Chapter 17: Yet Another Hidden Quest

Shen Jingbin's heart was still in turmoil over having received another hidden quest when she heard Shen Jingchen kicking up a fuss, "Little Jingjing, come quick! I've found the entrance to the cellar! Quick quick quick, Wu Lang's sister is definitely inside!"

Shen Jingbin kept the map and ran towards Shen Jingchen by following the sound of his voice. At this moment, Quiet And Steadfast just happened to emerge from one of the rooms. It was only then that Shen Jingbin realized Quiet and Steadfast's name contained a "jing" in it as well.¹ He probably thought that Shen Jingchen was referring to him when he called out for "little Jingjing".

The cellar in question was situated in a corner and hidden behind a Chinese Rose that was in full bloom. Shen Jingchen might have missed it if it wasn't for his hands itching to pluck a few flowers.

"Beautifully done. Let's open the entrance and enter." Under Shen Jingchen's fervent gaze that screamed: "praise me praise me praise me praise me", Shen Jingbin very sincerely patted his head.

A certain someone felt very satisfied after receiving his praise, but why did he feel as if something was off?

Quiet And Steadfast wore a smile that wasn't a smile as he cast a glance at the two siblings. He took a step over to the stone slab that was hidden beneath the flowers and lifted it up, exposing a pitch black entrance.

Shen Jingchen suggested, "Leader, you take point. Little Jingjing will stand in the middle and I'll be the rearguard!"

Quiet And Steadfast raised a brow, "Little Jingjing?"

Shen Jingbin turned to him to explain, "There's a "jing" in my name, this is how he normally refers to me."

"Oh, so that's how it is." He didn't try to pry any deeper. With a grunt, he took the lead and entered the cellar with Shen Jingbin following behind him. After taking a look around and jumping into the cellar, Shen Jingchen shifted the stone slab back into place. He then broke into a jog to catch up with the other two.

"Ah, that's right. I have something to tell you guys," as they were walking, Shen Jingbin suddenly thought of that quest and felt that it was necessary to let the others know, so she said, "I think I… received another hidden quest."

"…"

"F*ck!"

The person in front of her seemed to stumble for a moment, while the one behind her cursed outright. She felt somewhat helpless, it wasn't her fault for having such a good personality.

Quiet And Steadfast who was walking in front turned to ask, "What kind of quest is it?"

"Annihilate the protector of the Demonic Sect, 'Du the Unvanquished'."

"Du the Unvanquished? What a pompous name. That aside, I've never heard of any Demonic Sect even after playing this game for so long. I say, little Jingjing, you actually know the game's developers. Right? You've only been playing for a day and you've already received two hidden quests. I on the other hand, f*ck, I've played for almost two years and haven't seen hide nor hair of a hidden quest!" Shen Jingchen looked very aggrieved as he continued, "No matter what, the two of us are still siblings. Why's there such a huge difference between us?"

Shen Jingbin retorted, "You're a genetic mutation, of course the two of us are going to be different."

Shen Jingchen: …

Quiet And Steadfast immersed himself in thought for a little while before saying, "The monsters you'll encounter in hidden quests are all special, you'll probably meet them later. Oh right, how much Luck do you have?"

"Around 25, I think," she honestly replied.

"…"

"What the f*ck! You perverted little shit! How the hell did you manage to get your hands on 25 points of Luck?!"

Shen Jingbin calmly recounted how she raised her Luck, "When I was creating my character, the system told me that my character was the ugliest in the game and rewarded me with 5 points of Luck. It also awarded me with another 10 points of Luck to facilitate my enjoyment of the game. Afterwards, as a reward for being the first player to obtain three special awards, I was given another 10 points."

"What kind of special awards did you obtain?" Quiet And Steadfast asked.

"They were…uh, having the highest Uglification limit, being the ugliest, and having the lowest Beautification limit."

Shen Jingchen raged, "That's unfair! Both of us clearly look the same! Why didn't I trigger anything!"

Shen Jingbin silently ridiculed him, "You seem to have been suffering from an acne outbreak when you created your character."

"But just a few pimples wouldn't be enough cover up my good looks, right?!" Shen Jingchen objected with conviction.

Quiet And Steadfast couldn't bear to listen on. He gave a cough and said, "Crying Fish, the leader from our opposing guild, Life At First Sight, had the highest Luck in the game before you came along, and based on what I know, she had around 17 points of Luck. But just these 17 points alone was enough to net their guild no small amount of benefits. With you around, our guild will probably be able to gain the upper hand when it comes to hidden quests in the future."

Shen Jingbin gave a nod of her head that expressed both her understanding and confusion.

1. In Chinese, he's called 宁静致远, which is the same "静" in Shen Jingbin's name ↩