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Nothing impressive happened on his way to the Church, apart from the usual glances of the people, but it was when he arrived there that things changed.
Within the Church, Dale saw a group of people arguing with someone else...
He recognized Rodi… And he wasn't alone, he was with his Clan this time.
They were currently trying to get access to the Catacombs, however, it had been blocked off after the players' appearance.
No matter what Rodi said, the guard in front of the staircase did not budge, he allowed Rodi to pass of course, as he was under Dale's orders, but the others weren't allowed.
When he saw Dale, Rodi almost cried, almost begging him for help.
"..."
'What do I do with these people and this guy…'
He ignored the cries for help from Rodi, instead, focusing on his inner thoughts:
'...This might be a good idea....'
'To control the situation, I'll need a representative, a group of players that are in a sense, under my influence.'
'They themselves will suppress other players and prevent chaos from rising.'
Since I already know some of them, they are my best bet.'
'But… I don't quite have the resources to support them, I cannot issue decent quests unless I'm willing to part away with some of my hard-earned Exp…'
Dale was in a bind… He needed to control the players and prevent chaos from setting foot in this place like many other places on the Continent.
This village does not have the means to suppress the players' movements like in the Capital with the Royal guards...
Dale only had money... And albeit that was very appealing to these people, eventually, money falls in value in the face of Exp, unless it's quite substantial.
After frowning slightly, Dale first decided to be done with Rodi and give him his rewards for the past quests, he would think about the rest later.
He first gave him a decent sum of money for his services, and then, he did something unthinkable…
He rewarded him with a 10% Level Exp!
It may be a lot, but deeming their difference in Level, it's not significant for Dale, still, it was his precious, hard-earned progress… Or was it?
The moment he pressed 'confirm' something interesting happened:
[Ding]
[You have issued the rewards for the quests, *****, and *****]
(I'm too lazy to make their names, but if you all want, I'll create a damn name)
[A total of 2.5 Zulls of Iron and 15% Level XP (18) will be consumed]
[The quests Rewards limit has been achieved, a recalculation shall fall in place]
[A total of 1.5 Zulls of Iron and 10% Level XP (18) will be consumed]
[Disclaimer, as an 'Elder' of Resko, you can issue up to 50 quests per day, and access of up to 10 times your current XP value to be used as quest rewards]
"!"
'What? Was there this kind of benefit for being an Elder?... Or perhaps, it was always there, I simply never used XP as a reward before.'
Dale couldn't believe it, but he felt ecstatic.
You can't blame him, Dale was the only player in the world with a position of power in the Continent right now…
Perhaps not the only one, but definitely the one with the most significant one, his position was the second highest in all of Resko, even if shared with a handful of people.
This wasn't just any position, it was the position of an Elder in the village with the highest starting Level out of all other Villages on the Continent.
Even if there is someone else out there with such a position, he surely did not share what he knew with others, and neither would him.
He was threading into unknown territory, and this time, he acted and got a reward without wanting, but next time, that may not be the case.
'With this, I won't need to fear for my Level… I can issue as many quests as I want and the rest will do itself.'
'It's also interesting that there's a reward limit, this means that I can't make a simple quest such as asking someone to fetch me a bucket of water, and then setting the reward to the absolute maximum of 10x my Level, essentially power-boosting someone else into oblivion...'
'Looks like there is a hidden calculation that limits the maximum reward, and if it's surpassed, it changes it to something more fitting.'
'This essentially gives me a base to decrease it even further if I so desire, why always reward the players with the maximum reward?'
'After all, these rewards may be a bit high for what was essentially asking Rodi to give me his scrap loot from the Dungeon, and asking him to relay a message for me.'
'I'll have to keep that in mind for the future… And properly set the rewards so I always come out on top.'
'Although… Even if these mechanics are meant to stop people from abusing this, I'm sure someone will find a way to do so eventually.'
'The people that will take these positions of power will likely be the people that are either very lucky, very capable, or very privileged, so in those circumstances, would it matter if they could abuse such a system?'
'Perhaps it would promote the strong, allowing them to become even stronger, but does that even make a difference?... There are one in a thousand ways for the to become even stronger without the need for such a thing.'
'I'm going off-topic…'
"Sir? Is something wrong? You've been awfully silent…" Rodi asked meekly as he looked at the silent Dale
"Oh? Apologies, I was just thinking about something…" Dale said with a pensive gaze
He looked at the people in front of him and smiled.
"Rodi, from a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the people around you?"
Rodi was caught off guard, he wasn't expecting such a question all of the sudden.
"1 to… 10?" He mumbled to himself
'Is this… A quest I smell?! A party quest!'
"Sir! They…"
"They may not be as strong as me, but I've worked with them for years, our teamwork is refined, and their skills aren't anywhere lower than mine!" He said as he pointed at the people next to him
""...""
