a frosty punishment!”
“Hong!”
A giant with a height of 6 to 7 men appeared in the middle of the magic circle. Its entire body was a sky-blue color and it exuded penetrating chilliness, dropping the basement’s temperature by several degrees within seconds!
“You – a mere mortal, dares to disturb Malatog’s sweet dream! Malatog will crush you!” The blue giant immediately noticed Zhang Yang and threw its fist towards him.
[Malatog] (Elite)
Level : 10
HP : 5000
Zhang Yang stepped back and used <Charge> on it. In an instant, a starry effect appeared above Malatog’s head indicating it had been stunned.
“-18!”
He swung his sword only to inflict a pitiful 18-point damage! Such strong defense!
It was a shame that the effects of the Experimental Poison had long since disappeared and as the poison could only be bought once per player, Zhang Yang would have to rely on himself to slowly defeat it.
“Despicable ant, you’ve angered Malatog!” Malatog lifted his fist and threw it at Zhang Yang again in rage.
“<Block>!”
“-17!”
“Such a thick-skinned creature!” Zhang Yang murmured, raising his shield as he activated <Shield Bash>.
“-54!”
Malatog let out a cry of pain and anger after receiving the blow. It then raised its big foot and took a step forward, wanting to stomp on Zhang Yang.
“-19!”
“-19!”
Although the resulting damage from one normal attack followed by a <Force Strike> was not much at all, it had instead made Malatog even angrier.
Battling someone as agile as Zhang Yang, it would seem like Malatog was playing a game of Whack-a-Mole. Even though he had the advantage with his outstanding strength, he could hardly land a hit on Zhang Yang but instead kept receiving damage.
“90%! 80%! 70%! 60% 50%!”
“Puny mortal! Taste the Frost God’s rage!” Malatog suddenly crouched and slammed the ground with both his fists. Immediately, countless spear-like ice spikes pierced up through the ground.
Zhang Yang had never encountered such a monster, so naturally he would not have known what kind of attacks it would use. Even though he was already cautious the moment it spoke, because he would never have known what to expect, how was he supposed to figure out his strategy to counter?!
In an instance, Zhang Yang had maximized his athletic skill to the best he could, skillfully dodging each icicle with grace.
“Ding! You have been attacked by an icicle. You have lost 30 HP!”
“Ding! You have been attacked by an icicle. You have lost 30 HP!”
“Ding…”
The system notification had rang 5 times consecutively in his ears. Even though Zhang Yang had pushed his speed to the limit, he was still unable to be at his best due to the character’s own agility constraint. As a result of it, he had received damage from 5 icicles and had his HP reduced tremendously.
And this was Zhang Yang. If it had been someone else, they would have been completely annihilated by this monster’s special skill.
Zhang Yang only had a total HP of 190 and it had been instantly reduced to 40. He tapped a bottle of Beginner Healing Potion. A “+100” green text floated across his head and his HP bar instantly went up again.
The Red Pot had a 30-second cooldown time, so it was fortunate that the move by Malatog did not appear frequently, otherwise the cooldown period would have been too long.
“Malatog will smash your bones to smithereens!” the Frost Giant stood up again and everything returned to how it was.
“40%! 30%! 20%! 10%!”
Zhang Yang began to feel anxious. There would be a chance for a monster to turn ‘berserk’ when its HP had fallen to 10%. Once they had entered the state, their attack activation rate would drastically increase, and that would be the most dangerous part of a battle. Even if Zhang Yang was highly skilled, he would not have been able to withstand 3 to 4 continuous waves of a boss’ special attack.
Luckily, it did not turn red!
Zhang Yang let out a sigh of relief and thought to himself. This quest could only be completed by a single player. The monster’s skill was already capable of killing a player instantly, if it had entered Berserk state, how would it be possible to clear?
“3%! 2%! 1%!”
“Despicable mortal! Malatog will return! Malatog will…!” As the last drop of HP vanished, Malatog was finally defeated. Its gigantic body fell with a thundering thud.
“Hu!” Zhang Yang exhaled a puff of air. He finally completed it!
The magic circle reactivated and the Frost Giant’s corpse began to shrink until it finally became a small blue marble the size of a regular fist.
“So this is the Frost Giant’s Soul?” Zhang Yang picked up the marble as he scanned the entire room. “F*cking hell! How come there aren’t any drops when I’ve just killed a freaking boss!”
Zhang Yang returned from the basement annoyed and handed over the marble to Farion.
