“It all started when Baron Claude became the lord of the town,” the Fairy Queen started, a distant look in her eyes. “My children were mischievous, but they were never evil.”
Before the humans settled near her forest, the Fairy Queen and her fairies tended to the forest and kept the magical monsters in check. The forest was a dangerous place, and they were the only guardians acting as guides to lost humans. The faes weren’t on hostile terms with humans. However, they preferred to keep to themselves.“One day, an adventurer visited our forest and was having difficulty with the monsters in the forest. One of my children decided to give him a hand. He was a likeable human who quickly won over many of us, including me. We don’t know his name, but he was a hero of the humans who was on a quest. He told us a prophecy that another of his kind will arrive when we are in need.”When Zen first started, he never thought the lore ab“What? There was such a back story? That’s crazy! Am I engaging in illegal fairy trafficking on the main quest now?” Damian couldn’t help but gawk after Zen called him.Unable to speak loudly, Zen whispered back that he was in a middle of a timed event to capture the corrupted Baron and recover the kidnapped fairies.“You can make an under table deal with me,” he suggested. “Kidnap the fairies without harming them and then turn them in to your main quest giver. I’ll beat them up and recover them later.”While Zen was trying to clear his special quest, Damian had only completed Blacksmith Ben’s special chain quest and acquired his basic blacksmithing skills. The fairy trap with Blacksmith Bob should be ready by now. However, the cyborg no longer felt good about this main quest completion competition.“I want to forfeit our bet,” he declared after teleporting back to the fifth floor. “I d
Zen was no expert in game programming. However, he was very sure it was uncommon to alter the main quest. Yet, Damian managed to find a unique loophole thanks to his job class.“Are you sure this will work?” Zen asked. The fairy trap that Damian was tasked to build looked very different from the ones he saw in the dark magicians’ dungeon.Shrugging, the engineer referred to his main quest log. The system accepted the severely modified fairy trap as a fairy trap. Who knew this was also a possibility?“Have you finished your quest?” Damian asked, amazed at Zen’s progress despite his slow head start.Shaking his head, Zen checked the log. He still had to talk to Father Mark to inform him about what he learned. Moreover, there were new titles and items to check out.“Give me a while to finish the last trap,” Damian stretched. “The fairies are still hostile towards me and won’t listen to me. They attack
“And… that’s nine!” Damian whooped in delight as another ditzy fairy was lured into his trap. Zen’s fairy cakes were the bomb!Although Zen already had a private fairy circle to access from the church, he decided to accompany Damian and help the engineer complete his main chain quest. The Fairy o’ Meter worked like a charm, and Zen was only glad to put his fairy cake recipe to better use. Unlike the first time when he had to hunt for sparkling sundew alone, Zen found it as an ingredient at Melvin’s restaurant when he borrowed the chef’s kitchen. According to the NPC, adventurers who started favouring his restaurant after the downfall of Baron Claude donated the monster loot in exchange for meal discounts.As the fairy trap continued to work efficiently, Zen found himself growing bored. His role was to hide in the bushes, ready to assist Damian if the machine malfunctioned. Zen had added holy water to the fairy cakes as a sec
One hundred credits richer, Damian Gorski wondered how two non-combatants would defeat a floor boss without aid. After turning in his quest to the balding baron, Damian was tasked to talk to the local fortune teller.As they approached Firah's tent, Zen couldn't help but feel a pang of concern for her weariness. Yet, it was the subtle signs of hidden pain, the bruises on her wrists concealed beneath her long sleeves, that truly stirred his empathy.“The baron extends his gratitude for your contribution,” she addressed Damian. “I can restore the fairy circle for you upon obtaining the fairy queen’s wings. Here’s a map that will guide you to her glade.”Accepting the map, Damian and Zen exited the fortune teller’s tent.“Did you see that?” Zen whispered once they were far enough. “She was hurt.”Damian nodded. It was obvious who the abuser was. The balding bastard wouldn’t stop at fairy tr
Armed to the teeth, Damian and Zen trudged through the same forest with different perspectives.“I hate how gloomy my visual settings are and how darn sparkly it is on your end,” Damian lamented as he viewed Zen’s perspective through the party call.Three minutes ago, Zen sent word in the party chat that they were about to clear the boss dungeon on the fifth floor after upgrading their weapons. He wanted to ask if they could get a boost to the tenth floor from either Liu Feng or Akiko when Sasha requested a video call after learning how Damian modified her rifle. As a result, the two boys received live coaching from backseaters over the party call.“The fairy queen can fly,” Oritha reminded. “It does great damage in a large area when she lands. Remember to dodge that.”Giving her two cents about shooting, Sasha suggested that Damian and Zen should not remain too close and in the same position.“Cover for
