Chapter 655 - 417: Lurking Darkness

Chapter 655: Chapter 417: Lurking Darkness

’That note...’

A chill ran down Zhou Chen’s spine. "Eva, who issued this quest?"

Eva responded after a moment: [The quest originates from the ’Gaia’ game system. The issuer cannot be traced. Divination results are non-existent.]

’Divination results are non-existent...’ Zhou Chen fell into deep thought as he looked at the quest details.

All games have a main quest, and the gamified Gaia Land was no exception. The ’Gaia’ game system may not have had a formal quest module, but generations of Players had long since figured out the game’s main objective through trial and error: kill the Abyssal Incarnations, dispel the corruption, and restore order and light to the World. After clearing the game, Zone 009 would most likely be unsealed.

So, the main quest itself wasn’t really a problem. The key was the final message from an unknown entity.

It didn’t seem like the standard, fixed text of a quest description. It was more like someone was communicating with him through the game system.

The quest reward was even more noteworthy.

Receiving a reward for completing a quest was the most basic mechanic in any game, but shouldn’t that reward be in-game items like Gold Coins, Weapons, or Artifacts? The reward offered here, however, was Prayer Points—a staggering two hundred thousand of them.

He knew that Prayer Points were a form of Power that could only be obtained by fulfilling others’ wishes. ’Could these two hundred thousand Prayer Points actually be coming from the natives of Gaia Land? That would make sense. The natives must be hoping for the Sun to be reignited and for the restricted zones to be unsealed.’

Or... the Prayer Points could be from the quest issuer.

Although Eva couldn’t trace the issuer, Zhou Chen was certain someone had issued this quest specifically for him. The reward and the final message were irrefutable proof.

"Two hundred thousand Prayer Points..." Zhou Chen couldn’t help but slap his thigh. "Let’s do it!"

This was enough Prayer Points to cast Tiny Miracle twice. The offer was incredibly tempting.

Then, Zhou Chen was surprised to discover that besides the "King of Gaia" quest, he actually had another active quest in progress—

[Quest Name: The Wayward Witch]

[Quest Type: Investigation]

[Quest Difficulty: Hard]

[Quest Description: After killing Vine Witch Shafali, you obtained her belongings. Among them, a Desecration Emblem caught your attention.

Head to the Magic Academy to investigate Shafali’s past and uncover the origin of this Desecration Emblem.]

[Quest Reward: 1000 EXP.]

After selecting "Quest Guidance," a locator beacon lit up on the map over the Magic Academy’s position.

"Having guidance is so much more convenient." Zhou Chen was very pleased with the new system born from the merger of the two. The ’Gaia’ game system was rather crude and lacked a quest module, so Players could easily miss hidden quests without any prompts. He, on the other hand, didn’t need to worry about that; a notification would pop up as soon as he triggered a quest.

Besides that, the Prayer System had many other functions, such as X-ray vision, eavesdropping, auto-aim, and more—all things the original game system lacked.

"Eva, can you keep hacking the game system and enable cheats like infinite health or one-hit kills?" Zhou Chen asked.

[Master, it is best not to do that. Cheating will disrupt the game’s balance and will be detected by the game’s Rules, resulting in penalties. The lightest punishment is being kicked from the game; the most severe is being treated as a virus and eliminated.] Eva replied.

"Never mind then." Zhou Chen felt a tinge of regret. If he could be a grandmaster of the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect here, he was confident he could clear the game in three days. He’d scatter the final boss’s ashes to the wind; if a God stood in his way, he would slay it.

He then pulled out his communicator, but even after twelve hours, no one had said anything in the group chat. This was normal, though. According to the ’Gaia’ strategy guides, it took Players about two to three days to reach level 10, so it was still too early.

"It’s a three-hour journey to the Magic Academy. If I grind some mobs on the way, I can probably reach level 12." Zhou Chen put away his phone, mounted his Spirit Horse Bao Li, and continued onward at high speed.

He could have actually summoned the Christmas Sled as a vehicle. However, due to the gamification, he needed 28 agility to summon it, and its speed was nowhere near as fast as it was in reality. Plus, summoning it consumed Mana. It was better to just keep riding Spirit Horse Bao Li, who could even Triple Jump.

「An hour later.」

Zhou Chen lit a bonfire by the roadside, activating another save point. He could teleport between these activated save points, making it convenient to travel around the map.

He continued forward for a while. The light ahead suddenly dimmed, but Zhou Chen didn’t notice, still humming a little tune as he urged his horse on.

It wasn’t until the surrounding Darkness suddenly grew thicker and tense, dangerous background music began to play that he realized something was wrong. He immediately made Spirit Horse Bao Li turn around and gallop back the way they came.

His view of the distance was already obscured by the Darkness, and even the outlines of the grass and trees grew blurry. Like a tide, the Darkness pressed in from all sides, enveloping Zhou Chen in an instant. He erupted in Cyan Flame, trying to burn it away, but the Darkness seemed stronger, more terrifying, and it completely submerged him.

Zhou Chen was plunged into a pitch-blackness so absolute he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. Then, a blood-curdling roar echoed in his ears.

THUD!

A single, massive, crimson word appeared: DEATH. Then his vision went black.

A few seconds later, he respawned at the last save point.

"What the hell was that..."

Zhou Chen was drenched in a cold sweat, his heart still pounding in fear. ’Did I just run into a field boss?’

But when had that patch of Darkness appeared? He hadn’t noticed it at all, and no boss health bar had popped up at the end.