THE REINCARNATION

Ye Ci sat on the observation floor of Glory Corporation’s main building.

By her side lay the trophy she had just obtained: Fate’s Second Battle of the Kings, Solo PVP Runner Up.

As Ye Ci lowered her head to take a glance at the crystal trophy, she felt an emptiness within her heart.

She rummaged through the pocket of her coat and retrieved the cigarettes that she had just bought.

Ye Ci never smoked, but today, she felt tempted to smoke one.Lighting the cigarette she had in her mouth with ineptitude, Ye Ci took a deep puff and immediately gagged. She looked up into the night sky and grimaced.

Ye Ci caressed the trophy with her slender fingers and raised the trophy up high before shouting in a hoarse voice, “Mum, dad, I did it. But why don’t I feel the slightest bit of happiness?”

“Look, I got a trophy. I have become strong. I’m standing at the top, but why am I not happy!?” In this bustling city with neon lights lighting up the skyline, nobody noticed the tiny lone human being.

She cupped her face with her hands. It was dry, devoid of even a single drop of tear. “Is this what I deserved? Is this what I get for turning my back on everything for the sake of becoming stronger?” Ye Ci screamed in agony.

In the next moment, a laughter that she could not suppress left her mouth.

“I turned my back on everything? I became stronger? The truth is, I was abandoned by everybody else. What have I done to possess the achievement I have today? I angered dad to death, mom left, and I’ve abandoned all my friends. I was notorious back then. I thought that I was special, I thought that nobody could understand me. The truth is, I am trash.”

“But now…”

Ye Ci closed her eyes. Her mind was overwhelmed by the embarrassment she felt when her right to join the competition had been denied just because she didn’t have any teammates, just because she didn’t have any friends.

“Fate is not about individual strength, as the strength of an individual comes from the people surrounding them. Miss Ye, I’m sorry, but the essence of the Battle of Kings is group battle. Without a group that is willing to accept you, we have no choice but to refuse your entry.”

No groups were willing to accept her…

Hehe, how could any group be willing to accept her!

She was the number 1 Sorceress in Fate, yet the most callous and black-hearted one as well. She had never offered assistance to a single soul in her 10 years of playing Fate.

Even in real life, she was the embodiment of selfishness and cruelty.

After pulling out her cellphone, Ye Ci dialed one of the few numbers that were stored in it. She was lonely. She wanted to speak to someone, anyone.

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service.”

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service.”

……

90% of the few numbers stored in her phone were no longer in service. Exactly how long ago had she lost contact with other human beings?

The cursor on the screen stopped at the last number. It was a number that she was extremely familiar with, and it represented the final sliver of warmth within the depths of her heart. That person…he might still be around. She dialed after a moment of hesitation.

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service.”

The cold voice of the receiver seemed to have sapped Ye Ci of all her energy. Her situation was laughable. Was there anybody else in this world who was like her? Seemingly glamorous on the surface, yet isolated from her kin.

After struggling to stand up, Ye Ci threw the phone into the air. “Inactive numbers! I, Ye Ci, do not need you people…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the night wind swept her off balance and she fell down the building. She subconsciously extended her arm out of desperation and managed to grab hold on something. Raising her head, she realised that the object she was dangling from at the edge of this hundred-meter-tall building was none other than her trophy.

Ye Ci was taken aback for a moment, after which tears began streaming out.

In the end, was this the only thing she had left?

Was there still any meaning to her life?

Let it go, let it all go. Let her miserable life come to an end like that, in loneliness and sorrow.

Throwing a final glance at the PVP trophy, Ye Ci loosened her grip.

Endless darkness swallowed her entire being; it were as if she had never existed.

A splitting headache came.

However, the cozy sunlight lulled her to sleep for a moment longer.

The girl on the bed took in a deep breath and curled underneath her blanket, returning to her sweet dreams.

10 seconds later, the soft white blanket was pushed aside violently. The girl sat up abruptly and surveyed everything in the room, looking as though she had seen a ghost.

“Is this heaven? Or am I dreaming?” She muttered to herself before shaking her head, “I doubt that a person like me could make it to heaven…”

She lowered her head and looked at her white, tender hands. Those hands wormed themselves into the comfort of her blanket and forcefully pinched her leg.

“Ahh!!” She screamed at the excruciating pain, tears flowing down her cheeks.

It’s not a dream!

