Chapter Thirty: The Struggle

Chapter 30: The Struggle

This hunter was not a player. Well, for starters, players do not have tiger-skin equipment, and no player would come here to slay Three-Eyed Cattle wielding only a wooden bow. Alright, actually, Lin Zheng hadn't paid that much attention; he simply saw the NPC name "Wang Hu" floating above the hunter's head. An NPC hunting monsters in the wild? Anyone who wasn't a total game novice could guess that this NPC surely had a quest to offer. Lin Zheng was instantly delighted. He hadn't expected to stumble upon such a windfall while gathering milk, so he strode forward, ready to speak with Wang Hu and accept the quest.

Lin Zheng was less than ten meters away from Wang Hu when, unexpectedly, a heavy-sword knight burst onto the scene. A character ID was displayed above his head without any attempt at concealment—Glory Heavy Cavalry! The two met face-to-face, both surprised to see the other. Immediately, they grew vigilant. Who knew if the quest on Wang Hu was unique? If it were, only one of them could accept it. In a 40+ level map, the rewards for such a quest would certainly be substantial, and neither wanted to just hand it over.

"A Sword Fighter?!" Seeing Lin Zheng holding the Blade Bow, Glory Heavy Cavalry immediately recognized his class. "A Sword Fighter capable of grinding in such a high-level map... you must be Yiping Daoren, right?" Lin Zheng hadn't revealed his character name, so Glory Heavy Cavalry could only guess.

"Indeed, that is me!" Lin Zheng didn't intend to deny it and nodded directly.

"Oh?" Glory Heavy Cavalry raised an eyebrow and asked, "Our Glory Guild is preparing to establish a faction and is recruiting experts from all walks of life. Are you interested in joining us?"

"My apologies!" Lin Zheng shook his head. "My friends and I are planning to start our own faction, so I won't be joining any others."

"Hmph! Is that so?" Lin Zheng's refusal and his stated intention to build his own faction left Glory Heavy Cavalry feeling quite displeased. However, annoyed as he was, he dared not underestimate a player ranked third on the Heavenly Rankings. His tone, however, became much more overbearing; if you aren't a friend, you're an enemy—why bother with courtesy?

"So, what do you intend to do about the current situation?" Glory Heavy Cavalry glanced at Wang Hu.

"It's simple!" Lin Zheng said. "Although I've been hunting here all afternoon and discovered this NPC first, since you've appeared, it would be unreasonable for me to claim the quest as solely mine. Let's leave it to luck. We'll both approach him and see who can trigger the quest!"

"Fine!" Glory Heavy Cavalry agreed curtly.

"Then let's go!" With that, Lin Zheng turned and walked toward Wang Hu. But at that moment, a vicious glint flashed in Glory Heavy Cavalry's eyes, and he suddenly slashed his sword at Lin Zheng! "Clang—" Lin Zheng spun around instantly, raising his Crescent Moon to parry the blow.

"Hmph! Seeing how readily you agreed, I knew you had ill intentions!" Lin Zheng sneered.

"So what if you knew? Today, I’m definitely going to slaughter you!" Glory Heavy Cavalry’s face was twisted with malice. After his sword was forcibly deflected by the parry, he lunged forward, kicked off the ground, and unleashed a Furious Slash at Lin Zheng! Lin Zheng was slightly surprised; this guy had some skill to recover from a disadvantaged state so quickly to launch an attack—not bad at all. But Lin Zheng wasn't one to be trifled with. Facing the incoming strike, there was no time to run, so he decided to trade damage for damage. He stomped his foot onto the ground—*Boom!* At the same time, Glory Heavy Cavalry’s Furious Slash landed on Lin Zheng, dealing 1,420 damage—a significant hit! However, in comparison, a 2,410 damage figure floated above the knight's head!

"How is this possible!?" Glory Heavy Cavalry was horrified by the damage. But he wasn't given a chance to react; Lin Zheng lifted his leg slightly for a Low Kick. *Thwack!* Another 2,300 damage!

"You! Your weapon is the Crescent Moon!? A Gold-grade item?!" Glory Heavy Cavalry roared in shock and rage.

"Heh! Good eyes! It is indeed the Crescent Moon!" Lin Zheng, having retreated several meters, smirked. Since Glory Heavy Cavalry had been hit by the Low Kick and was a melee class, he was now at the mercy of being bullied.

"You! Let's talk this over!" Glory Heavy Cavalry saw Lin Zheng drawing his bow and grew afraid. Dying meant losing a level, and it took a lot of time to level up again. At this early stage of the game, everyone cherished their levels like their own lives, and he was no exception.

"Talk it over! Certainly! We'll have a good talk next time we meet!" With that, Lin Zheng released the energy bowstring without hesitation. *Whoosh—* The dagger turned into a streak of golden light and struck Glory Heavy Cavalry. 2,140 damage—the guy had a massive health pool, he wasn't dead yet! Having survived the shot, Glory Heavy Cavalry began to flee. He clearly knew how to escape from an archer's pursuit; his Z-shaped movement was precise, making him hard to target, and he frantically chugged potions, desperate for any extra health that might give him a chance to survive. Unfortunately, under the effect of the Low Kick, his movement speed was reduced by 21%. In the end, he couldn't outrun Lin Zheng's sniping and was shot dead at the edge of the Breezy Forest.

