Chapter 19： A Monthly Reward

Ye Chen could not believe his eyes. He had thought that this skill, Illusions of Time, would have to wait until he was Level 30. Only then could he exchange for the skills book with the Achievement Points he had left with Mr. Adolf. For this skill book to appear as a Boss loot was indeed a timely blessing.

Now, not only did he gain a way to kill other adventurers in PK, he had even saved a considerable load of Achievement Points. It was indeed a windfall from this Level 15 Boss.

Without delay, Ye Chen's fingers tapped the book. Warm glimmering golden rays burst forth from within the text, enveloping him. Then, the system showed his successful acquisition of the skill.

His eyes glanced at the empty but strengthening skills menu, and a sense of satisfaction sprouted within him. This new character, Page of Lingering Dust, was developing faster and better than he had imagined.

He looked at Xiao Ai. "These equipment aren't worth much. Come, let's split them."

There was a limit to how impressive the equipment that a Level 15 Boss could drop. While the Boss did drop the top-tier loot under the influence of Xiao Ai's necklace, a Silver-grade Equipment, it was not worth much as the equipment of an adventurer within the beginner levels changed too quickly. 

"Sure." Xiao Ai had no comments. Ye Chen eyeballed the equipment and split them into two portions per their value.

Ye Chen's eyes swept across the clock. To his surprise, half the night had passed while they were completing the trial and killing the Boss. In real life, the sun would peek out of the horizons soon. Still, they barely had enough time to finish the "Thief in the Fields" Mission.

As they were about to leave, a plump man walked out of the shadows of the foliage. Behind him, tens of men followed. Seeing the scene, Ye Chen's forehead puckered. To use the Town Return Scroll, ten seconds of reading time was needed. If he was attacked midway, the process would be halted. As such, if this group held malicious intentions, they were probably not going to make it back into Titan Megacity the normal way.

"Hmm, expert brother, we were passing by when we saw your exquisite display of talent and skills. Hence, we would like to be friends with you. I am Jack of All Trades. Be it underhanded practices, murder, robbery, theft, or pimping, as long as there is money, I will do it. Should the Expert brother need any services, just let me know," Jack smiled a wide PR smile and introduced himself curtly. 

Ye Chen's eyes narrowed on the plump, brawny man.

This man is the infamous Jack of All Trades? Ye Chen had never seen him in person, but he did hear of his deeds on the forums.

Having seen the officious self-introduction and the mighty accompanying platoon behind him, Ye Chen could guess their purpose here. However, he could not place his finger on why they did not act in the end.

Unable to understand, but unwilling to think more. Being killed once or twice would not harm him much at this point. For the matter, Jack held the absolute advantage of numbers. If they really got into action, there was no way he and Xiao Ai would survive. Then again, what was there to fear?

"Ah, Mr. Jack! I might really need your help in the future!" Ye Chen flashed a smile and walked forward.

Acquainting himself with adventurers like Jack would bring huge conveniences within the Boundless World. Ye Chen knew he would have to get this plump man's help in the future and initiated a friend request.

"Then, Brother Dust, we shan't disturb you anymore. Contact me if you need help." Accepting Ye Chen's friend request, Jack did not bother with the small talk. Nodding, he militarily waved his hands. "Let's go!"

"Yes, Boss!" The group resounded loudly, taking out their Town-Return Scrolls. Within instants, they were gone.

"Alright, let's go too," Ye Chen said to Xiao Ai. "Drop the equipment at the vault, and we can finish this 'Thief in the Fields' mission."

"Alright. Brother Dust, is that plump man with the creepy smile famous?" Still looking at where Jack stood, Xiao Ai curiously asked.

"Famous within a certain community," thinking for some time, Ye Chen replied. "Let's go."

...

"Brother Dust, are you in a hurry to finish this mission? Somehow, I feel that you want to finish it by today at all costs."

Several minutes passed, Ye Chen and Xiao Ai appeared by the other side of Titan Megacity. Not far in front of them, there was a modest farmhouse within a lush green pasture. Sweeping across, there were tons of adventurers gathered, crowding around the area. 