“What happened? What’s going on?” A middle-aged man with an apron stormed into the room with a ladle in hand. The anxiety on his face was clearly displayed on his face as he asked the girl on the bed urgently, “Ci Ci, what happened? Are you ok? Did you fall onto the floor after a dream again!?”

Ye Ci sat on her bed staring at the man, unable to recover from her surprise.

“Don’t tell me that you have a concussion!?” Ye Nantian waved his hand in front of Ye Ci.

“Dad!” Ye Ci grabbed hold of his hand, stood up, and wrapped her arms around Ye Nantian’s neck as tears streamed down uncontrollably from her eyes.

She didn’t want to care anymore. Even if it was just a dream, she’d be happy just to be able to meet her parents once again.

“What’s with you?” Ye Nantian was puzzled. His daughter had never had such an intimate interaction with him ever since she was 15. Her sudden change today left him bewildered.

“Dad, it’s good to see you again.” Ye Ci spoke from the depth of her heart. Tears blurred her vision as she held on tightly to her dad.

“What are you talking about!? You’re speaking as though I came back from the dead.” Ye Nantian laughed and patted Ye Ci on the back before pulling her to the side. “I’m going to make breakfast, come down quickly when you’re fully awake!”

He patted Ye Ci’s head again and walked out of the room.

Ye Ci sat on her bed and stared blankly at the digital clock on the wall as if it was a magnificent piece of sculpture.

20th August 2050, 7.37am

Year 2050?

It’s the year 2050!!!?

After being stupefied state for an untold amount of time, she sprang into action. Rushing to her desk, she grabbed hold of a mirror with trembling hands to look at her reflection.

The face of a 18 or 19 year old appeared in the mirror. The face had a healthy shade of red with a little bit of baby fat. There was life and vigor in her eyes.

This was her 10 years ago.

Ye Ci was a hundred percent sure. This face did not have the scar left behind by that car accident 10 years ago.

But what happened?

Ye Ci put down the mirror and looked around the room. There was a bamboo bed, a book rack, and a computer desk, along with with a Fate promotional poster hanging on the wall. A corner of the room was emptied out.

Did she return 10 years back in time?

She had returned 10 years back in time!

Ye Ci’s heart initially filled with frenzied happiness, but it was soon replaced with other emotions.

God had treated her well. Just when she had thought that she would end her life full of regrets, she received a second chance!

Was this a chance for her to rectify her mistakes?

Ye Ci could no longer hold herself back. She stood up and rushed towards the living room.

Ye Nantian was currently busy serving breakfast while Zuo Xiaolan was wiping off the dust from the cupboard. Both of them raised their heads upon hearing Ye Ci’s footsteps.

The first thing that Ye Ci saw after entering the living room was the scene filled with warmth that was long gone from her life.

She blinked, and there was a lump in her throat.

There were countless times when she had thought that she would be a good daughter if her dad could come back from the dead, and her mother would not leave her. She would stop being wilful, selfish and rebellious. She would be an attentive and obedient daughter.

She would never have thought that she’d receive such a chance.

Ye Ci bit her lips for a moment before letting out a hearty laugh. “Dad, mum, good morning!” Ye Ci said with a loud and cheerful voice.

Zuo Xiaolan sat on the sofa while gazing at Ye Ci, who had been busying away in the kitchen. She nudged Ye Nantian and murmured to him, “Say, what’s wrong with Ci Ci? She seems a little too obedient these few days. Not only did she break up with those friends who were being a bad influence, she even offered to do housework. Something must be wrong!”

“Are you not happy that your daughter became obedient?” Ye Nantian threw a grin at his wife and beckoned for Ye Ci to sit down with them.

Ye Ci sat down with her parents. She was happy, despite not knowing why her father had called for her. To her, the life she was currently in was heaven. She was fine with anything.

Ye Nantian cleared his throat and said, “Ci Ci, you once told me that you want a Fate Gaming Cabin. I promised you that I’d buy one for you if you could get into a university. So, I will fulfill my promise now. The Gaming Cabin will be here tomorrow.”

Ye Ci was stunned for a moment. Her past memories replayed in her mind like a movie.

Yes, the Fate gaming cabin.

Her fate was changed from that moment onwards.

The fate of her family was also changed at that moment.

If she could start over, what would be her choice?

