There were still plenty of players accepting goblin-hunting quests or coming to turn in their completed tasks.
"Hey, buddy, you're cutting in line!" an assassin player said with an annoyed tone, eyeing Johnnie.
Johnnie ignored him completely. The old village chief waved at him enthusiastically, "Ah, it's you! Come on over."
The surrounding players froze, unable to believe their eyes.
Did the NPCs in this game treat players differently? Was this real?
Johnnie didn't care about the strange looks from the other players and walked straight up to the village chief.
"I'm here to turn in my quest," he said, pulling out all the goblin ears from his inventory.
Clang!
The bloody goblin ears piled up like a small mountain—over a thousand in total.
Johnnie wasn't worried about being exposed. After all, the village chief's task was the only hidden quest, and besides the first player who had exceeded the task, no other players could earn extra rewards.
"So many?"
"Wow, did you raid a goblin nest?"
"He's a goblin slayer!"
"I recognize him! He's the one who got the first boss kill—Johnnie, the boss-killer!"
...
Players immediately began exclaiming in surprise, staring at the mountain of goblin ears and gossiping among themselves.
The old village chief was momentarily stunned at the sight of so many goblin ears.
Most of them were from goblin elites, and there were even goblin leader ears in the pile.
"Adventurer, I knew I wasn't wrong about you," the old village chief said, snapping out of his shock, a big smile forming on his face as he looked at Johnnie with admiration.
He then turned to the players around him, impatience creeping into his voice. "Enough noise. The goblin task is finished for now. Those of you who completed it can come back later to turn in your quests."
Ignoring the protests from the other players, the village chief invited Johnnie into a slightly run-down straw hut.
"Adventurer, you've made a tremendous contribution to our newbie village and even to the entire Xuantian Continent. On behalf of the Goddess of Life, I thank you," the old village chief said gratefully.
The Goddess of Life?
Johnnie was puzzled. He didn't know how this was related to the Goddess of Life, especially since he had already subdued her and she was off somewhere seeking revenge.
The old village chief continued, "You've killed so many goblins. I have nothing else to offer, but these are stat potions I've saved up over many years. I want to give them all to you."
Here it comes!
Johnnie felt excited, eagerly anticipating the reward.
The old village chief took out a pile of potions—twenty stat potions in total. Each one could add 1 point to any stat of Johnnie's choice.
As expected, killing so many goblins had a rich reward.
"Thank you, old village chief," Johnnie said happily, accepting the potions. With these, his strength would increase even more.
But that wasn't all. The old village chief took out a book and said, "Adventurer, this is a swordsmanship manual I obtained by accident. I see you're a powerful warrior, so I'm giving it to you as well."
More rewards.
Johnnie took the manual, curious to see what it was.
[Great Transformation Sword Technique (Incomplete)] Advanced swordsmanship technique; can be learned by warrior players; endlessly changing, profound and infinite. When in battle, every kill grants an attribute bonus that can stack indefinitely. The bonus disappears once the battle ends.
[Note: Created by the first Sword Saint of, Xuantian Continent Luca, who attained enlightenment through the Way. Unfortunately, the original manuscript is lost, and this is only an incomplete copy.]
This wasn't a skill, but a martial arts technique!
Johnnie was stunned. Martial arts techniques could only be understood by ancient martial artists, but for players, such techniques were usually only obtainable in the mid-game.
Just like the Sword Shock he had learned, it was a form of martial art, though one of the weakest. It didn't even qualify as basic.
This, however, was an advanced martial technique. Johnnie couldn't even begin to imagine what the full version of this technique would be like.
"Thank you, Old Village Chief!" Johnnie said, truly grateful.
The old village chief smiled and replied, "Adventurer, these are all well-earned. I hope you can protect the Xuantian Continent and stop the invasion of demons and evil creatures."
His tone became somewhat melancholic. The Xuantian Continent had also been invaded by foreign races, and now only the newbie villages and a few major cities were still holding out.
The beasts outside the cities were all creatures invading from other realms.
Earth was the next target for these foreign invaders. If they couldn't be stopped in Xuantian Continent, Earth would be the next to suffer.
"Don't worry, Old Village Chief. I'll stop them," Johnnie said seriously, his expression solemn as he made the promise.
The old village chief nodded with a pleased smile and said, "Adventurer, there's a vast world outside. Strive to reach level 10 and leave the newbie village. I will give you another great reward."
Another quest?
Johnnie was surprised, but the old village chief didn't wish to elaborate.
