NOVEL NEXT Ch. 7
Chapter 7: These Players Really Love Overthinking
【Moonlit Forest】.
This was the ancestral home of the Elves, and also a famous high-level map in 《Aincrad Era》.
The scenery here was beautiful, with a faint violet mist drifting among the trees.
Towering ancient trees blotted out the sky, filling the forest with a fantastical atmosphere.
But beneath the beauty lurked deadly danger.
“Roar!”
With a feral growl, three sleek leopards covered in silver radiance leapt out from the forest.
Their speed was lightning-fast, and their razor-sharp claws gleamed coldly under the moonlight.
【Moonlight Leopards】, level 35 elite monsters, notorious for high attack, high speed, and high evasion.
At this stage, they were among the monsters players least wanted to provoke.
“Careful! 【Pierce-Through-Heart】, hold the one in front! 【Tomato】, 【Dragonfruit】, control the flanks! 【HealsTheEntireServer】, keep an eye on everyone’s HP!”
A booming voice rang out in the forest.
It was 【Mad Blade】.
At this moment, he was personally leading one of his guild’s elite squads, advancing with great difficulty in the depths of the forest.
Beside him were his vice guild leader 【Pierce-Through-Heart】, the mage 【ILoveTomatoes】, and most importantly, the key figure of this mission—【HealsTheEntireServer】.
After returning to town, 【HealsTheEntireServer】 had immediately announced in the guild channel that she had received a hidden quest.
When she posted the screenshot of the quest 【A Girl’s Secret】, the entire 【Mad Blade】 guild exploded.
“Damn! A second one! Our guild has gotten a second Chosen One!”
“Told you our healer is our lucky star! This luck is insane!”
“‘A Girl’s Secret’? That quest name… smells like gossip!”
Once Mad Blade recovered from the initial shock, he instantly realized the massive value of this quest.
Not only was it another chance for bountiful rewards, but also the perfect opportunity to consolidate their guild’s lead in the “Mophis storyline”!
Without hesitation, he pulled the strongest elite squad from the team defending the Holy Window, personally leading them to escort 【HealsTheEntireServer】 into 【Moonlit Forest】.
“Boss, these Moonlight Leopards are brutal—they even go invisible, and if we slip up we get ambushed.” 【Pierce-Through-Heart】 complained in the team channel while fending off attacks.
“No kidding! We’re doing this for Lady Mophis, you think it’d be easy?” 【ILoveTomatoes】 pushed back a leopard with a fireball, quipping while casting, “This is a test! A test of our loyalty to Lady Wife!”
“Cut the chatter and focus!” Mad Blade growled, slamming a leopard back with 【Savage Charge】.
“【HealsTheEntireServer】, do you see the 【Soothing Flower】?”
“I see it! Under that tree, right where the leopards are guarding!” 【HealsTheEntireServer】 pointed nervously at a small cluster of glowing white flowers.
“Good! Everyone, prepare to burst! Three, two, one—go!”
At his command, the forest lit up with the brilliance of skills.
The warrior’s roar, the mage’s frost, the rogue’s backstab…
After a hard-fought battle, the three Moonlight Leopards finally collapsed with howls, dropping materials and silver coins across the ground.
Ignoring the loot, 【HealsTheEntireServer】 hurried forward and carefully gathered the 【Soothing Flower】.
【System Prompt: You have obtained 【Soothing Flower】 x2.】
“Only two?” 【Pierce-Through-Heart】 leaned over to look.
“At this rate, how long will it take?”
“No choice, the quest requires ten. Keep going.” Mad Blade wiped the sweat off his forehead, looking grim.
The quest’s difficulty was far beyond his expectations.
The monsters weren’t just tough—the herb’s respawn rate was absurdly low.
After nearly three hours of grinding, they had only gathered four flowers.
“Boss, why is this quest so damn hard?” 【ILoveTomatoes】 asked while chugging a mana potion.
“How should I know?” Mad Blade snapped back.
“I think…” 【HealsTheEntireServer】, who had been quiet, suddenly spoke up.