“However, you have to tell me, why would you need such a high end gaming cabin? You can play the game with a regular helmet as well, so why would you need a holographic gaming cabin?”

Ye Nantian was unaware of the turmoil within Ye Ci’s mind and was silently staring at her with a smile.

The gaming cabin was just a bet with a friend. Despite not being rich, her parents were willing to buy the luxurious item for her out of love, one that cost about a hundred thousand bucks.

How did she answered her parents at that time? She said that she wanted to soar in Fate.

What happened in the end? She did it. However, in her quest to soar high in the sky, she had lost her friends, her parents, her happiness, and even her life. It was all due to her presumptuous foolishness and arrogance!

Gongzi You

Thinking of her past, Ye Ci’s blood froze.

She gripped the hem of her skirt tightly and loosened her grip. When Ye Ci finally raised her head again, the agony and guilt in her eyes were replaced by her will to be tough and unyielding.

She gazed at Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan, the parents that could give their all for her. A surge of emotion she had never felt before churned within her heart.

They had once lost everything trying to protect their selfish and foolish daughter. This would be a guilt that Ye Ci could never forget.

She had made too many mistakes in her past life. In this life, she was going to do it right.

Dad, mom, this time, it’s my turn to protect you!

“I want to be a professional gamer.”

Ye Ci voiced out her thoughts word by word.

“A professional gamer?” Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan said in unison, staring at Ye Ci in awe. This was unexpected.

There were many reasons Ye Ci could have had for wanting a gaming cabin. It may have been a bet, or it could be that she simply wanted to show off. It could even be the spur of a moment, but it was inconceivable for her to want it as a career.

She was not a responsible person.

Despite her parents’ shocked expressions, Ye Ci smiled. She understood what provoked such reactions from her parents, and she came to realise that she was indeed rather…miserable.

She affirmed her decision: “Yes, I want to be a professional gamer.” After a short paused, she smiled again. “Dad, mom, you have taken care of me for so many years. I’ve grown up now. It’s my turn to take care of you.”

Being a professional gamer, Ye Ci had given serious thought to it.

She knew her own capabilities. Studying was never her forte, and even if she made it through the four years of studying in a university, she would still merely lead a muddled life.

However, her current situation was different. She had knowledge of what was going to happen in the next 10 years.

Fate was operated by several nations around the globe. It had been said that even the testing stage of the game took 10 years to complete, and different aspects of the game were quite developed. It managed to dominate the market prior to its release, and its glory lasted for more than a decade.

Fate’s achievements brought life to the gaming industry, as well as several other smaller industries. It managed to attract people of different ages and occupations.

Fate was viewed as merely a form of entertainment for the young 10 years ago, but within that period of 10 years, it became a irremovable part of human life.

Ye Ci grew from a newbie to the No.1 Sorceress within that 10 years of Fate’s golden era, and she knew almost everything about the game, including its patches, and even… BUGs.

But in an age and time when Fate was not operational yet, what could Ye Ci do?

It was, no doubt, her destiny to once again enter the embrace of Fate.

But she would do better this time. She would not depend on anyone to achieve success. Her existence itself was like a miracle!

While Mr. and Mrs. Ye were still puzzled by their daughter’s 180 degree change in attitude, Ye Ci was already preparing to restart her journey in Fate.

Fate’s open beta test was scheduled to be on August 30th, 2050, at 14:00 hours.

When the gaming cabin was finally delivered to Ye Ci, it was already the six in the evening on the 28th of August. She bought some nutrient fluid to be used in the gaming cabin with the pocket money she had earned, and after a long talk with her parents, she decided to move into a place of her own. She intended to rent a room not far from campus.

Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan finally agreed with their daughter after discussing it for an entire night.

She found a room on the 29th of August and cleaned it.

Everything was in place by 8:30 at night and the family had a wonderful dinner.

The couple could only sigh with emotion as Ye Ci sent her parents home.

On the 30th of August, Ye Ci woke up at 10:30 in the morning and cleaned everything. After having lunch, she connected the nutrient fluid to the gaming cabin and did a final check on the machine.

By 13:28, Ye Ci had already laid down in the gaming cabin. She let out a long breath before slowly closing the lid.

Fate, here I come.

Here I come, once again, to my fate!

The company that was in charge of Fate was the Glory Corporation, which was formed by members from different countries. The server, with a capacity of 5 billion users, was placed in Country Z. It was the largest gaming server in the world.

