Genius Chapter 24: Desert Inn

Limited Quest: Desert Inn

Chapter 24: Desert Inn

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

StarNet’s traffic was extremely high, coupled with various imbalances caused by the System in recent times, many players suffered greatly from the assassins’ attacks. Marksmen were fortunate to be able to activate skills to counter invisibility, while other professions in the wilderness could only passively endure attacks. Initially, others thought that the advertisement for ScarletFruit was just a joke, but when someone actually managed to snatch the item, the online sentiment instantly reversed.

Post: [Is nobody buying the items from ScarletFruit? Unbelievable!!]

The original poster posted the function of the “Counter Mark” item, which provides 30 minutes of Dispel Cloak in the wilderness, with unlimited marking during the duration. And what’s most crucial? This “Counter Mark” item was only selling for 200 gold, equivalent to 200 Star Coins, which could be considered very cheap! You see, now even a Lighting Scroll sells for 45 gold. 200 gold for 30 minutes of anti-invisibility time is more than enough for them to kill all the monsters and demons.

[Damn, is this for real? An anti-invisibility item!?]

[It’s real, my friend bought the item and tested it with me. He knew exactly where I was hiding, it’s outrageous.]

[The maker is Momo!! The big shot has switched to making items.]

[I bought the item and went into the wilderness, an assassin tried to ambush us but we buried him instead, so satisfying!]

[Dang, I thought it was just a joke, but when I got there, it was already empty.]

[That sneaky vendor ScarletFruit only put out 40, and they’re gone in no time!]

The biggest reaction came from the Assassin section of the Celestial Horizon forum. When the item’s function was announced, they nearly exploded. They came out one by one to condemn this item as unreasonable, affecting game balance, and even quarreling with other players… Eventually, the game officials came out to explain—

“The items created by astrologers have all been reviewed by ApexMind, and the values and effects are set to balance the game. Celestial Horizon is a free game, and player advantages are established by players themselves. In summary, in the words of a wise player, “If others can have items targeting assassins, then assassins can also have items targeting other professions. There’s no issue of affecting professional balance. If you want to be the father of the version, please work hard on your own.”

Assassins: …!

[Haha, my god, work hard to be the father.]

[I’ve seen several assassins planning to ambush people in the wilderness.]

[Assassins shouldn’t be defiant, just get an item targeting summoners.]

[Assassins: Working hard, but can’t come up with anything.]

[Finally, the wilderness is not dominated by assassins, hahaha!]

[Can’t assassins handle this? I think this item is pretty good. Is the era of universal anti-invisibility coming?]

Some resentful assassins teamed up to ambush the ScarletFruit and Momo’s teams in the wilderness, but as soon as the two teams arrived, they were counter-ambushed. Those three almost knew their whereabouts in advance, struck preemptively before they could, and even brought another team from the Abyss, resulting in a complete wipeout.

These assassins, to avoid exposure, were extremely cautious, didn’t even bring healers, and all went invisible. Just as they arrived, before they could activate their skills, they saw an array master launching a group attack skill directly at them, and another team surging from the surroundings. They died without understanding why!

Assassins: ????? Damn it!

[Anyone see the Valor Peak tragedy? When I passed by, I saw assassins all over the place.]

[Dang! Assassins were supposed to ambush people, right? How did they end up dead?]

[They were buried by people from the Abyss, and the scene was quite brutal for a moment.]

[Haha, you guys don’t know? I heard it was a group of assassins provoking Momo on the Global Channel, daring him to leave the safe zone, and then Momo asked if anyone wanted to earn points in the wilderness, only took one team, and wiped out the group of assassins.]

The netizens who love to gossip didn’t quite believe that seven or eight people could wipe out a dozen assassins, so they crawled through the Assassin section of the forum to check the situation, and it turned out to be true. Because the merchant ScarletFruit opened a trading post on the forum, where he introduced his latest item in the shop, the regional anti-invisibility item [Illumination Scroll · Dispel Cloak], which is said to be a new item developed by Momo based on the Illumination Scroll, specifically used to deal with assassins.

