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Clang Clang Clang
Clang Clang Clang
Loud sounds echoed from within an empty mine in the depths of the forests. A single man was standing amidst several scattered corpses of green-skinned goblins.
However, he paid no heed to these corpses. He simply stepped on them and continued hitting the mining pick monotonously on the node of metallic ore in front of him.
Seconds passed. Minutes passed. Hours passed. And yet the young man's actions did not change at all.
Targeting the three different nodes in front of him, he kept mining one after the other without taking a single break.
And weirdly, the ores he was mining were nothing special. They were just common iron ores.
In between this, one or two goblins also attacked him every now and then, respawning directly at the spot where he was standing.
But it took the young man merely seconds to cleanly finish them and then he was back to monotonously mining the nodes.
[Ding. 50 Experience points gained]
[Ding. 50 Experience points gained]
Liam cleared the notifications, kicking aside the last two goblins.
He didn't bother to pick up this loot which was mainly loin cloth and rusty weapons so the bodies remained longer than usual on the ground.
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Just as he once again began mining, another notification popped up.
[Ding. Incoming call from Rey. Do you wish to answer? Y/N]
"Hmmm." Liam didn't pause his movements and continued working on the node. Nevertheless, he muttered "Yes."
"Hi bro! Congrats on the server announcements! You are awesome!" Rey's cheerful voice rang and Liam shook his head helplessly.
"Thanks. Anything else?"
"Ahh… Alright. I will get to the point. Alex wants to meet with you. Can you tell me your location please?"
"Huh? Why?" Liam was surprised. He was sure that the woman hated his guts considering the way she had treated him all throughout their dungeon run.
"Ahh… so this is weird but she won't tell me. She says that she will only talk to you."
"Hmm…" Liam paused for a moment, only the clanging sounds resounding in the silence. "Fine. Ask her to call me then."
"Alright. Thanks, bro. Tell me when you are free so we can party again! Bye."
A beep sounded and Rey ended the call quickly as if he was afraid that he would be blocked if he continued disturbing him.
A couple of seconds later, Liam checked the friend requests and among the hundreds that he had received, he saw Alex's name in the most recent request.
"Accept." He muttered and the next second the call arrived.
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"Hello. Is this Liam?" A hesitant voice came through.
"Mhm. Who else would it be?"
Alex ignored the condescending remark and pressed on. "Where are you? I want to meet you in person right now."
"Not possible." The immediate blunt reply came out.
"What? Why?"
Considering the way men usually treated her, she half expected him to fawn over her as soon as he heard her voice and that she wanted to meet him, but this turn of events surprised her.
"Because I am in the middle of something." Liam indifferently replied. The other side suddenly became silent, and he shrugged and continued his work.
A few more seconds of silence ensued and he was about to end the call when Alex quickly asked again. "Then when will you be free? I will wait. This is urgent and I… It will be worth your while. Can we meet?"
"Hmmm?" There was a sense of urgency in her voice that piqued Liam's interest. Besides, he was not going to lose much by talking to her for a few seconds.
"Alright. We can meet tomorrow. I will be in Yleka city. We can meet up at the local inn around noon."
"Ok thanks. You will not regret this." Alex felt relieved and quickly cut the call, but she only realized what had happened after everything was over.
She had thanked him and she had also blurted out that he wouldn't regret it. How humiliating! She was furious.
"What happened Alex? Are you alright? What did L
Liam say? What did you ask him?" Rey walked over to her and asked as he was extremely curious.
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He also didn't know why his sister had suddenly decided to be serious about this game.
"Nothing. I have something to do. I will be back later." Alex turned around to hide her face and hurriedly threw out some vague words.
She then quickly ran out of there, leaving behind the very confused guy.
"Well, whatever the quest was we could have done it together? Why is she running away like this?" The guy scratched his head in confusion.
Because of the leaderboard, there was a sudden hype about leveling faster so Rey quickly forgot about Alex and focused on what he was doing.
Meanwhile… Liam as well continued busily mining. His schedule was fully packed for the next 24 hours and he didn't think about anything else.
[Ding: Your Mining skill proficiency has increased to Intermediate Level]
Normally, it was hard to increase mining skill proficiency just by mining common ores like iron, not to mention inefficient.
