A Total Noob

The other player also looked surprised to see someone other than an NPC running the stall, but after a short moment of surprise, he immediately started complaining again.

"Mate, what's your problem? Just wait a minute."

Doing his best to ignore the annoying fellow, Bjorn quickly grabbed one of the few remaining apple fritters and handed it over to the customer.

Without even trying to pay, the player opened up the package and took a big bite out of the food.

"Bleh. Cold and disgusting. How shameful to sell a product like this, and with such terrible customer service!"

The player shouted the words loud enough for all of the surrounding NPCs to hear, and a few of them moved away from the storefront.

"The Southroad food stand down the street has way better food!"

When he heard the player's words, Bjorn finally figured out what was going on.

'This little bastard must have a quest too, one from a rival business!'

Bjorn's eyes focused on the other player's head as he burned the man's name into his memory.

'Donny15. I'll make sure to follow this little prick out of the city the first time he goes out to hunt.'

Leaning over the countertop, Bjorn knocked his knuckles against the hardwood, drawing the other player's attention.

"Listen, buddy, I'm sure you're doing a quest too, but piss off, would ya?"

The other player just shrugged, then turned around and ushered the crowd to head over to his employer's bread stand again.

If they weren't standing in a safe zone, Bjorn would've already beheaded the insolent noob.

'Just when I was finally getting the hang of this damn PvE quest, this happens, and I can't even cut him up! This is why I never played this dumb stuff, I want the freedom to crush my enemies!'

Hearing the ruckus outside, Old Man Lefty finally walked out from inside the food shop. Instead of confronting the person stealing all of his customers, the NPC immediately turned to Bjorn.

"You're a useless assistant! Look, there's no one even coming to eat more food, and you didn't bother cooking new batches of anything!"

The NPC tossed a nearly empty sheet of fritters onto the ground.

'Cooking more?! He never mentioned that! Also, system, why didn't you tell me??'

-

You didn't ask.

-

Bjorn was about ready to punch the stupid text box that appeared as if mocking him, but it seemed the system wasn't quite done yet.

-

Quest failed.

You receive the lowest possible rewards.

+1 bronze coin.

+1 dirt-stained apple fritter.

+1 XP.

-

"You're fired. Don't come back to my establishment for anything."

'I really just spent an hour and a half getting bitched at by angry customers just for these rewards?! Screw this. I'm never doing another PvE mission.'

Tossing his apron to the ground and storming off, Bjorn headed straight for the outskirts of the city.

All of his rationality hadn't left him, though, as he took a small detour to stop at a rundown weapons shop.

After snatching up a rusty dagger that'd been gathering dust in a corner, he brought it over to the counter and slammed it against the table.

"One bronze coin."

The shopkeep- a beautiful young woman who was also strangely a player- shook her head mournfully.

"T-that dagger belonged to my grandfather... he was a brave man, but he eventually passed away, his fingers still clutched around that legendary blade... I can't bear to part with it. I never meant to put it out into the store in the first place..."

"One coin. Look at my name."

"What do you- ah, you're a player too."

The young woman scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Hah, t- that was just a trade strategy, it definitely works on NPCs. Please pretend like you didn't hear any of that!"

After withdrawing a coin from his inventory, Bjorn tapped on its metal surface impatiently.

"Just accept the deal and let me go with this dagger, please."

The girl stopped acting so embarrassed and shook her head as she looked over Bjorn's character.

"Eric the Red? Nice name. If I'm being perfectly honest, though this dagger is worth way more than that. You should've completed a quest already if you're making a purchase, right? Eight bronze coins."

Bjorn wasn't dumb enough to accept her words.

"Two coins or I leave."

"No, really! Seven is as low as I can go!"

Bjorn's brow crunched up into a frown as he tried to remember how much a trashy dagger like this should be worth.

'Maybe she really is giving me a fair price? Still, I don't have that kind of money. Maybe it's best to just tell her the truth about what happened and ask for sympathy. I can just make the money back outside the city, anyway.'

"I... I actually failed my quest."

Bjorn started explaining the events that had occurred since he joined the game, and as he spoke, the girl's face turned sympathetic.

"That's really terrible! That other player is so mean!"

Bjorn nodded his head, happy to feel understood.

He selectively neglected to tell the salesman his plans to hunt down Donny15 at a later date, using this same dagger he was trying to get her to sell him.

"Tell you what, then. Even if it hurts my chances of completing my own quest, I'll sell you the dagger for five coins."

A trade window appeared in front of Bjorn, and he clicked accept right away.

"Thank you for your generosity, Miss SnowAven. I will remember this favor."

"Good luck out there. I hope the rest of your day goes better than it has so far."

Bjorn shot one more grin back at the girl as he headed for the door.

"Don't worry, it already is looking up, thanks to your help!"

Immediately after Bjorn departed, the SnowAven covered her mouth as she let out a giggle.

"Hah. Sorry, newbie. That poor guy must not have played many games before. At least he'll learn not to trust salesmen quickly this time."

In front of her, a quest completion notification appeared.

-

S Rank. Sold an item for 5x its true worth.

-

Completely unaware that he'd just been scammed, Bjorn sauntered happily toward the exit of the city. Even if the start of his gaming career hadn't gone exactly as planned, it was all fine now!

A kind player had helped him out, and now he could head out of the city to hunt!

Just as he reached the outer bounds of the city, the young man spotted someone familiar.

Somehow, despite only knowing two players within the city, he managed to run into one of them.

Donny15, the guy who had caused him trouble at the food stand, was now partied with a group of players and headed for the forest outside of the city.

'Hm... there's six of them and one of me. They're all probably level two or three as well, I think completing a quest should give enough xp to level them up.'

Bjorn made his way over to the side of the street, then followed the party from the shadows. He kept a close eye on them as they headed for the forest.

When Bjorn reached the gates, he was stopped by a guard.

"Sorry, but I can't let you go out there yet, you aren't strong enough. Please stick around in the city for a while longer until you gain a bit more experience!"

The guard's words almost sounded like an automated response, quite different from all of the previous NPCs Bjorn had spoken with.

'Screw that. I'm not going back in there to try another trash quest. My original plan of hunting wild monsters was already barely acceptable for my PvP soul. Hunting Donny and his group of twats will be much more fun, I'm not giving up here!'

Donny15 might have six allies, better gear, and be a level or two up on Bjorn after successfully completing his first quest, but that just meant there would be more loot for Bjorn to take.

"Oi, Mr. Guard."

Bjorn lifted up the rusted dagger for the NPC to see.

"Do you know what this is?"

The guard scratched his chin.

"A rusty dagger?"

Bjorn shook his head as he angled the tip toward the guard's throat.

"A present."

After a slight pause, the guard's eyes lit up as he figured out what was going on.

"Oh! You must have a friend outside the city, and you wanted to bring them this knife as a gift! How kind of you, I'll let you go out there. Ah, make sure to stick to the main roads and avoid any dangerous creatures."

Bjorn hurriedly lowered his weapon.

"Uh, yeah, that's definitely what I meant."

The guard chuckled happily as he stepped to the side to let Bjorn pass.

'Now then... where did Donny15 and his group of noobs run off to?'