Genius Chapter 38: Player Momo fell to their death

Limited-Time Event: Qixi Festival

Chapter 38: Player Momo fell to their death

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

As soon as the Qixi Festival event started, a large crowd of players flocked to the Purple Flower Valley. Known as a scenic spot in Celestial Horizon, many players often visited the valley just to take in the beautiful scenery. The valley, filled with purple flowers from the entrance to the depths, looked like waves of purple petals when the wind blew, creating a stunning view. The NPC Qiao Niang was located at the exit of the Purple Flower Valley. Behind her were two paths: one that players usually took for sightseeing, allowing them to see only part of the scenery, and another newly opened path, which was narrow and clearly set up for the event.

Next to Qiao Niang was a stall with a spirit pet resembling a purple flower lying on it. The stall displayed all the rewards that could be exchanged for Qixi Festival event points, ranging from appearance items to attributes, and even some rare materials with extremely low drop rates. Naturally, the area in front of Qiao Niang was crowded with players.

However, not everyone could earn these rewards. Players had to form teams of two and approach the NPC. Once teamed up, they could not disband during the event. After successfully forming a team, they could apply for the dungeon. Qiao Niang would offer four options: 2-star, 3-star, 4-star, and 5-star challenges. Each stage’s reward could only be obtained once, and completing a higher star challenge would grant all the event points for the lower star levels as well. 

This meant that completing the 2-star challenge only earned the 2-star reward, but completing the 5-star challenge would give rewards for 2, 3, 4, and 5-star levels.

Many players attempted the tasks, but after just one night, the forums were flooded with complaints. This Qixi Festival event dungeon generated random challenges based on the team composition, making it impossible to copy strategies even if the mechanics were understood. Due to the harsh mechanics and penalties, players felt the event was more about breaking up teams rather than celebrating Qixi Festival.

Posts on the forum included:

– “This is toxic! Just do the 2-star or 3-star challenges, avoid 4-star, run!!”

– “If you value your relationships, don’t challenge the 4-star Qixi Festival with your partner.”

– “The 4-star penalties are too extreme. If one person makes a mistake, the other loses levels and money.”

– “Now I understand why the rewards are so generous. I thought it was a sincere event.”

– “???”

– “Bro, check the Global Channel; people are breaking up over this.”

When Su Mo logged in, the game was bustling with activity. The Global Channel was buzzing, and loudspeakers were constantly being used. Before he could figure out what was happening, ScarletFruit sent a team request with an urgent voice message, “Bro, quickly make 100 Illumination Scrolls and come to Purple Flower Valley; there’s big money to be made!”

Su Mo paused, “100? Didn’t you say you couldn’t sell them yesterday?”

“They sold! The Qixi Festival event raised the price of Illumination Scrolls to 120 gold each. Not making money now would be foolish!” ScarletFruit replied excitedly. “Hurry up, my stall is almost out of stock.”

Su Mo had no choice but to make the scrolls. When he saw ScarletFruit’s stall at the entrance of Purple Flower Valley, he understood what had happened. One of the event stages involved a dark room, making Illumination Scrolls highly sought after. He checked the event announcement upon logging in and found the rewards to be quite appealing. “Put the scrolls on the trading platform, let’s go do the event.”

ScarletFruit asked, “Which difficulty?”

Su Mo reviewed the event rules. “Let’s try 5-star and see if we can get all the rewards.”

ScarletFruit immediately refused, “Bro, I’m not going.”

Su Mo, “?”

At that moment, a familiar ID appeared near the event entrance. It was Apple, whom they had played a dungeon with a few days ago. Apple was only wearing pants and was standing shirtless in front of the NPC. Su Mo was just starting to feel puzzled when another couple, with titles indicating they were in a relationship, appeared and started arguing.

ScarletFruit sympathetically looked at the nearby merchant, “How many couples have broken up today?”

“Ten teams since this morning,” the merchant replied with an amused expression. “And it’s just the beginning; there will be more later.”

Apple noticed them and walked over with his teammate, FireworksAndLanterns.

