1: Slums
ACT 1 Slums
“Huk huk huk, I’ve finished.”
“Already?”
The old man looked at Ark with amazed eyes.
“It should take at least 4 hours to get to the pier and back. Yet you returned from that place overrun with dangerous monsters after just 1 hour and with my luggage?”
“It sounded urgent so I hurried as much as possible.”
“I’ll say this clearly. But I honestly didn’t expect that much from you. In regards to transportation work, there are always small and large problems. In particular, it’s not a surprise to be attacked by thieves or monsters. Of course, I can ask the garrison to look for it but it would take many days for them to accept my commission. Since it is on a very tight schedule and is an urgent delivery, I had no choice but to rely on a foreigner.”
The old man seemed to be complaining as he shook his head.
“But you’re different from the lazy foreigners in this area. Even if they accept my request, they would take many hours to do it. Since they always receive a lot of commissions so they would complete the most urgent one first.”
“I place customer satisfaction as my top priority.”
Although he was breathing hard, Ark tried to make the best impression as possible. The old man nodded and said.
“I know, I know. Even though I doubted you, I never thought that you could find the luggage so quickly. It is the first time I’ve met a sincere foreigner like you. Now, this is the reward I’ve promised.”
“Thank you very much.”
Clink, clink.
Ark spoke thankful words but he had tears in his eyes as he saw the coins. He had ran around for 1 and a half hours and all he received was 50 silver. He could earn more than that hunting one or two monsters and selling japtem. Anyway, an information window appeared after he received the compensation.
-You have completed the quest.
Compensation: 50 silver, +1000 experience, +7 fame
‘I ran a marathon for one hour only to receive that compensation……’
The old man had a lot of complaints about other users but Ark could understand their feelings. If done at a normal pace, the quest would normally take 2 hours. No matter how low levelled the area, level 150 users wouldn’t really care about that sort of compensation. They would only accept it when there were other quests in that area. Since there were a few quests, the users unconsciously felt like there was no need to rush. Sometimes the NPC might even become such a nuisance that they would cancel the quest. Since the level 366 Ark had completed such a boring quest, it was natural for the NPC to look favourably upon him. And the favourably impression from the NPC gave a more realistic profit.
“I’m genuinely grateful that you sincerely accepted my quest. I’ve decided to write a letter of recommendation so that anyone in my business who you encounter will know about the sincere and polite foreigner. I have a fairly wide network of acquaintances. If you show this recommendation to my partners then you will receive a more generous reward.”
The old man wrote a recommendation letter and gave it to him.
-You have received additional compensation since the satisfaction of the client has exceeded 100%.
The old man who commissioned the quest is an NPC who engages in transporting baggage from Ciel. If the lost luggage was unable to be delivered on time then they transporter’s reputation would receive a big hit. Thanks to your sincere work, the old man is able to keep his reputation intact. As a sign of gratitude, this client has provided a bonus compensation. You’ve also received a letter of recommendation from a satisfied transporter. If you show the letter of recommendation to other transporters then it is possible to receive addition rewards and fame.
Additional compensation: 10 silver, +3 fame
* Special item ‘Transporter’s letter of recommendation’ acquired.
Transporter’s letter of recommendation: If you show it to another transporter then it is possible to receive a higher rank quest. In addition, the probability of receiving additional compensation and fame will increase.
‘Phew, it is a success!’
Ark sighed with relief as he took the Letter of Recommendation. This was the reason why Ark completed the quest quickly. It was unnecessary to say again, but NPCs gave various types of quests. If NPCs spoke about time running out then it was often a quest with a time limit. Naturally, if the quest was completed quickly then the NPC’s satisfaction would rise. If the degree of satisfaction exceeded 100% then he would receive additional compensation. Of course, the bonus compensation wasn’t that great. In addition, completion of the quest within 1 hour was needed for satisfaction to go above 100% then considerable effort was needed. Therefore a lot of users gave up on satisfaction early. If they acted greedily while thinking about consumer satisfaction, they might inadvertently make a mistake that would lead to death.
