The other three gasped, looking at Zhang Cheng in utter shock. The envy and jealousy in Spicy Rabbit Head’s eyes were practically overflowing.
Zhang Cheng glanced at the others’ expressions, and for once, looked a little awkward. He forced a fake smile, but even with a city wall between them, his excitement was obvious.
The first round of dice rolling ended, and the results of the second round were far more ordinary.
As the numbers appeared, the four of them received green, purple, green, and green quality equipment respectively.
Once the equipment was distributed, before they could even see what they’d gotten, they were kicked out of the instance.
A spatial rift opened, and the four of them tumbled out in a rather sorry state. The dazzling equipment from the instance was gone, and Spicy Rabbit Head, who only had two pieces of green quality equipment, looked dejected off to the side. Clearly, she was the one who had purchased the treasure map, yet she ended up with the worst loot among the four.
Zhang Cheng took out the golden item he’d obtained, drawing the attention of the others.
Bipedal Wyvern Whistle: Summons an adult bipedal wyvern, guaranteed to form a partnership with you.
Zhang Cheng stared at the item in his hand, his face full of delight—this was an adult bipedal wyvern!
Although bipedal wyverns had the weakest dragonkin bloodline among all Dragonkin, with much lower attack power and a limited potential compared to other Dragonkin, no matter how weak a bipedal wyvern was, it was still a Dragonkin.
As everyone knows, whether it’s a Pureblood Dragon or a Dragonkin, dragons share one trait: arrogance.
Zhang Cheng had read on the forums that, according to the game world’s background, many Guardian Knights who were stuck at Saint Rank tried to change class to become Dragon Knights. Many pinned their hopes on the weaker bipedal wyverns or sea dragons, but without exception, they all failed.
After being defeated by the knights, every Dragonkin chose death rather than bowing their heads to become a human’s mount or companion.
This was the main reason why there had been so few Dragon Knights throughout human history.
Background lore states that, according to records from the southern continent, the last human to become a Dragon Knight lived over 4,000 years ago.
Moreover, some old books mention that this Dragon Knight was the first female knight in history, and it’s rumored that she had a rather close relationship with her True Dragon companion.
One book even mentioned in passing that the Half-Dragon race only appeared after this female Dragon Knight. The author added that this was just his own reasonable speculation, with absolutely no intent to slander the Half-Dragon race.
Of course, background lore was one thing, but now that it’s a game, what you wear is out of your control… No, no matter how arrogant you are, you still have to see my Master Ball!
As a member of the Fourth Calamity, is there anything you can’t handle?
Even if you can’t become a Dragon Knight, with each game update, the difficulty of changing classes only gets lower. Even if you can’t become a Dragon Knight, there are three other class changes to choose from.
Ahem, getting off track. Now that Zhang Cheng had this whistle, his path to leveling up would be smooth sailing.
But for now, he didn’t plan to use it. One reason was that he was still far from the level 100 class change. If he took it out at a low level without the ability to protect himself, he’d attract too much attention. If some crazy players decided to target him, camping him every day, the annoyance alone would drive him mad, and he wouldn’t be able to continue the main storyline.
Another reason was that these items weren’t bound to any character at first. Once he finished the main story and confirmed that the boss had nothing to do with Lu Qiuchen, he might leave before reaching max level. He could then give the whistle to his sister, future brother-in-law, or another friend.
With the Bipedal Wyvern Whistle as the crown jewel, everything else paled in comparison. Qi Wen’s purple-quality one-handed sword required level 28 to equip, and Zhang Yu received a ring that increased HP cap, which she gave to Qi Wen.
Ironically, the unremarkable green-quality equipment could be used right away.
The four packed up and started heading back. While Zhang Cheng was in high spirits and the couple were glued together, Spicy Rabbit Head looked listless and trailed behind the group.
Zhang Cheng didn’t want to keep playing the third wheel, so he fell back to walk beside Spicy Rabbit Head. Seeing the girl so downcast, his already good mood made him laugh out loud.
The girl was already upset, and hearing Zhang Cheng laugh beside her only made her feel worse. She glared at him, eyes wide and staring intently.
Zhang Cheng had gained a lot today, and his previous dislike for this girl had faded. Even when she glared at him, he found her expression rather amusing.
“You don’t have to pay back those four gold coins from the prison anymore. We’re even now.” Zhang Cheng said casually.
This wasn’t him being high-handed or making decisions for his sister and future brother-in-law; the three of them had actually discussed it while waiting for the girl yesterday.