[This… is too brutal.]

[The Counter Mark was okay at first, you wouldn’t see it if you didn’t fight, but this Dispel Cloak…]

[To be honest, if they didn’t provoke him on the Global Channel, the devil might not have made this item.]

[Devil? Referring to Momo?]

[Hahaha, yes, the assassins call him the devil. The Assassin section of the forum is scared, saying they’re afraid the devil will make new items again.]

In fact, the beginning of the fear was when the moderator of the Assassin section came out to stop this kind of unnecessary provocation against opponents. Astrologer items were allowed by the game System, and the original Counter Mark item, even though it was for newbies, was limited to the wilderness. This time’s regional Dispel Cloak item was also for use in the wilderness. But if the assassins kept on being reckless, with Momo’s identity as an astrologer, the next item that comes out might target other scenarios, and by then, there really would be no way out.

To this end, the Assassin section moderator also added a sentence in their signature: Personal grievances are paid for by oneself, don’t drag the Assassin profession into it.

“So, is this why you told me you had something to do and didn’t come online to play with your alt account?” 25000 asked expressionlessly, “If this hadn’t caused such a stir, I wouldn’t have known that you went to the wilderness to counter-kill assassins and how did you win against the Abyss? Did you arrange it with them beforehand?”

“No,” Yu Zhen replied while killing monsters, “earning points doesn’t require any arrangement.”

25000 was speechless. He asked again, “Brother, do you still remember that your marksman is from Eclipse? Why are you helping the Abyss fight us? How many points did the assassins give out for this? It’s said that Old Wu has gone crazy because the total points of the Assassin profession on the leaderboard that he climbed up were given away by other assassins. He even whispered to Momo, but Momo didn’t even open his whispers to the System, and his message was rejected. It’s really hilarious.”

Old Wu was currently the number one on the Flaming Thunder Mountain assassin leaderboard. Originally, the difference in points was only about ten points from Yu Zhen’s main account, but now it’s estimated to be over a hundred points.

Yu Zhen added, “He doesn’t open his whispers.”

“You really understand him, huh,” 25000 said, “Can you play your main account properly? What’s the point of playing an alt account instead of your marksman?”

Yu Zhen simply replied, “The marksman’s PvE is too limited, not as versatile as the array master.”

After the Apocalypse mission, from an apparent perspective, the main challenge mechanism was placed on the environment. In terms of dungeon suitability, the array master’s skills were superior to the marksman’s, while the marksman was more suitable for PvP.

“Let’s not talk about that for now,” 25000 continued, “CloudTraveller’s group is farming demon dungeons. They said they found an interesting place while farming demon dungeons, probably a plot planted by ApexMind. There should be a new event in the next few days.”

“A plot related to the demon dungeons?” Yu Zhen asked.

“Yeah, they asked us if we wanted to go the other day. I told them all your recent accounts are ones I’ve been leveling, so it should be a server-wide task like the Apocalypse. The location is in the Northern Desert. If you’re interested, I’ll get some information from them. It might be a bit challenging, but clearing it with more people would be better.”

“Then send me the information to my email,” Yu Zhen requested, “Anything else?”

“Is it so hard to chat with me, bro? Every time I say a few words, you start complaining…” Before he could finish his sentence, a notification popped up: [Player UnchainedWanderer has left the voice chat.]

“…!!!”

***

Yu Zhen closed the private chat and looked at the remaining two members in the team, calculating.

“Hey, the forum is a good place. We got two advertisement posts for free without any effort. The publicity from this round was effective,” ScarletFruit counted the shop’s income, settled it with Su Mo, “According to the current routine, we have the formula: if it’s too expensive, no one will buy it. Let’s set it at a flat price of 200 gold, do a bit of scarcity marketing, sell 40 at fixed intervals each day for a while, then adjust. Let’s hold off on selling the Dispel Cloak scrolls for now, see what the camps and the Assassin Alliance have to say, if we can strike a good deal.”