It seemed that this quest required reaching level 10 of tier 1 to trigger.
In his previous life, he had never heard of any hidden quests for level 10 in the newbie village.
The only challenge was to defeat the level 10 boss, Earth Giant Bear, that blocked the entrance to the newbie village.
He didn't press further and said his goodbyes before leaving.
"Boss Johnnie, what quest did you pick up?"
"Boss, are you interested in joining our guild?"
"Big brother Johnnie, can you help me level up? I'll meet any requirements you have!"
...
As soon as Johnnie appeared, players rushed to him, asking about the quests he had completed and the rewards he had received.
Several shameless players even invited him to join their guilds or teams.
He declined them all, his mind suddenly shifting, and he logged out.
Crysic had already messaged him, calling him to log off for dinner.
Another hearty dinner was waiting.
Johnnie looked at Crysic, who eagerly brought the food to him, letting out a helpless sigh. He didn't know what else to say.
"Johnnie, dinner's ready," Crysic said, smiling, as she served the food in front of him.
"I can do it myself," Johnnie responded, feeling a bit awkward. Mith never pampered him like this when she was around.
And Crysic wasn't even getting paid for following him right now; he felt somewhat guilty about it.
He ate to his heart's content, then leaned back on the couch, browsing through information about Horizon.
Several pinned posts caught his attention, and to his surprise, they were all related to him.
"Mysterious Expert Johnnie from Newbie Village 103, Boss First Kill, Reward: Green Equipment"
"Newbie Village Goblin Leader Strategy: Fengyun Guild's 200+ Members Surround, All Destroyed—Summary"
"The Only Green Equipment, Possibly an Artifact That Increases Monster Drop Rates—Flood of Gray and White Equipment in Newbie Village 103"
...
These posts were all analyses of his strength and speculations about the green equipment he had acquired.
But they were all wrong.
He flipped through a few more posts, but none of them were particularly valuable.
However, an announcement from Apocalypse Group caught his attention.
"Adjustment of login crystal price and improvement of game currency exchange rate!"
This announcement caused quite a stir and made Horizon even more popular.
"Already adjusting the game currency exchange rate?" Johnnie was somewhat surprised. He remembered that Apocalypse Group was planning to raise the game currency exchange rate three months later.
It was expected that the exchange rate wouldn't stabilize until six months later, when the ratio between real-world currency and game currency would reach an incredible 1:1.
Now, the exchange rate had been adjusted from 1:10 to 1:8. This was a 20% increase.
It was likely to keep increasing. At this rate, the exchange ratio could soon reach 1:1.
"I need to sell off these items," he decided in his mind. Taking advantage of the current exchange rate, he could convert them into game currency and make a considerable profit.
Otherwise, when the exchange rate improves later, the price of white-tier equipment would drop from 100 silver coins to just 10.
"Johnnie." At that moment, Crysic walked over with her phone, looking troubled. "Someone's slandering you."
"What happened?" He took the phone in confusion, seeing a report on the screen.
"Exposing Former CloudTech CEO Johnnie: Two-Faced, A Scheming Villain"
"Heh, what a masterpiece," Johnnie said, laughing in disbelief as he read through the content.
It was a smear campaign all about him.
The article accused him of indulging in vices like drinking, gambling, and debauchery. It claimed that in his pursuit of growing CloudTech, he used every trick in the book—threatening, bribing, manipulating competitors, and more. It even said that after his schemes were exposed, he quickly distanced himself and sold the company at a loss.
The article went further, attacking his personal life, saying he had improper relations with his secretary, Crysic, frequently visiting hotels and entertainment clubs. The descriptions were vile and shameful.
Johnnie didn't need to think twice to know that Tyrande was behind this.
This woman really was malicious. The content was a mix of truth and lies. It was true that he had sold the company, and it was true that he lived with Crysic, but now, trying to clarify things, no one would believe him.
With how fast this article was spreading, he was probably already ruined.
Crysic was furious. "This has to be Tyrande's doing. Why is this woman so vicious? We've already broken up, and yet she still wants to slander you."
Johnnie threw the phone onto the coffee table, his tone calm. "I don't mind, but it's unfortunate for you. Your reputation is ruined now. It'll be tough for you to find a partner."
Crysic wasn't bothered. She replied, "A person with a clean conscience doesn't fear shadows. I don't care. Besides, I never planned on getting married. I'm fine just staying by your side, even if it means being your maid."
Johnnie looked at her, smiling at her cute appearance. Suddenly, he spoke, "What if we're not so innocent?"