**Chapter 17: Epic Quest [Annie's Revenge]**
Su Yu chuckled to himself as he read the red-eyed black dragon's message. "I didn't expect the early version of the red-eyed black dragon to be this polite," he mused.
In his past life, the red-eyed black dragon had been a notorious figure! His contributions, along with his team, had catapulted the Emperor Blood Guild into the top ten guilds nationwide. But seeing him in this early stage, bending and stretching like a newbie, was amusing.
Su Yu typed back, "Alright, I'll forgive you this time. But be honest with me—which guild are you from? I've had my dealings with Zhantianjian, and I know he doesn't have people like you under him."
The red-eyed black dragon hesitated before finally confessing, "Actually, boss, we're from the 'Muyun Guild.' Our leader wanted the skill scroll you posted in the marketplace, but we didn't have enough psychic coins, so… we took this unfortunate route."
"Muyun Guild, huh?" Su Yu smiled, his memories coming back.
He knew the Muyun Guild all too well—because he had been a part of it in his past life. The Muyun Group, a top-30 company in the real world, had funneled its resources into "Evolution" half a year after the catastrophe. Su Yu had worked there, and that's how he'd gotten his own start in the game.
"So you're with Muyun?" Su Yu replied thoughtfully. "You're in luck! I've got a good rapport with your guild leader, Yunzhong Mudi. Listen closely, follow my advice, and if you handle this well, I'll make sure you get a promotion."
The red-eyed black dragon's reply came back almost instantly, full of gratitude: "Really? Thank you so much, boss! (*≧▽≦)"
Su Yu sighed, slightly exasperated, and continued the conversation.
Two minutes later, the red-eyed black dragon logged out and made his move. He posted a heartfelt message on the official forum under the title, **"Goodbye Zhantian, My Heart is Cold."**
In the post, he revealed that he was originally a member of Zhantian Guild. His boss, Zhantianjian, had privately ordered him to collect fees at the village entrance, but he had hesitated to take part in such a dirty scheme. Still, he followed through for the sake of the guild.
But what shocked him the most was what happened next. He claimed that Zhantianjian had asked him to frame the incident on the innocent Muyun Guild to deflect the blame! Refusing to go along with it, he exposed the guild's actions to the public.
"I can't believe I followed someone like Zhantianjian! I'm quitting the Zhantian Guild for good, and I'll never associate with them again," the red-eyed black dragon wrote solemnly, swearing to stand by his decision.
This post caused an uproar! Players on the forum were left in disbelief. Just when they thought they'd seen it all, here came another plot twist!
Players from the Muyun Guild were shocked and enraged, while Zhantian Guild members were left scrambling to respond. Had their leader really done something this underhanded behind their backs?
Zhantianjian, meanwhile, was furious and stormed into the forum to find out who this "red-eyed black dragon" was. He had no recollection of ever giving such an order!
The chaos quickly escalated, and soon the forum had devolved into a battlefield of accusations, with the Muyun Guild taking the opportunity to lash out at Zhantianjian. The entire situation became so heated that it turned into an all-out brawl of posts, comments, and arguments. The official forum was now in total disarray.
But for Su Yu, all of this was just background noise.
After logging back into the game, he wasted no time heading toward Silver Snake Valley, a dangerous zone west of Nolan Village filled with level 5 monsters. He had a goal in mind: to fill his [Goddess Tears] accessory and prepare for the challenges ahead.
Silver Snake Valley, as expected, was crawling with players eager to level up and fight the silver snakes. But Su Yu was in a league of his own. He unleashed his powerful spells one after the other.
"[Lightning Arrow]!"
"[Fireball]!"
The battlefield lit up with blasts of lightning and flames.
-103-
-64-
-101-
-63-
His [Lightning Arrow] could easily take down the level 5 silver snakes in one hit, but his [Fireball] scroll was starting to lose its effectiveness. With an average damage of 62 points, it couldn't one-shot the silver snakes, which had a health pool of 70. No matter, though—he simply cast another [Fireball] and obliterated them.
Su Yu's relentless attack created a storm of destruction in the valley, the silver snakes falling like wheat being harvested in a field. His leveling speed was nothing short of terrifying.
Along the way, Su Yu even found a piece of equipment useful for his class:
**[Wind Velvet Belt lv5 (Normal)]**
Defense: +4
He couldn't equip it yet, so he stashed it in his backpack for later.
More importantly, as Su Yu continued to cast spells, the "extra mana" on his [Goddess Tears] accessory kept increasing by 3 points for each spell. After using over 30 skills in the earlier battle with the Emperor Blood Guild, and now casting even more during this leveling spree, he was finally reaching the threshold.
After about 10 minutes and 180 slain silver snakes, his [Goddess Tears] was full.
**[Goddess Tears (Rare)]**
Accessory
Max mana: +150
Bonus: Max mana +450
Just as the accessory reached its full potential, a system prompt appeared:
**"Ding! Epic hidden quest [Annie's Revenge] triggered. Do you accept?"**
Without hesitation, Su Yu accepted.
**"Quest Accepted: [Annie's Revenge (Epic)]"**
**"Mission description: You destroyed Annie's beloved toy, [Tibbers the Teddy Bear], using a trap in the cave. Annie holds a deep grudge."**
**"She has called upon her friend, the [Star-Casting Dragon King] Aurelion Sol, to strike you down."**
**"Aurelion Sol, as a noble dragon king, will only strike once. If he fails to kill you in one blow, he will not attack again."**
**"Quest Objective: Survive Aurelion Sol's attack!"**
**"Countdown: 5 hours, 59 minutes, 56 seconds."**
**"Failure Penalty: Permanent ban."**
**"Quest Reward: [Goddess Tears] upgrade, 1,000 experience points, main storyline progress [Glory of the Plantage Empire 0/100]."**
Su Yu carefully read through the quest details. As he processed the information, his expression shifted from confusion to alarm.
He hadn't destroyed Tibbers! He'd never even entered that cave. Why was this quest text so wrong?
But when he saw the name [Aurelion Sol], a cold sweat broke out on his back. Aurelion Sol was no ordinary foe—he was a level 84 NPC, one of the most powerful beings in the entire game. There were only a handful of NPCs stronger than him.
Su Yu couldn't believe it. How was it possible that such a powerful entity would descend upon the starting village to hunt him down?
It seemed the real challenge had just begun.
(End of Chapter)