The village chief looked at the wild boar king’s heart and furrowed his brow tightly.
“The boars in Wild Boar Ridge are becoming more rampant. When their numbers grow too large, a king is inevitably born. It’s a good thing you eliminated the wild boar king!”
“With your strength, you might be able to protect the village. If you collect any other beast king’s hearts, you can hand them over to me. On behalf of the village, I will reward you handsomely!”
[You have completed the quest: Hunt the Beast King, collect the Beast King’s Heart. Reward: 800 copper coins, massive experience.]
[Your level has reached Level 9!]
Chu Fu’s heart leaped with joy.
Then, calm and composed, she started rummaging through her bag.
Damn hearts. Each one took up an inventory slot—she had been dying to get rid of them!
She pulled out the Rat King’s Heart.
Then, the Wolf King’s Heart.
Again, the Bear King’s Heart.
And once more, the Tiger King’s Heart.
The next moment, the system notifications kept popping up.
[You have completed the quest: Hunt the Beast King…] ×4.
Chu Fu’s experience skyrocketed. She needed just 20% more to reach Level 10.
The village chief stared at Chu Fu in utter shock.
“The village hasn’t seen a powerhouse like you in years!”
He spoke with excitement, his eyebrows lifting in delight.
“Wait for me. A hero deserves glory and a medal.”
He went inside and quickly came back with a silvery box, slightly larger than a palm.
When he opened it, a silver-white radiance shone forth.
Inside the box lay a heart-shaped silver-white badge.
Chu Fu heard a pleasant chime in her ears.
[System Notification: You have completed the hidden quest—The Village Chief’s Recognition. Collected the hearts of five beast kings. Reward: Beast Hunter’s Heart Badge!]
[Beast Hunter’s Heart Badge (Silver Tier):
When equipped, all attributes +5.
Increases damage dealt to beast-type monsters by 10%. At the same time, beast-type monsters' threat (aggro) toward you increases by 10%.
This was exactly why Chu Fu had been collecting the hearts all along.
She took the Beast Hunter’s Heart and pinned it to her chest.
Players could equip multiple badges. According to the novel’s storyline, what many star players loved to show off was how many badges they had earned.
After all, it was a solid testament to their achievements.
Beside her, Proud and Petty was utterly stunned.
“W-what kind of quest is that? Can you give me the details?”
Proud and Petty’s eyes burned with a thirst for knowledge, and she kept glancing longingly at the silver badge.
Chu Fu smiled. “Check your private messages. Let’s talk quietly.”
Then she sent the details of the hidden quest over to her.
Finally, she added a reminder:
“But keep in mind: the boss only drops the Beast King’s Heart guaranteed on the first kill. Also, the boss has to be killed by you personally. Buying one won’t activate this hidden quest—it’ll only give you the experience reward.”
“Ah! Only on the first kill? So that means only one badge per village?”
“That’s right, but you can still use it later in other servers, when you set up a studio or build a guild.”
Proud and Petty immediately lost interest.
For now, given her current bank balance and the connections she had in hand, there was no way she could set up multiple studios like Wan Huanyu.
Don’t get her wrong—Wan Huanyu was also a rich second-generation, but his father supported him, and he had international graduates from prestigious business and management schools helping him out.
As for herself… did ‘Husband-Killing Poison Maker’ and ‘Needle-Wielding Saint’ count?
Well, she still had Chu Fu as her anchor, plus Shen Chi and Xie Lin as her two trusty sidekicks.
Hmph. She wasn’t lacking either.
“Forget the hidden quest for now. I’m going to recruit some people and collect some kills!”
[Server 0308888][Proud and Petty]: Thorn Alliance is recruiting! Join now and get +10 to all attributes, 10% experience bonus, and double experience skills—plenty of perks!
[Server 0308888][Proud and Petty]: Also offering 10,000 per character death. Let me kill you, and I’ll wire 10,000 on the spot. F-grade players unhappy with their current talent can take the 10,000 to respawn for free. Don’t miss out—you won’t regret it!
Proud and Petty was instantly flooded with messages.
Chu Fu quickly made a run for it—she didn’t want to get roped into the chaos.
Still, she didn’t forget to remind her:
“I’m going to grind achievements. Remember to stop when your Karma hits 99,900. Then we’ll go fight the werewolf Turg together!”
“Got it, got it!” Proud and Petty replied amidst the flurry.
Chu Fu was just 20% short of leveling up. She could head to the Level 10 monster zone—Sword Forest where the Tiger King roamed—and grind on regular tigers. She could also tackle the Level 8 dungeon: Beast Temple.
But Chu Fu wanted to get the first kill alongside her teammates, so she wasn’t in a rush.
Proud and Petty had work to do.
Shen Chi had gone offline to talk with his family.
Xie Lin had an appointment at the police station at 7 a.m. to give a statement.
So Chu Fu decided to work on her achievement of killing 100,000 Red-Eyed Rabbits in the Level 1 monster area.
She walked out of the newbie village gate and looked at the distant grass where Red-Eyed Rabbits hopped around, fixing their blood-red eyes on every passerby.
It had been three days since the game launched. Even the laziest player had already leveled up and moved on to the Level 2 monster zone—Stray Dog Fields.
The newbie village had gone from bustling to desolate in just a few days.
Chu Fu searched around and soon found three rabbit holes forming a triangle.
This was a respawn point in the Red-Eyed Rabbit zone, and there were more such points nearby.
A Red-Eyed Rabbit charged at Chu Fu, trying to attack her.
She swung her Cursed Staff and smashed it hard on the rabbit’s head.
-120! (Headshot Critical!)
Hmph,
she was actually pretty strong now!
After taking down three rabbits, new ones immediately appeared. Chu Fu tossed out three dandelion seeds and planted them at the rabbit holes.
“Buzz buzz buzz!”
The three dandelions spun in place!
As soon as a rabbit popped out of its hole, it was killed instantly.
It would take just over nine hours to kill 100,000.
Chu Fu’s plant control range covered 20 meters. She headed to another “Cunning Rabbit Three Burrows” spot and planted new dandelions.
This time cut the achievement grind time in half!
She didn’t even need to stay active—the dandelions would work on their own.
She simply took out a tent, crawled inside, and lay down comfortably. Then she opened the forum.
Oh, if only she had a milk tea in hand right now!
Hmm, what about a little honey water? Would that be a bit of a waste…
……
At 7 a.m.,
Xie Lin, accompanied by the neighborhood’s warm-hearted aunt Wang Yun, went to the police station to give his statement.
Later, under the guide’s lead, he entered a mediation room.
“The people who came to your door to attack you are all unemployed drifters. But their boss wants to talk to you about compensation—he wants to get your forgiveness and is willing to pay some money.”
Wang Yun kindly added, “Xiao Xie, you’re short on money now, and you weren’t injured. If they agree to pay compensation, that wouldn’t be a bad deal.”
But Xie Lin’s voice was cold. “I refuse the settlement. I don’t need the money.”
Suddenly, a mocking laugh came from behind.
“So it really is you!”
“You’ve got guts, but your parents don’t. How about I get in touch with them? Their hope might be that you’d get a few more beatings!”
“You’re Xie Lin, right? In-game name ‘Who Called the Blind Guy a Liar’?”
“Your teammates—don’t tell me they’re that vegetable sister and that cripple?”
“Hahahaha, you guys crack me up. What is this, the Avengers of misfits?”
The taunts hit full force, veins bulging on Xie Lin’s forehead as he gritted his teeth and growled, “Wan Huanyu!”
