[Monster Kills: 30/30 (Quest Complete)]

After slaying the red-eyed water buffalo before him, Mysterious received the prompt that his quest was complete.

Naturally, Mysterious headed back to the village first to report to the village chief. He might as well check if there were any Level 7 quests available—his experience bar had nearly been full before, and after killing six buffaloes, he’d already hit Level 7. Now he was at 37% experience for Level 7, and he’d naturally dumped all his attribute points into Agility.

Those thirty water buffaloes had also dropped three pieces of gear for him: two white items and one green leather armor that boosted Constitution by 3, slightly increasing his HP.

If he counted that green hat, Mysterious would already have three green-tier items… Seems gear in this game drops pretty easily.

As Mysterious retraced his steps toward the village, passing through the Level 5 monster zone, he noticed quite a few players grinding there already. Nearly two hours had passed since he’d accepted the quest, so many players had reached Level 5—after all, this was the early-expansion phase, and the top players’ levels weren’t vastly different… Mysterious was a special case.

But he noticed something odd: the players fighting monsters around him all wielded various iron weapons—axes, hammers, daggers—and many used wooden bows. Of course, swords remained the most common. Even the magic-users had ditched their twig-like "Novice Staves" for proper wooden staves.

Occasionally, he spotted players using non-standard weapons, clearly having looted better gear.

Thinking back, the five players he’d met in the buffalo zone earlier had also carried weapons identical to everyone else’s. It seemed Mysterious was the only one still wielding this white-bladed, unknown-material Novice Sword.

Still, Mysterious had no intention of asking random players about it. He continued toward BeginnerVillage.

Entering the village, he passed the blacksmith’s shop and overheard two seemingly acquainted players chatting near the entrance:

“Finally done… So many people now, it’s impossible to snag mobs!” one complained.

“We’re lucky just to have gotten game slots. Plenty of others couldn’t even get in,” his companion patted his shoulder reassuringly. “EndlessHorizon’s realism is insane—it’s almost like the real world. Once the second batch of accounts opens next week, it’ll only get more crowded.”

“True enough,” the first player nodded vigorously, then his face turned envious. “If only I were as strong as Monster-Stealing Hero.”

“Dream on. Analysts say his attack power’s at least 70—he must have some hidden skill. His moves are razor-sharp; no ordinary player could pull that off. If you had even a tenth of his strength, I’d follow you without hesitation!” His friend rolled his eyes, shooting him down mercilessly.

“Let’s talk practical stuff. What weapon are you planning to get for your quest? Choose your starter weapon carefully—EndlessHorizon has weapon proficiencies. Unless necessary, don’t switch weapons lightly.”

“I’ve decided: I’m taking a spear. Gonna class-change to Knight later!”

“Then I’ll stick with my sword. Warrior it is. That way, we brothers won’t fight over gear.”

…

In EndlessHorizon, weapons were strictly categorized, each with its own proficiency system—

The more a weapon type was used, the higher its proficiency grew. Reaching certain thresholds would upgrade its proficiency rank, directly boosting damage. A weapon’s proficiency could max out at Rank 100—

Mysterious’s Sword Proficiency was already Rank 3, granting a 1% damage bonus to swords. In the late game, weapon proficiencies became crucial to a character’s strength. This system also created dilemmas when obtaining top-tier gear incompatible with one’s main weapon.

But Mysterious was far more intrigued by the word “quest” in “What weapon are you planning to get for your quest?” than the legendary “Monster-Stealing Hero.”

*Did I miss a quest?* Mysterious frowned, racking his brain for forgotten tasks.

Watching the two players enter the blacksmith’s shop, he decided to find the village chief first, then visit Blacksmith Hu afterward.

…

“I see…” Saya nodded slowly after hearing Mysterious’s report, her brow furrowing with worry.

[Player Nameless One has completed the quest “Investigate the Anomaly.” Experience gained. Reputation with BeginnerVillage #2 increased.]

“What’s next?” Seeing Saya’s troubled expression, Mysterious asked directly.

