Chapter 3: Return My Money, Bast*rd
Editor: Henyee Translations
Giddily, Li Huailin walked back to the newbie village chief again, now that Li Huailin was in a good mood, the grey-bearded old man seemed somewhat adorable in his eyes.
"Old man, I've completed your quest," Li Huailin said happily.
"Future warrior, you lived up to my expectations, your scars bear witness to your gallantry, this is your reward," the grey-bearded old man responded with the same words he said a thousand times in the past.
System Notice: Completed E-rank quest. Exterminate Black Slimes. Deducted 200 Experience. Deducted 10 Copper Coins.
"Sh*t!" Li Huailin instantly broke down, why did completing the quest deduct 200 experience and 10 copper coins? He looked at his experience bar once more, it had now become -250/500 as expected… And the 13 copper coins he picked up from fighting slimes had now become 3.
Forget about the experience bar, it was already negative to start with. He could easily regain it after he died a few times, however, the matter regarding his money upset him. This was the money that he painstakingly earned! 10 copper coins were just taken away all of a sudden.
"Son of a b*tch, how dare you steal my money!" Li Huailin didn't care whether the other side was an NPC or not. He directly lifted the chief by the collar with a single hand, "Return my money you basta*rd!"
"What's going on?" The players in the surroundings also found it a little strange, they were just about to accept a quest. However, unexpectedly, a player was moving as if he were about to hit the chief, this was why they gathered around with curiosity.
The chief was quite composed on the other hand, he simply continued to repeat his words, "Brave warrior! I temporarily don't have any quests for you, but I've heard that the blacksmith and tailor seem to need some help, you can go talk to them."
"Talk to your damn sister! Give me back my money!" Li Huailin continued to pull on the chief's collar as he said, "If you don't give it back, I'll hit you!"
"It seems like he's about to hit the chief, what's going on?" The surrounding players looked on at the situation as they also found it a little strange.
"Hehe, so that's what's happening…" A player on the side seemed to have understood something, he started to analyze the situation all on his own, "It's because 'Heart of Glory' has hidden quests. Take a look at this player for example, he definitely wants to find the chief's hidden quest. This is why he's testing out different ways."
"Oh, so that's what's going on." The surrounding players nodded upon hearing this, they actually accepted this explanation.
"Tsk…" Along with a sound of disdain, a dozen players walked up from behind the surrounding players. It was quite obvious that these dozen players played together, although they were still in the newbie village, they were all fully equipped. The leader of these players was a man in his thirties. The armor he wore was imbued with a faint azure color, it was actually a Bronze equipment! Only the players who were able to obtain Bronze equipment definitely belonged to a guild—only those in a guild that fought a boss together could obtain Bronze equipment right now—it was because the chances for a normal player to obtain Bronze equipment from fighting small monsters were too insignificant.
"So he wants to trigger a hidden quest like that? That's a joke, right? With so many people in our Spiritual World guild, we've already tried all sorts of ways, and yet, we still couldn't trigger any hidden quest," the leader said, "You guys can wait for a good show, the newbie village chief seems to be an NPC who's above level 30, he'll kill the newbie in an instant. You guys can wait and see him get killed instantly."
"The Spiritual World guild…" The surrounding people became restless, however, they immediately believed the man's words, because the Spiritual World guild's credibility was truly undeniable.
"If you keep reciting those same words to me, I'll really hit you!" On the other hand, Li Huailin still hadn't noticed the surrounding people behind him, all the while he continued to threaten the village chief.
"Brave warrior, I temporarily don't have any quests for you…" The grey-bearded village chief still continued to say these same words, this wasn't unexpected at all.
"I gave you face, but you didn't want it." Li Huailin said no more, he raised his right hand and quickly punched the village chief's face.
-2
System Notice: Since you attacked the newbie village chief, the newbie village chief's Favorability towards you has increased by 20. Current Favorability, Friendly.
"What the hell!?" Li Huailin was amazed by the system notice's words once again.
"He really attacked!" The surrounding people immediately went into an uproar, each and every one of them had expressions that showed their anticipation of watching a good show.
A second passed, two seconds passed, and soon, ten seconds passed. The scene was very quiet as nothing happened, and soon, everyone discovered that something was wrong.
"What's going on? Why didn't the village chief retaliate?" A player asked.
"Yeah, I personally witnessed someone attack the village chief and they were instantly killed, why didn't the village chief kill him?"
The people in the Spiritual World guild were also startled—what the heck was happening?
The following situation made people break down even more. The village chief always had an impassive expression on his face towards players, it was as if he had no expressions at all. However, after taking a punch from this player, his expression turned to one with a faint smile.
"Brave warrior, so it's you! It's so great to see you. I hear that the blacksmith and tailor have quests for you, could you please go take a look?" The village chief smiled as he said this to Li Huailin.
"What the hell? Is this village chief inviting to be humiliated? Someone hits his face, and yet in return, he greets him with a smile, is he sick?" The surrounding players really couldn't stay calm anymore.
Li Huailin was slightly astounded, however, he immediately understood what was going on. Originally, his Favorability was to be deducted, but due to his bugged character, it became an increase instead. After an increase of 20 points, the village chief became friendly towards him, no wonder the village chief suddenly greeted him with a smile.
