The moment the system notification for the server-wide announcement chimed, the players erupted into excitement, whether they were doing daily quests in the Castellan Player Town, exploring the coast of Windhaven Town, or grinding monsters in Starfall Forest.
“Holy crap?! Finally, a main quest!!!”
“Awesome! We can farm Merit Points again! I can finally replace this trashy green-grade gear I've been wearing forever with purple gear!”
“Hurry, hurry! Anyone want to party up? Let's go scout the forest first.”
“Yes, yes! Count me in!”
The players were incredibly hyped, rubbing their hands together and itching for a fight, wishing they could set out right away.
Meanwhile, in Windhaven Town.
Outside a small magic ore vein.
Nan Cheng was standing at the entrance of the mine, preparing to enter. Behind him followed a dozen players from the Dawn Covenant guild.
His original plan was to take advantage of his visit to Windhaven Town to start the development quest for this magic ore vein. After all, Lilith had mentioned that magic stones were crucial resources for maintaining teleportation arrays. If the players wanted to use teleportation arrays in the future, they would definitely need magic stones to support them.
However, the sudden server-wide announcement instantly stunned everyone.
Bruce's excited voice was the first to ring out: “Holy crap, Brother Cheng! Why are we still acting like miners?! Stop mining for Miss Lilith! Let's go, let's go! Time to fight!”
Nan Cheng, however, remained exceptionally calm without a hint of impulsiveness. He read the server-wide announcement thoroughly from start to finish:
“Trolls? The God of Riot and Barbarism?”
He raised an eyebrow slightly, a trace of surprise in his eyes. “Is this a new racial faction?”
As he was thinking, his gaze swept over to the quest rewards column—
“H-How much...?”
Nan Cheng carefully counted the number of zeros. “One, two, three... five?! It's actually one hundred thousand?! Holy crap?! One hundred thousand EXP and one hundred thousand Merit Points?!!”
He gasped, his face filled with shock.
But despite his surprise, Nan Cheng quickly calmed down.
Having played since the closed beta, he had long figured out this game's quirks.
Simply put, the richer the quest rewards, the greater the difficulty.
Of course, this was a common trait among almost all games on the market.
“...The World Envies This King?”
Nan Cheng's gaze lingered on the ID of the quest triggerer.
He didn't have much of an impression of this name.
Seeing this, Bruce immediately leaned in and grinned. “Brother Cheng, I know this guy.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, he's a second beta player. I met him once during the last main quest.” Bruce crossed his arms, recalling. “After the quest ended back then, I even invited him to join our guild, but he declined.”
“Why did he decline?” Nan Cheng asked, puzzled.
Hearing this, Bruce's lips twitched, his expression becoming a bit subtle. “He's actually a decent guy... and he's a hard worker and a good fighter... it's just...”
At this point, his mouth began to twitch wildly, wearing a complicated expression.
“It's just that when he speaks, he uses words like ‘this king,’ ‘mongrels,’ ‘the world will eventually bow to me,’ and stuff like that... A pure, top-tier chunibyo kid. Still, I added him to my friends list, thinking I might be able to recruit him as a powerful helper in the future.”
As he spoke, Bruce opened his friends list, preparing to pull up the other's profile to show Nan Cheng.
But in the next second, his movements suddenly froze, and his expression became incredibly strange.
“What's wrong?” Nan Cheng asked casually, noticing his odd behavior.
“Brother Cheng, you should just look at the world chat yourself. I don't even know what to say.” Bruce immediately covered his face.
Nan Cheng immediately opened the world chat. A dense flood of spam messages rushed into view, and pinned right at the very top was a post by [The World Envies This King]. It was incredibly arrogant and chunibyo, dominating the entire screen!
【The World Envies This King: Hahaha—hahaha—! (Laughs wildly at the sky)】
【The World Envies This King: You mere mortals, make haste and worship this king!】
【The World Envies This King: This king has successfully infiltrated the enemy's ranks (screenshot). An army of three thousand! No! An army of thirty thousand! Has been toyed with in the palm of this king's hand! They still think this king is their prisoner, completely unaware that this king has already seen through everything! This is—the Wisdom of the King!】
【The World Envies This King: However, this king is currently trapped. Come rescue me at once! If you're late, this king will have to unleash his ultimate move! When the enemies are turned to ashes, you won't get any EXP! This king is doing this for your own good! Do you understand?!】
【The World Envies This King: Once this king breaks free, I shall lead you all to trample the enemy forces and achieve great glory! At that time, this king wouldn't mind taking you in as subordinates—well, as long as you perform well.】
Attached below was a screenshot. Judging by the angle, it must have been stealthily taken while he was being carried. The image showed a dense crowd of trolls from behind and a large forest clearing in the distance.
