Ping!
On the way back, Zen received a notification from the game. Oritha received one at the same moment, and they exchanged questioning looks. “Oh? It appears as if I can claim the smokescreen grenades too,” Damian announced through the group call. “I can also see the new main quest. That’s very convenient!”Jaw falling open, Zen quickly checked his notification. Sure enough, the updated party quest-sharing system marked the chain quest as completed for everyone in Godly Food. They claimed the rewards happily and stared at the new quest requirement that Liu Feng accepted on everyone’s behalf.===Quest: Shady Business Part 2Objective: Infiltrate the Kobold’s Mine and obtain a map layout for the Shady MerchantQuest item: Self-updating magical mapReward: 5 flash grenades===Whatever purpose the Shady Merchant had in mind for recruiting them for his scouting mission, Zen didn’tThanks to the stealth training Zen received from Liu Feng before the Treasure Hunt event, he was barely able to avoid detection by Karina. Sasha had no issues either, and the archer elf admitted defeat. These weren’t rookie adventurers. They had some skills.“I don’t know how useful this skill is, but please take it. You’ve passed the first trial.”Ping!===17. Shadow StepsEffects: When activated, helps player avoid getting detected for 30 seconds while moving.===Checking the new skill, Zen rejoiced. Unlike Sasha, who was a natural at activating stealth, he struggled to maintain his cool in stealth mode. Moving while remaining stealthy was something he never learned. The new skill would definitely come in handy.“Sweet! How do I use the skill?” Sasha asked.Zen could understand her enthusiasm. Gaining new skills in a game was always exciting for gamers. This had to be Sasha’s first activ
Chuckling to himself, Liu Feng refused to comment on the two children’s excitement about the new skills. For professionals like Akiko and himself, dismantling a trap or two was basic. They didn’t have to worry about carefully removing parts without triggering the detection mechanism. With enough brute force and finesse, physical traps like the ones the Kobolds made using primitive resources could be destroyed five times quicker than a scout could disarm it.“That’s nice,” he congratulated Zen over the group voice call when the gamer and sniper informed everyone they successfully cleared the third training in a single try with Damian’s live coaching. “You can dismantle basic traps now with basic accessory crafting and armour crafting skills. Two Shots might have to finish the other side quests to use that skill if she’s interested. However, there’s no need to assist us. Oritha should be turning in the next quest soon. The Dea
“I’ll wait here,” Zen smiled. “You should go check it out. Many secret quests come with special skills and rewards only chosen players can get.”Hearing how the secret quest granted only specific players unusual rewards, Sasha’s curiosity got the better of her. Even Damian, who was observing them, became interested. However, Oritha shrugged.“It must be another ranged skill,” she sighed. “If it were a strength-related skill, I might be interested.”“We wouldn’t know yet,” Damian hummed, studying Sasha’s perspective from over the group call. “I’ll tell you what she got after she finishes the quest.”Leisurely, everyone else resumed what they were doing. Akiko and Liu Feng only had one more quest for the main chain quest. They were to find the Mega Furnace schematic by defeating the Kobold Mad Scientist. The boss monster wasn’t difficult to defeat. However, l
“Take a left turn after two forked paths, and you’ll be at the boss room,” Zen urged.After failing once to get both Liu Feng and Akiko to the boss room, Zen devised a new strategy. Honestly, this was a fourth-floor boss. With how strong Liu Feng and Akiko were before they integrated with their bloodline, it was unnecessary for both powerhouses to be there. Hence, the objective was to get at least one of them to the destination.Sending Liu Feng and Akiko to different areas on standby, Zen predetermined where the new boss room would appear. After seeing so many failed attempts, Zen narrowed down the possible locations of the boss’ room that he would include in the gamer guide. True to his hunch, the new boss’s room appeared near Akiko.Flying over at top speed, Akiko smashed through any traps from walls and ceilings. Ground traps were easy to avoid with her newly gained aerial skills. Although the Death Princess was still unfamiliar with
“Do you think the boss was harder to locate because we were there together?” Akiko asked as soon as Zen showed up with the two other girls.Surprised, Zen asked if there was a difference between the boss dungeon Akiko had just defeated and the first time she speed-ran the dungeon. According to everyone else in the party who cleared floors by skipping the main quest, the boss monster did not drop armour upgrade tickets as a reward. Instead, they received various machine parts such as scrap metals, bolts or broken gears. It wasn’t very useful, but Damian wanted it, so they gave it to the cyborg for free.“The boss did not change rooms either,” Sasha confirmed. “He was just there at the end of the cave. I didn’t run into many kobolds or traps while doing the dungeon with Oritha. We bypassed every other monster here when we could in search of the boss room. After all, you can trigger the portal to the next floor by simply killing the b
After making arrangements with Damian to meet on floor five tomorrow, Zen logged out. The rest of his party members wanted to remain logged in while he prepared dinner as they wanted to become more accustomed to the new abilities they gained. Damian offered to record their training progress, and Zen didn’t want to interrupt their fun.Ping!Seeing a private message from Charlie and his party, Zen thought it might be a good time to discuss the new farming strategies with Party Freedom while he prepared dinner. They worked just as hard as those in the vanguard team, so Zen didn’t mind cooking any special requests they might have. Liu Feng wanted fried rice tonight, so Zen was thinking of making an assortment of rice-related dishes.Checking the fridge, Zen noticed nothing for his party members to eat if they were hungry. Apart from two bottles of supplement drinks, it was empty. Feeding these assassins was starting to become a full-time job. Zen wondered if
