Online Game: Crazy Skeleton-Chapter 1661 - 1457: The Annoying Task (Two in One)_2

"Senior, I have one last idea. I’m not sure if it’ll work."

Su Ran’s soul fire flickered in his eyes as he leaned forward and spoke in a low voice, "Do you have any special missions here that reward gold coins? I’m willing to sell myself to pay off this debt. No matter how hard or exhausting the task, I’ll take it all!"

This was Su Ran’s final hope. It became painfully clear to him that this NPC was a stubborn mule—unyielding, rigid, and unreasonable. Apart from the ten thousand gold coins, no amount of persuasion could shake his stance.

The so-called special mission was Su Ran’s gamble, his attempt to seize luck. Obtaining a special mission and earning the required gold coins would be killing two birds with one stone. Why not aim for it?

Of course, the odds were as close to zero as it could get. Su Ran had never come across a mission worth ten thousand gold coins before. If such missions existed, the game company would have gone bankrupt ages ago—no doubt about that.

To Su Ran’s surprise, the Lifeline Guardian Spirit actually yielded the moment he offered to sell himself.

"Human warrior, I do have such a mission. If you can complete it, I won’t need the ten thousand gold coins!"

"Senior, just tell me the task. Even if it’s impossible, I’ll make sure to complete it!"

Su Ran looked at the tall, lean elf in excited disbelief. He never expected his proposal to work! It truly felt like hitting rock bottom only to find a hidden path, a gleam of hope behind the gloom.

Ten thousand gold coins was no small amount. Handing over that much for the mission would hurt more than losing a limb. No way was he going to let the system win so easily!

Whatever task it took, he had to fight for the chance to take it and close this gap. Missing out on this opportunity was simply not an option!

"Human warrior, are you sure about this choice? Let me remind you, what you’ll face might be a path of no return, possibly even death. If you regret this, now is your chance to turn back."

Luta’s gaze toward Su Ran carried a mix of complexity and a hint of pity.

"Senior, don’t look at me like that. People might misunderstand."

Su Ran was the first to misunderstand, of course. He thought this elf was gazing at him with tender affection, and the thought made his skin crawl so much he wanted to scratch his bone marrow.

Just because you’re good-looking, you think you can charm everyone?

Dream on!

"Senior, just tell me the task. I’ve already braced myself for it!"

Su Ran urged, impatiently waiting for Luta to hand over the hidden mission.

"Human warrior, everyone has their own ambitions. Since you’ve made your choice, I won’t say any more. I’ll entrust this mission to you. Don’t let me down."

Luta sighed deeply, his gaze piercing through the forest and into the distance. After about ten seconds, he finally spoke, "Kill the Elf Queen... and come back to me."

"What?"

Su Ran was utterly stunned. He never in his wildest dreams thought it would be this mission. He had just allied with the Elf Queen moments ago, only to now be tasked to turn against her?

Does anyone seriously operate like this?

No wonder the mission was worth ten thousand gold coins; its difficulty level matched its value precisely!

The Elf Queen was the ultimate boss of the elf race, her power far surpassing even the Black Abyss Lake Guardian!

With his current abilities, he didn’t even need to ponder; this mission was no different from a death sentence!

This was a scam!

A complete scam!

The system, you damned thing—can you go a day without trapping players and still feel okay?

Despicable!

"Senior, after thinking it over, I’ve decided I’d rather pay the coins. Ten thousand gold coins might be a lot, but at least I can scrounge them up. As for the mission you mentioned, I don’t think I could finish it in this lifetime."

Su Ran backtracked immediately, without the slightest hesitation. At this stage, saving face was pointless—it couldn’t fill an empty stomach...

"Human warrior, is this your decision? Truly disappointing!"

Luta let out a cold snort. His reaction to Su Ran’s behavior was one of neither surprise nor approval. Staring hard at Su Ran, he spoke with a chilling tone, "Regret it? Too late! The mission has been assigned; there’s no turning back. This mission, you’ll take it whether willingly or not!"

