Well, there wasn't much she could do. Sure, she could sulk, kick walls and stuff but that wasn't going to do much. Mei decided to open the Rusty Weapon Crate in her inventory to get her starter weapon.
Select a suitable weapon for your class.
Shortsword Sword Greatsword
Mei decided to pick a sword, the most balanced choice. Shortswords were a little too short for her tastes and greatsword would take too long to swing.
'Sword!'
A sword covered in rust materialised in her hands.
You have received a Rusty Sword
Rusty Old Sword
LVL: 1
Grade: Trash
+10 DMG
20/100 DUR
Weapon Skill
Rust
1% chance to inflict tetanus onto your target.
Description
An old sword worn away by time. It originates from a trash pile of unknown origins.
A weapon from a trash pile... Definitely one of the worst starting weapons Mei had ever seen. Even the handle was not spared from the rust. What if she herself got the tetanus debuff mid-battle? That would be a huge joke! Mei considered going back into the store to buy a better sword... NO! She definitely wasn't going to increase her debt further.
If only she had toilet paper to wrap around the handle, an old trick she used for holding dirty objects... There didn't seem to be toilet paper available though.
Wait, didn't she have rags? She could cut a small piece out with the sword to wrap around the handle! Mei took her rags back out from her inventory and cut a vaguely square shaped part off. She then cut long strips from the rags to make makeshift ropes and secured the cloth to the handle. And voila! A tetanus safe sword.
"Huah! Ha! Ha! Ha!" she swung her blade randomly a few times while making random sounds.
A few people had stopped to look at the strange sight. A well-dressed girl cutting rags to make a rusty blade tetanus-safe then swinging it while making weird noises was definitely something to raise an eyebrow at. Mei looked away, embarrassed. She hoped she wasn't blushing. The passersby were probably NPCs, but she still didn't like people to think of her as a weirdo.
Trying not to look at the people around her, she opened her map and headed to the portal. Despite the woman tricking her, Mei didn't think Alice would lie about a great spot to earn gold. It was mutually beneficial for them both if she managed to repay the debt in a short time. There was also the fact that the forest was muddy everywhere after the rain, so Mei hoped that the Graylands wouldn't be muddy. She would hate to dirty her new outfit.
Town Portal
Where would you like to go?
It asked a question instead of displaying a list? Mei was a little surprised. She wasn't sure if it was sentient but decided to be polite anyway.
'The Greylands, please!'
Town Portal
The trip to the Greylands from here is free, but you'll need 1000G to return. Teleport anyway?
A thousand gold? Mei smiled in a slightly deprecative manner. What was that compared to her debt?
'That's fine.'
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Her vision faded into pure darkness much like when she first teleported from the character selection room into the forest. Exactly like that in fact. Then came the vague sensation of falling through the air before landing on solid ground. Yup, this was definitely the sensation of teleporting in Limitless, concluded Mei.
She landed on a huge octogonal pad of sorts with a spell circle on it. Mei looked around and saw that she was in a plaza paved neatly with grey bricks. A town of sorts? Night had come, but the area was well lit by streetlights. There were dozens of people, maybe even hundreds milling around. She could hear the muffled sound that was made when many people talked at once permeated through the air.
Mei summoned her map and walked towards the gates of the Greyland Town where the QuestStone was located. It was a perfectly round orb of stone on a pedestal covered in dust and grime. On the pedestal, a small golden label said 'Touch to activate'. She touched it.
QuestStone
Available Quests for Lv1s.
Sort by: Newest
[Polish The QuestStone]
(Lv1-100)
Quest By Relative Difficulty Quest Progress Maximum Questers QuestStone F 0% 1
Requestor's Note
No one has cleaned me in 5 days. Seriously, this is such an easy quest! What's wrong with you people?
Rewards: 500G
[Collect 100 Cyan Grass Stalks]
(Lv1-100)
Quest By Relative Difficulty Quest Progress Maximum Questers Tofa Elop A 37/100 ∞
Rewards: 1000G per stalk
[Collect 10,000,000 Grey Crawler Shell]
(Lv1-100)
Quest By Relative Difficulty Quest Progress Maximum Questers Alchema Toil B 24.67% ∞
Requestor's Note
The shell of the Grey Crawler is an important ingredient in many potions. Playing your part in this quest will not only help you fill your pockets but also ensure that Potion Shops will always have stock.
Reward: 100G per shell
[Collect ∞ Kg/Pounds of Any Meat]
(Lv1-100)
Quest By Relative Difficulty Quest Progress Maximum Questers ? ? - ∞
Requestor's Note
I want you, yes, YOU to collect meat for me! Any meat will do. Any part that is made of flesh is considered meat, be it a heart, lung, piece muscle, ANYTHING! Soft and squishy's the stuff.
(Cooked meat is unacceptable.)
Reward: The QuestStone will determine the value of the meat before payment.
The rewards were so low? Mei was shocked. How long would it take for her to save up to pay her debt at this rate?
4 Quests accepted!
The first of them was to the clean the QuestStone. Mei nearly snorted in laughter when she first read it. Why did no one take it up? Maybe it was because the rewards weren't worth it with the better quests around at higher levels? Mei took that as a good sign.
She took out her rags from her inventory and began to scrub it all over the pedestal. They were still slightly damp from the shower, which worked out well for her. Soon, the dust and some of the dirt was wiped off the QuestStone. She waited for a few seconds for the sweet ding of the quest notification to pop up.
....
No?
'Quest progress!'
Quests (4)
Polish The QuestStone (25%)
Collect 100 Cyan Grass Stalks
Collect Grey Crawler Shell
Collect Any Meat
So little progress? Mei was appalled. No way that's 25%, right? It was already shiny enough to see her reflection in! She continued to scrub the orb vigorously for a few more minutes but nope, it stayed at 25%. Dammit! She could practically see her appearance already! What more did the QuestStone want? Mei put her hands to her knees and panted, a few droplets of her sweat hitting the ground.
*ding!*
Mei perked up in excitement. Finally the system had registed the quest-
Congratulations! Through vigorous exercise, your STR has increased by 1!
Base STR 100 -> 101
Total STR -> 171
Mei was speechless.