Special Quest?

―<▼>―

●[𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥-𝐑𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧(𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭).]

➤[𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧(𝐁+), 𝟎.𝟓 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝟏.𝟎 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚, 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐫(𝐀).]

―<▲>―

"Special Quest? Where did this come from?" Mercedes found herself confused as a digital interface materialized out of nowhere before her. The newly arrived quest known as Virtual-Rehabilitation was something Mercedes wasn't aware of.

It was also a quest that's considered a special type. She didn't know what a special quest meant. But she hoped for Spade to answer everything for her. With this in mind, she sighed to herself and calmly asked.

"Please explain, Spade."

Without further ado, a monotone voice sounded out within her mind. The corners of Mercedes's lips rose. It was none other than Spade.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭.]

"And? What is a special quest, and what can it do? Why didn't it appear in the notification and simply emerge out of nowhere? I hope you have some information about this." Mercedes questioned as she walked through the wooden hallway.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐐, 𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭.]

"What does that mean? Explain it to me in a more detailed and clear manner. I want to know what it does and why it is not notified to me upon application of AEGIS." Mercedes wasn't satisfied with Spade's current explanation of the special quest.

[𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬, 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐛 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬.]

[𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥-𝐑𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭(𝐑𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞).]

After the long explanation from Spade, Mercedes fell into silence as she was deep in thought about what Spade had said. From Spade's words, a special quest was a quest that had a low probability of accomplishment, and its importance was lower than that of the main quest.

'But for something that has lower importance than the main quest. It does give some generous rewards. I also received the communication skill that was supposed to be rewarded in the main quest.'

'So what would happen to my main quest. Now that I had gained almost all of the rewards from that quest, with the exception of experience. The skill might duplicate.'

"Then, Spade... What happens to the main quest? Will that be negated now that I have already received most of its rewards?" Mercedes softly asked since she was a bit curious about how the special quest category could affect the main quest category.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭.]

'I see... Well, I guess the special quest makes sense. I spent weeks in the virtual world. Spending most of my time training my communication skills, it would be confusing if I didn't receive something for the hard work I had done.'

With this, Mercedes finally understood the special quest. She also became aware of its existence, so she wondered if there were more. Maybe other special quests were hiding in plain sight, waiting to be discovered.

Obviously, though, Mercedes wouldn't bother herself with chasing special quests. While the rewards of such quests were generous compared to the main quests, the effort needed to complete them also precedes the rewards.

"I have gained a lot of things from the special quest rewards. Communication skill with a B+ rank, 0.5 attributes in spirit, the surprising 1.0 attribute in charisma, and finally, an active skill known as the falsehood radar." Mercedes uttered with a tone of excitement.

"I wonder what the falsehood radar does? I should open its information tab. It might be useful for the current me." Mercedes opened the information tab, which made the notification display fade in the background. What replaced it was the information tab of falsehood radar.

―<▼>―

[𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐫(𝐀)]

●[𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥.]

―<▲>―

Reading through the words written on the information tab, Mercedes had a good idea of what the falsehood radar does. Sadly, it doesn't give her the truth. But as said in the information tab, it warns her of lies.

It was a useful skill for everyday necessities, and it will help prevent anyone from lying to Mercedes.

After completely reading it, a smirk slowly emerges on Mercedes's face. She couldn't help but get a little bit confident in dealing with people. Now that she had received the falsehood radar along with the communication skill. She'll stand at the top in terms of negotiation.

"This skill is overpowered in its own right. Though, it might make me aware of things that should be kept under one's ignorance. But I guess I shouldn't be afraid of discovering the truth." Mercedes glances at her pale arms before gazing forward.

"I must walk with determination and cautiousness. I must not fear the truths that are revealed to me." With such confident words, Mercedes couldn't help but look brightly into the future. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to keep her word of not fearing the truth.

"I applaud your courageousness, Mercedes. But some of the truth is best ignored." A young and soft voice sounded out of nowhere. Mercedes looked back and saw a young lady. It was Astarte, the Duchess of the Imperium and the owner of Apate.

"What do you mean, Astarte?" Mercedes questioned as she wondered to herself what Astarte meant about having some of the truth ignored. While ignorance would be bliss, one can't just ignore the truth. After all, that isn't ignorance but avoidance.

