Player Menu.
[ Menu - Player ]
Name: Hue Nightworth
Level: 1 / 99
Health: 100
Status: Strength: 1 (1) ⧫ Defense: 1 (1) ⧫ Stamina: 1 (1) ⧫ Agility: 1 (1) ⧫ Magic: 1 (1)
Skill: ??? ( ??? ) - Passive Skill - ???
Equipment: None
Coins: 0 Copper
Messages:
1. Receive: Random Skill? (Y/N).
Quests: First Quest. Collect stick (x1) and stone (x2) and talk to the blacksmith. 3 / 3.
Let’s see if I can actually complete the first quest as a Player… I’ve collected the materials, a stick and two pieces of stone from the nearby forest… Now I only need to talk to him…
Hue was heading towards the blacksmith, a dark skinned NPC, around the age of fifty. Contrary to his relationship with Anna, the blacksmith hated Hue’s guts for winning a poker game on a late game night, in which he had cheated, only being noticed by the blacksmith. Luckily for him, his appearance was now very different, unrecognizable by the ones who’d once known him by the name Hue Nightworth.
Cling.
Cling.
Sounds of metal hitting metal came from a medieval hut like building, its walls painted by numerous pieces of metallurgical art. Objects ranging from the classic medieval armor piece, flaunting an impressive silver coloring, with a reflection so perfect it could make mirrors envious, all the way up to swords so sharp, if one were to gently touch the blade it would sink deeper and deeper until the hand would miss a finger. Wands, bows, magical robes and more were hung on the walls. If the library was a sea of knowledge for the Players, this was a sky of treasures.
Now that I think about it, I’ve never been to his place before. We’d only occasionally meet each other while performing various quests around the city, but after that poker game, the ****er almost sliced my head clean with his axe while I was performing a quest. He can’t technically kill me since we’re both NPCs, but still! Scary ass mother ****er. Thank god, he can’t tell who I am right now…
“Hi, is this the blacksmith? I have a quest to complete.”
“Yeh. Which quest?” said the man after stopping the continuous motion of his hammer coming in contact with the molten iron. He was getting up to face Hue.
Hue’s body was overcome with darkness, as not even his sudden height boost could come close to the god-like stature of the man.
“I… I…”
“Speak already or get lost!” shouted the man, spit transferring to Hue’s face. It seemed as if his programmed speech was very similar, if not the same, as his actual personality, as Hue was unable to hear a correction made by the System. Since he’d become a Player, he could hear both the NPC’s true lines of dialogue, which are inaccessible by other Players, and the autocorrected speech, coming in shortly after.
Even though I know he can’t tell I’m Hue… I’m almost pissing my pants over here!
“I think… I think it’s the first quest. I was told to collect a stick and two stones and come to-”
“Yeh, yeh. I know it.” said the man with an exasperated voice as if he’d heard the same over a thousand times that day.
⇿ Give to blacksmith: Stick (x1), Stone (x2)? (Y/N)
This is it… my first quest as a Player…
Yes.
⧪ Quest Rewards: 5 copper. Accept? (Y/N)
“It worked!!” shouted Hue, with the spit transferring game now being tied.
“Hey! Watch how you talk! Yeh wanna get yeh head hammered in, after spitting on me?”
“N-N-No… Sorry, sir.”
⇿ Receive: Common Sword? (Y/N)
“Take that as part of the quest reward and **** off, pretty boy. Before I change my mind and make the first sword scabbard from Player skin!” replied the tall man, with his right hand extending towards Hue, holding a sword, half of Hue’s height, with rust spots on it, and the other firmly grasping his metal bending hammer, as if prepared to act on his promise made to Hue.
Yes.
Yes.
Quickly accepting both rewards, Hue dashed out of the hut, almost hitting his head on the way out.
The hell? How does he even fit through the door? Must be why he always seems to be pissed off… Scratch that thought… There’s something more important right now…
Player Menu.