Ye Ci remembered that Glory opened their server at 13:30 hours.

But it was limited to only ten thousand players. The others would have to log into the game at 14:00 hours.

Back then, the advantage given by that half an hour gave birth to a lot of Godlike characters.

Back then, Ye Ci was pissed at Glory for using such measures. This time around, the only thing she felt was endless gratitude.

She successfully connected at 13:29:57.

And so, Ye Ci logged into the game.

In her last life, she chose to be a Human Sorceress.

This time, she would become an Elven Huntress.

Ye Ci had deep knowledge when it came to Fate. Despite having never tried her hands before as an Elven Hunter, she knew that such a combination of race and class will be insanely strong in the later stages of the game.

A more important factor was that clearing certain missions as an Elf could potentially unlock hidden races such as the Sky Elves or the Sea Elves. The former could fly while the latter had the ability to dive underwater.

Such racial traits could be considered icing on the cake for a late-game huntress.

Having already made up her mind, she skipped almost all the other options and even randomized her Character ID. The only options that she had paid attention to was picking Elf as her race and Huntress as her class.

The entire character creation did not last more than 30 seconds. Only when she was spawned in a newbie village did she call out the menu and look at her Character Stats.

ID: Gongzi You

Race: Elf

HP: 100

MP: 20

Endurace: 10

Stamina: 2

Strength:5

Intelligence: 2

Agility: 6+2 (Racial Attribute)

Speed: 2

Balance: 2+1 (Racial Attribute)

Perception: 1+1 (Racial Attribute)

Trait: Stealth (Racial Attribute), Concealment (Class Attribute), Sly, Diplomacy, Leap, Roll, Haggle

As the attributes were already fixed, Ye Ci was only interested her character’s traits. These specialties would decide the development of a character in the future.

Character traits were something that had never appeared in Fate’s closed beta. It was a unique attribute released during the open beta.

Stealth and Concealment were attributes assigned to Elves and Hunters. Ye Ci specifically went for Diplomacy and Haggle that were unique to the Human race.

As a high tier Human sorceress, Ye Ci knew these 2 Human traits well.

Diplomacy gave a starting 50 Prestige Points with every major city.

50 Prestige Points were nothing in the later stage of the game, but they played a crucial role during the early stages. They decided the number and quality of the quests received by each player.

Although Diplomacy was a trait that everyone was familiar with during the later stages of the game, the only one that had thoroughly understood it earlier was Ye Ci.

As the saying goes, details decided outcome.

The rebirthed Ye Ci would never let anything beneficial to slip pass her.

Haggle was an attribute that must be learned by every class. Money was something very important in Fate. Without an attribute like Haggle, one would definitely be scammed by the NPC’s.

The money in Fate could be exchanged with real world cash. Nobody would want to see their hard-earned cash being scammed away by NPC’s, especially during the first 3 months of Fate when the game coins and real world cash exchange had yet to be released. Only few players possessed more than 10 gold coins. As such, this attribute was one of the most law-defying attribute.

When Ye Ci’s sights landed on her character ID, she was slightly disappointed.

Gongzi You…

It was a nice name, but to have such a masculine name paired up with a female character… Ye Ci decided to forget about it. It wasn’t a matter she would want to fuss about anyways.

Ye Ci surveyed the newbie village after closing the interface; it was like a ghost town. With only ten thousand players online and distributed across tens of thousands of newbie village, it was normal for her to be alone.

She turned around and walked up to the chief of the Elven village. Elf was a race that she had never played as, but was quite familiar with.

In the 10 years of her last life, her footsteps covered every inch of ground. She had completed every single quest, learning everything there was to learn.

She wouldn’t be boasting if she had claimed that she could identify her location just by a whiff of the air. She knew what kinds of quests were available, which NPC’s were the ones offering them, and what rewards she would get by completing them. She even knew… What sort of BUGs existed.

The village chief handed Ye Ci her first mission after a brief conversation: Kill all the rabbits around the village. Ye Ci walked away without hesitation.

A unique rewarding system existed within Fate. The first person in the entire world that completed a certain quest, killed a certain BOSS, or cleared a certain dungeon would receive a specific set of rewards.

Despite being the easiest mission in every newbie village, killing rabbits was also the starting quest of the entire Fate. To be the first among almost a billion players to complete the quest was a near-impossible feat.

