Chapter Twenty-Five: Rewards

What surprised Zhao Nan was that the task he had originally intended to abandon took a completely unexpected turn during a journey into a fantasy instance. Yet, at this moment, he felt little joy. Six years in the fantasy instance had already fostered feelings for Finina.

Appearance aside, it was the intimacy that was utterly addictive.

That night, Zhao Nan paid no attention to the rewards he had received, nor did he check his quest panel. The six years spent within the fantasy instance had calmed the restless urge within him to grow stronger. He had learned the art of true stillness.

The two of them held each other until dawn.

Only then did Zhao Nan open the map to check his current location. He was still in the outskirts of Dongyuan City, though no longer within the region of the Rampaging Rabbits.

Finina was sleeping soundly in his arms, not yet awake. Zhao Nan carefully avoided disturbing her and instead turned his attention to his bracelet.

What astonished him was that, while six years had passed inside the instance, only six days had elapsed outside. A year for a day—truly a world apart.

His inbox was filled with messages—no fewer than twenty—from Xu Yang. After glancing through a few, Zhao Nan replied simply: "Safe, don't worry."

Next, he checked the spoils from the instance. First was the Instant Recovery Potion—a true lifesaver. Then came the Golden Scepter of Sighs.

"Golden Scepter of Sighs (Level 10): Attack 20-22; increases mana by 200; restores 3 mana per second; reduces normal skill cooldown by 2 seconds; grants Meteoric Firestorm (Level 1, permanent), usable twice daily."

A golden item, guaranteed to be excellent. And with the game still in its early stages, such attributes were nothing short of extraordinary! Unfortunately, it required level ten to equip. With a sigh, Zhao Nan stowed the scepter in his backpack and turned to examine the map of the Fairy Forest.

"Fairy Forest (Level 45): A map recording the land of the fairies."

Below the description was a field of white mist. Zhao Nan could only put it into his backpack as well. The quest item "Heart of Time" from the instance had also appeared in his quest item tab, but such items could not be freely removed.

Meanwhile, the quest "Searching for Lost Time" had changed upon completion. This time, the text was gold rather than ancient gold, but there were no reward details. After some thought, Zhao Nan decided to keep the quest for now.

Lastly, he reviewed his character attributes.

Name: Zhao Nan
Class: Human Mage
Level: 8
Constitution: 10
Strength: 9
Spirit: 18
Agility: 18
Health: 1100
Mana: 470
Status: Good
Equipment: Green Elemental Ring, Blue Medusa Ring, White Novice Shoes, ... Token of Honesty.

Skills: Minor Fireball (Level 3, Proficiency: 305/100)
Items: Small Health Potion x1, Instant Recovery Potion x1, Fairy Forest Map
Money: 12 gold, 45 silver, 78 copper
Experience: 376/900
Remaining Attribute Points: 6

To Zhao Nan's surprise, all his base attributes—apart from those gained from points and the Medusa Ring—had increased by one.

"Could it be from spending six years in the fantasy instance?" he wondered, recalling how his strength and constitution had indeed improved through his work in that world.

"Does this mean the training results from the fantasy instance aren't revoked by the system?"

If so, it was no wonder that, in his previous life, news of a fantasy instance opening caused a frenzy among the elite. After all, every class advancement after level ten would, based on one’s base attributes, grant proportional increases to attack, defense, health, and mana—thus allowing a character to become instantly stronger upon advancement.

All in all, even though six days had passed in reality, the rewards from this fantasy instance were bountiful beyond belief—well worth the time. Most importantly, within the instance, he had won Finina’s heart, lifted her curse, and restored her true appearance.

He then checked Finina’s status.

Name: Finina
Affiliation: Zhao Nan (bound)
Race: Unknown
Class: Swordswoman
Level: 3
Constitution: 10
Strength: 10
Spirit: 10
Agility: 10
Health: 800
Mana: 500
Status: Good
Equipment: None
Skills: Double Strike (Mastered), Slash (Mastered)
Items: None
Money: None
Experience: 346/800
Unassigned Attribute Points: 6
Affection: 100% (constant)

Since the two of them had still been in a party when accepting the fantasy instance quest, Finina had also received 2,000 experience upon completion and had immediately gained three levels. After estimating the experience required for her first ten levels, Zhao Nan decided to hold off on allocating her attribute points for now. Amazingly, she gained two free attribute points with each level—something that Zhao Nan found truly astonishing.

After all, he himself could only achieve such results thanks to the miraculous Double EXP Card. As expected, you could never judge a system-created native by common sense.

Next, and the only thing Zhao Nan still did not understand, was that the “Travel Together” quest remained active.

Well, so be it. After experiencing this instance, Zhao Nan’s anticipation for the potential class behind this quest had lessened considerably.

"Zhao Nan, when did you wake up?"

At this moment, Finina rubbed her sleepy eyes, shyly rising from his embrace. "Did I hurt you?"

"If you could hurt me, I’d have to ask you to go on a diet," Zhao Nan laughed.

"Nonsense! I’m not fat at all!" Finina puffed out her cheeks and started patting his chest in protest.

Of course, it was barely enough to tickle. Six years had erased all barriers between them; a single glance was enough to understand each other’s thoughts.

After some playful teasing, Zhao Nan hugged Finina and said, "All right, since we’re back, there are still things we need to finish."

Finina nodded sweetly, her eyes brimming with boundless affection.

"First, let’s complete our unfinished quests."

"Wasn’t it... the Chirpy Cat?" Finina wrinkled her nose, recalling their earlier adventures.

"Yes, let’s hope we don’t run into that elite monster. Otherwise, someone might get mad at me again."

"What? That was only because you seemed like a bad guy back then," Finina retorted, pouting. "It’s all your fault!"

"Come to think of it, we really should thank that cat," Zhao Nan smiled and kissed Finina.

Thank it? Of course—thank it for giving them six unforgettable years together.

Finina melted against Zhao Nan, murmuring softly.