The main quest finally seemed to be on the right track, transitioning into the familiar cycle of hack-and-slash.
Sheng Sheng let out a relaxed breath.
But after leaving the mayor, she didn't rush to the forest to kill Corrupted Weasels like the other players. Instead, after a brief moment of thought, she turned and headed deeper into town.
She was almost walking against the flow of people, yet hardly anyone paid her any attention.
At this critical early stage after server launch, most players were focused on leveling. Who would care about a newbie dressed head-to-toe in starter gear, completely unarmed? Even if that newbie happened to be pretty.
With most players gone to the forest, the town felt empty.
Without crowds blocking her way, Sheng Sheng's pace looked leisurely, but she reached her destination quickly.
It was the only house in town with a pure white roof, standing out sharply among the surrounding red tiles.
Sheng Sheng didn't care. Calmly, she knocked on the door.
"Hello, are you Madam Miralda?"
The woman who answered wore classic eighteenth-century European-style clothing. Her face was haggard, eyes swollen and red, as if she had cried for a long time.
She looked confused by Sheng Sheng's question, but still replied politely, "I am Miralda."
"As you can see, I'm an adventurer," Sheng Sheng said with a smile. "I heard from the mayor that you seem to be in some trouble and might need my help?"
Earth Online was indeed extremely realistic. Aside from main quests, all other quests required players to discover them on their own. Actively approaching NPCs and asking if they needed help was one such method.
Sure enough, Miralda showed no suspicion toward Sheng Sheng's casual fabrication.
Or perhaps she had already reached the point of desperation—grasping at straws.
In any case, Sheng Sheng successfully received the quest.
A new line of information appeared on the scroll to the right.
[System]: Please help the pitiful Madam Miralda retrieve her beloved daughter, Aina (0/1)
PS: Latest clue indicates Aina was last seen in the forest (Coordinates: 772, 334)
For a holographic game, although coordinates were provided and the nearby map was displayed in the top-right corner, finding someone purely by coordinates was still difficult unless one had exceptional spatial awareness.
Despite Sheng Sheng's rich gaming experience, this was her first time navigating coordinates in a full-dive game.
Under normal circumstances, simply reaching Aina's last known location would take a long time—which was precisely why so many players ignored side quests early on.
Main quests were straightforward combat. Kill monsters, level up, learn the terrain along the way. After fully understanding the town and nearby coordinate points, side quests would be far more efficient.
No seasoned player was foolish enough to do otherwise.
The reason Sheng Sheng chose a different path was simple.
She had read the original novel.
It was an old-school holographic romance novel.
Although it was romance-focused, the author described the female lead's opportunities in considerable detail. In the original story, the female lead disliked combat and was more of a scenery lover. After entering the game, she didn't head into the forest to fight, but instead explored Preli Town.
Upon seeing Miralda's haggard appearance, the female lead asked if she needed help and accepted this quest.
The original novel described the female lead as "pure, kind, and gentle"—the type who would see a beggar on the street, tear up, and hand over several hundred yuan.
When Sheng Sheng read that part, she had only one thought:
"In this economy? Haven't eaten lunch—send me 50."
She didn't know how she managed to endure reading the entire novel, but she was immensely grateful now.
—She didn't need to investigate clues step by step at all.
As planned, she encountered no trouble along the way and quickly found the quest target.
But when it came time to bring the target back, a small problem arose…
Aina: "No! I won't leave him! I love him—if you make me leave him, you might as well kill me!"
Sheng Sheng crossed her arms, expressionless as she watched the melodrama unfolding before her.
Yes—the daughter Miralda had been grieving over hadn't been lost or killed at all. She was perfectly fine. She hadn't even gone missing—she had voluntarily left town to hide in this cave.
The reason was the man behind her.
To be fair, he was indeed good-looking. Black hair, red eyes, sharp features, slim waist, long legs. Though his face was pale from severe injuries, the fragile beauty type had its own appeal.