They seemed slightly annoyed, but they remained silent.
Dale recognizes one of them, the girl with short dark hair and a pair of glasses.
He recognized her because Rodi was always very respectful to her, meaning she was of a higher position to him...
The reason why she must be following him right now is due to his high Reputation, allowing Rodi to interact with the Villagers and sometimes, even get quests from them.
He had yet to research what group he was part of in order to understand their relationship, this was something he had simply forgotten to do, but it doesn't matter.
…
/5 minutes later.../
The time passed, and Rodi ran his mouth, telling about each of his friends' specialties and abilities…
But Dale did not care about that, so as soon as he got his chance, he said:
"I see, no need to explain further."
"After all, if you're lying or mistaken, the only thing at stake will be your life." He said deeply
"..."
'Looks like it's going to be a big one…'
Dale pointed towards the Catacombs and said:
"I'll allow you to enter with your team on the premise you do some things to me every time you go there."
/Gulp.../
Rodi gulped hard, focusing his attention on Dale's words.
Dale raised his right hand and index finger and said:
"First, like before, I'll ask you to keep collecting materials from within the Catacombs."
"We are in dire need of Metal, and unfortunately, until I clear the Mines, our only source comes from the reanimated bodies of the ancient Soldiers whose metallic equipment has decayed due to the Miasma."
"..."
'The Mines? It's not the first time I heard of this... Looks like it'll be a new zone that will be unlocked soon...' Rodi thought to himself
"I'll pay you handsomely for this task, and I'll put in a bonus for things such as a map of the regions you go through, and even a description of the creatures you find there, something I wasn't capable of doing when I was there."
"But there are some conditions for this, first, you must never go to the 5th floor, it's mostly for your safety than anything else, but if you do, be ready for consequences if I were to find out…"
Rodi shook his head, he would never defy him...
"And although I find it difficult for you all to survive beyond even the 3rd floor, in the off chance you're forced to take the plunge, make sure to return to the surface as soon as possible as to reduce casualties or contact with the Miasma."
"In no circumstances are you all to dive deeper, and in case you find something such as hidden entrances to somewhere unknown or a hole leading deeper into unexplored territory, report to me immediately together with any sort of strange activity you encounter while you're down there."
"I'll give you a bonus and allow you to explore the sewers as well, but remember, you have a daily quota to achieve if you want to keep exploring the Catacombs."
"But in the off chance you have time to explore there, I also wouldn't mind giving extra rewards for any unusual items you may find in the sewers, including once again, any strange activity you see there."
"Still, while you're there, you're prohibited from diving further into the sewers, I'm talking about the Submerged Sewers, you know very well where that is." Dale said as he looked at Rodi
"Understood sir!" Rodi replied like a soldier
"..."
'This guy... Forget it.'
Dale shook his head and said:
"In case one of you gets hurt and can't participate anymore, I won't be stiff and I'll allow a replacement."
'Although I think that won't happen, either a player will die and respawn after a set period of time with a penalty, or they'll drink a potion/wait until their HP is full again.'
"Pretty much, I'll be allowing 5 people to accompany you at any time, so it doesn't matter who it is, as long as they are with you when they enter the Catacombs, if they aren't they'll be barred entry."
"Did you get all of that, or do I need to repeat myself?" Dale asked with a serious expression
"I did sir! Loud and clear." Rodi said with a salute
'Oh boy, what a quest!... With this, my position will...'
"Good." Dale replied, pleased
'Any moment now…'
[DING!]
[You have created the Repeatable Daily Quest: Cleanup Squad 1]
[The conditions and terms have been determined, as long as they're fulfilled, the quest will renew itself until it fails, or you end it yourself]
[You have delivered the task of completion to another player]
[This quest is currently under the jurisdiction of player: The_Third_Egg]
"I'll be going first then." Dale said as he took a step further
He nodded towards the guard and patted his shoulder before taking a step down into the dark…
But he stopped and said:
"Also, I forgot to mention it, but I'll remind you to not raid the tombs of the fallen soldiers."
"You can check if they're already open, but do not open them yourselves."
'I know that things change when players enter a Dungeon, but just to be sure, it would be better if Teestros didn't come back and saw all of the tombs open and violated.'
And with that, he left, leaving behind a group of excited and confused players…
"..."
'I always thought those tombs were either map props or traps, I had no idea they could be opened…' Rodi thought to himself after he heard Dale speak
'In any case… I hit the jackpot this time! Time to Livestream!...'
He then looked towards the short-haired lady, who was smiling dangerously.
"You weren't thinking of streaming this very sensitive information, right?" She said deeply
"Eh? What do you think of me? Of course not!" Rodi replied with confidence
"... Alright then, share the content of the quest with us if that's the case, there's a lot to go through, in the meantime, I'll contact the Guild leader." She said as she fixed her glasses
"Yes, Ma'am…"
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Notes