LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 130: Fire of the Night
November 13, third day after the second beta started.
Drama Thirteen got up early, eager to maximize her time in the game.
The day before, she had accepted a quest from the zombie NPC, Hugh Potter, but could only complete a couple of minor steps before having to log out for work. And in the evening, she was forced to work overtime and unable to attend to matters in the game.
Determined to complete this enviable hidden quest, she bartered a week's worth of milk tea to a colleague in exchange for covering her shift, taking the day off to focus solely on the game.
Upon logging in at the spawn point in Exile Town, Drama Thirteen found that the friends who had agreed to join her on this quest were already waiting nearby.
"Thirteen, over here!" A player with the ID July Snow waved excitedly upon spotting Drama Thirteen.
"Sorry, my alarm was set late. Have you guys been waiting long?" Drama Thirteen hurried down the platform to join her companions.
"Not too long. We just logged in too," another female player with the ID August Melon responded cheerfully. "My husband couldn't make it, but we've got a pro to help us. Look who's here!"
Qin Guan, standing behind the two "Month" players, flashed a big, toothy grin.
"Vanilla waifu I mean, Boss!" Drama Thirteen, recognizing Qin Guan, approached excitedly for a handshake. "You're joining us for the quest? That's great!"
"Hello, hello," Qin Guan replied with a hint of pride. "But don't call me waifu, I'm still pure as snow."
Drama Thirteen, also a player of the World of Warcraft Classic, knew July Snow and August Melon from the game, though she had never met Qin Guan, as he had already moved on to "OtherWorld" when she started playing with them.
After forming a team, Drama Thirteen apologized to the Month sisters and Qin Guan, "Unfortunately, I can't share it, but the brief says it's a worldview breakthrough quest. If completed, it benefits all players."
"No problem, just tell us about the quest's storyline," Qin Guan advised. "Start from when you triggered it, and don't miss any details. Quests in this game are often crucially detailed."
"Mm, right." Drama Thirteen opened her quest log and began, "The quest is called [Fire of the Night]. When I triggered it, I was just walking along, and the zombie NPC, Hugh Potter, suddenly stopped me, saying, 'Seeing you reminds me of someone, a person named Meri Bowen.'
"Hugh Potter mentioned that he's been confused for many years, forgetting many people and things. His memories of Meri are more obscure than those of the border guards. He says he vaguely remembers something crucial related to Meri and must find her.
"The first step was to find another zombie NPC, Bierda. After completing an errand quest for Bierda, she said that she remembered Meri Bowen and felt the name was connected to something significant but couldn't recall more.
"Then, Bierda directed me to her former residence north of the town for the next part of the quest."
"Bierda, the NPC by the river, right?" Qin Guan asked.
"Yes, yes." Drama Thirteen nodded. "The same NPC from the [Letters to Home] quest triggered by your friend, Give Me Medicine, who spread the infection to that quest's main character, Morris."
Qin Guan, who had been deeply involved in that quest then, stroked his chin and analyzed, "From the two plotline quests [Letters to Home] triggered by Give Me Medicine and [Brave Jean] triggered by Ji Tang, this zombie NPC Hugh Potter wasn't a member of the Pioneer Corps but part of the border guards that came later on.
"Bierda was a Pioneer Corp member and was dead by the time Hugh Potter's border guards arrived to aid That means to say, Meri Bowen knows these two."
Drama Thirteen nodded once more.
"Both the people of the Pioneer Corp and Border Guards feel that Meri is very important, but the name Meri Bowen didn't appear in either [Letters to Home] or [Brave Jean]. In other words, the NPC Meri Bowen crucial to the storyline is unrelated to Camore Town or the eldritch infection. It's likely that it's something that happened prior to that," Qin Guan muttered.
"Mm, mm." Drama Thirteen nodded vigorously while gazing at Qin Guan in admiration, eagerly awaiting his guidance.
"There's too little information, I can't deduce anything. Let's go find the quest item first." Qin Guan couldn't continue his posing and concluded.
"Um Okay." There was a hint of disappointment in Drama Thirteen's voice.
"Don't worry, if Vanilla can't figure it out, we can wait for Blossoming Strokes to return," August Melon reassured her.
