"Are you done choosing the quest?" Irene asked as she finished dealing with the current adventurer.
Saad nodded, feeling excited as he put the page down. The feeling of everything being hyper-realistic in the game was making him forget that he was even playing a game at all. It was almost like another reality.
Irene looked at the quest he chose and sighed, "I shouldn't be saying this, but I don't recommend doing this one. It's been left alone for a reason." Saad raised his eyebrow, intrigued by her warning. "What do you mean? You can't just say that and expect me to understand."
Irene hesitated for a moment before explaining, "It's a chain quest, and the requirements change every time. It remains 'novice level,' but that doesn't mean it's easy. You will be stuck with this quest, maybe even for a month, and it barely pays much. Experience points are also scarce. The NPC who hands it over is also extremely hard to work with. I know you probably expect some amazing reward at the end, but even the few people who completed it got the same puny rewards. He keeps reissuing the quest to mess with people." Saad's hopes dwindled with every word from Irene, but he still wanted to try. If, by any chance, it really ended up being as unimportant and difficult as she said, then he would stop. However, he couldn't let go of a special quest just because she advised against it.
If by any chance, it really ended up being as unimportant and difficult as Irene had said then he would stop but how could he stop without even trying, but then he remembered something really important. The special quest given by Lavinia!
'If I don't level up fast, I will end up losing the reward in plain sight.' Seeing the chain quest, in his excitement he almost forgot about the 30 days limit of the other quest. He sighed with a glum look in his green eyes and Irene, as if sympathizing with him, took another quest out, "Here look at this. I recommend this one." He took the page, and read through the details. It was a pretty straight forward quest.
[Drusilla's Encyclopedia]
Drusilla, the novice herbalist, is on a journey to compile an encyclopedia of local herbs for her master. Assist Drusilla in becoming a skilled herbalist.
- Quest Details -
[Empty Encyclopedia]: 0/1
[Herbs Collected]: 0/10
Difficulty: E
Rewards:
Hesperia Flowers +5
Quills: +10
Experience Points: +10
Saad glanced at the quest details and found it to be quite straightforward. He was particularly intrigued by the reward resource, Hesperia Flowers. However, with a heavy heart, he decided to return the other quest to Irene, resolving to tackle it later if time permitted. "I will be accepting this one then," he informed Irene, who responded with a professional smile before using her authority to officially assign the quest to Saad., "Assigning novice quest Drusilla's Encyclopedia to Kael Emberflame." The quest paper faintly glowed before returning to its original state.
Seeing Saad's extremely curious gaze, Irene felt almost pressured into speaking abut it, "Just entering it into the system." Saad look a little awkward realizing how hard he had been staring and tried to smile his way out of it, "….So I just start working on it now?" He asked folding the paper and putting it away in his pocket.
"You can. But it's better if you inform Drusilla first." Irene told him and Saad did want to ask the reason of why he should be informing the NPC but he felt bad asking her about so much. As if it was help from above but someone who was listening onto their conversation spoke from behind, "It's better if you treat them as politely as you would treat real people. It would make things easier for you."
It was a handsome and muscular player named Alf, who seemed to have a more powerful character. Saad wanted to thank him for the advice but decided to quietly slip away instead, not wanting to interrupt Alf's conversation with Irene.
As Saad left the adventurer's association, he pondered his next steps. Should he begin working on Drusilla's Encyclopedia right away and gather all the herb first and then go see her, or should he inform her first and possibly also get the empty encyclopedia from her? Taking Alf's advice to heart, he thought it would be best to approach the NPC politely before starting the quest. Making up his mind, he ventured off to find Drusilla.
Saad stepped out and opened the map of Seraphia, spotting a glowing silver mark with the name "Drusilla" written on it. He set it as his destination and decided to jog there, taking in the sights of the town along the way. Seraphia felt like a real world with children playing and people going about their daily lives. Various training guilds and the Class Changing Tower, the Serpent's Den, caught his attention, though not many players were present yet due to the recent launch of the game. He considered whether to focus on training his basic stats or level up to earn more status points, a decision he still needed to ponder.
After a ten-minute jog, Saad arrived at an old-looking alley that opened up into a circular space with houses and shops around. There he saw a young girl's back as she was engaged in a heated argument with an NPC. Not wanting to approach when she was in a bad mood, Saad decided to wait. The young girl had short pastel pink hair with dark pink tips, wearing peculiar clothes adorned with flame stones.
"What are you staring at? Are you sent by the association?" she snapped at Saad without even looking his way, clearly irritated. "Go away. I am not in the mood for talking!"
"I came here to help you with the encyclopedia," Saad quickly interjected to get her attention, but she ignored him and struggled to drag a heavy-looking sack inside her shop. Frustrated, she grumbled while trying to manage the sack on her own.
Ignoring her initial retorts, Saad approached and offered his help, "Can I assist you with getting this inside?"
"Humph! You are skin and bones yourself! How can you help me?" she shot back dismissively, eyeing him with skepticism.
Despite her rude remarks, Saad reached out to grab the stack and managed to drag it inside, though it was still quite heavy. The realistic feeling of exertion overwhelmed him, and he broke a sweat while finally getting the sack indoors. The herbal scent in the shop reminded him of the real-world herbal shops he had visited in the past.
As he caught his breath, a message from the system appeared before him:
[Your familiarity with Drusilla, the novice herbalist, has increased.]
[Affection system has been unlocked.]
Saad realized that Alf's advice to treat NPCs like real people was indeed valuable, as his actions had affected his relationship with Drusilla, the AI herbalist. The in-game affection system was a testament to this realization.
For now, Saad decided to ignore the system message and check everything later when he logged out of the game."I didn't need your help! I am capable of doing it by myself," her tone was still biting, and for a second, Saad wondered if his familiarity with her had actually increased. He hesitated for a moment but knew he had to open the suggestion box to find the right response. Increasing his familiarity with Drusilla was crucial for his progress in the game.
1. "I apologize if my offer to help was unwanted. I only wanted to be of assistance since I know how heavy those sacks can be. If you ever need a hand in the future, feel free to ask."
2. "Alright, if you're certain you can manage on your own. Just thought I could save you some trouble. Let me know if you change your mind."
3. "Fine, suit yourself. I was just trying to be helpful. If you want to struggle with that sack, be my guest." *This response might lower familiarity due to the defensive and confrontational tone.*
He chose the first option and his body moved on its own, freaking him out as he accidentally pressed it. He couldn't believe they added a feature like that, as it felt like an out-of-body experience. Regardless, the system messages proved that his response was acceptable, and he knew how to respond to Drusilla in the future.
"I apologize if my offer to help was unwanted. I only wanted to be of assistance since I know how heavy those sacks can be. If you ever need a hand in the future, feel free to ask," Saad spoke like a perfect gentleman, and it seemed to work as Drusilla's expression improved.