.....
Lawless: Hey! Brother Sickarius, I have a good and a bad news for you. What you want to hear first?
'What is with this guy now?' Shin knitted his brows when he saw that message. He thought for a moment before replying.
Sickarius: Let's go with the bad one first.
Lawless immediately replied after.
Lawless: Remember that guy you have beaten up before? He is quite a narrow-minded guy, he asked a permission from his superiors to send a group players to hunt you down. And because of your fight with them become viral in the forums, and causing their guild to lose some face, they have agreed to it.
Shin read the message carefully before asking for the good one.
Sickarius: How about the good one?
Lawless: The good news is that even though the higher-ups of the 'HeadHunter Guild' agreed to it, they have just send the orders to their subordinate guilds.
Sickarius: And you still call it a good news? (With a twitching expression smiley face)
Lawless: Haha... That is still better than being haunted by the bunch of Elite Players of a Powerhouse Guild. (Rolling on the ground while laughing emoji)
Shin ignored the rest of messages before walking forward. Then he entered an inn to rent a room, because he just have discovered that a players can get a '30% EXP Boost' for a day(In Game Time) if they stayed on the inn for an hour. And he will level-up faster if he add it to his 'x2 EXP Boost'.
And while he is waiting, Shin connects to the «Destiny's Fate» online forums to see if he can find some helpful informations.
The first thing he do is to find who are the subordinate Guilds of the 'HeadHunter Guild'. After finding all of that, he memorized all the names of all those guilds and he engraved all of their emblems in his mind.
"Tsk, Powerhouses sure are worthy of their names. Aside from having powerful players, they also have these Lower Guilds to act as their fighting dogs." Thought Shin, the moment he saw the list of subordinate Guilds of the 'HeadHunter Guild'.
After memorizing all of it, he browses on the top topics of the Forums, to kill more time. And as Shin is browsing, a topic caught his eyes with a title of 'A Newbie Beats A Veteran'.
He clicked the link and played the video in it. What he saw after was just like he have expected, he saw himself fighting Gray Fangs and his party members.
The video lasted only for five minutes, it is a short video but it already have gotten tens of millions of views. Shin watch the entire video and do some self-reflection after.
He is about to read some comments, when he suddenly changed his mind. After all, most of the comments on it are just some idle talk of players that don't have anything better to do.
Shin burned all of his remaining time on browsing some other topics. And an hour just passed just like that.
Shin stand up, to go some hunting on his usual place. And after some hesitation he unequipped all of his items, because those items are quite eye-catching for those guilds that are looking for him, especially his mask. Even though there might be some players that have the same equipment set as him, he still thought against it. After all, it is better to be careful than sorry.
.....
Shin arrive at the Dark Swamp after few minutes of walking, then he equip his items as he get near. But the moment he got in there he saw a person laying on the ground not far from the edge of the Swamp.
Shin immediately run towards the person when he noticed it. From the the clothes that the person were wearing, you can guess that he is a soldier from the City.
Shin bent down and checked to see if the soldier is still alive, while using the 'Scouting' skill at the same time.
...
Name: (NPC) Howard
Level: 50
Race: Human
Class: City Guard
Status: Lethally Wounded
....
'Oh....!? An NPC? Heh, I can smell a quest already.' smirked Shin the moment he saw the soldier's information.
After confirming that Howard is still alive, Shin try to wake him up by tapping the soldier's face with a little force. "Hey, brother! This is not a good place to take a nap. I think it is better if you find another place "
"Hmmm...." Howard started to get his consciousness back because of Shin's continues tapping. Of course, the first person that he saw is Shin. "Oh...? Young Adventurer from the other world. I-It is good t-thing that you ma- manage to find me. Bu- But too bad, I am still about to da- die."
'What is with this kind of drama? I'm not good at these kind of situations.' thought Shin in his mind before asking to Howard. "What happened brother that you end up on this state?"
"A-A monster horde a-attacked our military camp la-last night, re- resulting for the Seventh Outpost to be destroyed. I-I manage to escaped, bu- but still end up in this s-state in the process." said Howard before reaching on the left side of his waist and taking out a coin token on it. Then he raised it slowly trying to hand it over to Shin, while saying. "Go to the C-City Palace and t-tell to the K-King that the Seventh O-Outpost have fallen. And T-They need to send someone t-to re-retrieve the 'Royal Chalice'."
