Bab 24: Where's My Taunt Quest!
"Since Detector didn't help in battle, I think we should slip the loot three ways." Reaper crossed his arms.
Looked like he wasn't open to any other suggestions.
Beetle carelessly shrugged. Mage apologetically smiled and nodded at Jake.
Jake lightly knitted his brows. Even as a mild-tempered person, Jake was starting to feel agitated.
If this was a week ago, Jake would have actually cared about this 20 or 40 bucks. But now, Jake cared less about the money.
Nevertheless, this big dude's demeanors was really starting to tick Jake off.
'So. Where's my taunt quest?'
If a taunt quest popped up, Jake wouldn't mind starting a quarrel.
If this big fella wanted to chat with fists, Jake would just have to exercise his lawful rights of self-defense.
As a harmless detector, there wouldn't be such a thing as overly exercising this right, right?
Why does this feel a little familiar?
Leave the group by himself now, and leave with nothing.
Or.
Stick around, and try to trigger that taunt quest.
Jake decided to wait a bit. Potentially more profit this way.
Maybe the taunt quest took a while to be generated? Slow system? Lag maybe?
After all, a single quest could generate over 50 click points!
If things worked out, Jake would have a large gain.
If things didn't work, Jake wouldn't lose that much anyways. It's just 40 bucks.
'So how do I trigger that taunt quest?'
'Is there anything else I can do to up the odds?'
Seeing Jake's carelessly nod, the group continued moving forward.
Taking a look at Beetle, for some reason, Jake felt that this guy looked a little disappointed.
'Disappointed that I didn't jump out and refuse? So he can kick me out of the group? As a detector, I certainly can't make it out alive by myself right?'
Jake lightly shook his head. 'Is this because of the guildmaster's son? Maybe I'm just over-thinking things.'
Either way, Jake could sense the clear hostility from Beetle.
"Use less mana next time. You do not need that many spikes." Beetle grumbled.
"I'll try..." Mage nodded and scratched the back of his head.
"Your casting time is too slow. You need more practice."
Reaper shrugged at the advice. By the looks of it, he didn't agree at all.
After the battle, the atmosphere in the group got a bit better. Since the newbies could fight, Beetle didn't mind giving the dirty work to these two fellas. He could reserve his mana this way.
In this case, Beetle didn't mind sharing combat advice. Stronger team members meant that he could save more mana. More mana. Better odds of escaping when trouble came.
As a result, the three explorers subtly pushed Jake out of the group.
And Jake was totally fine with this. At this rate, the group would be out of this realm by noon tomorrow.
After getting out of the realm, Jake would never see these guys again.
These guys treated Jake like air.
Jake wasn't interested in talking to unfriendly strangers anyways.
Nodding at himself, Jake accepted the situation.
'So. My task at hand should be triggering the taunt quest.'
'Not much time left.'
'By the looks of it, the more they bark at me, the more likely the quest would generate?'
'Or is it my anger level?'
...
Just like this, half a day passed.
After a cold lunch, the group continued to hike through the woods. However, there wasn't any more monsters around.
Since Beetle started answering questions, Jake learned a lot about this trade by just tagging alone.
True. Beetle's actions seemed over-cautious. But there were usually reasons behind each move or decision.
Sure. Jake didn't like these guys at all. But Jake was still hoping to make some click points off these guys. Also, Jake was interested in listening to some more trade advice.
So Jake decided to give these guys a little heads-up.
'Either way, info for info, we are clear now.'
...
"There is no monsters in this realm at all..."
"Hey mage. I'm planning to come in again on July 1st. Wanna come with me?"
"Uhh..." Mage scratched the back of his head. Looked like he didn't know how to refuse invitations.
"I mean, what's so hard about monster hunting. I could have killed that wolf by myself." Reaper continued ranting anyways.
"If I put on my mana armor, there's nothing that wolf could do to harm me."
"There is no fun in realm exploration at all. Where's the fun and adventurer? I don't feel thrilled at all!"
"Oh. Over there." Jake pointed to their left with his chin.
"About 300 meters away. 32 goblins incoming."
Hearing this, Beetle drew his short sword. A teal armor gradually formed around his body. His grim expression turned even more serious. Unlike that aged wolf, a group of goblins could actually threaten him.
These magical creatures were more intelligent in general. Faster movement speed. Stronger attacks. Smaller target areas.
"Pfftt... 300 meters. You are a human radar or something?" Reaper shrugged. He didn't believe a word from Jake.
Jake carelessly shrugged in response.
He had a temper too.
These guys saw him as a detector? Very well. Jake didn't mind being just a detector.
These guys treated Jake like air. Now when trouble comes, Jake had an obligation to step in and save these guys? Not a chance.
Sorry. Jake was just an explorer, not a saint.
Either way, Jake felt that the heads-up was enough. This was enough to pay back for the realm information from Beetle.
After all, this heads-up could potentially save these explorers' lives.
Beetle took a glance at Jake.
This warrior couldn't understand why Jake was so careless and confident.
Nevertheless, holding up a hand, halting the group, Beetle chose to trust Jake this once.
Either way, he didn't want to take any risks.
Being attacked by surprise and being attacked after preparation... The two situations could mean two drastically different outcomes.
About 10 seconds later...
A cloud of arrows passed through the trees and approached the exploration group.
Taking a closer look, the arrow tips seemed to be glinting with a red light. In other words, these weren't just ordinary physical attacks!
Mage raised his hands. A thick rock wall emerged from the ground.
Phoof! Phoof! Phoof!
Some arrowheads pierced right through the rock wall. Some arrows shot through half-way before stopping.
The next moment, these arrows turned into red ash and disappeared.
'Seeing' through the rock wall, Jake quickly hopped backwards away from the wall.
"Tsch." Reaper snickered at Jake.
Jake carelessly shrugged in response.
Staying a bit behind the wall, the big dude held his hands together. Black smoke slowly rose from the ground.
A thin layer of sweat formed on the big guy's forehead. Clearly, he was not as calm as he acted.
The smoke stirred from time to time. This guy was rushing it.
BOOM!
The rock wall exploded into pieces as if it was hit by multiple RPG missiles. The shockwave threw the three explorers back onto the ground.
Unable to stop right away, the explorers continued rolling on the ground.
Their clothing got covered by a layer of dirt. Some parts were even torn. How tragic.
Since Jake was already some distance away from the wall, he avoided the fate of rolling on the ground...
Though...
By that meager energy level, Jake doubted that it was enough to move him.
Threat level of the goblins by instinct: Very Low.
A cloud of dust and dirt quickly obstructed the explorers' visions.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
LaughingSalt
LaughingSalt As promised, 2 chapter/day from now on!
First chapter at 12PM Webnovel time. Second Chapter at 12:05PM.
If you don't like the escalation of conflict, maybe skim through the chapters until chapter 28.
I'll try to improve the tempo of the story starting from the next event.
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Power 
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stone