Chapter 32: The Little Girl Was Scared Witless? Initiating Speedrun Mode!
Stepping out of the tavern, Su Nian did not immediately check the parchment. Instead, he left the novice village first, making sure no one was tailing him. Only then did he take the parchment out of his backpack.
As he slowly unfolded the parchment, Su Nian was taken aback by what appeared. He had assumed it was a quest scroll, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be a map.
On the map, a red line stretched from the location of the novice village all the way to a spot marked with a red dot.
“If this map is the clue to the Divine Blessing, then the place marked with the red dot is very likely connected to it,” he mused.
He carefully folded the parchment back and slipped it into his backpack, scanning his surroundings once more. No one was around. Was he just being overly suspicious? Too cautious?
Shaking his head, Su Nian decided not to rush directly to the location marked by the red dot. Every Divine Blessing quest was fraught with danger and uncertainty; he couldn’t let his guard down just because he was still in the novice village.
Besides, he had the clue now. There was no harm in taking a day or half a day to prepare.
He planned first to grind in the treasure zone, hoping to increase his overall strength before approaching the Divine Blessing.
With this in mind, he opened the game map to find the spot he had marked last time.
“Found it!” he exclaimed, spotting the treasure zone’s location and about to set off.
Suddenly, he frowned. “Wait a moment! Why does this terrain look so familiar?”
He took out the parchment again, spreading it out and comparing it to the game map.
Without comparison, he wouldn’t have realized. But as he compared, he was stunned.
Though the game map and the parchment differed in size, and the parchment’s details were less specific, the marked locations on both were unmistakably the same.
Could it be that the treasure zone and the place linked to the Divine Blessing were one and the same?
What a coincidence!
High EQ: It seems even fate itself doesn’t want us wasting time.
Low EQ: Damn it! Did my wandering brother die for nothing? Wouldn’t it have been better to change the reward?
Either way, since the treasure zone and the Divine Blessing location overlapped, Su Nian was glad—not having to waste time running around was a relief.
Recalling the innkeeper’s previously cryptic words, his curiosity deepened, and his anticipation grew.
He folded the parchment and resumed his journey.
But as Su Nian took his first steps...
At that moment, beneath a nearby tree, a petite figure suddenly appeared.
A girl named ‘Rikka’ kept her gaze fixed intently on Su Nian’s departing figure, frozen still, afraid that this formidable figure might suddenly turn back and end her life.
“Phew... that was close!” she breathed.
“I never expected stealth could almost be seen through. What kind of monster is this?” she wondered.
As Su Nian’s figure faded into the distance, Rikka wiped the cold sweat from her brow.
She had encountered this powerhouse in the novice village and, driven by curiosity, wanted to see just how big the gap was between her rank of fiftieth and the second-place player.
With that curiosity, she had quietly followed him, hoping to find the perfect moment to strike and defeat this world-slayer.
But when she got close enough to accidentally glimpse his stats...
She nearly wet herself out of shock.
Over seventy thousand health points!
Was that even humanly possible?
Was the gap between fiftieth and second really that huge?
And the first-place player? Surely they must be godlike.
Thankfully, she wasn’t discovered; otherwise, she wouldn’t have escaped.
With that thought, Rikka didn’t hesitate and slipped away swiftly.
Though the encounter nearly scared her out of her wits, she had gained one—or rather, two—crucial pieces of intelligence.
Perhaps someone would be interested in this information!
...
After a dozen minutes of travel, Su Nian arrived once more at the mid-mountain level.
He easily triggered the secret passage mechanism and entered the treasure zone.
Since the first two underground levels had already been cleared, there were no monsters or treasures left there.
He proceeded directly to the third underground level.
Wasting no time, Su Nian switched to speed-run mode.
[-211.]
[-222.]
[Talent not triggered...]
The monsters on the third level each had nine hundred health points, with over a dozen of them present.
But this time, Su Nian was different.
Even if he stood still and let the monsters attack, the damage they dealt per second was less than the health he recovered each second.
Thus...
One minute later.
[Third Underground Level Reward: Skill Swap Item ×1, Gold ×500, Free Attribute Points ×20.]
“Hm?” Su Nian blinked in surprise.
Another item? One he had never heard of before?
[Skill Swap Item: Upon use, allows you to exchange any unlearned skill in your backpack for your ideal skill, without changing the skill level!]
Well then!
Changing the least suitable skill to the most suitable one without losing skill level?
A good thing indeed!
In high spirits, Su Nian eagerly pressed on to the next level.
On the fourth underground level, he faced over thirty giant skeleton soldiers, each with more than fifteen hundred health points.
The difficulty was clearly ramping up.
Of course...
This was only for ordinary players.
A few minutes later.
[Fourth Underground Level Reward: Loudspeaker ×3, Gold ×2000, Blue Equipment ×5!]
Each loudspeaker was roughly equivalent to a self-edited server-wide announcement.
In the previous world, even in the late game, such loudspeakers—rare drops from bosses—could easily sell for fifty thousand each.
Not bad!
...
Su Nian arrived at the fifth level.
This one was tougher.
To his surprise, the elite wild monsters here—bright-scaled pythons—each boasted over two thousand health points, and all had group healing and control skills, yet they were only level thirteen elites.
There were even wild monsters above level ten in the novice village?
Strange, very strange!
Fortunately, his talent upgrade to level three required him to kill level ten or above elite monsters.
These fifty bright-scaled pythons were just a warm-up.
But with their high physical defense and group healing and control abilities, it took Su Nian a full half hour to painstakingly defeat all fifty without losing a single drop of health.
The process was grueling.
Yet the rewards from this level made Su Nian’s eyes light up with joy.
“It's actually this!”