Setting Off

"Now you're looking quite fine right there young lad! Well then, I suppose that I can entrust that you will get this letter to the Main city. There are a lot of dangers out there, but fret not, with your strength I believe that you are capable enough to successfully finish the job. Deliver this letter to the Village Head's friend Alchemist and return with the antidote quick."

Devin was thrilled to have finally managed to get out of the Beginner's zone. He quickly accepted the quest and saw that it updated itself. Aside from that, he was also alerted by a notification from the system.

Seeing the newly updated map, there were notable changes that were user-friendly. The first being that it showed the world map that he was in, but it was all shrouded in darkness. On the other hand, he could clearly see the places that he has been to in the map. Another function that it included would be that it now showed where his friends were by showing him a green icon that if tapped showed the name of his friends.

For now, he could only see one bright green orb, it was located directly in front of him. Of course, this was his party member, Sleeping Beauty. Being reminded of his friends, he immediately tried searching for his little brother, unfortunately, since they were spawned at different beginner villages, he couldn't see where his little brother was.

Moving on, he once again took note of the time. It was already past midnight and was a time where he would usually be asleep. This time though, after feeling the accomplishment of continuously doing hard work, he was still feeling energetic so he decided to continue playing.

"So, where are you heading now? I do appreciate you helping me kill those Horned Boars but, if you already feel like you want to log out then you're free to go."

This might sound quite cold seeing that he had said it to a person who had just done him a favor by helping him complete multiple quests, but also taking into account that she was still a stranger that he had just met this day, it may as well be okay. However, considering that Devin was a polite and generally a good person, this may seem a little bit surprising to those close to him. However, since Sleeping Beauty has been continuously pushing his limits with her vile tongue, it has somehow affected him, albeit being on the minor side.

"I'm not tired yet. Let's just go to the Main city, okay? I also want to finish my quest."

"A'ight. Let's go then."

Seeing that Sleeping was still coming with him, Devin didn't know whether it would be for the better but since it was also nice having company around then he could just ignore her vile tongue and taking into account her strong gaming skills, then it would the advantages would outweigh the only demerit so they quickly headed towards the direction pointed to them by the map.

About an hour into the road, they have already been fighting against monsters that appeared before them. This time though, they came into a halt as they saw something different from the usual monsters.

"Help! Help! Somebody! Please!"

An NPC who had a long beard was shouting while standing beside a wagon that was stuck on the road. On his head was a huge exclamation mark that screamed the word quest. On the ground were dried puddles of blood and a mix of dead human and monster bodies.

Seeing this, Sleeping was confused. Based on the forums that could be viewed when one was at a tavern or inside an inn, which obviously Devin didn't know, there weren't supposed to be any quests that would be given to them while being on the road towards the Main city.

She believed that this may have been a trap, or if not then it might be a quest that was limited only to a few people which some may have purposefully kept to themselves or they might as well be the first ones to trigger this quest. Despite her rough language and demeanor, Sleeping Beauty was actually really sharp, she also instantly thought of things that may have triggered this quest. One of her theories was that in order to trigger this, one might just be lucky, or they should be unique enough to get a separate treatment from the general players. A thought that would immediately come to mind would be the badge that they received from the shop back at the beginner's village.

Taking a closer look, her suspicion was proven to be on the right track as she saw that there was the logo of the shop painted on the wagon that closely resembled the one that was engraved on her badge. Devin who saw this instantly came to the same conclusion that Sleeping had as he took out the badge and saw the similarity between the two. They nodded at each other and begun approaching the NPC.

"Hello there, is everything okay?"

"Ohh! Thank the Gods! I thought that I would forever be stuck in this place. You see, I was just on my way to the city when I and my escorts were ambushed by bandits. Fortunately, my escorts have managed to repel the bandits away, but as soon as they left, a pack of Wild Wolves attacked us and has nearly eliminated all of us, fortunately, they managed to lure the pack away but they never got to return. I for one had never signed-up for this, but I'm actually on my way to deliver a precious object. If you help me get this to the city then rest assured that I will reward you handsomely."

The NPC's yellow teeth stood out as he made a bright smile to the duo in front of him.