novelraw Chapter 7 : Chapter 7
Chapter 7 : Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Lightning looked at the list of quests in his interface. Most of the quests issued by Village Chief Sain were level five or higher, which was a little too difficult for their current level.
However, the level-zero quests were still very simple. But once he looked at the quest descriptions, they seemed extremely boring.
【Beginner Quest · Repair the Village (1)
Quest Description: The village ravaged by demons is full of damage everywhere. The villagers must repair their homes in order to survive the harsh winter. Kind warrior, please help the villagers gather enough wood.
Quest Supplement: Find the warehouse manager Sean and submit Wood ×10 (repeatable).
Quest Reward: EXP ×10, Copper Coins ×10, Obtain Skill 【Woodcutting】】
“Repair the Village” was a chain quest. By submitting wood, stone, and scrap iron in sequence, players could obtain the skills 【Woodcutting】, 【Mining】, and 【Blacksmithing】.
Likewise, “Stockpile Winter Food” was also a chain quest. By submitting fruit, a vine called “Fluff Grass,” and demon materials, players could obtain the skills 【Gathering】, 【Appraisal】, and Skinning.
The beginner quests did not require much technical skill, and the experience and in-game currency rewards were limited.
However, the skills were extremely tempting.
Although they were only basic abilities, the truth was that without these fundamental skills the overall game experience would suffer.
“This is ridiculous. In other games, aren’t these skills unlocked with just two clicks?!” Although the realism of a full-dive game was pleasantly surprising, actually performing the actions was a bit frustrating.
There were quite a few trees inside the village itself, but quick-handed players had already taken them. Lightning and his two companions had arrived too late and could only explore outside the village.
Since they would have to travel a long distance from the spawn point to reach the outside of the village anyway, the three of them decided to accept every quest available inside the village first.
“The map is way too big. Running around is exhausting. Isn’t there something like mounts?”
“I checked the game shop. There’s nothing! Where’s the first recharge bonus?! I want to spend money! Let me spend money! I want a mount—I want a dragon!!!”
“Seriously, can you stop being so tacky? Every time you enter a game, you start talking about riding dragons. Can you have a little ambition?”
“So what mount would you choose?”
“Uh… probably a dragon.”
The thoughts of players always jumped wildly from topic to topic. They went from praise to complaints, then to discussing what kind of dragon they wanted to raise in the future, and then to searching for hidden maritime treasures.
Their chatter never stopped.
The originally desolate village suddenly became lively.
Tata Village was not a large village. The entire population was only a little over three hundred people. Most of them were children, and elderly residents were extremely rare.
Most of the people who issued quests to the players were teenagers around fifteen or sixteen years old.
For example, the boy is currently giving them a quest.
He appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old. His body was thin and frail, and his face was pale, as if a strong gust of wind might blow him away. At first glance, he looked like someone with no combat ability whatsoever.
“Honored warrior ‘Ten Billion Volts,’ I need some dye to make clothing. Could you please help me gather some ‘Seven-Leaf Flower,’ ‘Redheart Grass,’ and ‘Pennywort’?”
【System Notification: You have accepted the quest ‘Victor’s Request’.】
【Victor’s Request
Quest Description: Victor needs some herbs to create dye. Please gather Seven-Leaf Flower ×10, Redheart Grass ×10, Pennywort ×10.
Quest Reward: Copper Coins ×30, EXP ×300, Obtain Skill 【Sewing】】
Ten Billion Volts agreed immediately.
However, his gaze did not shift away.
From his angle, he could see the interior furnishings of the house through the half-open door behind the NPC.
Ten Billion Volts rolled his eyes slightly, and it became difficult for him to look away from the house behind the NPC.
The empty room inside did not contain much furniture.
But that did not mean there was nothing there.
According to the game’s setting, the villagers were extremely poor.
But to the Fourth Calamity, setting descriptions were merely settings.
Expecting players to immediately immerse themselves in the perspective of local residents the moment they entered the game would be as unrealistic as hoping that the Void Demons suddenly developed empathy, realized their sins, and committed suicide out of guilt.
Ten Billion Volts, Lightning, and Night Arbiter exchanged no words.
The moment their eyes met, they instantly understood each other’s plan.
—Rob it!
“Honored warriors, ‘Seven-Leaf Flower,’ ‘Redheart Grass,’ and ‘Pennywort’ mostly grow in the forests outside the village. Those areas lie beyond the village’s protective boundary and often contain Void Demons. Please be very careful.”
Victor’s green eyes sparkled brightly as he looked at the three players.
His gaze was filled with admiration.
Even though he knew they were merely level-zero “ordinary people,” he showed not the slightest hint of contempt.
After all, they were “Chosen Ones” personally confirmed by divine oracle!
Victor’s words were sincere, and his concern for them was genuine.
However, to players, NPC dialogue was nothing more than pre-written game text.
This small amount of verbal gratitude could not move the so-called Fourth Calamity.
