Karen and the others didn’t return to the Adventurers’ Association until nearly noon.
After a simple rest, Karen, dressed in casual clothes, slipped straight into the lounge to chat away with the others.
She told them all sorts of tales—about battling powerful monsters one after another to protect a frail little priest, witnessing first-hand the devastating might of a ninth-rank powerhouse, and how she exhausted all her strength to defeat a Tier 2 BOSS.
Karen’s words painted a dazzling picture.
But she never breathed a word about Truth—not about her being from the Sun Family, nor about her always having a ninth-rank guardian by her side.
“Wait, was it really that amazing? Weren’t the three teammates you took with you all first-rank? How did you manage to defeat a Tier 2 BOSS in those ruins?”
“Uh, ma…mainly because that little priest could help me recover again and again, so I was able to…”
“A first-rank priest who can heal a second-rank? That powerful?! Can you introduce us sometime?”
“Well, maybe Kovado knows. I took my gear to get repaired as soon as we got back, so I don’t know where Miss Ariel went.”
“Kovado? You can’t count on that guy! Look, over there.” Someone pointed, and Karen saw Kovado, clutching a wine glass, slumped drunkenly over a table.
“How could I like girls…” Kovado kept repeating the phrase, taking a sullen sip of wine now and then.
“What happened to him?” Karen asked, puzzled.
“Looks like a failed confession. As soon as we got back, he borrowed a suit from us, saying he was going to confess to a girl he liked, but before long he came back with his head hanging like a sick dog.”
“Huh?” Karen finally put it together. Could it be that he went to confess to Miss Ariel?
Really? Doesn’t he even know his own limits?!
The whole time from departure to return, Kovado kept recalling what Truth had said—“I like people who strive to improve themselves.”
So, in the ruins, he did his best to overcome his fears and fought alongside everyone above his level—a truly outstanding performance.
With such an exceptional showing, surely he’d leave a good impression on the priestess, right?
So, once back at the Adventurers’ Association, Kovado hurried to Truth and pleaded for “a chance.”
But Truth offhandedly replied, “Sorry, I only like pretty big sisters,” instantly shattering Kovado’s dream…
Single for twenty years, he finally fell for someone, and it turned out she liked girls…
“Poor Kovado, completely played by the priestess.”
Not far away, Anderson shook his head at Kovado, then continued discussing the sale of monster materials with the merchant before him.
Karen, meanwhile, was still bombarded with questions:
“And what about that ninth-rank battle? We saw lightning and thunder coming from the ruins last night, even from far away! We were all too scared to go out.”
“How did you whittle down the Tier 2 BOSS’s health all by yourself? Where’s your loot?”
“And, and…”
“Karen, someone’s looking for you!”
Suddenly, an employee’s shout interrupted the questioning.
At the entrance to the lounge, an Association staff member was bowing slightly, directing a little girl to Karen’s location.
When Karen met her gaze, the girl with short, pink hair came right over and tossed a huge bag of money smack into Karen’s face.
“Ouch!”
Clatter!
Before Karen could ask Truth why she’d attacked her, hundreds of gleaming gold coins spilled from the bag and scattered all over the floor.
The crisp clink of coins hitting the ground made everyone present swallow hard, but since this was the Association, no one dared make a move.
“Huh? Gold coins?!” Karen was shocked, but quickly crouched down to gather up the scattered coins.
Miss Ariel hadn’t forgotten their deal—no wonder she was the daughter of a great family! She said five hundred gold coins, and here they were!
“How could there be so many coins?!”
Everyone around was stunned by the amount of gold Truth had brought.
A first-rank priest, casually carrying so much gold and handing it all over to Karen without blinking an eye!
Truth looked at her, a bit confused:
“Why didn’t you catch it?”
Well, don’t throw it at my face next time!
Karen really wanted to retort, but who would talk back to their benefactor? So she just kept grinning like a fool.
Watching Karen crouched on the ground, grinning stupidly as she picked up the coins, everyone else could only envy her.
She had led three weaklings through a ruin, cleared the instance, and now received so much gold as a reward.
