Chapter 107: Reputation Rewards

“Your goal is the same as Tang Jie’s, isn’t it?” Mongo’s tone immediately turned icy as he cast a cold glance at Lu Kuan.

Lu Kuan shook his head with a smile. “Don’t misunderstand. I know your situation because I have a personal connection with Deputy Leader Laila of Lava Fortress, not Tang Jie. But rest assured, I won’t hand you over to anyone.”

By saying this, Lu Kuan was essentially laying his cards on the table with the halfling girl.

Mongo leaned against the bed, lowered his head in thought for a long moment, and when he looked up again, the intense wariness in his eyes had diminished significantly.

“You still haven’t said why you risked your life to save me.” Though his tone remained cold, there was a noticeable shift from before.

“As you can see, I’m an adventurer,” Lu Kuan grinned broadly and got straight to the point. “I know you have ‘special’ skills and have collected quite a few valuable items. How about letting me take a look? I’m willing to pay market price.”

At this, a spark lit up in Mongo’s sea-blue eyes, and an unguarded, confident smile appeared on her face for the first time. “This guy has a good eye. Looking across Lava Fortress’s black market, my merchandise is top-notch.”

Thinking this, Mongo’s little face broke into a smile. “No problem with that. But my goods aren’t on me—you’ll have to come with me to Lava Fortress to get them.”

“No problem,” Lu Kuan agreed immediately.

“I have one more condition,” Mongo said, looking at Lu Kuan. “After this deal is done, I’m never returning to Clearwater Village. You have to guarantee my freedom!”

Lu Kuan hesitated.

Mongo was a rare and valuable merchant. Who knew when he might cross paths with her again? If she stayed in Clearwater Village and came over every so often to buy rare items, wouldn’t that be a boon?

But then he quickly abandoned the thought. At present, Mongo’s favor towards him was still limited, nowhere near friendly.

“Better to play the long game. If I offend Mongo now, I’ll lose a tremendous resource both in Lava Fortress and Stormport in the future.”

With this in mind, Lu Kuan smiled and nodded, accepting her condition.

...

After leaving Mongo’s hut, Lu Kuan headed to the small shrine in the village center and found Clearwater Village’s reputation quartermaster. His reputation level was high enough to purchase many rewards, including a piece of blue equipment.

“Old Hunter’s Pauldrons (Fine Leather Armor, One)
Pauldrons
Bind on Pickup
Equip Requirement: Respected Reputation with Clearwater Village
Durability: 100%
Armor +15
Hit Rate +1%
Effective Range +2 meters”

The stats were decent; the 2-meter range increase was negligible, but the hit rate bonus was valuable. Wearing it, Lu Kuan’s hit rate bonus rose to 8%, and with the bonus from roasted slippery crab, it reached 9%, not far from the hard target of 15%.

Moreover, the pauldrons looked fantastic—two long sabertooth tiger fangs clasped a weathered white bone, fierce yet stylish.

Since there was only one, Lu Kuan wore it on his left shoulder. The asymmetry gave a distinctive, appealing look.

Next, he was to take Mongo back to Lava Fortress, but before that, he had to deal with his red name status.

“Are there still murlocs?” Lu Kuan asked in the team channel.

Dai Guang’s excited voice came through quickly: “Yeah, yeah, tons of them! These murlocs are rushing up crazily—we’ve already repelled two waves...”

“Good. I’m red-named now; I’ll head over to farm some mobs,” Lu Kuan said directly.

“Okay, come quickly while there are still plenty. The third wave is fewer than before...” Dai Guang started to say, but before he could finish, Akuai’s voice interrupted over the comm: “Dai Guang, watch out for the murloc priests! Quick, cast dispel magic on Qingyi!”

“Got it, got it! I’m coming! Hurry over too! This reputation grinding is excellent...” Dai Guang replied hurriedly, followed by the sounds of spells and murloc shrieks.

Lu Kuan smiled, rested for ten minutes at a small inn in Clearwater Village, ate a bit, then headed straight to the swamp.

Just as Lu Kuan said, these annoying murlocs seemed to have appeared out of nowhere; the once calm lake had become lively.

And it wasn’t just the shallow swamp—around the lake shores, various murlocs appeared: murloc archers, warriors, and higher-level Tidehunters, priests, and more.

As he walked, Lu Kuan observed the changes along the lakeside, thinking it looked about right.

In his previous life, players had spent a whole week completing tasks to push this storyline to its climax. Now it was different.

Earlier, Lu Kuan had noticed Tobar with Lightning and many guards joining the players’ quest line in Clearwater Village.

In the previous life, Tobar had been busy trying to cure Lightning’s poison; after Lightning died, the lord was exhausted and couldn't attend to village affairs.

At this pace, the final battle in Clearwater Village would come within two days at most.

Information flashed repeatedly in Lu Kuan’s mind as he approached the swamp.

Traveling outdoors with a red name was risky, but luckily, everyone around was busy killing mobs and grinding reputation, paying no attention to him. Who knew which side luck favored?

Lu Kuan quickly confirmed his teammates’ positions on the map. Four of them occupied a swampy area near the lake, with waves of murlocs attacking every few minutes—a great spot for farming.

Upon arrival, besides his four teammates, a well-equipped warrior player nearby was cheerfully chatting with Akuai.

“All right, the captain’s here. Thanks so much!” Akuai said with relief upon seeing Lu Kuan.

The warrior turned to look at Lu Kuan’s blazing red name overhead, paused briefly, then laughed heartily. “Hello! I noticed your team’s damage output isn’t quite enough. Let’s team up!”

What he said seemed reasonable, but from Lu Kuan’s experience, he could tell the warrior’s pride and disdain in his expression.

Lu Kuan sized him up: a human warrior, advanced class is a damage-focused berserker, wielding an axe in one hand and a hammer in the other, clad in light blue half-plate armor, exuding a domineering aura.

Having a strong damage dealer in the team was certainly ideal. Lu Kuan didn’t mind a young man’s personality.

But before he could reply, private voice messages from Akuai and Dai Guang came through one after another.