Leo was amazed by how detailed this game Terra Nova Online was when he entered the village chief's home.
Everything from the entrance, to the layout of the house seemed extremely detailed and the items inside were realistic.
Leo had no idea how they made a game engine so realistic that the items within a random house of a random man were dusty and scratched from the handle where one would grab it from while also looking like they had been sitting on the same spot for years just collecting dust, just like what one would see in a normal house.
The wooden flooring in the house looked fresh in some parts but showed signs of wear and tear in others.
Such detail went beyond simple game designing and felt like an alternate reality itself, as Leo was stunned as to how rich the gaming experience was.
"Pardon me for my previous rude question, we had the impression that usually when a Virex operative shows up it's for an assassination. I misjudged your motive to come to my village" Brahim said as he politely offered his apologies to Leo for believing in a stereotype.
"It's okay, village chief," Leo said as he sat across from the burly man in his living room.
Once the two of them were seated, a woman who Leo assumed to be Brahim's wife shyly entered the room and started the fire inside the hearth before moving out once again without making eye-contact with Leo from start to finish.
With the fire burning, the temperature inside the room became more comfortable but Leo did not dare slouch as he maintained the tense military posture with the upright back to stay in character.
"As you must know, Silverpine Village is located too high in the mountains for the convenience of life.
The second nearest village is only at 3200m above sea level, but we still stay at such an incredible altitude because of the iron ore mines.
70% of my own village men are miners and have pledged their service to one of the three big mining companies, who expect my men to work for 9 months non-stop from the first sign of snow thawing till all the leaves shed in autumn.
But while Silverpine Village is wealthy and numerically strong, our reliance on mining operations is heavy to get through the winter.
Currently, it's winter and spring won't start for another two weeks, however, this time around, the wolves have made the mines their chosen hibernation den, which means that we won't be able to resume mining operations once the snow starts to thaw.
If the situation of the wolves is not resolved and my men are late to start mining operations by even a week, then they would have to pay about a month's salaries in penalty for not meeting the quota and such a future worries me.
Savings of my people, especially after winter usually runs low and forcing them to pay penalty charges would be detrimental to the financial state of most families.
As you must have been briefed, the wolves are the biggest threat to the security of this village.
The only reason we live behind such thick wooden walls manned by archers all the time is to stay safe from the attack of wolves, however, with the wolves now making the mines their new home, we are in desperate need of government help to resolve this situation". Brahim said as he explained Silverpine Village's peril to Leo.
Leo who understood the village chief's peril nodded, however, internally he felt his stomach roll over as he realised that his worst fears were probably going to come true and he was going to be forced to face wolves when he actually had no combat experience.
"I have already issued a mission to all the adventurer guilds operating in this village to help us with this problem, however, while they have called over many promising adventurers, so far, all of them have failed in driving the wolves away.
You, sir, are the last hope for this village to return to work at the promised date, so please help us handle the wolf problem" Brahim said as immediately a system notification popped up.
[ Quest Notification ]
[ —---> You have been issued a mandatory quest by the chief of Silverpine Village, NPC Brahim.
• You cannot deny this quest
—-------> Clear the mines by either defeating all the wolves inside or driving them away to make it safe for mining once winter ends.
Time limit : 14 days.
Failure Penalty : Imprisonment
Rewards : Actor class unlock, +10 levels, +??? Gold, +??? Skill scroll, +???? ]
Leo got the mandatory quest notification as he quietly sighed under his mask.
"Very well, I'll handle the rest" he said as he stood up in character, not putting much weight on his injured leg and extended his hand forward to shake Brahim's.
"Sir, please, stay the night and enjoy my food. I'm sure my wife is cooking some delicious meat for you at the moment.
Also I've called for the village healer, she should be here to treat your injuries too-" Brahim said as he wanted to insist on Leo not leaving just yet, however, Leo cunningly declined.
"I'm sorry, I cannot accept your hospitality until I've completed the mission that is assigned, such is the Virex way" Leo said in a deeper voice than his usual tone as Brahim's eyes sparkled in admiration.
Actually, Leo did not mind eating a meal, but he was worried that to eat a meal he needed to remove his mask and he was not sure if that was a good idea.
According to the description of his mask, it helped him against some inspection spells and Leo wanted to keep that extra layer of protection on.
If he removed his mask to have a meal and was found to be a level0 newbie it could create issues and hence Leo did not wish to risk it.
Similarly, he was acting as if he were injured, however, if a healer came and inspected him, there would not be a single wound on his body which would also seem suspicious.
Since both such scenarios were detrimental to him, Leo felt it best to bail and it was actually the best decision he could have made since if he did not, he would have really failed the mission.
Making his way out of the chief's home, he asked directions for the nearest tavern and headed out towards the tavern to stay the night.
Firstly he needed to gather a lot of information about this world and the gaming mechanics, specially about the repercussions of 'dying' in the game.
Only after he found out this detail, did Leo wish to engage in a difficult mission such as the wolf extermination as if death was something severe and painful, then Leo did not wish to risk completing the mission and felt like it was better decision to take his chances somewhere else and escape Silverpine Village all together.