Lost Girl
A befuddled Sung-jin let out a groan. He looked at the tree trunk that the knife hit, and a girl that didn't look like a ghost was sitting on the ground crying.
"Please don't hurt me."
The little girl begged for her life with her soft and shaky voice. She was trembling in fear at the sudden knife that flew towards her, and tears were streaming down her cheek.
'Is that a living girl?'
He questioned, pulling his guard down as he walked towards the frightened girl slowly.
"I won't hurt you; I promise."
His friendly voice got to the girl, and she began looking up to the man. He walked closer and closer until he stood in front of her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to attack you out of nowhere."
He kneeled, and with an apologizing tone and a stretched-out hand, the man sincerely asked her for forgiveness. The girl understood this friendly act, and she soon stopped crying.
Sniff-!
She wiped her eyes and nose with her tiny hands, trying to get rid of the tears she shed a moment ago.
"Let me help you with that."
Sung-jin reached inside his inventory, taking out a cloth-looking thing, and he reached out to the girl. The girl gave a jerk at the man's sudden touch, and she began to tremble in fear again.
"Don't worry; I already promised not to hurt you, right? And I always keep my promises."
He said and assured the girl that nothing would happen to her. He took her small hand in his and began wiping her face with the cloth, getting rid of any left tears.
"Aren't you beautiful?"
He tried getting some small talk going, as he could finally see the face of the girl up close. Her age was not older than eleven; however, her facial features and long golden hair were undoubtedly the most beautiful thing he had seen.
'I want to meet her mother. Maybe if I help her?'
Sung-jin had indecent thoughts about the girl's mother since if the girl is so beautiful, the parents must be too. That's biology.
'But why would a little girl even be out in a forest like this? Especially at night?'
Looking up at the dark sky as he questioned while getting rid of any indecent thoughts. But he soon realized that he had made a mistake.
'It's always dark in this forest. I don't know if it's day or night…'
He thought of a useless fact that didn't help him in his current situation.
"Cough. Anyways, what are you doing here in a forest?"
He asked the girl, polite and calm, trying to make her comfortable. However, getting anything out of her might become a challenge. She didn't reply and just sat silently, evading eye contact with the strange man in front of her.
"At least your parents taught you not to trust strangers. But I do need to know who you are, so why don't you put a little trust in me. I would never hurt a child either way."
He said and caught the girl's eyes, but he quickly embarrassingly avoided hers.
'How can I say that. I literally threw a knife at her; she will never put trust in me—'
Taking himself to his forehead, thinking about the fatal mistake he made, but a soft, whispering voice caught him off guard as he cursed himself out in his head.
"Will you help me?"
The girl spoke with a shaken voice, she didn't talk loudly, and it was more a whisper, but Sung-jin got what she said.
"Of course, what do you want?"
Answering the girl without knowing what she wants, was a bit bold, but Sung-jin didn't care. He had already caught on to the situation, and he probably knew what the girl was.
'She is certainly an npc, and since she is in this forest, I believe she has something to do with 'A Broken Promise' quest.'
He happily thought. After wandering for an hour, he found it strange that no signs of the quest were given, so he just walked, hoping that something would pop up.
"I can't find my mother… Will you help me?"
She said, tearing up again. Her eyes quickly got wet, and she began crying again.
"Yes, I will! Stop crying!"
Sung-jin accepted the call in a hurry, trying to get the girl to stop crying. But with no prior experience with children, he was confused about how to.
"Please don't cry! Do you want a lollipop? I don't have one…"
He accepted defeat on how useless he was with children.
Sniff-!
She continued crying, and with no sign of a system notification popping up, he got more confused.
'I accepted her quest, right? So why haven't I gotten a notification yet?'
His confusion was unfathomable, and everything he knew about the game seemed useless in this situation.
Sniff-!
'Stop crying!'
He continuously heard the sound of crying as he tried to figure out how this quest worked, and his patience hit bottom, but he didn't say it aloud.
'Wait… Do I have to make her stop crying first?'
