NOVEL NEXT Ch. 6
Chapter 6. Defend the Town
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Crown Town.
Accompanied by a strange spatial distortion, a petite figure appeared once again in the small plaza.
At this moment, the real-world time was half past twelve, more than half an hour since the server went live. Normally, the starter villages should have been packed with players right after launch.
However, apart from her, not a single other player could be seen; the empty plaza was exceptionally quiet.
Was there a bug in the game system? Having re-entered the game, Chen Zixuan did not think so.
He suspected this was another opening benefit granted by the system. After all, as a special account, it was likely that ordinary players were all spawned in other big cities, and only his character had been teleported here, to Crown Town as the starting point.
What did that mean? That's right—all the resources in Crown Town belonged solely to him!
Or perhaps, it'd be more appropriate to say "her" now.
While Chen Zixuan was still contemplating, a warning bell suddenly sounded in the town, and from the watchtower in the distance, a soldier shouted loudly, "A large group of monsters is attacking the town! All capable of fighting, get outside the town and prepare to defend!"
"As expected of a special account—forced to trigger the newbie quest right from the start."
With a blade to his neck, Chen Zixuan, no matter how helpless, could only jog towards the city gate.
He had one week to reach level 15 in-game; if he didn't, he'd die.
These were the original words on the note. Though he'd decided to keep playing, he still dared not use his life to test how patient the mastermind behind this all was.
So what if it's a female character? As if nobody else has ever played one!
As long as the money is good, anything can be done!
"System notification: You have accepted the quest: [Defend the Town]. Please report to the Captain of the Guards immediately! His patience is limited, do not be late!"
The system lady's voice sounded in Chen Zixuan's mind.
Luckily, there was a signpost right next to the plaza. With the bonus from high Agility, Chen Zixuan reached the town's entrance in less than two minutes.
There, a tall man in plate armor was already inspecting the town's guard squad.
It seemed this middle-aged man had to be the guard captain she needed to find.
"Captain, I'm here to report,"
Chen Zixuan ran up quickly, not bothering to catch her breath.
"Hmm? Who's talking? Where are you?"
The guard captain looked around, confused.
"Captain, I'm right here!"
Sensing the quest's time limit was almost up, Chen Zixuan jumped twice in place, raising her fair little hand to draw the captain's attention.
There was nothing to be done—her body was simply too short, the top of her head only reached the captain's chest, and with how close they were, it was no surprise he hadn't spotted her right away.
"It's you, adventurer."
The captain nodded gravely, swinging a powerful arm to point at the meadow outside the town, and said in a deep voice:
"See that? Those are the despicable goblins! They have invaded our town, abducted our women, and pose a massive threat to the town's safety! You are our best adventurer—now, collect your weapon and kill two goblins to prove yourself! If you can't complete this task, don't even think about coming back!"
The captain's presence was truly commanding, and Chen Zixuan could only nod in haste.
"System notification: You have officially activated quest [Defend the Town] (1): Kill 2 goblins (0/2) to prove yourself to the guard captain!"
"System notification: You have obtained the novice weapon [Rusty Dagger]. Please open your backpack and equip it!"
The system lady's voice rang out, and Chen Zixuan opened his backpack to see the newly received equipment—[Rusty Dagger].
[Rusty Dagger], assassin class exclusive, white common-grade dagger, minimum level to equip: 1, durability: 30/30.
Attack: 8
(Weapon Properties: None)
Compared to the blue dagger she'd drawn previously, this starter weapon was abysmal; its stats, special effects, and durability were utterly outclassed.
However, Chen Zixuan still chose to equip the white novice dagger, not the rare blue weapon.
Given her current attack stats, goblins—the lowest mobs—could be killed in a slash, so there was no need to waste the rare weapon's durability on such lowly enemies.
Like the famous Russian philosopher Pavel Korchagin said: "Good steel should be used on the blade's edge!"
Thus armed, Chen Zixuan left the town and arrived on the plains outside the main gate.
Sure enough, dozens of short goblins were gathered there, all casting unfriendly looks at the silver-haired girl.
Their skin radiated an oily, disgusting dark green sheen; their head's hair was as dry as weeds, hook noses were covered in bumps, their small savage eyes and club-like, spike-studded maces could send shivers down any player's spine.
Upbeat, exotic background music began—combat engaged!
Facing these ugly monsters, most ordinary female players would probably be screaming in terror.
However, Chen Zixuan was not a typical female player. Instead of retreating, she advanced: stomping hard with her right foot, lending herself a burst of speed, she thrust forward, dagger reversed in her grip, and slashed at the nearest goblin!
Goblins, duel me now!
According to the official game guide, goblins are the lowest-tier monsters, with a mere 10 attack.
Their defense was even worse; lacking armor or fur, their resistance stats were zero, and they only had 35 HP—players' attacks registered as true damage.
But [Cecilia]'s current attack already reached 30 (base) + 8 (weapon) = 38, so with this one strike, she immediately heard the sound of flesh ripping.
"Puchi!"
With only 35 HP, the unfortunate goblin's head flew cleanly off, crashing to the ground beside it, killed instantly by Chen Zixuan!
"Perfect!"
The system lady spared no praise, immediately awarding her a perfect rating.
One successful strike, and Chen Zixuan's momentum continued. With an Agility of 210, a-nimble spin brought her meters away to stand beside another goblin, and her dagger once again showed no mercy!
Another instant kill! Instant kill! Instant kill...
A few minutes later, with the field cleared, goblin corpses practically formed a small mountain on the plain.
"System notification: You have completed quest [Defend the Town] (1). Goblins killed (27/2)—the guard captain now sees you in a new light!"
"System notification: You have reached level 2! All stats +3; 1 attribute point gained!"
"System notification: You have obtained the honorary title [Goblin Slayer]. Equipping this title will increase your HP by 20 points. Would you like to equip it now?"
"Whew, not so difficult after all."
Chen Zixuan sheathed her dagger and opened her status panel.
After this fight, she was still at full health; goblins' attack power was so low—just 10 points—they couldn't even break her defense.
The only real drain was on her stamina and her weapon's durability: stamina had dropped by 40 points, and weapon durability had fallen by 27 points, nearly broken at 3 points left.
Stamina consumption wasn't an issue—it'd recover quickly out of combat. The equipment was more troublesome, and would need to be repaired by a specialized blacksmith NPC in town for a fee.
Otherwise, once durability hit zero, the equipment would shatter and become irreparable.
But there was no helping it.
Cannon fodder enemies like this posed the biggest threat in terms of equipment durability loss, which was why Chen Zixuan hadn't used the blue dagger and continued to use the system-given starter weapon to grind.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
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