"We were too late," Herald was crestfallen as he stared at the man with a crashed neck from the inside. "They've gotten stronger, we can't keep up if this goes on."
Magnolia covered her mouth as her purple eyes glistened with tears. Her purple hair swayed in the breeze when she turned around, trying hard not to puke. This was the fourth time they failed their mission and until now, she still couldn't get used to seeing a dead person in front of her. "This is cruel. Why are they doing this?"
"It's a matter of kill or be killed. They don't stand a chance over there so they had to come here and get their revenge. It's as simple as that. This isn't even a planned murder. It's just spontaneous as if it's been done by a madman." Ripper spoke. He was troubled by Magnolia's reaction but he didn't know how to speak to her. In the end, he ended up talking about what he thought about the whole situation.
Herald knelt in front of the man, hovering his hand over the man's crushed neck. He closed his cerulean eyes as he tried to sense the life in the man.
Shiiiiing~~~
A golden circle of light appeared on Herald's hand, producing a sound of a sword being unsheathed from its metal scabbard. Herald's blond hair turned into white as the golden circle of light increased in intensity.
"Herald, you don't have to do this. He's already dead, there's no use." Magnolia placed a hand on Herald, trying to convince him.
"I have to at least try." He responded, straining even more as he used more of his Healing Ability.
"Come on, Herald, we have to get out of here. We're in front of a police station!" Ripper hissed as he tried to drag Herald. Even though their levels weren't far apart, Ripper couldn't make Herald budge.
As expected of a Paladin class.
It took at least ten minutes before Herald stopped trying to heal the dead person, and then he gave up. Etched on his face was an expression filled with disappointment and wrath.
"Come on, Herald. We have to go." Ripper urged.
"Herald, let's go," Magnolia said, grabbing Herald by his armpit and forcing him to stand up.
.....
Yuuta still hasn't gotten used to the fact that he already had more than enough money to settle on his own. When he heard about it from his dad, he was shocked as well. Of course, the money he earns fighting in the Underground was not that small but his manager worked hard on depositing the money in small increments so no one would notice. And Rin, who was busy taking care of both the house, the children, and his work, didn't even notice the slight increase in Yuuta's money. When he last checked, he assumed that Yuuta wasn't spending his allowance and he was pretty proud of him for it. In truth, Yuuta doesn't really spend his allowance unless there's a case of an emergency. But even with that, Rin failed to realize that his son's money didn't come wholly from the allowance he gives him.
Even though it had been three weeks since he first started in the game, Yuuta was still level 16 and he still hasn't gotten any other quests that would grant him a title. Sure there were a plethora of quests in Revalia City since it was a city for newbies, however, normal quests aren't really worth it when it comes to rewards. Normal quests would grant 10 Quartz at most and one would need at least 1000 or more Quartz to buy an Epic Weapon. And an Epic Weapon isn't really that great compared to high-ranking weapons since it's just two steps better than a normal weapon.
Up til now, Yuuta still hasn't bought a single weapon in the shop. And a majority of the reason why was because he doesn't actually need it. Right now, all that he did was deliver parcels until he reached level 16. He still hasn't fought with anyone aside from Brooks who was harassing a certain receptionist in the Town Hall. One might think that what Yuuta was doing is very disadvantageous but if a professional MMORPG Gamer would observe him, that individual would say quite the opposite.
Because right now, Yuuta probably knew more about the world Lucid compared to the overall knowledge of all the beta players. Of course, he wasn't leveling up faster than everyone else, but his foundation was so solid that it wouldn't be an understatement to say that Yuuta might very well be one of the greatest beta players in Lucid Dream Server.
Also, Yuuta had finally grasped the situation in the world of Lucid. Based on his surveillance, he realized that most of the high-leveled players have begun exploring different parts of the world of Lucid. Since the world of Lucid is as big as the world, one could spend a lifetime and they wouldn't be able to cover the whole area of the planet. Lucid Dream Server is quite literally an open-world game.
Yuuta also became aware of one thing. There are two types of NPC's in Lucid. A majority of the NPC's are weaklings who can't even hold a candle to the weakest Dreamer. But there were a numbered few who are more powerful than the strongest Dreamer in the world of Lucid. These NPC's are called title-holders and they are great figures in Lucid. NPC's basically bow down to them in great respect.
So far there were only a handful of title-holders known to all Dreamers. They were so powerful that it had been widely accepted to steer clear from their paths because one would die in a flash. If one were to put it in simpler terms, these title-holders are simply the last bosses of the game because of how powerful they are.
Adding to that, Yuuta also became aware of the rift between the NPC's and the Dreamers. To them, the Dreamers are more or less aliens who came from another world to invade their lands. That was the reason why the NPC's are especially hostile to the Dreamers.
And what did the majority of the Dreamers do? Raid dungeons, massacre beasts, pillage villages, and act as if NPC's are nothing but a part of the game. That's why the division between the NPC's and the Dreamers are getting wider and wider as time went on. So far, there were only a handful of people who actually care about the NPC's. Two of them were Miki and Yuuta.
.....
"Please, help me!" Yuuta heard a desperate cry for help as he was walking in the city of Revalia. This was the first time he heard an NPC openly asked for help in the middle of the city so he got curious.
The voice came from a woman in her late twenties. She had brown hair that reached to her hips and brown eyes which were unsurprisingly overflowing with tears. She wore a normal villager outfit of white blouse, a brown skirt that reached to her shins, and a pair of tattered brown shoes. But one thing that was noticeable was the stacks of paper she was holding.
Passers-by and Dreamers alike saw her and didn't even bat an eye. No matter how much she pleaded for help, no one stopped by to take a look at the paper she was miserably trying to show everyone.
Yuuta wondered why no one would even stop to help the poor lady.
Just then, Miki appeared beside him.
"Oh, Yuuta, what are you doing?" Miki greeted, waving her hand.
Yuuta jerked his thumbs in the lady's direction.
"Ah, that." Miki's expression shifted into a saddened one as she heaved a sigh. "Apparently, she lost her daughter while gathering herbs in the nearby forest. Beside that forest is another huge jungle, called the Spirit Jungle, where evil spirits reside. At first, a lot of NPC's helped with the search... but after scouring the whole forest, they couldn't find a single trace of the daughter."
"When did this happen?"
"Three days ago in Lucid time. So one and a half days ago in real-time."
"And this Spirit Jungle? Has any Dreamer ever ventured there? Is it doable?"
"No, apparently the evil spirits there have question marks on their level. We assume that they are beyond level 200. A level 146 Dreamer tried to enter the Demon Jungle once. He died as soon as he took a single step inside. It's impossible to enter the Spirit Jungle without some sort of special equipment."
"But doesn't that smell like a special quest? Or maybe it's a hidden quest? What do you think?" I asked. "And also, she seemed very troubled. I feel a bit crestfallen that no one can't help her."
"If you're thinking about venturing into the Spirit Jungle, then do as you please. That level 146 Dreamer lost 5 levels when he died in the Spirit Jungle. Although there aren't any penalties if you die and your level is below 50, I know for sure that experiencing death is not a pleasant experience in Lucid."
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try?" Yuuta forced a smile as he stood up from where he was, determined to help the lady at all costs.