"Hello, I was sent here by Cavalry Captain Marko. This is the captain's letter of introduction."
Looking at this middle-aged man in his thirties before me, he looked utterly distressed, as if facing a huge problem.
"Oh, the knight captain recommended you." The merchant Wang Cai said as he took the knight captain's letter and read it.
"Stone City, you have to help me！" Merchant Wang Cai finished reading the letter and immediately grabbed me, saying.
Damn! Seriously? So excited? Let go of my clothes!
I thought to myself, but of course I couldn't say it out loud.
"What's the matter? If I can help you, I definitely will."
"Here's what happened. Five days ago, I went outside the city to have fun with a friend. We got a bit carried away and unknowingly wandered near the Blackstone Tower. We were attacked by monsters, and I lost my beloved wife's Kuidong Necklace."
Damn, it's just a necklace, right？ Merchant Wang Cai was practically about to cry when he said this. Was it really that serious？
"Stone City, although this Kuidong Necklace isn't worth much, it's the only gift my deceased wife left me. Seeing it feels like she's still by my side, so it means a lot to me. Now that I've lost it, I'm heartbroken and feel like I have nothing to hold onto. If I don't find this necklace, I don't want to live anymore, and I don't know how I'll face my wife in the afterlife."
"Uncle Wang, don't worry. I'll go to Blackstone Tower right now and help you find the Kuidong Necklace."
Just now I was thinking that Merchant Wang Cai wasn't very manly, being so sad over a necklace. But hearing about his feelings for his wife completely moved me. I silently made up my mind to complete this task no matter what.
"Really？ Stone City, thank you so much. In the letter, Knight Captain Marco spoke highly of you, and I believe you can get this done."
"Hehe..." Hearing that, I couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed and could only keep smiling stupidly.
“Uncle Wang, do you have any specific intel or a situation briefing? I need to know where to start.” I'm not the impulsive type, so first I want to understand more about the monsters.
The merchant Wang Cai, upon hearing my question, thought for a moment and said, “After I lost the Kuitong Necklace, I specially organized a team to search the Blackrock Tower. After some effort, we entered the first floor of Blackrock Tower and killed the Skeleton Captain who stole my Kuitong Necklace, but we still couldn't find it. We suspect that the Skeleton Captain must have offered my Kuitong Necklace to the Skeleton Sorceress on the 3rd floor of Blackrock Tower.”
What the hell is a Skeleton Sorceress? I've never heard that skeletons have a gender. Is this skeleton different—does it have a pair of skeleton boobs? How else would you tell male and female apart? This time I'll get an eye-opener, but judging by the name, it should be tough to deal with.
“Not getting the Kuitong Necklace back made me unwilling to give up, so I organized my people to keep exploring deeper into Blackrock Tower. But who would've guessed that the monsters on the 2nd floor of Blackrock Tower are so tough? My men couldn't handle them, so we had no choice but to retreat.”
“After returning to the city, I reported this to the city guard captain, hoping for help, but he couldn't mobilize the army for my little problem. Then I remembered that I have some friendship with Captain Marco of the Knights, so I went to him for help.” The merchant Wang Cai gradually explained the situation to me.
“Yeah, I got it. Uncle Wang, don't worry. I'll head to Blackrock Tower now to check things out, figure out the situation, and then help you solve this problem.”
“Ding-dong, the unique quest 'Merchant Wang Cai's Trouble' has changed. Player Stone City needs to kill the Skeleton Sorceress on the 3rd floor of Blackrock Tower and retrieve the Kuitong Necklace. If the quest fails, Player Stone City's level will drop by 10, and the quest will disappear.”
Huh, that's still a heavy penalty！
“Uncle Wang, I'm off. Just wait for my good news.”
With that, I dashed out like the wind.
"Hey！ Stone City, hold on, I haven't told you the way to Blackrock Tower yet. Blackrock Tower is a mysterious place, known to very few, and its entrance is surrounded by a formation—outsiders can't get in at all."
The merchant Wang Cai hurriedly called out to me, thinking to himself： This kid is so reckless—how will he ever complete the mission like this?
"Uncle Wang, I already know where Blackrock Tower is, and I have a general idea of the situation. Just rest assured！"
Now that I have the map of Tianmeng Continent drawn by Dongfang Xing, I know every place on Tianmeng like the back of my hand. Just now, when Knight Captain Marco mentioned Blackrock Tower, I already found its location on the map.
Blackrock Tower： This place was originally an ancient battlefield. Over more than 2,000 years, the death aura and resentment from the battlefield condensed, gradually shrouded by demonic energy, forming a vast death zone.
Under the influence of demonic energy, the corpses on the battlefield gradually revived, turning into a place full of skeletons and zombies, with monsters frequently emerging to harm people.
To prevent the monsters inside Blackrock Tower from growing stronger, 200 years ago, the three great mages and two great knights of Tianmeng Continent used divine power to seal Blackrock Tower, preventing monsters from spilling out, and it became a place rarely visited by humans.
The description above is Dongfang Xing's depiction of Blackrock Tower on the map of Tianmeng Continent. Blackrock Tower is an inverted black stone tower extending deep into the earth, filled with skeletons and zombies, and the monsters' strength progressively increases from top to bottom.
Blackrock Tower has at least ten floors. According to Dongfang Xing, his abilities could only go down to the tenth floor, where the 80-level Skeleton Dark Knights and Skeleton Mage Kings ruled, along with an unknown boss. His power couldn't break through the defenses there, so that was as far as the expedition could go.
Strange！ I couldn't help murmuring to myself.
According to Dongfang Xing, the Dark Stone Tower had been sealed by three great mages and two great knights, preventing the monsters inside from leaking out. Moreover, the entrance was sealed by a magical formation, making it difficult for outsiders to enter. Yet the merchant Wang Cai claimed that the skeleton captain on the first floor had stolen his Kui Tong Necklace.
The merchant Wang Cai shouldn't be lying. Could it be... my heart suddenly jolted—could the seal be broken, allowing the monsters of the Dark Stone Tower to now come and go freely?
Forget it. I've never been to the Dark Stone Tower myself, so I don't really understand the situation there. Better to first go check things out. If there's really a problem, I'll deal with it then.
At this moment, I looked around the city of Tianlong. The tidy streets, the wide boulevards, the bright sunlight—it was all very pleasant. Yet it was still eerily quiet, with no other players besides me.
No way—I was actually this far ahead of the other players? It couldn't be that exaggerated, could it? I couldn't help but marvel, and a proud sense of superiority rose in my heart： looks like my abilities are pretty good, huh.
I couldn't help but feel smug. It seemed this time playing the game was still quite promising. Thinking of that, I couldn't help but think of my current situation.
This time playing the game wasn't like back in college, purely for casual fun and relaxation. Instead, I was prepared to seize the opportunity to earn some money, treating the game as a profession—becoming what is known as the legendary professional gamers.
Just think—Overlord this time can realize the exchange of in-game gold coins for real-world money, so there's bound to be a chance to make money. Of course, succeeding isn't that simple; nothing is just a matter of wishful thinking.
But as long as you have vision, ability, determination, and opportunity, there's nothing you can't accomplish. As for myself, I have full confidence in every aspect.
Even taking a step back, although I'm unemployed now, the monthly rent of over 8000 yuan from the house my parents left behind is more than enough for my little sister and me to spend freely.