"This is a token of my appreciation. Please accept it with my thanks."
The Gray Fog Village Chief raised his right hand, and a gray light began to shine from his palm. A moment later, a notification sounded—
System Notification: You have activated the Normal Grade Story Event - "The Gray Fog Village Chief's Request." Quest requirements: The player must bring the Forest Watchman's personal item - Mondite back with them and present it to the Gray Fog Village Chief - Clement.
System Notification: Congratulations, you have completed Story Event - "The Gray Fog Village Chief's Request," and received a story event reward.
You have received 50 points of experience.
You have received a Skill Book - Tempest Sword.
The Gray Fog Village story event was only at a Normal Grade difficulty level.
As such, the reward was only 50 points of experience, but it was still a "decent" reward.
After all, it was difficult to earn experience points in Demon Realm.
In the "Eastern Plains," when players killed a single Gray Wolf, they would be awarded one point of experience. Moreover, as the Gray Wolf was a level zero mob, a player above level two wouldn't receive any experience whatsoever for killing it.
It would take at least two minutes for a normal player to kill a Gray Wolf by themselves.
The reason for this was that, despite being less intelligent than NPCs with a human template, mobs with a wild beast template were bulkier in terms of HP.
Even a level zero Gray Wolf had 80 points of health, though their Attack was only at four or five points.
To put it simply, regular mobs had more HP and a lower Attack stat, so newbie players had an easier time killing them. The trade-off was that it took longer to kill them.
In light of this, when players were training in the wilderness, most of them formed a party to hunt mobs together.
The system provided a small benefit for newbie players. As long as their size didn't exceed five players, if they worked together to kill a Gray Wolf, each of them would receive one point of experience, which wouldn't be shared among the entire party.
If they wanted to kill 50 Gray Wolves, even if they worked as a group, it would still take a significant amount of time.
Just by handing in a simple quest, Ye Kong could get the same results as what a party got through hard labor.
Comparing themselves to Ye Kong would only lead to frustration.
Regular players were unable to receive story events, and there were few other options for them at the start of the game. Hence, they could only go "hunt mobs in the wilderness" or carry out "regular quests."
It should be mentioned here...
Regular quests could be repeated any number of times, but story events were "unrepeatable." Even the most basic Normal Grade story event would end after enough time had passed, or if someone else had completed it (in the case of a story event for individual players).
Furthermore, story events were very hidden. For example, out of the thousands of NPCs in Qingmu Town, more than ninety percent of them were useless regular NPCs, and only a very select few special characters would offer their secret story events.
Regular players couldn't find story events, and the alpha testers used this to get ahead.
Hence, the game wasn't very "fair."
Or perhaps it should be said...
"Demon Realm" was humanity's second world. It provided a new, realistic social model, so the concept of "fairness" didn't exist from the beginning. Players' backgrounds and skills were different from the moment they were "born" into this world—Just like in real life, humans could be categorized into different grades and ranks, and all anyone could do was struggle to climb up the social ladder.
To keep climbing upwards at all costs!
Still, Ye Kong was being even more unfair than the alpha testers, because he even "snatched" a story event that was "in progress"...
As the saying goes, "the good is strong, but the evil is ten times stronger."
At this time...
Ye Kong looked at the story event reward, and couldn't contain his shock—
"Huh? Why is there something missing?!"
According to the records kept by the Yokai Legion Guild, the final reward for "The Gray Fog Village Chief's Request" should have been 50 points of experience, a Skill Book - Tempest Sword, and most importantly, the Special Item - Gray Fog Water.
Just now, the rewards the Gray Fog Village Chief gave him matched the records, with the sole exception of the Gray Fog Water!
The Gray Fog Water was extremely important, and was indispensable to Ye Kong's entire plan!
Even the Skill Book for the "Tempest Sword" skill wasn't nearly as vital as the "Gray Fog Water"!
"Something's not right. The Yokai Legion Guild's records shouldn't be wrong, because during the Luna Lake incident, onmoraki definitely used the 'Gray Fog Water.' I was there on the scene, and I saw it with my own eyes!
"Unless..."
Ye Kong had a hunch and took out the half-broken badge from his backpack—
Badge of the Three Stars (Incomplete): ???
"Mister Clement, if I may ask, do you recognize this object?"
Ye Kong pulled out the half of the badge and held it up in front of the Gray Fog Village Chief.
"This thing is?!"
Shocked, the Gray Fog Village Chief went pale as a sheet, and he unthinkingly cried out in surprise, "Where did you find this thing? This... this thing is... It's a Badge of the Three Stars?!"
Saying this, the Gray Fog Village Chief received the badge and said in a serious voice, "It seems like the area around the village isn't peaceful anymore.
"My dear explorer, would you be willing to lend us your aid?"
System Notification: You have come into contact with Ghostly Mist Devotee - Clement, and have successfully gained his trust. You have activated the Story Event - "Clement's Request." Do you choose to accept the story event? Yes / No
"Just as I expected!"
Ye Kong raised his eyebrows as he analyzed the situation in his mind. "In my past life, the Yokai Legion Guild members didn't kill the Forest Watchman. They only took his Mondite and then brought it back to the Gray Fog Village Chief. After that, the entire story event ended there.
"In this life, I decided to kill the Forest Watchman, so apart from the Mondite, I also got my hands on one half of the Badge of the Three Stars—This was something the Yokai Legion Guild members didn't have back then, so the story event has also adapted to this change accordingly!
"Since the Gray Fog Village Chief only gave me two out of the three rewards, it would seem that the Gray Fog Water is related to this follow-up story event. That would explain why the Gray Fog Village Chief hasn't presented me with the Gray Fog Water as a story event reward!
"This was a hint!"
As he reached this part of his analysis, Ye Kong couldn't help but feel glad. "Thankfully, I knew that the 'Gray Fog Water' was supposed to be a story event reward. Otherwise, if I had just accepted what he gave and left, I would have missed the follow-up story event!
"That was really close! I nearly let a story event slip past me!"
So with this, Ye Kong bowed down slightly and answered out loud:
"I am willing to help you, Mister Clement."
"Wonderful!"
The Gray Fog Village Chief smiled and said, "I would like to request that you head to the Dark Mist Forest to conduct an investigation. The contents of your investigation should be related to the 'moon' and the 'forest.' Of course, I'll provide you with an item that will help you find your way, so you don't stumble around aimlessly like a headless chicken."
Saying all this, the Gray Fog Village Chief took out a small ball, which looked like a glass marble. The inside of the marble was filled with mist, and when the ball was shaken hard, the mist inside would wobble, giving it an extremely mysterious quality.
"Here."
The Gray Fog Village Chief placed the small ball in Ye Kong's hands.
At the same time...
Ye Kong received a system notification—
System Notification: Congratulations, you have accepted the Story Event - "Clement's Request." The difficulty of this event is Elite Grade.
"Elite Grade?!"
Ye Kong's eyelids twitched.
It should be known that the original story event, "The Gray Fog Village Chief's Request," was only a Normal Grade story event. However, it seemed like that story event was just a smokescreen. The real important story event was "Clement's Request," and it was even an Elite Grade difficulty story event!
In the early stages of the game, any Elite Grade story event was extremely challenging!
"Yes, sir!"
Facing the Gray Fog Village Chief, Ye Kong flashed him a genuine smile—
"I swear I won't disappoint you."