"What a bit*ch of an NPC, seeing that you stole 10 copper coins from me, I'll hit you a few more times!" With that said, Li Huailin pulled on the village chief's collar again, he spread out his right hand and gave a whopping slap on the village chief's face. This slap even made the surrounding players feel a little pain on their faces.
System Notice: Since you attacked the newbie village chief, the newbie village chief's Favorability towards you has increased by 20. Current Favorability, Friendly.
"Oh shi*t, he hit him again!" A wave of cries in surprise resounded in the surroundings.
"I might as well hit him till I'm satisfied." Li Huailin became more enthusiastic the more he hit the village chief, he was actually addicted to it now. He lifted up the village chief and slapped him fiercely.
System Notice: Since you attacked the newbie village chief, the newbie village chief's Favorability towards you has increased by 12. Current Favorability, Respectful.
System Notice: Since you attacked the newbie village chief, the newbie village chief's Favorability towards you has increased by 10. Current Favorability, Respectful.
…
System Notice: Since you attacked the newbie village chief, the newbie village chief's Favorability towards you has increased by 3. Current Favorability, Worship.
After a dozen consecutive slaps, Li Huailin was finally satisfied. He slapped off 40 points of health off the newbie village chief. And, Favorability also couldn't increase anymore since it was already at the level of Worship.
The surrounding players were all dumbstruck, they didn't know how to react at all. Even the people of the Spiritual World guild looked on blankly at Li Huailin.
"Alright, I've already hit you until I was satisfied, those 10 copper coins are for you to go see a doctor, no need for change," Li Huailin dusted off his hands as he said this contentedly.
Unexpectedly, just as Li Huailin let go of him, on the other hand, the village chief who didn't react all this time, suddenly grabbed Li Huailin's hand, this action startled Li Huailin.
"Great brave warrior! I've finally met you again, your heroism should be praised by the entire world, your battle records should be engraved in temples," the village chief said in an extremely emotional manner, the expression in his eyes was filled with worship.
"Yes, yes." Li Huailin nodded contentedly. "Old man your words are quite true, it seems all the trouble I went through to slap you weren't in vain."
"What the hell?" The surrounding players stared in awe, how was this guy heroic? What battle records did he have—was it the battle record of lifting you up and slapping you a dozen times?
"That's right brave warrior, I do have a hidden quest that I want to request you to complete," the grey-bearded village chief rambled on by himself.
System Notice: Newbie village chief has issued an AA-rank hidden quest, Source of Evil. Accept or Not?
"Accept your damn sister, get lost, no." Li Huailin was startled, although he didn't know what the rewards for this mission were, he could tell from the AA-rank quest rating alone that it wouldn't be easy. What if the rewards were several tens of thousands of experience? Then the result would be tragic for him, according to his current circumstances, he wouldn't be able to redeem all the experience even if he died over several hundred times.
"What the hell? The village chief really issued a hidden quest!" The surrounding players were instantly roused again.
"Did you guys hear that? This guy actually rejected it!" Another player immediately said.
"He's too kick-ass, I'm already in awe."
"Brave warrior, are you sure you won't consider it? The quest's rewards will definitely be to your satisfaction," the grey-bearded old man asked again once he saw Li Huailin reject him.
"I…" Li Huailin naturally wanted to reject it, however, when he was about to reject it once more, a hand from behind suddenly landed on his shoulder.
"This friend here, wait a moment."
A sound came from behind him, Li Huailin turned around to discover a dozen Spiritual World guild members standing behind him. Their leader, an uncle in his thirties, was the one who stopped him.
"Is something the matter? Do I know you guys?" Li Huailin found it a little strange, he was solely focused on slapping the village chief earlier, it was to the point that he didn't even notice the conversations of the people in the surrounding. This was why he didn't know that these people were from the Spiritual World guild.
"I'm the deputy leader of the Spiritual World guild, Night Flyer, these are my subordinates," Night Flyer introduced himself.
"The Spiritual World guild…" Li Huailin's pupils slightly contracted for a short moment. This Spiritual World guild was truly a large guild, previously when he played several other online games, the Spiritual World guild would also be present. Moreover, they would at least be ranked in the top three guilds in every online game. After 'Heart of Glory', publicly opened, he naturally thought of how other large guilds in other games would check-in. However, he never expected them to be so fast—could they have given up on such a large pool of resources alongside the markets of the other online games?
These thoughts circled in his mind, however, Li Huailin didn't express them on the surface. He simply smiled and responded, "I'm a solo player, Open-Minded Like A Forest, you guys can call me Huailin."
"Hello Huailin," Night Flyer said courteously, " I think I just saw you reject a hidden quest, can you tell me why?" Night Flyer also found it strange, any normal person would be searching for hidden quests everywhere. So why did this guy throw away such a large piece of cake without even thinking about it?
"Oh, I saw that this quest was an AA-rank quest, I'm not certain that I can complete it. Rather than waste so much time, I'd be better off leveling up." Li Huailin naturally wouldn't be stupid enough to say that he would lose experience if he did the quest. After all, he logged on illegally, if that were to be discovered, his account would probably be banned.
"Oh, I see." Night Flyer nodded in response, Li Huailin also said that he was a solo player earlier, moreover, his equipment was also that of a newbie's. He probably couldn't complete the quest anyhow, this all seemed to be within reason. "We, the Spiritual World guild are quite interested in this quest, would you be willing to pass it on to us?"
"Oh?" Li Huailin smiled faintly, "Has business come knocking?"
-- Gift
received