Chapter 25 - A Suspicious Old Man's Commission (1)
After doing some calculations in his mind, he finally understood what had happened.
'It's probably because of the Support's new skill I learned. It can even turn the defense of a strong guy like this to zero.'
Swoosh- He jumped up and smacked the head of the giant ice golem.
While falling to the ground, he kept attacking the golem's body.
[Critical Hit! You've dealt 16243 damage!]
[You've dealt 8592 damage!]
[You've dealt 7983 damage!]
[You've dealt 8144 damage!]
[Critical Hit! You've dealt 17023 damage!]
[You've dealt 8548 damage!]
[You've dealt 8790 damage!]
[Critical Hit! You've dealt 16948 damage!]
[You've dealt 8072 damage!]
Hyun was lost for words by the results he had produced.
「Woah. Is this okay in terms of balance...?」
It didn't take him long to defeat the golem.
As soon as he stopped the ultimate attack, the fire disappeared instantly.
The giant claws also became normal-sized flames because the +1 of the skill level that the ultimate attack gave had disappeared.
Because of the side effect of Ain's ultimate attack, she had lost some HP, but except for that, Hyun thought that there wouldn't be any problems.
At that moment…
Clap Clap Clap- As they defeated the golem, they heard someone clapping.
When he turned his head around, he saw an old man smiling mischievously from the inside of the ruins.
"Amazing, I can't believe you've defeated my kid."
An old man with white hair had suddenly appeared in front of Hyun and Ain.
The fact he had called the golem 'my kid' meant that he was its owner.
But in his eyes, there weren't any signs of anger.
In fact, he seemed happy.
"Hahaha... Just as expected, this guy was big, but it wasn't trustworthy... But I think you guys will be able to handle the job. What do you say? I'll, of course, give you a proper reward."
Ring-!
<Hidden Quest: A suspicious old man's commission> <Difficulty: ???>
- An old man whose identity is unknown is trying to commission suspicious work from you. Judging by his looks, he doesn't seem like a good person... But he will probably keep the promise of rewarding you... Probably?
(※ Warning: You won't be able to check the quest details before accepting it!)
A window appeared in front of Hyun and Ain.
Hidden quest!
Even in the Asrian online boards, only once a week, a thread appeared on the trending topics saying that they'd found a hidden quest. It truly was that rare.
The users were desperate to find hidden quests since the rewards they gave were better than the normal ones.
'As expected, he gives a hidden quest.'
But all of that did not apply to Hyun.
'This will probably be the only chance we get to do this quest.'
Since in Asrian, things happened based on time, there were quests that you wouldn't be able to complete once the time had passed.
The old man's quest was one of those.
Also, the old man's quest was a key part of the flow of the story.
But what Hyun was after was the reward he gave for completing the quest!
He definitely needed to have that reward in his hands since it would give him a great advantage over the rest of the players.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that everything he had done up until then was in preparation for that day.
"What do you say? I'm sure you'll be satisfied with the reward."
"We'll do it."
Hyun answered without doubting for a second.
"Hmm... You're a bold one, huh? I like that. My commission isn't something grand, so don't worry."
Ring-.
[The quest's mission has been unveiled!]
"You just need to protect the gate of this temple. You also don't need to be here for the entire day."
The old man pointed toward the sky.
The night sky of Asrian
It was as beautiful as starlight embroidered on jet-black silk in the night sky of Asrian.
The night sky of Asrian was as beautiful as if the sky was pitch-black silk over which stars had been embroidered.
And in the middle of it, there was a full moon shining!
No, it wasn't a full moon. It was 'Gluna,' Asrian's satellite.
The Gluna that could be seen at night shone more intensely than Earth's moon.
"You need to fight all the intruders trying to come to this place for just an hour from midnight when the moon rises to the top. The time limit is four days."
"But this isn't a place where someone would come... What happens if nobody appears?" Ain asked with a sharp tone of voice.
The old man began laughing.
"Then you'll get the rewards without doing anything. I'll give you a new reward at the end of each day. How about that? Isn't this a fair deal?"
"There's something suspicious..."
"Haha... Maybe it is because you're a fire magician, but you seem to be a very suspicious person. I promise you that there are no lies in my words. I swear it for the heavens."
The Gluna began moving to the center of the sky just in time.
"Then, let's start from today. There are five minutes before the orbit is set."
[Hidden Quest: The suspicious old man's commission is about to start!]
[Be careful! Once the quest begins, you won't be able to leave the place until it is finished!]
[Time left before the quest begins: 282 seconds]
"Oh, by the way. It doesn't matter what happens. It would be for the best if, while doing the commission, you don't enter the inside ruin."
"Sure."
Hyun nodded again without any doubts.
After smiling mischievously, the old man went back into the ruin.
Translator - Daniel Shin
Proofreader - ilafy
* * *
Ain tilted her head.
"Was there a quest like this in Asra? Because I don't remember it."
"I've never done it myself. I'd heard it from a person from the same guild."
"Guild member? Who?"
"Someone you don't know."
"Is it a girl?"