[ Menu - Player ]
Name: Hue Nightworth
Level: 1 / 99
Health: 100
Status: Strength: 1 (2) ⧫ Defense: 1 (1) ⧫ Stamina: 1 (1) ⧫ Agility: 1 (1) ⧫ Magic: 1 (1)
Skill: ??? ( ??? ) - Passive Skill - ???
Equipment: Common Sword ⧫ +1 Strength
Coins: 5 Copper
Messages:
1. Receive: Random Skill? (Y/N).
Quests: Slime Destroyer. Kill slimes (x500). 0 / 500
So that’s how it is… Even though I have the common sword equipped, the only thing visible is my wand… Does this mean only the items I have as an NPC can be seen? Or, maybe, I’m completely stuck with the wand being the only thing other people can see? Or- Nah, it’s pointless to theorize. I need to gather more items to find what’s up with that… And the only way to do that would be more quests, I guess…
“Wait! I can’t do the NPC quest since the fisherman is gone… The voice said they replaced the librarian, but nothing about the fisherman?! Will I be stuck with that quest forever?!?!”
!!! That’s it! I’ve seen Players buy certain items with copper, one of which is squid ink, from the All Purpose Shop in the middle of the city. Maybe if I buy it from there, it’s gonna complete my quests? Maybe… The only problem…
“It’s ****ing expensive! I’ve checked it out once out of curiosity and if I remember correctly, it was 100 copper for a pound. That means I need 195 more copper… Shit!”
✤✤✤
“A-YA-KA!” said a woman in her early twenties, with a tone of irritation in her voice. Her hair was styled in a bob cut, barely missing the shoulders, with a natural black color, complemented by the black square glasses she wore with a slight tilt to her left. The outfit was very modest, with a black T-shirt covering her torso. Below her waist, she wore plain beige pants coming down all the way up to her shoes, which looked to be some basic office heels.
“Hmm? What is it, Yuriko?” responded her friend, having a completely opposite look. Similar to Yuriko, she wore heeled shoes, however, instead of the dull office shoes, hers were of a warm pink color, with a bright red rose on the front. Her ankles were covered in white stockings up to her mid-thigh section, where her tight stockings created a tiny peak of pudge at the end of the material, after which the thighs would continue clothless. From her waist down she wore a short navy skirt starting just below her belly button. Ayaka’s stomach was toned but not too muscular, being left in the open by her shirt, so small it could be mistaken for a bra. Her shirt not only revealed her hourglass shaped waist, but also a third of her plump breasts. Her hair mimicked the attire she wore, almost the entirety of it stealing its look from the colors of a mysterious moon night, with blue highlights, comparable to the clear sky at midday.
“We agreed that we were going after the Slime Boss this evening, yet you’re out here looking at and smelling flowers!”
“We did? Hehe.” said Ayaka, smiling like a child caught doing something mischievous.
“Tsk.”
Yuriko grabbed her hand and, although smaller in stature, pulled her up from the squat position she was comfortably sitting in, and proceeded to drag her towards the outskirts of the city, in a fashion similar to a master and a dog, going for a walk.
“Yuuuurikooooo. Slooower, pweeease! My fweeeet!” cried Ayaka in a childish manner.
“Hurry up! We don’t want someone else to get there before us.”
“Uff… you’re always so serious! It’s just a game, let’s have some fuuuun!” she replied after freeing herself of Yuriko’s grip and grabbing a hold of her tiny but proportionate sized breasts.
“Uhh… Aya-Ayaka! St-Sto-Stop! This isn’t the time to fool around!” she said, her face now bright red from embarrassment.
“How’s that for fun? I have something even better, hehe.”
Ayaka came in closer from Yuriko’s behind in an embracing manner and closed in on her right ear.
“I know all of your sensitive spots. For example…” she whispered slowly while releasing her right hand from Yuriko’s breast and sensually descending her hand lower and lower, first reaching her ribs, then her hip, and eventually in-between her legs…
“Ahhh- Ayaka- Ahh- It feels so- Ahhhh- good. Ahhh-”.
