[Emergency Mission - Protect Upperstream Village
Mission Description: While helping villagers rebuild their homes, the Soul Returner accidentally awakened terrifying Aberration that have only appeared in stories. To prevent innocent villagers from dying, the Soul Returner must immediately travel to Upperstream Village to join the battle.
Quest Rewards: +40 Trust Level of the Rescued Villagers from Upperstream Village, 10 Silver Coins, Unknown Dropped Materials
*Note: The currency reward coefficient for emergency missions is 150%.
[Urgent Mission - Capture the Apostates]
Mission Description: The apostates of the Tree Worship Church have infiltrated the territory of the Soul Returner and intend to bewitch the ignorant villagers with their heretical doctrines. Reliable intelligence indicates that five targets are about to arrive at Upperstream Village. Soul Returner are requested to be on alert and prepare for battle to ensure the safety of the faction leader NPC: Bishop Ed Adrian.
Quest Rewards: Ed Adrian's Trust +10, Killing a Traitor yields 5 Silver Coins, Capturing a Traitor alive yields 10 Silver Coins, Unknown Dropped Materials
*Note: The currency reward coefficient for emergency missions is 150%.
"Holy crap, what's going on?"
Two urgent missions appeared at the same time, a scene even the [ Shit Appraisal Master ] had never seen before. Rather, it's more accurate to say that this veteran only had a relatively good understanding of this world, and didn't have much experience with these newly added game systems.
The three exchanged a glance, all becoming excited, especially the two newbies who loved the thrill of combat. Upon seeing the word "urgent," they frantically started clicking the accept button. [Pond Fish and Old Abyss], however, only asked in confusion after accepting all the quests:
"Why are they all in the Upperstream Village? Is the feng shui of that village bad?"
[ Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger ] was just about to say something when he pointed to a man running breathlessly in the distance:
There's someone over there!
The panting young villager was no match for the three energetic players. After learning the villager's identity and destination, the three players realized that the five traitors of the Tree Worship Church had already left Midstream Village.
[ Shit Appraisal Master ] glanced at the somewhat shaken villager, recalling the descriptions other players had given him around the campfire the previous night, and said to the villager in a low voice:
"The three of us are Elite Warrior under Bishop Adrian. Your mission is complete. Now you can return to the village with peace of mind. Leave the matter of the apostates to us."
As he spoke, he patted the young man on the shoulder and pointed to the identical weapons at the waists of the three men.
Although the young man didn't know why these three people weren't wearing the standard attire of the Tree Worship Church, he remembered that the two Elite Warrior who repaired the roof yesterday were dressed similarly, so he finally stood up with peace of mind and walked towards Midstream Village, looking back every few steps.
[ The Pond Fish and Old Abyss ] looks towards [ The Shit Appraisal Master ]:
"Wasn't the player supposed to be Soul Returner in the lore? Why did they become Elite Warrior? Also, who is Archbishop Adrian? Is he a guide NPC?"
[ The Shit Appraisal Master ] nodded as he led the way:
"I'm not entirely clear on the specifics, but the game just implemented the quest system yesterday. The villagers call us Elite Warrior when they see us, and Ed is called the bishop by them."
"Before that, the game server was under maintenance for a whole day. According to the game's setting, nothing appears out of thin air, so even if the server is down for maintenance, the game developers will design a corresponding storyline, they just won't show it to us directly."
"But thinking about it carefully, as players and NPCs within the player faction, having a few more titles doesn't seem like a big deal. It looks like we're now officially part of the Tree Worship Church. We can't let these traitors get away!"
After explaining the setting, which even he himself only half understood, [ Shit Appraisal Master ] waved to the two, signaling them to quicken their pace, and the three of them began to run towards the Upperstream Village.
Beneath the castle, three players had spontaneously gathered around Ed. Ed could see that everyone had accepted all the tasks and chosen to join this limited-time game event.
Aside from [ Good Times Don't Last ], who was already excitedly counting on his fingers, eager for battle, [ Dawn Ah ] was also full of excitement. This wasn't because he was particularly interested in the battle, but because he wanted to know what the bosses and Aberration of this world looked like. After all, seeing is believing, and no matter how many times you look at the encyclopedia, it's not as satisfying as seeing it in the game, especially since it's a monster that hasn't been included in the game yet.
Although the [ Dark Archmage ] was usually taciturn, she had also chosen to accept the mission. At this moment, she stood behind the two, ready to go to the Upperstream Village to provide support at any time.
Although she mostly plays the game alone, [ Dark Archmage ] always joins random groups when raids are needed. Although she almost never uses voice chat, she always manages to complete all the tasks assigned by the commander, even in random matches.
[ The Good Times Don't Last ] While looking forward to the battle, he always had a vague sense of unease. He pondered the reason for a long time and finally thought that it was because he had been scared by the Rat King a few days ago and developed PTSD. He was afraid that all the bosses in this game would be high-attack, high-armor, and high-health monsters.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look around. Ed had already joined the battle; it seemed that this kind of story boss didn't need to be invited separately.
Who else can act as an assistant?
Without a doubt, the first person that came to mind when thinking about [ the Good Times Don't Last ] was the Red Dragon Seraphina, who was fast asleep behind the counter.
But he quickly thought of the quest to hire Seraphina for a single battle—1000 gold coins!
Putting aside whether the loot from this newbie village boss is enough to recoup the cost, just thinking about the Red Dragon's fighting style [ Good Times Don't Last n't last long] makes me feel that if she were to join the battlefield village, it would be completely doomed.
If this Red Dragon were to breathe out even slightly, the battlefield would likely turn into a barbecue feast.
Does this mean the plan to bring in outside help is doomed to fail?
His Good Times Don't Last didn't last long. Feeling he'd overlooked something, he suddenly noticed the third NPC in the room—the half-dragon kneeling devoutly before Seraphina, chanting prayers. He remembered a system notification from the previous night:
[NPC Seraphina unlocks new mercenary role: Dragonborn Mercenary.]
Thinking of this, a glint seemed to shoot into [ Good Times Don't Last ]'s eyes. Seraphina was sleeping at the moment, so he went to Ed and began to operate the panel to prepare to hire him.
As a guide NPC, the hiring functions of other permanent main NPCs were also integrated into his panel, [ Good Times Don't Last ] and he quickly found what he wanted:
[Hire -- Seraphina -- Dragonborn Mercenary: 20 silver per person per day, unlimited battles]
Does one person need 20 silver a day?
Why don't you just rob someone?
Oh, dragons seem to have a penchant for stealing things anyway, never mind.
[ The Good Times Don't Last ] Recalling the NPC who was covered in red blood just two minutes ago, he gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and paid directly.
Victory is more important than anything else!