Ye Ci could still remember a popular thread in the forum several years after the Fate server had begun its operation. The owner of the thread was anonymous, but he clearly described the reward of being the first one to complete the rabbit killing quest.

The activation of a side quest.

Of the countless players of Fate, he was the only one that activated the side quest. He did not go into the details of the reward given by the quest, but he was expressing his regret of a wasted chance to become Godlike by not choosing the right character and class.

Ye Ci glanced at the on-screen timer.

13:30:51…

The Side Quest

Fate Officials were despicable.

Not only that, they had shrouded the closed beta in mystery. The server launch was announced out of the blue as well.

12 days before its launch, Fate popped out just like that, out of nowhere. As if the 10 years of silence from its developers were in preparation for the 12 days of frenzy that followed.

In these 12 days, there was only one word left in the world, Fate.

As mentioned, Fate’s officials were despicable.

Even with their endless streams of promotion, there was very few announcements or content about the game on its official website.

Things such as Character Traits did not even exist in the closed beta, not to mention on the official website.

The time was 13:30:51, 51 seconds after the server’s launching.

Even with 9999 other players logging into the game with Ye Ci, all of them were still tangled with race and class combination, as well as those damned Character Traits.

Nobody could achieve a First Blood yet.

Although being sure about that, Ye Ci did not dare to let her guard down.

Everything had an exception.

She headed straight for the house at the village chief’s left.

Although the quest was to kill the rabbits in the “surrounding areas” of the village, Ye Ci knew from her knowledge of the game that killing the rabbits behind the house was sufficient to fulfill the “Rabbit Hunting” quest.

The rabbits at the spot were highly concentrated. There were around 30 of them, but the downside was that the respawn rate was slow.

Nevertheless, the spot was very close to the village chief, making it the perfect place for Ye Ci. Besides, she only needed 15 kills to complete the quest.

She equipped the newbie equipments gifted by the System and charged into the horde of rabbits, swinging her dagger.

Even at level 1, the rabbit’s attack damage were not low. Each of their attacks dealt 2 to 5 damage points to Ye Ci.

Ye Ci was very adapted to playing as a Human sorceress. She was able to maintain an outstanding positioning while dodging attacks with a character that had very low speed and agility. With her playing as the agile and fast Elven Huntress, she shed a tear of joy.

It was such a boon to play as a class with high mobility in the early stage of this game.

Ye Ci slew 15 rabbits under 3 minutes and managed to collect 6 Rabbit Teeth and 7 Rabbit Meat. She wasted no time to head back to the village chief after collecting 10 Rabbit Teeth and Rabbit Meat.

They were the quest items required for the follow-up quest. Although the First Blood for the “Bunny Hunting” quest was her priority, she could not suppress the greed to get First Blood for the next 2 missions and therefore took the risk. She silently prayed that nobody had completed the quest before her.

“Young adventurer, you’re the bravest individual I’ve ever met, in such a short time….” the village chief was bullshitting as usual.

Ye Ci immediately activated the “skip conversation” option.

It was common to offend an NPC if one interrupted or skipped the NPC’s dialogue, as everything in Fate had 99% realism.

One could have the sense of smell, touch, and sight in Fate, just like one did in the real world. Every NPC in the game was capable of higher thought functions. Every single action could affect an NPC’s view of a player, which would subsequently affect the quality and quantity of the quests given out by the NPC’s.

Although certain quests would still be given to players that were hated by NPC’s, they could only obtain the high-valued, somewhat rare Random Quests through their high Intimacy with NPC’s.

This was what made players in Fate appear humble in front of NPC’s, even when they were willing to kill each other.

Ye Ci, however, skipped the village chief’s dialogue without fear, not because she did not care about her Intimacy level with the village chief. This was due to one of the character traits that she had chosen — Sly.

The description of Sly was vague: Sometimes, you might need to do just that.

Sly was placed as one of the last options as a Character Attribute. On top of its vague description, most of the players would not notice it.

No one actually noticed it at the beginning of Fate.

Not many chose such an attribute while creating a character. After all, who would want something negative to be included in their Character Attributes?

But a newbie had picked Sly as one of his attributes by pure chance and, out of sheer coincidence, learnt about the true nature of the attribute. Once it made its way into the forum, it became the regret of hundreds of thousands of players. A large number of them even recreated their accounts to acquire Sly.

