"Take it from me. Petty businesses don't start at business table. They start as a small talk."
- Theodore 'Ted' Moore
The toddler, Nuonuo sighed. "Fine! I am tired anyway. I need to rest at Corwin uncle's hotel. Take me there and I will tell you what you have to do."
Right on the bat, the quest request arrived in the transparent screen.
"Quest-
Grade- None.
Take the child Nuonuo to the Corwin's hotel within the village.
Will you Accept? Or Reject?"
Two buttons. Two choices. This quest did not have any grade. There was no mention of rewards too. Players are always in the hurry to level up. Why would anyone accept such a thankless quest? Ted did. He was throwing a long line to fish. If they didn't bite this time, no worries. It might happen at later dates.
This sort of prompt on transparent screen was a staple in VR games. So Ted did the usual, he accepted it mentally and the screen got updated instantly.
And the daily log had the first entry. Accepted th the quest from NPC - Nuonuo.
The toddler held his hand showing that Ted should hold the hand and move on but Ted just picked up the kid and walked forward. "I am new to this village. So let me know how to walk to the hotel. I am sure that Nuonuo is strong enough to remember the route." It's always better to butter up the NPCs, regardless of age and sex.
The kid who had opened his mouth to cry angrily shut his mouth in a hurry. Yes, he was strong and he did know the route to his uncle's place. And this newcomer was tall, just like his elder brother and his father. This was just like when his brother carried him home after they met at village entrance. He missed this feeling. His elder brother had gone on duty and had not returned even after so long.
"Go straight till you reach uncle Jarna's place and take a left there. Go further and you can pretty much see uncle Corwin's hotel. It's a big place." Nuonuo tried to show the size of the building by waving his hands.
The description was accurate. The only snag in the route was that there were lots of players surrounding uncle Jarna's place. That NPC must be handing out quests like candies. He just might ask for the quest after handling affairs if Nuonuo. What if he used this kid's name and rewards from the quest gets upgraded?
Uncle Corwin's hotel was indeed a big building. It was part hotel, part bar. The uncle was a limping man in his fifties. How is this an uncle? He was clearly a grandpa. Add few more white hair on the face and you get the old grandfather who brings gifts on every visit.
As soon as they both entered the hotel, Corwin stopped cleaning the dessert display stand and walked, sorry, limped forward to grab the child from Sampath's arm. Did he look like a kidnapper? Ted mused.
Thankfully, Nuonuo did not think so. He squirmed happily on his uncle's arms and said, "Uncle, uncle. This adventurer says he will help me. He held me in his arms, just like elder brother does and I showed the way to this place because this adventurer doesn't know the route at all." The last sentence...was it pride of showing the route or disdain that an older person doesn't know the route.
The vigilance in Corwin's eyes lessened a bit.
"Please excuse our child. He still doesn't understand the effect of his words. And thank you for bringing our child back." This NPC was very polite.
Sampath waved off the apology. " No need, no need. He just said the truth. There is nothing wrong in that."
As soon as Corwin said thank you, the log got updated.
Quest- Take the child Nuonuo to the Corwin's hotel within the village - Completed.
Rewards - 10 Exp and recognition from Nuonuo and Corwin (Talent bonus*)
Sampath squinted. What did the talent bonus mean? The status window gave the answer to his question.
Talent bonus effect from passives- rewards got upgraded.
Sampath tried hard not to grin. This bonus from talent was much appreciated.
Sampath then addressed the toddler, "Nuonuo, we have arrived at your uncle's hotel. Can you tell me what you need now?"
Why stop at single quest if you can trigger another one? This is the the easiest way to gain recognition and hugging the golden thighs.
Nuonuo had the same disdaining expression when he looked at Sampath. "You! And help?"
Corwin just said, "Nuonuo!" with the warning and the kid subsided.
"I lost my kite. I searched most of the places in the village and got tired. You just find and tell me where the kite is, that's enough."
" Well, I can get it for you." Sampath was not interested in the quest appearing on transparent screen.
"Quest-
Grade- None.
Find where the child Nuonuo lost his kite within the village.
Will you Accept? Or Reject?"
Just finding where the kite was would not bring enough Exp. Getting them back does.
Nuonuo was eyeing the desserts by then and he just waved off his hands, so much like the adult NPCs do. "Fine, fine. Just find it and bring it here to me or uncle Corwin."
Just like that, the quest got updated.
"Quest-
Grade- None.
Find the kite Nuonuo had lost in the village.
Rewards - 100 Exp.
Penalty - None.
Time limit - None.
Will you Accept? Or Reject?"
Ted accepted ofcourse. All the shenigans were for such quests.
"Now, can you tell me details of your kite. Where have you searched? Which places you still needed to search?" Ted asked questions all related to quest. Corwin nodded approvingly. You can't do any job without needing any details. Better way would have been to get those details and then accept the job. Still, better late than never. Nuonuo gave a laborious answer, making mountain of a molehill, yet Ted listened patiently. The places, the people, he was learning so easily, albeit as seen by a kid's eyes. Next time he meets that butcher, he will just say, "Oh, you are the one Nuonuo mentioned...." and go on from there. Will that butcher date to give some sh*tty quest with paltry rewards?
Nuonuo talked sonling that his tongue got parched. Grandpa Corwin, sorry, uncle Corwin stopped the saga, gave the boy some drink and just nodded at the patient adventurer. Don't even have patience to say get out now. Ted also nodded and went to search for the kite.
He opened the map feature. Apart from whatever places the kid has mentioned, all other places were blank. This saves the trouble. He just had try three more places. Now, a small reconisance before the actual job.
Let's see how realistic this game really is. Are all these props just props or three dimensional? He tried climbing a small tree in the boundary of the hotel, not wishing to get anger any other NPC and not ready to accept the risk of part real props. In this direction? Nope. Climb to other branch to see other direction. Not there either. Third times the charm, he told himself and chose another vantage to see either another direction. Success!!! The strong of the kite had snaged one of the fences and was lying down listlessly. After orienting himself in the directions and marking on the mini map, Ted came down, patting himself clean and he was off to fulfill his first quest.
On the way, he met uncle Jarna again. Uncle Jarna was what a typical RPG nerd would expect a village chief, the important quest giver in the novice village, to look like. His clothes were of good quality and he had few ornaments. No weapons, so no idea if he actually preferred some weapon or his talent lies in different direction. The weather beaten face, the honest look in a man in his fifties - yep, he was village chief alright.
The old man must be standing in that place since the players entered the village, handing out new quests like candies. He must be dead tired. Yet as soon as Ted came near him, his old face had a welcome smile and he said cordially, "Hello, adventurer!"
Now, typically players would use standard lines of how I may help you or is there anything that I can do. These work like charm in more than 80% cases.
Ted bypassed all the hello, hi. "Ah, you much be uncle Jarna." The uncle was surprised. Before introducing themselves, many NPCs did not reveal their name. Unless, you have 'Probe' skill. Which this adventurer evidently did not, so how did he know the name? Look at the surprise , such a genuine reaction, Ted nodded to himself. NPCs are behaving more and more human like because humans have turned inhumane.
Ted answered the unasked question. "I just dropped Nuonuo to his uncle Corwin's hotel. He told me this is uncle Jarna's place. That's how I know it. In fact," Ted leaned in and said in low voice, "I even accepted a quest from Nuonuo - to collect his kite."
Jarna was bemused at this adventurer. Out of hundreds, if not thousands of adventurers he met today, this one was really different. But, his steps got stable when he uttered those boring words in refreshinly different way, "So, are there any quests available for me now?"