The girl’s method for getting out of prison was simple and effective—
Bribery.
Whenever the guard appeared during the fixed patrol every two hours, each gold coin handed over would reduce twelve hours of jail time.
With a maximum of two hours of online time and one gold coin, you could cut up to fourteen hours off the dull sentence. For some players, this was a lucrative deal.
This was invaluable intelligence paid for by the Scarlet Dawn Guild members’ fearlessness in the face of hardship and sacrifice.
Fortunately, the group’s crimes were minor, and the System’s “Cooldown Period” wasn’t too long. When the guard arrived, they secured early release by offering four gold coins.
All four had been imprisoned because of the “Spicy Rabbit Head” incident, so naturally, the debt was tallied to her. After she shared the quest, the other three, being innocent, fronted the funds for her, with the expectation she’d pay them back later.
The other three were already above level 20. After helping Zhang Cheng grind experience to level 20 and successfully advance to Knight, they added each other as friends, agreed on a time to tackle the hidden quest together, and then logged off.
What the four didn’t know was that, at the very moment they were being thrown into jail, the Forum of Eternal World had already exploded.
The cause of the commotion was a live post by a player with the in-game nickname Nanbowan.
“The streamer’s name is really something.”
“Catching the stream live, hurry up!”
“It’s the pro! Found the main quest so fast, amazing!!!”
While the front-line raiding teams toiled away in dungeons day and night, there were always some players who preferred exploring the story, digging up the vast troves of information scattered across the game world.
In less than four days since launch, the number of entries on the Forum had already reached 200,000. These included the continent’s history, racial histories, the history of various nations, geographical environments, the origins of different organizations, introductions to each class, class change guides, class-specific techniques, and descriptions of monsters, equipment, and items—anything you could want to look up, it was there.
Much of this information was thanks to these exploration-oriented players.
Nanbowan and his twin brother Nanbotu had triggered a pre-main quest while exploring a ruin on the Empire of Letachino’s border. Excited, the two of them started a live broadcast on the Forum, sharing their experiences with the wider player base.
On screen, Nanbowan switched the stream to a first-person view, pointing at the devastated land ahead. “My brother and I were standing right here when we saw those people over there fighting that silver-haired beauty. Both sides had names above their heads so red they were almost black???”
A voice beside him corrected Nanbowan’s mistake: “They weren’t fighting, they were facing off. The fight only started after that boss turned into a dragon.”
“Right, right! That dragon was huge! Its body was super long, when it stood up it was as tall as a three-story building, and the whole thing was silver. Once the fight started, they just kept blasting each other with magic. It was so bright we couldn’t even keep our eyes open.”
The twins continued recounting what they’d seen, but before long, some in the chat grew impatient.
“No matter how well you tell it, we can’t see it! Give us something real.”
“Hurry up and tell us what quest you got. If you don’t, I’m leaving.”
“I’m out, too. Been rambling forever without any real info. These two are probably just scammers trying to get famous with something new.”
The brothers panicked, trying to keep viewers around while fiddling with the System menu, hastily trying to show the quest.
On the System quest interface, a single line appeared: Detected that player is currently live-streaming. Cannot display pre-main quest details.
The twins and the viewers all froze, and the chat exploded.
“This damn System is even guarding against us, huh!”
“No wonder it’s called Eternal World, totally different from traditional games.”
“Stop sucking up, this kind of brain-dead design deserves criticism! Why can’t we see it!”
“Streamer, try reading the quest out loud!”
The twins exchanged glances. Nanbotu explained to the viewers: “It’s not that we don’t want to share the quest with you all, it’s that the officials won’t let us. Look, this is official certification, a pre-main quest. We’re not lying…”
“Once we finish the pre-quest, everyone will know the main quest. Please support us! Some people just called us scammers—that made us really sad, now we have no motivation to push the main quest…”
Seeing how shameless the two were, the barrage of comments intensified. The stream was lively and chaotic, filled with scolding.
No doubt these brothers would be “warmly welcomed” by their fans from now on.
*****
Lu Qiuchen wobbled as she flew back to the mountainside of Dragon Vein Peak, her eyelids drooping as she barely made it to her lair before collapsing onto the ground, unmoving.
Her once pristine and beautiful Silver Dragon body was now covered in tiny wounds and scorched marks from magical bombardment, though most were only superficial.
After reaching adulthood, Lu Qiuchen’s scales had gained much greater magical defense. Unless her defenses were breached, even level 6 magic could only tickle her.
Among Pureblood Dragons, the pinnacle of magic resistance lay with the Silver Dragon and Black Dragon—both could be called nemeses of mages.
