Chapter 3: The Quest System

Author: 鍩颯爱

Updated: September 21, 2017

Word Count: 2099

"Are you excited to see me, Captain? I'm super excited too!"

Kiana opened her mouth but couldn't find the words. She was all too familiar with the character Love-chan, who served as the newbie guide in the game Honkai.

"Wow, I knew that two-dimensional girls are amazing! Love-chan, give me a kiss!"

Kiana pouted, ready to "lick the screen," but a flash of disgust crossed Love-chan's eyes. Suddenly, the phone started to emit electricity, coursing through Kiana's hand and body, causing her hair to stand on end once again, like a cat that had been shocked.

"Cough, cough, hack!"

Kiana coughed out a puff of black smoke, her body spasming. Ah, the depth of Love-chan's affection, I can feel it deeply.

"Screen licking is prohibited, Captain!"

"Wah, wah, wah, Love-chan doesn't love me anymore!"

Finally, after ten minutes, Kiana managed to return to normal and started to converse with Love-chan.

"Well, Captain, do you find this game too difficult?"

"Yeah, I can't believe it costs thirty million Berries to recharge for only two hundred Crystals, that's totally not enough!"

Kiana grumbled softly, and a glint of insight flickered in Love-chan's eyes.

"Captain, you should think about it: if you don't spend money, how can you become stronger?"

That profound saying from her past life struck Kiana hard, making her feel incredibly helpless. Of course, she wanted to spend money, but unfortunately, she was broke.

"In fact, the reason why you feel broke is simply because you're not strong enough. If you had enough strength, you could just catch a few high-bounty pirates in this world and wouldn't have to worry about money at all."

It sounded so easy, but the problem was she didn't have even a dime right now. Without strength, there was no money; it was a vicious cycle.

"Don't be discouraged, Captain! You should know that besides recharging, there's a quest system that can reward you with Crystals!"

"...I just remembered, it seems like that."

When Kiana was short on Crystals before, she had always just recharged her account and had almost forgotten that completing quests could earn her Crystals.

"And Captain can also earn coins through the Home System! Although it's only a small amount of coins, it's more than enough for you right now."

Thanks to Love-chan's reminder, Kiana recalled that there was indeed a Refinery in the Home System where she could earn coins. She had overlooked it before because the amount was so small. Quickly, Kiana clicked on the Home icon on her phone.

"Phew, thankfully that jerk… er, big sister isn't going all out; she still has some humanity left."

To Kiana's surprise, the Home System, which normally required a certain level to unlock, was available to her right from level one. She had to admit that that guy, Besta, had been somewhat generous. What surprised her even more was that the core of the Home System, the Honkai Furnace, was already at max level.

"Wah, wah, wah! Thank you, big sister, for your mercy!"

Kiana was almost moved to tears. Although she remembered who had put her in this situation, she quickly activated the Refinery's function to start producing coins. Watching the coin count increase, Kiana smiled with glee. She planned to check back in a few hours to see how many coins she had produced; surely it would be enough for her to learn skills by then.

"Next up, it's time for the quest system!"

Kiana nervously clicked on the quest system. She didn't dare to look right away, fearing that if the tasks were too difficult, she wouldn't be able to handle them. Kiana peeked through her fingers, bit by bit.

Task 1: Using the Field Armor White Lian, defeat one enemy.

Task Rewards: 1,000 coins and the Pulsar Armor Scarlet, plus ten mission points.

"...This doesn't seem too hard."

Kiana looked at the task details. Earning 1,000 coins was straightforward, and the Pulsar Armor Scarlet was also a basic character armor, much like the Field Armor White Lian. Along with the Battle Tank Armor, these three armors were referred to by players as the "Big Three," and they were the first three armors players encountered in Honkai, all of which were classified as the lowest-level B-grade armor. The rankings for Valkyrie armors went from low to high as B-grade, A-grade, S-grade, SS-grade, and finally, SSS-grade.

Additionally, the ten mission points were rewards for completing the task that could be exchanged for treasure chests, which contained materials and Crystals when opened.

"Love-chan, why is there only one task?"

"Because the system determined that one task is enough for your current strength. You wouldn't be able to handle more."

"..."

Please don't discourage me; I'm strong too! Kiana thought somewhat dejectedly. Then she realized a more serious question.

"Love-chan, what is my enemy?"

It was no surprise Kiana was confused; after all, the task only mentioned defeating one enemy, but it completely lacked any information on the enemy's strength. There was a significant difference between crushing an ant and challenging an elephant.

"Your enemy is already marked on the map, Captain!"

At Love-chan's words, Kiana looked down at her phone. She saw that the previous task interface had turned into a map, with her position marked as a green dot. Based on the surrounding trees, she estimated the map covered about a hundred meters. However, there were no enemy markers visible on the map besides her green dot.

"I don't see anything."

"You have to zoom in on the map, Captain!"

"Oh, right!"

Kiana swiped her finger across the screen, and the map that initially encompassed a hundred meters suddenly expanded to cover the entire island. Countless red dots appeared on the map, densely packed and enough to terrify anyone with a fear of crowds. Even Kiana, a normal person, was sufficiently spooked.

"There are so many enemies?"

"Captain, calm down; you only need to defeat one for the task."

"That's true… but how does the system determine my enemies?"

"The system considers any creature capable of killing you as an enemy."

"..."

Kiana silently stared at the thousands of red dots on the island, feeling like crying. What kind of island had she landed on? Were they too strong, or was she too weak?

"Well, Captain, don't be disheartened. For your safety, Love-chan has thoughtfully categorized the enemies by strength. The darker the color, the greater the threat to you, while the lighter colors indicate less threat."

Kiana glanced at her phone and indeed noticed the subtle differences in color among the red dots. The red dots clustered around the island's perimeter were nearly fading to white, while the brightest blood-red dots were at the deepest part of the island, at least ten kilometers away from her. That was a good piece of news; as long as she didn't foolishly venture deep into the island, her life should be safe.

"So, Love-chan will be watching closely to see how you perform! I wish you success, Captain!"