By the time the remaining members of Party Godly Food, except for Damian, arrived in the kitchen for dinner, Party Freedom was slumped over the kitchen counters, looking absolutely lifeless.“Thanks for the assistance,” Zen beamed as he welcomed the rest of his party members. “They helped to make dinner today, so there’s plenty of food. Even after setting aside the snacks for tonight and tomorrow’s breakfast, there’s still a heap of food left over. They packed the food they wanted and stored it in their rooms, but we still have this much left.”Akiko glanced over to the side where zip-lock bags were piled. There were three large pots of rice and an assortment of trays with different food on them. The plate that was specially reserved for Liu Feng’s meal was heaped. With this much food, the pantry was probably empty again. On the bright side, nobody would starve with this much food in the refrigerator.“What’s
Gawking at the audacity Yelena had artistically designed using ketchup, Zen didn’t know if he should stop his sworn brother from eating that omurice. There was nothing wrong with the sauce or ingredients. However, it was still a little strange seeing the Seer eating omurice with a phallic ketchup doodle on it.“What is it?” Liu Feng asked, feeling Zen’s stare. “Is there something on my face?”Shaking his head quickly, Zen nervously wished him bon appetite and escaped to have his dinner. There was no telling what Liu Feng would do if he knew he was eating fried rice with a dick pic created by Yelena. Technically, assault on an invigilator was against the school rules. However, Zen wouldn’t put it past Liu Feng to get his revenge on her if he knew. Apparently, there were many gutsy people in this academy who dared to pull on the lion’s whiskers.Taking this rare opportunity, Charlie and Remi talked with the Akiko about the
From floor five to floor nine, Zen discovered many changing elements in the virtual world. The dungeon mechanics became more complex as they climbed the floors. It was difficult to believe that until floor ten, they were still in the tutorial stages.Damian’s game guide from floor five was very different from Zen’s version. The cyborg logged every single type of equipment and monster as an encyclopaedia page, including replicated screenshot images. He rated them according to their value, usage, frequency of occurrence, something Zen had not considered, and prices. The floor map was also marked to indicate where they could commonly be located, along with an estimated loot drop guide. Compared to Zen’s walkthrough guide, Damian created a very different and detailed directory.Although their styles were very different, Zen teared up with gratefulness for the guide Damian put together. If Zen excelled at game progression strategy, Damian’s information w
Liu Feng was not pleased to learn that Zen was already considering inviting another troublesome person into his circle after sparring with Akiko. Yet, he could not say he was surprised. In the brief weeks of meeting Zen, he had seen enough to know it would not be the last time either. From the get-go, even Liu Feng had been drawn to the young cook because of this attitude. It was both the young man’s charm and weakness.While the blind teen had enough respect for Chatura, a famous strategist, he hated dealing with snake-like personalities. They already had several ticking time bombs in the Godly Food Party, and the Lau Triad’s influence could only shield Zen from so much harm. Damian Gorski had provoked half the Round Table, and Zen had rejected everyone there. An omerta might be sacred, but it was not always upheld by both parties. There were many ways to cancel an omerta, usually involving the death of one party, and Liu Feng did not wish to crush his younger swor
After finishing his dinner, Zen sipped on the weird concoction called tea from a heavy stainless steel tool holder sterilised in isopropyl alcohol. The cyborg offered to distil and mix some of his alcohol supply into the tea for a ‘better flavour,’ and Zen smartly declined. He did not have a mechanical gut that could be replaced easily. It was best to stick to conventional instant tea in unconventional cups, even if Damian stuck two very different flavours of instant tea in one cup.Although Damian had overheard the conversation in the kitchen, Zen still told him what he knew from Bolt and asked if Damian had a way to verify the information. Due to the many rumours floating around Chatura, it was difficult to know the kind of person she was. It was obvious who spread those rumours.Within thirty minutes, Damian uncovered a lot more than Zen thought was possible. Then again, he should probably not be surprised that the Gorski had such an extensive information ne
Sneaking dinner back to the room, Zen thanked Bolt and Yelena for updating him about the new faction. Although neither invigilator liked the strategist, Chatura was a very powerful person whom Zen found intriguing.Unfortunately, Liu Feng and Akiko were out. They said they would be sparring in the training ground and were not back yet. Sasha and Oritha were still in the gym, making Damian Zen’s only option to discuss this new situation with them.Deciding to take a quick shower, Zen sent Damian a text and asked if he could come over to discuss something confidential in thirty minutes with his dinner. The cyborg took a while to reply, but Zen smiled when he received an affirmation in the middle of his shower.Thirty minutes later, Zen knocked on Damian’s door, freshly showered and with a packed dinner in his other hand. There was nobody in the corridor, so Zen relaxed.Damian opened the door within seconds and welcomed Zen in.“Pardon the me
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