Chapter 132: The Fastest Man

Wen Nan pulled up the main quest countdown in the system with a look of disbelief—
【47:05:36—】
From the moment Wen Nan assigned the task to Yang Mingzhong as the guild leader to this very second, only a little over thirty minutes had passed...
Did he find it that quickly? Is this for real?
Is this guy actually a master of memorizing layouts? How many times has he scoured this map before? How is he so proficient?

Just as he was thinking this, a new message arrived from the other party—
【.z.: [Image][Image][Image]】
【.z.: [Video]】
【.z.: I scanned and verified it in the system. This should be the one we need for this quest.】

Wen Nan tapped to open the images. They depicted a rhinoceros beetle about the length of a finger, with close-ups taken from the front, back, and side.
It was clear at a glance that this was no ordinary beetle; it was a rhinoceros beetle infused with a cyberpunk aesthetic.
At first glance, aside from being slightly larger, it looked no different from the common beetles found in the wild. However, upon closer inspection, one could see that its antennae and mouthparts were constructed from materials and designs entirely different from the rest of its shell.

Its antennae and mouthparts were "prosthetics" made of a brownish-black metal. These "mechanical prosthetics" acting as mouthparts were much larger than a beetle’s natural ones. Resembling two crab claws, they extended from its head, snapping open and shut with an imposing air.

He opened the video. In the center of the frame, the beetle sat on Yang Mingzhong’s finger. As Yang presented a metal rod the thickness of a pinky finger, the beetle immediately bent its antennae, tightly coiled around the rod, and guided it toward its metallic pincers. Then, with a series of "snaps," it devoured the metal rod as easily as a crab eating seaweed.

That’s actually quite impressive.
If it weren’t so small, and if the key quest item weren’t forbidden from being taken out of the map, Wen Nan would have wanted to add this beetle to his own equipment bar.

As he was thinking this, a series of system notifications chimed in his mind—
9527: 【Congratulations! Player Yang Mingzhong has successfully found the key item for Main Quest 3: Mr. Horn.】
9527: 【Due to the unique nature of this key item, it cannot be evenly distributed among all players. Therefore, this quest only requires the item to be found and picked up by any single player to be considered a success. This main quest supports shared quest completion results.】
9527: 【Player Yang Mingzhong has confirmed to share the quest results, and you have been selected as one of the recipients.】
9527: 【Congratulations, player! Main Quest 3, current completion: 100%.】
9527: 【You may choose to return to the refresh point immediately for confirmation, or you may return at any time before the quest countdown ends to ensure the quest is settled.】

It really was the "Mr. Horn" mentioned in the main quest?
This third main quest, finished at the speed of light?
It had barely been an hour...
Even an average player like Wen Nan had never encountered a main quest that went this smoothly.
It felt almost like a reward quest intentionally gifted by the system.

Clearly, following the requirements of the task Wen Nan had assigned, Yang Mingzhong shared the results with all guild members. The message board in the Wen Na Guild chat exploded—
[FireFireFire: Holy cow! The quest is done?!]
[FireFireFire: Am I seeing things? Or am I dreaming?]
[Xiaofu: It’s real, not a dream. I got the notification too! Thanks, Uncle Mingzhong! ^w^]
[Jinxing: Thank you @.z., at this speed, you’ve probably broken a record.]
[yao: That’s badass, boss! From now on, you’re the fastest man in my heart!]
[.z.: Uh... let’s skip that title, shall we?]
[.z.: @Jinxing, you’re welcome. It’s all thanks to the clues in your diary.]
[yao: Seriously, boss, how did you do it? Even with the coordinates from that notebook, it just said "under the tree downstairs." That office building is surrounded by trees. How did you find it so fast? Did you buy a map-hacking cheat?]
[.z.: No. This kind of information is actually easy to spot once you’ve played enough. The clues aren’t just in the line about the beetle; they’re in the context as well.]
[.z.: In that diary, the entry right above it mentioned seeing a fat cat and naming it "Mi Xiaoxiao."]
[.z.: During a previous quest, I once sat by a planter downstairs at the company during a break to smoke, and I happened to see a fat cat like that. It was significantly larger than any other cat, like a gas canister, so I remembered it clearly.]
[.z.: After coming out of the refresh point this time, I went straight to the area where that fat cat usually wanders.]
[.z.: That cat is lazy and barely moves. A few minutes after I arrived, I found it. Just like the diary recorded, I tried calling it "Mi Xiaoxiao." The cat actually understood, immediately meowed, ran to my feet, and rubbed against my pant leg. Then, with its tail held high, it took the lead and brought me to a tree nearby.]
[.z.: That’s where I found Mr. Horn.]
[FireFireFire: Impressive.]
[FireFireFire: To think of such a clever way to crack the puzzle in such a short time is truly amazing.]
[FireFireFire: Aside from our leader, you are the person I admire most right now.]
[Xiaofu: Uncle Mingzhong is definitely more experienced than us.]
[Xiaofu: [Starry-eyed awe].jpg]
[yao: Ginger is indeed spicier when it’s old [Thumbs up]]
[Jinxing: To be safe, do you need to bring the key item back to the refresh point? @.z.]
[.z.: Yeah, I’m on my way back now.]

Glancing at the flurry of group messages, Wen Nan quickly minimized the chat interface.
His attention was now entirely focused on the system notifications he had just received—
Much like when the second main quest was completed, this main quest adopted a shared player mode due to the "unique nature of the key item."
However, the notifications for these two sharing events were not exactly the same—
During the second main quest, the system prompt stated that the item only needed to be found, not picked up, to be completed and shared.
Yet for this third quest, the prompt specified that the item had to be found *and* picked up by a player to be considered complete before it could be shared.
If both were due to the "unique nature of the key item," why did the second quest only require finding it, while the third required both finding and picking it up?

Lost in thought, a figure approached. A moment later, that familiar, cool voice echoed in his ear:
"The investigation of the accident site at the edge of the map is complete, Master."