Chapter 48: Main Story in Progress

Zhang Cheng finished a day’s work and returned home.

Tomorrow was his day off, and he had been “volunteered” by his older sister to go shopping together, so he had no choice but to give up the idea of experiencing the game during the day.

It was obvious that his sister really liked Eternal World, but compared to grinding dungeons and fighting bosses, she seemed to treat the game more like a super-sized fitting room.

For now, players could only experience clothes in a medieval style, but once Production Professions developed, the clothes on the streets would probably become much more flamboyant.

After all, everyone had their own unique sense of aesthetics—just look at how people customize faces in Old God games.

He inserted the key and opened the door. The aroma of stir-fried dishes filled the living room. Zhang Cheng, having been used to living alone, was accustomed to the quiet after coming home, so he felt a bit out of place for a moment.

Seeing the busy figure behind the kitchen partition, Zhang Cheng felt a wave of emotion—only with the signs of daily life did a place truly feel like home.

Zhang Cheng had confidence in Zhang Yu’s cooking skills, so he didn’t bother his sister. Lost in thought over what he’d just been pondering, he washed his hands and got ready for dinner.

Wiping his face, he looked at himself in the mirror and suddenly realized—he had been affected by the couples he saw holding hands along the road today, and by Zhang Yu and Qi Wen yesterday. His long-lonely heart was beginning to stir, which explained his earlier sentimentality.

With a sigh, Zhang Cheng thought about how he’d be turning twenty-three in a few months. His family was well-off, and he himself was in good shape—yet he’d never dated anyone. In today’s society, that was pretty rare.

Humans, after all, are social creatures. Being alone all the time can mess with your mind.

On top of that, he’d been under a lot of pressure these past few years. Maybe after confirming the boss’s identity in the game, he could put his current affairs aside for a while and seriously look for a girlfriend.

After dinner, Zhang Cheng took the initiative to clean up the dishes and tidy up.

Zhang Yu had been busy shopping with friends today, buying groceries in the afternoon and then cooking a lavish dinner in the evening—she was thoroughly exhausted.

At the moment, she was sprawled on the sofa, projecting her phone screen in front of her and idly browsing outfit threads on the game forum. Suddenly, a post caught her eye, and her interest was piqued.

“Little bro! The main story quest has appeared!” Zhang Yu sat up and called out to Zhang Cheng, who was busy in the kitchen. She still remembered how he’d asked her last night to keep an eye out for main story developments.

Zhang Cheng was scrubbing grease from the plates, and without looking up, replied, “I already heard about it at the company today.”

“Oh…” Zhang Yu answered, disappointed, and flopped back onto the sofa.

*****

Zhang Cheng logged into the game, and a prominent system prompt appeared before him.

“The main storyline has been successfully triggered by players ‘Nanbowan’ and ‘Nanbotu’. The main storyline and guild system are now open to all players.”

This had already spread through the company at noon, and even hit the trending charts in the game section of social media, making the two lucky players instant celebrities.

Zhang Cheng glanced at the notification, but didn’t pay it much mind. What mattered now was to check what the main quest actually was.

It’s finally here! With excitement, Zhang Cheng opened the quest log.

Main Storyline: Join the Adventurers’ Guild and become a registered Adventurer.

Zhang Cheng had read about the Adventurers’ Guild in the game materials and knew it was a huge organization spanning all currently open regions in the game—a major force in the world.

Since the main quest started here, and players were called Adventurers upon logging in, this Adventurers’ Guild was probably the quest hub of the game.

Without waiting for Zhang Yu to log in, Zhang Cheng went to register as an Adventurer. Since he’d already reached level 20 and become a Novice Knight, after paying a one-silver-coin membership fee, he automatically became a Junior Adventurer.

Quest complete, 100 experience points received. Zhang Cheng looked at the pitifully small amount of experience, then at his unmoving experience bar, and kept a straight face as he prepared to check the next quest.

Main Storyline: Please follow the quest prompts to gain experience in the Adventurers’ Guild. After becoming an Intermediate Adventurer, return to the Adventurers’ Guild for the next stage of the story.

“???” Zhang Cheng was full of question marks. The main storyline quest was this short? That’s it?

This game really emphasizes freedom. To become an Intermediate Adventurer, you had to reach level 40, advance to an intermediate class, and accumulate quest experience in the Adventurers’ Guild. But the highest-ranked player on the Level Leaderboard was only level 30!

Currently, the game offered 7 major classes and 18 class advancements, with each class divided into 5 stages based on player level.

Levels 1–19: No class (ordinary person), corresponding to Registered Adventurer in the guild.

Levels 20–39: Junior Adventurer. Levels 40–59: Intermediate Adventurer. Levels 60–79: Senior Adventurer. Levels 80–99: Saint Adventurer.

As for the Epic rank at level 100, Zhang Cheng figured he’d probably have quit the game by then, so he wouldn’t have to face the Knight’s harsh class advancement requirements.

Aside from the Knight class, which advanced at level 100, the Warrior class had a special advancement path. The other classes all advanced at Saint rank (level 80).

