Special extra chapter, Thank You Nextuber-2237, for the review.
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Chapter 49: Ancient Ruins, The Graveyard of Gods?
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Feiling City, Floor 11 Safe Zone.
Seito and his group headed toward the City Lord's Manor, where they found a dense crowd of players. While some high-tier quests were notoriously difficult, there were plenty of low-level tasks available, making the manor a bustling hub for the player base.
In God's Domain, quests rarely granted experience points. To level up, one had to grind in the wilderness. Consequently, most players were here for one thing: equipment.
As Seito's group entered, they drew a fair share of stares, but most players remained focused on their own business. Only a few idle observers began to whisper about the legendary trio appearing in person.
Following Ako's lead, Seito walked toward the massive quest board.
The crowd instinctively parted, creating a path of silent respect for the "God-tier" players. Seito quickly scanned the postings until his eyes locked onto his target.
[Quest: Ancient Ruins]
[Description]: In the primordial era, gods walked the earth. One day, for reasons unknown, the divine fell. Their surviving believers built civilizations upon the ashes. The site where the gods perished is now known as the Ancient Ruins.
(For further details, consult the City Lord.)
[Objective]: Explore the Ancient Ruins and map the interior.
[Requirements]: None.
[Rewards]: Spatial Crystal (Orange/Epic), Feiling Spear (Purple/Rare).
"Eh? This doesn't look too hard, does it?"
Maple tilted her head, confused.
"No." Shiro shook her head. Her jewel-like eyes turned unusually serious, and her soft voice held a hint of warning. "This mission is definitely not simple."
"The guards in this manor are over Level 80," Shiro continued. "If the mission were easy, they would have mapped it themselves. The fact that they're outsourcing this to 'Adventurers' means the risk is extreme."
She was right. Every NPC soldier they passed was Level 80 or higher. The City Lord's level was likely astronomical.
"Are we really taking this?" Sora asked, standing by Seito's side. The level gap was staggering. If the danger inside was scaled for Level 80 NPCs, a group of Level 20 players was essentially walking into a meat grinder.
"Of course we're taking it," Seito smirked. "Don't forget, we have a literal Goddess of Luck on our side." He glanced at Maple.
"Eh? Me?" Maple's eyes went wide.
Seito's expression then turned solemn. "But there's a bigger question: Why does the City Lord want a map?"
Seito stopped treating God's Domain as a simple game long ago. To him, the NPCs were real people with complex motivations. He noted the word "Gods" in the description. Having absorbed a sliver of divine aura himself, an act that allowed him to bring power into reality, anything involving the divine was of paramount importance.
A mapping quest with an Epic-tier reward? The reward didn't match the objective. There had to be something inside those ruins so valuable that the City Lord was willing to pay a fortune just for a path through.
"Let's go. We need to talk to the man in charge."
The group followed a guard through the manor. Seito was polite but firm, and soon they were standing outside a pair of ornate doors.
Knock, knock.
"City Lord, we have adventurers here for the Ancient Ruins quest," the guard announced.
"Let them in," a deep, resonant voice replied from within.
The doors opened to an office that blended ancient Eastern aesthetics with modern convenience—exquisite mahogany furniture sat beneath electric chandeliers. Behind a desk stood a man in luxurious hanfu.
Seito checked his status.
(T/N: I didn't change the name of this character because it was hassles to change it everytime.)
[NPC: Cang Feiyun]
[Level: 100]
Level 100! The maximum cap for this stage of the game.
"Welcome," Cang Feiyun said, gesturing toward a wooden sofa. "Please, sit."
Seito didn't waste time. "City Lord Cang, we've taken the quest. But before we set out, we need the full story. What are we truly walking into?"
Cang Feiyun sighed, his eyes distant as if looking back through eons. "In the ancient times, God's Domain was home to many deities. But a Great War erupted when the Wicked Gods invaded. The two sides clashed, and in the end, they perished together. None survived."
"The survivors entered the 'Age of Humanity,' building the world you see today. There are 100 habitable floors in this world, but the Ancient Ruins are located beyond the 50th Floor."
The group froze. The 50th Floor?!
They were only on Floor 11. How were they supposed to bridge a 40-floor gap?
"Do not worry," Cang Feiyun explained with a faint smile. "While the Bosses on Floors 11 through 20 guard the physical gateways, everything from Floor 21 to 50 is different. The Bosses there roam the open world. If you can break through to the 21st Floor, the path to the 50th is wide open."
He leaned forward. "And once you reach that height, the level cap for you Adventurers will be raised to 100."
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