The time in the game spent was the same in real life. Maria woke up early and logged in the game after eating breakfast. "Oh, what beautiful daybreak in Argos!" The sky was golden yellow but there were traces of dark clouds. She logged out near the Town Chief's place yesterday and came back on the same spot today. She completed two quests yesterday, but it didn't give out experience points as rewards. Instead, she got affinity points and a bottle of stinky balm. She thought the rewards were stingy.
She also checked out the blacksmith's place and prices were astronomical! She couldn't afford any of the armors and weapons there. She was poor. Her inventory was basically empty. "So, let's start earning money today!" she shouted vigorously while smiling.
Yesterday, when she talked to the town chief, she learned that she can pick up quests from the town hall's bulletin board, aside from NPCs. Although he welcomed Maria to Argos, he didn't give her a quest at all. (So stingy!) Maria located the town hall and read the notice for some quests. She needed a quest that won't jeopardize her safety since she didn't have a weapon yet. So, she picked a gathering quest.
[You picked a quest.]
[Gather withered weeds near the southern gate of Argos. Do you want to accept it? Y/N]
[Quest Information: The alchemist of Argos heard about the weeds withering in the south gate. He needs you to gather 50 withered weeds so he can find out the reason behind this phenomenon.]
[Quest Reward: 20 exp/50 copper]
"Isn't this too crap for a reward?!" She decided to do it anyway. It didn't require anything but just to gather. She accepted the quest and headed to the location specified in the quest. When she reached the gate, she's already too tired to move. She sat down, legs crossed, and meditated. Her vitality was recovering. "Oh, so you can recover if you meditate. This position is like when you cultivate. But I can't believe that walking will use up my vitality! What was Peter thinking when he designed this?"
[Ting.]
[You gained Insight.]
"Oh? I got a new skill just by sitting down. Pfft!" She stood up and went to the location specified on the quest information to gather withered weeds. They were really withered, looking at the poor appearance of the weeds. She was having a hard time gathering them though since she didn't use any tool. "These weeds look real and the smell--"
[You died.]
(WTF? How?)
[Returning to town in 5...4...3...2...1]
Maria re-spawned in the nearest saving point in the town. "What the hell happened? How did I die?" She felt she's too noob for this game. Although she has played so many games in the past, this Inheritance Kingdom was completely on a different scale. She was even unaware of the danger and she died without even knowing why. She checked her HP bar and it is now empty. She sat and meditated until she fully recovered.
She headed to the spot again. This time, she checked her surroundings. She became aware of the faint dark mist emitting from the ground.
[Ting.]
[Your Insight leveled up.]
Maria was surprised. "Oh, so the Insight was activated not by meditation but the realization or awareness." She gathered withered weeds while avoiding the faint dark mist. (So, the mist was really the reason I died. It could be poisonous mist, and if the weeds were poisoned, it would be fatal to smell it. Duh! I smelled it earlier.)
[Withered weeds: 50/50]
She returned to town and looked for the alchemist requesting the withered weeds. The alchemy tower was located near the north gate, so it was a bit of a long walk for her. She ran to save time but ended up getting tired. (Too tiring!) She sat down to recover her health. "Aaargh! This is too much! I need a mover."
When she delivered the withered weeds to the master alchemist in the tower, he thanked her. Albion was the only master alchemist NPC in Argos.
[Quest Completed.]
Maria collected her reward. The experience points she collected were not enough to level up. She stayed as level one apparently. "Oh, by the way, Sir Albion."
"Yes?" The NPC halted and turned to look at Maria.
"When I collected the weeds, I noticed a faint dark mist emitting from the ground." Maria just said that without thinking since there were no other players inside the game. Her saliva would spoil if she would not talk. So, she just talked to the NPC out of this reasoning. Realizing this, she laughed to herself. "This is crazy!"
But surprisingly, the alchemist became curious. "Oh? You said a dark mist is present in the area where you collected the weeds?"
Maria got excited. (Wow, this is a real conversation with an NPC! How cool is this?) Maria nodded. "Indeed."
"What is your name?" asked Albion.
"My name is Ma- I mean, Blumock."
Albion nodded. "Blumock, the information you provided was indeed valuable. Not many people are as observant as you." He patted Maria's shoulder lightly. "This is a key to find out why the weeds are withering."
[Ting.]
[You earned +1 Affinity points]
[You found a Quest Chain. Do you want to accept it? Y/N]
"Yes." Maria got excited. A linked quest!
[You accepted a quest.]
"Blumock, please gather a sample of the dark mist and bring it to me. Take this vial with you."
Alchemist Albion handed her an empty vial. She read the quest information carefully. "Sir Albion, I have a feeling that the mist is poisonous. It might kill me while getting samples." She remembered she died earlier.
"You are right, Blumock. Excuse this old man's negligence for your safety. Please use this poison antidote if you get exposed to it." He handed Maria another vial but this time it had a light pink liquid inside.
"Thank you, Sir Albion. I will be on my way." She trod happily to the south gate. But before she went outside, she sat down again to recover her health. (This is crazy! Why do I have very low stamina?) While meditating, she recounted her conversation with Albion.
The NPCs in the game seemed almost like players when conversing. There is no pattern, although they still stick to their designated role. (How cool is that? If I keep on speaking with them, will they give me a hidden quest or something? Even the affinity points were given to me outside the quest. Hmm...What could be the rules in gathering these points? Should I ask Peter about it? But it is not fun if I get the info from him. Or maybe he won't answer at all.) There were a lot of questions in her mind. (I wonder if the online version is different.)
When she reached the area, she picked up a stick with a forked stem. She ripped a longleaf to thinner strips and tied the vial to the forked stem. "I won't take any risk. I do not want to die again. That would be embarrassing if I die again. Although no one would know, my pride will still be hurt!" She extended the stem and once the vial reached the dark mist, she scooped it. She retrieved the vial to cover it with a cork. She was surprised with another message.
[Ting.]
[You gained Wisdom.]
"Oh? Another passive skill. Hehehe."
She returned to the alchemist tower and completed her quest chain.
[You leveled up.]
"At last! I leveled up, I am so happy and goddamn tired!"
Albion gave her another affinity point when she attempted to return the unused poison antidote to him. "Should I pursue gaining affinity points with master alchemist Albion?" She was considering this idea. Alchemists were respectable beings. Maria was thinking if Albion would take her as an apprentice if she reached a certain affinity point. She smiled brightly. If she would become an alchemist, she could create her own potions to use and could also sell them. It would be a profitable trade. "Then I will not be poor anymore. Huhuhu."