Chapter 34: Event “Mansu Woodland”
“Area Event ‘Mansu Woodland’”
“Event Location: (142, 857)”
“Event Time: March 15th to March 24th (Participation: 15th–21st)”
“Event Content: During the event period, players entering the mist‑shrouded woods will be teleported into the timed instance ‘Mansu Woodland.’”
“Recommended Level for Event: Level 1–99”
“Event Reward: All players who clear the timed instance receive 1 Treasure‑Hunting Token.”
Treasure‑Hunting Token?
Yan Qing was a bit puzzled, clicked it open and then remembered.
“Treasure‑Hunting Token: A trading token issued by the Treasure Pavilion. The holder’s items, once appraised, can be listed for sale there by paying a 30% handling fee. Accumulate 10 Treasure‑Hunting Tokens to upgrade into a Treasure Token.”
This was the third in the top‑ten Pegasus designs in the game that even non‑players of The Messenger knew—each day the developers would be mocked hundreds of times on the forums for it.
In The Messenger, stalls or private trades were forbidden. Players could only gift items unconditionally, and any trading involving Spirit Jade had to go through the Treasure Pavilion.
Although bartering was allowed, that lowest‑level trading clearly couldn’t satisfy the needs of the most popular MMORPG. Players were forced to use the Treasure Pavilion, and to do that they needed Treasure‑Hunting Tokens.
The other name for Treasure‑Hunting Tokens was “the must‑use item in The Messenger,” implying only must‑haves would be listed using Treasure‑Hunting Tokens, since the handling fee was as high as 30%.
Trading with Treasure‑Hunting Tokens was no different from subsidizing the developers.
If you wanted to trade in the Treasure Pavilion, you’d need at least a 15%‑fee Treasure Token just to barely make a profit.
But the more critical issue was that trading, like dating, required at least two people—certainly not something one could do alone.
Yan Qing, as the only player in this world, had no one to trade with.
Instead, the timed instance “Mansu Woodland” was worth checking out.
Yan Qing didn’t know the specifics of “Mansu Woodland,” but from the suggested levels it was clearly a recreational instance open to all players. His own strength might help, but wouldn’t be decisive.
He opened the map and saw the coordinates were not very far from the Jiangnan newbie village.
He could make a new character to take a look, but what kind?
After a brief thought, Yan Qing decided to create a female character.
Although an attractive female avatar would surely bring trouble, Yan Qing wasn’t afraid of trouble—the White Iron Straight Blade in his warehouse wasn’t for show. Although the pretty female character wouldn't get strength or HP bonuses from being tall or macho, Yan Qing didn’t mind that little HP and agility.
Enough of that.
In short, Yan Qing didn’t want to keep seeing men’s butts!
It was said male players were divided into two camps and mutually accused each other of being gay—one argued “you using a female avatar means you're gay,” the other retorted “you using a male avatar staring at men’s butts all day is too gay.”
Yan Qing was different—he thought only gay people cared about this. If you wanted to play male, play male; play female, play female. That was healthy.
As for face‑tuning, Yan Qing shaped the face into something between Tifa and Mai Shiranui.
For stat allocation, this time he’d take a bit of a risk with a 3‑3‑4 spread—3 HP, 3 agility, 4 comprehension—so the alt would have some combat ability and potential.
Talent inheritance was also important—buying the right talents gave +100% experience, plus Martial Genius talent “gain extra 100% experience when training skills.” Even with 0 comprehension, the alt could get 300% XP in training and 200% XP in combat, cruising through levels 1–10.
But since it was just a scout alt, he only chose Basic Footwork and Basic Blade Technique talents. And as usual, he named it “Jiang Ten,” the tenth alt from Jiangnan.
“Jiangnan Affiliated Newbie Village,” start game!
…
…
The wind here clung.
The rain here tangled into threads.
The first scene upon arrival was the misty rains of the Jiangnan water town—drizzling threads of rain landed on banana leaves. Even through the screen, Yan Qing could feel the moist air and cool breeze.
ChatGPT said:
Fortunately, it wasn’t me who had to go out—Yan Qing thought—he hated the rain the most.
Unlike Buye Tian and Chang’an, the newbie village in Jiangnan seemed to have been developed into a marketplace.
“Jiang Ten” appeared in a narrow alley between two houses, with puddles of dirty water stretching from the alley to the main street.
As “Jiang Ten” walked out of the alley, it felt as if a strong gust of wind swept by and the sound of rain suddenly intensified.
On the wide, muddy roads were hoofprints from beasts and tracks left by cart wheels.
Men in straw raincoats and bamboo hats carried goods on shoulder poles, moving through alleys and streets.
Vegetable vendors along the roadside covered their soaked produce with burlap.
Beside them were butchers constantly chopping, and across the street sat over a dozen cages—each holding either chickens or ducks.
Farther away, fishmongers simply laid their fish on lotus leaves for sale, and the half‑dead fish’s eyes glimmered with a strange light.
The scent of rainwater, chicken droppings, fishiness, and blood—Yan Qing, even though not physically present, felt as if he could smell the pungent stench unique to a farmers’ market.
Compared to Chang’an’s market, this place was undoubtedly filthy, messy, and noisy.
But the raw vitality growing from the dirt felt far more authentic than Chang’an’s grandeur.
After all, for a main city protected zone like Chang’an, not being prosperous would be the real miracle.
But the place in front of him was located outside the main city.
And since the marketplace’s primary customers were nearby commoners, that meant not only was the area crowded, but the local families were also quite productive.
There wasn’t severe exploitation, allowing ordinary people to actually have spare money to trade goods.
More importantly, it meant this area was very safe.
In a place like the Qi Kingdom, where Ghostly Knights roamed around killing at will—who would even want to go outside if not for two meals a day?
The shopkeepers there generally had powerful backers.
Suppliers like woodcutters, vegetable farmers, and seamstresses only sold to shopkeepers for safety, while civilians who wanted to buy things could only go to them.
That meant every city had only a few shops, which monopolized all business and equally exploited both sellers and buyers.
The Zhou Kingdom wasn’t much better either.
Villages outside its main cities built fortified manors for self‑defense and conducted material exchanges internally—like nations within a nation—so marketplaces never existed there.
Though it didn’t seem dangerous here, Yan Qing still had “Jiang Ten” equip the White Iron Straight Blade.
He controlled her to step out of the alley.
Checking the map, the event location was to the east.
Yan Qing didn’t plan to ask anyone, simply followed the main road east.
The rain quickly soaked through her clothes.
Though “Jiang Ten” was wearing a coarse linen robe with zero design language, once it clung tightly to her body and outlined her graceful curves, it instantly became the most beautiful outfit on the entire street.
In a game, players would just think, “That’s it?”
Gamers with a distinct aesthetic had long stopped caring for handsome men or pretty women.
Instead, they liked crafting characters that looked like eldritch gods or warriors of light to experience the story.
But in this world...
Anyway, Yan Qing was already prepared to deal with flirting and unwanted attention.
That’s exactly what the White Iron Straight Blade was for.
A few complications on the road were unavoidable, but for a good gaming experience, that price was worth paying.