"Young Mercedes, there are many things you don't know about this world or your world. Knowledge in this ocean makes you sink deeper into the water." Astarte responded while Mercedes got even more confused.

"This world or my world? So you already knew... You meeting me in that street wasn't a coincidence." Mercedes muttered as it made sense. There was no way when she was losing her mind about how to communicate. Some young lady who knew communication appeared out of nowhere.

It was too much of a coincidence.

And Astarte was favoring her a bit too much despite not knowing much about her.

"W-Wait... I would have understood if you were Spade all along. But how can someone think freely in this Virtual-Reality? Shouldn't all of this be considered as something built by data?" Mercedes got even more confused.

The world she was standing in was nothing more but a Virtual-Reality. It was a product created by AEGIS. It shouldn't be independent in any way.

Astarte sighed to herself while Mercedes's cold sweat dripped from her forehead. She looked upward and yelled.

"Spade!!!"

[𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞.]

A monotone voice arose, but it wasn't within Mercedes's head. It echoed throughout the wooden hallway, which made Astarte back away. Astarte's eyebrows were furrowed, though Mercedes was even more shocked.

"Wait, so the two of you knew each other?"

"I can't believe this."

"Spade, how can you keep the truth from me?" Mercedes asked despite knowing that they weren't friends of some sort. There was no need for Spade to tell the truth to her. She was nothing more but a loser that Spade saved through AEGIS.

How could she question the one that took her out of that room?

[𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.]

As expected of Spade, she answered what Mercedes had thought before answering her Host's question. However, this was to be expected from Spade. She wasn't someone who'd take merit.

"Spade, the truth is..."

"This world was real." Astarte stepped forward and told the truth. She didn't want to lie to the next one that was about to go through everything that had happened in the past.

While Astarte said that some of the truth was meant to be ignored. That doesn't mean that such a thing applies to Mercedes. The one who held AEGIS under her body and soul. Astarte wanted to tell the truth to the current holder and warned her of the unforeseen circumstances.

"Was Real? Wouldn't that mean that everything..." Mercedes glanced around while Astarte nodded in agreement and continued. "The world you are seeing is from the data kept within AEGIS."

"This world was the reality that AEGIS went through before finding you."

Astarte continued dropping bombs without delay and hesitation. Spade didn't seem to stop Astarte from uttering the truth. Though, that doesn't mean that Spade wasn't angry. For someone as monotone as her, it was rare to be angry.

"Then what happened to this world?" Mercedes inquired because the truth was something she wished to discover. She wanted to know what happened to this world. What happened to her teachers and that old man. What happened to Astarte and the establishment of Apate.

Why did AEGIS choose her? And how did it get on her computer? Why did it leave Astarte's world? With this many questions, Mercedes wanted to understand the things she was confused about.

"That is something that you will know after you level up. The reason why I am telling you the truth is to warn you. You will know the truth, and you will never be ignorant about it. You will understand things you wish to be entirely kept under others' ignorance."

"Mercedes, I don't want you to end up like me. I'm sure that Spade also doesn't want that."

"She might have also calculated possible paths that will help you survive."

"But in the end, you will be the one that's choosing. So choose a path that you won't regret."

Mercedes's body was then enveloped by silver light as Astarte gazes at her from afar. Looking at Astarte, Mercedes noticed a smile forming on Astarte's face. She wanted to stop the silver light and hear more of Astarte's words.

But only three words could be perceived by her ears.

"We'll meet again."

Afterward, Mercedes's perception blacked out, and she felt something pulling her out of the Virtual Reality. A couple of seconds later, she opened her eyelids and noticed herself staring at the ceiling.

"Astarte..."

"Spade, are you there?" Mercedes asked though nothing more but silence answered it. It enveloped the entirety of her body, and only her beating heart was heard. Her arms began trembling as a deep-seated fear slowly crept out of her heart.

It was the fear of possibility.

However, before this creeping fear could consume her. She heard something within her mind. Fortunately, Mercedes heard the damn monotone voice she would never forget.

[𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬, 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭.]

"*Sigh...* Can't believe that's the only thing you can say."