Absolute Death Game

Xiao Buli, of course, didn't take this task just to find a place to log off, but mainly out of a gamer's instinct. He felt that such a high-complexity quest might yield an unexpected reward.

He had never really encountered such a thing in games before, but in the basic gaming novels he read, he often saw it: a task that seemed very ordinary and routine, yet after a tedious completion, it wound up offering a top-notch reward. This kind of plot twist is common in gaming novels.

The real world is naturally different from the online games he had played before, but the online games he had played before are also different from the game he is playing now. So he felt it was necessary to give it a try.

The fat auntie's house indeed had a lot of work to do. Although each task did not require much, the variety was very miscellaneous. From cleaning the house to chopping wood, to cooking porridge and meals, each was a different mini-game, keeping Xiao Buli busily amused.

Fortunately, Xiao Buli had played many mini-games before, so he wasn't rusty. He easily handled every task, and even scored an excellent evaluation in several mini-games related to professional skills he had practiced before.

An hour rushed by; he had piled up a heap of wood, and the house was also cleaned spotless. All the tasks assigned to him were completed successfully, and the fat auntie seemed pleasantly surprised when she walked in and saw the spotless room.

"That's great, young man, you've done a really good job. Here, these buns just came out of the steamer, eat them while they're hot to fill your stomach," she said.

System prompt: Completed the quest 'Temporary Tenant' and obtained the reward 'Piping Hot Meat Buns ×4'.
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Xiao Buli was speechless for a moment, after all that work to get such a reward? It seemed too shabby, might there be something special about the buns? Like giving an attributes BUFF after eating them.

Thinking this, he opened his inventory to check out his rewards.

Piping Hot Meat Buns: Consumption—Recovers 30 stamina points within ten seconds.

Item note: Fresh-out-the-steamer meat buns, emitting heat and aroma, they seem very appetizing.

It seemed they were just very ordinary food after all, but after doing so much work his stamina was just about depleted, so he ate the buns one after another.

While eating the buns, Xiao Buli intentionally asked, "Was that lady just now a relative of yours?"

The fat auntie said, "Not at all, I'd be over the moon if my relatives were that capable. She's an adventurer from Iron Blood Brotherhood, recently doing a quest nearby."

Xiao Buli feigned surprise, "Iron Blood Brotherhood? Sounds like a formidable organization. Do you know anything about their affairs?"

The fat auntie replied, "Of course, they've been lodging in town recently. They're all very powerful adventurers."

Xiao Buli then asked, "How powerful?"

"Really powerful! There's one of them who can summon lightning, and just like that, they can fry someone to a crisp. And there's a big guy, so tall, with a waist as thick as a barrel, wielding a hammer that could bring down a house in one blow," said the fat auntie, vividly describing with exaggerated gestures.

However, the content made Xiao Buli laugh and cry at the same time; such exaggerated descriptions couldn't provide any useful information to the mayor. Still, he could glean some basic information from her descriptions.

Members of the Iron Blood Brotherhood number around five to seven people. Among them, there's a spellcaster who can unleash lightning, a warrior who fights with a hammer, and a hunter with godlike archery skills, plus that warrior woman called Cao Shuai. The rest were yet unspecified.

As lunchtime approached, even though he had eaten the fat auntie's buns in the game, they weren't real food, so Xiao Buli logged off in his room and went to the cafeteria to eat.

Midway through his meal, Li Baocheng suddenly came over with his plate and sat opposite him.

"Hey, how's it going? I heard you guys have a joint exercise this afternoon, any thoughts?" Li Baocheng asked, seemingly full of envy.

Xiao Buli glanced at Li Baocheng and shook his head, "What can I think? Just do my best."

Li Baocheng sighed, "Ah, it's a pity I can't join your team, otherwise I could really show off."

Xiao Buli inwardly chuckled and casually asked, "What have you been up to lately?"

"What else? Teaming up with a few from the group to scour the map for rare elites, hoping for good luck to drop a blue piece of equipment. It's so boring, not exciting like your expeditions into the Dark Forest..."

Listening to Li Baocheng's relentless remarks, Xiao Buli silently sighed, thinking that he really didn't know how fortunate he was.

Li Baocheng saw Xiao Buli's indifferent look and also silently sighed to himself, thinking he really didn't appreciate his good fortune.

When he logged on again in the afternoon, everyone had gathered outside the town.

Xiao Buli, who had an unsatisfactory lunch, blended into the group with a lack of enthusiasm. He had made up his mind to prioritize his survival above all else today. He had never been to the Dark Forest before, but from the information collected from all sources, it was not a friendly place, a far cry from the areas where he had previously adventured and fought monsters.

It was a truly high-risk area, a fact apparent from his experiences earlier in the day. Had it not been for their numbers, it would have been hard to say if they could eliminate the enemy without casualties.