Chapter Ten: Xu Yang’s Mission

"It's not that," replied Xu Yang quickly. "They were just talking about how you have decent potential but are unwilling to put in the effort to study."

Zhao Nan turned her head to look at Xu Yang, then suddenly smiled, "And then?"

Xu Yang was taken aback; he hadn't expected Zhao Nan to react this way. It was nothing like how a high school senior would normally respond. Was this game really capable of changing people so much in just a day or two?

He shook his head and sighed, "Talking about this now is pointless. We should figure out how to get out of here... By the way, Zhao Nan, how did you end up here?"

"Shouldn’t I be the one asking that?" Zhao Nan replied bluntly. "Why are you wandering outside alone at night?"

Xu Yang immediately lowered his head, somewhat embarrassed. "I took on a quest, and according to the quest instructions I did this and that, and before I realized it, I ended up here. By the time I noticed, it was already dark..."

Definitely a complete novice...

Zhao Nan shook her head. "Why didn’t you form a team before coming out?"

"I wanted to," Xu Yang said, troubled. "But the quest description said it could only be completed solo. I really don’t understand how this game is designed, it’s not user-friendly at all!"

"If it were user-friendly, things wouldn’t be this way," Zhao Nan frowned, intrigued by Xu Yang’s words.

A quest restricted to solo completion? Could it be...

"By the way, Zhao Nan, you—"

Zhao Nan cut her off, his voice deep and commanding, "Tell me what your quest is, and how you got it."

"Why do you want to know?" Xu Yang asked, confused.

"Don’t ask, just tell me."

Zhao Nan’s glare was fierce—a steely aura forged from years of monster slaying, not something a woman who, just two days ago, had been a high school teacher could withstand.

Xu Yang was frightened, his face blanching, voice trembling, "Can’t you be gentler?"

"I haven’t done anything to you, just asked a question," Zhao Nan replied calmly, though his tone softened a little.

Xu Yang was stunned, suddenly realizing his own words sounded rather ambiguous. The pale skin on his face flushed with a hint of red. He thought to himself, the other party is just a kid, probably didn’t mean anything, just a bit rough.

A troubled youth, perhaps?

"Hurry up!" Zhao Nan grew impatient.

Xu Yang had no choice but to recall, "Honestly, I’m not too sure. After squeezing out of some place, I got separated from my colleagues and wandered the streets. Then an old lady suddenly approached me, asking if I wanted to buy some perfume she made."

"You bought it?"

Xu Yang nodded. "Yes, the perfume smelled quite nice. Then the old lady said her leg hurt and asked if I could help her home."

According to Xu Yang’s account, after kindly escorting the old woman home, she was asked to do all sorts of complicated chores. Once those were completed, the old lady requested Xu Yang to leave the city to gather a certain item, promising to reward her well.

"Reward or not, the old lady seemed really pitiful, living alone. Might as well help if I can," Xu Yang concluded.

After hearing all this, Zhao Nan looked at Xu Yang strangely, as if he were some prehistoric creature. He suddenly grew curious, "Do you often help old ladies cross the street?"

Xu Yang replied matter-of-factly, "Of course! Isn’t that obvious?"

Zhao Nan suddenly burst out laughing, almost hysterically, pointing at Xu Yang, "Excellent, excellent! No wonder, no wonder!"

"No wonder what?" Xu Yang demanded.

Zhao Nan shook his head. His suspicions weren’t confirmed, but based on his experience, Xu Yang had probably received a pretty good quest.

Normally, the system wouldn’t require players to complete a quest alone. If such a restriction appeared, there were only a few possibilities: a hidden quest, a one-off quest, or a follow-up chain quest. But regardless of which, the rewards for completing such quests were always substantial.

So this is what they mean by 'good deeds bring good rewards'?

"How can you be like this!" Xu Yang’s face turned red with anger.

Being pointed at and feeling as if she was being mocked—anyone would be furious.

"Enough," Zhao Nan waved his hand, "What do you need to collect?"

"Evening Primrose!"

Xu Yang rolled her eyes, refusing to look at Zhao Nan’s smug face anymore.

"What’s the quest deadline?" Zhao Nan’s brow furrowed.

"By noon tomorrow."

Zhao Nan’s expression changed instantly. "Open your quest interface and let me see!"

"What for?"

Before Xu Yang could finish, Zhao Nan seized her wrist, his face dark, "Open it!"

"You’re hurting me!"

"Open it!"

"Could you let go first?"

"Alright."

True to his word, Zhao Nan released her, but under his piercing gaze, Xu Yang reluctantly opened her wrist-mounted quest panel.

On the screen, a jumble of tasks appeared. Zhao Nan frowned, "What have you been accepting? Even these trash quests?"

"How should I know!" Xu Yang was genuinely angry now.

From the moment they met, the conversation had been completely dominated by the other. She felt she needed to establish her authority as a teacher before this student.

Just as she was about to lecture Zhao Nan on respecting teachers, he suddenly exclaimed, grabbing her arm again.

"What are you doing now!"

"Don’t speak, let me look properly."

"Idiot, let go of me!"

"Annoying."

Zhao Nan pulled Xu Yang into his arms, covering her mouth from behind and ignoring her struggles, carefully examining a particular quest on her panel. No, it wasn’t just the words he was studying, but the color of the text.

At first glance, it looked like a bright golden yellow.

But on closer inspection, it wasn’t a dazzling gold—it was a muted gold!

Zhao Nan had only one thought: a dark-gold series quest... also known as a divine-level quest!

Just the second day of the game and a divine-level quest appears? This woman’s luck was extraordinary. Could doing good really bring such astonishing rewards?

At that moment, intense pain shot through Zhao Nan’s hand, his brows twisting into a deep frown.

Xu Yang managed to struggle free, sitting across from Zhao Nan, her eyes brimming with tears.