“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 secOne 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
Medusa’s Shrine was smaller than Zen thought it would be. It should have some years of glory until it was abandoned and ultimately forgotten. Litha was quite the chatty child when she wasn’t overly anxious. She shared many stories about the Naga tribe that were passed down orally from generation to generation.“The great Medusa was once the founder of this land. She had tremendous holy powers that blessed and protected the forest. However, many people turned to stone after an atrocious curse had befallen her. The Naga tribe was the only tribe that served the snake goddess, unafraid of the curse.”According to Litha, the Naga tribe had a custom of training children to navigate the forest blindfolded when they were younger to clean and maintain the Medusa Shrine. However, a few centuries ago, the tradition stopped because a shaman said their goddess was no longer with them.“The decline of snakes in the forest was a big issue,” Litha
Medusa’s shrine was not the only affected thing on this floor. Zen could also figure out the traces of death in the area by using his ability to detect miasma and contamination. There was unrest in this land, and the goddess’s power had long disappeared. Whatever had been guarding this land had probably died and disrupted the natural power balance, creating this mess. Thankfully, Zen already knew the general location where to start his search. Restoring the shrine after uncovering the secret to this messed-up floor’s lore was easy.“The snake hazmat suit is ready,” Damian chimed over the party call. “I’m sending it in the shared storage. It should automatically fit you. We have more than enough snakeskin for one person. Test it for leaks first and use your mushroom mask as a poisonous gas filter.”Zen thanked Damian and tried on the newly crafted suit. The snakeskin pattern made it look more like a patch quilt than a hazmat s
Stocking up on bottles of holy water was the right thing to do. Zen blessed one bottle and walked to the edge of the crater to test its efficiency. The bottle of holy water managed to purify a small area of contaminated land. However, the poisonous sludge remained. Clearing it out would most likely require a huge fire. Unfortunately, Zen did not have any means to do it himself. He would have to leave this for the Naga tribe to figure out.The most important thing to do was to bless the wyvern’s corpse and help its soul cross over to remove the source of contamination and miasma. The energy of death surrounded the wyvern skeleton thickly, but Zen remained unfazed. This was nothing compared to the thick miasma of evil energy on the previous floor.Offering the wyvern corpse a prayer he learned, Zen dispelled the resentment and regrets of the late poison wyvern. The prayer created a small miracle, clearing all the poisonous smog with a blast of holy power coming down fr