Chapter 171: Hidden Area
"That’s not healing."
"It healed her."
Shen Tian laughed.
Bai Xue inspected her new shield.
"This is actually fun."
Yin Suyi remained near Shen Tian.
She had selected a mage.
Not because she particularly liked magic...
But because ranged combat allowed her to remain close to him.
Shen Yan had chosen Rogue.
That...
Was frighteningly appropriate.
She disappeared into stealth constantly.
Usually...
She reappeared behind any player who stared at Shen Tian for too long.
Shen Tian had already warned her twice.
"Big Sis."
"What?"
"Stop stalking random players."
"They’re suspicious."
"They’re gathering herbs."
"They looked at you."
"Everyone looks at everyone."
"I don’t."
Shen Tian stared.
"You absolutely do."
"Only at you."
"...That’s not helping your argument."
Eventually...
The women began separating again.
Not because they were tired of Shen Tian.
But because Eternal Realm had far more systems than simply combat.
Chu Zijin discovered the Bard profession.
That was the end of her leveling session.
She disappeared toward the city’s musician district.
Li Lian followed.
Chu Luoshen found an NPC academy that offered scholar quests.
She became interested immediately.
Ling Shuangxue returned to the market.
Qin Ruobing joined her.
Bai Xue discovered guild territory mechanics and began investigating them.
Ruan Yizhen wandered toward an archery trainer.
Chu Mei and Chu Chuchu found cosmetic shops.
Yin Suyi reluctantly left after discovering player housing.
Shen Yan refused.
Shen Tian looked at her.
"Big Sis."
"I’m staying."
"Go find something you like."
"I like you."
"Something in the game."
"You."
Shen Tian sighed.
Then...
A message appeared.
MoonPetal: You online?
Shen Yan saw the message.
Her expression changed instantly.
"...Her."
Shen Tian closed the window.
"Don’t start."
"I don’t trust her."
"You’ve never met her."
"Exactly."
"How does that make it worse?"
"I haven’t evaluated her."
Shen Tian rubbed his forehead.
A second message.
MoonPetal: Maple’s quest turned into something bigger.
Then...
FallenWind: We found a hidden area.
That caught his attention.
Shen Tian looked toward Xu Ning.
She was already scanning.
Then...
Her eyes widened slightly.
[Host.]
"Fate?"
[Yes.]
Shen Tian smiled.
Shen Yan noticed.
"No."
He looked at her.
"No?"
"You’re going toward the woman."
"I’m going toward the Fate event."
She couldn’t hear that explanation.
Shen Tian adjusted.
"My friends found a hidden area."
"I’ll come."
"Big Sis..."
"Bodyguard."
"This is a video game."
"Still your bodyguard."
Shen Tian thought for a moment.
Then smiled.
"Fine."
Shen Yan brightened.
Then he added,
"But you can’t threaten MoonPetal."
Her smile disappeared.
"...Define threaten."
"No threatening."
"What if she threatens you?"
"She won’t."
"What if she flirts with you?"
Shen Tian stared.
"That’s not a threat."
Shen Yan looked unconvinced.
Shen Tian sighed.
"Let’s go."
Spider Hollow...
Was significantly worse than LittleMaple had described.
MoonPetal stood near the entrance.
Her arms were crossed.
Jiang Feng was beside her.
LittleMaple stood behind him.
The ground surrounding them was covered in dead giant spiders.
MoonPetal looked toward LittleMaple.
"You said there were..."
She counted.
"...five."
LittleMaple smiled awkwardly.
"There were five when I came alone."
Jiang Feng looked at the twenty-three dead spiders.
"And then?"
"I think they had friends."
MoonPetal stared.
Jiang Feng laughed.
LittleMaple looked toward him.
"You aren’t mad?"
"Why would I be?"
"I accidentally turned a basic collection quest into..."
She pointed toward the massive cavern.
"This."
Jiang Feng looked inside.
A dark tunnel descended beneath the forest.
Webs covered everything.
A strange purple light flickered somewhere below.
He smiled.
"Hidden quest chains are good."
LittleMaple immediately smiled too.
"Really?"
"Usually."
MoonPetal looked toward Jiang Feng.
"You need to stop rewarding her bad decisions."
LittleMaple gasped.
"You’re supposed to be on my side."
"I am on the side of survival."
Then...
MoonPetal suddenly looked toward the entrance.
Her expression brightened.
"He’s here."
Jiang Feng noticed immediately.
Again.
That little shift.
Her posture straightened.
Her smile became more natural.
Jiang Feng followed her gaze.
Shen Tian approached through the trees.
Beside him...
A beautiful black-haired woman dressed as a Rogue walked with the expression of someone attending an execution.
Jiang Feng raised an eyebrow.
"Friend?"
Shen Tian smiled.
"My older sister."
Shen Yan looked over everyone.
Jiang Feng.
Evaluated.
LittleMaple.
Evaluated.
MoonPetal...
Her eyes narrowed.
MoonPetal smiled politely.
"Hi."
Shen Yan smiled back.
It was a perfectly pleasant smile.
Shen Tian immediately knew it was fake.
"This is Shen Yan."
Jiang Feng extended a hand.
"FallenWind."
Shen Yan looked at his hand.
Then at him.
"..."
She did not shake it.
Jiang Feng slowly lowered it.
"...Right."
LittleMaple waved.
"I’m LittleMaple!"
Shen Yan nodded once.
MoonPetal stepped toward Shen Tian.
"We found something."
Shen Yan moved half a step closer to her brother.
MoonPetal noticed.
She looked between them.
Then smiled slightly.
Protective sister.
Very protective.
"Spider Hollow wasn’t supposed to have this many enemies."
Jiang Feng opened the quest.
Grandmother Elly’s Lost Pendant
Updated Objective: Investigate the source of the spider infestation.
Difficulty Increased: B → A
Hidden Quest Chain Detected.
Shen Tian looked toward Xu Ning.
She nodded.
[There is Fate here.]
"How much?"
Shen Yan looked toward him.
"What?"
Shen Tian coughed.
"Nothing."
Xu Ning answered privately.
[Approximately 6,000 currently.]
[But...]
Her eyes moved toward LittleMaple.
[Interestingly...]
[This is not originally Jiang Feng’s opportunity.]
Shen Tian raised an eyebrow.
Whose?
[LittleMaple’s.]
That surprised him.
She’s not a heroine.
[Correct.]
Not a Fate character?
[Correct.]
Xu Ning smiled.
[Normal people can still find opportunities.]
[They simply don’t have destiny bending reality to guarantee success.]
Shen Tian looked toward LittleMaple.
She was poking a dead spider with her dagger.
Then immediately jumped backward when it twitched.
Jiang Feng laughed.
LittleMaple glared.
"Don’t laugh!"
"I’m not."
"You are!"
Shen Tian smiled faintly.
Interesting.
Xu Ning nodded.
[Her meeting with Jiang Feng was mostly coincidence.]
[But because he chose to help her...]
[Their paths are beginning to connect naturally.]
Shen Tian liked that.
Not everything needed to be controlled by Fate.
"Let’s go."
MoonPetal smiled.
"That’s what I wanted to hear."
They entered Spider Hollow.
Shen Yan remained close to Shen Tian.
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(Author’s Note: IMPORTANT!)
SEND POWESTONES!!!
ALL SUPER GIFTS (Magic Castle, Space Ship, Golden Gachapon) = MORE ChapterS!