Chapter 4: Quest Endings

“Wh-what was that…” (Moyashi)

“Regi should have had at least 500 HP, but in just few seconds…” (Toujou)

“No way…” (Akira)

I staggered after I pulled my sword, then regain my balance.

3 seconds really were my limit.

“You bastard!” (Regi)

Regi turned around and looked at me, then he tried to swing his Axe at me again.

“Stop it, Regi” (Neo)

In that moment, Regi stopped his action then he looked at the source of that voice, the person with his arms crossed.

“But, these guys are going to get everything for themselves!” (Regi)

“Calm down for now, Regi” (Neo)

The guy with his arms crossed looked rather calm compared the other four.

He looked at me then Kaito, Rinka, and Yuni, then back to me again.

“I’m Neo, by any chance, does your party have a quest to deal with the bandits?” (Neo)

“…….” (Reis)

I looked at Kaito after being asked that question.

(… Don’t look at me!) (Kaito)

(What? You should explain this!) (Reis)

(Read the atmosphere, dammit! It’s hard for me to talk!) (Kaito)

(How?!) (Reis)

(Do I have to explain it to you?!) (Kaito)

(Yes!) (Reis)

(This Neo thought you’re our party leader!) (Kaito)

(So what?!) (Reis)

(Goddamit!) (Kaito)

During that moment, we have talked with telepathy.

No, it was more like two people, conversing by reading each other face’s reactions.

“*Ahem* Yes, we have a Quest here. If you wanted to, we can share the Quest” (Kaito)

“Oh? I see. So, what will you do? Killing the Boss?” (Neo)

“If we have to, then we will, but if possible, we don’t want to fight -her-” (Kaito)

“-Her-?, I see, if you know about the Boss, which means you’re a Tester” (Neo)

Testers, slang for CBT Players were stingy to strangers about information, nowadays in VRMMORPG.

It’s different if they were in a Guild, where they would be willing to give any information that they had.

And so, Testers were a source of information and valuable Players during OBT.

Neo smiled after knowing that Kaito was a Tester.

“Tester?!” (Toujou)

“This guy is?! But he’s so weak!” (Regi)

“It’s normal dammit! You have a dang Tomahawk, although it’s the weakest weapon, its destructive power is the strongest among all beginning weapons!” (Kaito)

“What?! This guy that almost killed me has an even higher damage than me!” (Regi)

“That’s right! What was that, Leith?!” (Kaito)

“What?! You two didn’t read the whole guide book?!” (Reis)

“What’s in there?!” (Kaito and Regi)

“It’s [Point Strike]! You hit the target in the same spot to increase your damage for every hit!” (Reis)

“… Why didn’t you tell me there was something like that?!” (Kaito)

“You didn’t ask, dammit!” (Reis)

I was swept along with the conversation.

My character changed every time I joined a conversation with Kaito, and not only him, but also Rinka and Yuni as well.

My childhood friends are good friends.

“Ahahaha! You guys are so interesting!” (Neo)

Neo laughed at the three of us conversing with no problem, naturally, Rinka was holding her laugh since she knew how to read the atmosphere.

“Do the four of you have a Guild? If you don’t how about joining [Azure Ciel]?” (Neo)

“Azure Ciel? Wait, THAT Azure Ciel?!” (Kaito)

“What? You know what that is?” (Reis)

“It’s a big guild that dominate 1^st place in VRMMORPGs they played!” (Kaito)

“I see, so they have no life?” (Reis)

The surrounding got silent for few seconds.

“That’s rude, dammit!” (Kaito)

“Eh? Why?!” (Reis)

“Ahahahahaha!!” (Rinka)

Rin could no longer hold her laugh, and I was perplexed.

The atmosphere has becoming lighter and lighter that even Yuni giggled.

