"Vivian, Vivian, you have to hold on. Please don't let anything happen to you!"
Big Watermelon and Melee God of Magic anxiously prayed in their hearts.
It was obvious that the NPC's survival would directly affect the direction of the subsequent quests. Only by successfully rescuing Vivian from Claw Forest could they trigger the events that followed.
At the same time, the two of them were prepared to face a battle. But honestly, neither of them felt very confident. Judging from the commotion just now, it definitely wasn't something an ordinary monster could have caused.
It was highly likely to be an elite monster—or even a small BOSS!
After two weeks of frantically grinding levels and taking quests, the levels of these Beta Testers had all quickly become stuck at around Level 10.
The reason was that they could no longer gain experience from the low-level monsters in the beginner area, yet they couldn't defeat the high-level monsters in the farther, deeper regions either.
After all, the small villages in these peripheral areas had no mentors to advance players into their classes or teach them skills. At most, they could offer a "Hunter" sub-class like Big Watermelon's—and that was already considered pretty good.
With no class, no specialties, and no skills, they possessed nothing but a lonely level panel. This greatly reduced the Beta Testers' combat power, leaving them in an extremely awkward position: not strong enough to compete with the best, yet better than the worst.
That was also why these Beta Testers were so desperate to develop new maps and reach the big cities.
The scene shifted.
Just as Big Watermelon and Melee God of Magic hurried toward Vivian with anticipation and unease,
On the other side of the forest, Vivian herself was there. Little Wolf, lazily held in the young girl's arms, seemed to sense something. After Liao Zixuan gave a strange "Huh?" in his heart, he jumped down from the girl.
Dark Flame Wolf's senses were incomparably powerful. This was a common trait among all high-tier monsters.
Thus, from far away, before the two Beta Testers had even found Vivian, Liao Zixuan had already locked onto them.
Then
He saw the two figures transmitted through the magical image before his eyes. One had "One Bite Big Watermelon" floating above his head, while the other had "Melee God of Magic."
"Aw?"
Holy crap!
"Awooo!!" From Vivian's perspective, her little black wolf tilted its head and gave a somewhat confused cry.
Then, in the very next moment, it suddenly became extremely excited. As if it had spotted some delicious prey, it raised its head toward a certain direction in the forest and let out a high-pitched wolf howl.
"Little Black, what's wrong?" Vivian half-crouched down. As she stroked the little wolf, the girl asked curiously while looking toward the spot Liao Zixuan had indicated.
After spending most of the day together, the bond between the girl and wolf had quickly grown warmer. The girl was already extremely close to him.
"Someone's coming this way."
"But don't worry. They probably don't have any hostile intentions."
While using Telepathy to send Vivian vague thoughts so that she could understand the general situation, Liao Zixuan's mind was also racing as he secretly calculated his options.
Liao Zixuan had not failed to anticipate the force known as the players. On the contrary, they were a crucial force in his "Witch cultivation plan," and one of the reasons he was so confident about Vivian's future.
After all, the girl had a weak foundation and came from the lowest level of society. She was merely a small villager with no connection to any of the main storylines, completely incomparable to the great families that had been passed down for thousands of years and possessed terrifying foundations. The difference between them was like heaven and earth.
But Liao Zixuan wanted to turn the world of Fall of the Gods upside down with Vivian. To do that, they had to borrow outside help. And the players were the best leek—cough! Allies!
Of course, it sounded simple enough, but actually carrying it out would certainly require a tiny bit of skill.
Fortunately,
The thing Liao Zixuan was best at was skill—cough, deception.
Although the players had appeared much earlier than he had expected, this still couldn't stump Liao Zixuan. In fact, for him and the girl, it was absolutely wonderful news.
First of all, judging from the two players' equipment and levels, Fall of the Gods should still be in its Beta Testing phase, before its official launch.
Secondly, their route was extremely clear. They were heading straight toward him and the girl. Barring any surprises, they had probably been attracted by the commotion caused by Vivian's earlier super "Magic Missile."
Finally, Liao Zixuan had noticed a very important detail: the two players seemed extremely anxious. As they advanced, they kept looking around the forest, as though they were searching for something.
Could they be here for Vivian?
Because the girl had failed to return home overnight due to him, had her family feared that something had happened to her and specially hired someone to search Claw Forest for their missing daughter?
And were these two players the ones who had happened to accept this "missing-person quest"?
It didn't take long for Liao Zixuan to piece together the cause and effect in his mind. However, he soon felt that something was off.
In his view, searching for a lost cat or dog was an ordinary little quest. Logically speaking, it shouldn't have made players—especially high-level players qualified to participate in the Beta Test—take it so seriously.
But whatever!
In any case, it couldn't be avoided. He had never intended to hide. However, before the two players found this place, he still needed to give Vivian a little...
A little packaging!
A few minutes later.
"Found her! Found her! Watermelon, look! Is she over there?" Melee God of Magic had the sharpest eyes. As he hurried through the forest, he spotted Liao Zixuan and the girl, who had deliberately stopped and waited for the two of them to come knocking.
On the other side, when Big Watermelon heard the excited voice of the God of Magic, he was delighted. But when he looked over a second later, his eyelid twitched.
With the bonus from his "Hunter" sub-class, his eyesight was slightly better than the God of Magic's. Big Watermelon clearly saw a little black wolf behind Vivian and to her side, slowly emerging from the grass and drawing closer to the girl.
Not good!
The quest NPC was in danger!
Big Watermelon mistook the little black wolf for a wild monster from the forest.
He immediately reached back and took down the bow and arrows on his back. The active effect of his "Hunter" sub-class took effect at once. Although Big Watermelon was still running, his hands steadily drew an arrow and pulled back the bowstring, taking aim.
Whoosh!
A sharp sound tearing through the air rang out in the forest. The wooden arrow tipped with iron shot forth instantly, flying straight toward the little black wolf behind the girl.
However, in the very next moment,
A scene that left the two Beta Testers, Big Watermelon and Melee God of Magic, completely stunned and utterly dumbfounded appeared.
Buzz!
Before the arrow flying through the air could even reach its target, a pale-blue halo suddenly emerged from the village girl's body. It expanded explosively before finally forming a huge, translucent barrier.
Big Watermelon's iron-tipped arrow slammed into the barrier. Without making even the slightest sound, it fell straight down and dropped uselessly onto the ground.
This...
Before Big Watermelon and the God of Magic could react to what had happened, in the space of the next breath, a suffocating pressure that made their scalps tingle followed close behind.
And the most unexpected part was that the source of this terrifying hostility was actually...
The village girl who should have been missing in Claw Forest as part of the quest—the one they had come to rescue.
Vivian!
Before you continue