Sheng Sheng blinked, forcibly suppressing the shock in her heart.
She truly hadn't expected this NPC, who looked utterly ordinary on the surface, to be level 180.
What did level 180 even mean?
In Earth Online, ordinary NPCs and players could only reach a maximum of level 120. NPCs at level 180 only appeared in the late game—existences known as "Arbiters of Judgment," capable of facing top-tier dark monsters head-on.
Then there was the class.
[Thunder Priest]
Sheng Sheng was absolutely certain that this class had never been mentioned even once in the original novel.
The last time she had seen the word "Priest" was on Charles Edman back in Preli Town.
But Charles Edman's class was "Priest," and his level was only 60. "Thunder Priest" was clearly on an entirely different level—very likely an advanced class, perhaps even a second advancement beyond Priest.
What surprised her even more was that, unlike other class-change instructors, this old man actually spoke first.
Antonio: "Young one, are you here to change classes?"
Sheng Sheng's thoughts raced as she nodded calmly. "Yes. I need to change classes. Can you handle my class change?"
"Young adventurer, changing classes is not difficult. But before that…" Antonio paused, then smiled. "I sense a familiar holy power upon you."
Without waiting for her reply, he reached out—and a letter appeared in his hand out of thin air.
Sheng Sheng instantly recognized it.
Antonio glanced at the envelope and smiled kindly. "As expected. A letter from little Charles."
Sheng Sheng checked her system inventory. Sure enough, Charles Edman's letter of recommendation was gone.
She narrowed her eyes slightly and tested the waters. "The instructions said I should go to the third floor of the association. Was I meant to find you?"
Antonio's intelligence was clearly on another level compared to ordinary NPCs.
Hearing her question, he even joked lightly. "That's not necessarily the case. Little Charles knows far more people in the association than just this old man."
Sheng Sheng: "..."
Despite his words, Antonio moved decisively, opening the letter and reading its contents.
Sheng Sheng carefully watched his expression.
NPC intelligence in Earth Online was extremely high, and high-level NPCs were said to be even smarter than ordinary humans.
Antonio seemed to be someone whose emotions showed easily—his expression shifted repeatedly as he read.
—Or perhaps this was a form of disguise. In any case, Sheng Sheng couldn't read his intentions at all.
After a long while—
Antonio's expression froze on shock.
He looked up at Sheng Sheng. "You captured a black dragon?!"
Sheng Sheng: "…Yes. A black dragon named [Beskarn]."
"Unbelievable!" Antonio grasped her hand excitedly. "That was a legendary dark creature! I never imagined such a young adventurer could capture it!"
Sheng Sheng repeated the same explanation she had given Charles Edman earlier, then glanced at the hand holding hers. After hesitating briefly, she didn't pull away.
—Being grabbed by an NPC didn't count as being taken advantage of… right?
Antonio seemed completely unaware of anything odd. Still holding her hand, he said "Good!" three times in a row.
Seeing his enthusiasm, Sheng Sheng silently swallowed the part about how the black dragon had already escaped and burned down an entire town.
After his excitement faded, Antonio fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Young adventurer, are you willing to become my disciple?"
Sheng Sheng: "???"
A pie had fallen straight from the sky, smashing her squarely on the head.
Normally, when players changed classes, the system randomly assigned them an instructor. These instructors were usually ordinary NPCs, rarely exceeding level 120, and their role was simply to issue routine class quests and teach standard skills.
Antonio was clearly different.
Leaving aside the unheard-of [Thunder Priest] class, his level alone—180—put him leagues above all other class instructors.
Was Sheng Sheng excited?
Of course she was.
But at the same time, a trace of doubt crept into her heart.
It was too perfect. Why would such an opportunity fall onto her, a cannon-fodder female side character? Even the original female protagonist had never received this kind of chance.
Was the author really abandoning their own beloved daughter to favor a character fished out of the trash bin?
Her thoughts were in chaos, but her mouth answered without hesitation.
—Only an idiot refuses a free advantage.
…
Five minutes later, Sheng Sheng left the Priest Association against the flow of people, looking utterly dejected.
