November 13, third day after the second beta started.
Drama Thirteen got up early, eager to maximize her ti in the ga.
The day before, she had accepted a quest from the zombie NPC, Hugh Potter, but could only complete a couple of minor steps before having to log out for work. And in the evening, she was forced to work overti and unable to attend to matters in the ga.
Determined to complete this enviable hidden quest, she bartered a week's worth of milk tea to a colleague in exchange for covering her shift, taking the day off to focus solely on the ga.
Upon logging in at the spawn point in Exile Town, Drama Thirteen found that the friends who had agreed to join her on this quest were already waiting nearby.
"Thirteen, over here!" A player with the ID July Snow waved excitedly upon spotting Drama Thirteen.
"Sorry, my alarm was set late. Have you guys been waiting long?" Drama Thirteen hurried down the platform to join her companions.
"Not too long. We just logged in too," another female player with the ID August lon responded cheerfully. "My husband couldn't make it, but we've got a pro to help us. Look who's here!"
Qin Guan, standing behind the two "Month" players, flashed a big, toothy grin.
"Vanilla waifu I an, Boss!" Drama Thirteen, recognizing Qin Guan, approached excitedly for a handshake. "You're joining us for the quest? That's great!"
"Hello, hello," Qin Guan replied with a hint of pride. "But don't call waifu, I'm still pure as snow."
Drama Thirteen, also a player of the World of Warcraft Classic, knew July Snow and August lon from the ga, though she had never t Qin Guan, as he had already moved on to "OtherWorld" when she started playing with them.
After forming a team, Drama Thirteen apologized to the Month sisters and Qin Guan, "Unfortunately, I can't share it, but the brief says it's a worldview breakthrough quest. If completed, it benefits all players."
"No problem, just tell us about the quest's storyline," Qin Guan advised. "Start from when you triggered it, and don't miss any details. Quests in this ga are often crucially detailed."
"Mm, right." Drama Thirteen opened her quest log and began, "The quest is called [Fire of the Night]. When I triggered it, I was just walking along, and the zombie NPC, Hugh Potter, suddenly stopped , saying, 'Seeing you reminds of soone, a person nad ri Bowen.'
"Hugh Potter ntioned that he's been confused for many years, forgetting many people and things. His mories of ri are more obscure than those of the border guards. He says he vaguely rembers sothing crucial related to ri and must find her.
"The first step was to find another zombie NPC, Bierda. After completing an errand quest for Bierda, she said that she rembered ri Bowen and felt the na was connected to sothing significant but couldn't recall more.
"Then, Bierda directed to her forr residence north of the town for the next part of the quest."
"Bierda, the NPC by the river, right?" Qin Guan asked.
"Yes, yes." Drama Thirteen nodded. "The sa NPC from the [Letters to Ho] quest triggered by your friend, Give dicine, who spread the infection to that quest's main character, Morris."
Qin Guan, who had been deeply involved in that quest then, stroked his chin and analyzed, "From the two plotline quests [Letters to Ho] triggered by Give dicine and [Brave Jean] triggered by Ji Tang, this zombie NPC Hugh Potter wasn't a mber of the Pioneer Corps but part of the border guards that ca later on.
"Bierda was a Pioneer Corp mber and was dead by the ti Hugh Potter's border guards arrived to aid That ans to say, ri Bowen knows these two."
Drama Thirteen nodded once more.
"Both the people of the Pioneer Corp and Border Guards feel that ri is very important, but the na ri Bowen didn't appear in either [Letters to Ho] or [Brave Jean]. In other words, the NPC ri Bowen crucial to the storyline is unrelated to Camore Town or the eldritch infection. It's likely that it's sothing that happened prior to that," Qin Guan muttered.
"Mm, mm." Drama Thirteen nodded vigorously while gazing at Qin Guan in admiration, eagerly awaiting his guidance.
"There's too little information, I can't deduce anything. Let's go find the quest item first." Qin Guan couldn't continue his posing and concluded.
"Um Okay." There was a hint of disappointnt in Drama Thirteen's voice.
"Don't worry, if Vanilla can't figure it out, we can wait for Blossoming Strokes to return," August lon reassured her.
"What do you an I can't figure it out? I'm totally capable! With such scant information, even Blossoming Strokes would be just as clueless!" Qin Guan protested.