“Got it, let me know if we run out of stock,” Su Mo fed the rabbit. Soul Rabbit’s fur was now shiny, completely different from when it was in the Newbie Village. Perhaps the recent improvement in food had made the rabbit more lively. When not in combat, it loved to carry its spirit pet egg around Su Mo.

Yu Zhen glanced at the spirit pet egg in Soul Rabbit’s hand. Momo said he found this egg in the Misty Sea Realm. The pets in Celestial Horizon were all caught in the wilderness, and this was the first time such a mechanism as a spirit pet egg had appeared. It might affect the pet system in the future. As for the hatching conditions, he and Momo had tried several methods in the past few days, but there was no sign of the eggshell cracking open.

ScarletFruit watched as Su Mo handed bags of premium food to the rabbit, couldn’t help but remark, “Bro, isn’t the rabbit eating a bit too much lately?” 

Due to the excessive profits from the shop recently, last week he boasted that he would take care of Soul Rabbit’s food, but in just a few days, the rabbit had almost eaten up his four hundred gold worth of food.

Su Mo asked, “Can’t you afford it?”

ScarletFruit remained unfazed, “…Of course, I can afford it. Your rabbit is my rabbit. I’d spend my last penny to take care of it.” Then he changed his tone, “But bro, we need to control the weight of this rabbit. It’ll affect its speed in battles, which could ultimately affect our livelihoods. I think around five bags of food a day would be appropriate. What do you think?”

Yu Zhen was speechless.

Su Mo replied, “I don’t think so.”

At that moment, someone applied to join the team. ClearWindIsHere’s cheerful voice rang out in the team voice chat, “Hey guys, long time no see! Missed me?”

ScarletFruit said, “Where have you been these days? I saw you streaming before, but you’ve been MIA recently.”

“I finished this month’s streaming early and went on a trip with friends,” ClearWind chuckled, “Just got back, actually. I heard you guys had some fun with assassins. Next time you have something exciting like that, take me along. I’ve been feeling nauseous from doing quest missions for the past few days… Oh right! There’s a particularly interesting quest mission, do you guys want to give it a try?”

“A quest mission?” Su Mo, now interested, shifted his attention away from the rabbit and asked, “Tell us more, what type is it?”

“Could it be the one you were streaming about before?” ScarletFruit asked.

“Streaming?” Su Mo looked puzzled.

ScarletFruit explained, “Remember the day we cleared the dungeon and got the treasure chest? ClearWind opened a strange piece of parchment.”

“It’s not clear what type it is… but,” ClearWind said somewhat mysteriously, “I found out this isn’t a solo mission, it’s a team quest.”

After ClearWindIsHere cleared the Misty Sea Realm and obtained two treasure chests, one of them, like Su Mo and the others’, contained a quest weapon, while the other contained common materials but came with a strange piece of parchment. The parchment displayed a map of the Celestial Horizon continent, with several key locations marked. Despite being somewhat cryptic, honest ClearWind had painstakingly gone from place to place, spending a lot of time chatting with NPCs in various locations each day to raise their affinity, and finally received a clue.

The quest was called “Desert Inn.”

“An NPC named Big Bull gave me the mission info. He used to work as a cook at the Desert Inn, then quit and returned to his hometown. Suddenly, he remembered something important and entrusted me to return something equally important to the inn’s landlady.” ClearWind sent the item information to the team. “It’s a simple package that I can’t open. I guess it can only be opened at the inn. The most crucial part is that one detail of the mission suggests I should team up before going.”

Quest missions, unlike quest dungeons, are almost everywhere with various details and clues, requiring players to solve puzzles or follow the task requirements step by step. The latter is similar to the hidden maps Su Mo had experienced before, with high levels of challenge.

“This doesn’t look like a quest mission, more like a dungeon type,” Su Mo furrowed his brows slightly, asking, “What is Desert Inn? I just checked the map, and it doesn’t show a specific location.”