The world chat was completely blowing up:
“Hahaha, deep behind enemy lines? Big boss, you were captured, you're not an undercover agent!”
“This ID, this copy... his chunibyo soul is literally burning! But cough cough... I like it!”
“So the one who triggered the main quest was this guy?! Big boss is awesome! Please carry us!”
“High-def unblurred screenshot! Three thousand trolls confirmed! High energy warning ahead!”
“The Demon Hunter squad has assembled! Coordinates locked, ready to support the big boss at any time!”
“Is it possible that he's not an undercover agent, but just a free human camera for the enemy side?”
Looking at the screen-dominating post, Nan Cheng's mouth twitched violently a few times.
“...He really is quite chunibyo.”
But...
“He didn't return to the resurrection point... which means... he was captured?”
That also meant he could share the trolls' location at any time.
In that case, they could absolutely eliminate the trolls in advance. After all, wasn't the ultimate goal of this main quest to eliminate the trolls? As for repairing the walls...
“With the players from the Rose Heart guild around, I'm sure they'll be built in no time.”
Nan Cheng shrugged. Most players in their guild were much more passionate about combat.
With this in mind, he decided to gather his guild members, but before that,
“Bruce, how about... you take a few players first to see how strong those trolls actually are?”
After all, the quest tip said there were three thousand of them. That was quite a large number. If every single enemy was at Bronze Rank or higher, they wouldn't be able to fight them.
Although their Dawn Covenant guild had grown quite a bit after recruiting, the players' strengths were uneven, and their equipment quality varied. In fact, most players were still wearing the basic starter gear handed out by the system at the beginning.
“No problem, Brother Cheng. I'll head out first then.”
Bruce nodded.
...
Castellan, the Temple of Light.
Lilith stood by the window, her brow slightly furrowed as she let out a soft sigh.
Earlier, she had called out to Belise at the shore of Windhaven Town, but the other party had not responded.
Later, she had also learned from the God-Chosen Ones about Nagas appearing in the nearby waters, keeping her heart in a constant state of suspense.
Nagas and mermaids had been enemies for generations. Could something have happened to Belise?
Just as her thoughts were heavy, Schutard slowly walked in from outside the hall. Seeing Lilith's troubled expression, his footsteps paused slightly.
He had already heard from the God-Chosen Ones about the Nagas appearing near Windhaven Town, so he immediately guessed what Lilith was worried about.
“Lilith.”
Hearing his voice, Lilith looked up. Upon seeing that the newcomer was Schutard, the worry in her eyes receded slightly, and she revealed a faint smile:
“Grandpa Schutard.”
Schutard sighed softly. “You're worried about that child Belise, aren't you?”
Lilith was slightly startled, then nodded gently. “...Yes.”
“Silly child,” Schutard said, his tone gentle yet reassuring. “You must have faith that Belise will be fine. You and I both know her identity. She is the princess of the Mermaid Kingdom; nothing will happen to her.”
Having lived for a thousand years, Schutard naturally knew far more.
“Furthermore,” Schutard added, “I know Belise's father. That old fellow... though he seems gentle, he is extremely protective of his own. If anything really happened to his daughter, he would probably be the first to turn the Naga Kingdom completely upside down.”
Hearing this, Lilith's tense nerves relaxed slightly. She knew Schutard was trying to comfort her:
“I understand, Grandpa Schutard.”
Though she said this, a trace of worry was still hidden deep in her eyes.
Schutard was about to comfort her with a few more words when suddenly—
The statue of the Goddess of Light in the center of the temple suddenly lit up with a soft golden glow, and a holy aura instantly filled the entire hall.
Lilith and Schutard were both stunned, and then, as if by prior agreement, they knelt down together.
“Lady Goddess!”
Their voices overlapped, one clear and the other aged, yet both carried the same devotion and excitement.
“Mm.” A holy, majestic, yet gentle voice echoed from the void, like a warm breeze softly brushing past their ears.
“Two days from now, a large force of trolls and kobolds will arrive. I have already issued an oracle to the God-Chosen Ones in advance. You must make sure to prepare for it.”
“We shall obey your oracle, Lady Goddess.”
The two spoke in unison.
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