“A narrative quest…” Arthur muttered, wondering what kind of quest a narrative quest was. Though, before he asked Sisa that question, he instead asked something else related to the quests that he did not think about at first.

“Now that I think about it, how many quests can I have at once, Sisa?” he asked.

“At your current state, you can only have 3 quests active at once,” Sisa replied. “However, once you grow bigger, that number increases, eventually becoming technically infinite.”

“As for the narrative quest…” Arthur said soon after.

“Ah, that? Well, that’s another type of quest that the system gives you,” Sisa explained. “Unlike the system quest, which only appears once you reach a certain point in your progression with the system, the narrative quest is more reliant on what’s happening around you. Because of that, it’s more sporadic to obtain a narrative quest compared to a system quest.”

“Of course, due to it being sporadic, you could say that it’s more ‘free’ than a system quest,” she added, to which Arthur could not help but focus on. “What do you mean by… free?”

Just as he asked that question, Arthur thought that it would be better for him to find the answer to that question himself, prompting him to open up the screen containing the quest’s details. Fortunately, after reading through it once, he quickly understood what Sisa meant by free.

Ding!

[Narrative Quest: The Fate Between Two Clans]

The user has received information that the first two people that recognized their presence were actually the young master of the Xu clan and the esteemed young daughter of the Huang clan. Due to various circumstances, they have decided to flee their respective clans and live out their own lives, becoming incredibly content with it.

However, even though they had left their respective clans, that did not mean the clans considered their departure as something beneficial. Instead, they took it as something negative as multiple plans that involved the prosperity of their clans were basically foiled as the two were the main focus of those plans. With that, a conspiracy is being forged wherein the goal is to separate the two of them, allowing each clan to continue with their various plans and achieve the prosperity they sought out for in the first place.

As a third party who has unintentionally stumbled upon this, you now have the choice of helping out the couple, whose goals are just to live out their lives without being shackled by their respective clans, or helping out the clans, whose goals are to achieve a new era of prosperity with the couple being sacrifices.

Of course, as both sides do not know of your existence, the user could also opt out from involving themselves in the matter.

Choices: Help Xu Zhoujian and Huang Qingqin achieve their lifelong goal of living out their lives in peace. Help the Xu clan and Huang clan in separating the two, allowing them to achieve a golden age for their clans. Opt out from being involved. Think as if nothing had happened in the first place.

Looking at the three choices laid out in front of him, Arthur could not help but become silent, wondering as to which choice would be the best course of action for the current him. During that, he could not help but let out a sigh and say, “Although narrative quests are more free in the sense that I could choose where I want the quest to go, I’d rather get system quests than these ones.”

“Should I choose the first one?” he muttered to himself. “From what I’ve seen from them so far, they really just want to live their lives out in peace. They don’t want to be embroiled in the matters of their clan at all.”

“However, I don’t really want to meddle in their matters. If anything, it’s a pain in the ass to be involved in something like this. In fact, I didn’t even know an inanimate object could intervene in such matters.”

“Ahh… to hell with it. I’ll just choose later,” he eventually said, closing the quest screen for now as he was at a crossroads. With that, he focused his attention back on the five through his [Spirit Sense], noticing that the couple now had solemn yet slightly melancholic expressions on their faces.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Do we really have no choice but to be embroiled in these matters?” Jian could not help but ask the others, letting out a long sigh once he was done.

“Unfortunately, no,” said Xu Zhoucheng, letting out a sigh as well. “It’s as if the clan has become united for once in their decisions, wanting you to come back to the clan and continue the marriage arranged for you.”

“Is there really no way for me to escape this, Third Uncle?” Qin asked her Third Uncle, tears already brimming around her eyes at this point. “Why is she so adamant in having me wed to a person I don’t even know? I know it’s for the sake of making the clan prosper, but is prosperity of greater importance to her than the happiness of her daughter?”

“Ai. Even I don’t know what’s going on in the mind of your mother sometimes,” Huang Yongzhen said with a shake of his head. “If possible, I want to obtain the answer from your mother’s mouth myself, but she has secluded herself ever since you left, only talking with the elders and a few of the attendants.”

