Dark Eldar

The future is both uncertain and certain; both unpredictable and predictable; both chaotic and clearly visible. —Nameless Rules of Another World 234851.131534 (Judging from the grammatical structure, it seems to be a rant uploaded by an AI after countless deductions)

After saying goodbye to the old lady in Misty Village, Loki and Elaine quickly returned to Regin City (131, 220) and went to find the plaza administrator, Sister Milair (level 35), to turn in the quest.

Tap-tap-tap~ Tap-tap-tap~~ (Hero upgrade system notification sound; with a slight flashing effect)

Accompanied by special sound effects, Loki and Elaine both leveled up. Loki gained 1 levels, while Elaine gained 2!

Unfortunately, the experience points rewarded for the escort mission weren't much, and the two of them still hadn't reached level 20. As for the material rewards? They were just a few pieces of sandalwood (green) and some coarse linen cloth (green), like local specialties of Misty Village? Or maybe it was the "protection fee" that Misty Village paid to Lei Jincheng every month, which was then used to reward young people who went to Misty Village to do missions.

"Eleanor, are you hungry? Shall we go back to the hotel for lunch? Or should we go straight to another mission?" Loki asked, noticing it was already afternoon. They hadn't had lunch yet, so Loki sought their opinions.

"Brother Loki, let's continue with the quest. We need to reach level 25 quickly so we can go directly to the job selection hall to choose a job today! What do you think of my plan?" Elaine said, getting excited (/jump,/ happily jumping).

"Alright, let's do it your way! Lead the way, Elaine, let's decide on our professions today!" Loki fully supported Elaine. At the same time, he also knew that if leveling up was too slow, they would be at a disadvantage later on.

Loki reasoned, "The Classic server is still in open beta, so if leveling up is too slow, we might fall behind in resource acquisition. But since Elaine just arrived, she'd definitely struggle if I led the way. Therefore, it's more suitable to have Elaine as our guide, taking a steady and methodical approach."

And so, Loki, led by Elaine, went out of town and completed five regular quests and one escort quest. The regular quests involved killing level 23 giant boars and collecting 10 stacks of boar bristles; killing weakened level 27 imps, level 19 snow rats, level 33 weakened gnolls, and level 30 weakened Krymbs. Some required picking up quest items, while others simply involved killing a certain number of boars.

One advantage of having two people do a task is that after sharing the task, if only one person completes it, the other person's task list will also show "Completed?".

Elaine deliberately placed the escort mission last. This time, the escort target is: "Rescue the NPC woodcutter trapped by the weakened gnoll monsters, or simply rescue the woodcutter." (This mission can be repeated; there is an additional hidden reputation reward.)

As dusk fell, the "Rescue the Wood People" mission was still quite lively, with many young heroes lining up to talk to the trapped wood people, eager to rescue them. Only two wood people could be rescued at a time.

The trapped NPCs are all native residents of Leijin City. Furthermore, these escort missions to rescue the NPCs must be accepted in a queue; several heroes cannot simultaneously speak to the same few NPCs. Even in a team, only one member can speak to them at a time.

The observant Loki noticed several familiar young hero faces.

While waiting in line, Loki whispered to Elaine in front of him, "Look at those guys. I saw them escorting the commoners on the way back. They came back to collect their loot after they got back to town. Looks like there really are people grinding for reputation with Thunder City!"

"Well, Leijin City is a peaceful city with a long history. It would be nice to settle down here in the future. I bet you can even get cheaper food and other necessities!" Elaine whispered back.

"Hmm, and also, I noticed that while we were fighting the quest monsters, we encountered a lot of new human heroes. Most of them were doing their own quests, very few actively joined our team, and almost none tried to chat or make friends. I actually quite like this atmosphere of not bothering each other much." Loki, feeling a bit bored while waiting in line, shared his thoughts with Elaine.

"Yeah, I bet they were all pro players before the Classic version. They didn't need to be like pure alts anymore," Elaine said, following up on Loki's topic. She had a high EQ.

Loki also saw several more villagers being subdued by two weakened gnoll leaders (level 40, elite monsters, not bosses) in the distance. The leaders viciously pushed the villagers into the fence. Then, the two weakened gnoll leaders ran back into the forest without looking back, seemingly to catch more villagers? It seemed the weakened gnoll leaders were particularly afraid of the heroes ganging up on them and killing them...

"This escort mission to rescue the villagers back to the city, the villagers trapped by wild monsters actually kill people?!" Loki exclaimed in amazement!

He speculated, "Perhaps the woodcutter came out to chop wood just to be escorted? And then he was captured by the weakened gnoll leader?"

Inside the fenced-off mission area, the trapped villagers are mostly level 15-18, mostly middle-aged men, and every time a batch is rescued, several new villagers are sent over to be imprisoned.

Furthermore, even the strong villagers wielding axes dared not confront the weakened gnoll guards head-on! Nor did they dare to flee?? It seems the NPCs are inherently afraid of gnoll monsters? (Suspected suppression)

The trapped villagers' eyes were always unfocused, constantly darting around, their expressions a mixture of grievance and submissiveness. Loki knew that even if he tried to talk to them, they would only stammer out meaningless lines like, "I miss home, I want to go home, please save me quickly, I'm dying of thirst."

After waiting in line for a while, Elaine received her task.

She walked at the head of the group, followed by two barefoot civilians from Leijin City. Loki escorted them from behind. Occasionally, weakened gnoll guards would pursue them, with Loki covering their retreat. Just when he was about to finish them off, a lowly bruised gnoll guard took off running! And he ran incredibly fast!!

Loki did not give chase.

Elaine was in a hurry to return to town to turn in the quest, so she started running (W key). Left with no choice, Chai Min ran after her, almost falling behind.

One of the woodcutters, exhausted from running, complained, "Hmph! If I'd known I'd be captured by gnolls, I wouldn't have come out to chop wood!"

Upon reaching the gate of Leijincheng, the two woodcutters bowed deeply and said, "Thank you," before heading home.

Elaine politely replied, "You're welcome," "You're welcome." She's already level 22. And that's without submitting any quests yet. She'll probably easily reach level 25 or higher once she submits the quests on her list!

Loki's level is displayed as "Level 24," two levels higher than her. Loki's higher level is due to two reasons: firstly, his higher damage output, and secondly, his closer proximity to monsters during combat (melee). The distribution of experience points within the party follows a certain formula (details omitted); heroes with higher damage output receive more experience points.

Dear readers, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival of 2025. I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Eat well, drink well, play well, and have a wonderful time!

\ u2029

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