'Soft!' Arthur frowned as he fell to the ground. He didn't know where this sudden attack came from, but it certainly took him by surprise. So, as a natural reaction, he quickly put his hand on the soft thing.
*BOING*
"What the hell is this?" For some reason, the softball was clinging to his face so hard that he almost couldn't breathe. So, he used both hands to pull it away and look at it. Immediately, the boy's eyes met the eyes of the creature in his hands.
"A cat?" He frowned. 'No, it has three goddamn eyes and two horns! This isn't a cat!'
The ball of soft white fur looked awfully close to a cat. But, it's three red eyes and two long horns changed that idea really quickly.
"GRRRRR!!" The creature glared at Arthur before it suddenly clawed his arm.
"Ouch!"
The boy immediately let go of the cat before it ran away as fast as its round body could. So, Arthur quickly stood up. His hand was now bleeding and he did feel some pain from it.
'Shit, I forgot this game has some pain receptors.' He thought to himself. 'They said it's only around 10%, but this still does hurt.' Touching the red blood, Arthur could only whistle in surprise. The details of the blood were extremely realistic as it dripped from his hand.
"Ragdoll, didn't I say not to attack customers? We barely get any, you little rascal!"
At that moment, the boy heard a feminine voice speak from the other side of the shop. Looking up, he saw a woman walk out on him and for a second, he was stunned by her beauty. She looked quite older, at least in her 40s with a rather seductive aura around her that he couldn't quite grasp.
She wore tight clothes that wrapped around her body beautifully and she held a cigarette in her hand as she walked toward him slowly. Her short brown hair and weirdly alluring brown eyes made her appear quite enticing.
'A mommy! This is a freaking fantasy mommy!' Arthur thought to himself. Although he was quite amazed by her beauty, he quickly snapped out of it and regained his composure.
"Hm, what do we have here? Oh my! A cute boy!" The woman said as she looked at him with a small smile on her face.
"Uh, good evening." He said. "Are you open for customers?"
"Of course. How can I kick a cute boy like you out?" With a laugh, she squeezed his cheek and then turned around and started walking back. "So, what are you here for, kid?"
"Uh, what do you even sell here?" He asked as he looked around him. The shelves of the store were all empty with nothing to show.
"Hmm, take a guess." The woman grinned as she threw herself on the chair and smiled at him. "If you guess correctly, I will give you a reward~"
Before Arthur could even answer, he heard a ringing sound in his head.
[Ding!]
[Quest detected.]
[Difficulty: E
Objective: Guess what the unknown lady is selling
Reward: Unknown.
Penalty: Unknown]
[Accept.] [Refuse]
'Oh! This is a quest?! Wasn't that a little too easy?!' Arthur blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected the first few seconds of talking to this woman would get him a quest. He barely did anything worth mentioning.
But, since he received this offer, he wasn't going to refuse. Even though the penalty was quite weird, he didn't really care much.
'Accept.'
After tapping on the button, he looked at the lady and smiled back. "Ok, let me take a guess. Wait, how many chances do I have?"
As he spoke, he approached the counter. The woman's eyes flashed with a curious look before she put her finger on her plump lips as if she was thinking. Then, she replied. "One attempt~"
"Isn't that a bit too stingy?" The boy didn't look surprised at all.
"You have to earn my reward, boy~" She retorted. "What is a reward without earning it?"
"Tsk, ok fine, one chance it is." With that, Arthur started examining the entire place with his eyes. A few moments of silence passed before Arthur finally turned to look at the woman.
"So, what is it?"
"This place feels quite hot compared to the outside world. I can also smell some fire burning somewhere."
"Oh." The woman's curiosity peaked as she leaned forward. "Which means?"
"Which means the most logical conclusion is that you're probably a blacksmith or an Enchanter since they're known for having to deal with fire regularly. It can't be a herbalist since there is no smell of plants or herbs." He said. Arthur still remembered all the classes he could've chosen before starting the game so he knew of the existence of these two particular professions already.
"Is that your guess?" The woman's smile widened.
However, Arthur surprisingly shook his head. "As I said, that would be the most logical conclusion. But, something you should know about me is that I like to think outside of the box quite a lot."
Then, Arthur put his hand on the counter. "You're indeed a herbalist even though it doesn't seem like it."
The two stared at each other silently for a few moments before the woman finally closed her eyes and then started laughing. Her soft voice sounded quite pleasant for the ear.
"I already like you quite a lot, kid."
"Haha, I like me as well." Arthur laughed. The two continued laughing for a while before the woman finally spoke again.
"Unfortunately, I'm not a herbalist."
"..." Immediately, the boy's face froze. "... You aren't?"
[Ding!]
[Quest failed.]
"Huh? Hold on a second! You aren't a herbalist?!"
"No. Though, that was a really good guess." She replied.
"... You have got to be kidding me. I looked so cool right there for a good few seconds!" Fcaepalming, Arthur put his head on the counter. "Can't I have my moment? You could've lied, you know?"
The woman laughed again and tapped his shoulder. "I am not that good of a liar."
'Great, my first ever quest ended up with a failure.' He mused. It was quite the anti-climactic ending.
"So, what do you do, really?"
"I'm a scroll maker." She replied. "I create and infuse scrolls with spells and abilities." She replied.
"A scroll maker, huh? That is interesting. What about the fire burning in the other room and the smokey smell?"
"I was making lunch." She replied. "I have been looking forward to this soup for a while."
"Wow, I lost my reward to a goddamn bowl of soup!" Arthur cried inwardly at his horrible luck.
"Aww, don't be sad now, little boy. I didn't expect your response to be that entertaining. You made this old lady's day."
"What about my reward, dammit! I could've gotten a free ability!"
"You could've indeed. So, what's your name?" The woman asked.
"I'm Arthur. What about you?"
"Nina. People like to call me Nina around here." She extended her hand and shook Arthur's hand. He could feel her soft and smooth skin even from her hand.
"I'm new around here, by the way."
"Mhm, I have heard the Gifted are arriving today. You lot are quite an interesting bunch. You're making this old lady quite excited for the future."
"Oh, why is that?" Arthur asked curiously.
"Of course, hearing about these particular individuals with godly powers that descended upon the Divine Realm to change it. I like that idea. I have always been an avid reader of folk tales and heroic deeds of the long past. Perhaps that age is starting again." As she spoke she kept idly moving back and forth on her chair while smoking her cigarette.
Meanwhile, Arthur was absorbing the bits and pieces of information she was saying. 'Godly power… Change the Divine Realm? I'm sure this isn't just a coincidence. Everyone in this world possibly knows of our arrival.'
The fact all these villagers were aware of it, including Nina had added even more questions to Arthur's mind. The rabbit hole was slowly going deeper even though he barely started the game an hour ago.
"So, tell me, Arthur. What purpose brought you to my humble shop? Are you perhaps looking for something?" Nina changed the topic and asked.
"Hm? Oh, well, I'm here for two things. One is exploration, and the other is… I would love to do something if you need my help. That is with a reward in mind, of course."