There was only one simple reason to that. Sly enabled a player to interrupt or skip an NPC’s dialogue when interacting with it. The NPC would still recognise that the player was listening to it attentively and with good attitude.

One did not simply look down on such attribute. Its usefulness to Red Named players or those that had low prestige points was very high. Some would even complain that the attribute was broken.

The village chief gave Ye Ci a nod and a satisfied smile even after his dialogue was skipped. “Young adventurer, you’ve contributed greatly to the village and you have a very sincere attitude. The Jiama Continent shall prosper because of youngsters like you.”

A system notification rang beside Ye Ci’s ear right after the village chief finished his speech, “Congratulations for being the first player to complete the quest “Rabbit Hunting”, do you want your ID to remain hidden?”

After the baptism of her previous life’s mistakes, Ye Ci had learnt the important lesson of humility. Her priority was to take care of her parents while simultaneously leading a simple life. Reputation was no longer the thing that she craved for.

She did not hesitate to press “Yes”, after which golden letters flooded the System channel, accompanied by a soft female voice.

“Congratulations player **** for achieving First Blood for the quest ‘Rabbit Hunting’. Rewards: Gold 1, system prestige 1000 points.”

“Congratulations player **** for achieving First Blood for the quest ‘Rabbit Hunting’. Rewards: Gold 1, system prestige 1000 points.”

……

Ye Ci looked at the time and let out a long sigh. It was 13:36:42.

She had gotten the First Blood.

She noticed that her palms were sweating, and she couldn’t suppress the laughter that escaped her lips. Since when had she become so nervous?

Ye Ci was alone in the newbie village. This was why she missed all the cursing from the other players that saw the announcement.

Her entire attention was focused on the village chief. Her mind was filled with thoughts of the thread on the forum, the activation of the one and only side quest. Was it possible? Was it even remotely possible!?

“Ah, young adventurer, I can see some traces of gracefulness possessed by the late Elven King Dau’er on you. Are you interested in some stories of the past?”

It’s here! Ye Ci almost jumped with joy.

It’s true! What was said on that thread was real!

She called herself the Great Encyclopedia of Fate, but in all her knowledge and understanding, there was no such quest in the Elven newbie villages.

No, to be accurate, it wasn’t her ignorance.

The only reason she did not know of the existence of such quest was because she entirely had no chance of coming across this quest! Nobody else did either.

“Of course.” Ye Ci replied with a warm tone that she had never used before.

“A long long time ago…” The village chief began his illustration, but Ye Ci did not have the time to listen to his story. She did not know how long it would take.

She once again chose to skip the dialogue, saving it down just in case she needed it in the future.

“You will now embark on a journey following Dau’er’s footsteps. Oh young adventurer, this is a road full of hardship. Are you willing to walk down this path?” The village chief’s dialogue was cut short to the part where he offered a quest to Ye Ci.

“Yes, I am willing.”

“Head to the Icy Cave and bring me the fang of Shator!”

Ye Ci was no stranger to Icy Cave. It was one of Fate’s top 10 preparation dungeons. The difficulty was moderate, but its Normal and Elite difficulty settings was why players from level 3 to 15 flocked to the place.

In her last life, she had graduated from Icy Cave at lvl 18 with a complete set of Blue Equipment.

She was so familiar with this dungeon that she could complete it with her eyes closed.

Shator was Icy Cave’s normal difficulty BOSS. The lowest level requirement was lvl 3, but considering that she was doing it solo, she decided to brave the dungeon when she reached lvl 5.

Of course, one of the more important reason was that she could learn two basic Huntress skills at lvl 5 — Slash and Bow Proficiency. Although a Huntress’s trademark skill, Pet Raising, could only be learned at lvl 8, Ye Ci was not worried.

As a high leveled mage, one with enough SOLO experience and knowledge of everything there was to know about Fate, Ye Ci trusted herself to handle the dungeon once she had learned Bow Proficiency.

“Your honor, I will do my best to complete the assignment.” Ye Ci placed her left hand on her chest, spread out her right hand, and bowed. She could immediately hear the System’s hint: “Your Intimacy level with the village chief has increased by 10.”

That action was the sincerest form of greeting in Fate. When one greeted an NPC in such way, it could increase his or her Intimacy level with the NPC, but it only worked once.

It was not a secret in the later stage of the game, but it was currently one of the ways to stay ahead of others.