101 Two quests (1/2)
After a long journey across the countryside, Li Wei finally saw the outline of a lake in the distance. It was the Gassian Lake, the home of the Lake fairies. Li Wei came here a few weeks ago. The landscape did not change at all; there were still a few cottages on the lakeshore.
When Li Wei got closer, he noticed new cottages in constructions. There were few carts full of wood planks and other materials. A few workers were busy setting up the new houses.
As he got closer, Li Wei saw a few fishermen in the distance. They were not fishing at their usual spot due to the constructions taking place; the loud noises would scare away the fish. Li Wei recalled how he was scolded several times when he first came here because of the noise.
He left his horse next to the cottages like last time, just outside Andy's garden. He clearly remembered the kind fisherman who taught him the basics of fishing but did not want to intrude his property.
Li Wei then walked up to the fishermen in the rocky area of the lake. As he expected, with their acute sense of hearing, the fishermen soon noticed his arrival. They were about to warn him to quiet down but stopped themselves when they saw him.
Faint smiles appeared on the fishermen's faces. They all recognized him; he was the winner of the last monthly competition. He caught more fish than many of them combined.
Li Wei waved silently and continued on his way. He had already spotted Andy's silhouette on the tallest rock. The latter waved back and told him to sit down and use the fishing rod.
Li Wei smiled back and grabbed the fishing rod. He was a Grade 1 fisherman. His movements were fluid as he threw the line in front of him. His goal in coming to the Gassian Lake was to fulfill his promise to the Lake Fairies but he had no idea how to actually contact them. As a result, he could only show his presence and hope that they would contact him like last time.
The fishermen did not speak; they did not want to disturb the fishes. Lunchtime would soon arrive. It was then that they would properly welcome Li Wei.
The latter saw a few familiar faces but he also noticed new ones. He did not remember all the fishermen but he knew that the last time he came, they were all NPCs. Now, Li Wei could clearly see four players sitting among the fishermen.
After thirty minutes, a bell rang from the cottages. It was the wives calling their husbands back.
”Time to go! Come have lunch with us, Seven. It has been a while,” said Andy as he pulled his fishing rod.
Li Wei smiled back and sent the three salmons he caught into his inventory. He was a bit rusty but his profession was helping him.
”Andy. How are you? I see that the community is growing.”
The fisherman nodded. ”Come, let me present you our new friends.”
Li Wei followed the fisherman and greeted the other NPCs. The players smiled and shook his hands. The four players were all fishermen. They decided that they were tired of playing the game and killing monsters every day. Having accumulated a good amount of gold, they decided to settle in this community; it was precisely their cottages that were being built.
”Hello, Seven. I am Lord Storm and this is my wife, White Feather. We just arrived here a few days ago and immediately fell in love with this place,” said one of the players.
”All the NPCs seem to be familiar with you. It looks like they all take you very seriously. What did you do to these NPCs?” asked another player whose IGN was Milkyway.
Li Wei sat around the campfire for a meal and spoke to the players. ”I came here a few weeks ago and participated in their fishing competition. I won so now, they kind of respect me.”
”Really? How is that possible? We can't even compete with them when they are just fishing casually... Do you have any secrets? We want to improve our fishing skills. In real life, I always dreamed of purchasing a cottage like this and move out of town,” asked Lord Storm.
”Haha, no. It was pure luck! But let me ask you. Why did you not go the capital if you want to improve your profession? I heard this is the best place to do so,” said Li Wei.
”It's true. If you want to train a profession instead of hunting, it is in your interest to move to the capital. Not only is there a constant stream of material but the environment is also very safe. The system will do everything in its power to keep the capitals away from the flames of war. But it is precisely for this reason that we don't want to go there.”
”The capital will be too competitive. Players from several countries will gather there. We are tired from a hectic life where you have to constantly fight for resources. We want to live at our own pace and therefore, chose to move here. It is quieter; very few players come here but according to Andy, there are a few occasional ones that stop here on their way to Abe's forest over there.”
Li Wei nodded at the couple's explanation. He knew the capital would be a very competitive place but it was also a place full of opportunities.
”I see that you are still quite invested in the game. If you are looking for a quest, go speak to Andy. He gave us a quest a few days ago but we were not interested in playing the game anymore,” said White Feather.
'A quest?' Li Wei's eyes lit up. ”Thanks for the info. I'll have a talk with Andy after lunch.”
...
”Hey, Andy. I spoke to Lord Storm and White Feather. The community needs some help to deal with some issues?”
”They told you about it? That's right, there's some trouble at the horizon but nothing too urgent. It is better to deal with it before it gets too big. There is an unknown bandit group that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. If you go upstream the river flowing into the Gassian Lake, you will find their camp. It is a massive one, apparently, there are more than five hundred people in there.”
”For now, they are not attacking anyone. It seems that they are focusing on taking out the monsters in the territory they claimed but there are a few unfortunate merchants who died under their blades. There is a reasonable distance between the bandit camp and us but we never know. It will be safe to get rid of possible complications. We've requested help from the nearby towns but this kind of requests take time. They should take a few weeks to process our application but we don't know what can happen in two weeks.”
'A bandit group?' thought Li Wei. At that moment, he received a system prompt:
[System prompt: You have obtained the quest, ”Bandit Extermination”. Do you want to accept it?]
[Information]
There is a bandit group building up their strength nearby. Get rid of it before it becomes strong enough to threaten the surrounding communities.
Task: Kill at least 400 bandits.
Completion: (0/400)
Rewards: 40000 exp