“Haha, no, it wasn’t because of level and number of players in the guild, but our Guild’s strategy during Guild Wars” (Neo)

“That’s right, they always have counters and plans to defeat other big Guilds. Apparently, they have a strategist and thanks to him, they won all Guild Wars ever since, and thanks to that, they now have a lot of Elites!” (Kaito)

“Hoho, you sure know a lot about [Azure Ciel]” (Neo)

“Heh, it’s important to know who one will face against. Since all VRMMORPGs had ceased, so there was only a place where every Players will play, this LC!” (Kaito)

“So I take it that you’re gonna fight against [Azure Ciel] instead of joining?” (Neo)

“Yes! I will be the one who will stand at the top, so get ready for it!” (Kaito)

“Hahaha! Interesting!” (Neo)

After that, we talked while walking towards the Bandit Camp while introducing each other.

Of course, Rinka and Yuni introduced themselves as well.

Kaito explained that he was only interested in saving the kidnapped girl instead of looting useless things at the Bandit Camp, then shared the Quest with Neo’s Party.

I looked at a small Player, and he must be a Hafling to be that so small for a person.

Moyashi seemed to looked around the surrounding cautiously, even though he looked like he will faint if something appeared so suddenly.

The others trusted all of us, except for one Player, that didn’t trust me.

Akira had been very cautious towards all four of us, but I didn’t think that he would assaulted us out of nowhere.

I shook my head then walked faster and then matched Kaito’s and Toujou’s pace.

“So, Kai, what’s the plan?” (Reis)

“Hm… Since we have quite a number, I think we could fight against the Boss, but our priority is to save Syula… And this Quest actually have more than 1 Ending” (Kaito)

“What do you mean?” (Reis)

“Do you remember about our actions to affect story?” (Toujou)

“Hm? Oh, yes I remembered that we’re free to do anything” (Reis)

“’We’re free to do anything’, that meant only for [Hidden Quest]s like what you guys are doing, Normal Quests are like kill these many monsters or gather things” (Toujou)

“Hm…. So Kai, how did you know that is has more than 1 Ending?” (Reis)

“There were actually 3 possible Endings” (Kaito)

“Three?! Even the previous games don’t even have 2!” (Toujou)

“That’s normal, since this game is a masterpiece!” (Kaito)

The two of them laugh at each other, just like how Kaito and Rinka acted as usual.

Instead of laughing with them, I just sighed and smiled.

“Hm… Anyway, back to topic, what are the Endings?” (Reis)

“The first one, was what I got during CBT, and that was the worst Ending” (Kaito)

“What kind of Ending was it?” (Reis)

“I killed the Boss, then returned her to the Elder without thinking of anything but getting Syula back” (Kaito)

“That’s the worst Ending? I thought it should be the normal one” (Toujou)

“Yeah, that’s right” (Reis)

Kaito looked on the sky for a second, then to the ground.

I could only sense a sad feeling from the face he made.

“It was a wrong choice, and when I reached level 22, I just found out that what I did was a Hidden Quest, and at that moment I went back to Ruta, and asked Syula about the Boss, Nula, and you know what she answered? Nula was her sister” (Kaito)

“Holy!” (Toujou)

“That means… we’re conflicting with Toujou and his party” (Reis)

“Yeah, but if we defeat and leave her be, we’ll still be able to get the loots and leaving her alone and take Syula” (Kaito)

“And so, it’ll be the normal Ending, right?” (Reis)

“Right, but I feel like I should talk with Nula after fighting her. If I could, then it’ll be possible to get Syula and some items for your party, Toujou” (Kaito)

“No, I don’t think that’s the best choice you picked just now” (Neo)

Neo joined the conversation with the three of us.

He and Moyashi overheard our conversation since they were close to the three of us.

“What do you mean by that?” (Kaito)

“I-it means that there was actually another choice you haven’t considered yet” (Moyashi)

“Huh?” (Kaito)

“Since we have killed her scouts, it’s possible that she thought we’re her enemies, so it’ll be harder to get to her side” (Moyashi)

“Then, what to do now…” (Kaito)

“Um… Nula was actually the supposed to be Elder of Ruta Village, but something happened to her, and she was treated like a Bandit” (Moyashi)

“Wait… How did you know that she was an Elder?” (Kaito)

Moyashi pulled out a book from his inventory, and held it in front of him.