“It’s in the Northern Desert,” Yu Zhen suddenly interjected, “It’s called an inn, but it’s actually a bounty board.”

“The map doesn’t show Desert Inn. You have to walk deep into the desert to see the landmark,” ScarletFruit explained, “Inside, it’s the bounty board of the Celestial Horizon continent, where you can post bounties. If the reward is suitable, players will take the task. But your quest seems a bit strange; how can a quest be in such an obvious place?”

Usually, quests pop up in some corner of a hidden map.

ClearWind chuckled, “That’s why I came to find you guys. You guys took me to the Misty Sea Realm before, and this task is strange but interesting. Do you want to give it a try?”

***

Desert Inn was located in the Northern Desert, a level 70 map area. Players could travel to other maps after reaching level 40, and lower-level players could also go to higher-level maps, but there were greater risks in the wilderness. The Northern Desert was also a wilderness area. Su Mo and the others’ destination was a group of buildings located in the middle of the Northern Desert. It was called a group of buildings, but it was actually just a few scattered wooden houses, with more tea houses scattered around.

Sand flew around Desert Inn, and as they entered the outer fence, a prompt popped up immediately.

[You have entered a safe zone.]

Su Mo looked up at the inn. It was very different from what he had imagined. Most buildings in Celestial Horizon weren’t tall, especially in places with soft sand like the desert, yet this Desert Inn stood four stories high, towering in the desert like a giant.

There were many players coming and going, most of them hiding their IDs and walking hastily.

Upon entering the inn, they could see the tall bounty board straight ahead, filled with wanted posters covering the entire wall. Behind the wooden counter stood a middle-aged shopkeeper with thick eyebrows and big eyes, busy with his abacus. As they entered, they noticed the players around them, especially those on the second floor near the railing, silently watching them.

“There’s the bounty board up front. If you want to post a bounty, just go to the shopkeeper and fill out the information and pay the fee,” ClearWind found an empty seat, sat down, and couldn’t help but complain, “Strange, why are there so many people here today?”

Su Mo hesitated, “Isn’t it usually crowded here?”

“The place to post bounties isn’t considered a good place; most of the bounties on the board are for killing and robbery. People who come here cover themselves tightly.” ClearWind ordered a pot of tea and filled up the cups for the other three. “Usually, after posting a bounty, people leave, but today, it’s almost full.”

Su Mo paused at ClearWind’s words, suddenly having a bad feeling. “How many seats are left?”

ClearWind paused as he sipped his tea. “Huh? There should be only a few seats left.”

“18 tables on the second floor of Desert Inn, 20 tables on the first floor,” Yu Zhen stood up, surveying the upper floor. “Second floor is full, two tables left on the first floor.”

ClearWind was astonished. “How do you know all this!?”

Su Mo looked at Yu Zhen. “Do you think it’s a coincidence?”

“No.” Yu Zhen’s gaze sharpened. He opened his friend list and noticed that 25000’s coordinates were also in the Northern Desert. He contemplated, “There’s probably more than one piece of parchment.” Thinking about what 25000 had said not long ago, it was highly likely that CloudTraveller and others were also in this inn.

ScarletFruit became nervous. “What’s going on? Don’t scare me.”

“How many people know about the quest?” Su Mo looked at ClearWind.

ClearWind was a bit bewildered by everything. “It should be just us.”

He knew this quest was special, and when he found out about the coordinates, he even closed his live broadcast.

At that moment, two groups of people walked in. Instead of heading to the bounty board, they stood in the middle, scanning the entire inn. Their actions were not discreet. In the savvy Desert Inn, they immediately attracted the attention of other players. Hiding IDs wouldn’t hide guild or faction information. It turned out that the two factions in the inn were almost evenly matched, and the two incoming groups were from the Eclipse faction, disrupting the previous balance.

The inn was a safe zone, but stepping out would mean entering a war zone.

Other players began discussing in private.

