Adventure World Online (AWO)

Chang Long looked at Anya in shock. Anya, who usually remained calm and composed, was now showing an unusually stern expression. When asked why, Anya explained that if no one took care of the newly planted flower bed, the plants would wither and die before they had a chance to fully grow. This made Chang Long concerned because she did not want the night rose bushes to die either. These flowers were valuable and crucial for her; without them, she would not have the black rose tea needed to alleviate the pain from letting the spirits possess her body.

"What should I do? I want to go out and explore, but I'm worried the night roses will wilt without someone to take care of them," Chang Long muttered to herself, distressed. Just then, Kimhant, who had been waiting for a while, came in, wondering why Chang Long had not come out yet.

"What are you doing, Master?"

Kimhant asked curiously.

"My roses need someone to take care of them,"

Chang Long replied, her voice filled with worry.

"That's not a problem. You can buy an AI maid at the bank to help manage the house while you're away. No need to worry!"

Kimhant suggested. Chang Long's eyes widened with excitement, and she asked eagerly.

"The bank sells something like that?"

"Yes, Master. In fact, if you had bought a larger house, it would have come with a basic AI maid. But those are the cheapest models and only follow basic commands. If you tell her to clean, she would keep cleaning and nothing else,"

Kimhant explained.

"Then I'll go to the bank first. You all wait here,"

Chang Long said, gripping the silver key hanging around her neck and teleporting herself to the heart of Tatarus city in an instant.

"Wow, it's so crowded. What's everyone doing here? It's so hard to move around!"

Chang Long grumbled, seeing thousands of players lining up to receive quests from the king. She struggled to weave through the narrow pathways to reach the bank.

Finally, Chang Long entered the bank. A bank receptionist promptly approached her, politely asking how they could assist.

"A household AI maid? Please follow me this way,"

the receptionist said, flashing a sweet smile. She led Chang Long to a room located just a short distance from the main lobby of the bank. Above the door frame, a sign read:

Housing, Real Estate, and Home Decorations Department

As Chang Long walked in, a staff member greeted her and inquired about her needs, just as the receptionist at the bank had. After explaining what she needed, the staff member guided her to a soft sofa and handed her a catalog.

"There are three levels of AI maids. The first level is the cheapest, capable of following only one command at a time, with low intelligence and responsiveness. The second level can handle two commands simultaneously, with moderate intelligence and responsiveness. The third level, the most expensive, can manage three commands at once, with high intelligence and responsiveness. The catalog allows you to choose the appearance, skin color, hair style, and other features of the AI maid according to your preferences."

The staff explained clearly with a smile. Chang Long nodded in understanding and began browsing the catalog for an AI maid she wanted.

It was like a laptop without a keyboard, with a touchscreen displaying options such as body shape, height, skin tone, eye color, hair style, clothing, and more. Another screen processed her selections to show a comprehensive preview before finalizing the purchase.

It did not take long for Chang Long to choose an AI maid that suited her tastes. She opted for the mid-level model, as it was almost half the price of the high-level one.

"The AI maid will be automatically delivered to your home within an hour. Would you like to input the initial commands now?"

The bank staff asked as he entered her selections into the system. Chang Long nodded and specified the tasks she wanted the AI maid to perform once it arrived at her home.

"Will the AI need food and drink?"

Chang Long asked, realizing she might be gone from home for extended periods and wondered if the AI would starve to death. The staff's response led Chang Long to purchase a refrigerator and kitchen appliances to stock her home, along with the most basic and crucial furniture. She ended up spending a considerable amount on furnishing various rooms to make the house complete.

"Thank you for your business!"

the receptionist said sweetly as she escorted Chang Long out of the bank. Understandably, the bank was thrilled, as they had just earned nearly seven million credits from her—three million for the AI maid alone, with the rest for the additional furnishings that she bought after listening to the talkative staff. Chang Long suspected Kitsune and the others would be baffled by the sudden appearance of the new items in the house.

Holding the silver key, Chang Long teleported back home. The first thing she heard was the startled cries of Kitsune, Davy-chan, and Hisa-chan. She wanted to laugh until all her teeth fall off when she heard Davy-chan exclaim in a panicked voice,

"A ghost!"

"Master, look! These things just appeared out of nowhere. It's so scary!"

Kitsune ran to her, visibly shaken. As she was about to console him, she saw Hulu ready to pounce on the newly appeared round wooden table and quickly shouted to stop him. Hulu, startled, lost his balance and tumbled to the ground.

"Why did you stop Hulu, missy? These things appeared out of thin air. It must be the work of some powerful guardian spirit!"

Davy-chan said seriously. Chang Long tried to suppress her laughter and explained,

"Those are items I ordered from the bank!"

Davy-chan was left speechless by her explanation. The former Pirate King's ghost looked as if his fearsome image had been shattered by his overreaction to the new furniture that suddenly appeared out of thin air. He floated away to mourn for his image, with Hisa-chan following to console him.

Chang Long waited for the AI maid to arrive, which it did an hour later. The AI was dressed in practical attire suitable for taking care of the garden, with a short bob haircut that made her look young and cheerful. The AI maid smiled at Chang Long, and the system prompted her to name the new household assistant.

"Kiki,"

Chang Long confidently answered the system.

"Why did you laugh, Master?"

Kimhant asked, puzzled, as he could not hear the system's voice like Chang Long could. Her sudden, calm laugh caught him off guard.

"Nothing, I was just naming the AI maid,"

Chang Long replied with a straight face.

