Chapter 9: Gaining Trust
“Are you done yet?” A lukewarm voice came from behind Zane.
This soft and pleasant feeling, could it be the legendary brain cushion wave?
No, this is not the time to contemplate that.
At this moment, from Starry’s perspective, Zane was leaning against the chest of a little NPC girl, looking as suspicious as could be.
Oh no, oh no, how can we accept quests if the favorability drops this much!
Endless Sea had distanced himself from Zane at some point, looking at him with a heartbroken expression, as if to say this matter had nothing to do with him.
…
“It’s like this,” Starry quickly stepped forward and pulled Zane up, moving him aside.
“I heard from an old man about the difficulties the village is facing, so we wanted to come here to see if we could help you,” Starry stated simply and clearly.
“…!” The girl’s eyes became doubtful, “Why would the Village Chief tell outsiders about this…?”
But she soon eased up, “Never mind, this isn’t the time for questioning. As you can see, the Apothecary is not operating now. Not only is there a shortage of manpower, but the herbs are almost exhausted as well.”
“Since the Village Chief has told you the truth, it means you must have something he values.”
Here it comes, let’s get the quest! Zane was excited.
Even Endless Sea returned, pretending to be with them, hoping to snag a quest.
“Go out from the north of the village, at the fork in the road take the right path, and you will see a small mountain that hasn’t been visited in a long time… There should be a lot of herbs there. If you’re not afraid of dangers, try to bring back as many herbs as you can. I will offer you a rewards equivalent.”
“Ding”
System Notification: He Caixia has issued a C-rank quest “Collect Herbs” to your team. Do you accept? Warning: The animals along the way have been infected by an unknown force, drastically changing their temperaments and they will attack any outsiders!
Warning?
While pondering.
System Notification: Endless Sea requests to join your team.
Do you agree?
“Ahem, brother, I think you still need a strong damage dealer and monster-drawing tool. With me here, the quest progress shall surely be unstoppable!” Endless Sea had already seen that while Starry was the main force, everything revolved around Zane.
“…” Indeed, he had felt during his previous leveling sessions with Yuhua’s team that the efficiency of leveling with multiple people was quite evident. Of course, all team members needed to have a certain level of skill and understanding of the game.
And Endless Sea was obviously qualified; being able to level solo in the Slime territory was enough proof of his strength.
Agreed.
System Notification: Endless Sea has joined your team.
“Brother, I knew I wasn’t wrong about you!” Endless Sea laughed heartily.
“Who said I was useless before?”
“Who said it!? Who dares to speak ill of Brother Zane? I’ll go beat him up!” Endless Sea exaggeratedly remarked.
“…”
He Caixia said impatiently, “Are you going or not? If not, I’m closing the door. I’m busy!”
“Don’t!” Zane quickly accepted.
Accept!
System Notification: Quest accepted successfully. Head to the small mountain in the north of the village to collect herbs. The more you collect, the greater the rewards!
…
“North of the village…” Initially, their direction leaving the village was towards the east.
It seemed there was no road north; otherwise, players wouldn’t all be heading east. But since we accepted the quest, let’s go have a look.
The tightly locked gate had visible dents, and a young man in simple clothes was dozing off at the sentry.
Zane shook the door, releasing a lot of dust. It looked like the door hadn’t been used in a long time.
“Who! Who’s there!”
“We are adventurers from the Otherworld. Can we pass through to collect some herbs?” Zane politely asked.
“No way. You’d just add more injuries outside, which would only increase the burden on the Apothecary. I can’t let you go out,” the young man replied dutifully.
“Ms. He Caixia sent us. Don’t worry, gatekeeper brother, we have ways to protect ourselves,” Endless Sea also spoke up.
“Ms. He Caixia sent you?” The young man pondered for a moment and said, “Alright, see that wild boar ahead? It used to coexist harmoniously with the villagers, but now it’s become a stupid pig that only knows how to attack and destroy. The big dent on the gate is caused by it. If you can deal with it, I’ll trust you.”
“No problem!” Zane glanced at the wild boar swaying outside.
The attributes surfaced.
Mutated Wild Boar
Rarity: Blue
Level: 8
Health: 500
Attack: 35-50
Defense: 20
Skills: Rage Charge, Berserk
Description: Once a docile wild boar, after being influenced by an unknown power, it gained the power of Berserk, taking down several strong men.
The attack reaches up to 35-50, which is more than two to three times that of a Slime.
With 20 Defense, Zane’s current attack of 21-22 is expected to cause very little damage.
He still hadn’t allocated the attribute points he gained upon reaching level 5; better to allocate them all to Health just in case.
After allocating to Health, Zane had 230 health and 4 points of Defense, which should give him at least two or three chances for error… probably. How should I put it? This amount of Defense is almost like having none, and besides, the wild boar is a level 8 monster, three levels higher than them; I don’t know if there will be additional damage due to level advantage.
Mainly, the drop rate for equipment is too low. They had been farming Slimes for so long, and other than currency and quest materials, they hadn’t seen a thing.
Starry had invested entirely in Agility, which was also the most suitable violent output route for her. Now her attack power had reached an impressive 50-55; it seemed they would have to rely on Starry for damage. Although her health was only 130, she would probably get knocked out with a single hit, she had considerable confidence in her experience from her dreams.
“Did I see correctly? A blue monster? It hasn’t even been long since the server opened, and we’re already encountering blue monsters. And it’s level 8, with this defense… I’m afraid I won’t be able to deal much damage, let alone face that Berserk.” Endless Sea exclaimed. “Brother Zane, how about we level up a bit first before coming back here?”
“Is it really that strong? Let’s give it a try,” Zane said confusedly.
“Try what? We’d probably be gone after just two hits from that high attack!” Endless Sea scolded.
“I think we should still give it a shot; there should be a chance,” Zane believed that as long as Starry was with them, it basically wouldn’t be an issue as long as the wild boar didn’t have AOE damage like the Slimes.
“…Fine, I’ll try it with you this one time. After all, the cost of dying early in the game isn’t too high; who told me to get on this rickety boat…” Endless Sea sighed dramatically.
“Is it really that exaggerated?” Zane said speechlessly. “Brother, open the door. We’re ready.”
“Okay, I’m opening the door now… If you can’t hold up, come back in right away; I’m really fast at shutting the door!”
“Don’t worry, we can definitely handle it,” Zane confidently reassured.
