hotmtlnovel Chapter 14
Chapter 14
As anyone who has played games would know, quests in RPGs play a crucial role.
Not only do they provide experience points, high-level items, changes in relationships with NPCs, and the acquisition of skills, but they also serve as a guiding path to carry the game's story forward.
And the same is true for the VR RPG game, Demons’ Saga.
In fact, this game doesn’t really have much of a structured storyline. The main objective is simply to hunt down the demons sealed throughout the world.
Players are thrown into this vast world with only that singular goal in mind.
To make matters worse, despite the game being open for almost six months, no one had even seen a demon yet.
As a result, players often found themselves wandering aimlessly, unsure of what to do next.@@@@
In such a situation, the one thing that provided them with any sense of direction and context for the game world was the existence of quests.
Of course, given that the NPCs' AI constantly evolved in real-time, no two quests were ever exactly the same.
There were repeatable quests, sure, but that was about the extent of it.
Once a player received a quest, it would never appear again. Quests were that rare and valuable.
So how could players uncover the game's story through such limited quests? And more importantly, where could they find quests in the first place?
Fortunately, the game developers had provided an answer to this.
[There are two primary ways to obtain quests:]
1. You can receive tasks from the Adventurers’ Guild Board. The guild is filled with countless problems, and most of them are available as quests. However, these tasks tend to be repetitive and rarely connect to the main storyline.
2. You can obtain quests from NPCs. NPCs occasionally hand out quests. While many of these may seem trivial, they have a higher chance of being connected to the main storyline than guild tasks.
There are two types of main storyline-related quests:
1. The quest itself is directly tied to the main storyline.
2. The NPC giving the quest is tied to the main storyline.
This has been GM Gaia. Enjoy Demons’ Saga, everyone!
What exactly the developers meant by “main storyline” was still a mystery.
They were always secretive. The storyline might involve demons, or it could be a quest with massive implications for the game’s world.
Either way, the important point here was that quests given by NPCs were rare and valuable.
So it was no surprise that Yoo Chaerin suddenly jumped up and shouted in excitement.
“A quest! A quest!”
Since we were back in the cave, the stream was still live. I had given her permission as long as the path to my home wasn’t shown.
Now that I’d decided to expose a part of myself to the world, I could deal with a little more openness.
“Whew, it’s hot... Guess all that moving around really worked up a sweat.”
While I was lost in thought, she suddenly unzipped her jacket, revealing her ample chest that had been pressed beneath it.
For some reason, under her jacket, she was only wearing a brown tank top, leaving her cleavage in full view. And with the sweat glistening slightly on her skin, it made the sight even more noticeable.
I cleared my throat awkwardly and asked, “Ahem, so... why are you just wearing a tank top under your jacket? Where’s your armor?”
“Huh? Oh, haha.”
She looked down at herself, scratching her head sheepishly.
“Well, whenever I come here, I take off all my gear, just in case I die, you know. Hehe...”
“...”
That explained a lot.
Now I understood why I had acted the way I did earlier. I guess they must’ve felt the same way I do right now.
The real issue, though, was that I seemed to be the only one feeling embarrassed at the moment.
[“What a coward, haha.”]
[“Look at that sweat, lol.”]
[“Cover yourself up, no one wants to see that.”]
Her chat was as calm and indifferent as ever.
Moments like these really made me feel how much the world had changed.
“...Hold on, I’ll get your payment.”
As much as it was a pleasant view, I didn’t want her to see how red my face had become, so I quickly headed to the storage room.
Even though I might look like a beggar living in the forest, I’m not exactly poor.
This place is swarming with dangerous monsters, and their corpses are worth a fortune. I regularly hunt them down.
I’ll just throw her a few things as payment.
“Here, take these.”
I tossed a few items her way.
“Huh? W-wait, what?!”
Her eyes widened in surprise.