As if validating Luta’s statement, the system notification chimed in right after his words. Su Ran’s complexion turned instantly ghostly pale.

"Senior, this mission won’t have any penalties for failure, will it?"

Su Ran dared not even glance at the mission prompt, still clinging to a shred of hope. This was a mission he’d rather abandon than antagonize the Elf Queen—the cost was simply too great!

"No penalties for failure? Human warrior, how could you be so naive?"

Luta sneered coldly. "If you fail, you’ll be cursed by the elf race—a curse you’ll never be rid of."

"A curse from the elf race? What the... this is too ruthless!"

Su Ran exclaimed in shock, then hesitated before asking, "Senior, could you clarify what exactly this curse entails? I’d rather know, even if it means dying with regret..."

"Don’t even know what the curse is, yet you yell without thinking!"

"I was trying to emphasize how severe the punishment is, Senior. The mission is already mine, so you might as well tell me everything. Don’t worry, I can handle it."

Su Ran mentally braced himself. No matter how harsh the punishment, he had no choice but to accept it.

"Human warrior, since you want to know, I’ll tell you. This mission lasts three hours, and if you fail, you’ll be cursed by the elf race—as your Luck Value will be completely cleared!"

Luta shook his head regretfully, clearly understanding how grave the penalty was. This human warrior would be as good as useless if he truly abandoned the mission.

"What?"

Su Ran shouted again, utterly blindsided. He couldn’t believe the system could be so treacherous—targeting the Luck Value, clearly setting up a plan to rob him of it. What a conniving scheme!

I spit on this!

"Stop with the overreactions! The mission countdown has already begun—quickly start the task and don’t embarrass me! Human warrior, I’ve got faith in you—go, and come back faster!"

Luta made himself clear, signaling Su Ran to get moving rather than loitering around.

"Senior, your expectations are too high. I... ugh. I’ll come back in three hours... wait, huh?"

Mid-sentence, Su Ran froze.

He finally realized: the Elf Queen was outside the Lifeline Space. Leaving here would require a month’s time to re-enter. Even if he possessed the strength to kill the Elf Queen, how could he return within the three-hour timeframe?

This meant the mission was simply impossible to complete!

This was a dead-end scenario!

But...

Since it’s a task, there must be a way to succeed. Could it be he was overthinking things?

Holding onto a glimmer of hope, Su Ran scoured the system prompt, hoping to uncover the key to solving the mission.

"Ding! Congratulations! Player Skeleton has received a special mission: Kill the Evil Spirit of the Elf Queen. Mission duration: three hours. Mission reward: Opportunity to unseal the Frost Orb. Mission failure penalties: Permanent loss of elf race reputation (-10,000), revocation of access to Elf Forest, receiving the curse of the elf race, Luck Value reset to zero."

"The Evil Spirit of the Elf Queen?"

Seeing the words "Evil Spirit," Su Ran’s mood instantly lifted. He couldn’t help but complain to Luta, "Senior, could you stop being so vague? This evil spirit isn’t even remotely comparable to the Elf Queen, right?"

"Wrong. Completely wrong."

Luta shook his head, explaining, "This evil spirit *is* the Elf Queen—there’s no distinction."

"Senior, could you explain more clearly?"

Su Ran was utterly confused now. He desperately wanted Luta to give a full explanation—otherwise, his Luck Value would suffer an unjust fate.

"Time is running short, so I’ll keep it brief. This evil spirit is the Elf Queen’s dark persona. Years ago, it was split from her main form and sealed within this Lifeline Peak. To achieve this, her main form paid the price of accelerated aging, just to eliminate the risk of falling into corruption."

Luta began recounting the history of the Elf Queen—secrets that weren’t accessible through regular channels. "The Stone Heart of Lifeline is growing increasingly volatile. I suspect it’s caused by the evil spirit of the Elf Queen. If we don’t stop this soon, a catastrophe will surely follow!"