Making pork cutlet rice bowls for the girls and egg-fried rice for Liu Feng and himself, Zen mass-cooked a variety of vegetables and meat with extra rice that the others could help themselves to. He felt bad for making the girls log in in a hurry when they learned how quickly Damian and Zen cleared the final boss room. However, they weren’t complaining as they sipped on iced lemonade in the kitchen.“Did you hear?” Sasha gossiped in between sips of the refreshing drink. “Damian received his rewards and cleared with a special title!”Tossing the wok, Zen barely turned to her. However, she had his attention.“What did he get?”Grinning, Sasha retrieved the screenshot Damian sent her. Apparently, he was still mucking around with his imperfect rune cannon in the game. Zen left him to finish his invention. It was nearing five in the evening, and Liu Feng should be wrapping up his other urgent secret business. With the new part
After a delicious meal, Party Godly Food logged in and agreed to meet Damian, who had finally finished his floor five event. They gathered on the sixth floor, and Zen laid down the plan.“Damian and I will accept the main quest, but we won’t do them. I’ll ask for everyone’s help to clear them on our behalves while we explore the side quests. Damian will look for new crafting recipes and spells while I forage and update the gaming guide.”Nobody complained, but Akiko remembered one question from when Zen was in the kitchen.“Zen, why do you need so many credits?”Here, even Oritha and Sasha paid attention. Zen felt all the eyes on him and faltered. He hasn’t told Liu Feng about his intentions and plans. However, after stirring the hornet’s nest earlier, it was difficult for him to brush it under the carpet.“I can’t tell you now because I don’t have a lot of evidence,” he stated cau
The Naga Villagers were NPCs in the storyline for the sixth floor. Zen noticed how quickly Damian had gotten along with these villagers. The cyborg had taken an interest in their craftsmanship and magic.Unlike the Shady Merchant, who was only interested in their services at the portal to hunt for rare snakes to get their skin for his luxury products, the Naga Tribe was full of ancient wisdom that intrigued Zen more. Akiko found the poisonous vipers for the first part of the main quest and stored the loot away in the party’s shared inventory. Zen quickly turned in his portion of the main quest and auto-accepted the next quest without bothering to talk to the Shady Merchant in person. After completing the fifth floor, Zen learned from the others that there was an auto-accept option for the main quest progression that he had never found in the settings menu. It was a rookie mistake on his part that should not have happened.“So all I have to do is fix the fallen
When Bolt returned with the first aid kit, he was largely relieved to see how Yelena was taking care of Zen. Taking over, he checked on the burn injury that had greatly reduced thanks to the ice cream tub, although the same could not be said of the melting liquid inside.“That might have to go back into the freezer for now,” he gently told Yelena, who agreed.Now that the actual adult was back, Yelena threw the explanation to Bolt. She hated the woman Chatura. There was no way she wanted to explain all the complicated history to Zen when she could barely speak English. Besides, between the two of them, Bolt was supposed to be the smarter one.“Oh, Chatura. Yes… it’s a complicated story,” Bolt frowned. “There are so many rumours and versions about what happened to her before she had been turned into an invigilator here. I’ve never personally met her or talked to her in my time here. However, I don’t think we have a
After spending most of the day in the virtual world, the rest of Party Godly Food excused themselves to hit the gym and stretch their muscles. Damian returned to finish compiling the game guide while Zen worked on preparing dinner. Yelena and Bolt were present, so there was no need for anyone else to keep him company. Not to mention, the kitchen hands were very helpful. Most of the ingredients Zen needed were already prepared. The dirty dishes from the last meal were washed meticulously and left to dry on the counter.“Did you find anything new in the dive this time?” Bolt asked while Zen mixed his seasoning.Zen wanted to make something simple for dinner as they had a heavy tea. Fried rice and some soup will do. There was more than enough for everyone later.“There were new things,” Zen admitted, reluctant to reveal too much information about the new features and unique split-path quests he and Damian had discovered. “However
Collecting the rewards for successfully defeating John’s cousin, the party members of Godly Food jumped into the portal leading to the next floor. Zen knew that the dungeon had different themes on every ten floors. The tenth floor of each themed stage would be different from the other stages in difficulty. It was why the vanguard team struggled with the twentieth floor’s boss. In addition to the stage mechanic’s difference, the final boss was also tougher to deal with. If not for the monstrous capabilities of the combatants, Zen doubted they could breeze through the first ten floors as quickly as they did.Anticipating a village or town vibe similar to the other floors from before, Zen was stunned to find himself in a rocky cave full of darkness. It had ominous vibes, and only Liu Feng moved confidently in the darkness. Everyone else minimised exploring further without a light source.“We’ll log out here,” Akiko informed Damian. “Y
