Chapter 128 Exploration Completed

Despite the burden Ye Ci was carrying on her back, she swung the cat claws again and again. Fortunately, Pea Cake was skillful with his work, and the cat claws he produced were sturdy enough. One of them would only be broken after more than a dozen usages. Ye Ci however, remained careful. She avoided using cat claws with lower durability during her climb in order to ensure her safety. Should the cat claw break when she was nearly at the top, she would definitely die.

“Oh God! It’s so high! Finley is afraid!” Finley, who had remained quiet, suddenly grumbled. He looked at Ye Ci with a saddened expression, twitching his greenish ears as he said in a sobbing tone, “Oh, Elf, I admit that you’re a very great person, can we make a deal?”

“What is it?” Climbing was especially tiring for Ye Ci with Finley on her back. She gasped for air as she swung the cat claws, while simultaneously having to console the burden on her back. Was there anybody suffering as much as her right now?

“If you want to climb on top of that statue, why not let me go back and do it by yourself?” Finley patted Ye Ci’s shoulder carefully in an attempt to flatter her.

Ye Ci was utterly confounded. Did he seriously think that she would willingly carry such a burden while scaling a statue? Did he think that she carried him because she liked him? She was forced to do it alright!? Forced to do it!

Noticing that his question went unnoticed, Finley continued to beg in a soft voice, “Dear Elf, I know you’re very awesome, you can defeat so many opponents alone. But things like climbing a statue… I don’t think I need to participate in this. Let me go…”

Ye Ci was finally fed up with Finley’s nonsense, “You have 2 choices. First, shut the hell up. Second, I will drop you down from here.”

Finley looked at the altitude they were at and let out a gasp. He covered his eyes with his hands and sobbed, “Finley will not speak again, Finley will not speak again...”

“Shut up.”

The world finally quieted down.

A cool breeze blew past just as Finley finally quieted down. Ye Ci suddenly had a feeling that such an extreme sport was actually quite fun. This gave her the drive to carry on to the top.

The time limit to complete the mission grew shorter and shorter. After a brief calculation, Ye Ci realised that she had not gone offline for more than 40 hours. She had attached the nutrient solution to her gaming cabin before going online. Had she not done so, she would have definitely died of starvation and dehydration while playing the game. [Ed note: uhh… obviously author has not researched this… would take at least 3-10 days to die of dehydration…]

At long last, Ye Ci was able to climb to the statue’s shoulder. Although it was not overly broad, the statue was just huge enough that his shoulders would of not be a narrow place. Ye Ci knelt on the ground, gasping for air before finally standing up straight, looking for the treasure chest.

Before she could locate the treasure chest, she was deeply stunned by the beautiful scenery.

As a reincarnator, Ye Ci of course knew that the stunning sceneries in Fate were one of its selling points, but she had never been able to experience it first hand. Today however, was different. In a map that only she had access to, in a map so quiet that even her own breath could be heard, all the adventures she’d had seemed trivial.

She set her sight upon the borderless ocean where there reddish gold sun was setting over the horizon, covering the sea in a shade of gold. It was as if the entire world was made of gold. There would be occasions where several seagulls streaked over the surface of the ocean, squawking as they went. The entire scenery was like a great art masterpiece.

“It’s so beautiful.” whispered Ye Ci, who was truly amazed.

The art design in Fate could be said to be one of the best in the world.The true beauty of mother nature was realistically portrayed by the game’s developers. Ye Ci took in a deep breath and the smell of the sea entered her nostrils. At that very moment, she couldn’t even tell if she was in the real world.

“You climbed all the way up here just to watch the scenery?” Finley finally spoke up.

Ye Ci snapped out of her daydreaming. She smiled, not saying a word. After all, Finley was just an NPC. Even if he possessed a certain level of intelligence, it was still a far cry for him to understand human emotion. Ye Ci then looked around and found a treasure chest hidden within the creases of the statue’s collar.

Perhaps because the site was a place with remarkable scenery, the developers did not place any monsters there. Despite that, Ye Ci moved cautiously, not lowering her guard. She even summoned Ol’ Four to take point.

Up until the moment when she opened the chest, not a single movement appeared. Ye Ci was finally able to relax.

There was only a skillbook and a letter in the chest.

Before taking a look at the letter, Ye Ci reached out for the skillbook. She felt nothing but excitement as she studied the words written on the skillbook. It was no wonder the chest was placed at such a high place. The skillbook was good stuff.

Rain of Arrows.

