Oh, wait. Zen saw the sign he missed earlier and finally understood why he strayed from the main and obvious path. The sign wasn’t on a post. It was hanging from a tree. If he recalled accurately, he crawled on the ground and tried to avoid the poison mist earlier. That would explain how he missed such an obvious thing.
A blush of humiliation scattered across his virtual cheeks when the Godfather sent him a new tip.
[The Godfather thinks you need to use blindness cure eyedrops in your inventory if you missed such an obvious sign. You have been awarded 100 credits.]
Ok! That was his fault, but must the Godfather use tipping to communicate with him specifically? It wasn’t important advice or helpful comments. Zen had a feeling the Godfather paid special attention to him for an entirely different reason tha
Ping!Instead of the usual blue notification window notification he saw, Zen blinked in surprise at the purple notification screen.[You are about to unlock a unique quest. By proceeding with this quest, you abide by the rules of Omerta with Godfather Estrada and will not divulge details of the quest to any candidates in Godfather High. Do you wish to proceed?]Zen froze. Omerta with the Godfather?He wanted to decline at once, but there was no such option. Tearfully, he could only accept it and pray that his party members would ask him no questions. It was just a stupid detour from the main path. Why was he involved with another omerta? It was too unfair how he couldn’t even decline the unique quest!Those watching Zen
Zen found himself back at the Mushroom Maiden Shrine, and the viewers on his broadcast channel stared at the chestnut-haired teen. Nobody knew what happened when the channel was censored, but Zen’s confusion made them suspect he failed the Godfather’s Trial.While the world was swimming in speculation, Zen looked at his newly acquired secret skill that would not appear in his character profile card when shared with others, similar to his hidden titles.“Inspect.”===Unique Skill: Mandy’s Morse Code (Passive)Effects: Will give the user three taps on the left shoulder if someone is lying. Constantly activated during events, in dungeons and on school grounds.
In no time, Zen sought out all the mushroom monster variants in the forest. They could be found far from the main path and usually travelled alone. He realised that caps were not the only things these zombie puffballs could spawn with. Two rarer variant forms wore sunglasses and wigs. The wig-wearing mushroom variant dropped hair weaves, and the sunglasses-wearing variant dropped shade fragments.Zen had no idea what they did, but he kept them. Although he wasn’t a hoarder by nature, throwing them away would be a waste, especially when Zen had infinite game inventory to abuse. Who knew if these were crafting ingredients for Hernie’s requests in her chain quest? She was an accessory crafting NPC as well as a potion shop NPC. It was usually rare to find an NPC with two specialisations, but this dungeon made little sense so far. There was no way Hernie would not have a chain quest.
Circling the mountain, Zen found several smaller cave entrances that could be easily missed. In fact, not all those cave entrances led to the same Veiled Vampire Lady colony. These smaller caves were not as deep, and Zen easily found the variant purple mushroom monsters.He had no idea how these variant monsters were the same type of purple mushroom. Even if they had veiled wings, these mushrooms weren’t the ferocious kinds who would bite Zen. It reminded him about mosquitos. Female mosquitoes would suck blood but not the males. Similarly, these shyer variants of Veiled Mushrooms did not attack Zen. They tried to flee when Zen invaded their territory.Shing!The dagger sailed through the darkness and ripped through the silky veil, making the samurai hat variant mushroom fall onto the ground. Without their frag
“Welcome back,” Father Clarence greeted. “There are a lot of dangers lurking in the wilderness. Please be more careful during your adventure. If you require healing items or assistance, visit me at the chapel. May the goddess bless you.”Ah, one of the questions Zen was curious about was answered. Although the death wasn’t intentional, he was glad it happened.The Shady Merchant was just up ahead, but Father Clarence went the opposite direction. Zen watched him disappear through the stage entrance portal and blinked. Was that how he could travel freely between unlocked floors in the dungeon?Curious but unwilling to test the theory yet, Zen silently thanked the healer NPC and sighed. Now that he was back at the stage entrance, perhaps he could follow the main route that everyone else to
