“Heroic Cursed One Brandon, I have heard of your many courageous and amazing exploits on the battlefield.” Duke Gaul complimented the young adventurer.

“Thank you, Lord Gaul. It is surely exaggerated.” Brandon bowed to the disguised traitor of humanity.

Name: Henry Gaul

Level: 100

Race: Mushroom Human

Job: Duke

Health: ???

Magic: ???

Stamina 100/100

Skills: ???

“Ha! A humble hero as well! Good. Good.” Duke Gaul laughed. “Hero Brandon, I have a need for your skills. Lately, there have been rumors of undead popping up around Turda, and I'd like you to investigate for the safety of Turda’s citizens. If you’d like, I can send my men to aid you in this task. They surely aren’t doing any good for me just sitting around here.” He laughed even harder.

Brandon took a quick look at the status of the Duke’s men and noticed that they, too, were a part of the Mushroom Human race. Their levels were impressive as well. They varied between level 50 and level 75. Humanity was really in a tight spot if a man with as much power as Duke Gaul was able to hide in plain sight like this. Duke Gaul was a core component in Humanity’s defense against the Mushroom Kingdom. Was he attempting to weaken Humanity’s strength by sending him on this quest?

“I thank you for the offer, Lord Gaul but I have no experience in commanding an army or operating within one. If I fail to find out the cause of the undead appearing near Turda, I'd surely take you up on your offer and allow your well-trained men to investigate.” Brandon brown-nosed his ass off.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Such great manners with this adventurer! Even while rejecting my good wishes, he’s still so polite about it! Haha!” Duke Gaul smiled. “Very well then. If you manage to succeed, a hefty reward will await you adventurer. You may leave.”

“Thank you for this opportunity. I will not disappoint you, Lord Gaul.” Brandon bowed as he made his way out of the castle.

Brandon felt a little overwhelmed as he observed the statuses of the people in Duke Gaul’s land. This entire place was basically a territory of Mushroom Humans. An entire little offshoot of the Mushroom Kingdom was just hiding in Salona! Things were looking very grim for Humanity. The Mushroom Kingdom basically controlled two-thirds of Salona.

It would be different if Players could openly attack or out Mushroom Humans, but unless they were revealing known mushroom abilities, currently eating one in front of your face, or admitting to eating one. Players could not attack them without being punished. Although, it was free game between players due to the massive war between kingdoms. Players seen attacking NPCs with no proof would be jailed and have their reputation within the town, and their factions lowered, making the game experience harder for that player for some time.

As Brandon traveled to Turda through Astoria’s Forest, he used the chance to kill some monsters and level up on the way there. After stuffing his inventory full of the Mushroom Queen’s mushrooms, he’s basically been playing the game on easy mode. Since he could reject joining her faction as a Player each time he ate a mushroom, he could abuse the temporary power-ups given by the mushrooms! They were temporary for the players if they refused but permanent if they joined the Mushroom Kingdom. NPCs also got a permanent power-up if they ate one of the mushrooms.

It was the top reason why Brandon was one of the top rankers of the game so far despite being a solo player and a healer class. He was the only solo player ranked on the leaderboard. Everyone else was a part of the top guilds. Another reason why he was a top ranker was because he was unemployed! After abusing the Mushroom Queen’s infinite mushroom glitch or whatever, he could farm valuable drops and sell off the ones he didn’t need for cash! Real hard, cold money, moolah! The World of Eternia had an exchange system in place where you could exchange earned virtual currency for real-life money.

Because of this amazing economy-changing feature, Brandon has single-handedly stepped out of the struggling middle class and is now living an upper-class elite life with his family. World of Eternia had over two million players in the world playing on average. A game that was essentially a whole new world that could perfectly stimulate the senses? If not for the fact that it has only been out for barely a month, Brandon could see this game being played by over billions of people in the world. All of those juicy cash cows willing to pay for his rightfully gotten loot, all thanks to the Mushroom Queen granting him those mushrooms.

“Hahaha! The life of the 1%, here I come!” Brandon madly laughed as he easily slaughtered the monsters in his way.