MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

“Take off my mask? Why?” The black-robed girl asked in surprise.

“Do you not want to learn Huge Curse Spell and Mass Sacrifice Spell!?”

“I do.”

“Then stop asking and do as I say.”

“Oh okay…”

She seemed to have finally understood and reached out toward her mask to take it off.

The ice cave was too dark. Even though the black-robed girl had taken off her mask, Li Yi still could not see her face clearly.

However, he could vaguely make out the black-robed girl’s clear white skin and her long round face. She was a beauty in her own right.

A pang of familiarity surged into Li Yi’s mind, he could feel a name coming up, but alas, he fell a bit short…

‘I definitely know her!’

Li Yi knew it for a fact.

“Teacher, is this enough?” The black-robed girl inquired.

“Hmm, almost. I still need you to take off your clothes.”

“What?!” The black-robed girl shrieked so loudly that she lost her voice for a moment and took a few steps backward unconsciously.

Li Yi grinned in his mind as he pinched his throat to speak. “Do you not want to learn Huge Curse Spell and Mass Sacrifice Spell?”

“I do…”

“Then strip.”

After contemplating for a long time, she eyed her surroundings warily and asked timidly, “Teacher, there’s no one else here besides you right?”

“Absolutely.”

“Since you’re a female NPC, I guess it’s fine for you to look.” The black-robed girl murmured as if to motivate herself and began to strip.

The black-robed girl had really stripped, and the only thing left on her were the newbies’ undies. She was effectively a big white sheep.

‘Now where have I seen this well-proportioned body before, why can’t I figure it out?’

The light within the ice cave was nearly non-existent. Try as he might, he could only make out a blurry mess. He still could not see clearly.

The difference between having her clothes on and without was basically non-existent, which was one of the factors that prompted her to strip.

Li Yi was only playing with her. In truth, he had no idea why he did it. However, he did think that it was fun to toy with her.

“Alright, it’s time to go fishing. Remember, you need to catch 5,000 fishes, make sure that you have that exact amount. When you return, I will impart the skills, Huge Curse Spell and Mass Sacrifice Spell to you.”

“Why can’t you teach it to me now?”

“Hurry!”

“Alright…”

The black-robed girl hurriedly put on her clothes, put on her mask and left, dissatisfied.

Ding! Ding!

As soon as the black-robed girl left, Li Yi received a message from a question mark. It was none other than Silly Swan from Traveler’s Quest.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course! Go on.”

After hesitating for a long while, she sent over a message. “Is it normal for an NPC to tell me to strip for a quest?”

Li Yi downed a huge gulp of saliva. Silly Swan’s message had frozen him stiff.

‘Silly Swan is the black-robed girl? My god, what are the odds?’

“You think it’s weird as well right? I…I feel the same way.”

Li Yi quickly replied. “I think it’s pretty normal. King of Pantheon has tons of quests, and they vary significantly from one another. I’ve received a quest similar to the one you’ve mentioned once, and the reward I gained was extremely lucrative.”

“Really?” Silly Swan asked suspiciously.

“Why of course. You need to remember, that the more nonsensical a quest seems, the better its rewards. Don’t worry, this is a pretty common quest flow.”

“Oh okay, then I’ll lay my worries to rest. I thought I was being taken advantage of by an NPC. Hihi, guess I was overthinking.”

Li Yi rubbed off his sweat and sent over a message to verify. “Where did you receive that quest?”

“… I don’t want to tell you, but I also don’t want to lie to you. How about this, I received that quest from a very, very scary and dark ice cave that is located in a cold, cold place.”

“A cold, cold place huh, there’s nowhere else aside from the North Pole. The black-robed girl IS Silly Swan!”

‘This is one heck of a coincidence…’

Li Yi sent another message, saying, “Oh yeah, I haven’t asked you your name. Why don’t we add each other as friends so that we can do quests together some other time.”

Silly Swan was silent. Li Yi waited and waited, but she did not reply. It was driving him mad.

“Are you still there?”

Like a rock that had sunk into the great ocean, there was not a single reply.

“Akna, get your *ss out here!”

A noise suddenly rang out, jolting Li Yi back to reality.

‘Someone’s here!’

Li Yi hastily cast Camouflage to erase his presence.

Tap…tap…tap…

The sound of footsteps could be heard, and a black silhouette walked over.

The visitor’s body was a tad larger than a normal player’s, and he could sort of make out that her clothes were very provocative. Furthermore, she sported an oddly-shaped bow and behind her was a bag full of arrows.

Although Li Yi could not see her face, he immediately recognized her from her attire. She was none other than Sunshooter · Yuria.

“My apologies, I was just killed by a bow-carrying boss…” At that instant, Silly Swan sent out a message.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, he instantly understood. Yuria will not simply attack players even if Silly Swan and Akna were from the same camp. However, there was no way that she would show mercy to Akna’s followers.

“Akna! I know you’re hiding in here! Don’t try to run! Let us settle our grudge here, once and for all!”

With her hand on Bone Longbow, she yelled out audibly.

The pair of vengeful NPCs were always at each other’s throats. Each of them had their victories, sometimes it was Yuria who died, and sometimes it was Akna. Whenever one of them died, the other one would gain a moment’s reprieve, but once the respawned, they would continue their battle once more…

“Your Eminence, Yuria!”

