Since the system became my girlfriend

Juejin Town was once the wealthiest town around Xuanwu City. It prospered because of the discovery of gold mines and was abandoned because the gold mines were exhausted. At this moment, because the gold mines here can hardly extract any gold, the Xuanwu City soldiers who originally guarded this place have all withdrawn.

The abandoned mines were gradually occupied by the Jackals. Those still trying to make a living in Gold Rush Town were either desperate or speculators hoping to strike it rich overnight by digging up a large nugget of gold.

These people stayed in Gold Rush Town, waiting for an opportunity to sneak into the mines right under the noses of the gnolls, and then search for gold ore fragments that might only be the size of soybeans, in exchange for a meager income.

Of course, some unlucky ones were discovered by gnolls after entering the mine and never made it out.

The town of Gold Rush, which once had thousands of inhabitants, now has only a few dozen households left. The town is filled with abandoned houses, making it look extremely desolate. Only the bars, theaters, and nightclubs that are now overgrown with weeds still tell people about its former glory.

In Gold Rush Town today, almost all entertainment venues are closed. Only a low-class tavern run by gray dwarves still sells cheap beer that city dwellers would find hard to swallow, and even this cheap beer is a rare luxury for the people of Gold Rush Town.

The only building in the entire Gold Digging Town that can still be considered intact is the town hall in the center of the town. Moreover, due to the decline of Gold Digging Town, the administrative structure here has been streamlined to the point where it cannot be streamlined any further. Even the local governor has been recalled to Xuanwu City, leaving only a sheriff to manage the town.

“This place is so desolate…” Feng Lixi exclaimed after jumping off the carriage.

“Yes, the once glorious Gold Digging Town has fallen into such a state…” Su Rui nodded. The two of them had traveled for half an hour by carriage, and the carriage had provided some basic information about Gold Digging Town. Through this information, the two of them had gained some understanding of its former glory.

"Let's go, let's do our mission first." Feng Lixi pulled Su Rui and headed straight for the town hall.

Soon, the two arrived at the town hall. They hardly saw any NPCs along the way. Occasionally, an NPC would peek out, but would immediately run home after noticing the strangers.

"Is the Sheriff here?" Su Rui walked into the town hall. Although it looked alright on the outside, the inside was also dilapidated. It seemed that the Sheriff had used all the little money he had to maintain the appearance of the town hall.

"That's me! Mercenaries, what brings you here?" The sheriff stepped forward. He was an old NPC, over fifty years old, but only level twenty-five, and he didn't look very powerful.

“Sir Sheriff, we obtained this by chance while hunting gnolls. Perhaps you know what it is,” Su Rui said, producing the crucial evidence.

This thing is a stone slab about the size of a palm, with densely packed strange characters engraved on it.

"What is this?" The sheriff was taken aback for a moment, then he took the stone tablet from Su Rui's hand and began to examine it carefully.

In Su Rui's hands, this stone slab was a mission item. Apart from its name being "Key Evidence," it only had a small note: "The sheriff of Gold Rush Town might know what it is."

It was because of this clue that Su Rui and Feng Lixi came here by carriage.

After a long pause, the sheriff stared at Su Rui and asked, "Where did you get this from, from which gnolls?"

"It's near the west gate of Xuanwu City," Su Rui said.

"Hmm..." The sheriff hesitated for a moment, then said to Su Rui, "Mercenaries, can you do me a favor?"

“Of course!” Su Rui nodded.

"I want you to go to Mine No. 4 in the east. It's currently occupied by a gnoll family. I want you to kill the gnoll wizard there and get the developing agent from him," the sheriff said to Su Rui.

"Ding! The sheriff has issued you a mission—developing agent! Accept?"

"Yes!" Su Rui nodded and accepted the task.

"Sir, please wait a moment, we'll go and retrieve the developing agent for you right away!" Su Rui said to the sheriff.

"The gnolls near Mine No. 4 are not only numerous, but also extremely violent. You must be careful!" the sheriff warned Su Rui and Feng Lixi.

"Thank you for the reminder, sir. We're off!" Su Rui nodded, and then he and Feng Lixi left the town hall and headed straight east.

Soon, Su Rui and his companion arrived near Mine No. 4 according to the mission map. The gnolls here were of a higher level than those near the west gate of Xuanwu City. The ordinary monsters were around level 15, and the occasional elite monsters were as high as level 17.

At this moment, Su Rui and Feng Lixi were only level twelve, so they still had to be careful when fighting monsters here. Although Su Rui could easily kill monsters in a one-on-one fight, if they were caught in a monster train, they would have to run away.

"Whoosh!" Su Rui locked onto a gnoll scout and fired a Shadow Arrow!

-521!

"Awooo!" The gnoll, struck by the Shadow Arrow, shrieked and pounced on Su Rui.

-518!

As the gnoll lunged at him, Su Rui fired his second Shadow Bolt, taking away another 500 health points from the monster.

Corrosion!

Since the gnoll scouts had already reached Su Rui, he didn't have time to chant spells anymore. So, after casting a Corruption spell, he took out his dagger and prepared for close combat.

-87!

Because Su Rui's spell damage is extremely high, the damage of each tick of Corruption is astonishing.

-60!

-99!

Su Rui's mixed damage in close combat was also considerable. After a series of attacks, the gnoll scout was left with only a sliver of health, while the monster's attack also landed on Su Rui's head.

-92!

Su Rui, clad in cloth armor, had low defense, and the jackal scout was three levels higher than him, so a single normal attack dealt nearly a hundred points of damage to Su Rui.

-58!

-99!

However, the gnoll scout clearly had no chance to encounter Su Rui again. The dagger's extremely fast attack speed allowed Su Rui to complete a second strike first, taking away the gnoll scout's last bit of health.

"Ding! You have killed a gnoll scout and gained 24 experience points!"

The monster died and only dropped five copper coins, but its corpse was resurrected by Su Rui using the Resurrection ability and became Su Rui's corpse guard!

With a tanky pet, Su Rui found killing monsters much easier. He could use two Shadow Bolts and a Corruption spell, then leave the rest to the Corpse Guardian while he attacked the next monster. He was not only unharmed throughout the entire process, but his efficiency also increased significantly.