But Liam had already sunk more than 24 hours of game time into this and he wasn't planning on stopping for the next 24 hours as well.
After all, unlike others, his main concern was neither bringing his level up on the leaderboard nor amassing any sort of wealth.
Those things were only going to become irrelevant in the future, while the thing that he was targeting would still accompany him.
Liam grinned in excitement. Tomorrow was extremely crucial and all his future plans heavily relied on it.
And if he somehow managed to become successful, then he would have taken the second step forward.
Chapter 51 – Quest Completion And Next Quest?
As time ticked by, the next 24 hours passed just like that in the blink of an eye. Liam did not log out and continued slogging for the entire duration.
In about 48 hours, he managed to personally mine 100 stacks of 100 iron ores, making the total count a whopping 10000 iron ores!
However, because of this, he had fallen behind all the top players and more and more players were pouring into the game just because of the sheer mystery enshrouding it.
As Liam paid the guards the entrance fees and walked through the gates of the city, it was completely crowded with numerous Level 15 to Level 20 players.
These were still low as some of the names on the leaderboard had reached as high as Level 25. "I wonder if guilds are already up and running." Liam hummed and crossed the street stepping into one of the back alleys.
Since there were no quest givers here, there weren't too many players, but there were still many NPCs roaming around.
Liam knew that this would eventually change when the news about the black market spreads but before that he wanted to reap all the rewards.
He weaved through the crowd and went inside the bustling street with various vendors. Most of them had just a simple stall as if they were prepared to leave at any given moment.
Exotic meat hawkers, rare herb sellers, black witches selling potions, several unique sights filled this narrow alley.
Liam glanced at everything calmly before arriving in front of a specific old man. This person had his wares spread out on a blanket sprawled on the ground and yet several big shots stood in front of him.
"Ah! Young man! Good to see you again!" The training hall instructor who was also standing there, waved at Liam, surprising the few players loitering near them.
This was the first time they were seeing an NPC taking the initiative to talk to a player, and that too like they were addressing each other as if they were close friends.
"Greetings senior." Liam bowed and then took out the item from his inventory. The bear's head was still dripping blood as he handed it over to the startled man.
For a moment, the man stood speechless staring at the corpse of the beast that had ruined his future. He looked at the severed head and then at Liam in disbelief. "You! You killed him!"
Liam simply nodded his head, saying nothing. However, his mannerisms were extremely respectful.
"Thank you. Thank you so much, young man. I am forever indebted to you." The instructor wiped his tears away and then patted Liam with his face full of complicated emotions.
At the same time, Liam received a string of notifications as well.
[Ding. Quest 'Kill the bear King Barabara and bring its head to the training ground instructor' has been completed]
Ding. 10000 Experience points have been rewarded]
[Ding. You have leveled up]
The reward for the unique quest was indeed generous. The experience points for the quest were almost comparable to the experience points he had gained after solo killing the field boss.
Leveling was not Liam's top priority but to reach certain parts of the continent and especially certain Kingdoms required a high enough level. So he was quite happily surprised.
But what he most looked forward to was the next part.
Liam waited patiently, giving the instructor a chance to absorb everything and for his emotions to settle down. After a few seconds of silence, the man sighed and once again began talking.
"If only I had had the strength to do this back then… alas… now… it's too late. It's too late for everything." The instructor repeatedly sighed.
Liam smiled inwardly as he could tell that this was his cue. "Is there anything I could do to help you, senior? Please tell me what happened. You can count on this younger brother."
His usual cold indifferent temperament had disappeared altogether, leaving behind only a look of warm concern on his face.
The instructor looked very touched and he patted Liam lovingly, shaking his head. "No, Liam. Please forget about this. I am only telling you to forget about this because I consider you to be my younger brother."
Liam gave a bitter smile and continued playing his role. "Brother, don't say that. Even if it costs me my life, I want to help you. Please let me share your burden."
The man let out a long sigh and then looked down at the ground, opening his mouth reluctantly. "I… I… alright. Since you are insisting. I will tell you this, but I suggest that you stay as far away from this as possible."
"This is extremely dangerous and beyond your capabilities. I know that you are a very capable young man so you shouldn't ruin your future by listening to this fool's words."
Liam attentively nodded, not taking his eyes away from the man.
"I actually… I haven't completely given up yet." The instructor clenched his fists.