"Do you think I'll know the answer to that question? Before we met in Asrian Online, I thought you were a boy."
While they were chit-chatting, the quest began.
Swoosh-
A pillar of light rose from the center of the temple to the sky.
The pillar of light seemed to face the sky head-on.
It emitted a strong but not ominous feeling. It also wasn't destructive.
Rather than that, the lights that were ascending to the sky felt holy.
"It looks like a laser show."
Hyun couldn't answer Ain's honest impression.
For Hyun, who had focused all his life on gaming, seeing things like laser shows was something only the popular people did.
'It reminds me of the ultimate attack the shadows of the fifth floor used during the awakening quest.'
Hyun's impression of it was limited to recent Asrian events.
If you took out the dazzling and destructive nature from the ultimate attack, they really looked like the light pillars.
Hyun was standing in front of the entrance of the ruins.
The old man had asked him to guard the door. But as time went on, no one appeared.
Since just standing was boring, he chit-talked with Ain.
By how often she yawned, Ain also seemed bored of just standing still while waiting for something to happen.
"..."
The time went on. However, no one had come even though the quest was about to end.
In the first place, was there anyone capable of discovering those ruins that were in the middle of this desolate mountain?
"It's kind of boring standing still while doing nothing. Do you want to do something else to kill some time?"
"Let's wait for a little bit more. After all, he said that our job was to protect this place..."
That was how an hour passed without Hyun and Ain doing anything.
The light pillars that were connected to the Gluna disappeared, and pitch-black darkness covered the sky again.
From the insides of the ruins, the old man came out while looking around with a satisfied expression.
"It seems like there wasn't any intruder... Haha. Anyway, I'll reward you because I don't break a promise. So what should I give you? Oh, this one should be good! I'll awaken your potential. I'll reward you with what you call skill points."
After saying that, he smiled mischievously.
"Unfortunately, since I lack strength, I can reward only one of you. Who is going to receive it?"
[As a reward for completing the quest, you can obtain +2 skill points!]
[But only one between 'Hyun' and 'Ain' can receive the reward!]
Hyun and Ain hesitated for a moment.
Only one of them was going to receive a reward. Even for veterans of Asra Online like them, it was the first time seeing something like that.
But the doubt was short-lived. The decision was made quickly.
"Hyun, receive it. I don't need more skill points."
"Really?! Are you sure?"
"You want to learn the skill «Vision Sword», right? It looks like you still weren't able to learn it yet because you're missing some skill points."
"That's true, but..."
"If you feel sorry... L-Listen to one request of mine in the future."
"Why are you stuttering? Just what kind of request are you planning to make?"
The old man didn't seem satisfied by how easily they decided who would take the skill points.
"Hmm... Both of you have a lot of camaraderie..."
Even though he wasn't happy with the result, the old man gave the promised reward.
He placed his hands on Hyun's shoulders and cast a short spell. A white light entered his body.
[You've obtained 2 skill points!]
"Then I'll see you again tomorrow before midnight. I'll have some good rewards prepared."
After saying that, the old man entered the ruin and disappeared from sight.
Hyun was thinking of following the old man to the insides of the ruin, but he decided not to.
'I mustn't break the warning not to go in yet.'
The hidden quest would take place for a total of four days, and the first one had just finished.
He was excited at the thought of what would happen on the last day.
* * *
Ganesha City.
It was a mid-sized city that had 10,000 habitants.
Nevertheless, it was always crowded around the bulletin board where various quest requests were attached.
"Huh... What's this?"
Salon, an average Asrian user, was checking out the quests on the bulletin board.
While thinking about what quest he should do that day, a particular one caught his attention.
"Is this real?"
Every user wanted to do a quest that offered an optimal reward for their effort, so Salon was very serious about choosing the right one.
But the moment he saw the details of the quest that was on top of the bulletin board, his eyes opened wide.
The reason was that the rewards it gave couldn't be compared to the rest.
<Count Allan's Request>
- Yesterday, around midnight, a villager said that he saw a suspicious light coming out from the Calafer mountain.
By talking with my magician, I've concluded that there's a slight risk of it being dangerous.
I'll award 1000 gold to the party that finds out what that light pillar was.
<Reward: 1000 gold, 20000 experience. (In case a party fulfills the quest, the points will be distributed evenly)>
<Limit: Lv.30>
Salon was surprised by the generous rewards.
"A quest that only requires you to investigate offers 1000 gold and 20000 experience points?!"
He, a level 46 Thief, had been fighting against the temptation of getting a better weapon. He had been fighting with a weapon destined for citizens bought in a shop.
The amount of money he had saved by doing that was only 1500 gold.
But a simple quest offered almost as much money as he had saved up.
Not only that. But the amount of experience it gave was a lot too.
"20,000!"
If Salon gained 20,000 experience, he would surely level up.
Normally, that would take him two or three days of hunting, but that huge amount of experience could be obtained in just an instant.
He had never seen a quest that offered so many rewards for the amount of effort required to complete it.
Salon was soon blinded by greed.