The moment Shin reach out for the token, Howard immediately have taken his last breath, changing his status from 'Lethality Wounded' to 'Deceased'.
At same time, a familiar sound rings at Shin's ears, together with a quest notification window.
*DING!!!*
System: Quest Initiated. The Seventh Outpost of the Holy City have been attacked by a Monster Horde, resulting for it to be ruined.
System: Since you reach out for the token, it is considered that you have accepted the quest. Go to the City Palace and inform the King on what have happened.
...
Quest Name: Monster Horde
Quest type: Main Quest (A Grade)
Quest Details: A Monster Horde have razed a Military Camp to the ground, resulting for the destruction of the Seventh Outpost.
Quest Condition: Report to King Cassius about what have happened on the Seventh Outpost and wait for the more instructions.
Quest Progress (0%)
????
Quest Reward:
+3 levels
Special item related to your Class
+3 000 Reputation on the Holy City
+100 Fame
????
Quest Penalty:
-5 levels
A large decrease on Reputation in Holy City
-200 Fame
...
"What's with that kind of penalties? From what I have discovered from the Forums, The Quest difficulty outside the Beginner's Village are vastly different inside. Then it means that this 'A Grade Main Quest' required a strong party to be cleared." said Shin to himself when he saw the details of the quest.
"Should I invite some party members to clear this quest? But I don't have any friends aside from Lawless and Faker." Thought Shin for a moment before forgetting about it immediately. "Nah, never mind it for now. I'll consider about it once I've got the instructions from the King. If it is a time limited quest that I can't be cleared, then I'll asked for Brother Lawless help, but if it is not then I'm going to do it myself."
Then he take a look at token at his hand and inspect it.
.....
Item Name: Holy City Royal Token
Item Type: Etc.
Item Rank: Special (Quest Item)
Details: A special token that have been given by the Holy Spirit Royal Family to those people that they have owed a favor.
.....
The token coin size is enough to be seize by a hand of grown up man. On its first side, engraved an inverted sword with a pair of Angel wings on its back, while the other side have a Holy Spirit words engraved on it.
Shin put the token in his inventory before crashing a Return Scroll, for him to go back to the City square.
*Swoosh!*
Shin appeared on the teleportation hall in the center of the City Square. After taking a look at the surroundings, Shin directly went to the City Palace to get his instructions for his newly acquired quest.
Because Shin is too occupied by the details about the quest, he forgot to take off his equipments and about him being wanted by the subordinate guilds of the 'HeadHunter Guild'.
As Shin walk though the crowd, some players that keeping an eye on the City Square noticed him. They reported to their higher ups before going after Shin and tail him from a safe distance.
Shin felt something wrong as he walked though the City Streets. He turned his head left and right trying act normal as possible, then few moments later he got the whole picture of the situation.
"Tsk, so that's what happening. These guys that were trailing me, should be the dogs of those subordinate guilds that had branded me as a wanted person. *Sigh* I forgot to swapped my equipments with the beginners one, because I'm too occupied by my Main Quest." said Shin to himself while slapping his forehead.
Then after a couple of minutes on walking, Shin finally arrived at his destination.
"Halt! Stay were you are Kid! You are not authorized to enter the Palace, one more step and you will be executed without mercy." said one of the Palace Guard at the entrance.
'Quite strict on you security Huh? Even an Envoy of a Church like me can't enter. Or is it because that I am still not an official Envoy yet?' thought Shin before taking out the token that he got from Howard, and show it to the Palace Guard. "I come here to report something urgent to the King."
The Palace Guard is startled when he saw the emblem engraved on the surface of the token. He stared at it intensely for at least a minute, before putting his right hand fist in front of his left chest and said while bowing his head. "I'm sorry my Lord, I didn't intended to be rude at you earlier."
'Eh!? This scrap metal actually have this kind of effect?' Shin didn't expect that the token in his hands have that kind of impact. Then after recovering himself, he replied to the guard with a dignified manner. "Forget about it, you are just doing you job responsibly. So can I enter now?"
"Yes my Lord, please follow me and I will inform the King for your request of audience." said the Palace Guard with more respective tone, while inviting Shin inside.
The whole event are witnessed by all the scouts that have trailed Shin, resulting for them to immediately report to their higher ups.
