"Golden Paddy Fields, a sky-breaking record! Is it a bug? Must be a bug!"
"Mysterious two-man team, history's strongest Priest and Botanist!"
"Buying the ID of the insane record-setting Botanist and Priest. Call 110 now!"
"GM, I've found a bug. I want to report it! Quick!"
"Level 10 Botanist sets an unbreakable record! The turning point of Botanists?"
...
The news swept across the land like a raging fire. Quickly, the forums erupted with discussions and threads after threads of attention-grabbing titles surfaced. Many adventurers were taken aback by this unprecedented record and quickly followed the topic on the forums.
All sorts of voices could be heard on the forums. First, the people who were confident that this was not a system bug. They carefully analyzed how two low-level adventurers, much less a Priest and Botanist, could set such unattainable results. Some were highly curious about who these two gods were. However, a vast majority were unable to accept this fact, screaming and shouting about a bug in the game. They demanded an explanation from the developers, whining about how a benefit reaped from bugs was a loss on their part.
[*** Dust, **Ai, who in the world are these two people?]
As the adventurers fanned the flames of rage and shock on the forums, the party of mages and their leader, The Invulnerable, stood at the front of the Golden Paddy Fields Ranking Board. Their faces fell faster than a corpse in cement boots. At the moment that the results were released, their skin grayed as their mouths hung with lips slightly parted. Like a goldfish, their eyes were as wide as they could stretch.
Within the mission, the entire Boundless World had agreed that 400 grains were an unsurpassable upper limit. With their score, the Invulnerable had absolute confidence that they were the champion for the month. Before the clock ticked to 6 P.M., his entire party had arrived, sanguine about the results. Who knew, it was a freeing cold pail of water that awaited them.
If the winner was a conventional six-man party, they could probably be a grain or two higher. If that was the case, The Invulnerable could only point his hatred at luck and misfortune. Who knew, they lost to two Level 10 adventurers, what's more, a Botanist and a Priest! This loss was inexplicable and blatantly unacceptable! Dissatisfaction surged through his veins, rushing to his head as he clenched his fist in anger.
On the other hand, Ye Chen had seen this coming. He knew that their unbelievable result would set off an unstoppable uproar once it was released. Long before he had left the dungeon, he had hidden their names undercover. Even so, the system would not protect their names fully, leaving the last word behind. As for the profession and team structure, it was for all to see.
"Seems like there's a huge hooha on the forums, I will go take a look." Sensing the suffocating silence, Rat could not take it anymore and immediately escaped into the forums. Before long, he was back in the game.
"The developers had released a public notice. The two adventurers had regular data. However, they did use special and ultra-rare equipment to achieve this unprecedented result." Rat waved his hands wryly and snorted.
The developers were swift in their reaction. Before a massive unsalvageable commotion broke out, they curbed it with an ultimatum.
Hearing the official conclusion, the pale-white faces were overwhelmed with disbelief and disappointment. With this formal notice, all hopes of them receiving the rewards were dashed.
"Fuck! What sort of miraculous equipment did they use to get this fucking insane results!" The so-called sissy ass bitch Priest slammed his valuable staff onto the ground in a fit of rage, acting nothing like the nickname he was called.
"Argh, whatever, stop being angry. We all know this dungeon very well. To get such inconceivable numbers, special equipment is far from sufficient. True skill is essential and indispensable. If they managed to get this with just two people, we truly lost to them in every aspect. What's more, if they are really skilled and low-level, we can try contacting them."
While the unexpected loss of rewards did send a painful blow of disappointment straight into The Invulnerable's face, he immediately recovered and thought of the optimistic opportunities.
"Boss, you want to recruit them into the guild?" puzzled, one of the mages asked.
"Idiot! Do you really think it is so easy to recruit such skilled people into the guild?" The Invulnerable rolled his eyes hard at this mage.
Ashamed, the mage rubbed his head and laughed awkwardly.
"Boss, then do you mean that mission?" Rat was the fastest to react, "...Indeed, with their skills, we can try contacting them."
"But, they have hidden their names. Looking for them is fishing for a needle in the sea. By the time we find them, who knows what level they have become already?" Hearing the discussion, the Priest calmly interjected.
"Whatever let's try first. Not like it would take a lot of time. If we find them, good for us, if not, we have no losses."
...
The raging flames of the new unbreakable record of "The Thief of the Fields" mission were quickly quenched by the official statement from the GM.
Other than the still white-hot interest in the two Level 10 Botanist and Priest, the majority of the players placed their attention on the equipment used. After all, the skills available to a Level 10 adventurer of any profession was limited, no way close to powerful. Even if they had skills, it was not possible to score such an astronomically high score. With some slight deduction, it could be easily told that the most significant factor here was their equipment.
