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Chapter 167 Fairy Tale

Yalisha and Liliya left.

Xia Xinyan and Ling Mo watched their figures vanish into the forest, and the atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

Finally, Ling Mo spoke up first: “Is this really… okay?”

It was his first time encountering such a situation.

Whether due to the Dungeon’s peculiarities or the unusual decision to linger in the Dungeon even after finishing their mission, it was all rather confusing.

At first, he didn’t quite understand Xia Xinyan’s actions, but during their brief interaction with the two, he seemed to grasp a bit of it.

However, unlike Liliya’s simple nature, he could think of many more things.

Xia Xinyan looked at the ring in her hand and murmured, “Who knows…”

Witches possess power far beyond ordinary people. If Yalisha were to misuse that power, it would undoubtedly spell disaster for the common folk around her.

The reason witches are often despised in various accounts is perhaps not only due to their malevolence but also due to their unique powers.

People are just afraid, after all.

Even if Yalisha didn’t seem like a bad person right now, people can change. Oftentimes, even oneself can’t predict whether they will become a villain in the future, let alone others.

She certainly couldn’t say whether it was a good thing for Liliya to bring Yalisha back, but…

Why not leave a bit of hope for herself?

Just like the story Liliya mentioned, perhaps Yalisha would indeed become a good witch who secretly helps others.

One must leave some fairy tales in their heart; if all that fills the soul is the harsh reality, then living would be incredibly tragic.

“On the bright side, at least we have gained an unexpected reward, right?” Xia Xinyan said with a smile, waving the ring in front of Ling Mo.

Just looking at its effects, this ring could truly be called a divine artifact. Such items are even hard to come by in the late stages of the game and are often priceless. This could be deemed a significant harvest.

And… they gained two new friends, didn’t they?

Even if they might never see those two new friends again.

Xia Xinyan looked back at the tightly closed castle door and quietly said, “Let’s go back.”

Ling Mo nodded.

However, before either of them could open the game menu, the game system suddenly gave a notification—

【Hidden Task Completed: Rescue the Witch and the Girl】

Xia Xinyan paused briefly, then suddenly burst into laughter: “Looks like we didn’t do anything wrong, right?”

“Heh… yeah,” Ling Mo also smirked.

Their mood inexplicably brightened.

However, the reward for this hidden task exceeded their expectations by far—

A whole fifty thousand game points.

That was several times more than all the earnings from their original dungeon combined.

Not only was the yield so plentiful, but for the first time, they also received an SSS-grade dungeon evaluation, which gave them an additional 20% game point rewards.

“Ha, I wonder if they’ll be jealous enough to curse us if they find out about this?” Ling Mo couldn’t help but chuckle as they left the dungeon, looking at their loot.

Xia Xinyan shook her head: “Then we won’t tell them.”

In her past life, she had completed two hidden tasks. Based on those experiences, it seemed that the game had a tendency to guide players toward the path of goodness, which was a good thing for her.

However, there was no need to publicize hidden tasks widely; otherwise, if players born from this knowledge caused chaos in the dungeon over potentially nonexistent hidden tasks, it would bring negative repercussions.

Just as she finished saying that, the game system suddenly popped up with a world announcement—

【Congratulations to Player ‘Xia Xinyan’ and Player ‘Ling Mo’ for achieving their first SSS-grade evaluation, earning the title ‘First-Order Divine Envoy’】

Xia Xinyan: “…”

Okay, no more being low-key.

She nearly forgot about the dungeon evaluation system.

In the game, aside from SSS-grade, even SS-grade evaluations held little significance; these evaluations only served to accumulate to a certain number before exchanging for items in the game mall, most of which were good stuff, but required a high level of evaluation.

In this lifetime, for Xia Xinyan, the evaluation levels also introduced a Tianji lottery task, but unfortunately, everything she drew turned out to be SSR garbage, and she gradually lost hope.

It was only after getting the SSS-grade evaluation that she suddenly remembered that the evaluation system had another very important role—

【Divine Envoy】

This is a title acquired upon obtaining an SSS-grade evaluation, and its effect is immensely powerful—

For instance, the effect of their current 【First-Order Divine Envoy】 is a 10% increase in growth speed.

Moreover, this title will gradually upgrade along with the acquisition of more SSS-grade evaluations, and its effects will become stronger, further widening the power gap between players.

By the late game, players who obtained this title almost always belong to the top tier—much more than what the rankings display.

However, achieving an SSS-grade evaluation isn’t a simple task; in fact, during her past life until her death, there were no reliable guides for obtaining an SSS-grade evaluation online—this speaks volumes.

The player community unanimously agrees that obtaining an SSS-grade evaluation requires significant contributions in the dungeon and must not make a single mistake; everything should be done according to the game’s instructions to have even a slight chance of getting an SSS evaluation.

Yes, just a slight chance.

That’s why the game announces across the server every time a player obtains an SSS-grade evaluation—a symbol of glory for those players—of course, it inevitably attracts a lot of attention.

Xia Xinyan sighed.

It seems that doing too well isn’t entirely a good thing…

At that moment, Haonan also sent a message—

【Yang Haonan: What the heck?! Was that server-wide announcement about you guys?!】

Now, even Ling Mo, who usually keeps his composure, couldn’t help but feel a bit smug.

【Ling Mo: Who else could have such a handsome name?】

Haonan was immediately shocked and began inquiring about what happened in the dungeon—he hadn’t found the chance to ask before, and now that they were out, he needed to understand the ins and outs.

Otherwise, after working hard and struggling for so long only to inexplicably fail the task, while still watching his good buddy earn an SSS-grade evaluation, and even be announced server-wide, he might not be able to sleep a wink tonight if he didn’t figure it out.

While Ling Mo patiently explained the follow-ups to him, Xia Xinyan also took a look at their current standings.

On the leaderboard, she had now even surpassed Ling Mo and reached the eleventh position, while Ling Mo was in fifteenth. Both were anonymous, and their remarkable performance in the top ranks stood out since none of the others there were anonymous.

…Looks like staying low-key is totally off the table now.