“You’re finally back,” the Shady Merchant sniffled and sneezed. “What took you so long?”Zen deadpanned at the NPC’s speech. Was this a default dialogue or one that was customised for him? His guild members were definitely faster. Did they receive the same speech?Wordlessly, Zen turned in the mushroom spores and received five low-grade antidotes in his inventory. They did not help to recover any health but could dispel any low-grade negative effects or minor curses.“I didn’t know curses were a thing,” Zen mused as he inspected the antidotes. This was something he wanted to learn how to create. Maybe Gilda would know a thing or two as it was similar to a potion.The Shady Merchant clicked his tongue and shook his hea
According to Hernie’s map, the closest variant was the forest bully. Zen was looking for a Hip Samurai Vampire Mushroom monster, also known as the sunglasses-wearing purple mushroom variant.“It can be found in the forest bullying weak puffball zombie mushrooms practising its fang and wing attacks. The Hip Samurai Vampire variant often does this for entertainment and eats the spores of defeated puffballs.”Reading Hernie’s research notes proved to be both helpful and disturbing. Zen knew how scientists worked. They recorded detailed observations that can be helpful in deductions and hypotheses. However, he had no desire to learn about the sadistic tendencies of different monsters. It was interesting, but Zen could feel his dinner disagreeing with him after reading Hernie’s notes about how these forest bullies tore up their pr
Zen took a long detour to the Mushroom Maiden’s Shrine and eventually completed both Hernie and the Shady Merchant’s requirements for purple and white mushroom items. If anything, the greedy gamer collected more than the required ingredients because he wanted to test something out with the caps later.“Finally here,” he told Lime, who yawned. Taking pity on his pet, who worked hard, Zen unsummoned it and entered the private mushroom meadow sanctuary.Almost immediately, he could feel the blessings of Mandy’s Melody. The heaviness of the poison fog and fatigue was washed away. This time, Zen paid closer attention to the ambient sound effects in the game. According to Hernie’s notes, there was one blue mushroom variant she knew existed underneath the lake, but they were shyer than the evasive Pixie Paradox Parasol.
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
It was a shame Zen was not with them. Sasha would have gone for a few more rounds, using the cowardly werewolf as a punching bag after Zen healed him. The more they dug information out from the pervert, the worse Sasha’s temper was. Damian did not stop her. The draconian needed somewhere to vent her anger, and it was best for it not to come his way. In truth, the cyborg felt a little sorry for Gabrielle, even if she were just a fictional character created for this virtual dungeon game. The cowardly cousin of the floor boss was no different from lowly thugs borrowing the influence of their powerful relatives to cause mayhem. Whimpering in fear and pain with his tail tucked in between his legs, the werewolf defect who could not transform into a human no matter the moon cycle kept a close eye on Sasha. Under the watch of the merciless draconian female, there was nowhere for him to run. He told them what they wanted to know and was alive for now. Given how tightly they w
Using hand gestures, Sasha signalled the countdown and Damian prepared his stunning spells silently. They only had one chance to catch the secret admirer off guard. Whatever he was doing was disgusting enough. Han wasn’t lying about the obsession. The stalker werewolf was plucking flower petals and chanting Gabrielle’s name to see if she would love him back. Each time the flower petals ended on a no, he would crush the flower, stomp on it and pick a new one, confessing his disturbing love to her before plucking off the petals of a new flower.“Oh, Gabrielle! What sweet rosy cheeks you have, all the better for me to bite into them when they are ripe! They were pink when you were a babe. They were red when you had a fever. I wonder if they’d bleed if I bit them… would you cry in pain and fear? It makes me so excited to think about it! Just wait a little more, my angel. You’d soon be an adult, and we could finally be together!”Disgu
As soon as Zen and Liu Feng departed, the remaining assassins pulled themselves together and got to work. Oritha opted to remain in the same room as the sleeping mother and daughter. However, Akiko went outside to share the information she learned last night about the stalker while patrolling the perimeter.“More brown hair?” Damian asked. “I could examine the cuticle to determine its genetic composition.”Handing the tuft of brown fur or hair over, Akiko also told Sasha the stalker’s route. Liu Feng only sensed the area where the unknown man was hiding last night. His lack of vision made him miss out on the obvious tracks. The stalker was not an expert. It must be how Han knew the foot size of Gabrielle’s secret admirer.Showing Sasha the tracks she found in the night, the Death Princess explained her hypothesis. The night hounds and wolves did not approach the house due to an invisible barrier.“It was as if they were t