As Damian's voice filled the air with his complaints about the fluttering fairies, which he equated to bothersome flies, Zen trudged through the gloomy forest. It reminded him of the mushroom forest veiled in a poisonous fog. Thankfully, Zen was immune to the side effects of miasma, a stark contrast to Damian's vulnerability. Any miasma that came into contact with him was instantly purified.
“You’re like a walking version of an air purifier,” the cyborg commented offhandedly after collecting his fourth fairy tear. “Part of me wish I’d taken the same quest path as you. These flies won’t stop trying to pull on my hair or scratch my eye out!”Compared to Damian’s initial aloof and disinterested personality, Zen thought he had drastically changed since requesting the Trial of Fire. Then again, this might be his true personality all along. The engineering genius had a childish and whimsical side from when his time had been frozenEven from afar, the forest looked brighter. Its lush greenery and vibrant colours starkly contrasted Zen's slow progress compared to Damian. The cyborg had already turned in his first part of the quest and was now tasked by Blacksmith Bob with creating a fairy trap. Despite the ominous feeling about Damian’s chosen quest path, Zen knew he could do nothing about it. The complex forked path quest on this floor must be a test of character more than skills. Although he had no idea why the Godfather would test someone’s character using the dungeon, he was glad to have a choice. Murder never sat well with him, even if bloodthirsty assassins surrounded him.“I’m back,” he greeted Father Mark, who had a radiant smile.“Welcome back, child,” the clergyman greeted warmly. “The forest looks livelier than it did in years. Thank you for doing what I should have been doing.”Shaking his head, Zen greeted the orphans, who were od
The fairy cake recipe looked fairly simple. Most ingredients could be found at Chef Marvin’s restaurant and Martha’s fruit stall. However, there were several things Zen had to forage personally. The second part of the main chain quest was similar regardless of the path Zen or Damian chose. They needed to hunt for monster loot in the forest.“It sure would be a lot easier to hunt with a walking air purifier,” Damian lamented over the voice call.Due to the location of the loot they needed, both boys decided to split up. Zen sighed. In the time Zen had taken to finish the first part of his quest, Damian used it to upgrade his gauntlet. Although its attack power was nowhere near as powerful as the main combatants of their party, Damian was able to hunt monsters a lot easier than Zen.“And I wish you could loan me the gauntlet,” Zen replied dryly. “That would make hunting a lot easier.”Not taking each other
With Marvin’s help, Zen eventually finished baking the fairy cake. He gained a new recipe to bake fairy cakes again if he wanted to. However, baking fairy cakes gave no additional buff or benefits besides summoning fairies for a random event. Summoning fairies could be done once a day. However, nobody could guarantee if they would play tricks or give him treats. The time required to collect all the ingredients, especially the sparkling sundew drops, was not very attractive compared to its benefits. Zen was happy to have a new cooking recipe in the dungeon, but that was about it.Upon his return to the fifth floor, Zen sought out Chef Melvin, proudly presenting the freshly baked fairy cake. After a thorough examination, Melvin deemed it satisfactory and directed Zen to consult Father Mark.“Unlike previously, the fairies are a little more hostile. The clergyman should know how you could appease them and ask them for a favour. If the fairies like you enough, they
Despite getting pulled into a vortex out of the blue, Zen held onto the golden leaf tightly as he screamed. Thankfully, he wasn’t on the party voice call with anyone, or his party members would have logged in immediately to rescue him.By the time Zen overcame his initial shock, he was already in a different dimension. The dimension was a unique dungeon that defied the laws of maps and navigation, a realm of mystery and danger.Getting off the dirt, Zen looked around to see if there were any monsters or NPCs he should deal with immediately. Trees and plant life resembled a regular forest everywhere he could see, if not for their vibrant pink and blue hues. Although Zen was used to seeing weird forms of dysmorphia as a gamer, this dungeon brought extreme proportions to a whole new level. It couldn’t even compare with Gloomie Shroomie’s overly large mushroom cap dress. The size of that seven-pointed leaf was big enough to act as Zen’s blanket. However
“It all started when Baron Claude became the lord of the town,” the Fairy Queen started, a distant look in her eyes. “My children were mischievous, but they were never evil.”Before the humans settled near her forest, the Fairy Queen and her fairies tended to the forest and kept the magical monsters in check. The forest was a dangerous place, and they were the only guardians acting as guides to lost humans. The faes weren’t on hostile terms with humans. However, they preferred to keep to themselves.“One day, an adventurer visited our forest and was having difficulty with the monsters in the forest. One of my children decided to give him a hand. He was a likeable human who quickly won over many of us, including me. We don’t know his name, but he was a hero of the humans who was on a quest. He told us a prophecy that another of his kind will arrive when we are in need.”When Zen first started, he never thought the lore ab
“What? There was such a back story? That’s crazy! Am I engaging in illegal fairy trafficking on the main quest now?” Damian couldn’t help but gawk after Zen called him.Unable to speak loudly, Zen whispered back that he was in a middle of a timed event to capture the corrupted Baron and recover the kidnapped fairies.“You can make an under table deal with me,” he suggested. “Kidnap the fairies without harming them and then turn them in to your main quest giver. I’ll beat them up and recover them later.”While Zen was trying to clear his special quest, Damian had only completed Blacksmith Ben’s special chain quest and acquired his basic blacksmithing skills. The fairy trap with Blacksmith Bob should be ready by now. However, the cyborg no longer felt good about this main quest completion competition.“I want to forfeit our bet,” he declared after teleporting back to the fifth floor. “I d
Zen was no expert in game programming. However, he was very sure it was uncommon to alter the main quest. Yet, Damian managed to find a unique loophole thanks to his job class.“Are you sure this will work?” Zen asked. The fairy trap that Damian was tasked to build looked very different from the ones he saw in the dark magicians’ dungeon.Shrugging, the engineer referred to his main quest log. The system accepted the severely modified fairy trap as a fairy trap. Who knew this was also a possibility?“Have you finished your quest?” Damian asked, amazed at Zen’s progress despite his slow head start.Shaking his head, Zen checked the log. He still had to talk to Father Mark to inform him about what he learned. Moreover, there were new titles and items to check out.“Give me a while to finish the last trap,” Damian stretched. “The fairies are still hostile towards me and won’t listen to me. They attack
“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 sec