Steam seemed to come off of both of them, as they were embracing each other.
Yuriko, who started losing the battle against lust, seemed to have somehow regained the upper hand and turned to face Ayaka. Her purple eyes now had an playful evil aura to them while eyeing her friend. She raised her hands towards Ayaka and made suggestive moves with her fingers, getting closer to Ayaka by the second.
“A… YA… KA…”
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
✤✤✤
Outside the city of Yrego, on the side opposite to that where the forest was located, golden plains spanned the entirety of Hue’s vision, only limited by three adjacent mountains, so colossal in their height, their snowy peaks were separated by pinkish clouds. Hue’s movements could be called anything but normal. With his hand tightly grasping the cherry wood wand, he would thrust it towards a green blob, with the motion a knight might perform while aiming for their enemies’ vital spots.
Damn, their quests are harder than I thought. They have my respect, for sure.
Player Menu.
[ Menu - Player ]
Name: Hue Nightworth
Level: 1 / 99
Health: 100
Status: Strength: 1 (2) ⧫ Defense: 1 (1) ⧫ Stamina: 1 (1) ⧫ Agility: 1 (1) ⧫ Magic: 1 (1)
Skill: ??? ( ??? ) - Passive Skill - ???
Equipment: Common Sword ⧫ +1 Strength
Coins: 5 Copper
Messages:
1. Receive: Random Skill? (Y/N).
Quests: Slime Destroyer. Kill slimes (x500). 137 / 500
Even though he had gotten up early that day, all for the purpose of finishing the quest, he had only slain 137 slimes. This was even more discouraging, considering his status points were boosted way beyond a normal level 1 Player, as he was also a level 3 NPC, his status points accumulating.
Ahh… You’d think these things are easy as heck to kill by looking at one. But one thrust with my `wand` (which is also a sword, somehow) and that whole idea is just that, an idea. I need several slashes at their vital points, which I was only able to discover after countless trial and error. It’s a good thing they seem pretty weak at attacking… or I’m too good at defense?
Slash. Thrust.
✤✤✤
As Hue was trying to defeat a red colored slime, he failed to realize what was happening behind him, about 200 meters away.
It started with two of them, then three, five, ten… too many to count. Slimes of various shapes and sizes started approaching each other. Once the immediate two slimes made contact, their shapes started shifting, merging with each other.
Soon enough, the two slimes were now a much taller and wider piece of blob.
The rest, as if marching towards their life goal, started imitating.
Oh for ****s sake. Why won’t you die already!
The slime in front of Hue stopped resisting, as if hypnotized. It dashed around him, dodging his attacks, only to be met with the same fate his companions had. Being absorbed by the, now shadowing Hue, rainbow colored slime.
Huh?! Where’s it goin- OH MOTHER OF ALL GODLY ****S. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!
⧪ Boss: Slime King - Level 7
His eyes suddenly opened to a range never explored by his face before, with his mouth following.
What the actual slimy shit is that?! AHH!
Thump.
Hue was almost flattened to match the plain scenery, only his quick reaction to the enemies’ enormous hand shaped attack saving him.
“Shaaait! That was waaaay too freaking close.” said Hue while preparing to dodge another attack.
Can I even beat this thing? Or should I run? Can I even outrun it?... Sure, it’s big, but it seems to have quite the agility and pack a healthy punch… I guess there’s only one option…
“Slash and pray… ” said Hue, sending the slime a half smile, neither confident nor scared.
Hue started sprinting, dodging its heavy hammer-like punches. Once in range, he started using his, now ingrained, slime killing techniques.
“I bet you’re just like the normal ones… you just need some exercise, fatso!” yelled Hue while thrusting his wand deep inside it, swiftly moving it up and down, left and right, mimicking the cut of a sword.
⧪ Damage taken: 15
“Huh?!”
The smile on Hue’s face quickly dissipated, his face now stunned and colorless.