The newly constructed brick buildings in Exile Town were concentrated on the east, south, and west sides, leaving the north relatively sparse, with a few scattered old wooden houses beside the neatly arranged residential alleys and the Town Hall's earthen structure.
The quest item could be found by using Identify, so Drama Thirteen and her companions ventured to the wooden house indicated by Bierda. Utilizing the Identify ability both inside and outside the house, they quickly located a "loose pile of soil" beneath a large water tank outside the house.
Digging through the soil, they successfully unearthed a "locked small wooden box."
Unconcerned about how a palm-sized, poorly sealed box could remain undamaged after being buried for decades, the players were focused solely on the outco. They promptly took the box to the zombie NPC, Bierda, by the riverbank.
Programd with preset interactions, Bierda swiftly opened the box and handed over a diary stored inside to Drama Thirteen, who had triggered the quest.
Drama Thirteen flipped through the diary and frowned. "Many pages are damaged, and only a few are legible."
"That's typical," said Qin Guan in the capacity of an experienced gar. "Missing writings save us the trouble of deciphering the text. The ga devs only need to script the key parts. Read out the recognizable text; the crucial information will definitely be there."
"Right," muttered Drama Thirteen.
In the entire diary, only four pages had legible words.
First page:
"General Charlotte's scouts have discovered a valley suitable for developnt. By constructing a wall, we can defend against most beasts and monsters"
"Everyone is delighted. We've been wandering aimlessly in the wilderness for over a month, exhausted."
Second page:
"The lumber machine broke down, but fortunately, everyone's houses are nearly complete"
"The forest outside the valley is too dangerous. In gathering fuel for the winter, we lost several excellent comrades, including my friend Hawke. I am deeply saddened."
Third page:
"I'm tired of working unpaid at Charlotte's sheep ranch, but I dare not show it. Who wouldn't want to be the owner of a new farm? I can't afford to offend him."
"Poor ri, her private complaints about General Charlotte's tyranny must have been reported to him. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been sent out"
Fourth page:
"Charlotte's managent of his sheep ranch is notoriously strict. Despite it being a communal effort, we aren't allowed near it as if he deems us all thieves."
"How can such a man be our leader? It's really unbearable for us."
"It's been close to a month, yet there's still no sign of ri and the others returning. Could so accident have befallen them?"
Once Drama Thirteen finished reading out loud, Qin Guan couldn't help but mockingly remark, "Why does everything revolve around this General Charlotte? Is he so kind of instance boss in the making?"
Seeing the expectant looks of the three female players, Qin Guan cleared his throat and resud his analysis, "The diary spans a significant period. Though it lacks specific dates like Morris's letters, it's evident that it covers more than half a year."
"From the text, compared to Morris who trusts General Charlotte, Bierda probably belongs to a faction that's dissatisfied with Charlotte," said Qin Guan, pointing at zombie NPC Bierda to the side. "This NPC ri Bowen offended Charlotte and was sent out on so more dangerous mission. This should be the main plot of this breakthrough quest."
"Uh" Drama Thirteen glanced at the unresponsive Bierda and asked Qin Guan, "So, Vanilla Boss, what's our next step?"
Qin Guan was still a veteran player and had personally witnessed Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy do breakthrough quests. Thus, he felt confident and proclaid, "The last two pages of the diary repeatedly ntion the sheep ranch without referring to Charlotte as 'General.' We should investigate the site of the ranch for more clues."
"Eh, we are going out of town?" Drama Thirteen exclaid. "What about that old rat? How are we going to get out?"
Qin Guan smirked smugly. "Follow !"
He led the bunch of ladies to the Wanderer Guild work site and hollered, "Seeking four rat lures! Three copper each!"
Several players who were about to log out imdiately raised their hands and volunteered, swiftly settling their current quests with the NPCs and running over to earn so extra money.
Drama Thirteen: ""
So that's how to leave town
The giant rat at the south exit was a major obstacle for players venturing out of town. But as the saying goes, when there's a will, there's a way. Wanderers, taking up the largest proportion of gars, were required to leave town for their job advancent quests and often hired players to lure the rat away.
Over ti, this beca a lucrative side hustle for so.
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