---Third POV---
[Notice: This is a transportation mission, but the Great Oak Forest is a complex and somewhat dangerous area. Please accept this mission with caution.]
[You must arrive at the designated location within two hours. Failure to do so will be considered an automatic forfeit.]
The three players, acting faster than they could process, accepted the mission halfway through reading the details.
By the time they finished, the mission's ten-player limit was already filled.
ProGamer_Daddy's expression turned dark as he smacked his forehead in frustration.
"Great. I acted too fast."
His stamina bar had long been depleted. Taking on another transportation task might get him forcefully logged out halfway through the mission.
Hedgehog turned back after opening the door. "Doesn't matter. If we could accept the mission, it means we meet the requirements!"
NeverShowOff agreed. "You've been out all morning. You've probably gained quite a bit of bonus experience. Just go out for a stroll, and your stamina will recover naturally."
As he entered the room, he rummaged through his locker and put on an old spider-silk undershirt.
Since they were venturing beyond the safe zone, wearing shabby beginner's gear that could still pass as presentable wasn't an option.
Sticking his head through the shirt, he gave ProGamer_Daddy a knowing nod.
"Let's hurry up. There might be a new storyline waiting for us."
Such events were precisely what the Lucky Stars Team couldn't afford to miss.
ProGamer_Daddy mulled it over and decided it made sense.
He opted to skip changing his outfit, settling for his nearly 67%-damaged "Hobo Set" and followed the other two out the door.
Just as they were about to leave town, all three came to a halt simultaneously.
"A small hill, 700 meters east-southeast of town, with six-petaled white vine flowers growing on it. From the hill, head west to the riverbank…"
Reading aloud the navigation details in the mission log, Hedgehog's voice grew quieter.
He paused. "So… how far east-southeast is east-southeast supposed to be?"
Was it 70 degrees? Or 30 degrees?
NeverShowOff surveyed the surroundings. "Too many players have passed through here. Otherwise, we could have just followed the footprints leading out of town."
Unfortunately, the previous night's forum frenzy about the goblin eradication plan had resulted in a swarm of players leaving the safe zone to chop trees.
Otherwise, the tracks from Viktor's earlier outing would have been easy to spot.
After two minutes of silence, a few more players arrived, equally perplexed as they stared at the dense forest ahead.
Judging by their matching white undershirts and aprons, it was clear they, too, had taken the timed mission.
Hedgehog volunteered, "I'll go ask them!"
Predictably, he came back empty-handed.
"What white-flowered vines on a hill? They haven't seen anything like it."
ProGamer_Daddy let out a sigh. "If only Garble were here. He'd probably already have found the hill with the white vines."
As if summoned by his complaint, movement rustled in the grass ahead, and a figure emerged.
---
Desperate to finally return to town, Lux heaved a sigh of relief—only to spot a few players lingering at the town's entrance. Her eyes instantly turned vacant.
Thud!
The watermelon-sized fruit in her hand dropped to the ground.
She covered her eyes in dismay. "Oh my gosh, my poor eyes! What did I just see?"
The game had only been live for ten days, but the players' hard labor was already apparent in their physiques.
Tree-chopping players sported bulging arm muscles, and frequent runners had muscular legs.
A group of burly men in skirts was… mentally scarring.
"No matter how much harder pants are to craft than skirts, making trousers is an urgent matter!"
She vowed silently.
Her exclamation caught Hedgehog's attention, who greeted her with a wave. "Hey! Did you take the timed mission too, Lux?"
"Not a chance. My barely-leveled-up self couldn't possibly compete with you guys."
Lux picked up the brown fruit and gave it a shake. "I found a tree full of these outside. I was just bringing one back to show you all."
The sight triggered ProGamer_Daddy's morning trauma, making him step back instinctively. "Wait! Don't tell me something weird is going to pop out of that!"
"Don't be ridiculous." Lux rolled her eyes. "This game isn't that unreasonable."
"I found lots of smashed ripe ones on the ground. Their flesh is orange and white. Completely harmless."
ProGamer_Daddy chuckled grimly. "You'll understand once you're far enough away."
This game's creatures weren't just illogical—they were evolutionarily tailored to mess with your mental state.
