Quite a few players were standing in a circle and were whispering to each other.
"Fuck! Isn't this too much? Now the Guilds are claiming NPCs that give out quests too?"
As I neared the scene, I heard the furious whispers of the players.
I made my way through the crowd and reached the front, only to see a lineup of 10 players guarding the entrance to one of the largest tents in the settlement.
"The Fortune Guild has claimed the Barbarian Chief. If you want to meet him, you need to pay a toll of 1 Copper coin."
One of the Ten players announced. Their levels were uniformly at Lv3, enough to suppress any troublemakers amongst this new batch of newbies. Still, if the 50 or so players here swarmed them together, they could easily overpower these ten players from Fortune Guild.
The only reason they did not do it was for their future.
Most Players endured this oppression because someday they also wanted to join a Guild like Fortune, which was backed by a large Corporation, and earn a good monthly salary.
The Guilds also provided them a chance to interact with the higher-ups of various industries and catch their eye. Only by becoming their apprentice could one advance their skills and land an executive position in a company.
Paying the one copper coin was a much better deal than endangering one's future job prospects.
However, it did not mean that the players were happy about it.
"In the previous VR game, the Guilds did not touch the starter Villages. Now they have simply grown greedy."
"True. I am not going to buy any product from the Fortune Group from here onwards. If we all stop buying, these bastards will know that they cannot offend the majority for minor gains."
The player just in front of me said passionately with burning eyes and clenched fists. Immediately, the players beside him looked at him with ridicule.
"Are you going to stop eating packaged snacks?"
One of the players standing next to him asked him with sarcasm.
"Huh?"
"Do you even know the Fortune Group's products? The cookies, the chips, and hundreds of different packaged snacks… They are all manufactured and distributed by the Fortune group across the 69 colonies on Mars. And they are the only ones selling them. The few of us can't make a dent in their revenues!"
I agreed with the speaker.
The corporations had gained more power on Mars because they held a monopoly over their sectors. There was no one regulating them, and the Government had become a slave to these corporations' whims.
I had experienced the might of Corporations and accepted this reality long ago. This, in fact, was the real reason behind my reluctance to play new VR Games like Dreamverse VR - Even though I loved VR Games.
Sighing loudly, I checked my inventory and found it empty.
0 Coppers.
There was no way I could pay to see the Barbarian Chief and get a quest from him.
Shaking my head with disappointment, I left the scene and started wandering around the settlement in search of quests.
All the places, not controlled by the guild were swarming with players.
Even simple quests like finding herbs and killing mobs had become impossible to complete because of overcrowding. All because one guild had monopolized the NPC that gave out the most quests.
I shook my head and continued to move around the village. Finally, I found a place devoid of players - The Training Grounds.
The Grounds covered a vast swathe of land and were surrounded by tall wooden fences on all sides. As I approached the gates, I could see the numerous targets for practicing archery placed in neat rows along the wall. There were also hundreds of dummies and a large ring for practicing melee combat inside the ground.
I decided to try my luck and pushed at the closed gates. To my surprise, they opened quite easily.
"Eh? If the gates are open, why are there no players here? Shouldn't they be swinging swords at the wooden dummies for extra stats?"
I took a few steps inside while wondering in my heart. I could not see another soul in there except for an old dozing instructor and a Barbarian youth.
"Well, good for me. I can practice in peace and improve my clumsy movements before going to hunt the monsters."
Elated, I made my way to the stands housing the wooden weapons. Just as I was about to touch one of the weapons, the barbarian boy grabbed my hand.
From afar, he looked much smaller and younger than he actually was. Still, now that he was directly in front of me, I could see his height was around 5 feet 5 inches, just a head shorter than mine.
His bulky exposed muscles glistened under the sunlight as he looked at me with a fierce grin.
"If you want to use the training grounds, fight me."
Ding!
Immediately, a quest notification sounded in my ears.
[Goku, son of Sorsa the Barbarian Chief, is bored. Spar with him and alleviate his boredom.
Quest Clear Conditions: Victory
Quest Rewards: Permission to use the Barbarian Training Grounds]
"This is insane!" I exclaimed in my heart. I could see the
Yet, I could not refuse the quest.
The quest was automatically accepted as soon as I tried to use the training facilities. Now, I only had two options: Win against Goku to receive permission to use training grounds or simply get thrashed and be kicked out.
Goku led the way to one of the rings filled with sand, and I was forced to follow. He took his position and made a provoking gesture, asking me to give my all. Left with no other choice, I decided to try my luck and entered the ring.
I took a ready position like that of the MMA fighters I had seen on TV. I focused on Goku, trying to anticipate any sort of attack.
Once we both were ready, the countdown began.
3
2
1
Start!
"How hard could a beginner's quest be…."
Before I could complete this thought, I saw a fist rapidly approaching my face. It grew larger and larger in my vision. Within a fraction of a second, I felt a sharp pain, and I fainted before I could even react!
A moment later, I was revived on the spot. I had a terrible headache, and my vision was affected due to swelling around my eyes.
As I tried to touch my right eye, a sharp stinging sensation was sent to my brain, and a curse escaped my mouth.
"Sonvubitch! What was I even thinking?"
The painful reality check truly exposed my capabilities as compared to that of Goku's. Now I understood why there were no other players inside the Training Grounds.
It was impossible for newbies to take on Goku at this point. Even those trained in Martial Arts would be restricted in their movements due to low stats. Unless the Expert Players reached Lv10 and found some armor to boost health, there was no way they could defeat Goku.
Realizing this, I glanced at my opponent. Goku was picking his nose with his little finger and looking at the training equipment with longing.
He was probably waiting for another punching bag to arrive…
A scowl formed on my face as this thought came to me.
Anyway, I had lost the match against him. This quest probably had nothing to do with me anymore.
Or so I thought...
The reality was the quest was not over for me yet. Despite losing in one move, the quest status showed 'Ongoing'!
I narrowed my now unswollen eyes and checked again to see if I was not making a mistake. Indeed, the quest was still ongoing.
Does that mean I can challenge him as many times as I want? I wondered while rubbing my chin.
To test my theory, I approached Goku. I knew I could not win, but I just wanted to confirm my hypothesis.
"I was not ready before. I want a rematch." I said in a solemn tone.
The barbarian brat looked at me with disdain and said, "You are too weak. Grow stronger before challenging me again." And he haughtily turned away!
The gall of this brat!
After receiving this type of answer, most players would leave to train their levels, but not me.
His condescension fueled the fire of anger within me. I found firm ground and immediately started doing push-ups to quell my indignation.