Let alone an innocent young girl like Aina—even a seasoned femme fatale might struggle to resist.
Unfortunately for him, the one standing here was Sheng Sheng.
In her eyes, no matter how handsome he was, he was just a pile of quest rewards.
Aina continued rambling, "You were sent by my mother, weren't you? She must have given you a lot of reward money. You can't take me back, but you shouldn't waste that money either. Go gather some herbs—Anthony is injured and needs treatment."
[System]: Accept Aina's quest?
Sheng Sheng tugged at the corner of her mouth and rejected it without hesitation. Then she asked again, "He's a dark creature. Are you really not coming back with me?"
On the minimap in the top-right corner, the marker for "Anthony" was bright red. In the peaceful newbie village, only enemies—dark creatures—were marked that way.
—Just like the weasels in the forest.
Aina shook her head frantically. "So what if he's a dark creature? Anthony loves me! I want to be with him! Stop trying to persuade me—I won't go back!"
Behind her, "Anthony" gazed at her with deep affection, as if their love were boundless.
A vein throbbed at Sheng Sheng's temple.
In the original novel, the female lead encountered the same scene. Being kind-hearted and romantic, she accepted Aina's request to gather herbs and save "Anthony."
Once the lover was healed, Aina was overjoyed and gave the female lead a token to complete the quest.
Completing this side quest rewarded a fairly decent weapon.
That was why Sheng Sheng had postponed the main quest—to obtain that weapon for easier leveling.
But…
"Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit. Do I look like a good person?" Sheng Sheng sneered. For a brief moment, a fierce expression crossed her beautiful face. With one hand in her pocket, she walked toward them.
Aina instantly shrank back, instinctively pressing closer to "Anthony."
"Anthony," however, remained calm, seemingly confident Sheng Sheng couldn't do anything to him.
When the distance between them was less than half an arm's length, the ferocity vanished from Sheng Sheng's face, replaced by a gentle smile.
Her features were delicate to begin with—this smile was like a spring breeze.
Both Aina and "Anthony" froze, confused by the sudden change.
They didn't have time to think further.
Sheng Sheng gripped the small hammer in one hand, looking down at the man and woman collapsed on the ground, letting out a cold laugh.
"If you were at full strength, I'd have run as far as possible. But a boss with only a sliver of HP left, acting this arrogant? Believe it or not, one shout in local chat and a truckload of players will come farm you."
In Earth Online, focusing on a target for three seconds revealed basic information—level, name, HP, MP, and status buffs.
Aina was a level 10 NPC with only half HP remaining, though her MP was full. As for "Anthony"—he wasn't Anthony at all.
His name read: [Dark Reaper – Black Dragon Beskarn], Level 200.
The maximum player level in Earth Online was 120. This was a boss among bosses.
Normally, new players encountering such a boss would only think of running.
But Sheng Sheng still attacked.
Because this boss was down to a sliver of HP, with a Weakness debuff active—though even then, he could still one-shot a newbie with a basic attack.
Sheng Sheng sighed mockingly. "What a shame. Running into a player with a special item—your luck's not great."
Hammer [Bound]
Class Requirement: None
Attributes: None
Description: Omitted
Note: Against individuals with weak constitutions, it may trigger powerful critical hits, causing fainting.
After lamenting hypocritically, Sheng Sheng put away the small hammer she'd considered trash half an hour ago.
There were no useless items—only useless players.
She tied the two up with nearby vines and dragged them back toward town.
It was a game, after all. No stamina system existed—otherwise many female players wouldn't even be able to wield weapons.
So Sheng Sheng, weighing under a hundred pounds, dragged two people with ease.
Along the way, she constantly monitored the "Stun" debuff timer above their heads, refreshing it whenever it was about to expire.
Brutal.
So brutal that when the client saw her daughter being dragged back in such a miserable state, tears once again welled up in her eyes.