Volume One, Chapter Six: The Hidden Quest "The Resolute Adventurer"-Jogos Online: Após Maximizar Defesa, Tornei-me uma Fonte Móvel(Fogo, fogo, fogo)

When Lin Yu returned to the dormitory, Lin Xin was still engrossed in the game, showing no intention of quitting. Most likely, this guy would keep playing until his online time expired. Lin Yu shook his head helplessly, placed the second portion of spicy hot pot he had brought back on Lin Xin’s desk, then donned his own gaming headset and logged into the game.

Because the time in Divine Demon Continent matched that of Earth, when Lin Yu re-entered the game, night had already fallen.

Logging in again, Lin Yu didn’t rush off to hunt high-level monsters to level up. Instead, he stayed put, continuing to farm the Redfeather Chickens, even though they no longer granted him any experience points.

Of course, this wasn’t a foolish move. He was waiting for a hidden quest trigger condition from his past life: to kill one thousand Redfeather Chickens and collect one thousand Redfeather Feathers.

Though the task seemed simple, triggering it was extremely difficult for those unaware of the details.

This was because the leveling rules in Divine Demon Continent were very strict. Experience could only be gained by defeating monsters of the same level; monsters one level lower yielded only 50% experience, and those two levels or more below granted none at all.

Furthermore, the experience bar for the first ten levels was fixed at 100 points each.

In other words, after killing three hundred Redfeather Chickens, no more experience would be gained.

Since leveling up early on was crucial in the game, even players dedicated to farming gold wouldn’t waste time on such trivial copper coins.

Thus, no rational player would ever consider farming a thousand Redfeather Chickens.

If it weren’t for a player in his previous life obsessed with these chickens, killing a thousand of them, Lin Yu would never have known this secret.

Though the hidden quest’s trigger was tricky, its reward was quite generous.

According to information Lin Yu had obtained in his past life, the reward was an S-rank skill.

In Divine Demon Continent, skills were ranked from highest to lowest as God-level, SS, S, A, B, C, D, and E.

This clearly showed how substantial the quest’s reward was.

...

However, while obsessively farming the Redfeather Chickens, Lin Yu soon encountered a problem.

With his layers of absolute defense passives stacking up, his kill speed was too fast.

Relying solely on counterattack damage, he could kill one in just over ten seconds, but the chickens’ respawn rate clearly couldn’t keep up.

“Looks like I need to farm elsewhere,” Lin Yu muttered, glancing around the empty surroundings with some frustration.

After all, he didn’t have the luxury of waiting for the chickens to respawn.

Shaking his head, he moved on without stopping, heading toward the Redfeather Chicken spawn point outside the newbie village.

...

When Lin Yu arrived at the spawn point, the area was deserted.

At this hour, most players had surpassed level three, so lingering here would be a waste of time.

But for Lin Yu, this was a blessing in disguise—he could enjoy the peace and quiet.

“-64.”

“-65.”

After raising his attack power to 37 points, his damage against the Redfeather Chickens increased significantly.

Combined with the counterattack damage, he could kill one every two to three seconds.

With his novice axe continuously striking the chickens, kill notifications soon rang in his ears.

[Ding! You have successfully slain a Redfeather Chicken and gained 1 copper coin and 1 Redfeather Feather. Due to the monster’s low level, experience gained: 0.]

Though no experience was gained anymore, the thought of obtaining an S-rank skill kept Lin Yu exhilarated and tireless.

...

Time passed quickly; two hours flew by in the blink of an eye.

When a mechanical voice sounded in Lin Yu’s mind, he stopped his actions immediately.

[Ding! Great adventurer, you have slain one thousand Redfeather Chickens and successfully triggered the hidden quest “Resolute Adventurer.” Please bring your one thousand Redfeather Feathers to the village chief to claim your reward.]

“Finally triggered, huh?” Lin Yu’s eyes gleamed with excitement as the system’s prompt echoed.

It seemed the rumors from his past life were indeed true.

After tidying up briefly, Lin Yu wasted no time and headed straight for the newbie village.

He had only two hours of online time left and was still at level three.

From his previous life’s memories, the highest level on the first day was already eight, so he couldn’t afford to delay.

...

After a few minutes, Lin Yu arrived at the village chief’s home.

The chief was a smiling old man, aged but vigorous.

Aside from his name, Lin Yu had no other information—everything else was a mystery.

“Village Chief, I’m here to submit a quest,” Lin Yu said respectfully, taking out one thousand Redfeather Feathers from his inventory and neatly placing them before the chief.

From previous experience, he knew every newbie village chief possessed strength above level thirty.

He recalled a reckless player once offending a village chief and being instantly killed.

Hence, Lin Yu dared not show the slightest disrespect.

“I didn’t expect someone to complete my test so quickly,” the chief said, clearly surprised by the mountain of feathers before him.

But soon, a warm smile appeared on his face as he looked at Lin Yu. “Brave adventurer, congratulations on completing my test. I will grant you a special reward.”

[Ding! Congratulations on completing the village chief’s test. You have gained 100 experience points, 10 silver coins, and the skill “Steadfast Will” +1.]

[Steadfast Will (Passive Skill, S-rank): Lv.1

Effect: Grants immunity to one control effect. Upon activation, control effects are ignored for three seconds.

Cooldown: 12 hours after triggering.

Proficiency: 0/10 (Requires skill book to level up).]

...

“Wow, no wonder it’s an S-rank skill; this effect is downright broken,” Lin Yu said, feeling a rush of excitement as he read the skill description.

For him, Steadfast Will was like adding wings to a tiger.

Though his absolute defense made it difficult for others to harm him, he had been vulnerable to stealth control attacks.

Now, with Steadfast Will, his survivability had unquestionably reached a new level.

Best of all, it was a passive skill—he didn’t have to worry about reacting in time.

Indeed, the hidden quest’s reward was generous.

Besides Steadfast Will, the other rewards were no less impressive.

The 100 experience points were a timely boon, and the 10 silver coins were a substantial sum.

In Divine Demon Continent, currency was divided into gold, silver, and copper, with an exchange rate of 1 gold = 100 silver = 10,000 copper.

Early in the game, 10 copper coins equaled 1 Huaxia coin, while 10 silver coins amounted to 100 units, without any inflation.

This explained why the game was so popular.

Not only could players enjoy gaming, but they could also earn money—far better than menial work.

“Brave adventurer, your perseverance impresses me deeply,” the village chief’s aged voice broke through Lin Yu’s thoughts. “I have a new task for you. Would you be willing to accept it? If you succeed, a generous reward awaits.”

“A follow-up quest?” Lin Yu was startled; he hadn’t heard about any continuation before.

[Ding! The village chief has issued a new quest: “Retrieve the Dark Moon Sword from Ghost Scorpion Valley.” Quest penalty: None. Quest reward: Unknown. Accept?]

“I accept!” Lin Yu had been hesitating but, upon hearing there was no penalty, agreed immediately.

The reward for killing one thousand Redfeather Chickens had already been so generous—this new quest to retrieve the Dark Moon Sword had to be even better.

As for the difficulty, Lin Yu didn’t dwell on it.

If it proved too much, he could always abandon it—there was no penalty after all.

After obtaining a map to Ghost Scorpion Valley from the village chief, Lin Yu set off without delay.