"Because my foundation was irreparably crushed, I have been staying at the training hall all these years as a mere instructor."
"But I haven't given up yet."
Chapter 52 – Hands Covered In Calluses
The instructor looked at Liam resolutely and continued.
"At the far south of the Gresh Kingdom, there is a small town and the Lord of the town is a disciple of an ancient medicine master."
"I have heard rumors that this master knows how to cure one's body and can even save someone crippled like me."
"But this is all the information that I have managed to collect so far."
"The journey to the southern part of the kingdom is extremely perilous as the lands are mostly dense forests and those territories belong to savage beasts and also equally savage men."
"My only wish is to one day visit this village and find out if what I heard was indeed true. Maybe even someone as useless as me could again start over?"
Liam's eyes immediately twinkled. There it was!
And the very next second, the notifications chimed in.
[Ding: Unique Chain Quest Part-B activated]
[Ding: Quest cannot be refused]
[Ding: Visit the town Jeheriya and obtain the cure for crippled meridians]
"Hmmm…" Liam read the quest thoroughly and scratched his chin. This was actually not the quest that he was expecting.
The real quest that he was after was regarding an invaluable elixir recipe that would perfect someone's body to 100%, bestowing an ideal constitution that even heavens would envy.
However, it looked like Liam was not yet at that point. This was to be expected as he only barely knew the chain quest details.
After all, he was a mere slave in his last life so how could he possibly be privy to the specifics?
But just judging from how things were going, he could tell that either the next quest in the chain or the quest after it should give him his desired results.
So all he could do now was patiently keep digging at this chain quest.
Even if the end result was not what he expected, unique quests were still head and shoulders above the rest of the quests and there would most definitely be one or the other pot of gold at the end.
If it was not the elixir recipe then perhaps it would be something related to soul cleansing or soul strengthening.
Liam knew better than to doubt the usefulness of a unique quest so he quickly accepted it with a smile. "This brother will put his life on the line and obtain the cure for you, senior." He bowed.
"Sigh… Alright. Be careful and always remember to take care of yourself first. My life is already over anyway." The instructor mumbled and walked away as if he was no longer in the mood for the black market.
And seeing his leave, Liam's expression returned back to normal. "What a dramatic guy!" He chuckled and focused on the next task at hand.
He walked back to the stall of the old man and bent down to talk to him. "Sir, how much is this? What about this?" He randomly started picking out items and asking for their price.
The old man initially looked annoyed as no one dared to ask him any of the prices directly. All the wares in his shops were rare items that could not be obtained anywhere.
So when Liam started touching things without any concern, he became angry. He was about to swat his hand away when the old man's expression subtly changed.
He stared at Liam's hands that were covered in calluses. These were the hands of a hard working man. He no longer seemed to be annoyed and eyed Liam up and down.
The young man in front of him was wearing simple clothes and was drenched in sweat from top to bottom. The distinct smell of raw mineral ores wafted from him.
The old man's expression immediately softened and rubbed his long thing beard. "Don't dirty my wares kid."
"Ah. Sorry, elder." Liam quickly backed away putting on a humble appearance.
"Please forgive me. I didn't mean to offend you. Can I give some iron ore as compensation to the elder? I have nothing else with me." Liam was reciting words from his memory as best as he could.
In his previous life, these were mere coincidences that players had discovered by accident, but now he was carefully orchestrating each and every single thing.
And unlike before at the training hall, this time he wasn't grabbing the fate of a person who had wronged him in the past.
This was someone who was completely unrelated to him, but he didn't care.
If it meant that he had to step on and steal a hundred people's fate, he would still do it!
In the end, this was simply a cruel fight for survival and he had no other choice but to use the single weapon in his arsenal which was knowledge! Knowledge about the future and the chaos that was about to descend!
Chapter 53 – Hidden Class Quest
"Please forgive me. I didn't mean to offend you. Can I give some iron ore as compensation to the elder? I have nothing else with me." Liam humbly muttered.
Hearing his earnest words, the old man's face warmed up further. He truly had a soft spot for underdogs and people with the worst luck, whom even the heavens had given upon.
"Hey, lad." He looked at Liam with his piercing blue eyes. His old age and frailty had suddenly vanished, only the aura of an expert remained.
"Do you wish to become stronger?"