"What should the AI maid call you?"

the system asked next.

"Master,"

Chang Long responded. The system processed her command for a moment, and then Kiki, Chang Long's new AI maid, slowly opened her eyes. She smiled sweetly and asked what task she should start with.

Chang Long led Kiki to the forest behind the house, where the night rose bushes were, and where Anya was diligently watching over them. She introduced Kiki to Anya, who then began to explain in detail how to take care of the rose bed, even making Kiki repeat the instructions until she was satisfied. Only then did Anya agree to leave the flower bed.

"It's time to go exploring—uh! I mean, train outside!" Chang Long exclaimed cheerfully. After spending almost half a day dealing with the flower bed and buying the AI maid, she was finally ready to head out.

"So, where are we going?"

Kimhant asked excitedly. He had put away his camera for safety, as the Dark Horse Guild players were hunting down the person who wrote the damning news that greatly condemned their guild.

"The northeastern forest of Tatarus seems interesting. The monsters there are level 40 and above,"

Chang Long randomly picked a location. She thought exploring anywhere would be fun.

"How do you know that?"

Kimhant asked, amazed that a newcomer and directionally challenged person like Chang Long knew such details.

"I overheard players talking about it while I was on my way to the bank,"

Chang Long replied nonchalantly.

"Anywhere is fine. I'm sick of being cooped up here!"

Davy-chan urged. With that, Chang Long led everyone out of the house and headed straight for the eastern city gate.

The path outside the eastern gate was narrow and overgrown, with few players venturing into this area. However, as Chang Long walked further, a group of players started following them at a distance, seemingly grouping up to hunt monsters and level up. They seemed hesitant and waited for a high-level player to lead the way before following.

"They said the monsters here are just level 40 and above. Why are they so scared? Players who have made it to the main island should be above level 30,"

Kimhant muttered, noticing the cautious behavior of the players behind them.

Soon, a brave player approached Chang Long and asked,

"Are you going to hunt the king of this forest?"

Chang Long's confused expression was enough of an answer. The player took the opportunity to call his friends over to join Chang Long's group and explain. He told her that five kilometers deeper into the forest to the north, there was a large mansion belonging to Elizabeth Bathory, a woman who enjoyed blood and often kidnapped young girls or handsome boys to her castle, where she killed them in a special way to bathe in and drink their blood.

"We received this quest here in the city, but later found out that the boss is level 76, while we're only in the low 40s. We heard that previous parties didn't even get to see Elizabeth Bathory before they were killed by cursed spirits!"

The player who approached Chang Long said, his fear evident.

"What are you going to do then?"

Chang Long asked nonchalantly, while Davy-chan, who was in stealth mode, pondered the mention of cursed spirits.

"Can you lead us and protect us? You seem to be above level 60. We'll pay you if you help us complete the quest,"

a female mage dressed somewhat provocatively added, looking serious.

Chang Long reluctantly agreed because Davy-chan whispered that he wanted to investigate the cursed spirits, but she did not know the way. Another player joined Chang Long to guide her, while other groups followed, relying on her and her companions to clear the path of monsters for them to walk more easily. After more than two arduous hours of traversing, they finally arrived at a large mansion built of pristine white marble.

"It's beautiful!"

One of the players in the group exclaimed. Just then, the grand doors of the mansion opened, but no one could see what was inside or who had opened them.

"Let's go!"

a mage said to Chang Long. She shrugged and walked in first without much thought. As she crossed the threshold, a system message sounded in her head.

"Player Chang Long has received the secret quest to free Cedric. This is a time-unlimited quest. Player Chang Long must find the man trapped in a mirror and release him to complete the quest."

Chang Long halted in surprise, causing the players behind her to stop, thinking she had encountered an enemy.

"What quest did you receive?"

Chang Long asked the group to confirm.

"To kill Elizabeth Bathory. Why do you ask?"

The female mage replied.

"Just making sure,"

Chang Long said, then continued walking into the mansion, flanked by Kitsune and Kimhant. Hulu had been sealed into a ring before leaving the house, and Anya had turned into an embroidered fairy on Chang Long's cloak to avoid alarming other players.

"Greetings..."

a voice called from the darkness, making Chang Long and the other players who had entered turn in unison. Then, dozens of voices greeted them in quick succession as the mansion doors closed silently behind them.

Whoosh!

The chandeliers lit up, revealing a horrifying sight in the grand hall. Hundreds of elegantly dressed but emaciated men and women stood scattered across both the upper and lower floors of the mansion. In the center of the hall was a large bathtub with pipes extending from all directions. Following the pipes, they saw they were connected directly to numerous torture devices lining the walls.

"Iron Maiden!"

A female player exclaimed in horror upon seeing the torture devices.

The Iron Maiden, a life-sized cabinet shaped like a woman, had doors that opened to reveal sharp spikes inside, ready to impale the victim. The players huddled together, drawing their weapons to defend themselves with all their might. No one wanted to die from these grotesque medieval torture devices.

The cursed spirits approached the group of players slowly from all directions, their mouths twisted into eerie smiles. They were unarmed but possessed immense strength. Even the seemingly strong players were knocked back several feet from their comrades.

Swish!

A maid's body was sliced in half by a sword, but no blood spilled from the wound. To the players' dismay, the body parts reassembled, and the maid continued fighting as if nothing had happened. Only two players could permanently defeat these cursed beings: one was a sacred beast in human form, using its claws as weapons, and the other was the ruler of spirits, the future Reaper King, Chang Long.

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