“I read this book I got from the the scout's Loots, and it was about a Knight that was sent to protect Ruta Village, her hometown from a horde of monsters all on her own. After that, she proposed to her father, the current Elder, about how to deal the problem by destroying the source of it all. After that, I don’t know, and also how she turned into a Bandit Leader, its mysterious” (Moyashi)

“That sure was pretty short… So, what to do now then? You guys killed those scouts and emptied the camp right? I’m sure she’s pissed now” (Kaito)

“Um… For now, we should meet her first, if we succeed, we’ll likely get a Chain Hidden Quest” (Moyashi)

“Chain Hidden Quest, now that’s interesting” (Neo)

Chain Hidden Quest means that there will be another Quest prior to the Hidden Quest.

After fulfilling some requirements, it was possible to get the Chain Hidden Quest.

The reward of a Chain Hidden Quest would be a lot higher than normal Hidden Quest, so it was worth the trouble to clear it.

“So, we’re not gonna kill anyone?! How boring!” (Regi)

Regi joined the talk after hearing what we were talking about.

“Not really, Regi-san! There was something happened to Nula, so maybe, it’s a Hidden Boss related to this Quest!” (Moyashi)

“Ooh! If I have to wait for a better target, then that’ll be the best!” (Regi)

“Haha, seems like our Battle-Crazed friend, want to postpone the fight for a better Boss” (Neo)

All of us agreed to talk to Nula, and when we arrived there, the camp sounded quiet.

I walked to in the front with Kai that just ate his bread, and I just remembered something in my inventory.

I checked my inventory, and saw 4 slots were filled.

“Hey Kai, do you know where to get a Dragon Glaive and Drakelord’s Ring?” (Reis)

“Nope, but those items were said to be legendary items according to the NPCs” (Kaito)

“…….” (Reis)

I equipped the Worn-Out Dragon Glaive and Drakelord’s Ring from the inventory, and…

“…….” (Kaito)

“…….” (Reis)

“…. Where did you get them?” (Kaito)

“Uh… I don’t know…” (Reis)

“THE HELL!!” (Kaito)

Kaito shouted at me and surprised the others in the back.

“How?! Just how?!” (Kaito)

“You’re loud! It was in my inventory when the OBT started!” (Reis)

“The heck?! The game didn’t tell me anything about this, even Testers know nothing of how to get them?!” (Kaito)

Toujou approached us while we were talking and I re-equipped my Beginner Sword.

“Hey! Did something happen?” (Toujou)

“No, nothing, this guy just got a bug, and I was worried about this guy!” (Kaito)

“Huh? What bug Leith?” (Toujou)

“I’ll explain that later, it’s not worth mentioning” (Reis)

“Yeah, for now, let's just focus on dealing with this Quest” (Kaito)

 

I scratch my head while smiling.

Toujou nodded in agreement then he moved ahead of us and we followed them like nothing happen.

Rinka and Yuni approached us then ask the same thing, and Kaito answered that nothing happened.

Rinka sent Kaito a suspicious glance, and then laugh it off since it was nothing.

While we were talking, we arrived in the Ruta Cave, the place where Nula and Syula will be.

“Who’s there?!”

A girl with a height of 150cm, a long indigo hair and in leather armor with a Claymore on her back, came out from the cave, and saw all of us.

She was thin, and cute. Any otaku that saw this girl will definitely approached this girl, and get slashed into bits in a second.

we were about to answer her but then she wield her Claymore with one hand, and dashed to us in a mere second.

We evaded her first attack, and her stats showed up.

[Elite Boss]

Bandit Leader Nula Lv.10

Description:

A rumored Bandit Leader according to Ruta Village’s Elder.

She has a great strength that could rival a bear in a fist fight.

With her Claymore, she slayed hundreds of Monsters by herself.

She has a secret that no one know but herself.