Sunward Town was a place Guan Ren had heard of even in his past life.
It was said that within this town hid a secret about a divine weapon. Although no one ever found any clues by the end, many hidden quests were unearthed here.
And these hidden quests were a treasure trove to the current Guan Ren!
Quickly, Guan Ren made his plan and headed towards the central square of Sunward Town.
"Mayor Fang, do you need any help?" he asked, after waiting in line for half an hour to speak with the elderly man with silvery white hair, leaning on a walking cane.
[Fang: The Mayor of Sunward Town, advanced in age and frail. Level: 10]
"Cough cough cough... Thank you, young man, for your concern. I need some herbs; I hope you can help collect them."
[Ding, mission triggered, Fang's Request!]
[Fang's Request: Go to the forest outside of Sunward Town and collect 20 pig bones, 10 bull horns, and 5 robust herbs. Mission reward: 2000 experience points, 1 Gold Coin, one Ordinary Weapon.]
The game had just launched, and everyone was equipped with starter sets from the system of very poor quality, classified as inferior-grade equipment.
In Heaven's Arrival, the quality of equipment ranged from Inferior, Ordinary, Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Amethyst, Obsidian, Faeries, Gods and Demons, to Forbidden.
Heaven's Arrival was notorious for its low equipment drop rate, so newcomers typically wielded inferior-grade items, with Ordinary-grade being rare and Black Iron-grade being extremely scarce.
The reward from the Mayor of Sunward Town was an Ordinary-grade weapon, which, at the onset of the game, was akin to a divine weapon! This attracted a majority of players to undertake the quest.
But what they didn’t know was that although the mission could only be completed once, through item stacking, the rewards could be multiplied!
In other words, if you turned in double the quest requirements, you would receive double the rewards!
And if you turned in ten times the materials required, you would be awarded a Black Iron-grade weapon and a bonus of 100 Gold Coins!
Not to mention the value of a Black Iron-grade weapon, Gold Coins, as the hard currency in-game, were exceptionally valuable.
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At this early stage, the currency exchange system was not yet activated, making Gold Coins scarce, and their in-game price was inflated.
In his past life, Guan Ren entered the game to earn money. He once read a report stating that a single Gold Coin could be sold for 200 Sea-Blue Coins!
But back then, he missed the first batch release of Heaven's Arrival log-in devices. By the time he purchased one and entered the game, it was already a month after the launch.
At that point, the currency exchange system had opened, and the exchange rate for a Gold Coin had stabilized at around 10 Sea-Blue Coins.
Even so, he still managed to make a considerable amount of money by playing the game.
However, now, unlike in his past life, Guan Ren entered the game for the first time using the log-in device gifted by Lin Ruo Xue, and the current price of Gold Coins was still at a base of 200 Sea-Blue Coins!
Of course, Guan Ren's reasons for taking up this quest were not so simple.
In truth, after turning in ten times the materials needed, it would trigger a hidden quest line. Completion of subsequent tasks could even lead to a hidden Life-class profession!
Currently, Guan Ren was unable to change into a Combat-class profession for some unknown reason, so his focus was on these hidden Life-class professions.
After all, some of these Life-class professions still possessed formidable combat capabilities.
Without hesitation after accepting the mission, Guan Ren ran straight towards the town outskirts.
This one task would be enough to keep him busy for a long time.
Passing by the town's exit, Guan Ren glanced at a destitute man by the old well at the town's entrance, his figure shrouded in a long black robe, obscuring his appearance.
A group of enthusiastic players was fervently engaging with him, trying to receive a mission.
Guan Ren shook his head with a wry smile at the sight; he knew this man as a trap set by the Heaven's Way System as exposed in the forums, with no actual hidden missions.
Without looking back, Guan Ren left the town.
"The Heart of Heaven's Punishment? Interesting..."
The shadowy figure, solid as a rock beside the old well, glanced in the direction Guan Ren had left, his lips curling in a mysterious smile before closing his eyes to meditate, ignoring the clamor of players around him.
"Dammit, what's going on? Where's my experience?"
In a corner of the forest outside Sunward Town, Guan Ren stared at his unmoving experience bar after killing a wild boar, completely baffled.
Currently at level zero, he needed 100 experience points to reach level one.
As a level three creature, each wild boar should have rewarded him with 20 experience points!
However, he hadn’t received any experience at all!
What was going on?
A grave expression crossed Guan Ren's face as he recalled the system bound within his mind.
His thoughts delved deeply, triggering the white orb that opened the system interface.
[Ultimate Acceleration System]
Level: 1
Plunder: Can plunder everything, currently unlocked: Attribute Plunder.
Acceleration: Can accelerate everything, currently unlocked: Tenfold Attack Speed.
Experience: 10/10000 (Experience can be used to upgrade the system level and unlock more system functions.)
Just as he thought!
Guan Ren's expression changed. It was the system's doing!
Was it that he had to upgrade the system first to level up?
How long would it take for him to leave the newbie village at this rate?
[Ding, host's inability to level up is not due to the system! Please be advised!]
"Not the system's fault? Then why can you gain experience while I cannot?"
[Ding, system analyzing...]
[Analysis successful! The system will only absorb half of the experience you gain for upgrading! You received 20 experience points for killing the wild boar, so the system has already absorbed 10 points!]
"What about the other 10 experience points?"
[Due to the influence of 'The Heart of Heaven's Punishment' within the host's body, the other 10 points of experience have been directly exempted!]
The Heart of Heaven's Punishment?
Guan Ren's face took on a new light of realization, recalling the red lightning that struck him from the sky after acquiring his Talent. His head was fuzzy at that moment, and he had vaguely heard a notification saying "The Heart of Heaven's Punishment successfully bound!"—he had thought it was a hallucination, but apparently, that was not the case!
Hurriedly, he opened his attribute panel, but after carefully inspecting every section, he found no information about The Heart of Heaven's Punishment.
[The Heart of Heaven's Punishment has now fused with your own heart, host!]
What?
On hearing this, Guan Ren quickly tore open his shirt to look at his chest. Indeed, there on his heart was a red lightning-shaped mark!