As the last to visit the final boss dungeon on the sixth floor, Zen was not expecting the Lamia Queen’s boss chamber to look like an amethyst mine. He thought it would be closer to a poisonous swamp, bubbling with dangerous toxic geysers similar to the volcano crater.
It took him so long to finish the side quest that Damian had begun to examine the new crafting materials that Zen gathered. The other members of Godly Food Party also took a leisure break on the seventh floor while waiting for Zen. Liu Feng had taken on the unofficial task of testing the limits of their shared party inventory. All Zen read in his notifications was an increasing amount of carrots and truffles in their inventory. The carrots were more common than the truffles for obvious reasons. However, his sworn brother did not have any intentions of slowing down. Every minute Zen spent appreciating the amethyst cave, he received ten more carrots and maybe two more truffles.Finally teleporting to theInstead of appearing from burrows in the ground, the moon rabbits dropped from the sky in little bubbles that floated downwards. Sasha and Oritha wasted no time, shooting them down one by one. Even Damian equipped his modified wand and fired it repeatedly using a compressed air spell.In a wordless tandem, Akiko and Liu Feng stepped into the carrot field and decimated the baby bunnies from space. If Zen were honest, it looked closer to an alien attack than a rabbit attack. Although the moon rabbit kittens were adorable, they were also crazy about carrots.Skree!It was a horrible sound to hear as baby bunnies died. The unluckier ones died in their bubbles, while the luckier monsters managed to touch the ground for a few seconds before they became meat pastes or skewers, depending on who they met first. Oritha’s Boomerang cut down many floating bunnies. Her amplified giant strength created sonic booms with every throw. Yet, the number of invaders could not
Before Zen could announce the unique main quest, Damian snorted.“You know, I once told my parents that the day I will have friends of my age who weren’t mechanical robots would be the day pigs fly. Who would have seen this coming?”Unable to hold back a chuckle, Liu Feng let a puff of air escape his lips at the lame joke attempt. Despite his Chinese upbringing in the triad, he still understood the English joke. However, it was lost in translation on the girls who only wondered if flying pigs were more delicious than running ones.Refusing to comment on the joke, Zen calmly reminded the ladies that they needed the wings of those flying hogs.“If you can catch one and get their meat as a loot, I can try cooking it,” he reasoned, listing the number of pork-related recipes he knew.“I want them barbecued with spices,” Oritha demanded when Zen brought up kebabs. “But don’t put them in the bread. I’ll ea
The hog hunt lasted less than fifteen minutes. With such skilful party members, it was only expected. However, it was the first time Zen had seen the Shady Merchant behaving in such a derogatory manner. The madman went through all five stages of grief within seconds of seeing Zen’s trade.“Absurd! Absolutely unacceptable! This is a scam, a scam, I say! Mother, what have I done to deserve this karma? I’m only but a mere merchant boy looking to make a living, and they want me to sell my soul. I would rather die!”Given the looks his party members were giving the shady merchant behind Zen’s back, the NPC quickly retracted his words.“On second thoughts, I’m too young to die. How about this? I’ll give you another good deal. One wing for five credits. How does that sound? I’ll buy the whole damn bulk off your hands and only give you enough scrolls for your party. One wing for six special scrolls. I won’t sell this
After fooling around for a while, the boys finally used their new skill scrolls. Zen gifted the special scrolls to Charlie, Remi, Benjamin and Jessica, explaining what they did and their value. When they could finally preview the side quests available, Zen decided he wanted to do both side quests on this floor.“I’ll go speak with the farmer,” Zen informed his party. “If the Shady Merchant gives out the new main quest, please let me know!”Damian looked at the side quest rewards and decided to ignore them. There was no merit in completing them. If anything, he preferred tormenting the Shady Merchant by piling wings on top of the struggling man and teasing him by offering fake help. Sasha cheered for the cyborg as he ran circles around the frustrated merchant who was trying to snatch back one of his ‘stolen’ goods.Zen ignored the cyborg’s shenanigans. He had new cooking and brewing recipes to collect. With these two new
Although the side quest did not have any penalties for failing, Zen found it quite annoying. Already, he had failed the reverse game of Minesweeper eight times. He was going to refer to it as the Groundsweeper now.“Are there no cheats?” he wondered. “This is too hard.”Oritha and Sasha, intrigued, attempted the game of Groundsweeper but failed. It was hardly surprising. With a shovel that would break after ten digs, that meant Zen could only use it to dig up truffles when he had confirmed their location. If he used it on the wrong spot, he would never be able to collect all ten truffles needed for the side quest. However, the other device he was given was a sniffing farm dog that only worked for treats. The number of treats the farmer would give Zen for each attempt was limited to ten. That meant Zen could not use the sniffer dog carelessly.Zen initially turned to Liu Feng and Akiko for help. However, the Death Princess wasn’t good at s
Cooking without a kitchen felt anti-climatic. Zen hated using the system skills and game mechanics to craft food. It felt very impersonal, but they were short on time. The evasion cake was not just any cake. It was the key to survival against the boss monster. His party might be able to take care of the monster within five minutes, but there was no meaning in it if Zen died during the first wave of attack. Yet, it was the worst cake Zen had ever created in history.Of course, the dungeon creator thought to include Lores in this dungeon. Zen was almost certain there was a hidden side quest somewhere. However, he did not have the luxury of time to explore them when he was getting carried to the vanguard members.“According to Greek mythology, when Medusa was slain, she birthed two children that belonged to Poseidon. The flying hogs we saw earlier were Chrysaor’s descendants. However, the boss is the actual twin brother of the flying hog. You wouldn’t guess
After reaching the eighth stage, Zen spotted the Shady Merchant in a familiar war outfit. However, unlike on floor three, they were not surrounded by castle walls. He looked more terrified than Zen remembered him to be. As if spotting someone reliable from the new group of adventurers appearing from the portal, the Shady Merchant’s eyes lit up with delight as he waved at the new party. “Over here!” he called to Zen’s group. As the other members of his party headed straight for the Shady Merchant, Zen paused to study the new stage. It was odd. They were in the middle of a rocky mountain with no shelter in sight. The portal came out of a shallow rock crevice, and the Shady Merchant did not have any business in the Rocky Mountains. Why was he here? Most importantly, wasn’t the Shady Merchant a main quest-giving NPC? Why was he also dishing out side quests? Zen could not understand why the side quest only appeared on his log until he read the requirements. ===
Monster evolution had always been a strange thing. Even though Zen was an avid gamer in his previous life as a young master, he only knew some basics. For example, a powerful goblin could evolve into a hobgoblin. Ugi, the Goblin Lord, was the final evolution a goblin could turn into. However, he had no idea how this ugly orc general could share Ugi’s bloodline. Apparently, they were cousins.“You slay Ugi! Urum slay you!”Ah, yes. How wonderful. Zen wasn’t expecting such a warm welcome at the cliff when he arrived, much less to be recognised as a cousin slayer. Maybe all green-skinned monsters shared a similar ancestry. Too bad. Zen would never know the truth. Dead orcs tell no tales.“Ugi was a good warrior,” Zen confirmed. “Shall I send you to him?”Angered, Urum brandished his scimitar. Unlike goblins, who preferred blunt weapons, the orcs were stronger and more human-like. They preferred blades that could cut th