"Mhm, this mission is a system event mission, all adventurers are limited to one entry every week. There are two rewards available, one is a guaranteed reward for every team following their score. The second was a limited reward for the top team every month. That team will receive 10 Achievement Points and 1000 gold. As today is the last day of the month, we need to finish it before the day ends. Otherwise, we will need to wait for a month before we know the results."

"Oh, I see. Which means, that huge crowd of people here all want to do the mission?" As realization dawned on her, Xiao Ai pointed her finger at the massive swarm of people at the farmhouse's entrance.

"Of course, every last day of the month is the busiest day for the 'Thief in the Fields' Mission." This scene was familiar to a veteran like Ye Chen.

The mission "Thief in the Fields" was not limited to certain levels. As long as the adventurers were over Level 10, they were eligible. The mission was not tricky, easily survivable for an adventurer equipped with bronze equipment. Most importantly, this mission was simple. It only needed the adventurer to continuously kill a fat rat, and collect the rice from it. The drop rate of the rice depended entirely on luck. If an adventurer was lucky, he might get the best result of the month, even with the most basic equipment.

Despite the lackluster experience rewarded by the mission itself, many high-level adventurers came here without fail at the end of the month. Especially in the last few hours, there were always a large number of adventurers who wished to accept the mission from the NPC "Paddy Field Watcher." They would spend half an hour just to try their luck. After all, this mission had been around from the beginning of the game. No party could consecutively clinch the top spot. The party that got the highest achievement reward every month had not been repeated a single time.

"Level 60 High DPS Party lacking 1 member! Looking for a Mage! We have 4 Mages and 1 Priest, just need 1 more Mage!"

"Level 50 Knight looking for a party! Level 4 Taunt and Level 3 Provocation!"

Nearing the farmhouse, the bustling sound of activities echoed. Many adventurers had come here at the ending hours to seek a party. 

"HAHAHA! We got 295 grains of rice! We are going to be RICH!!!!!"

Within the cacophony of noises, a peal of euphoric laughter pierced through.

"What the … 295? The top of last month was only 270…"

"Fuck, that means the winner this month is set already?"

"Dude, that party is only Level 40. How did they get so much rice? Impossible…"

The adventurers around him were dumbstruck, spreading the news like wildfire. On the other end, the mind-boggling rumor erupted. Just like a tornado, another storm whipped up on the other end of the crowd due to this same news.

At this time, looking across the golden Paddy Fields, one party was maniacally massacring the fat rats that were scurrying about.

Within the party, except for the Priest, other adventurers were all Mage-class. From their equipment, their levels were evidently not low.

The Priest was clad in an elegant white coat, pure as snow, with beautiful patterns intricately sewn on. Looking at a crimson cloak mage, he mocked, "Rat, these are your kind. How can you so heartlessly kill them?"

That Mage, Rat, gritted his teeth as his eyes menacingly stared daggers at the Priest. "Shut your fucking mouth, you sissy ass bitch. I already told you to not call me by my nickname in the game! "

"You are the sissy ass bitch, your family members are sissies!" Red hot magma erupted within the Priest.

"Both of you hold your tongues. There was news that a party collected 295 grains of rice!" Just as the crimson Mage was about to rebut, the most stately middle-aged Mage stopped the two.

"Cheh, it's only 295. We used 'Lucky Scroll,''Strong Attack Scroll,' and 'Swift Speed Scroll.' I think we can easily collect more!" The red robe mage snorted dismissively, brushing off these nearly 300 grains indifferently.

"Pull yourself together! Don't assume that we will definitely succeed! Luck is everything here. Countless parties had splurged extravagant sums here to no avail. This time, we even used the Lucky Scroll. We cannot allow poor attitudes of our own members to sabotage the rewards! As we level up, the Achievement Points would only become harder to get. If we can clinch these 10 points, life will be much easier!" the middle-aged Mage snapped coldly.

"Got it, leader." The surrounding adventurers heard those stern words, and their expressions turned severe. There was no more room for games.

"Okay, kill them!" Looking at the fat rats around, the leader hollered.

Flashes of multicolored light shone blindingly as patches of magic circled the fat rats. Waves after waves of magic attacks were surging in mercilessly towards the surrounding rats!