At level one, Rain of Arrows would fire 5 arrows in a random AOE, dealing 110 physical damage to any targets caught within the zone. The level required to learn the skill was lvl 60.

In Fate, every character class had a few overpowered skills designed in the game. These skills, however, could only be learned from very specific NPCs or through skillbooks. Very few had the ability to acquire such skills. It was said that their numbers could be counted on one’s fingers.

Rain of Arrows one of the most overpowered skills of the Hunter class. When Ye Ci was still a Sorceress in her last life, she drooled over the Firestorm skillbook, and Rain of Arrows was the skillbook that was drooled over by all the Hunters.

She had never thought that she would have the chance to come across such an overpowered skillbook.

Of course, Ye Ci’s luck was not the contributing factor at all. It was something that was scripted by the developers. The first player to explore an unknown map would always receive a top tier skillbook of his or her class. As a Huntress and the first player to explore Hidden Treasure Gulf, it was natural that she received Rain of Arrows.

Ye Ci activated her Brooch of Deceit, changing her level to lvl 60, and then learned Rain of Arrows. Although the Brooch of Deceit did not have many uses, its ability to cheat even the system proved its worth by itself.

Ye Ci had the urge to test out her newly acquired ability, but a system notification popped out, indicating that she was prohibited from using any skills from her current position. She then took out the letter from the chest.

It was a very old letter. Even the words written on it had already faded away. Ye Ci could only make out a few sentences that were written on the letter.

“... When you read this letter, I believe you’ll have already seen the magnificent scenery. Have you understood the real meaning behind the name ‘Hidden Treasure Gulf?’ O’ brave adventurer, do not let your eyes be clouded by the wealth contained within the chest. This beautiful sunset is the most precious treasure…”

Ye Ci put the letter away. The person who wrote the letter was correct, the scenery was indeed marvelous. For a common person like Ye Ci however, the best treasure was of course the one contained within the chest. As for the scenery, maybe she would truly be able to enjoy it when she got old.

A system notification popped up right after Ye Ci had finished reading the chapter, “Congratulations for completing your exploration of the Hidden Treasure Gulf. Your exploration progress is: 100%. Exploration time: 47 hours. The Hidden Treasure Gulf will be made available to all players in 25 hours.”

“You have completed the exploration of a hidden map. Do you wish for your ID to remain hidden?”

Even something like this could make it into the system announcement? Ye Ci immediately selected the option to hide her player ID. Upwards Ho! could have all the exposure, but Gongzi You… It was best for her to lay low. “Yes.”

A system announcement immediately appeared in the World Channel. Other than the Talent Points rewarded, nothing else was of use to Ye Ci.

Ye Ci stored the letter into her inventory and said to Finley, “Oi, we’re going down there now.”

“How are we going to get down there?” Finley was visibly excited, “Hurry up and…” before he could complete his sentence, Finley felt a loss of weight. At the next moment, he came to a sudden realization. By “going down,” the Elf had meant that they would jump down.

“AHHHHHHHH!!!” Finley screamed in a shrill voice, to the point where Ye Ci felt as if she was going deaf.

The screaming continued even after Ye Ci activated Featherfall. She cupped her ears, trying to reduce the amount of torture they received from Finley. She floated onto the ground lightly, just like a feather. Even after they had landed, Finley was still screaming. Ye Ci loosened the ropes and sat him down on the ground. She took out a bottle of water and nudged Finley who was covering his eyes with both hands, “Are you feeling thirsty?”

“Ah, thank you.” Finley lowered his hands and handed the bottle back to Ye Ci politely, ready to resume his screaming. Ye Ci immediately stopped him, “We’ve landed.”

Finley was momentarily stunned. He then looked at Ye Ci with eyes full of disbelief, “Heh, Elf, we didn’t fall to our deaths?”

Before Ye Ci could offer him a reply, a loud thump sounded from the sky above. It was not the sound of thunder… It was…. It was… Before Ye Ci could figure out the answer to her question, a system warning rang out: “Somebody is pounding on the exterior of your machine. To prevent any losses in-game, please go offline as soon as possible.”

Ye Ci immediately went offline after receiving the notification. She pushed open the lid of her gaming cabin, and saw Bai Mo’s worried face, “What happened, Bai Mo?”

“Where’s your character at right now? I’m unable to reach you! Get to the entrance of Frosty Wasteland Inner Sanctum quickly!”

“What happened?”

“Upwards Ho! is under attack.”

Hiya people!!! Hope y'all enjoy the double chapters!!!

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