“Of course, I’ve tried obtaining information from the attendants, but for some reason, they actively avoid me,” he added. “In fact, not just me, but all of your other uncles as well.”

“I really wonder if there’s a way to solve all of this…” Jian could not help but mutter, becoming silent for a bit as his gaze gained a hint of hope in them sometime later. Looking at Huang Yongzhen, he asked, “Sir Huang, now that I think about it, why is Qin’s mother still unsuccessful in obtaining the authority of the clan leader?”

“Well, it’s the fact that the clan leader is still alive, of course,” Huang Yongzhen replied, unsure as to why Jian asked him this question. “Although the clan leader is in a coma, the clan does not have any rules that state that their authority could be passed onto another…”

Just as Yongzhen was about to finish his statement, everything finally clicked in his mind, prompting him to let out a bit of laughter as he said, “It seems you’ve found a way to end this problem.”

“As expected of the one that has more brains between the two of us.” Xu Zhoucheng nodded in agreement. “Never once have I thought that one person would be enough for this problem to be solved.”

Wiping off the tears that still brimmed her eyes, Qin looked at everyone in confusion, asking, “Am I the only one that’s still clueless here? How does Father’s coma have anything to do with all of this?”

“Here’s the thing, Qin.” All of a sudden, Lady Guang stood up and moved closer to Qin. With a solemn expression, she told her, “Your father’s coma is possibly the main reason why everything is like this.”

“Eh?” Surprisingly, Qin still did not understand.

“Qin’er, let me ask you this,” Huang Yongzhen said to her, seeing as she still did not realize what they were talking about. “What cultivation realm is your eldest brother… I mean your father at?”

“The Stellar Fusion Realm…” Qin replied with a hint of hesitation. “What does his cultivation realm have to do with this?”

“Sir Xu. What cultivation does the strongest member of your clan have?” Yongzhen continued, looking at Xu Zhoucheng as he asked.

“Sadly, that would be the Stellar Core Realm,” replied Xu Zhoucheng, feeling no shame in saying that at all.

“Basically the difference of a realm,” Huang Yongzhen said after Xu Zhoucheng replied. “Let’s move the part of this problem wherein the two of you are involved. Now that the strongest member of the Huang clan is in a coma, with the whole clan being in a vulnerable state because of it, what do you think will happen next, Qin?”

“The other clans will take advantage of this and… ah!” Qin said, only to finally realize what the others were trying to say all this time. “So, what we really need to do is wake Father up!”

Then again, even though she realized this, she could not help but cry for a bit as she said, “But… but… I’m not that proficient in alchemy yet…”

“Don’t limit your choices, Qin,” Lady Guang said in response to her words. Focusing on a certain mound beyond the window, she continued, “There’s another way we could make your father wake up without relying on your alchemy.”

“We just have to buy the medicine he needs to wake up.”

“Lady Guang, we’ve already considered that possibility in the first place. However, where are we going to get the funds for that?” Jian asked, only to become silent as he noticed her line of gaze.

With a chuckle, she then pointed at the mound of gray dust situated slightly far away from the couple’s house.

…

“Alright, I’ve decided what I’m going to choose,” Arthur said with a hint of determination as he had gained more information regarding the matter from their conversation. Opening up the quest screen once again, he looked at his choices once more before finally selecting one of them.

Ding!

You have chosen ‘Opt out from being involved. Think as if nothing had happened in the first place.’ Is this your final decision?

With a light sigh, he then muttered to himself, “Although I’ve gained a bit more sympathy towards you two from the conversation you guys had, I don’t really want to be involved in matters like that.”

“So…”

“Yeah, I’ll pass.”

Ding!

You have selected the third choice.

The details of the narrative quest shall now be changed, giving the user the tasks they need to fulfill.

“Now that I think about it, I still don’t know what rewards I’m going to get once I finish this quest… if it’s possible to finish the quest anyway,” he said, only for the updated quest screen to appear in front of him soon after.

Taking a quick read through the updated contents of the quest, Arthur could not help but quickly regret his choice as he said to himself, “Well shit.”

“I knew the system would fuck me over somehow.”