If this Catgirl really led them through the hidden quest and didn’t try to harm them again, then they would let bygones be bygones.
If she still had any tricks up her sleeve, they’d pay her back double for everything she’d done.
Fortunately, she hadn’t tried anything on the way. Now, the Catgirl had passed their test.
“Really?!” Spicy Rabbit Head’s eyes lit up, all her previous disappointment and anger vanishing instantly.
When it came to changing expressions, Zhang Cheng had to admit he was no match for her.
“Also, stop calling me ‘you, you, you’ all the time… My name is Lin Shiqing…” The Catgirl seemed a bit embarrassed now, speaking softly.
Zhang Cheng looked surprised, instinctively replied “oh,” and then realized what she meant. He turned to look at Lin Shiqing, only to see her blush when she noticed his gaze.
Lin Shiqing averted her eyes from Zhang Cheng, turning her head away. After a few seconds, she felt her reaction was too much and turned back, now not knowing where to look.
Seeing Lin Shiqing’s flustered behavior, Zhang Cheng understood immediately. He’d seen this plenty of times growing up and had learned how to handle it.
‘Ah, it’s the curse of this handsome face!’ Zhang Cheng felt quite pleased at being liked.
But unfortunately, he didn’t have any special feelings for Lin Shiqing.
Setting everything else aside, the girl had tricked him several times in just a few days, and her mood changed so fast that Zhang Cheng couldn’t figure her out. He really couldn’t handle this little devil type, and had no intention of jumping into that pit.
Besides, age-wise, even though he’d been feeling a bit lovesick lately and wanted a girlfriend, she was still an 18-year-old senior in high school. He really couldn’t bring himself to do it…
To put it in perspective, it would be like dating a sixth grader when he was a freshman in high school. Some people might accept that, but he absolutely couldn’t!
Zhang Cheng didn’t respond, quickly leaving Lin Shiqing behind and catching up with the couple ahead.
Seeing this, Lin Shiqing pouted angrily, clicked her tongue, and her expression returned to calm indifference.
When the group returned to Liyè Fortress, they parted ways. Lin Shiqing disappeared somewhere, and the other three didn’t ask. Qi Wen, having received a level 28 purple weapon but being too low level to use it, ran off to level up. Zhang Cheng and Zhang Yu, the siblings, logged off to eat.
*****
Five days later.
Thanks to the opening of the Adventurers’ Guild’s quest system, players were leveling up much faster than before. Some top players were leveling at a terrifying speed.
These top players spent all day in the game, never logging off until they hit the 24-hour limit, and after resting for two hours, they were back online grinding. The operations team, seeing the backend data, marveled at these players’ stamina.
If it weren’t for the supercomputer β confirming the data was normal, they would have suspected these tireless players were actually AI.
With the quest system, even casual players could level up quickly. Not to mention someone like Zhang Cheng, who spent whole nights in the gaming pod—even Zhang Yu, who’d never been interested in games and was a total newbie, had reached level 30 after spending just two hours a day in Eternal World.
At the same time, Eternal World was getting even more popular thanks to promotion and word of mouth, capturing the attention of nearly all young people.
The game’s beautiful, grand scenery also attracted many middle-aged and elderly people, who could admire all sorts of landscapes without leaving home.
Some seniors even found a new lease on life in the game. In reality, their bodies might have been frail or limited, but in the game, they had strong bodies again, could take off their old reading glasses, move freely without fear of injury, and explore and adventure just like young people. They could do things they’d always wanted to but never had the chance to, and their spirits greatly improved.
Some celebrities on social media jumped on the bandwagon, planning to hold fan meetings in-game.
All the trending topics on major social platforms were filled with Eternal World.
And today, a new trending topic shot to number one in a short time:
Eternal World 1.0 Main Storyline Second Stage Unlocked!
As soon as the first player reached level 40 and turned in a quest at the Adventurers’ Guild, the game’s main storyline advanced to the next stage. All players who’d completed the previous stage found their main quest updated as well.
Quest Background:
Tensions between the Knight Nation and the Empire of Letachino have been escalating, and after several days of buildup, war has finally broken out.
But the war came so suddenly that neither side was fully prepared. To gain an advantage, both have decided to hire Adventurers.
As an ordinary Adventurer, you join the war, only to learn some unexpected information on the battlefield…
Main Quest: Choose to join either the Knight Nation or Empire of Letachino faction.
Newly unlocked system: Factions.
Newly unlocked system: Morality Value.