She stared at the flowers in her bag thoughtfully.
“Could it be… that Lady Mophis’s burdens are heavy?”
Everyone froze.
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it.” Her reasoning grew clearer.
“Mad Blade’s quest was to solve her survival problem. Hard to gather Moonlight Grass, sure—but the goal was straightforward. My quest is to ‘comfort her,’ to ‘make her open her heart.’ That’s a spiritual matter. Of course it’s more complicated than material survival.”
The more she spoke, the more sense it made.
“So, the quest difficulty actually reflects the depth of Lady Mophis’s troubles! We need ten Soothing Flowers, which might mean her heart has ‘ten layers’ of knots!”
“Holy crap!” 【ILoveTomatoes】’s eyes widened.
“Healer, that imagination of yours… not bad!”
“Makes sense!” 【Pierce-Through-Heart】 suddenly understood.
“No wonder! No wonder the quest description said she was ‘too shy to speak’! A noble descendant who carries the hatred of a fallen dynasty, guarding such a vast library alone—how lonely and painful must her heart be?”
“So this isn’t just a gathering quest!” Mad Blade’s expression shifted, gripping his sword tightly.
“This is Lady Mophis testing us! She wants to see if we have the patience and perseverance to untangle her heart!”
“Exactly!” The team responded in unison, morale soaring.
What had just been a tedious grind now seemed like a sacred ritual.
Every swing of the sword, every cast of a spell, was an effort to ease Lady Wife’s heart!
“Brothers, raise your spirits! For Lady Wife’s heart, even if we die here today, we’ll gather all ten Soothing Flowers!” Mad Blade roared, charging at the next wave of leopards.
…
In the library, Mophis let out a huge yawn.
She had already taken a nap on the chair.
After waking up, she habitually opened the forums to check on 【HealsTheEntireServer】 and her team’s progress.
What she saw instead was 【Mad Blade】 guild’s progress post.
【Live Updates! ‘A Girl’s Secret’ Quest Raid! We are fighting to untangle Lady Wife’s fifth heart-knot!】
The post detailed their battles, as well as 【HealsTheEntireServer】’s astonishing theory of “quest difficulty = depth of heart-knots.”
This theory had already been hailed by countless players as gospel.
“So that’s it! I finally get it! The devs are geniuses! The depth of this story is insane!”
“Waaa, ten layers of heart-knots! My poor Lady Mophis! Mad Blade, good luck! We’re with you in spirit!”
“Crowdfunding! High-grade potions and repair scrolls for the frontline heroes!”
“I’ve already organized our guild’s crafters to find that tea master 【Grandma】 in Newbie Village! Once 【HealsTheEntireServer】 gets the materials, we’ll make 【Soothing Flower Tea】 immediately!”
Reading these posts, Mophis’s book slipped from her hands and hit the floor with a loud *thump*.
She was completely dumbfounded.
Heart-knots?
Ten layers of heart-knots?
What heart-knots!
She had only set the number at ten because… it was a nice, round figure!
Could these people *please* stop making up stories?!
She felt her image had been reshaped in the players’ imaginations into a tragic, melancholy heroine from some melodramatic romance drama.
The gap between that and her real past life—a greasy programmer scratching her feet while coding—was astronomical.
Holding her forehead, she felt drained.
Forget it… let them think whatever they want.
As long as they brought the items back, it was fine.
She picked up the book and flipped through it irritably—when suddenly, her eyes caught on a passage.
【…The craftsmen of the Ancient Dynasty mastered a unique technique, fusing ‘Moonlight Silk’ with ‘Stardust Powder’ to weave a fabric known as ‘Starshine Veil.’ This cloth was light as nothing, unbelievably strong, and at night, shimmered with starlight…】
【Moonlight Silk】? 【Stardust Powder】?
Mophis’s heart stirred.
These were rare materials for high-level outfits.
She glanced down at her own tattered black dress.
Perhaps… it was time to schedule the next quest?
After all, Soothing Flower Tea could only “comfort” for a while.
A pretty new dress—that was what truly made a girl happy.