Chapter 5: Hidden Quests and Solo Ventures

Breath of Life has two types of hidden content: regular and unique.

Regular hiddens can be triggered by any player meeting the conditions.
Unique hiddens, once completed by the triggering player, permanently close the task or dungeon, locking others out.

During the beta, players unlocked both types.
Both offer rich rewards, but unique hiddens guarantee an extra combat skill—a key feature of the new version.

Old versions locked players to six skills.
The new version offers twelve skill slots.
Beyond the initial six, players can acquire six more through various in-game methods—any way imaginable.
Unique hidden quests and dungeons have the highest drop rates and best skill quality.

Two minutes after Yun Shi’s quest trigger, world chat still buzzes.

He glances at it.
Players note that beta hiddens were rare, and none were triggered on Twin Islands, the starter village.
Yun Shi’s the first.

A regular hidden? Fine.
A unique one? Everyone wants in.

His private messages and friend requests explode.
Some try to mooch info; others offer to buy it.

Reading the priced offers, Yun Shi thinks about carrying that sock for hours, unsure if he’s lost or gained.

New private messages arrive from a familiar ID.

[CherryWhatFlavor]: Holy sh*t! Wind Bro, how’re you this clutch?
[CherryWhatFlavor]: Day one, man! You selling the trigger conditions? Can I buy?
[CherryWhatFlavor]: Wind Bro! Bro! Look at me, please!

“…” Yun Shi accepts Cherry’s friend request and sends the coordinates.

Cherry’s on the other side of the island, so it’ll take time.
Yun Shi doesn’t rush to sell the trigger.
He compares offers, getting a sense of the market.

Meanwhile, the NPC’s storyline continues.

The [Death of Yan Ziyu] quest is simple: describe how Yan Ziyu died to Wen Fengqi.
After, the NPC mutters fragmented memories, pacing and rambling incoherently.
Yun Shi doesn’t interrupt.

When Wen Fengqi stops, Yun Shi asks, “Remember anything?”

Wen Fengqi shakes his head.
“I should have three more teammates, but I don’t know who they are or where.
I only recall that Yan Ziyu and I washed up here.
He went to sea for his sister—every two or three days at first, then four or five.
This time, he was gone longest… I forgot until you came.”

Yun Shi: “So, you were a five-man team.”

Rubbing the wind emblem on his collar, Yun Shi eyes the island’s highest point.
No signal towers or modern structures.
From what he’s seen, Twin Islands is likely a primitive, undeveloped island.
Wen Fengqi and Yan Ziyu are ability users; their three teammates likely are too.

As the starter village, Twin Islands suggests Yan Ziyu’s team came from a main city for a mission, got separated or hit by an accident, leaving only the two here.
Per Wen Fengqi, Yan Ziyu only started obsessively searching for his sister after arriving.

Yun Shi glances toward the NPC village.
Someone here must know Yan Ziyun and tipped him off.

Surprisingly, his two quests connect.

Ding.
The system confirms [Death of Yan Ziyu] is complete, but no new task follows.

“?” Yun Shi checks [Vanished Teammate].
The storyline clearly isn’t done, but Wen Fengqi only nods at the team comment and resumes wandering the forest.

They’re high up, the forest’s gaps revealing a sunset-reddened sea.
Yun Shi glances at it, testing the aimless NPC: “Remember which direction you came from?”

Wen Fengqi nods firmly, pointing south.
“I do!”

[System: Automatically accepted quest [Reach An City]!]

Yun Shi: …

Great. No questions, no tasks.
Classic Breath of Life.

He private-messages CherryWhatFlavor, confirming An City is the first main city.

After the task, Wen Fengqi says he’ll head back the way he came, hoping to recall his teammates and past.
The quest pauses here—progress likely requires leaving Twin Islands for the main city.

The NPC keeps wandering.

Cherry hasn’t arrived, and no mobs are nearby.
The NPC’s intelligence piques Yun Shi’s curiosity.
“What’re you looking for?”

Wen Fengqi replies: “A trap I set two days ago.
I swear it was here, but it’s gone…”

“Traps?”
Yun Shi recalls his trap-making materials.
Can this NPC teach him?

Wen Fengqi nods.
“Yup.
New to the island?
Nights are unsafe.
To stay in or near the village, you need enough supplies, or they won’t let you in after dark.”

A hidden rule?
It makes sense.
In this apocalypse, survivors prioritize their own survival.
Few share resources with outsiders for free.

The NPCs’ logical behavior makes the game eerily real.

If that’s the case…

Yun Shi asks: “I’ve got supplies to trade.
Can you teach me to make traps?”

Wen Fengqi agrees readily: “Sure.”

[System: Congratulations, you’ve learned [Basic Trap]!]

Yun Shi smiles faintly—his first real grin in this strange world.
Holographic games are more fun than he expected.

Even better, though a life skill, [Basic Trap] slots into his combat skill bar.

[Trap]: Detonates traps within 30m, 30-second cooldown

Wen Fengqi explains trap-making and setup.
Basic materials—branches, grass, stones, vines—make traps with 10 damage.
Better materials, like wolf fangs, yield 30-40 damage.
Thorn spikes hit 70, with ongoing poison damage.

