"Clear Poverty Sword!!" As he looked at the blurred inscription on the sword, Guhan was filled with doubt. How could it be that none of the many guides he had read before mentioned that this sword had a name engraved on it?
"Big Brother Guhan, do you like this sword very much?" Lianian, who was walking behind Guhan, noticed that he was staring at the sword and couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, this sword looks really nice. I wonder where you bought it from." Lianian asked casually.
"I'm not sure either. My father passed it down to me. He said that my grandmother bought it when she was doing square dancing. After my grandmother passed away, my father gave it to me." Mentioning his grandmother, Lianian felt a bit melancholic.
"It turns out it's a memento from your grandmother. Don't worry, I'll return the sword to you after I take you to the museum."
"It's fine. I can't use swords anyway. In this post-apocalyptic world, if it weren't for Big Brother Guhan, it would probably be left at home, never to be seen again. Since Big Brother Guhan likes it, I'll give it to you. It's a small token of my appreciation."
"Alright, then I won't be polite." Guhan firmly gripped the sword, knowing that whether he could complete the task within an hour depended entirely on this sword.
So far, the task had been going on for eight minutes. The straight-line distance from "Honest Man's General Store" to the provincial museum was three kilometers. According to the best route planned in the guide, it would take at least twenty minutes to get there.
Adding the two times together, it would take twenty-eight minutes. According to Guhan's pre-planned schedule, he had budgeted thirty minutes. It seemed sufficient, with two minutes to spare, but this was based on the condition that the trip to the provincial museum must be completed within twenty minutes... which was impossible. The system wouldn't let everything go smoothly.
According to historical records, when the Sword Ancestor Lianian was young, his personality was very different from his decisive and ruthless self during his peak. Young Lianian was upright, helpful, and kind... people called him "Lianian the Saint."
When young, Lianian was a good-natured person who would jump in to help others whenever he saw injustice or sorrow, without considering the reality or the cunning of human nature.
In a stable society, this might be a commendable trait, but in the post-apocalyptic world, it was a harmful and destructive tumor... not only harming himself but also his friends, who often suffered and lost their lives because of his actions.
"Big Brother Guhan, look, what's happening over there?" Lianian, who had been quietly following Guhan, suddenly stopped and pointed in the distance, asking with some fear.
"...The thing I was worried about has finally come..." Guhan sighed inwardly. The future Sword Ancestor Lianian's "saintly" nature had indeed kicked in.
Following Lianian's finger, a ragged woman was seen running frantically, with a leopard, covered in coin-like patterns, chasing her fiercely.
"Oh, nothing's wrong. That woman is just playing happily with her pet cat. We shouldn't disturb them. Your mother is waiting for us at the museum." According to forum rumors, sometimes a few lies could avoid a lot of trouble.
"Is there such a big cat in the world?" Lianian was skeptical and hesitant. At this moment, the woman in the distance seemed to notice Guhan and Lianian. She stumbled and quickly ran toward Guhan, shouting, "Help! Help!"
"Lord Guhan, that's not a cat, it's a leopard!!" Lianian's intelligence and saintly nature kicked in. "Lord Guhan, we must help her!"
"System notification: Task updated: Side quest one: Help Lianian kill the leopard and rescue the civilian being chased. Note: The side quest can be abandoned, but it will affect the final evaluation score of the dungeon."
Well, the system notification has come, and the task has been updated. For an SSS rating, Guhan had no choice but to complete this side quest.
"Big Brother Guhan, I'll go and distract the leopard. You hide behind that car with the sword. When the leopard jumps over the car and attacks, stab it in the butt with the sword."
It had to be admitted that as the future savior of humanity, the Sword Ancestor Lianian had a high emergency response ability. In an instant, he came up with a feasible plan to deal with the leopard.
According to the forum statistics, during the escort of Lianian to the museum, one to three random side quests would occur, chosen from a total of eighty-one possible side quests.
