“How long have you known about the existence of side quests?” Charlie threw his arm around Zen’s neck to wrestle him into a light chokehold position.
It wasn’t very difficult for the Gambler to give the short gamer a noogie as payback for keeping all the good information to himself while everyone else fumbled like clueless bats in this virtual dungeon game.
Zen apologised and begged for mercy when the taller teen offered no reprieve from the chokehold. It did not hurt as much, but it was definitely uncomfortable. Sadly, not even Remi pitied him. If anything, the insomniac might propose doing it himself to take out his obvious frustrations on Zen.
Father Clarence gave out the quests like what Zen mentioned, and after receiving their first side quest, Charlie let Zen go.
Liu Feng and Akiko were tense. He had no idea what happened between them earlier, but Liu Feng’s general expression changed when he heard Zen.“There you are!” the Seer smiled gently and took a real look at Zen before reaching out to pat Zen’s head softly.“You’re a lot shorter than I thought you were now that I can see.”His statement made Zen freeze. “What do you mean?”Akiko tilted her head to one side. Didn’t Zen tell Liu Feng to make his area boss drop into an accessory because he knew what it could do?Liu Feng paused. His smile faltered. Many questions hovered in everyone’s minds. Misunderstanding deepened, and this time, there was no way for them to con
“Nobody can be certain of the truth from a watered-down source,” Zen told them. “I have reasons to believe that while the claims of the Gorski’s family’s children experimentation and torture are true, there is more than meets the eye.”Liu Feng and Akiko held their breaths as Zen explained his perspective. From analysis, the scientists from the Gorski family fit the criteria as curiosity-driven individuals with a desire to solve many of civilian’s problems. They were one of the Godfather’s most loyal supporters of wanting to do good as guardians of their territory. However, not many people believed them after the truth of their results were leaked.Even so, Zen’s theory was only a theory. Without concrete evidence to clean the Gorsi family’s crimes, knowing the truth was useless.
Putting aside Damian Gorski’s matter, for now, the trio finally cleared up all the bad air between them since morning.“You can have the one with higher efficiency,” Liu Feng tossed the advanced healing salve to Akiko. “I’ll be happy with the one my little brother made.”Zen blushed at how Liu Feng phrased things. Sometimes, he wondered if this long-haired older brother was conscious of what he was doing. If he was a lady, he would have fallen for Liu Feng.Akiko did not bother arguing. She might not need this now, but it was better than arguing with the Seer when he was feeling possessive. Zen was grabbed by the waist, and Liu Feng jumped down from the tree with the small gamer tucked neatly under one arm like an attempted kidnapping right before her eyes.
Unsurprisingly, Zen finished Father Clarence’s quest first. However, Remi and Charlie were still far from reaching their quota. Akiko and Liu Feng did not mind helping Zen to gather a few more slimes when the teen said he wanted to collect a few more green goo for salve crafting practice.More was better than less, and Remi decided he couldn’t go on anymore. For every five slimes he killed, there would only be one or two that dropped goo. Something was strange. Zen killed way lesser slimes than they did, leaving most of the slime horde to them, but he finished his quota first.As Remi and Charlie rested, the tactician observed Zen, who requested smaller groups of slime to be sent his way so that he could conserve his stamina. Swinging a short sword also took a lot of energy, even if his movements with the sword were getting better. He did not see hi
Tired but not defeated, the trio turned in their quests to Father Clarence as the clergyman entertained two newcomers asking to assist with his chores. Zen witnessed how the NPC requested more cloth to make bandages, sending Akiko and Liu Feng away to complete the quest.From the conversation, Liu Feng managed to make the clergyman like him a little more as they bonded over a discussion about pressure points to massage to relieve fatigue. The Seer even offered to give the priest a shoulder rub, and Zen had to admit his sworn brother was a charmer of women, men, animals and NPCs.The smug smirk on the long-haired man’s face told Zen that he got what he came for even though he would still complete the quest he accepted to learn a first aid skill that Zen encouraged them to learn.Akiko did not have much luck ear
“How are you feeling?”Zen groaned. Honestly, he felt like this was the worst sleep he had so far. Father Clarence was looking at him with eyes of concern, wondering what the boy did to return to the church this soon. Didn’t he mass craft the healing salves?Suffocation and drowning were probably some of the more terrifying ways to die. Honestly, Zen preferred to die from fall damage or get beaten up until his HP dwindled away. It would not be as brutal as smelling slime butts. Even getting shot to death might be slightly better. It was less embarrassing if Zen ignored how he died semi-naked.“Terrible,” Zen groaned as light stabbed his eyes. Reviving in the chapel was a rather odd experience. There was way too much light coming in from the stained glass window beside him, and Father Cl
Once Zen had resistance towards sleep, the purge of blue slimes in the woods became easier. Compared to hyperactive green slimes and hostile orange slimes, these blue slimes were sluggish and did not fight much.Remi and Charlie held their own against the slime and the Gambler discovered by pure luck that the blue blobs were allergic to coffee.Fashioning a water shooting weapon, the trio dominated the woods, killing blue slimes left and right.“Where did you learn how to make a blowgun?” Zen asked the Gambler curiously.Charlie chuckled. Any mafia heir with good education knew the basics. Thankfully, the wood had resources that they could use to transform dried reeds into high-pressure water guns.Zen spat as the
When Zen woke up in the chapel and groaned. The feeling of dying from a fall was certainly more pleasant than smelling blue slime butts. Thankfully, he never needed to do that again. “Welcome back,” Father Clarence smiled serenely and helped Zen sit up. The young chef blushed furiously, embarrassed to be a chapel regular. However, he wasn’t the only one in the chapel’s revival station. Remi was also there, but he still hadn’t regained consciousness. Charlie was nowhere to be found in the chapel, and Zen thought that the Gambler must have gotten away from the spider. He was about to leave Charlie a message to meet them back in town when there was a flash of light and a new coffin in the revival station. Zen chuckled. So Charlie didn’t manage to get away from the
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