“As I feared… Even animals so far from the village are affected. Something must be causing this,” Saya continued when he spoke. “Such a wide impact… It might be the water source. Nameless One, could you check the river near the village? Follow it upstream and investigate the animals along its banks.”

“No problem.” Mysterious nodded.

Upon accepting, the system notified him of the new quest: [Investigate the Anomaly (2)], requiring him to kill 50 monsters Level 7 or higher near the river.

“Be careful, Nameless One…” Saya called out as he turned to leave. “Following the river upstream leads through a forest. Fierce beasts live there. They were dangerous enough before—now that they’re agitated, they’ll be even deadlier.”

…

Leaving the chief’s house, Mysterious headed straight for the blacksmith’s shop. Whether by luck or low traffic, he found it empty of other players when he arrived.

“Hm? You again?” Blacksmith Hu greeted him upon seeing who entered. “Hm? You’re not even Level 10 yet. What brings you here?”

“I have a question,” Mysterious cut straight to the point. “Did you forget to give me a quest or something?”

“…Quest? No, I don’t need your help right now.” Hu’s expression stiffened unnaturally for a split second before smoothing into confusion—a flicker Mysterious didn’t miss.

“I heard Adventurers outside say completing a task for you rewards a better weapon.” Mysterious hefted his Novice Sword.

“Ah… that commission? I already gave you your reward.” The corner of Hu’s mouth twitched as he pointed at Mysterious’s belt.

“Others got weapons.” Mysterious grew more suspicious.

This belt had come from a Level 3 quest Hu gave him—something other players apparently didn’t receive.

A weapon at this level shouldn’t be valuable enough to hoard specifically from him.

“Ah… the weapon… well…” Hu’s face twisted in discomfort. “Due to… force majeure, I can’t give you a weapon. So I swapped your reward for something else.”

“Force majeure?” Mysterious raised an eyebrow.

Could a basic repeatable quest for everyone really have “force majeure”? Was the system blocking it?

“Yes… In short, for certain reasons, I cannot provide you with a weapon.” Hu nodded firmly.

“Is it related to this?” Mysterious pulled the [Valor Emblem] from his inventory.

“…” Hu stayed silent.

“What if I buy a weapon from you?” Mysterious pointed at the finished weapons nearby.

“No.” Hu shook his head.

“What if I buy one from other Adventurers?”

“That… is allowed.” Hu nodded, then added, “But if I were you, I wouldn’t.”

“Fine.” Mysterious accepted it.

Though the reason was unclear, it seemed he wouldn’t get answers from Hu—at least not now. He chose to drop it.

“Wait!” Hu called out as Mysterious turned to leave. “I have… another request. Unrelated to that matter.”

“Will the reward be a weapon?”

“No.” Hu shook his head, pulling out a white armor piece. “If you help, I’ll give you this.”

“Go on.”

“Gather 20 juvenile Crimson Fox fangs from the forest northeast of the village. My stock’s running low.”

“No problem.” That forest lay right along Mysterious’s planned route.

[Quest Accepted: Gather Fangs (Challenging)

…]

Since Hu had given him a new quest, Mysterious spent extra time running around the village and picked up four more tasks—all hunting or gathering quests targeting Level 7-8 monsters.

Remembering the river from his earlier buffalo hunt, he decided to head straight there and follow it upstream.

But as he reached the buffalo spawn zone, he spotted the same group he’d seen before—except the girl who’d locked eyes with him was absent. The other four stood nearby, seemingly waiting.

Mysterious glanced at them briefly and kept walking.

Before he’d gone far, a girl’s voice rang out from the distance—

“Ah… didn’t find it. Guess we should just…” The girl called “Youyang” ran over from the west, shouting to her teammates.

Her words died as she spotted Mysterious, who hadn’t yet walked out of sight.

“Hey! You, wait!” She sprinted straight toward him.

“What is it?” Mysterious stopped and turned, no longer ignoring them.

The girl skidded to a halt before him. She tilted her head up slightly to meet the eyes of Mysterious, who stood a head taller, and said—

“We found a Water Buffalo Boss nearby. A mini-boss. Wanna team up and take it down?”