11: Second hidden mission

"Y-you, how did you know!"

Old Mrs. Liu's secret was exposed by Lin Du in a single sentence, and she turned pale with fright instantly.

The villagers were most sensitive about such illicit affairs, especially between an old lady nearly 80 years old and a bachelor blacksmith in his 50s. If this were to spread, Old Mrs. Liu's reputation would be ruined.

Looking at the expression on Old Mrs. Liu's face, Lin Du couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.

This was a hidden storyline he had designed himself. Old Mrs. Liu being able to win the "heart" of the bachelor blacksmith was all thanks to him, the chief designer...

"Grandma Liu, whether I can actually help the blacksmith or not can only be determined by trying. Please, go through the trouble of introducing me."

With the leverage in hand, Old Mrs. Liu, though reluctant, had no choice but to agree to Lin Du's request.

"I can introduce you, but you must keep your mouth shut and not go around spouting nonsense."

"I'm not introducing you because I have a relationship with the blacksmith, but because I find you agreeable. Do you understand?"

Lin Du revealed a meaningful smile.

"You don't need to make excuses; I understand everything!"

...

Carrying the small sachet given by Old Mrs. Liu, Lin Du strolled leisurely toward the east side of Novice Village.

The blacksmith's hidden quest was in his hands!

In "universe ol", Novice Village had always had an unsolved mystery, and this mystery concerned the Novice Village blacksmith.

In the game, NPCs who issued quests usually had special markers on them, and players would accept quests based on these markers.

The Novice Village blacksmith had such a marker, yet he had never issued any quests.

Generations of novice players had tried time and again, but not a single person had ever been able to accept a novice quest from the blacksmith. Instead, many novice players had been beaten up by the bad-tempered blacksmith.

Therefore, the blacksmith's quest had become the greatest unsolved mystery in Novice Village...

The blacksmith's hidden quest was, in fact, tailor-made by Lin Du for himself.

Back then, Lin Du was worried about not being able to snag monsters after entering the game, so he arranged a unique leveling path within Novice Village.

To accept the quest issued by the blacksmith, one first had to resolve Old Mrs. Liu's trouble, and then obtain her introduction to have a chance at accepting the blacksmith's quest.

This condition was impossible for other players to meet; only Lin Du, who knew the truth of the matter, could complete it...

Lin Du soon arrived at the entrance of the Blacksmith Shop.

Through the door, the sounds of "clang, clang" could be heard, mixed with the heavy, gasping "huff, huff" sounds.

Lin Du pushed open the door of the Blacksmith Shop and walked in.

Upon hearing the door open, the blacksmith abruptly stopped his hammering motion. He gripped his thousand-jin heavy hammer and glared over fiercely.

"Who let you in? Get out of here right now!" The blacksmith was known as the most bad-tempered man in Novice Village, and that reputation was well-deserved.

Lin Du smiled, took out the small sachet given by Old Mrs. Liu, and waved it in front of the blacksmith.

"Blacksmith, don't be so irritable; it was your old flame who sent me."

Upon hearing the words "old flame," the expression on the blacksmith's face froze instantly, and then he deflated like a punctured ball.

"Who are you! What do you want!" the blacksmith stared at Lin Du vigilantly.

"You don't need to be so nervous. Grandma Liu sent me. She said you needed some help, so she asked me to come and help you."

After Lin Du finished speaking, the blacksmith clearly didn't quite believe him.

"You're so weak, can you actually help me?"

Lin Du waved his hand impatiently. "Hurry up and issue the quest. Whether I can help or not will be known once we try!"

【Ding!】

【You have accepted the blacksmith's hidden quest: Collect 10 Extraterrestrial Meteorites】

【Quest Rewards: experience value, lifespan value, All-Round Blacksmith Recommendation Letter】

【Quest Difficulty: D-Rank】

The quest issued by the blacksmith was one level harder than Old Mrs. Liu's quest. This quest had an extremely high cost-performance ratio, and the rewards were exceptionally rich.

Especially the "All-Round Blacksmith Recommendation Letter," which would be of huge help when learning life skills later on.

After accepting the quest, Lin Du rushed without stopping toward the east side of Novice Village.

The novice players in Novice Village were basically gathered in the surrounding large monster areas to level up. Lin Du passed through the large monster areas and arrived at a rugged stone forest.

The location of the stone forest was very remote. Since there were no quests related to the stone forest in Novice Village, there wasn't a single player's shadow nearby.

Lin Du walked alone along the path in the stone forest and arrived at the deepest part of the stone forest.

After stepping into the depths of the stone forest, the space before his eyes suddenly opened up. He could see dozens of Stone Monsters, three to four meters tall, wandering around...

The Stone Monsters' bodies were made of rock, robust and massive, but their gazes were somewhat dull and numb.

These Stone Monsters were exactly Lin Du's quest targets this time!

The Extraterrestrial Meteorites the blacksmith wanted were hidden inside the Stone Monsters' heads. Killing the Stone Monsters would allow him to obtain the Extraterrestrial Meteorites.

【Monster】: Meteorite Monster (normal-level)

【Level】: 8

【Skills】: 1. Granite Skin 2. Stone Fist Heavy Hammer

【Description】: A monster formed after an Extraterrestrial Meteorite gained sentience. It has thick skin and flesh, making it difficult for blades and guns to penetrate.

"Come here, little baby!"

Swoosh—

Lin Du kicked a stone from beside his foot, shooting it toward the Meteorite Monster closest to him.

The stone "smacked" against the Meteorite Monster's body. The Meteorite Monster shook its head and charged straight toward Lin Du.

Thump, thump, thump—

Every step the Meteorite Monster took caused the ground to shake. Dense patterns lit up on its massive body, and its stone skin visibly turned into hard granite.

"Rapid Triple Strike!"

Lin Du seized the timing. The fine steel knife in his hand stabbed out continuously. Three powerful, heavy strikes accurately chopped at the same spot on the Meteorite Monster's chest area.

Clang, clang, clang—

The fine steel knife landing on the Meteorite Monster's body rang out with the sound of metal clashing. The Meteorite Monster's massive body stumbled from these three strikes.

The hp bar above its head visibly dropped by about one-tenth.

After adjusting its state, the Meteorite Monster beat its chest and charged over again. Obviously, those three strikes just now hadn't caused it much injury...

"What a sturdy monster!"

"The output of the Clown Class is, after all, too weak." Lin Du lamented.

The time spent hacking a Meteorite Monster to death here should be enough to hack five or six other monsters of the same level to death elsewhere.

The Clown Class's attack power was limited to begin with. Facing a super-high-defense monster like the Meteorite Monster, if he went head-to-head, Lin Du would have no chance of winning at all.

The situation was not optimistic, but Lin Du was not panicked at all.

Because all of this was within his expectations...

Lin Du ran to a thick stone pillar not far away and then beckoned to the Meteorite Monster with his finger.

After being provoked, the Meteorite Monster charged over angrily. Lin Du led the Meteorite Monster in circles around the stone pillar.

The Meteorite Monster's defense was very strong, but its speed was clearly much weaker.

Using the stone pillar as cover, Lin Du followed closely behind the Meteorite Monster, hacking one knife strike after another at the back of the Meteorite Monster's head.

Bang—

Bang, bang—

The back of the head was the only weak point on the Meteorite Monster's body. After a few strikes, the Meteorite Monster collapsed...

A dark, pitch-black stone fell out of the Meteorite Monster's head.

【Kill: Meteorite Monster lv.8】

【Obtained: experience value + 352, lifespan value + 0.23 hours, Meteorite + 1】

【Triggered heart of the goddess of luck, rewards doubled!!】