Annoyed, Lux shot him a glare. "I hate cryptic people the most."
She tossed the fruit to him. "Here. Didn't you say you wanted to make bombs? The shell on this thing seems pretty sturdy. Think you can use it?"
ProGamer_Daddy hadn't thought much of it—until he caught the fruit. "Whoa! It's hard as a rock!"
He pressed his ear to the fruit and gave it a knock.
The sound was dull and heavy.
"This shell's hardness rivals a coconut's!"
"Exactly. But it's also super thin, like tinfoil," Lux replied. "I call it a Coconut Melon."
ProGamer_Daddy lit up. "This is perfect for bomb casings!"
Bombs needed sturdy casings to allow for combustion and reaction. Only when the shell bursted during the explosion does it maximize its destructive force.
"How many are there on that tree?" he asked eagerly.
Lux conjured another coconut melon seemingly out of thin air. "I brought back all I could—about thirty to forty. The tree's still bearing fruit, so you can probably harvest more in a few days."
After a moment's thought, she added, "The tree is pretty tall, though."
"That's no problem. Climbing trees? I've been doing that since I was three." ProGamer_Daddy waved dismissively, holding the coconut melon with more appreciation.
"Put them in the church's public storage for now. I'll grab them later."
"No problem." Lux agreed readily.
After a productive morning, she finally felt accomplished.
The immersive feel of playing a VR game wasn't half bad.
She stashed the extra coconut melon back into her bag, clutching one to show off as she bypassed the cringe-inducing skirted men.
Why not store them all in her bag, you ask? How else would she flaunt them?
Two steps later, she paused and looked back curiously. "Aren't you guys leaving? It's a timed mission, isn't it?"
"Uh…"
How to explain this?
"Does getting lost in a game count as embarrassing?"
Since Lux had just returned from the east, NeverShowOff decided to share the mission info with her.
Maybe she knew the exact location.
Unfortunately, the eastern area was too vast, and she hadn't come across any white-flowered vine-covered hills.
But she did have another lead.
"Earlier, a short player told me he had mapped the terrain around Honeyvale. Maybe you could ask him for help."
Though the town had been abandoned for decades, the terrain hadn't changed much.
With a map, they could systematically search the 700-meter range for hills, saving a lot of time.
Lux gestured to her chest, then lowered her hand slightly. "He's about… this tall?"
"LootGoblin!"
The three of them exclaimed in unison.
So the guy who found such a valuable map didn't think to share it on the forums.
Instead, he used it to show off to girls!
The three of them exchanged glances and decisively gave up their pointless wandering nearby.
They headed straight for the southeastern riverbank.
Most areas of Honeyvale had been designated for specific purposes by Viktor. Only the riverbank in the southeastern direction had no specific regulations.
Players used the area to set up spider silk drying stations and process gunpowder materials. LootGoblin had also joined the goblin eradication operation, making its activity hub quite obvious.
The group stormed over aggressively.
Sure enough, they caught LootGoblin guarding a pile of firewood.
After some coercion and persuasion, the three of them bought a terrain map of the Honeyvale Town surroundings from him for 50 magicoins.
On their way back, ProGamer_Daddy grew increasingly resentful. "Fifty coins for one map? What a scammer!"
Hedgehog lamented, "It's all our fault for acting so impatiently in the beginning and letting him figure us out."
A careless slip had revealed their desperation to LootGoblin—that they couldn't find the mission location and urgently needed a map.
"Regardless, the important thing is we got what we needed," NeverShowOff said optimistically.
He opened the map that LootGoblin had repeatedly warned them to open only far away, or he wouldn't sell it.
His brow furrowed instinctively. "This is…"
"What's wrong? Did he sell us a fake map?" ProGamer_Daddy asked casually.
Given their years-long online friendship and the pitifully low player population under the same god, if he dared to sell fake goods, they'd beat him senseless in no time.
"No, it's not fake."
"Then isn't that great? Why are you suddenly hesitating?"
Hedgehog leaned over to see the map. "Let me take a look! Uh…"
His expression turned indescribable.
Their unusual reactions piqued ProGamer_Daddy's curiosity.