“Strange, why are there so many people today?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking that. Could it be that some big guild is blocking someone?”

“There are a lot of people from Eclipse. Are they planning to block someone at the entrance of the inn?”

“Oh damn, should we leave? What if we get blocked and lose points?”

ClearWind and ScarletFruit suddenly became nervous. They were just here to do a quest, but now they felt like they were being dragged into a battlefield between two major factions.

“People can die, but money can’t be lost,” ScarletFruit said. “I haven’t transferred my money yet… Hold on, I’m getting a bit nervous. Can’t the shopkeeper take care of the warehouse? I’ll go deposit some money first.”

But Su Mo was looking at the two groups of people. “Do you think they’ll sit down?”

ScarletFruit stood up but immediately sat back down, looking nervously at Su Mo. “What? What will happen if they sit down?”

Yu Zhen responded, “Something will happen.” He added, “Most of them are full teams.”

Su Mo also noticed this. Almost all the players who sat down in the inn were in full teams.

ClearWind and ScarletFruit were puzzled, so they could only focus their gaze on the two groups of people in the middle. Everyone in the inn was paying attention to them. The two groups lingered in front of the bounty board for a while before heading to the remaining empty seats in the inn.

“They’re sitting down?!” ScarletFruit nervously swallowed, “It seems like nothing is happening…”

[Desert Inn Difficulty ★★★★★★, Do you want to join the activity challenge? (Due to the high difficulty, rewards and penalties coexist, please consider carefully)]

ScarletFruit immediately shut up. 

“What’s going on!?”

“Desert Inn is closed!”

“What!? I came here to post a bounty, and I ended up joining a timed event.”

“Desert Inn, what’s that? It has six stars.”

[Server Announcement] Rumors have it that there is a mysterious inn deep in the Northern Desert. Now, the server-wide timed event dungeon [Desert Inn] is open… Data loaded, no one has abstained. Welcome, brave players who face danger without fear.]

The doors of Desert Inn closed heavily. The innkeeper stood in front of the bounty board, smiling slightly at all the players and politely said, “Welcome, brave players who face danger without fear. Now, you are entering the first level of the Desert Inn challenge. Nightfall is approaching quickly, and our inn has only 20 rooms. Best wishes to all of you.”

Su Mo noticed the suffix, “Brave players who face danger without fear?”

“What?” ClearWind was stunned. “Wait… is the event starting now? We’re not prepared.”

Inside the inn, ApexMind’s voice replaced the innkeeper’s, [Level 1: Staying at Desert Inn; Initial participation: 220/220 players, 50/50 teams; Accommodation quota: 50/20]

[Location: Desert Inn; Remaining time: 1 hour; Desert Inn map changed to [Temporary Combat Map]]

[Objective: Occupy the 1st floor tea seats within the specified time to obtain accommodation quotas; If all team members die or fail to occupy the tea seats within the specified time, it will be considered a mission failure. The failed team will face a punishment of [lose 3 levels and lose 10 attribute points], and the successful team will receive a reward of [30 permanent attribute points] per player. So, I wish you all the best of luck.]

With a click, all the lanterns fell down in succession, and the entire second floor went dark in an instant. All eyes turned to the remaining 20 tea seats on the first floor.

The gaze of everyone fell on the corner seats near the door, where only four players were seated, although their hidden IDs concealed their true identities, the highest level among them was only 69.

Yu Zhen sighed, “Our luck doesn’t seem to be too good this time.”

ScarletFruit, holding his head in agony, muttered, “Will we lose money if we die in this temporary combat map…”

“Don’t worry, bro.” ClearWind patted his chest, “Last time I passed a quest, I even got a defensive item. It can hold up for half an hour. They can’t do anything to us.”

The three of them looked at Su Mo, who was sitting beside them, drinking tea. The summoner put down his teacup, “I have to go offline in 5 minutes to have dinner. Can you guys wait for me?”

Author’s note: 

ScarletFruit: Dinner????

ClearWind: ?