Su Mo looked at him in surprise, “Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”

“I went in all dressed up and nearly came out without even my pants,” Apple said dejectedly. “I’m still okay, but my teammate lost two levels and is now mad at me.”

FireworksAndLanterns got angry upon hearing this, “How can you even talk about it? Who lost all my gold gear last round? Couldn’t you answer the question properly? Didn’t we agree to choose option 1?”

Apple replied, “I chose option 1! How was I supposed to know it would scramble the answer order?”

Su Mo, “?”

Apple, “We’ll chat later, okay? I need to help him retrieve his gear.”

As Apple and FireworksAndLanterns headed over to the stall next to Qiao Niang to talk to the purple spirit pet and seemingly handed over a large sum of money, Su Mo finally understood. “This dungeon makes you lose levels and equipment?” he asked ScarletFruit.

ScarletFruit nodded affirmatively, “Yes, in challenges above 4 stars, the penalties include losing levels, equipment, and money. If you lose equipment, you have to pay a hefty ransom to get it back, but lost levels and money are gone for good. Apple and his teammate must have been trying the 5-star challenge; this is their second time coming out.”

The merchant brother nearby added, “And some players lose attribute points too. Just stick to the 3-star challenges; anything higher isn’t worth it. The ransom for high-level equipment is astronomical. This morning, ChatMasterWu lost a top-tier weapon and had to pay 10,000 gold to get it back.”

Su Mo was speechless.

ScarletFruit said, “There’s no money to be made from the event itself; it’s better to set up a stall and make a big profit. Bro, I’m going to have to let you down today. This event only lasts two days, and I’m all about making money during this time. I’ll make enough to buy Veil Wraith’s upgrade food! We could even afford seven or eight portions with this haul.”

Purple Flower Valley was bustling, with many players coming to ScarletFruit’s stall. With nothing better to do, Su Mo went over to check the event rewards at the purple spirit pet’s stall. This temporary event, lasting only two days, had exceptionally rich rewards, even more cost-effective than the demon points exchange. According to the points distribution, only by completing the 5-star event could a player exchange for all the rewards at the stall.

The highest point rewards included a Qixi Festival costume gift box and 60-level quest weapon upgrade materials, which could only be redeemed by completing the event. Successfully clearing the 5-star event also provided special Qixi Festival rewards.

Just then, Su Mo received a notification that his friend, UnchainedWanderer, was online. Since ScarletFruit wasn’t interested in the event, Su Mo was about to ask UnchainedWanderer if he wanted to aim for the lower star rewards when UnchainedWanderer sent an invitation.

UnchainedWanderer: “Want to do the event? I need [Sunfire].”

Sunfire? Su Mo checked the event rewards. Sunfire was a high-level material redeemable only by completing the 5-star challenge, essential for array masters’ quest weapons. Realizing this, Su Mo remembered that his [Floating Cloud Lamp] could also be upgraded. Array masters needed [Sunfire], and summoners needed [Snow Moon], both rare drops from high-level dungeons. This event dungeon, like others, carried risks but offered high rewards.

Moreover, with so many players failing, Su Mo was intrigued by the game mechanics.

Su Mo left his current team and sent a team request to UnchainedWanderer, “We need 5 stars for [Sunfire], right? I haven’t tried this event yet. The Qixi Festival event likely tests teamwork and could mess us up.”

“Let’s try,” Yu Zhen replied. “The drop rate for quest weapon upgrade materials is low. If we miss this, it might be months before the next chance. Each stage in the dungeon allows us to exit before starting, so we can cut our losses if needed. While this is a 5-star event, the difficulty mainly lies in teamwork. Some player reviews suggest it may not be as hard as Misty Sea Domain.”

Even though it was a 5-star event, it might not be of the highest difficulty.

Seeing that UnchainedWanderer understood the dungeon well, Su Mo asked, “Can we use low-level equipment in the dungeon?”

“We can, but it’s not advisable,” Yu Zhen explained. “There are combat stages, and mid-dungeon equipment changes aren’t allowed. Using low-level gear could lead to insufficient damage output and failure.”