Not a traditional combat skill, but it patches Yun Shi’s role’s weaknesses.
Downside: traps must be pre-placed, and mobs must pass over them to trigger damage.

Still, something’s better than nothing.

Wolf fangs and thorn spikes are green materials.
Making ten basic traps raises skill proficiency, unlocking green-material traps.

Wen Fengqi finishes, and Yun Shi crafts a passable trap with his materials.
The NPC’s pleased.
Yun Shi asks: “If I didn’t ask, would I have missed this skill?”

Wen Fengqi doesn’t answer, but his look says: Duh. How’d I know you wanted it if you didn’t ask?

Yun Shi: …

He’s impressed.

With supplies handed over, Wen Fengqi stops searching for his trap and heads back to the village.
Yun Shi notices a problem.

Wen Fengqi’s a directionless mess, unable to tell east from west.
Yun Shi strongly suspects the An City direction is wrong.
This is confirmed when he meets Cherry at the village edge.

“Heh heh heh…”
Asked about Wen Fengqi’s sense of direction, Cherry gives a creepy smile and shares a tragic tale.

During beta, young and naive, Cherry hit level 20 and got the main city quest.
After running village tasks, he asked Wen Fengqi for directions.
Sails up, he headed that way—then died repeatedly.
Beyond the sea was a giant octopus monster.
Live on stream, he got one-shot each time, thinking his strategy was wrong.
Dropping below level 10, he was sent back to Twin Islands.
Only then did he learn Wen Fengqi’s a hopeless, direction-blind NPC.

Cherry, who lost 10 levels that day, was crushed.
“The pain! You get it, bro?”
He clutches his chest.
“F*cking devs! They’re inhuman!”

Yun Shi: “…Yeah, brutal.”

They move to the hidden plot.

From world chat and private messages, it’s clear: whether unique or regular, any player meeting the conditions can join the plot.
Cherry explains the difference: unique hiddens have exclusive progress.
For [Vanished Teammate], Yun Shi finished the first part, [Death of Yan Ziyu].
If others trigger it, the NPC skips the first part.
The second part?

“Luck,” Cherry says.
“Some NPCs tell you the next step and the prior one, others say nothing.
For unique hiddens, the first to trigger has the best shot at the final reward, but later tasks get harder.
Beta plot starters all teamed up to clear them.”

Given Wen Fengqi’s personality…

Yun Shi’s mouth twitches, saying nothing.
After confirming Cherry’s not streaming, he contacts players offering to buy the trigger info, selling it for 8 gold—priced as a regular hidden, since it’s unclear if it’s unique until triggered.
Like a blind box.

Such info sells once—after, everyone knows.

Minutes ago, nearly a hundred players messaged Yun Shi, many offering prices.
But only eighteen, including Cherry, actually buy.

Money in, Yun Shi converts it on the marketplace.
After fees, he nets 115 Star Coins.
Not much, but enough to eat for days.

With cash secured, even Cherry’s complex look upon learning the trigger doesn’t faze him.

Yan Ziyu’s smelly sock comes with every player’s boat.
Most toss it immediately.
If not, trading with a village NPC auto-sells gray items like the sock, as Yun Shi suspected.

The trigger’s simple—just luck.

Night falls in-game, and some vendor NPCs close.
Yun Shi returns to the village, completes tasks with active NPCs, and pays supplies to stay overnight.

He spends the day grinding tasks at night and mobs by day.

Feeling tired, he logs off to rest, then repeats.

The next day, Yun Shi wakes at 10 AM.
Back online, world chat buzzes with team-forming for Breath of Life’s first dungeon, [Bear Island].

Located on Twin Islands’ other island, players at level 15 can pick up the raid quest in the village.
Dungeon experience and drops far outshine wild mobs.
Twin Islands’ mobs drop no gear, NPCs sell none, and players still wear starter outfits, save for sub-weapons.
The dungeon’s appeal is obvious.

Yun Shi checks his experience—100 points shy of 15.
He grinds a few mobs to level up, grabs the dungeon quest, and joins other level 15s on the second island.

The dungeon entrance is crowded.

Pioneering teams formed hours ago, but none have cleared it.
World chat leaks suggest [Bear Island] is tougher than its beta version.

With the increased difficulty, team recruiters at the entrance demand high-damage, skilled players.

Yun Shi observes, applies to a team, and waits.
The captain, standing nearby, can view applicants’ gear and skills.

The captain frowns, scoffing: “What’s this? Wind physical buff? What trash class wants to leech?
This is an elite pioneering team!”

Yun Shi’s application is rejected.

It’s just the start.
He tries several teams—some accept him briefly, then kick him out.

After wasting ten minutes, Yun Shi’s patience runs dry.
No more applications.

The cyan figure steps forward, entering the dungeon’s misty entrance.

[System: Your team is under five players. Confirm entry to [Bear Island] dungeon?]

Yun Shi doesn’t hesitate, selecting confirm.