https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-20-The-Secret-to-Unlocking-Hidden-Quests-The-Echo-Machine/12824780/
Chapter 21: A Chance Encounter with Snowfall
Chapter 21: A Chance Encounter with Snowfall
This is the challenge of triggering the hidden quest.
To activate the quest, you must engage in a two-hour conversation with the NPC grandfather, repeating the dialogue four times. Most players don't have the patience for such a tedious task. They usually chat with the NPC for about five minutes and leave when the quest doesn't trigger.
Even the more patient players give up after realizing the NPC's dialogue starts repeating after half an hour.
As a result, this hidden quest remained undiscovered in Su Yu's previous life until a player, who had lost all hope, stumbled upon it just before the Blue Star humans were on the brink of extinction. By then, it was too late, as the Skrull's final assaults were already underway.
Su Yu, however, had the patience to endure the two-hour conversation. When the fourth repetition ended, the NPC grandfather's relaxed demeanor suddenly changed.
He stood up from the bench, his gaze shifting anxiously toward the east.
"They're here!" Su Yu's spirits lifted.
The grandfather stood and looked worriedly down the alley, then turned to Su Yu.
"Ah! It's so late, and my daughter Tina hasn't come yet. Young man, could you please go to the Morning Song General Store in the northeast part of the village and look for her? She might be in trouble."
"Ding! You have triggered the Excellent Hidden Quest [Tina's Struggle (1/20)]. Do you accept?"
"Accept!"
"Quest Description: Old John has asked you to go to the Morning Song General Store to find his daughter Tina."
"Quest Reward: 200 Experience Points, 2 Psychic Coins."
After accepting the quest, Su Yu stood up and waved to the NPC grandfather. "Old John, I'll go now. I'll bring you good news!"
"May the spirits watch over you, young man." Old John waved goodbye to Su Yu.
Five minutes later, Su Yu arrived at the entrance of the Morning Song General Store. The store was located in a secluded alley in the eastern residential area of the village, rarely visited by players.
As Su Yu was about to push the door open, a female player emerged from the store.
"Excuse me… Wait, it's you? Nemesis!" The female player's eyes lit up upon seeing Su Yu.
But then her expression turned melancholic, as if she was remembering something.
"Hello! Snowfall." Su Yu waved and greeted her.
This female player was Snowfall, whom Su Yu had met twice before. However, noticing her melancholic gaze, Su Yu felt a bit confused.
He was familiar with this look. Whenever he had turned down a girl, she would often give him this same melancholic stare.
Snowfall's gaze was no different.
Su Yu muttered to himself, "I haven't had any significant interaction with her, so why is she looking at me like that?"
He asked somewhat awkwardly, "So… where's your dad?"
"My dad logged off. He's getting old and can't handle long gaming sessions."
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nemesis, you took my hidden quest, [Tears of the Goddess Savina]," Snowfall said with a sigh.
Once Snowfall had completed the first part of the quest, no one else could take it unless she failed. She had also noticed that Su Yu had "cut in line" at the tenth part of the quest.
While she didn't blame Nemesis for being more skilled and taking the quest, she still felt a bit uncomfortable about it.
"Oh! It's you!" Su Yu exclaimed, finally understanding.
In his previous life, it was Snowfall who had completed the hidden quest. However, she never managed to complete the subsequent quest, [Annie's Revenge].
After being banned, she left the game "Evolution" forever.
No wonder Su Yu had never heard of "Snowfall." After all, she was quite attractive and one of the first players. She should have been somewhat famous.
...
"What do you mean, ‘turns out it was me’?" Snowfall was confused and didn't understand what Su Yu was talking about.
"Never mind," Su Yu shifted the topic. "Since I took your hidden quest, how about I give you a piece of equipment as compensation?"
Su Yu took out the [Slippery Scale Chestguard] from his backpack and handed it to Snowfall, showing her the item's stats.
[Slippery Scale Chestguard lv5 (Excellent)]
Type: Leather Armor
Defense +6
Agility +3
Even though Su Yu had saved Snowfall from being banned, he had also taken a [Tear of the Goddess] from her. So, he decided to give her the [Slippery Scale Chestguard] as compensation. After all, it wouldn't fetch much at the auction house.
When Snowfall saw the stats of the [Slippery Scale Chestguard], she was shocked.
It was actually a level 5 green-quality chestguard!
The [Black Iron Boots (Excellent) lv3] that Nemesis had listed on the auction house was already bidding up to 50 Psychic Coins. The [Slippery Scale Chestguard] should be worth at least 100 Psychic Coins! With the current black market exchange rate of 1:20, that would be nearly 2000 yuan in real currency!
"No way! That's too valuable, I can't accept it!" Snowfall quickly waved her hands and took a step back.
"Take it."
"I said no. How about this, let's add each other as friends, and you can give me a heads-up if you come across any good quests in the future!"
As she spoke, Snowfall sent Su Yu a friend request.
The latter part of her statement was purely out of politeness, just to give herself an easy way out. She didn't really expect Nemesis to provide her with any good quests.
Su Yu understood this.
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind if I find any suitable quests."
Su Yu accepted Snowfall's friend request.
"Thanks, then! See you, Master!" Snowfall waved and turned to leave.
"Wait! I have one more question," Su Yu suddenly remembered something and called out to her.
"What is it?" Snowfall turned around.
"Here's the thing," Su Yu explained. "Did you see a shopkeeper named 'Tina' in the general store earlier?"
"Tina..." Snowfall tapped her chin. "I was on a quest line from Baron Wilson. If I remember correctly, Tina should be at the entrance to Baron Wilson's estate. I saw her there."
"Baron Wilson... Thank you! This information is very useful!" Su Yu thanked her.
"You're welcome." Snowfall smiled and ran off.
After parting ways with Snowfall, Su Yu began his formal attempt at the hidden quest, [Tina's Struggle].
The first five stages of [Tina's Struggle] were mainly puzzle-solving tasks.
Tina wasn't in the general store, and players had to solve puzzles to figure out where she had gone.
Many of the clues were misleading.
For example, "Tina has her eye on a little dress and plans to try it on at the clothing store."
Or, "Tina has an appointment with Warrior Supervisor Quinn at the Warrior's Guild for a talent test."
And, "Tina is tracking a lost puppy that has been separated from its family."
Various false leads tried to misdirect Su Yu.
However, thanks to the accurate information from Snowfall, Su Yu was able to easily eliminate the wrong clues and successfully complete the puzzle-solving tasks.
After completing the five puzzle-solving stages, Su Yu arrived at the entrance of Baron Wilson's estate and met the quest's main character—Tina.
(End of Chapter)
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