Li Yi shouted loudly and ran over to her.

Tch—

An arrow landed in front of Li Yi’s feet, halting him from proceeding any further.

“State your identity!”

“I’m the person who saved you the last time you crossed swords with Akna.” Li Yi made sure to walk forward while he spoke. Meanwhile, he also prayed within his heart that the Yuria in front of him was the one he met last time.

“You’re the Archer from the Eastern Continent that saved me last time…” Yuria remembered.

“Yep, that’s me. Our destinies are pretty intertwined, to be able to meet here.”

Li Yi was overjoyed that it was the same Yuria.

Yuria asked, “Young Hero, what brings you here?”

“I’m hunting down Akna.” Li Yi answered casually.

“Really?” Doubtful, Yuria walked forward to get a better view.

Li Yi explained, “Yeah, you told me to find you at Frostfall Mountain last time, and voila! However, instead of finding you, I stumbled upon Akna instead.”

“Is this true?” Yuria was still doubtful.

Li Yi shrugged his shoulders. He did not answer her question.

‘Though Yuria’s a high-leveled intelligent NPC that is able to think, there… should be a limit!’

“Hmm, it’s true that Akna’s energy has vanished… Young Hero, please accept Yuria’s gratitude.”

With one hand on her chest, she bowed down her head in an act of gratitude.

Full of vigor, Li Yi bellowed, “Eliminating Evil is my life’s goal!”

Li Yi cringed when he thought back on his words. He really could not take it, but these words worked wonders with the high-leveled NPCs within King of Pantheon.

Yuria gave a solemn salute and bestowed Li Yi with the highest level of Blessing. “May the Goddess of the Moon protect you always.”

System Notification: [You have received Yuria’s gratitude. Yuria’s Affinity towards you has risen by 5,000 points and your relationship with her is now ‘Respectful’.]

Li Yi’s heart was filled with joy, the God of the Archer class was Hunter Goddess, who was also known as the Goddess of the Moon. Yuria’s words were certainly not wrong, as the Goddess of the Moon was really residing within his Orange Quality Bow.

“Yuria, do you have any quests that give divine weapons, legendary items, or any other good stuff? Let’s go and talk outside, I’m not used to the darkness here.”

Li Yi ushered Yuria out as he spoke. Akna was still in her slumber and the longer Yuria dwelled here, the more dangerous it would be.

Compared to the quest that Yuria would offer, Li Yi prioritized the Dragon Clan Taming Methods much more.

After sneaking a few more glances at the darkness and contemplating for a while, she finally followed Li Yi.

Seeing as Akna’s quest difficulty was A-ranked, had Li Yi not saved Yuria before, he would have needed to face off against the Level 100 boss, Yuria.

“Young Hero, your strength is now close to mine. In fact, I dare say that you’re not weaker than me. I have nothing else to teach you, so please take this treasure map with you.”

Once they were out of the ice cave, Yuria handed over a tattered treasure map to Li Yi.

Yuria explained, “This is the treasure map that details the location of the legendary Overlord Arrow. You’ll definitely find Overlord Arrow if you follow the path that is given on the map.”

Li Yi skimmed over the treasure map, and he was not amused. He immediately returned the treasure map to Yuria’s hand.

‘What kind of dog sh*t Overlord treasure map is this? It literally says it’s the map of ‘Wailing Grotto’, and no matter how I look at it, the red dot at its center is the Frogmen Tribe.”

‘What a pain in the ass…’

“Change my reward, I’m not interested in Overlord Arrow.”

Yuria was stunned.

Li Yi’s words were beyond her calculation parameters. In layman’s terms, her brain had crashed…

“The treasure map of Overlord Arrow is my most precious item…”

“Just change it, anything besides this will do.”

Li Yi could care less, he no longer needed a map for Wailing Grotto as he could easily access it with a click of Frogmen Tribe Teleportation Stone.

“Alright…”

After being stunned for quite some time, she nodded her head, brought out a shining stone, and handed it to Li Yi.

“This is…”

Li Yi’s eyes gleamed, before Yuria had completed her sentence, he had already snatched it away.

He did not require Yuria’s explanation as he recognized what it was.

It was the rarest and most precious item within King of Pantheon— a Sacramental Stone Fragment!

[Second Piece of Sacramental Stone Fragment: Provides an additional 3% to the drop rates of rare items and reduces the chance of dropping items on death by 50%. This item does not need to be equipped as it takes effect right after it is placed into the inventory.]

Li Yi was thrilled after he read the Sacramental Stone Fragment’s functions.

He already had a piece of Sacramental Stone Fragment, which prevented him from losing EXP on death, gave an extra 10% of EXP when he farmed monsters and recovered 50 mana every second. As such, this was his second Sacramental Stone Fragment!

“Young Hero, may the Goddess of the Moon protect you always.”

Yuria called over Red Proto-dragon Whelp and flew off.

Ding! Ding!

Li Yi’s mailbox rang, it was Pretty Good Mood reporting on the dungeon clearing progress. Currently, the one with the fastest progress was the Iron Alliance’s First Elite Party, which had shaved down half of the third boss’ health in their first try!

‘They’re doing well!’

…