"How ungenerous of you, Lu Chen!"

On the way back, Du Thirteen couldn"t stop talking about Lin Yixin. "Sigh, Lin Yixin is beautiful, isn"t she? Back when she was in her first year she already looked like a flower waiting to bloom, and now she"s positively glistening with loveliness. If I could touch her once, no, kiss her once, I could die happy…"

I shot him a disdainful look before saying, "Look at yourself. You should at least try to aim higher."

"Did you ask for her phone number?"

"Nope."

"You blockhead!"

Du Thirteen looked downright resentful at my apparent lack of interest towards women, but I hadn"t forgotten how he elegantly ran into a table after barging into the cafe and meeting Lin Yixin.

Du Thirteen was a real monster. Legend said that his birth shocked his father so much that the latter pushed him back into his mother without hesitation. He had had to crawl back out on his own to save his own life. Since then, countless beautiful girls were plagued by the walking disaster called Du Thirteen.

"Lu Chen, what were you talking about with Beauty Lin?" Du Thirteen asked.

"Cooperation."

"What kind of cooperation?"

"How would I know? She"s the one who made the offer."

"f.u.c.k…"

It was night time. I logged back into the game and noted that neither Lin Yixin nor I were in the rankings anymore. It was because we had PKed each other down to Level 25 and fell out of the level race. Still, who would"ve thought that the best player of Floating Ice City, Wind Fantasy, was a devastatingly beautiful woman?

At Frost Mound Camp, I repaired my equipment and filled up my bag with potions. Now that I"m wealthy, not even two storehouses of potions can put a dent in my wallet!

I walked outside the camp and saw that Sentinel Leader Fark had come back to life. He rubbed his hands together and smiled at me just like before. "You"re here, little skeleton. It looks like you"ve gotten stronger during this time!"

I walked up to him and replied, "It"s all thanks to your guidance, boss!"

The NPC had no idea what I was talking about, so he simply sighed and said, "Recently, a bunch of annoying greenskins had shown up at the west side of Frost Mound. They"re noisy, loud, and they even attacked our camp before. We must mount a counterattack right away! Young little skeleton, go to the west side of Frost Mound and find the Green-hatted Goblins. Kill 100 of them and bring back 20 Green Hats to me!"

I nodded understandingly. It was the cla.s.sic monster that appeared in every game!

The goblin was a green-skinned creature with high agility and attack power. It could be considered quite powerful during the early stages of the game, more powerful than a Big-eared Rabbit at least.

Ding~!

System Notice: You"ve accepted the quest [The Goblins" Green Hats]! (Quest Rank: F)

Description: Head to the west side of Frost Mound, kill 100 Green-hatted Goblins and gather 20 Green Hats for Sentinel Leader Fark. You will be rewarded generously!

I accepted the quest while thanking the fact that I could finally kill something that wasn"t a skeleton. My skill, Undead Energy, had reached Rank 2, and killing living creatures would level it faster.

I opened the map and walked a straight path through the forest. A short while later, I reached a wide open area where a Green-hatted Goblin was meandering about at the distance. It was carrying a rusted iron hammer, talking to himself about something I couldn"t understand and shaking its hips while running. It was a performance worthy of the best actor award.

Green-hatted Goblin (Common)

Level: 33

Attack: ???

Defense: ???

HP: ???

Tsk tsk, another high-level mob whose stats I can"t read! I was 8 levels behind the Green-hatted Goblin because I had dropped to Level 25. It was no wonder that this quest was rated as an F rank quest!

Never mind that, kill first, think later!

Whoos.h.!.+

I charged the goblin in a straight line while wrapping the Weeping Fire Blade in a blood-colored energy. When I got close to it, cyan light abruptly exploded from the blade. Here comes my signature skill—Slayer Slash II!

I struck the goblin squarely in the head and caused a loud clang. Unfortunately, the angle of my attack was a bit off, and I wasn"t able to deal much damage to it.

187!

I calmly and swiftly brought my blade upward and stabbed the goblin in the face.

Puchi!

312!

As I thought, I shouldn"t attack its protected head. The hat had high defense, and I couldn"t pierce it with my current attack power.

I lowered my center of gravity and attacked the goblin a couple more times before it finally retaliated with a cry and a swing of its hammer. Unfortunately, it was so slow that it only managed to swing once before it died to my flurry of attacks.

Pop!

Not bad, my very first goblin kill gave me a Green Hat and a 76 Quality Big Magic Stone. It was totally worth it! Next!

Some time later, a familiar figure suddenly entered my view. It was Gui Guzi. This guy had gotten up very early to train his character, and he managed to don his Level 20 equipment again and return to Level 23. It was very impressive. Right now, he was fighting against a Level 33 Goblin, and it was a close one considering that he had to drink a couple of potions and maintain good positioning and movement against it. In the end, he won his fight.

"Are you also collecting goblin hats for a quest?" I asked.

Gui Guzi nodded. I didn"t send him a party invite either.

The two of us went back to killing goblins at the clearing. A while later, I turned around and asked, "Gui Guzi, how many times did Wind Fantasy kill you yesterday?"

"Eleven times I guess, I don"t remember…"

"Do you bear a grudge?"

Gui Guzi gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly in response. He said, "If only I could skin him alive!"

"She"s a girl." I kept the reveal brief.

Surprised, Gui Guzi fell silent for a moment. Then, he asked, "How does she look?"

"f.u.c.k off!"

"Hahaha…"

When it was nighttime, and the moon had risen to the sky, I had collected enough Green Hats to turn in my quest. I ran back to Frost Mound and—

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, you"ve completed the quest [The Goblins" Green Hats]! You"ve obtained 4500 EXP and 30 Reputation!

Swoos.h.!.+

Light surrounded me, and I leveled to 27. As usual, killing mobs that were higher level than you was incredibly rewarding. The only problem was that I was burning through my potions way too quickly. Take now for example, I had used up my entire bag of potions in less than 3 hours. This can"t go on!

The sentinel leader had no other quests to offer, and my Satiety had fallen to 37. So, I went to the Mushroom Forest. Xinran was gathering fresh mushrooms beneath a tree, and she clearly looked happy to see me. She rushed to my side at almost running speed and smiled. "You"ve finally shown up, big brother! I almost thought you wouldn"t come today!"

Xinran then took out a piece of Oat Bread from her wicker basket and said, "Here you go, this is for you!"

I nodded and accepted the bread. After I finished, my Satiety was completely refilled once more. Now I could run around the world for another 24 hours!

I then took out a 99 Quality Big Magic Stone and gave it to the girl, saying, "Xinran, here, this is for you!"

"Ah?!"

The girl"s pure eyes were filled with astonishment. Her mouth fell open as she muttered, "This… this is a monster"s core! The shaman in the village said that only a powerful warrior can kill a monster and take out their core. Big brother, does this mean you"re a powerful warrior of the Light?"

"Er…" Slightly caught off-guard by her response, I put the Weeping Fire Blade on my shoulder and grinned. "Yep, I"m a powerful warrior of the Light! I protect all that is right!"