In game terms, the Black Dragon was like a heavy, high-defense, high-HP, high-attack warrior, using its body to tank all magical assaults and ripping opponents apart under fire; the Silver Dragon was the opposite extreme—an ultimate high-damage, high-magic-resistance mage, showing any spellcaster daring to face her what true stat-crushing meant.
Lu Qiuchen, under System control, had fought several Legendary powerhouses of the Empire of Letachino, nearly exhausting all her magic. If not for the dragon’s overwhelming physical strength, she might not have escaped at all.
‘Damn System…’ This was the first time since arriving in this world that Lu Qiuchen felt drained of both magic and spirit. She closed her eyes, surrounded only by the powerful breathing of a dragon.
……
She had no idea how much time had passed when she finally opened her eyes. Her condition was almost fully restored. The tiny wounds had vanished, her scales regained their silvery luster, and only a few badly damaged ones were still self-repairing.
Lu Qiuchen called out to the System in her heart, demanding, “Beta! What were you doing while controlling my body? Why did you run off to the empire and get into a fight?”
Previously, she’d fallen into self-blame and confusion, letting Beta take over her body automatically. During that time, she sealed herself away, retreating into the white, unknown space within her mind to seek answers, completely unaware of what was happening outside.
This space was the only place in Eternal World that belonged solely to Lu Qiuchen. In the current foggy environment, it was the only place she could feel safe and at ease.
Lu Qiuchen reflected on everything she’d done since transmigrating, dissecting her own heart.
There was the pain and excitement of becoming a dragon, the confusion and sorrow upon realizing she’d crossed into another world, the gradual acceptance and curiosity of her new life, the passion and melancholy of adventuring and fighting with her companions, and finally, the guilt and fear upon learning she’d slaughtered humans.
Looking back on everything she’d done in this world—what was her purpose? What had she truly accomplished?
Thinking carefully, she realized she’d never had a clear goal. She always said she was working hard to return to Earth, but what were her real thoughts? What had she actually done toward that goal?
Her hard training on Dragon Island was because magic was novel and mysterious.
She worked hard to pass the coming-of-age trial because she wanted to see the outside world and experience new sights.
Learning projection magic arrays was purely for her own interests and desires.
When she learned the demons had clues, she didn’t investigate further—upon waking, she only argued with the System.
Was she drawn by the new world and unknown beings? Or had she grown tired of Earth’s peaceful life and craved something dramatic? Was she secretly pleased by the so-called “Savior Prophecy”? Or was she simply unwilling to give up the noble status and great power of a dragon?
She’d gained power almost invincible in this world, able to decide others’ life and death in an instant. In the goblin ruins, more holy knights could have survived, but she hesitated over the shadow demon and only watched from the sidelines.
Back in Tara Kingdom, she’d acted on her whims, ignoring the wishes of the weak as if toying with her playthings. The Adventurers’ Guild must hate her—over fifty Epic-level adventurers, enough to topple a small nation, all died in the Druid because of her.
Layer by layer, Lu Qiuchen peeled away her disguises and found she was not as good as she’d imagined.
In the end, she was just a selfish villain, wasn’t she?
After figuring this out, she began to face the filth and ugliness in her heart, accepting her ordinariness, no longer clinging to the perfect “Savior” persona.
Her thoughts gradually cleared. Lu Qiuchen recalled that so-called dragon inheritance in the Blood-red Space. If she guessed right, the demon that invaded her mind in Druid was destroyed by that inheritance.
Back then, the demon’s words were suddenly interrupted—was it because the dragons were hiding something from her? Or was it the dragon inheritance’s instinctive reaction to the demon’s appearance?
For such a foreign thing, not hers and hidden in the depths of her heart, Lu Qiuchen felt a strong sense of vigilance.
Having sorted all this out, Lu Qiuchen accepted the fact that she’d caused a massacre. She decided to face things head-on from now on, no longer running away from her problems.
Didn’t the System want her to be the villain boss? Then she’d be a proper boss—her way!
But what she never expected was that the System had thrown her into a real mess. The moment her consciousness returned to her body, she was hit by a thunderous opening.
She’d ended up fighting the strongest force in the Southern Continent, the Empire of Letachino! And her opponents were three Legendary Archmages! Even though their condition wasn’t great, they were still stronger than her, who was nearly out of magic. Lu Qiuchen could only flee in disgrace.
“Beta, get out here!”
She called out several times in her heart, but Beta ignored her. Frustrated, Lu Qiuchen opened her quest log to see what tasks lay ahead, hoping to prepare in advance.
The three locations she’d originally needed to visit were already marked as completed. The next main quest was displayed: Stir up chaos in Knight Nation.
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