On the right side of her invisible interface, a brand-new quest had appeared, radiating dazzling purple light and urging its owner to complete it immediately.
In Earth Online, quest importance was distinguished by color. Mandatory main quests were brilliant gold. Ordinary side quests were white. Chain quests were green. Instance quests were blue.
Purple, however, belonged exclusively to epic quests.
But right now, that purple glow brought Sheng Sheng no joy at all.
Because the quest description read—
[System]: Go to Ashen Forest and slay corrupted goblins (0/1000)
One thousand.
She counted twice to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
One thousand monsters—what did that even mean?
Back in the beginner town, the mayor's quests usually required killing at most ten monsters. Even then, it took players at least half an hour—about three minutes per kill.
At that pace, killing one thousand monsters nonstop would take nearly three full days.
Three days—enough time for other players to surpass her by three or four levels.
Sheng Sheng: profanity.jpg
But what could she do? She could only obediently go where her mentor pointed.
With a sullen face, Sheng Sheng followed the map toward her destination—Ashen Forest.
Ashen Forest was a leveling area outside Kaedelin City, with monsters ranging from level 10 to 30. According to the game's lore, the closer an area was to a major city, the more purified the dark energy was, and the weaker the monsters became.
The monsters she needed to farm were neither too weak nor too strong.
—For some reason, Western fantasy games always insisted on goblins appearing in the early stages.
[Monster Codex]
Name: Goblin
Level: 12
HP: 200
Skills: Stone Throw, Heavy Smash
The skill names sounded fancy, but in practice they amounted to throwing rocks and punching you in the chest.
As for levels—
Sheng Sheng checked her status panel. After turning in main quests in the city, she was now level 11.
Not bad. Roughly on par with the goblins.
She sighed resignedly, equipped her green gear, and began her pitiful mutual pecking with the green-skinned goblins.
And that pecking lasted three full days.
For three days, Sheng Sheng repeated the same cycle—cast skills, rest and recover; cast skills, rest and recover. Aside from eating and basic hygiene, she stayed in the gaming pod almost nonstop. By the end, her movements had become mechanical and numb.
Even so, by the time she killed the final goblin, it was already the third day.
[System]: Go to Ashen Forest and slay corrupted goblins (1000/1000)
Sheng Sheng let out a long breath, gathered the dropped loot, and dusted herself off.
—Though the game reduced pain sensation, it strove for realism in other aspects.
If players didn't "clean up" for a long time, they would end up covered in grime, and marks left by monster attacks would remain faithfully visible.
At best, patting herself down only removed surface dust. She still looked utterly filthy as she headed back toward Kaedelin.
…
Since it was a novel, the author had to give the male and female leads opportunities to show off.
So Earth Online, like any other MMO, had rankings.
Early on, there were only two: the Level Ranking and the Dungeon Clearance Ranking.
Anyone who reached level 10 could appear on the Level Ranking. As for the Dungeon Clearance Ranking, only the fastest team to clear a dungeon earned a spot.
While traveling, Sheng Sheng opened both rankings to take a look.
As expected, the highest-level player was a male warrior named [Proud Dragon Supreme], already level 17.
Seeing that name, Sheng Sheng laughed. "That screams rich boss. Probably running a studio grinding levels for him day and night."
Where there were games, there were always pay-to-win players. And where there were whales, there were always studios.
Back when Sheng Sheng was still unknown, she'd even worked for a studio, grinding for rich bosses.
To be honest, those days weren't bad at all. As long as you met the boss's requirements, money was never an issue.
If [Proud Dragon Supreme] really was a whale, he was clearly loaded—otherwise he wouldn't be three full levels ahead of second place.
But unfortunately—
Sheng Sheng shook her head regretfully. "This is a novel. The number one spot obviously belongs to the male lead."
Even though the original male lead Murong Han's account wasn't anywhere near the top yet, the author's favored son would inevitably rise later.
As for when—
Sheng Sheng tried to recall the original plot, uncertain. "Probably shortly after the first dungeon opens?"
In the novel, Murong Han first met the female lead in the game's very first dungeon.