Jimmy's Revenge
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Jimmy was just trying to get back to the village when a pack of wild wolves jumped him. He fought them off, sure, but he took quite a beating. Now, he wanted blood. Your mission? Take out every single wolf you could find. The more, the merrier, and the bigger the payout.
Objective: Wolves
Reward: Unknown
Quest Item: Weapon Oil
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Ryan couldn't help but crack a smile as he looked at the item in his pack. He zoomed in on the bottle of Weapon Oil, and a little info box popped up.
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Weapon Oil: Quest Item
Effect: Boosts weapon damage by 20. Supercharges damage against beasts by 50. Lasts: 1 hour.
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"Sweet," he mumbled to himself.
Jimmy's Revenge was a rare find. It was a timed quest, but not the kind that started ticking the second you picked it up. Nope, the clock only began once you actually used the oil. And when that hour was up, the quest was over. No second chances.
And Jimmy? That guy only showed up every two hours. If Ryan hadn't been the first to patch him up, he probably would've missed him entirely before leaving the starting zone.
Anyone could grab this quest, but you had to heal Jimmy first. Didn't matter if it was a potion or a spell. Once he was back on his feet, he'd turn into a quest-giver, and Jimmy's Revenge became one of the hottest tickets in the early game.
The moment Ryan stepped back through the village gate, a message flashed on his screen.
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System Notice:
You've entered a combat zone. Player collision is now enabled.
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Oh, right. That.
In towns and dungeons, everyone was basically a ghost. You could walk right through other players, like they weren't even there. That was also how people later on would pull huge groups of monsters and wipe them out all at once to level up fast.
But out in the open world? That feature was off. You moved like you would in real life. Bumping into people, squeezing past them, practically tripping over a sea of bodies.
And what a crowd it was.
Ryan stepped past the gate and just stared at the madness outside the village. A stampede of new players were flailing their arms, ganging up on baby wolves like it was some kind of crazy shopping spree.
Every time a little wolf cub appeared, it was instantly swarmed by five or six players, all swinging wildly, desperate to get the last hit.
If they managed it, they were grinning like they'd just won the lottery.
If they didn't, they just scowled and waited for the next poor wolf to pop up, grumbling under their breath.
Ryan took one look at that chaotic mess and backed away. No way was he jumping into that mosh pit.
Instead, he took off running farther out.
Beyond the starting area, level 3 monsters roamed. These were Frenzied Wolf Cubs. Nasty little things with strong attacks and decent defense. Most newbies couldn't even touch them without getting wiped out.
But that's exactly where Harnel's Longsword, the item he needed for the Path of Wrath quest, was hidden.
As he jogged through the hills, Ryan passed tons of other players scrambling around, hunting for monster spawn points like they were hopped up on caffeine. That was one of the annoying things about Kingdom Forge: outside of towns, monsters appeared randomly.
You couldn't just sit and wait for them. You had to chase.
Still, luck seemed to be on Ryan's side. A few wolves popped up right in front of him while he was running. But every time he reached for his weapon, a group of frantic players would appear out of nowhere and tear the thing apart before he even got a swing in.
He barely had time to blink before the wolf's health hit zero.
One group even glared at him afterward, like he'd tried to steal their kill just by breathing near it.
Ryan just rolled his eyes and kept moving.
He didn't have a weapon yet, or any real fighting skills. He wasn't about to start throwing punches just to get a few scraps of experience.
As for these other players, they were just casuals. They'd talked to the village chief, picked up a simple quest, and ran out swinging bare fists like it was a street fight.
The real players, the ones who knew how this game worked, were already hunting for hidden quests and secret storylines. Ryan smirked at the thought, then ignored the crowd and headed straight for his objective.
A few steps later, a system message flickered in the corner of his screen.
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System Message:
You've discovered: Windrest Plains. +30 EXP
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The Windrest Plains were crawling with Frenzied Wolf Cubs and full-grown Graywolves. Level 3 monsters, which were pretty dangerous for a starting zone.
Luckily, most of the monsters near the village were yellow-tagged, meaning they wouldn't attack unless he provoked them. That meant Ryan could walk right through without getting jumped by something way out of his league.
He relied on his memory and soon found himself at a small gravestone. Whatever was carved on it had long since faded away. This was the spot; Harnel's old longsword was buried right here.
He dug for a second, then yanked out a beat-up two-handed sword. A quest notification popped up, confirming it:
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Quest Complete: Path of Wrath
Return to Trainer Harnel.
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Ryan didn't waste any time. He sprinted back to the village and handed over the sword.
"I think I can trust your strength now," Harnel said. "But I've got another job for you."
"There's a place west of the village called Blood Hollow. Packs of rogue wolves have been causing trouble there for too long. I need you to hunt them down. Bring back proof."
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Cull the Wilds:
The wolves in Blood Hollow are a menace to the area. Hunt them down and bring back their skulls. Trainer Harnel will pay you handsomely.
Objective: Wolf Skulls 0/50
Reward: 1,000 EXP, 1 silver
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Ryan accepted it without a second thought.
Harnel's Longsword (Two-Handed)
Quality: Rough
Level: 1
Damage: 1–5 (0.6 DPS)
Speed: 3.8
Not exactly amazing, but it was a weapon. And more importantly, it meant he could finally use skills. A huge step up from just punching things.
He glanced at his experience bar. Still a long way to go. He needed 8,000 XP to level up, and so far, he'd only managed about 400. Not even five percent.
So, Ryan got to work.
He jogged around the village, knocking out a bunch of easy errands. Mostly delivery quests and fetch quests. By the time he was done, he'd racked up 1,600 EXP and picked up some basic gear.
Just barebones stuff. A mix of cloth, leather, and some scrap metal armor. It looked terrible and felt even worse. But hey, it was better than nothing.
"Alright," he grinned. "Now the real grind begins."
He checked the in-game clock. Just over thirty minutes had passed since the game launched.
Perfect.
Time to hit his secret spot and skyrocket his level.