When he saw the map for himself, his face instantly adopted the "elder on subway" expression.
"These wavy lines are supposed to be a map?"
Wavy lines for mountains, wavy lines for water, wavy lines for buildings… It looked like a child's scribble.
NeverShowOff analyzed carefully. "If we assume that this long wavy line on the right represents the nearby Duskwind River, then this relatively open area could be the former Honeyvale Town. It does match the local geography."
He stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"The problem is, my assumption is based on this being a terrain map. How did he determine it was a map when he found it?"
ProGamer_Daddy clicked his tongue. "Maybe he used to pose as a geography enthusiast or geography major and knows the basics."
Sometimes, having a teammate with an unrelated skill paid off.
An idea suddenly struck Hedgehog. He slapped his thigh. "I knew this map looked familiar! Isn't this the sheepskin scroll I found a few days ago while… uh, cleaning up discarded junk?"
"At the time, I thought it was just a mess of random scribbles, so I threw it away!"
But LootGoblin picked it up, realized its actual use, and profited!
"What a twist of fate…" NeverShowOff sighed at the map. "It seems exploring town is indeed worth the effort."
The group had been stuck on their exploration mission in Honeyvale for five or six days without uncovering any useful information.
They were about to give up when LootGoblin's actions showed them that their search method was the problem.
With the terrain map, the path to the mission location became clear.
Within 700 meters around town, there was a slope, and the only part of the slope that bordered the riverbank was just one spot.
Using the map, they gathered other players who had taken the timed mission.
Charging 5 magicoins per person as a guide fee, they recovered some of their losses.
Once they left the safe zone, the air seemed to carry a dangerous tension.
Fortunately, the paths they walked had been cleared by Viktor the previous night.
As the traces of other players grew scarce, they no longer needed the map to follow Viktor's path.
They encountered almost no surprise attacks from dangerous creatures or magic traps along the way.
---
When they arrived at the destination, Viktor, dressed in a black wizard's robe, stood out starkly in the green jungle.
Half-sitting on a recliner, he slowly straightened up.
"You all arrived faster than I expected."
He had set the mission timer to two hours, fearing players might get lost.
Seeing ten players arrive together reassured him.
It hadn't even been a month, and players with leadership skills were already emerging.
Hedgehog exclaimed, "Do you always carry your chair around?"
"Would you rather I stand here waiting for you the entire time?"
"Uh, not really…" Hedgehog scratched his head awkwardly.
In other games, mission NPCs were often superhuman beings with infinite stamina. He had never considered whether NPCs needed rest when players weren't around.
NeverShowOff scanned the dense jungle that gave no hint of their exact location, his gaze landing on the small emerald-green pond behind Viktor.
Calling it a pond was generous. With slightly poorer water quality, it could have been mistaken for a rainwater puddle.
"Did you bring us here to catch fish and haul them back?"
He couldn't think of anything else that needed transporting.
Viktor rose unhurriedly from his recliner, stored it in his spatial inventory, and replied, "No need for that. I don't like fishing."
For the undead, fish were inedible, their struggles were strong, and they could easily dislocate bones. He had given up the hobby centuries ago.
After confirming that the players hadn't exhausted themselves en route, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, remember to keep quiet later. The number of sound-hunting creatures in the area is far greater than you'd expect."
With that, there was a sharp "snap."
The scenery behind Viktor collapsed as though the supporting frame had been removed.
The emerald pond instantly expanded dozens of times, filling their entire field of vision.
The crystal-clear water turned black and red, bubbling continuously.
Most striking were the rows of red-and-black elongated shapes, like cured meat, lined up by the pond.
The smallest was a meter long, the largest had a diameter of a meter.
They resembled a mix of snakes and mud eels.
"Whoa, a magma eruption!"
"Come on, look closer! With those scales, they're obviously much tougher than worms!"
The players erupted in murmurs, though they kept their voices down as instructed.
To Viktor, their hushed excitement was still audible.
He pinched the bridge of his nose in resignation.
"Hurry up. Once the seal is broken, magical creatures will swarm this place!"
---
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50 advance chapters!
[email protected]/Malphegor