"Ah?" Liam revealed a surprised expression.
"You look like someone who is not afraid of hard work and getting your hands dirty with the stink of metals." The old man smiled.
"Do you want to pursue an ancient craft that can bestow a tremendous amount of power and strength upon you?"
[Ding: Hidden Class Quest activated]
[Ding: Quest- Learn to smith and achieve mastery in the craft of making weapons]
[Ding: Reward- The unknown elder's trust and respect]
[Ding: Do you wish to accept the quest?]
Heh. Liam chuckled inwardly. Though the reward looked completely useless, how could it be so simple? It was a hidden class quest after all.
What was not mentioned in the description was that this reward would be further augmented based on the speed with which it was completed. The race was about to begin!
"I accept." Liam quickly bowed and then ran away from the stall with urgency.
"Ha Ha. What a hardworking young man!" The elder laughed and went back to talking to some of the other customers.
On the other end, Liam had already slowed down. He knew that he didn't have to rush too much. He still had 72 hours to get this done.
And more importantly, he had other things to accomplish as the black market closed in a couple of hours. Liam circled the place and once again arrived at another stall.
This one was slightly more crowded than the previous shop with several players haggling with excitement. It was a sort of gambling den and a hunter's pet shop.
Surprisingly, a familiar face was also standing and she gasped as soon as she caught Liam's silhouette.
Alex was here trying to see if she could get Rey some good pets when she unexpectedly saw the person heavily weighing on her mind.
"You! You told me that you would only be here at noon?" Alex hurriedly started blurting out words in a panic. She was still very nervous and apprehensive about the whole thing.
"Hmmm… What are you talking about? I only said I would meet you at noon. I didn't say anything about being here before that, did I?"
Liam did not spare her a glance and quickly walked over to the shopkeeper, a middle-aged woman with a big mole on her face.
"Welcome." She greeted Liam and then her face brightened up seeing Liam's face up close. "Welcome, Mr. Handsome. Do you want to make any purchases today?"
"Look at all these eggs. They could have anything inside them! Even mighty dragons and powerful phoenixes! Want to try your luck?"
Liam looked at all the eggs of various shapes and sizes orderly arranged next to each other. Every single one had different patterns and shapes on the shell which made them look very mysterious.
The people who had gathered around were trying to guess what beast might be inside just based on these patterns and the shape and color of the eggs.
Liam chuckled. Sure he had heard some people getting lucky by purchasing eggs in this shop but mostly it was a scam.
And just like several other things, these in-game pets would also become irrelevant which was why he hadn't even bothered to use the tame skill until now.
That didn't mean he wasn't interested in pets as a whole. In fact, he was very much interested!
To be more specific, he was interested in two particular rare pets, the likes of which would surely be unavailable here.
"Thank you, N" Before Liam could finish his statement, Alex quickly butted in and spoke before him, interrupting their conversation. "Hello. Hello. Wait a second. I will be buying ALL the eggs here!"
Immediately the crowd surrounding them became chaotic as several other people had their eyes on some eggs and they were only hesitating because the price of each egg was 1 gold!
However, to someone like Alex, this amount was nothing. So she didn't even think twice before randomly buying all of these on a whim.
As soon as she saw Liam here, the wheels in her brain had already begun to spin.
He was clearly here to do something and she was sure that it was related to the eggs laid out in front of them. Perhaps one of these eggs had a powerful beast companion!
Yes! That was definitely the case! Why else would he be here? Alex's eyes twinkled and she wanted to beat him to the punch!
She quickly exchanged the gold before Liam could do any tricks and placed all the eggs carefully in her inventory slots.
With her arms crossed in front of her chest, she then turned to look at Liam with confidence and a smug smile. "Hmph! I bet now you would have time to talk to me right?"
Liam, on the other hand, was trying his best to control his laughter. "No? I am still busy." What a childish woman!
He shook his head, ignoring her furious eyes and heaving chests, and continued talking with the shopkeeper.
"Congratulations, madam. You have sold all your wares so fast today! Would you perhaps have some spare time to take a look at something for me?"
Alex who was still standing beside him obviously heard this and she froze in shock.
WHAT THE FUCK? This guy wasn't here to buy anything?
She felt as if she had been slapped hard and looked at him with a ridiculous expression, her mouth wide open.