I'm A Quest Now?

"Aaargh…"

Bjorn did his best dad impression as he collapsed onto the sofa, throwing his feet up onto a hassock and rolling it closer for more comfortability.

Gudrun shot a slightly annoyed look over toward his son, who had stolen his signature noise.

"What are you sighing for? You've just been playing that game all day!"

"Mm. Tough work."

Bjorn bit into a sandwich that his father had just finished making before Bjorn took a break to grab some lunch.

"I'm making good progress today. I'll hit level 11 soon."

"Eleven? Isn't that pretty low?"

Munching on his own sandwich, Gudrun looked over at his son. He wasn't that old himself and had played a fair few games in his youth.

"Here, watch. I think there's a game news channel already dedicated to the game."

Snatching up the remote, Bjorn switched off the weather channel and over to a gaming news one.

On it, an attractive young woman was taking a tour around Norberg. Perhaps coincidentally, it was the town Bjorn had originally spawned in and was East of his current position in Northun.

'Not the most creative naming sense for northern cities, but whatever.'

At least one could easily discover which general area on a map a city was based on just the name.

After she finished speaking to a merchantry-focused player, the video cut away to a compilation of fight recordings. It wasn't uncommon to record while playing, and a few Icelandic folks had sent in videos.

One of the news station's members commentated over a few of the fights, and soon both Bjorn and Gudrun were leaning forward in their seats.

"That combat looks amazing… is this really what it looks like in the game?"

Bjorn nodded, then pointed at the screen.

"This girl here, the one who is winning the fight. I met her in-game."

Bjorn was a bit surprised to see her dominating in combat using a short sword, but he was generally happy to see her crushing the enemies. He had originally pegged her as a friendly merchant player, but it seems that was just her starter quest.

"This… SnowAven? It looks like she's only level 8, but she beat that level 9 dude…"

Gudrun glanced over and saw a slight smile on his son's face.

"How well do you know this girl?"

Hearing the intent in his father's words, Bjorn quickly shook his head.

"She just sold me a dagger for cheap, we hardly talked. Next time I see her, I'll have to return the favor."

Just as Bjorn finished his sandwich and was about to head back into the game, the news section shifted once more.

"... Fledgeling guilds and organizations have already begun to form, some of them backed by real-life corporations. We predict that battles over prime land will break out in the coming weeks."

Bjorn rubbed his jaw.

'I almost forgot about it since I've been spending all of my time hunting, but I'll need to put together a team if I want to win any tournaments. That alone isn't enough… Even if I can consistently hunt for items, we'll still need a strong base in-game. I know the perfect spot, but I don't really have a team yet.'

Bjorn didn't intend to join some random group. If he wanted to take a team to worlds, he knew he needed all the control he could get. It was only with years of experience at the helm that they would stand even a sliver of a chance.

Luckily, Bjorn did know the perfect person to kick-start his guild.

After heading to his room to be somewhere quiet, he dialed a number on his phone. After just one ring, the cheerful voice of one of his high school buddies echoed through the room.

"Bjorner, how's it hanging?"

"Skip it. Your brother around?"

Bjorn heard a long sigh through the phone, then some shuffling noises as his friend passed the phone over.

"Sup?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Bjorn couldn't help but smile.

"Yo. I know you don't know me, but want to come work for me? It'll pay well."

Bjorn didn't hear a response right away, so he continued speaking.

"I need someone to manage a guild for me, in Grandiunon."

"You are one of my brother's friends from high school right?"

After Bjorn confirmed the question, he heard some more muffled chattering from the other side.

"Alright, I'm down to check this out. Where are you in-game?"

Bjorn relayed that he was currently back on his way to town with a hall of loot, then confirmed a plan to meet up with his new guild manager just outside the city.

Seeing no reason to wait around, Bjorn hung up the call and headed for his capsule.

Logging in, he found himself in the same spot he'd been in just before pausing to eat lunch- right at the edge of the forest outside the city.

'It shouldn't take him too long to get here, he's probably still got his transportation scroll.'

Since he was in a bit of a good mood, instead of massacring and looting the random players traveling past him to go hunting, Bjorn smiled and waved.

The nearest player started to wave back, then froze when he saw Bjorn's name. There was a tiny bit of conflict on his face for a brief moment, then he took off running in the opposite direction.

'Huh? What's up with that guy?'

There was another dude walking toward the forest a few dozen meters further up the road, so Bjorn slowly veered toward him. He got a similar reaction, with the player's eyes stretching wide with shock and fear when he saw Bjorn's name.

"Oi! Run and I'll hunt you 'till that bow you're holding drops! Explain yourself!"

Before the bow-wielding hunter could flee for the forest, Bjorn raised his hand, cupping a blazing fireball between his fingers.

The player immediately surrendered, tucking his bow back into his inventory.

"Please man, I'm just trying to have fun. I don't even have any good loot, this bow has low stats."

Bjorn tilted his head.

"Eh? Why are you afraid of me?"

The player pointed up above Bjorn's head, at the blazing red nametag.

"You have the highest bounty among all of the players listed in town… and I've heard a few people talking, saying that you're running around the woods 1-shotting people and stealing their kills."

Bjorn nodded. This is indeed what he'd spent a few hours doing over the morning.