‘But this is easy to do in a low level area.’
That wasn’t a problem for Ark at all.
“Chik chik, he smells dangerous for some reason!”
There was a more than 150 level difference between Ark and the monsters surrounding Ciel. If he didn’t approach the monsters intentionally then they would avoid him due to fear. Even though chaotic users also regularly appeared, he was able to settle it easily with a few swings of his sword. If he rode Radunma to save some time then it was possible to achieve customer satisfaction.
“Is there any other problem?”
“You’ve completed all the urgent problems.”
“……Really?”
Ark sighed with regret, causing the old man to smile.
“But you don’t have to worry about work because transporters gather here so there is always a number of jobs. Ah that reminds me, I ran into my friend Kurad drinking alcohol at the tavern the other day and he said a big headache had occurred. If you head to the Twilight bar next to the west gateway and show him the Letter of Recommendation then he might give you a job.”
“Thank you for the information. I’ll go immediately.”
Ark said farewell and stepped towards the west gateway. If he worked diligently then he might be able to receive additional compensation from this quest. Although he received information about the next quest, Ark’s face wasn’t that bright.
“How much have I gained so far? Character information window!”
Character Name Ark Race Human
Alignment Good +500
Fame 6025 (+500) Level 366
Profession Dark Soul
Title Cat Knight, Oberium’s Caretaker, Jackson’s Hero, Great Adventurer, Magic Institute Member, Seutandal’s Hero
Health 6855 (+225) Mana 6745(+25)
Spiritual Power 400 Strength 745 (+38)
Agility 925 (+110) Stamina 1,155 (+35)
Wisdom 161 (+10) Intelligence 1,173 (+5)
Luck 155 (+60) Flexibility 158
Art of Communication 66 Affection 89 (+10)
Resilience 436
Special stat: Knowledge of Ancient Relics 153
“Huh……”
He sighed after checking the information window. The main character information window displayed many information aside from stats. But now Ark was only concerned with his fame. Since Ark was level 366 completing level 150 quests, he only received 60 silver and fame as additional compensation. No, he needed 7000 fame in order to learn the secret technique. In order to obtain the Entrusted Volumes, Ark had forsaken food and drinks for a day in order to grind his fame.
“If this is another luggage search then I will feel sick.”
Ark shook his head with a disgusted expression. The contents of the repetitive quests in Ciel were all similar. He only found this out later but Ciel a commerce city similar to Giran in Schudenberg. So most of the NPCs did transportation work. There was even a separate transporters union in the city. Most of the simple quests around the village were commissions from transporters. They were all ambushed by monsters and wanted to get their lost luggage back.
“Well, I was transporting some luggage here last time……”
“The items lost in a monster attack? If you tell me the place then I will look for it!”
He had heard those words coming from NPCs so many times that he could no reply in his sleep. As soon as the quest was received, he accepted it and rode towards the location on Radunma. When he arrived at the quest area, he would rush the monsters like crazy. Once the monsters were taken care of, he would look for the items.
“Chik chik, and you? Did you exterminate our kind from the beginning?”
The dying monsters looked at him with accusing eyes.
‘I don’t want to be here either!’
He really wanted to say that. If he completed the quest then he would only receive 30~60 silver as compensation……Since he was level 366, killing level 200 kobolds didn’t give any experience. He also received no loot. The only thing he could get was quest items. This system was to prevent high level users from coming to lower levelled areas. Therefore Ark repeated one day of hunting without receiving any profit.
“Dammit, I have to hold on to gain more fame.”
His circumstances surrounding the quests was really a pity. If Ark had been initially interested in fame then he would’ve collected 5000 more by now. In some cases, there were options to choose either money or fame as a reward for several quests. And of course Ark chose money! If he knew it was possible to learn secret techniques then he would’ve chosen 100 fame over 1 silver.