Insectoids

"Congratulations! You killed an unknown creature and gained 20 experience points!"

"You triggered the unique hidden quest [Shadow of the Insectoid]. Your beginner quest has been updated to the unique hidden quest."

[Insectoid Shadow 1] (Unique Hidden): After a grueling battle, you killed the monster in the cave. You were puzzled about why a space beast had appeared in a low-level star region. Bring its remains to Homeworld Base and seek out General Huang. He might have the answers you need.

Quest Objective: Show the monster's remains to General Huang.

Rewards: 50 experience points, 2 Silver Crystals, 1 Fine-Grade Mecha Armor Crate of your choice

The system notification confirmed that the monster had indeed been killed. At the same time, Wang Qianduo's beginner quest had been completely changed.

According to the guide on the forums, the normal quest progression should have been to bring back the wreckage of the mecha belonging to the space pirate he'd killed, then receive 20 experience points and a basic-grade mecha armor.

General Huang would then send people to investigate the planet. But the pirates there, realizing something might be wrong when the pirate Wang Qianduo had killed failed to return, would leave early, leaving the investigators empty-handed.

After equipping his armor, Wang Qianduo would then accept a quest from General Huang to kill the space pirates of the Black Shark Pirate Group who had infiltrated the low-level star region.

But now his quest had changed right from the start. Not only were the rewards much better, but he had no idea what would happen next.

The guide was suddenly useless to him. Wasn't that infuriating...?

His experience was also stuck stubbornly at 99/100, which was a real mood-killer.

With no other choice, Wang Qianduo picked up the blue crystals and items scattered on the ground. After finishing up the monster's remains, he left the Story Instance Dungeon and headed for the base.

"System Notification: Obtained 15 Blue Crystals and 1 Purple Crystal."

"System Notification: Obtained material [Fine Chitin Shell]."

The blue crystals dropped by the space pirates and the monster were the currency of Mecha World: energy-bearing crystals.

There were three types of crystals, ranked from highest to lowest: Gold Crystals, Purple Crystals, and Blue Crystals, in a ratio of 1:10:100.

They were basically the gold, silver, and copper coins of traditional games. Aside from their use as materials, they were no different from ordinary currency.

Besides the money, the monster had also dropped a material for Wang Qianduo.

[Fine Chitin Shell]

Material Grade: Fine

Quality: Intermediate

Note: A versatile biological material with a chitinous shell.

And that was it. Mecha World was notorious for its abysmal drop rates. It was common for ordinary players to reach level 30 without completing a set of same-level basic equipment.

Otherwise, the game wouldn't have driven so many players away right after launch.

Wang Qianduo still hadn't realized what the Legendary weapon in his hands represented.

After leaving the Story Instance Dungeon, Wang Qianduo headed for the main city of the base. So far, what had impressed him most about the game wasn't the mecha, but the sight of queues everywhere.

That spectacle wouldn't last much longer. Once players reached level 3, they would head to different star regions for quests. They wouldn't see a scene like this again until the first instance dungeon, which required level 5.

Wang Qianduo put away Unit Zero and returned to the residential district. An attendant led him to General Huang, and he began reporting what had happened.

"General, I ran into a group of space pirates on my way back with the ore... and then he summoned a monster..."

"This is the monster's left pincer, this is its right pincer, and this is the upper half of its body..."

To make it easier for the general to get a good look, Wang Qianduo laid out the monster's enormous, dismembered body and tried to piece it together.

He didn't even notice the monster's blood sizzling as it corroded the floor.

General Huang: "..."

My brand-new memory alloy floor!!!

"Stop putting it together. We've confirmed it—it's a Drone of the Mutant Insect race!"

General Huang fought back the urge to curse and called a halt to Wang Qianduo's efforts.

"Um, sorry about this, General. I'm a bit obsessive-compulsive!" Wang Qianduo said, giving the Mutant Insect's corpse one last adjustment.

General Huang: "..."

"System Notification: You completed the hidden quest [Insectoid Shadow 1] and received 50 experience points, 2 Silver Crystals, and 1 Fine-Grade Mecha Armor Crate of your choice."

"So the Black Shark Pirate Group can summon Mutant Insects. Could they have joined forces with the Insectoids?