“Young man, you’ve proven your strength and ability. I have to admit, you would be an amazing Warrior in the future!” Farion waved his hand invitingly and said, “Come with me. Now that all the materials have been gathered, I will craft you an indestructible blade!”
“Ding! You’ve completed the quest : Materials to Craft a Blade (III). Gained 10,000EXP!”
Still, he had yet to receive the ultimate reward. Zhang Yang patiently followed Farion to the village’s Blacksmith Shop.
Farion and the owner greeted each other and he took out all sorts of materials. “Dang! Dang! Dang!” Farion lifted the metal hammer and began to smith.
Fortunately since this was a game, everything progressed very quickly. Within half a minute, a shiny sharp sword had appeared in Farion’s hands.
“Take this, young warrior. Let it be your most loyal companion and drink up your enemies’ blood!” Furion tossed the sword to Zhang Yang and retrieved a red-colored book, “This is filled with skills I’ve learned in battles. Now, I shall give it to you!”
“Ding! You have obtained the item Refined Iron Sword!”
“Ding! You have obtained the skill book ‘Horizontal Sweep’!”
“Ding! You have completed the Hidden Class Quest: Farion’s Request. Quest Score: Perfect! Gained 20,000 EXP!”
“Ding! You have obtained the reward: 1 SP!”
“Ding! Congratulations on achieving Level 8. All attributes +1 and obtained 5 free AP!”
“Ding! Congratulations! You are the first player to complete a hidden quest and to obtain a ‘Perfect’ score. This achievement will be recorded in the Hall of Fame! Do you wish to announce your name so that the world can praise your mightiness?”
Announcing it again? Zhang Yang gave it some thought but eventually still decided on “Reject”.
In an instant, the neglected quiet world channel was once again filled with the server announcement’s red text!
“Server announcement: Player (Name Hidden) is the first to have successfully completed a hidden quest and obtained a ‘Perfect’ score (China Server). This achievement will be recorded in the Hall of Fame! Please celebrate and cheer for him!”
“Server announcement: Player (Name Hidden) is the first to have successfully completed a hidden quest and obtained a ‘Perfect’ score (China Server), obtaining 10 Gold Coins from the System Rewards!”
“Server announcement: Player (Name Hidden) is the first to have successfully completed a hidden quest and obtained a ‘Perfect’ score (China Server). 500 Reputation Points across all races in the league are awarded!”
“Ding! You’ve received an extra reward: Luck +1!”
Within a day, the server had flashed red twice, causing commotion among the players in the entire China region once again.
“That is just crazy! He actually completed a hidden quest?”
“God! He even got a ‘Perfect’ score! I saw a statement on the official website saying the difficulty setting in achieving a ‘Perfect’ score could only be completed by one in a million!”
“I wonder what the rewards are.”
“Fucking shit server, why have I not encountered a hidden quest?”
“Face problem!”
“Character problem!”
“Wash your hands after taking a dump!”
“Eh, just throwing it out there. Which hand do you use to wipe your ass after taking a shit?”
“Left hand!”
“Right hand!”
“Right hand!”
“I use toilet paper! You guys have a weird fetish!”
Just like that, the conversation took a rather interesting yet different turn very quickly.
Zhang Yang opened his inventory to check the rewards from this quest.
[Refined Iron Sword] (Black-Steel, One-Handed Sword)
Weapon Attack: 16 – 24
Attack Interval: 2 seconds
Level Requirement: 10
-- At present, most players were still grinding tirelessly to obtain rewarded weapons from completing the Level 5 Class Quest while Zhang Yang had already obtained a Level 10 Black –Steel rarity weapon! If word got out, those players who had been grinding relentlessly would definitely be devastated!
[Horizontal Sweep] (Skill Book)
Use: Grants the skill “Horizontal Sweep”
Bound.
Zhang Yang was a little furious. He had obviously gotten a ‘Perfect’ score yet his reward was similar to those of ‘Average’ score? This was ridiculous! Zhang Yang tapped the skill book against his body and a new skill appeared in his skill window after giving out a bright light.
[Horizontal Sweep]: Attacks all nearby enemies, dealing 200% melee damage to every target. Cost: 20 Rage. Cooldown time: 10 seconds. Requirement: Melee Weapon.
200% melee damage?!
Zhang Yang’s eyes glinted. He clearly remembered the <Horizontal Sweep> which the mining fanatic had gotten could only deal 100% melee damage!
Oh perfect! Now this reward would have been the right match for ‘Perfect’ score!
Hooray!