Therefore, as events unfolded, detailed guides for these eighty-one side quests were created. Players even compiled these guides into a collection called "Lianian's Eighty-One Trials Super Guide Collection." The leopard incident Guhan encountered was naturally included in this collection.
According to the guide, the best strategy for players was to follow Lianian's plan. The leopard would be 100% lured away from the woman, jump over the car, and attack Lianian, exposing its back to the player hiding under the car. The player could then easily stab the leopard's anus with the sword.
However, the leopard wouldn't die immediately but would turn its anger on the player who stabbed it. At this point, the player could rely on the "invincible newbie buff" and endure the leopard's attacks for five minutes. After five minutes, the leopard would die from blood loss.
This was the most reliable way to complete the task, but Guhan didn't have five minutes to waste!!!
"Stay here and don't move. I'll be right back." Guhan stopped Lianian from jumping out as bait. Holding his sword, Guhan leaped toward the leopard.
"Be careful, Big Brother Guhan!!" Lianian followed Guhan, trying to stop him, but found that Guhan's agility was unexpectedly high. With a light step, he jumped several meters away. In the blink of an eye, Guhan was face-to-face with the leopard.
"Little boy, save me! Save me!" The woman, who was being chased by the leopard, saw Guhan stand in front of the leopard like a divine warrior and felt a sense of relief. At least someone was there to die for her, but she couldn't relax. She had to run faster in case the leopard found one person insufficient.
So, the woman continued to run with all her might, but she turned her head to see how the young man would die. What she saw almost made her eyes pop out.
The leopard, which had been chasing her like a bolt of lightning, suddenly stopped, crouched low, and tensed its muscles. It let out a terrifying roar, as if the person in front of it was not a weak human but a lion, a tiger, or an equal opponent.
"Are you afraid of me?" Guhan's face showed impatience. "I don't have much time."
Suddenly, Guhan moved, charging at the leopard with incredible speed. The leopard roared, leaped two meters high, and twisted its flexible body in the air, appearing above Guhan. Its sharp claws aimed at Guhan's head, and its teeth at his throat.
The leopard was confident that its claws would crush Guhan's head and its mouth would easily tear open his throat, enjoying a delicious breakfast.
Unfortunately, the leopard was overconfident.
Although the leopard did grab Guhan's head and bite his throat, Guhan didn't dodge. Instead, he swung the Clear Poverty Sword like lightning, slicing open the leopard's belly from its throat to its tail.
The leopard's internal organs, including its intestines and vital organs, spilled out with a torrent of blood.
In less than three seconds, the leopard's eyes lost all their light, becoming a corpse. Its mouth, still biting Guhan's throat, hung on him like a fur coat.
"The teeth are still sharp." Guhan forcefully pried open the leopard's mouth, threw the corpse to the ground, and glanced at the system's damage log. When the leopard bit Guhan, the system recorded: -9999 (Critical Hit).
Every new player in the game had a standard 100 HP, which was increased by 100 times due to the "invincible newbie buff." Therefore, Guhan's HP was 10000.
This meant that the leopard's 9999 critical hit left Guhan with only 1 HP. If not for the "invincible newbie buff" that protected the last 1 HP from any damage, the leopard's attack would have killed Guhan.
By the way, in this game, a critical hit didn't just double the damage; it meant a true one-hit kill, instantly draining all HP and causing instant death... unless the player had a special attribute like the "invincible newbie buff."
"Big Brother Guhan! Big Brother Guhan!!" Lianian ran to Guhan's side, almost scared to death when he saw the leopard bite Guhan's throat.
"Big Brother Guhan, are you okay... I saw the leopard bite your throat. Big Brother Guhan, are you having a last moment of clarity...!!" Lianian looked worried.
"Say something auspicious!" Guhan tapped Lianian's head. "You must have been mistaken. The leopard didn't bite my throat. Look, there's not a single scratch on my neck!!" Guhan showed Lianian his throat, which was indeed unblemished... thanks to the 1000x healing speed, his HP had fully recovered to 10000 in ten seconds, and the wound had disappeared.