Anyone who said they weren’t jealous would be lying.
“I’ll need to clear a few more instances here and reach second rank soon, so you’d better finish resting quickly.”
Truth continued, and Karen immediately offered her seat:
“Of course, of course! Miss Ariel, please have a seat! If you want something done, I’ll risk life and limb for you!
Would you like something to drink?”
“I want cola.”
“Cola?”…
At noon, under Tia’s bombardment of news, many Adventurers from Deya City gathered at the main entrance to the Mist, where they saw a huge notice formed from mist:
[Mist ver0.15 Patch Notes:
- The first instance designed for first-rank newbies—“Soundseeker King’s Hideaway”—will begin public testing tomorrow. Only Adventurers below level 15 may challenge it.
- Improved monster respawn and guidance mechanisms on the road to the Deya Underground Labyrinth. Many new Campfire Save zones have been added for Adventurers to rest. Fixed the bug allowing Adventurers to reach the labyrinth too quickly—travel time is now increased from half an hour to three hours.
- Added “Slime Square.” Slimes will continually spawn there for Adventurers to practice. The square is a major safe zone, and Adventurers can check its coordinates anytime while in the Mist.
- Added BOSS “Soundseeker King,” new elite monsters “Mist Wolf Chieftain,” “Giant-Mouth Frog,” “Water Nymph Mother,” … new normal monsters “Giant-Mouth Frog (Common),” “Water Nymph,” “Screeching Swarm,” “Black-Horned Rhinobeetle”…
- UJ Display optimization. Added “Insurance of Life” mechanism. Added “Campfire Save” mechanism…]
……
“Patch notes? What’s this—are there new changes in the Mist?”
It was the first time Adventurers saw a major instance actually posting patch notes for everyone to read. Usually, everyone had to go explore for themselves, right?
Still, thinking about it, this way was easier and definitely made people even more curious.
“Only under level 15 allowed to challenge—that’s perfect! Now those second-rank guys won’t be able to strut around the newbie area and bully us anymore!”
“And this ‘Insurance of Life’—isn’t that wild? We can actually revive once?! The cost is just beating ten slimes?”
“Now that’s what a real newbie instance should be!”
“Why cap it at level 15? I just hit sixteen yesterday! Am I stuck with the labyrinth now? And why did they make the labyrinth take longer to reach?”
The Adventurers’ heated discussion spread from the Mist entrance across all of Deya City.
For a while, the whole city was abuzz about the Mist’s update notes.
Truth, eavesdropping from the Adventurers’ Association over fruit tea with a god’s-eye view, was very satisfied.
Excellent. At this rate, tomorrow the Mist would be packed with people, and she could just lie back and stockpile energy. Continue…
But just then, the tone of the Adventurers’ discussion shifted—they all seemed hesitant about something:
“There’s just one thing: for the next two weeks, Meteor Island will be passing over the Northern Frontier Mountains on the Deya Plateau. If we spend tomorrow in the Mist, we’ll miss the Meteorite Dungeon event.”
“Right, the Meteorite Dungeon is coming in a few days. Doesn’t that clash with the Mist’s update? We’ll have to pick one or the other.”
Whenever Meteor Island passed over a place, it brought priceless meteorites with it.
The gems inside these meteorites attracted monsters and Adventurers alike to compete for them, and some meteorites even spawned low-rank fire spirits, forming temporary, limited-time dungeons.
It just so happened that in the coming two weeks, Meteor Island would be passing over the north of the Deya Plateau.
“The Mist’s update should be permanent, right? Looks like the Meteorite Dungeon is more important—we should head to the Northern Frontier Mountains at the northernmost part of the Deya Plateau and challenge the Meteorite Dungeon first.”
“Yeah, the rewards from limited-time dungeons are way better. So far, the Mist’s treasure chests mostly have monster materials, not valuable magic items.”
……
After half an hour of debate, most Adventurers decided to go north to the Northern Frontier Mountains and challenge the Meteorite Dungeon first. This made Truth grit her teeth:
“Trying to steal my business?!”
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