Chapter Seventeen: The Swordsman's Fury
After sending a text to Xu Lin to confirm the transaction’s success, it suddenly occurred to me that I still had a quest to hand in. The quest item—the head of the Cangwolf Leader—was still quietly lying in my bag.
I hurried into the village chief’s cottage, pulled out the head, and showed it to the old man, who launched into a classic speech: “Heavens, is this real? You truly avenged Captain Amy! His soul will surely be comforted. Take this, brave young man—use your weapon to carve out a path that belongs to you alone!”
“Ding~!”
System prompt: You have completed the quest—Amy’s Last Wish. Gained 32,000 experience points, 4 gold coins! Reputation +120!
“Ding~!”
System prompt: You have obtained ‘Berserk Swordsman!’
…
I was stunned for a moment—what on earth was ‘Berserk Swordsman’? Hurriedly, I opened my bag to check.
[Berserk Swordsman] (Skill Book)
Description: Swordsman class players can use this to acquire the ‘Berserk Swordsman’ skill.
My heart trembled with excitement. I clicked to learn it, and instantly a new skill appeared in my skill bar!
Berserk Swordsman: Passive skill. Permanently increases a swordsman’s current attack and defense by 10%.
I quickly checked my stats. My attack was still 50–86, but now a blue line had appeared: (x110%). This meant that the actual attack of 94 was a hidden attribute, not shown outright.
Not bad—though 10% doesn’t make much difference now, imagine when my level is higher and my attack reaches 1000. Then, hidden attack would be 1100; 1100 versus 1000 is a world of difference, especially in PvP at equal levels—it could be decisive.
I opened the level rankings and saw that my position had changed from over 200 in the world to over 3000. Are there truly madmen who play for twenty-four hours straight without sleep?
I checked my friends’ levels: Xue Han was already level 9, the highest others were Xu Lin and Xin Yu at level 8, and the rest were all level 7—overall, not bad.
I sent Xue Han a text; she replied that she was still fighting level 9 monsters. I broke into a sweat—this girl’s persistence was impressive. She’d been fighting the same monsters for ten hours and wasn’t bored. A promising talent!
“Xue Han, I’ll be right there to take you to a better spot for leveling—hang tight!” I messaged.
She must have gotten frustrated with the grind from level 9 to 10, because she quickly replied, “Okay, I’ll wait for you here!”
When I arrived, Xue Han had already wiped out all the level 9 monsters, making it easier for us to head to the Cangwolf Leader’s domain.
Along the way, we carefully cleared stray level 11 monsters. As a horde of Cangwolves appeared before us, Xue Han widened her beautiful eyes in surprise and asked, “Are we really going to fight these?”
“Yeah, don’t be nervous~” I tugged Xue Han’s little hand, not noticing the blush on her face, and continued, “Stay behind me and follow my commands!”
“Okay.” Xue Han was still a bit anxious.
I nodded, drew my longsword, and charged toward the wolf pack, leading them around the rocky barriers. At the right moment, I shouted to Xue Han, “Get into that crevice in the rocks!”
She hesitated briefly, then obeyed. I hurried in with the wolves behind me—it was really cramped!
The space wasn’t big to begin with, but now two people were squeezed inside. I could even feel Xue Han’s soft curves pressed against my back, though I had no clue if she’d enabled the “Light Armor” setting.
Moonlit trysts between lovers…
But the Cangwolves had no interest in romance. One after another, they charged in, just as I’d hoped. My attack power now could only be described as monstrous—normal level 11 Cangwolves fell in four strikes, and with my heavy attack skill, killing them was even more efficient. What Xue Han saw as formidable beasts, I dispatched as easily as chopping vegetables.
Although I was tempted by the sensation of Xue Han’s ample figure pressing against me, I was careful to control myself, avoiding any backward movement—being called a pervert by the little miss would be disastrous.
Experience points soared, and judging by Xue Han’s delighted expression, her gains were substantial as well. A priest’s level is vital to any team. Sacrificing some of my own leveling time to help Xue Han was a small contribution to our little studio.
I don’t know how much time passed…
“Lin Fan…” Xue Han called softly from behind.
“Hm?”
She bit her lip and continued, “I heard from Xin Yu that you already have a girlfriend—is that true?”
My movements paused slightly. “I once had one…”
There was an unexpected bitterness in my voice, even to myself.
Xue Han hesitated, then said, “But Xin Yu says you do!”
“The girlfriend she talks about is probably herself. Shameless little thing!” I muttered under my breath.
Xue Han let out a laugh, nudging my shoulder, “Xin Yu’s actually not bad, just a bit mischievous. You know, she’s not really happy…”
I pulled my sword from a wolf corpse and replied without turning, “She’s not happy?”
“She used to be a college student…” Xue Han’s voice trembled.
“College girls can be even wilder!”
I stopped abruptly, “Wait…college student? She’s only about twenty-two, right? Could she be like me…”
Xue Han nodded gently, “Yes. She stopped going to school in her junior year. She had a boyfriend who claimed he wanted to build a future with her… But unfortunately, that kind of man couldn’t handle hardship. After getting Xin Yu into bed, he found himself a wealthy woman and spent his days fooling around.”
Xue Han sighed softly, continuing, “Sometimes women are really foolish. After breaking up with her boyfriend, Xin Yu started working in a hair salon. Her former roommates barely recognized her—she was wild… and no longer serious. Maybe she thought that kind of downward spiral was a kind of release.”
I kept fighting monsters, though I’d long suspected everyone here had their own story. But I never imagined the ever-smiling Xin Yu had such a past. She’s been here nearly two months, and I’d never heard any of this. Damn, her boyfriend must have been a true specimen—willing to be kept by a woman?
What matters most to a man?
Dignity!