"Damn it! Just you wait, I won't let you off!" Glory Heavy Cavalry spat out a threat before collapsing. His luck wasn't bad; he didn't drop any items. Seeing this, Lin Zheng couldn't be bothered to pay him any more mind and strode toward Wang Hu, who was still hunting.

"You've got spirit, young man! Finding time to pluck arrows at cattle here!" Lin Zheng walked up to Wang Hu. Wang Hu was a young man, frowning as he watched the Three-Eyed Cattle, unable to take down a single one—it seemed he felt his strength was insufficient. Seeing Lin Zheng appear, Wang Hu looked surprised, then joyfully said, "Greetings, big brother! I can see you're a powerful warrior. Can you do me a favor?"

"Triggered quest 'Night Banquet I', quest difficulty C-grade lower tier. Do you accept?"

Night Banquet I? That meant there were likely parts two, three, and four!? A series quest! Very good, very nice! Lin Zheng happily accepted. Once the quest was accepted, Wang Hu said, "It’s like this: the City Lord is holding a grand banquet tonight to welcome the Princess from Red South City, and the City Lord's manor is currently lacking many high-quality ingredients. I was sent out to collect them. I need 400 portions of Three-Eyed Cattle meat, but I can't defeat these powerful creatures. If you help me gather enough beef, I will give you a very generous reward!"

"Quest accepted. Under the quest status, you can gather the Level 7 material 'Beef'! Quest time limit: 40 minutes. Gather 400 portions of beef. Failure to complete within the time limit will result in quest failure, and all skill proficiency gained from gathering beef will be reset to zero!"

Hearing the prompt, Lin Zheng's eyes lit up with excitement. This quest—putting aside the completion reward—was a massive reward in itself! Being able to gather Level 7 cooking materials immediately meant his proficiency would skyrocket! Overjoyed, Lin Zheng patted his chest and said, "No problem, leave it to me!" With that, he walked away to continue hunting the Three-Eyed Cattle. The poor beasts faced another catastrophe thanks to Wang Hu's arrival!

After downing a Three-Eyed Cattle, Lin Zheng quickly switched to his dagger to gather. "Ding—Gathering successful, obtained 3 portions of milk, 4 portions of beef. Can be gathered 2 more times! Ding—Gathering successful, obtained 2 portions of milk. Can be gathered 1 more time!..."

Holding his dagger, he gained 17 proficiency points for every portion of beef gathered—it felt incredible! This way, his gathering proficiency would jump significantly once the quest was finished. He had to hurry; he only had 40 minutes, so he needed to grind as much proficiency as possible! Anxious, Lin Zheng hurried to hunt the next Three-Eyed Cattle as soon as he finished gathering.

Thirty-something minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Lin Zheng had wandered quite far, and his harvest was bountiful. His bag contained about 500 portions of beef and 600 portions of milk. His gathering skill had leveled up, and with it, his success rate had increased significantly; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to collect so much. Worried he might accidentally lose track of time, Lin Zheng hurried back to where Wang Hu was. To his surprise, he found five people standing around Wang Hu! One of them was none other than Glory Heavy Cavalry, and the other four were also from the Glory family: Glory Rookie, Glory Blade, Glory Mage, and Glory Healer. A Heavy-Sword Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Mage, and Priest—a complete setup. They were prepared to take down a boss!

Clearly, these people were brought by Glory Heavy Cavalry to settle the score. Glory Heavy Cavalry stepped forward to talk to Wang Hu, trying to see if he could trigger the quest, but Wang Hu smiled and said, "Thank you, but a big brother is already helping me, so there's no need to trouble you!"

"Damn! It really is a unique quest!" Glory Heavy Cavalry turned away, seething. Glory Rookie, standing beside him, suggested, "How about we kill this NPC and see where that guy goes to turn in the quest!"

"We can't kill him!" Glory Heavy Cavalry said in a deep voice. "This NPC's name is gold, which means he's an official in Phantom Spirit. Killing him will result in being wanted by Frost Sky City. Besides, we still need him to lure that damned Yiping Daoren out!"

"Is that guy really that strong? You have 530 defense and heavy armor, yet he could hit you for 2,400 health?" Glory Blade asked, startled.

"He has the second-ranked weapon on the equipment board, the Crescent Moon!" Glory Heavy Cavalry said with a dark face. "But just the Crescent Moon, a Gold-grade weapon, shouldn't be enough to output that much damage. He must have other equipment, like the top-ranked item on the accessory board, the Dark Gold-grade Cold Star!"

"Cold Star?" The members of the Glory guild were shocked, and then greed appeared in their eyes. Dark Gold-grade items were currently equivalent to divine artifacts; it was impossible not to covet them!

"It's highly likely!" Glory Heavy Cavalry said. "I heard he accepted a quest yesterday, and people from Proud Sword followed him, but those idiots were useless. Twenty-plus people were wiped out by Yiping Daoren's group of five, with only six fleeing back to Frost Sky City. After that, the levels of Yiping Daoren's group skyrocketed. We can deduce that the experience from that quest must be extraordinary! It might be the highest-level quest that has appeared in Frost Sky City. The rewards for such a quest must be shocking! And someone overheard in the equipment shop where they turned in the quest that Yiping Daoren received a ring as a reward. So, I suspect there's over a 90% chance that the ring is Cold Star!"