After entering the boss dungeon den, Zen shivered. It wasn’t similar to a wolf’s den. If anything, it appeared closer to an actual dungeon, as if someone had deliberately attempted to imprison the boss here. The stale smell of dogs and many broken chains of different sizes on the ground spoke volumes about John’s cousin.Unlike the short werewolf, who remained in his werewolf form constantly, the boss was a monster who could transform. Depending on the moon cycle, it could be a violent and bloodthirsty monster or a broken man who lived in constant fear and misery of his curse.“He changes according to the moon cycle once the rampage begins,” Akiko explained. “I took a while to figure out how to kill him, even on the first run. He’s immune to damage on a blood moon. We need to finish it as soon as possible.”With a full party participating in a boss battle, Zen had faith they could conclude it before even the blood moon p
Finally approaching the final boss’s cave, Zen wondered if the storyline would change because they had let Han murder John brutally. His body had been hacked into pieces and scattered around the rotting forest. The maggots would get to it soon and reduce it to bones. Yet, the cruel butchering session remained fresh in Zen’s mind.Everyone in the party knew that feeling all too well. Having lived in the underworld, they sympathised with Zen, who had lived like a civilian his whole life. Although not everyone participated directly in the act of murder, they knew what it meant to take a life. Even Damian had seen it happen. He knew how to interrogate for information and was quite adept at the craft when required.“Don’t think too much about it,” Liu Feng was the first to break the silence. “He wasn’t even real. This is a game designed by the Godfather to find the next successor. It’s just another test.”Even if it wer
Even after many years of not being on talking terms with the rest of the family, Hans fitted right in when delving blows at the cowardly werewolf. Mai ripped out chunks of flesh with her teeth, snarling at it the whole time while Laura expertly force-fed the werewolf with different herbs with particularly nasty effects.Even with regeneration abilities, John could not recover from herbs that tasted nasty, gave him muscle cramps or made him itch all over. Laura truly knew how to make someone suffer, and Zen watched with morbid fascination at their different uses. Her apothecary skills were no less effective than those of Herbologist Hernie.“Can you heal him again?” Damian asked. “Han needs another round. Mai roughed him up a little too good.”With a priest in the party who did not worship any known religion, the torture session became smoother and more effective. No apology from John would appease the family’s anger. Although Zen did not
After listening to the story about John, Laura’s expression hardened. “That son of a bitch!” she spat. “How dare he prey on my granddaughter! Where is he now?!” Slightly terrified by the murderous aura, Zen reported that Sasha and Damian had the werewolf at Gabrielle’s hut. Mai had been ripping him a new one each time he regenerated. The girls had been doing a great job of making him miserable. Han was already there. “I can’t believe I’m last at the party. That wolf deserves to die. Even death is too cheap a price to pay after what he did to my husband and son.” For once, Zen agreed. Even if John was merely a character in the game, he deserved death. The fact that the game administrators did not grant John invulnerable stats meant that it was possible to kill the cousin of the floor boss. While waiting for Laura to pack her ‘tools’ and herbal surprises, Zen approached Liu Feng and thanked him for accompanying them. In real time, it was already past regular l
Studying advanced herbalism from Laura took more time than Zen expected. Thankfully, the game had a way of providing cheats for him. Instead of cramming all the knowledge into his head that would give him a splitting migraine, it provided a useful guidebook that would prompt him on what a particular herb does upon location and what combinations he could use it for with other known herbs. The problem was, to truly master this skill, he had to pass the final test. Laura’s pop quiz only had ten questions. However, there was a timer. While Zen could attempt it infinitely, there were thousands of herb combinations to remember. Not having any formal education in either of his past lives, the young chef faltered. “You may use anything in this cottage as a reference for your test,” Laura smirked. “All the best. I hope you won’t disappoint me.” Stressing over the best method to find what he needed, Zen tested a few things. Firstly, when Laura said that the new skill would inst
While the other party members gathered the family members for a reunion, Zen and Liu Feng finally found Laura’s cottage after taking a wrong turn. Funnily enough, it was the Seer who pointed out how they had been going in a circle before Zen realised he had misinterpreted the map. Knocking on the cottage door, Zen waited with his sworn brother. From inside, he could hear someone coughing badly. “Who is it?” the cranky old lady hacked as she cracked open the door. Instead of seeing her sloppy son or nosy granddaughter, Laura saw a cute priest and a handsome, long-haired warrior. The new adventurers surprised her. Were they lost in the forest? “What do you want?” she asked briefly before launching into a new coughing fit. It was a particularly nasty cold that had persisted for a week now without any signs of recovery. Despite all the herbal medicine she made, Laura did not see any signs of improvement. Perhaps she was getting on in age. Smiling, Zen show