"Sir, The target entered the City Palace, and from the looks of it, he went there to get some quest."
"Boss, it looks like the target have a very high status in the City. It is because he have just entered the Palace unhindered."
"Elder, I trailed the target and he entered the City Palace, escorted by the Guard on the gate."
"Captain, Looks like the target just have got a quest in the City Palace. What are we going do?"
.....
Inside the City Palace, Shin was escorted by the Palace Guard in the audience hall, where King Cassius was waiting.
When Shin arrived in front of the stairs of the King's platform, he put his right hand fist in front of chest before bowing his head. "Greetings your Majesty."
But before King Cassius opens his mouth, a Royal Guard on the platform steps shout at Shin. "How dare you not to kneel in front of the King!? You lowly Being from the Other World!"
Shin knitted his brows because of the Royal Guards words, but he can't complain about it since the Royal Guard is a lot stronger than him.
King Cassius raise his right hand, telling for the Royal Guard to stop. "I've heard that you have something urgent to tell me, young Envoy from the Church of the Sun and the Moon."
"Yes your Majesty" said Shin while taking a the Token out. Then he show it to King Cassius before saying. "I've got this from Soldier Howard. And he told me that their Military Camp have been attacked by a Monster Horde, and the Seventh Outpost was destroyed."
King Cassius frown his brows when he heard what Shin have said. Then he fell on a deep thought before asking again. "Is that all? Did he say something more?"
"He also said that you need to send some people to retrieve the Royal Chalice." replied Shin almost immediately.
King Cassius think for a moment before saying to Shin. "The Seventh Outpost should be field by monsters now. We need some time to organized our troops to go in there. So I would like to asked you, if you want to help us buy some time until our troops are ready."
*Ding!*
System: Quest update. King Cassius become trouble because of what have happened on the Seventh Outpost, and he would like to you to buy them some time until the Royal Army organized some troops to send in there.
Would you like to Accept? YES or NO
Note: The favorability of the King on you will drop enormously if you decline.
'Isn't this the same as forcing me to accept thus quest?' Thought Shin before nodding his head, indicating that he have accepted the quest.
When King Cassius saw that Shin nodded, he smiled and also nod at Shin with approval. Then opens his mouth and give his instructions. "Good! Then this is what will you have to do. Go on the Seventh Outpost and scout the area while clearing some monsters there. You also need to protect the Royal Chalice until the reinforcement arrive."
The King paused for a moment before giving Shin a Key and box, after some hesitation. "You can also retrieve the Royal Chalice if you have the chance. That key can open the chamber where that Royal Chalice is, while you can use that box to store the Chalice. But if something unexpected happened, destroy the Chalice without hesitation."
After that, another system notification ring on his ears together with the Quest Update window.
*Ding!*
System: Quest have been updated.
.....
Quest Name: Monster Horde
Quest type: Main Quest (A Grade)
Quest Details: A Monster Horde have razed a Military Camp to the ground, resulting for the destruction of the Seventh Outpost.
Quest Condition:
1. King Cassius asked you to scout the Seventh Outpost and clear some monsters in the process. And wait for the reinforcements to arrived.
2. Retrieve the Royal Chalice from the Seventh Outpost when you have gotten a chance.
3. Destroy the Royal Chalice before it lands on the hands of the wrong person.
Quest Progress (0%)
- Days before the Royal Army Arrive 0/20
(Will only starts when you arrived at the scene)
Note: You need to arrived at Seventh Outpost within two days or else you will automatically fail the quest.)
- Retrieved Royal Chalice 0/1 and bring it to the City Palace.
Quest Reward:
+3 levels
Special item related to your Class
+3 000 Reputation on the Holy City
+100 Fame
????
Quest Penalty:
-5 levels
A large decrease on Reputation in Holy City
-200 Fame
.....
"This quest is quite odd. There are a lot of suspicious things that I need to look for." muttered Shin as he walked out the City Palace while looking at his quest suspiciously.
"Hmm... There are three choices on the Quest Conditions, could it mean that it gave different kind of rewards based on the Conditions that have met? But why there are no choices on the quest rewards? Maybe on the bonus rewards then?" Shin is analyzing some parts of his quest when disregard the thought almost immediately. It is because he felt some malicious gazes directed at him.
Shin looked left and right around him before muttering to himself. "Hmm?... Now what should I do to shake off these pest?"
.....