21. A Chance Encounter with Falling Snow
This is precisely where the difficulty in triggering this hidden quest lies.
To activate the quest, one must engage in repeated conversations with the elderly NPC, lasting a full two hours, with the dialogue content repeated four times before the hidden quest appears.
Ordinary players simply don't have the leisure for such dedication.
Most players chat with the old man for no more than five minutes, and if the quest doesn’t trigger, they leave immediately.
Even the more patient ones retreat after about half an hour when they notice the NPC’s words begin to repeat.
As a result, this hidden quest remained untouched in Su Yu’s previous life—until humanity on Blue Star was on the brink of extinction, when a hopeless player accidentally discovered it.
But it was too late; the final waves of Skru invasions had already begun.
...
Su Yu patiently chatted with the old man for a full two hours.
At the conclusion of the fourth round of dialogue, the old man’s leisurely demeanor suddenly changed.
He sat up from the bench, his gaze filled with concern as he looked eastward.
“They’re here!” Su Yu’s spirits lifted.
The old man stood and peered anxiously toward the alley entrance, then turned to Su Yu.
“Sigh! It’s so late already—why hasn’t my daughter Tina come yet? Young man, could you go to the Morning Song General Store northeast of the village and look for her? She might be in some kind of trouble there.”
“Ding! Hidden quest of Excellent rank triggered: ‘Tina’s Resistance (1/20).’ Accept?”
“Accept!”
“Quest description: Old man John requests you to go to the Morning Song General Store and search for his daughter Tina.”
“Quest rewards: 200 experience points, 2 Psionic Coins.”
After accepting the quest, Su Yu stood and waved to Old Man John, “I’m off, sir. Wait for good news from me!”
“May the gods watch over you, young man,” Old Man John replied, waving goodbye.
...
Five minutes later, Su Yu arrived at the door of the Morning Song General Store.
The store was located in a remote alley in the eastern residential area of the village, rarely visited by players.
Just as Su Yu was about to push the door open, a female player emerged from the store.
“Excuse me... Huh? It’s you? Nemesis!” The female player’s eyes lit up upon seeing Su Yu.
But then her expression shifted to one of sorrow.
“Hello, Snowfall,” Su Yu greeted her with a wave.
This female player was Snowfall, whom Su Yu had met twice before.
Yet noticing Snowfall’s sorrowful gaze, Su Yu felt a bit puzzled.
...
He was very familiar with that kind of sorrowful look.
Su Yu had rejected many girls before, and after being rejected, those girls would often look at him with that same pitiful expression.
Snowfall’s eyes held that same look.
Inwardly, Su Yu wondered, “I haven’t had any interactions with her, have I? Why is she looking at me like this?”
Feeling somewhat awkward, Su Yu asked, “Um... where’s your father?”
“He’s logged off. He’s old and can’t play for long periods.”
“Then why do you look at me like that?”
“Nemesis, you stole my hidden quest, ‘Tears of the Goddess Savvy,’” Snowfall said softly.
Once Snowfall had started the first stage of ‘Tears of the Goddess Savvy,’ no one else could pick up that quest unless she failed.
She also realized Su Yu had jumped in at the tenth stage.
Still, she bore no grudge against Nemesis; being outplayed and losing a quest was understandable. Yet, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.
“Oh! So it was you!” Su Yu exclaimed in sudden realization.
It turned out that in his previous life, Snowfall had completed that hidden quest.
Later, Snowfall failed the follow-up quest ‘Annie’s Revenge’ and was banned from the game, leaving Evolution forever.
No wonder Su Yu had never heard of the name ‘Snowfall’ before.
After all, Snowfall was good-looking and among the early players—surely she would have some fame.
...
“What do you mean ‘So it was me’?” Snowfall looked confused; she didn’t understand what Su Yu was talking about.
“Nothing,” Su Yu changed the subject. “Since I took your hidden quest, how about I compensate you with some equipment?”
Su Yu pulled out the Slippery Scale Chestplate from his inventory and handed it to Snowfall, showing her the item’s stats.
Slippery Scale Chestplate Lv.5 (Excellent)
Type: Leather Armor
Defense +6
Agility +3
Although Su Yu had spared Snowfall from being banned, objectively, he had also stolen her path to godhood—the main storyline.
So he decided to give her the Slippery Scale Chestplate as compensation; after all, it wasn’t worth much on the market.
Snowfall’s eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the chestplate’s stats.
This was a level 5 green-quality chestplate!
Nemesis’s Black Iron Boots (Excellent) Lv.3, listed in the warehouse, had already reached bids of 50 Psionic Coins.
How could the Slippery Scale Chestplate be worth less than 100 Psionic Coins? With the black market exchange rate at 1:20, that equated to nearly 2,000 real-world Flower Tokens!
“No! This is too valuable. I can’t accept it!” Snowfall hastily waved her hand, stepping back.
“Take it,” Su Yu insisted.
“I said no... How about this? Nemesis, let’s add each other as friends. If there are any good quests, just keep me in mind!” Snowfall said as she sent Su Yu a friend request.
Her last sentence was purely polite; she just wanted a graceful exit and didn’t really expect Nemesis to share quests with her.
Su Yu understood this clearly.
“Alright then, I’ll contact you if I find any suitable quests.”
Su Yu accepted the friend request.
“Then that’s settled. Goodbye, great expert!” Snowfall waved and turned to leave.
“Wait! I have something to ask you,” Su Yu suddenly called after her.
“What is it?” Snowfall turned back.
“Well,” Su Yu explained, “when you were in the general store just now, did you see a shopkeeper named Tina?”
“Tina...” Snowfall tapped her chin with her index finger. “I came here through Baron Wilson’s questline. If I recall correctly, Tina should be at the gate of Baron Wilson’s manor. I saw her there.”
“Baron Wilson... Thank you so much! That information is very useful!” Su Yu expressed his gratitude.
“You’re welcome.” Snowfall smiled and ran off.
...
After parting ways with Snowfall, Su Yu began the formal pursuit of the hidden quest ‘Tina’s Resistance.’
The first five stages of ‘Tina’s Resistance’ were mainly puzzle-solving tasks.
Tina wasn’t at the general store; through the puzzles, players learned where she had gone.
Many of these clues were deliberately misleading.
For example, “Tina fancied a dress and planned to try it on at the clothing store.”
Or, “Tina arranged to meet Warrior Supervisor Quinn at the Warrior’s Guild for a talent test.”
Or, “Tina was tracking a lost puppy separated from its family.”
Various false leads seemed designed to throw Su Yu off course.
Fortunately, armed with accurate information from Snowfall, Su Yu easily eliminated the misleading clues and completed the puzzle tasks.
After finishing the five puzzle stages, Su Yu arrived at the gate of Baron Wilson’s manor and finally met the quest’s protagonist—Tina.