"Hehe, it's good... it's good..." Lianian laughed foolishly, scratching his head and touching Guhan's throat.
"Thank you, both of you, for saving me. Ziyu is very grateful!!" A soft voice came from the woman, who had come to thank them. With the leopard dead, she no longer needed to run. She walked over gracefully and thanked them.
Hearing the thanks, Guhan and Lianian finally took a good look at the woman. She had a slender waist, long legs, a well-endowed chest, a shapely buttocks, a beautiful face, and a mature, alluring demeanor. She was a very attractive mature woman.
"You are... you are..." Lianian suddenly exclaimed in surprise. "You are Zhou Ziyu!! The Japanese actress Zhou Ziyu!!! I grew up watching your movies..."
"Ha ha..." Zhou Ziyu laughed dryly and then resumed her alluring demeanor. "Yes, I am the Japanese actress Zhou Ziyu."
---
"Big Brother Guhan! Big Brother Guhan!!" Lianian ran to Guhan's side, almost scared to death when he saw the leopard bite Guhan's throat.
"Big Brother Guhan, are you okay... I saw the leopard bite your throat. Big Brother Guhan, are you having a last moment of clarity...!!" Lianian looked worried.
"Say something auspicious!" Guhan tapped Lianian's head. "You must have been mistaken. The leopard didn't bite my throat. Look, there's not a single scratch on my neck!!" Guhan showed Lianian his throat, which was indeed unblemished... thanks to the 1000x healing speed, his HP had fully recovered to 10000 in ten seconds, and the wound had disappeared.
"Hehe, it's good... it's good..." Lianian laughed foolishly, scratching his head and touching Guhan's throat.
"Thank you, both of you, for saving me. Ziyu is very grateful!!" A soft voice came from the woman, who had come to thank them. With the leopard dead, she no longer needed to run. She walked over gracefully and thanked them.
Hearing the thanks, Guhan and Lianian finally took a good look at the woman. She had a slender waist, long legs, a well-endowed chest, a shapely buttocks, a beautiful face, and a mature, alluring demeanor. She was a very attractive mature woman.
"You are... you are..." Lianian suddenly exclaimed in surprise. "You are Zhou Ziyu!! The Japanese actress Zhou Ziyu!!! I grew up watching your movies..."
"Ha ha..." Zhou Ziyu laughed dryly and then resumed her alluring demeanor. "Yes, I am the Japanese actress Zhou Ziyu."
---
"Big Brother Guhan! Big Brother Guhan!!" Lianian ran to Guhan's side, almost scared to death when he saw the leopard bite Guhan's throat.
"Big Brother Guhan, are you okay... I saw the leopard bite your throat. Big Brother Guhan, are you having a last moment of clarity...!!" Lianian looked worried.
"Say something auspicious!" Guhan tapped Lianian's head. "You must have been mistaken. The leopard didn't bite my throat. Look, there's not a single scratch on my neck!!" Guhan showed Lianian his throat, which was indeed unblemished... thanks to the 1000x healing speed, his HP had fully recovered to 10000 in ten seconds, and the wound had disappeared.
"Hehe, it's good... it's good..." Lianian laughed foolishly, scratching his head and touching Guhan's throat.
"Thank you, both of you, for saving me. Ziyu is very grateful!!" A soft voice came from the woman, who had come to thank them. With the leopard dead, she no longer needed to run. She walked over gracefully and thanked them.
Hearing the thanks, Guhan and Lianian finally took a good look at the woman. She had a slender waist, long legs, a well-endowed chest, a shapely buttocks, a beautiful face, and a mature, alluring demeanor. She was a very attractive mature woman.
"You are... you are..." Lianian suddenly exclaimed in surprise. "You are Zhou Ziyu!! The Japanese actress Zhou Ziyu!!! I grew up watching your movies..."
"Ha ha..." Zhou Ziyu laughed dryly and then resumed her alluring demeanor. "Yes, I am the Japanese actress Zhou Ziyu."