A sudden idea popped in his head, and it seemed plausible when he thought about it, so he quickly began to find a way to make her stop crying.
'Think… Think… Think… That's right! My mother hugged me when I was a kid, and it always made me feel safe.'
He thought about his past and how his mother always hugged him if he was hurt or sad. And now, he could take his mother's teaching and try it out himself.
"I will help you find your mother; that's a promise."
He reached out to the little girl, and with his long arms, he embraced her. The small and warm body of the girl comfortably rested in the arms of Sung-jin.
Ding-!
-System: Quest 'A Broken Promise – Part 1' completed.
-System: Quest obtained 'A broken promise – Part 2.'
'There we go!'
He sighed a relief as the girl in his arms stopped crying. And now that he completed the first part of the quest, he finally got more information to work with.
"Quest log."
He said aloud as he quickly began to read what it said.
-Quest(s)
Demon King's Quest (incomplete):
Information restricted until LVL 15.
A broken promise (Incomplete):
Search the Sorrowful Forest and find a blossoming tree.
Part 1: You find a girl lost in the woods; with no one else around, she found trust in the only other person she could find.
Next objective: Help the girl find her mother.
'I hoped it gave me information about the f*cking tree! But I guess this girl is the key to find it.'
He looked down at the girl, thinking about her importance to the quest. They still embraced each other, and it didn't seem like the girl would stop anytime soon.
"Hey, do you have any clue about the whereabouts of your mother?"
He asked but no reply, and when he moved her hair to the side, revealing her eyes, he quickly found out why.
'She is sleeping…'
An annoyed sigh and a slight headache made Sung-jin question his life choices.
…
"Dallia now!"
A big muscular man ordered an archer to shoot at the giant, ugly spider.
"I'm on it!"
She replied in an irritated manner. Daeshim might be the leader, but that was only in name to her. But still, she did what he ordered and shot, aiming for the eyes of the spider.
Piiing-!
[16 Damage Given]
"Good job!"
Daeshim praised her after she hit the spider in its eyes. Nasty hemolymph soon sprayed out, and the spider screeched in anger.
"It's nearly dead! Aera, give me the buff, and the rest of you attack it wherever you feel like and distract it."
He ordered the whole team around, and the quick response was impressive.
"Battle Shout!"
Aera yelled, and soon after, yellow light engulfed Daeshim.
"Thanks!"
He said as he could feel his attack power going up. It didn't take long before he gripped the handle of his sword tightly and dashed towards the spider.
"Everyone attack now!"
He yelled, and an influx of arrows, magic, and people slicing at the spider quickly rose.
[14 Damage Given]
[18 Damage Given]
[13 Damage Given]
They all damaged the spider, and in a moment, the spider lost its footing, and Daeshim saw it as an opening.
"I will end you now!"
He exclaimed, jumping high in the air, pointing his sword downwards; he pierced the spider's skull.
Ding-!
-System: Dungeon boss 'Spider Queen' defeated.
The Spider Queen fell to the ground with a fading screech. Everyone stood still, looking at the notification in front of them, unsure if it was real.
"We did it!"
A unified triumph resounded inside the boss chamber after they finally understood that the fight was over. People embraced each other like they were afraid of dying the whole time. They were all happy that they had conquered the dungeon, and it was a massive success with no casualties.
Ding-!
-System: Clear objection completed. Opening gate.
A blue gate opened in the back of the chamber, but no one seemed to notice. They still couldn't believe how they came through.
"Good job, everybody!"
Daeshim loudly said, getting the attention of everyone. They all stopped embracing each other and gave their leader all the attention.
"I'm so proud of being a leader of such a good team. This was our first dungeon, and we didn't have any casualties, not that we would get any no matter what. But I just wanted to say that everyone here has done an amazing job."
He bowed down and praised his team.
"No problem, just get the rewards, and let's hurry out. This dungeon stinks!"
Dallia interrupted the atmosphere, making everyone laugh.
"Okay, let us go then."
He laughed as well, walking towards the blue gate with his team behind him, smiling a big grin.