Understanding some of the rules, they grabbed items and potions from their storage and prepared to set off.

[Are you sure you want to form an event relationship with [UnchainedWanderer] and enter the depths of Purple Flower Valley together?]

Su Mo confirmed, and they were transported to the event dungeon. As soon as they entered, ScarletFruit bombarded him with question marks. Su Mo sent a brief ‘talk later’ message to ScarletFruit and closed the chat.

ScarletFruit was dumbfounded. After sending another message with no response, he checked Su Mo’s status and saw that Su Mo was already in the Qixi Festival event, with five bright stars next to the event name. “What the hell?!”

The nearby merchant brother asked, “Did I see that right? Your friend just went in? What difficulty level are they attempting?”

“5 stars,” ScarletFruit replied, “Did you see who went in with him?”

The merchant recalled, “I think he was holding a judge’s pen, probably an array master.”

ScarletFruit opened his friends list and confirmed that UnchainedWanderer was also in the 5-star Qixi Festival event.

The merchant commented, “Your friend is quite brave.”

ScarletFruit, in a tone of regret, opened his friends’ spectator mode, “They both went in; losing two top players at once. What will I do in the wild now?”

The merchant reassured, “It’s not that bad.”

ScarletFruit sighed, “I’m afraid they might be too daring.”

Meanwhile, the live streamer ClearWindIsHere, known for his regular streaming schedule, also logged in.

[What is the livestreamer planning to do today?]

“Let’s get a pro to livestream a battle in the Qixi Festival event arena. Forget about the 5-star, I’ll ask my brother if he’s up for the 4-star challenge,” ClearWindIsHere said as he skillfully navigated his friends list. Seeing Momo and UnchainedWanderer online, he was about to message them when he noticed their dungeon status.

Both were in [Qixi Festival ·★★★★★].

ClearWind, “??????”

[Holy crap, did Momo go for the 5-star?]

[Haha, no more pro carries.]

[The livestreamer’s friend’s name is ScarletFruit, right? He’s online too.]

[Forget ScarletFruit, he’s been setting up a stall all morning.]

[Quick, spectate them!]

***

[Momo and UnchainedWanderer have successfully entered the [Qixi Festival ·★★★★★] event.]

[The dungeon has 3 stages. Before each stage, you can choose to proceed or give up. Failing within a stage will result in one of the following penalties: [Lose 1000 gold], [Lose 30% of current level experience], [Drop equipped gear]. You have until the event ends to complete the challenge.]

In their game view, the progress bar showed they were in the first stage, [Purple Flower Valley Mountain Path].

[Objective: Successfully traverse the Purple Flower Valley Mountain Path]

Purple Flower Valley was a vast valley, and they stood on a narrow stone-paved mountain path, just wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

Su Mo asked, “What does the first stage test?”

Yu Zhen paused, confused by the unfamiliar scene, “We got a new setting. I’ve read about flower fields, lakes, and cottages in the first stage, but Purple Flower Valley is a large valley. The task is to start from the given scene and reach the Purple Flower Valley Altar.”

This implied that the dungeon mechanics were likely random, generating different scenes for each challenge.

Su Mo said, “Let’s start walking and see.”

As they took their first steps, the scene around Su Mo suddenly shifted. The previously smooth path became rugged, filled with spikes and floating stone blocks. The mountain walls on either side vanished, leaving only a bottomless chasm. It turned into a treacherous obstacle path with no visible end, and UnchainedWanderer was nowhere to be seen.

Su Mo instinctively checked the task content on the side, which still read [Purple Flower Valley Mountain Path].

This was a tricky beginning with no clear clues.

Looking down, Su Mo found himself standing on a suspended circular stone pillar, with the nearest stepping point half a meter away. Judging the distance, he jumped, but his perspective spun wildly, followed by intense pain and a notification popping up.

[You have fallen from the Purple Flower Valley Mountain Path, losing 30% of your current level experience.]

[player Momo has fallen and failed the challenge.]