Chapter 120 : A New Side Quest
A New Side Quest
The light above gradually brightened. Although she was surrounded by icy seawater, a faint warmth still managed to seep in.
Cecilia tightly hugged the dolphin-shaped monster, her eyes wide open. After a few seconds, and just before her oxygen bar was about to run out, she finally struggled to the water's surface and greedily gulped in the fresh air.
Because she was wet, her silver hair clung to her fair neck and smooth skin, resembling silver veins entwined upon jade. Coupled with the subtle flush on the girl's face due to a lack of oxygen, there was a fresh beauty reminiscent of a lotus blossoming from water.
The feeling of suffocation was certainly unpleasant. Although this was just a game, with 100% pain and sensory simulation, it was almost indistinguishable from drowning in real life.
Even though Cecilia's current body was no longer human in the traditional sense, but had become an advanced Vampire, she still couldn't go entirely without oxygen. At best, her lung capacity was just a bit greater than that of an ordinary human.
At this moment, the dolphin monster, which she was hugging tightly like a body pillow, began to resist. Seeing that Cecilia had surfaced, it suddenly started thrashing its tail wildly, as if trying to escape back into the sea.
However, after receiving a couple of moderately hard punches from Cecilia, it quickly realized it was no match for this human girl, and that it could no longer escape her clutches. It finally stopped resisting, obediently lay still, and quietly awaited its unknown fate.
Originally, Cecilia had considered killing this monster. But given the many dangers lurking in the sea and her complete lack of swimming skills, she ultimately decided to keep it for the time being.
Without this dolphin, she wouldn't have been able to reach the island reef where the Boss was, let alone make it back to shore.
On the shore, the other three stood in a daze, staring at Gu Yanxi's determined back as she walked toward the sea. For a moment, they even forgot to go up and stop her.
Dawn's Light shook his head with a sigh, feeling helpless and somewhat frustrated.
He was clearly the only male in the team and also the oldest. By all rights, he should have shouldered the heaviest responsibilities. Yet, every time there was a Boss fight, it was always Cecilia, a teenage girl, who took the lead. As a swordsman faith player, nothing was more humiliating for him.
Yet in the very next moment, Yuewu's eyes suddenly widened until they were as big as copper bells. She pointed toward the center of the sea's surface, her voice filled with excitement, "Look! There's something shiny over there. Could that be Sister Ce?"
The spot Yuewu pointed to was several dozen meters from where Cecilia had previously fallen in. At first, the others hadn't noticed, but hearing Yuewu say this, they quickly shifted their gaze. Just as expected, they saw a figure shimmering with silver light.
"It really does look like her!"
Little Persimmon Puppy's expression grew equally excited.
The next moment, she directly opened her friends panel, tapped on Cecilia's portrait, and quickly sent a message.
[Little Persimmon Puppy: Lia, how are you doing now? We were so worried—are you okay?]
On the water, Cecilia had just finished subduing the dolphin monster. As she wiped the seawater from her face, she suddenly heard a string of "doo doo" notification sounds.
Looking down, she saw that it was a private message from Little Persimmon Puppy.
She opened the message, kept one hand gripping the dolphin monster, and quickly replied with her right hand.
[Cecilia: I'm fine, I'll be right back.]
After sending the message, she closed the interface without another thought, glanced sidelong at the shore, and forcibly dragged the dolphin monster as she changed direction toward land.
"Take me back, and I'll let you go."
Cecilia wasn't sure if the monster could understand her, but after hesitating for a moment, she said it softly anyway.
As expected, the dolphin monster neither struggled nor swam, merely floating on the surface as if resigned to its fate, with no reaction at all.
Cecilia felt a bit embarrassed—she was a Beast Tamer after all. Seeing this, she finally stopped hesitating and simply climbed onto the dolphin monster's back, gripping the dorsal fin with her right hand and clutching the rusted harpoon head protruding from its body with her left, using it to steer.
With Cecilia's left hand slowly applying pressure, the wound that had already healed split open again, fresh blood gushing out, sending a wave of sharp pain through the dolphin monster's back. Its already low HP was now on the brink of empty.
Its strong tail began to move. Cecilia deliberately steered their direction, and the dolphin monster, finally understanding her intent and spurred on by the pain, started swimming toward the shore.
A distance of a hundred meters was not far. If it were flat land, Cecilia could have crossed it in five seconds.
However, the dolphin monster's agility wasn't high, and after taking several of Cecilia's punches, its injuries were severe. Its swimming speed was slow, taking a full half minute to drift into the shallow, crystal-clear water.
Seeing land just ahead, Cecilia finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Being dragged into the deep sea was truly terrifying. In combat state, players couldn't even Exit Game. If someone, like herself, had pain simulation set to 100%, they probably wouldn't dare touch water ever again.
The four others on shore, seeing Cecilia return unscathed, rushed over in excitement.
Leading the charge was, of course, gu Yanxi. Cecilia noticed her eyes were slightly red, betraying both the joy of survival and lingering fear.
"Sister Ce, where did you get such a big fish?"
Yuewu asked in utter curiosity, eyeing the dolphin Cecilia was clutching.
Though she'd heard Cecilia mention there were many monsters in this sea, Yuewu never expected that Cecilia would not only survive her fall but even capture such a huge dolphin.
"What do you mean 'fish'—can't you tell? That's a dolphin, a human's best friend,"
Little Persimmon Puppy retorted, still not missing an opportunity to sass Yuewu.
Cecilia wasn't sure how to explain what happened in the sea, so after a brief silence, she pulled a potion from her backpack and said, "I'll explain later—this one's about to die. Someone come help me out."
On hearing this, Dawn's Light hurriedly waded over. With Cecilia directing, he pried open the dolphin monster's tightly closed jaws, and Cecilia uncorked a Basic Life Potion, pouring the whole thing down the dolphin monster's throat.
She wasn't sure whether player potions would work on monsters, but since the dolphin's life was at stake—and considering she'd need to ride it to fight the Harpy later—Cecilia decided it was worth a shot.
After a whole potion was forced down, the dolphin monster's HP slowly began to recover, and Cecilia breathed out in relief.
Just then, the voice of System Miss suddenly rang in her mind once again.
"System upgrade. You have unlocked a new side quest—[Phantom Harpooner]!"