Lightning originally wanted to raise his staff to add a little intimidation.
Unfortunately, his beginner staff had already been picked up by another player as a “gift from nature.”
He could only wave his fist forcefully instead.
“Arbiter, hold this kid down! Ten Billion Volts, charge in with me!”
Victor seemed to be intimidated by the words “Arbiter.”
In the legends passed down through generations, the temple a thousand years ago had possessed a judicial institution called the Tribunal.
It judged all crimes and injustices and symbolized absolute righteousness.
Victor firmly believed that his faith in the Creator was sincere and without guilt.
He had done nothing shameful.
He could absolutely withstand the Tribunal’s judgment!
Therefore, the moment he was restrained by “Night Arbiter,” he did not resist.
Instead, he said with solemn righteousness, “It is my honor to receive the judgment of the Father God!”
Just as expected, Night Arbiter easily restrained him.
Ten Billion Volts and Lightning successfully rushed into the house and began rummaging through everything.
While robbing the place openly, the three of them continued complaining.
“Did this NPC bug out? I thought the NPCs in this game would be extremely intelligent. Turns out he’s just following preset dialogue scripts.”
“Arbiter, poke him a few more times. See if he says any other lines. Maybe we can unlock more quests.”
They had been inside the game for less than an hour.
Most of that time had been spent running across the map.
Although they were impressed by the huge world map and the sense of immersion that made it feel like a real world, it was also extremely time-consuming.
Since they were not story-focused players and had no interest in digging into every NPC’s background story, their impression of NPCs remained limited to “a little smarter than those in traditional online games.”
Night Arbiter also assumed that poking the NPC might trigger additional dialogue.
So he began poking Victor repeatedly.
Victor: “???”
Victor did not understand.
Confusion and innocence flickered in his clear green eyes.
But Night Arbiter did not give him much time to process his thoughts.
The constant poking forced him out of his momentary contemplation.
He looked at the two people who had barged into his home.
Especially at Night Arbiter, who was restraining him.
Pain and betrayal slowly surfaced in his emerald eyes.
Night Arbiter stood closest to him, and the emotional shock in Victor’s gaze struck him sharply.
“Hey, hey, don’t look at me like that. I didn’t do anything morally outrageous. It’s just a robbery. Does robbing an NPC even count as robbery?”
After a brief moment of guilt, Night Arbiter quickly stiffened his posture again, using his much taller height to intimidate Victor.
He muttered quietly, “It’s just a game. Why make it so realistic? Once we take the stuff, it’ll probably respawn later anyway.”
“Are you really here to save us?”
Victor’s eyelashes trembled gently. Tears gathered in his eyes.
His beautiful eyes were as clear as water from a stream, making anyone who saw them feel an instinctive sense of guilt.
Night Arbiter opened his mouth, about to say something.
But inside the house, Ten Billion Volts suddenly shouted excitedly.
“Whoa! We hit the jackpot! There’s a whole box of copper coins here! They’re not just textures either—I can actually pick them up and put them in my inventory. This is amazing!”
The moment his voice ended, Victor’s furious shout rang out.
“You shameless thieves and robbers! Your behavior disgraces our merciful Lord! I will judge you in the name of justice!”
Those copper coins had been painstakingly gathered by Lord Saliel after traveling between several outposts.
Victor’s anger had almost become tangible.
But Lightning, famous for playing villainous characters in his streams, was not frightened in the slightest.
Instead, he laughed wickedly.
“Kid, stop resisting! You can scream all you want—no one is coming to save you. Just accept your fate!”
Ten Billion Volts wore the triumphant grin of a petty villain. His originally gentle face with a charm value of six now looked particularly sinister.
“Kid, look at that fragile body of yours. Look at those wrists that could snap with barely any effort. You want to judge us? If you’re trying to act like those ‘thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river’ protagonists, at least grow stronger first!”
The two of them played along with each other’s villainous act and even invited Night Arbiter to join their little villain troupe.
Night Arbiter immediately threw away his earlier guilt and joined them.
“Kehehehe—”
“Hehehe—”
“Hahaha—”
“System Notification: Victor’s favorability toward you has dropped to −100. Tata Village reputation −10. Quest ‘Victor’s Request’ has failed.”
To players, NPC favorability and reputation were actually quite useful metrics.
After all, no one knew whether future quests might require certain levels of favorability or reputation.
But were they important enough to make players abandon their mischievous nature and behave obediently?
Not quite.
It did not matter.
They could always increase favorability and reputation later by giving the NPC more gifts.
The three of them thought indifferently.
After a brief pause of two seconds, their villainous laughter resumed.
“Ke—”
“He—”
“Ha—”
Victor raised his staff.
A complicated incantation left his lips.
The three players’ vision suddenly went black.
Then items exploded across the ground.
Not only the stolen goods but also their beginner equipment and starting copper coins all dropped.
Lightning: “Huh?”
Night Arbiter: “Huh?”
Ten Billion Volts: “Huh?”