Chapter 24: A Busy Day

Lu Kuan habitually stroked his chin, deep in thought. He dismissed the idea of becoming a permanent member—raiding required a significant investment of time, which conflicted with his own plans. In the Black Desert, aside from the second boss dropping a pair of violet gloves for rangers, the rest of the loot was merely blue-grade gear, hardly worth the time and effort spent on the raid.

With this in mind, Lu Kuan raised his head and replied, “I can help with the second boss’s first kill, on the condition that I get first pick of any ranger equipment that drops.”

“No problem,” Paradise Eternal Darkness agreed instantly, without hesitation.

“Pleasure working with you.” Lu Kuan shook hands with him, his face breaking into a broad grin. With their business concluded, Lu Kuan wasted no more time and left the Starfall Encampment.

Paradise Eternal Darkness stood silent, gazing up at the sky, lost in thought. One of his subordinates ventured tentatively, “Boss, could it be that Old Lu has already farmed enough reputation…?”

“What do you think? Why else would he come to Starfall Encampment so early? To grind mobs for experience?” Paradise Eternal Darkness sighed softly. “Always a step ahead… This man is no ordinary player.”

Hearing the guild leader’s words, the lackeys fell into contemplation. If that was true, then this expert was truly terrifying—this went far beyond mere skill or experience.

Paradise Eternal Darkness remained where he was, as if waiting for something. Moments later, a ranger bearing the Dark Paradise insignia emerged from the underbrush.

“Guild Leader, our people in Glory have confirmed it—Old Lu arrived here three hours ago. **Expert tailed him the whole way in stealth, but was counter-killed by the ranger. Only then did Moonlit Meteor bring the others.”

Paradise Eternal Darkness’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Idiots. Instead of focusing on quests, they’re still thinking about PK? Old Lu is getting more interesting by the minute…”

Then, as if remembering something, he turned to his companions. “You rangers—can any of you counter-kill a thief as experienced as **Expert when ambushed?”

They exchanged glances, wisely keeping silent. Rogues were the undisputed kings of PK at this stage; players were too low-level to learn anti-stealth skills. If a rogue struck first, death was almost certain—especially against a veteran like **Expert.

No one could fathom how Old Lu had survived.

After a few seconds, someone broke the silence, changing the subject. “But if the second boss really drops a violet ranger item, won’t we be at a huge loss?”

At this, Paradise Eternal Darkness shot him an exasperated look. “Do you have a better solution? If our team could pull its weight and put out enough damage, would I have to hire outsiders?”

Chastened by the leader’s ire, the group immediately lowered their heads, looking suitably admonished—and dared not utter another word.

Meanwhile, Lu Kuan had already left Starfall Encampment at top speed. As soon as he entered the ten-kilometer radius around the Molten Fortress, he activated his teleport scroll.

Lu Kuan rather admired Paradise Eternal Darkness—especially his decisiveness and boldness. Offering such generous terms to recruit him proved that Paradise Eternal Darkness had thoroughly studied the Black Desert instance.

To defeat the second boss, ranged damage was key.

“But that’s a matter for several days from now,” Lu Kuan thought. “For now, I should focus on my class quest.”

With that, he made his way to the quartermaster at the city lord’s mansion and purchased a Primitive Emerald, along with several other items.

“Molten Fortress Recruit Badge (Excellent, Rare Item)
Requirements: Friendly reputation with Molten Fortress
All damage dealt +1
Reputation gain with Molten Fortress +10%
Price: 20 silver coins”

“Military Arrows (Excellent)
Requirements: Friendly reputation with Molten Fortress
Sharpness: 3
Price: 5 copper coins per bundle”

Badges were a special type of equipment in the game; each player could equip three. Apart from their class badge, the Molten Fortress Recruit Badge was the earliest badge players could obtain.

Military Arrows were a great find. Ordinary arrows only had a sharpness of 1; swapping to military arrows would noticeably increase damage. However, compared to the standard arrows’ low cost of 1 copper each, military arrows were much pricier.

Lu Kuan bought a hundred bundles in one go. Fortunately, arrows only took up a tenth of a normal item’s backpack slot—otherwise, rangers truly wouldn’t be able to survive in the game.

After stocking up, Lu Kuan headed to the Temple of Light to turn in his quest.

The Temple of Light was bustling, thronged with players all there for their class quests. Lu Kuan squeezed his way through the crowd with difficulty, finally handing his materials to the elven priestess.

“Adventurer, thank you. Now I can begin the divination ritual.”

The elven priestess gave Lu Kuan a gentle bow, and as she bent over, the creamy white swell of her chest nearly blinded every male player in the room. Lu Kuan could even hear someone behind him mutter, “Whoa, 36D…”

But then, just as suddenly, the priestess’s expression turned cold. With a wave of her dainty hand, guards began clearing the players from the chamber.

Some sharp-eyed players seemed to catch on and rushed forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of the one who had just completed the quest. But level 50 guards were far beyond what current players could handle; in a few swift moves, everyone was herded out the door, which slammed shut with a resounding bang.

More and more players arrived to complete the quest, and with the bottleneck, the scene outside quickly devolved into chaos. Some hot-tempered players started cursing, and a few minor scuffles broke out.

Inside, Lu Kuan was somewhat surprised: so this was the privilege of being the first to complete the quest? In his previous life, he’d had to share a single divination ritual with over a dozen players before finally finishing it.

Five minutes later, when the divination was over and the doors finally reopened, players surged inside—only to find no trace of the legendary figure they’d expected. Only a few beautiful NPCs remained.

“Where is he?”
“Wasn’t someone supposed to have completed the quest? Where’d he go?”
“Are you stupid? He probably used a teleport scroll to leave.”

As some had guessed, the moment he finished the quest, Lu Kuan used a teleport scroll and reappeared outside the bank.

The main street was crowded with people; the orange glow of sunset bathed the lovely little town. But Lu Kuan’s gaze was fixed on his system log.

“Congratulations on completing the quest ‘Dark Pulse’… Your level has increased to 11. You have gained 1 skill point.”

“As you completed this stage in under 10 hours, you receive a bonus reward.”

“You have gained 1 additional skill point.”

“Received: ‘Beastmaster’s Headband’.”

A series of prompts flashed across the screen. With each new line, Lu Kuan’s mood soared higher, until at last he couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. “Ha! This day’s efforts weren’t wasted after all!”

He assigned the two skill points to “Vine Trap” and “Listen.” As for his new gear, it was a blue-grade ranger hood.