Warriors could advance to Martial Artist at level 60, becoming one of only two tank classes in the game.

The official reasoning for this setup was probably that the Knight advancement requirements were so harsh, there were very few Knight players, but you still needed tank classes to take on bosses. This was a way to balance things out.

Back to the matter at hand. Following the quest prompt, Zhang Cheng went to the Adventurers’ Guild hall in Knight City to check the system-assigned beginner quest.

Although there were a lot of hoops to jump through, once Zhang Cheng accepted the beginner quest, he found the familiar feeling of traditional RPG online games had returned.

Beginner Quest Details:

The Blacksmith Association in Knight City is hosting guests from the Northern Continent but lacks fresh game to serve with drinks. Please collect the following materials and deliver them to the guild in a timely manner.

Collect four wild boar hind legs from the forest outside the city (0/4)

Collect eight wild rabbits from the forest outside the city (0/8)

Note: This is an urgent timed quest. Complete it within 2 hours for a 50% experience bonus. If not completed within 4 hours, the quest will be considered failed.

Zhang Cheng calculated the experience, checked other quests in the Adventurers’ Guild, and found that many offered substantial experience rewards—leveling up was much faster than grinding dungeons.

Plus, even though he hadn’t mastered any advanced sword techniques, swinging his two-handed greatsword already felt mighty. He no longer needed to grind weak monsters to improve his combat skills.

After days of spider grinding, Zhang Cheng was bored anyway, and the gold reward for this beginner quest was quite generous—it was time to upgrade his newbie gear.

*****

Lu Qiuchen walked out of the Council of Elders, visibly more relaxed. She had just met with Alduin, the Lord of Dragons and the supreme dragon leader, to give a full report on her experiences in the Tara Kingdom, raise some questions, and receive answers.

She had been in a deep sleep for months, and after waking up a few days ago, immediately encountered another unexpected system event, then caused a stir in the human world, and hadn’t visited the Council of Elders until now.

After she started to doubt the dragon inheritance, facing Alduin again made her a bit anxious. In front of this powerful and mysterious black dragon, Lu Qiuchen always felt as if all her thoughts were laid bare.

Lu Qiuchen recalled everything that had just happened:

Upon meeting Alduin, she first reported on the situation in the Tara Kingdom. Alduin listened without any reaction or response, which only made her more nervous.

Alduin kept his eyes closed, waiting quietly for a while before opening them to affirm her: “You did well in the Tara Kingdom. As for the reason for your berserk state, it’s a phase all pureblood dragons who have undergone the bloodline ritual and become true dragons must experience. That’s also why your body grew so rapidly. But it won’t happen again.”

Hearing this, Lu Qiuchen let out a sigh of relief. She was truly afraid of losing control and going berserk again one day.

Alduin continued, “You don’t need to worry about the Adventurers’ Guild. The dragons will take care of it.” He paused, then said, “You handled yourself well in battle. At that time, the Tara Kingdom was sealed by demon magic, so the Subordinate Teleport Magic Stone didn’t work. Now, I can give you some compensation.”

‘Still that high-and-mighty attitude. The compensation feels like charity—such arrogance is really annoying!’ Lu Qiuchen complained inwardly.

“I know you still keep some human habits. This garment can change its appearance at will, has enough defense to withstand a legendary strike, and can self-repair as long as it’s not completely destroyed. It also has a disguise effect.” A robe appeared in front of Alduin and floated over to Lu Qiuchen.

Perhaps because Lu Qiuchen was now a true pureblood dragon, Alduin seemed much more talkative.

She was very curious why Alduin had a human disguise magic item. Had he spent a long time in the human world? And the disguise magic invented by that old dragon, creator of the half-dragons, was very similar to the effect of this robe!

As if seeing through her doubts, Alduin said, “Galev’s disguise magic was inspired by this ancient magical artifact, though he only learned the basics.”

Lu Qiuchen’s eyes lit up. For Alduin, a dragon at the pinnacle of the world, to praise this item, its effects must be extraordinary!

“But giving you such a precious item comes with conditions. Within a month, you need to make several trips to the border between the Knight Nation and the Empire of Letachino and stir up some chaos on both sides.” Alduin’s expression turned serious.

Now, Lu Qiuchen could actually read expressions on a dragon’s face—maybe because she was a dragon herself now, or perhaps it was a function of accepting the full dragon inheritance.

“Why?” Lu Qiuchen was puzzled. There shouldn’t be any prior conflict or interaction between the Knight Nation, the Empire, and the dragons, right?

She was also a bit annoyed—if it was compensation, why were there strings attached!

Although she wanted to put her foot down, she still honestly accepted the compensation—this robe sounded amazing, and she could freely change her appearance in the human world from now on.

Besides, Alduin’s task could be completed alongside the main story quest from the system, so it was as if he hadn’t asked anything extra.

Alduin opened his mouth and said, “Once you’re done, I’ll tell you.”

At that moment, Lu Qiuchen even detected a trace of slyness on his face.

*****

Yesterday I wrote until 4 a.m., so I’m too tired today and can only manage one chapter. I’ll make up for it tomorrow.