"What do you mean I can't figure it out? I'm totally capable! With such scant information, even Blossoming Strokes would be just as clueless!" Qin Guan protested.
The newly constructed brick buildings in Exile Town were concentrated on the east, south, and west sides, leaving the north relatively sparse, with a few scattered old wooden houses beside the neatly arranged residential alleys and the Town Hall's earthen structure.
The quest item could be found by using Identify, so Drama Thirteen and her companions ventured to the wooden house indicated by Bierda. Utilizing the Identify ability both inside and outside the house, they quickly located a "loose pile of soil" beneath a large water tank outside the house.
Digging through the soil, they successfully unearthed a "locked small wooden box."
Unconcerned about how a palm-sized, poorly sealed box could remain undamaged after being buried for decades, the players were focused solely on the outcome. They promptly took the box to the zombie NPC, Bierda, by the riverbank.
Programmed with preset interactions, Bierda swiftly opened the box and handed over a diary stored inside to Drama Thirteen, who had triggered the quest.
Drama Thirteen flipped through the diary and frowned. "Many pages are damaged, and only a few are legible."
"That's typical," said Qin Guan in the capacity of an experienced gamer. "Missing writings save us the trouble of deciphering the text. The game devs only need to script the key parts. Read out the recognizable text; the crucial information will definitely be there."
"Right," muttered Drama Thirteen.
In the entire diary, only four pages had legible words.
First page:
"General Charlotte's scouts have discovered a valley suitable for development. By constructing a wall, we can defend against most beasts and monsters"
"Everyone is delighted. We've been wandering aimlessly in the wilderness for over a month, exhausted."
Second page:
"The lumber machine broke down, but fortunately, everyone's houses are nearly complete"
"The forest outside the valley is too dangerous. In gathering fuel for the winter, we lost several excellent comrades, including my friend Hawke. I am deeply saddened."
Third page:
"I'm tired of working unpaid at Charlotte's sheep ranch, but I dare not show it. Who wouldn't want to be the owner of a new farm? I can't afford to offend him."
"Poor Meri, her private complaints about General Charlotte's tyranny must have been reported to him. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been sent out"
Fourth page:
"Charlotte's management of his sheep ranch is notoriously strict. Despite it being a communal effort, we aren't allowed near it as if he deems us all thieves."
"How can such a man be our leader? It's really unbearable for us."
"It's been close to a month, yet there's still no sign of Meri and the others returning. Could some accident have befallen them?"
Once Drama Thirteen finished reading out loud, Qin Guan couldn't help but mockingly remark, "Why does everything revolve around this General Charlotte? Is he some kind of instance boss in the making?"
Seeing the expectant looks of the three female players, Qin Guan cleared his throat and resumed his analysis, "The diary spans a significant period. Though it lacks specific dates like Morris's letters, it's evident that it covers more than half a year."
"From the text, compared to Morris who trusts General Charlotte, Bierda probably belongs to a faction that's dissatisfied with Charlotte," said Qin Guan, pointing at zombie NPC Bierda to the side. "This NPC Meri Bowen offended Charlotte and was sent out on some more dangerous mission. This should be the main plot of this breakthrough quest."
"Uh" Drama Thirteen glanced at the unresponsive Bierda and asked Qin Guan, "So, Vanilla Boss, what's our next step?"
Qin Guan was still a veteran player and had personally witnessed Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy do breakthrough quests. Thus, he felt confident and proclaimed, "The last two pages of the diary repeatedly mention the sheep ranch without referring to Charlotte as 'General.' We should investigate the site of the ranch for more clues."
"Eh, we are going out of town?" Drama Thirteen exclaimed. "What about that old rat? How are we going to get out?"
Qin Guan smirked smugly. "Follow me!"
He led the bunch of ladies to the Wanderer Guild work site and hollered, "Seeking four rat lures! Three copper each!"
Several players who were about to log out immediately raised their hands and volunteered, swiftly settling their current quests with the NPCs and running over to earn some extra money.
Drama Thirteen: ""
So that's how to leave town
The giant rat at the south exit was a major obstacle for players venturing out of town. But as the saying goes, when there's a will, there's a way. Wanderers, taking up the largest proportion of gamers, were required to leave town for their job advancement quests and often hired players to lure the rat away.
Over time, this became a lucrative side hustle for some.
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