MMORPG: Crowd Control

"What do you mean by that?" Lei Zhen asked in a dazed tone.

He was barely gaining any experience points when Tang Qiaolian was slaying the spawnlings.

And as a beginner, he thought that was just how the game was designed.

After all, he had received only 2 experience points from the Goblin Mob, so he had this thought process embedded in his mind. Monsters don't give you high experience points, only quests given by NPC will.

"Don't monsters only give 2 experience points?" He asked.

Tang Qiaolian shook her head.

"Why would these Arachne's Spawnling give 2 experience points only? I've been receiving at least 200-300 experience points each time I killed one. And since we're in a party, our experience points are shared, so I thought you leveled up quite a bit already."

Plopped!

When he saw the genuine confused expression on Tang Qiaolian's face, Lei Zhen collapsed on the ground. His face turned ashen white as he wondered if his bad luck had remained on him.

"Show me your status, Lei Zhen." Tang Qiaolian recollected her composure and asked. "I should have looked at your status first before bringing you into this dungeon."

'The last time I helped Lingyun, she leveled up fast. So how come it's not the same with Lei Zhen?' She wondered silently.

"Here's my status," Lei Zhen opened his status screen and shared it with her.

Magnolia protects the privacy of the players, so unless they wish to reveal their status, no one else could look into it without their permission.

Thus, even if they are in a party together, the members could not see anything until they changed their permission.

Of course, there are some players that don't give much care regarding their status, such as Tang Qiaolian. She had her username displayed publicly, so people would recognize her. However, her stats and other information are concealed.

"Hmm, let's see…" Tang Qiaolian stared at Lei Zhen's status screen, reading every detail diligently.

[ Name: Lei Zhen

Class: Crowd Controller]

Level: 2

(Health Point) HP: 423/423

(Mana Point) MP: 160/160

(Attack) Atk: 10 (+5)

(Defense) Def: 9 (+5)

(Intelligence) Int: 15

(Wisdom) Wis: 13

(Dexterity) Dex:10

(Speed) Spd: 11

'Crowd Controller? When was there a beginner class like that?' Tang Qiaolian exclaimed inwardly.

She was shocked to see a new class appearing in front of her. She had studied Magnolia thoroughly and would always have the first news available to her when there's a new update.

"The stats don't seem to be anything special, so how come he received so little experience points?" She muttered.

Time slowly passed by, and Tang Qiaolian had been keeping silent the entire time, her eyes remained still at the status screen.

"Umm, there isn't anything wrong with my stats, right?" Lei Zhen opened his mouth to get her attention. They were still in a dungeon, and he didn't know when monsters would respawn in Magnolia.

Hearing his voice, Tang Qiaolian snapped out of her daze and asked, "Lei Zhen, did you accept any quests beforehand?"

"No I didn't-"

Right when he was about to continue his words, Lei Zhen recalled the Hidden Quest that was forced upon him by Robert Knightman.

'It can't be because of this damn quest that was forced to my throat, right?' He thought to himself.

"So is that a yes or no?" Tang Qiaolian asked irritatingly when Lei Zhen started pondering alone again.

He would always be lost in his thoughts whenever he got a brainstorm.

She was used to his attitude by now since they've known each other for a long time, but still, she can't help but be irritated occasionally by his attitude.

"I do have a hidden quest that I was forced to accept," Lei Zhen replied and explained the encounter with Robert Knightman to her. "Is this hidden quest the reason why I'm earning so little experience points?"

"No, I doubt a hidden quest would implore such a penalty." Tang Qiaolian shook her head. She knew hidden quests are different from normal quests, but none of them had such an incident in which the player would suffer a decrease in experience point.

Lei Zhen also nodded his head silently since he recalled earning only a mere 2 experience points from a Goblin Mob before he had even accepted the hidden quest.

"I don't know the solution for now, but we'll investigate it later on. We're still trying to complete this dungeon and it would be bad if the monsters respawned. After all, there is a cooldown in my skills and I prefer to save it for the boss."

After reorganizing their equipment and thoughts, the two of them proceed to head further into the dungeon. It was a good thing that the dungeon's paths are pretty straightforward and that there are no hidden traps or pathways.

The two of them soon arrived at the edge of a cliff in which the bottom showcased a huge spider at the pit. Surprisingly, the lower half of the body is that of a spider, but the upper half was that of a beautiful woman. One could say that the spider is similar to a centaur.

"No wonder why I found the name Arachne familiar…" Lei Zhen suddenly muttered.

"The name Arachne comes from the Greek Mythology in which Arachne is a beautiful woman that is talented in her weaving skills and everyone was amazed by her work. However, that was her downfall because that caused her to be arrogant and one day, boasted that she was better than the goddess Athena herself which resulted in her being turned into a spider."

"I'm surprised you are well-versed in Greek Mythology, Lei Zhen."

"It was just a story I came across when I was bored of reading medical books."

"Anyway, does that information provide any help in defeating Arachne?" Tang Qiaolian asked, not a bit interested in the story and background of Arachne.

"I can simply just decapitate Arachne given our power difference." She added.

Meanwhile, Lei Zhen shook his head in response. He felt like things wouldn't be so simple when it comes to things related to Magnolia.

"Weren't you the one that told me not to underestimate the monsters in Magnolia? I feel like there's a reason why Arachne is the boss of this dungeon." He calmly said, rubbing his chin softly.