"God damn it! Why didn't the GM release the name of the equipment used? Even if we can't get it, at least we know about it…" Some adventures lamented in disappointment. However, deep down they knew, the GM was already kind when they revealed that the score was a result of rare equipment. That was the maximum amount of details that they could release.
Only at around 9 P.M. did Ye Chen finally log onto the game. At this time, while there was still some discussion about the event, it was small and could not hold a candle to the initial massive uproar.
"Brother Dust, you have finally come online! You don't even know how heated the debate and discussion about us were just hours ago!" The instant Xiao Ai saw Ye Chen's username pop online, she sent him a text message.
She had entered the forums after their glorious victory to search up some information. Never had she expected to see countless threads discussing their identities and even making baseless guesses. Seeing the dumbfoundedness of the elites and veterans, hundred different emotions welled up within her, erupting into satisfying happiness. Now, as she saw Ye Chen online, she could not help but feel it rushing through her veins again.
"Oh? Do you wanna be even more famous?" Hearing her enthusiasm, Ye Chen's eyes narrowed as he teased her further.
Attaining fame for just a matter of time for him, however, right now his level was too low. It was still not the right moment to show his entire hand of cards. After all, this was a game. In the face of Level Suppression, even the most celebrated talent suffered a massive cut.
"OF COURSE!"
"Then, let's kill some monsters to level up."
"Err… so sorry, Brother Dust, my friend also joined the game. I need to follow them and have moved to another city…" Immediately, Xiao Ai's excitement watered down as her tone turned apologetic.
"Ah, I see. Then come to me should you have any queries then!" Indeed, that stunned Ye Chen for a while. However, he quickly recovered. This was sudden, but not unexpected.
Things still boiled down to the difference they had. Xiao Ai was just a regular adventurer. Even with great luck, powerful equipment and skills, she could not follow Ye Chen's ace. From today onwards, he was going to spend a considerable chunk of his time within the game. With his current pace, he would leave Xiao Ai in the dust within 10 days if she did not stick with him at every moment. At that time, they had no choice but to split.
Xiao Ai was just a normal 16 to 17 year-old girl. Asking her to spend all her time in a game was unreasonable. While Ye Chen did have thoughts of cultivating Xiao Ai into a professional, he knew it was not practical.
"Alright. Thanks, Brother Dust. I will find you if I have time." In another wild area within the world, Xiao Ai cut off the call with Ye Chen. With her fingers, she tugged mercilessly on her rosy cheeks and put on her mask of happiness. Smiling chirpily, she squatted and gestured to a cute pink rabbit monster. "Lil rabbit, come to me. This sister will give you candy!"
"Xiao Ai, are we really killing this cute little bunny?" By Xiao Ai's side, a similar-aged young girl was plagued with hesitation, hugging weakly onto her magic staff.
"Of course? If you don't kill it, how are you completing your mission?" KILL!!!!" Placing her hands on her hip, she leaned forward and pressured her friend.
...
Between 6 A.M. of last night and 12 P.M. of the next day, the "Paddy Field Watcher" would be replaced with a different NPC. As Ye Chen approached, he bowed courteously and said, "Honourable adventurers of the Boundless World you are a member of the champion party of this month. I am pleased to award you 10 Achievement Points and 1000 Gold! Congratulations!"
[System Notice, You have gained 1000 Gold!]
"Time to go level up. I'm at Level 14, 33%, still far from Level 30. But where should I go?"
Having collected his rewards, Ye Chen's thoughts went to his levelling plans. When he was reborn, he did make a concrete plan as to how to level up as quickly as possible. However, his plan had to adapt to his circumstances. He had never expected to receive the Durian Bomb Tree or the Illusions of Time. Now, his levelling plan had to change to make the most out of his skills.
To maximize the power of the Durian Bomb Tree, in the absence of a Priest, he had to find a levelling point where he could transplant the plants to a high vantage point. From there, he would launch his attacks while the monster could not reach him. As far as Ye Chen knew, there are not many locations that met these two conditions. Of the areas that were above Level 10, there was only the Gray Stone Forests, with the exception for the giant boulders in the Kobold Forest.
However, Gray Stone Forest was a Level 19 monster spawn point. Although the Stone Wolf was not a long-range attacker, it was known to be very agile and quick. Ye Chen was only at Level 14, and the Level 10 shoes he wore only added 3 points of Movement Speed. He must at least acquire a pair of shoes with 5 points of Movement Speed bonus to effectively utilize his positioning technique to prevent the Stone Wolf from closing in.
A pair of shoes with 5 points of Movement Speed bonus would easily be categorized as an absolute treasure. Even though he had no idea if he could find a decent pair, he had no choice but to try.