"Recruit, since you were the one who discovered them, I'm putting you in charge of investigating. Are you willing to take this on?" General Huang asked in a grave voice.

"I'll get it done!" Wang Qianduo replied at once.

"Good. Head to the Dark Forest on Planet 1 in Star Region 5. We've received word that a group of Black Shark Pirates is hiding there.

"Find out what those space scum are up to, and whether they really have ties to the Insectoids.

"If possible, bring me the head of the Black Shark Pirates' leader, Hyena Minkson, who's hiding in the forest.

"Hyena's no pushover. You can bring a few companions, but don't pick anyone whose strength is too far below yours!

"And bring back the rare Adamantine ore they stole, too."

Wang Qianduo: "..."

Why did I get the feeling that last part was the real point?

Old Huang, are you seriously trying to act cute? You just want me to help you steal your stuff back, don't you?

"System Notification: You received the hidden quest [Insectoid Shadow 1: Hyena Minkson]."

But the quest was already in his hands, so Wang Qianduo didn't press the matter. He checked the quest, then left.

[Insectoid Shadow 1: Hyena Minkson]: Hyena Minkson, leader of the Black Shark Pirate Crew, is scheming something in the Dark Forest. Investigate and find out what.

Quest Objective: At minimum, defeat the Dark Forest Instance Dungeon boss Hyena Minkson on Hard Mode, and investigate his connection to the Insectoids.

Rewards: Dependent on the team's level of difficulty in completing the quest

Wang Qianduo didn't go straight to work on the quest. Instead, he wandered around the city.

Although the Dark Forest Instance Dungeon was the game's first instance dungeon, players had to be level 5 to enter it.

He wanted to see if he could pick up any other ordinary quests and gain some levels.

By the way, after completing the quest just now, Wang Qianduo had enough experience to reach level 2, but he hadn't clicked to level up yet.

At the same time, he opened the [Fine-Grade Mecha Armor Crate] and chose a suit of armor he was very pleased with.

Light Titanium Alloy Mecha Armor (Fine, 97%)

Armor

Usable by: Level 1+ Agility-type mecha

Strength +1

Agility +3

Defense +4

Note: Lightweight mecha armor that doesn't affect the mecha's speed.

The armor's stats were decent. After all, it was only a level 1 fine-grade piece of equipment, so Wang Qianduo wasn't expecting too much from it.

But he was unlucky: the equipment in the crate hadn't rolled a perfect 100% stat rating.

The odds of that weren't high, but it was only a level 1 piece of equipment. A 3% difference in quality didn't affect its stats, so there was no need to spend materials to raise it to 100%.

The percentage after an item's grade showed how close its stats were to the maximum. At 0% and 100%, the stats could differ by quite a lot, and the higher the equipment's level and grade, the bigger the difference.

For low-level equipment, a 3% difference really didn't affect the stats.

After equipping the [Light Titanium Alloy Mecha Armor] through the virtual interface, Wang Qianduo strolled down the street.

Equipping items in Mecha World was very convenient. All you had to do was drag the item's virtual image onto the mecha's virtual image, and it equipped automatically.

Being able to modify your mecha yourself had been one of the game's selling points when it first launched.

Unit Zero's appearance didn't change after it equipped the armor. The armor merely replaced the materials covering the mecha's body; it didn't alter its appearance.

Wang Qianduo then raised his level and gained five free attribute points.

But he didn't rush to assign them. He hadn't decided what kind of build he wanted yet, and he wasn't short of those few points.

"Would you look at that! It really takes 1,000 experience points to go from level 2 to level 3. This game sure is hard to level up in! No wonder the highest-level player is only level 30 after a whole year."

Wang Qianduo looked at his experience bar helplessly. Because the hidden quest had replaced his main quest, his quests had run dry at level 2. Faced with all this experience needed, he didn't know what to do.

"Forget it, I'll stop thinking about it for now. I'll go do those side quests listed on the forums first!

"The guide stopped being useful right from the start. What a headache!"

~~~

Drone

Race: Mutant Insect

Grade: Elite

LV3

HP: 270

MP: 40

Attack: 30

Defense: 5

Skills: Mining, Pounce