Chapter 13 Quests and Players
[Personal Side Quest: Creek Stone Rift – Lost Goods]
[Quest Description: The Black Wind Fangs mercenaries have lost important goods, which seem to be closely related to the Dark Dawn and Chong Yue factions. The goods were lost in Creek Stone Rift, and it is suspected to be the work of a Mage from the Sun Cultivation Institute.]
[Objective: Recover the goods.]
Li Wen put away her spellbook and was about to leave the tavern when the young bartender at the counter blocked her path.
The bartender was kneeling on the ground, begging for mercy, and even gave up all the tips he had received. He seemed terrified of retaliation from Li Wen.
Li Wen wouldn’t do such a thing for a mere penny, and she left the tavern without even looking at him.
Since she had decided to go to Creek Stone Rift to investigate, she should be prepared.
She was only level one now, and her only usable ability was Prayer. Although this divine ability was versatile, the three-second casting time was fatal. If her opponent was a Mage proficient in combat, Li Wen would likely be killed before she could even cast a spell.
Players could resurrect at any time after death, but the death penalty was too severe, so Li Wen still hoped to avoid death if possible.
Rapidly increasing her level was unrealistic. For the Glorious Spectrum Series, each level-up required not only mastery of abilities but also devout daily prayers, which took a long time.
However, Li Wen was not without other ways to improve her strength. Although she was only level one, she had memories from her previous life. These memories not only allowed her to see through and master the future, but most importantly, they contained “knowledge.”
When she was in the Strategy Team, Li Wen was mainly responsible for organizing and collating information on rituals. In other words, Li Wen had memorized most of the rituals controlled by the Strategy Team, or at least had some impression of them.
Among the twelve major spectrums, she could replicate eight of them, from basic rituals to super large-scale, legendary, and taboo rituals, as long as she had sufficient Mana, materials, and time.
Currently, Li Wen lacked all three, with materials being the easiest to solve. Thus, she decided to prepare materials first.
Most basic rituals only required some common materials, with at most one synthesis or refinement. However, once they involved higher-level rituals, they would require materials containing Mana.
Those materials were usually difficult to find in the mortal world. If Li Wen were in a big city, she could buy them at black markets that specialized in trading magical items or commission organizations that provided such assistance.
However, Ark Town was just a remote border town, and such conditions clearly did not exist. Li Wen had only ever seen Priest Mog, a Transcendent, so far.
Then she would ask him for them, Li Wen thought.
After all, the mission was requested by Mog, so it was reasonable for him to contribute more. She could consider it as an advance payment for the mission reward, and it was time to “shear the wool” heavily.
*
“Magical materials? I don’t have such things.”
In the main hall of the church, Priest Mog was changing the candles on the altar. Under the flickering candlelight, Mog’s pale face looked particularly eerie.
“But I can tell you where to get them.”
Li Wen was not surprised: “You tell me.”
“There’s an old man named Saim, who lives in the Poorhouse southwest of town. He’s a Duwei person, and he should have what you need.”
Li Wen understood immediately.
The Duwei people were a nomadic tribe whose homeland was conquered by the Yarijiare people two hundred years ago. Since then, they had been drifting through the western countries. They did not engage in agriculture or raise livestock for food but relied on the residents of towns and villages for a living.
They were a rather mysterious ethnic group. Because they had no fixed abode and wandered everywhere, a considerable number of people believed that the Duwei people controlled ancient and terrifying dark sorcery.
This was not unfounded. The elder generation of Duwei people knew some secret knowledge to varying degrees: they knew how to navigate on starless nights, how to predict and avoid disasters, and how to communicate with and tame beasts.
“I understand, but I don’t have money.” Li Wen believed she had been direct enough.
“He won’t charge you money…” Mog said, then fell into a contemplative silence. Afterward, he took out a money bag from his pocket. “There are five Pound Sterling in here, which should be enough for you.”
Li Wen took the money bag and walked out of the church, while Mog watched her figure gradually disappear into the night.
*
A few steps after leaving the church, Li Wen discovered she was being followed. She subtly changed direction and walked towards a dimly lit alley with few people.
Entering the alley, Li Wen stopped, hid against the wall, gripped her short sword, and waited quietly.
When she heard hurried footsteps, Li Wen stuck out her foot and tripped the person.
“Who let you follow me?”
“Ouch, damn it, are the characters in this game this smart?” The person got up with difficulty, constantly complaining.
A player?
Li Wen frowned. She had thought it would be someone from the Black Wind Fangs, or perhaps Priest Mog, who didn’t trust her and sent someone to spy on her. She hadn’t expected it to be a player from who-knows-where, and judging by the voice, it might even be a female player.
“Who are you?” Li Wen said coldly.
The moonlight was quite bright that night, and Li Wen could vaguely make out the other person’s appearance. Judging by her appearance, this female player was not bad-looking. After all, player appearances could be slightly adjusted. As long as the technique was superb and the person was not too unattractive in reality, their in-game appearance wouldn’t be too bad, unless they deliberately made themselves ugly.
There was also the possibility of using someone else’s identity, just like Li Wen. It was hard to say whether this player was male or female in reality.
“Oh, why are you a girl too…” the player muttered softly. “Um, that, about the quest… I didn’t mean to follow you. Do you have any quests? I can do anything!”
So she thought of me as an NPC, Li Wen thought.
When she left the tavern, it was likely not just the natives who saw her. At that time, quite a few players must have been watching.
What a hassle.
“No.” Li Wen flatly refused. Players couldn’t issue quests to other players. At most, they could trade money or equipment for help.
“Please!”
The female player immediately knelt down.
“We haven’t eaten for two days! We already have several stacks of the hunger buff! If we don’t eat soon, people will die! Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Please, kind sister, have mercy!”
Li Wen was speechless. Were players these days so shameless?
When a player had not eaten for 24 hours in the game, they would receive a debuff called “Hunger.” After that, the buff would stack up every ten hours, and each stack would reduce physical fitness by 10%. After stacking up to five layers, they would start to lose health, losing 2% per hour until death.
What the female player said might be true, but one point was worth noting: Li Wen didn’t believe she was genuinely penniless, as the game had been live for two days, which was four or five days in in-game time. She could have earned her first gold just by begging.
This meant she was purely unwilling to spend money, preferring to take damage buffs rather than eat! How could there be such a weird player in the world?
Just as Li Wen was about to dismiss her casually, she had a change of heart. Although players who had just started were nothing, their infinite revival was a concrete advantage. Who could refuse a perfect tool person who was not afraid of death or hard work, and could be made to work diligently with just a little incentive?
This gave Li Wen a new idea.
“How many of you are there?”
The female player was stunned. Could it be… a team quest?
“It’s hard to say. We can get about five or six people.”
Li Wen nodded. “That’s enough. Wait for me at the church entrance tomorrow at noon. This is a deposit.”
She dropped a few copper coins and turned to leave.