⧪ Damage taken: 15
“HUUH?! Shit. Crap. Shit Shit Shit! This one’s doing damage!” said Hue in a panic, while flexing his whole body in an attempt to pull his arm out of the gooey enemy.
****!!! It’s not coming out!
Hmph. Hmph.
No matter how much I try…
⧪ Damage taken: 15
In fact, it’s even pulling me closer!!
Thump.
⧪ Damage taken: 50
While trying to liberate himself, the slime launched another attack from an angle, narrowly missing Hue’s body, as he used his stuck arm to propel himself upwards, only his shoulder being the sole victim of the blunt force.
His stunt caused him greatly, as he was now even deeper inside, more than half his body covered in ooze.
⧪ Damage taken: 15
Shit… I’ve already lost 110 hp… If I were a normal Player, I would’ve been a goner by now… I might still be, if I don’t act quick… What can I do… My wand seems to be almost useless right now… I don’t have any other weapons either…
⧪ Damage taken: 15
“!!!”
Hue’s face came back to his original smile. He had a plan.
I forgot about it! I was so busy trying to understand what had happened to me these past few days that I completely forgot to use it!
Player Menu.
⧪ Damage taken: 15
[ Menu - Player ]
Name: Hue Nightworth
Level: 1 / 99
Health: 100
Status: Strength: 1 (2) ⧫ Defense: 1 (1) ⧫ Stamina: 1 (1) ⧫ Agility: 1 (1) ⧫ Magic: 1 (1)
Skill: ??? ( ??? ) - Passive Skill - ???
Equipment: Common Sword ⧫ +1 Strength
Coins: 5 Copper
Messages:
1. Receive: Random Skill? (Y/N).
Quests: Slime Destroyer. Kill slimes (x500). 138 / 500
The gift from that voice… Shit, my body’s already fully inside. If this doesn’t work, then I’m really dead now! Please, weird voice, please give me something I can use against this thing!
Read message 1.
⇿ Receive: Random Skill? (Y/N)
⧪ Damage taken: 15
Yes.
⧪ Skill Acquired: Money Maker ( B ) - Passive Skill - Get 25 copper each day.
..... HUUUUUUUUUuhhh?!?!?!...
⧪ Damage taken: 15
Wait.Wait.Wait. Is this some kind of joke?! My luck can’t be this bad. No way. I just recently died and became a Player. For what reason? Only to get butt ****ed by that voice and die again? For real this time?!
⧪ Damage taken: 15
One more and I’m-
Swoosh.
A lightning fast arrow dashed through the insides of the slimy monster, ripples being formed behind it, missing Hue by an inch of hair.
What the?
⧪ Boss: Slime King - Defeated
⧪ You have leveled up.
✤✤✤
⧪ Calculating rewards for partial defeat…
⧪ Inflicted damage 25%
⧪ Coin drop - 200 copper x 25% = 50 copper
⧪ Chest (D Rank) - No Ownership. Must inflict above 50% damage to receive ownership.
⧪ Boss Convergence - 500 x 25% = 125 slimes defeated.
What… just happened?
“You over there! Are you okay?!” said a woman while delivering heavy blows to a confused Hue.
“Stop slapping him, Ayaka! He’s conscious! He didn’t even faint to begin with. You’re just hitting him for no reason!”
“I… am? Hehe.” she said with an innocent but cheeky look on her face.
“He– he?”
“Hehe.”
“Hehe?” asked Hue once again, being stumped by the scenario playing in front of him.
“Hehe!”
“Enough, Ayaka! We’re sorry for the trouble caused.” said Yuriko while bowing to Hue, forcing Ayaka to do the same.
“No… I should be thanking you… You’re the ones who saved me right? Thank you… “ replied Hue in a sincere tone while grasping the shorter girl’s hands.
“I– It’s– It’s– It’s fine!!” she said, flustered by Hue’s action.
“Hmm? Is something wrong?”
“Indeed, Yuriko. Might there be something wrong? A fever perhaps?” asked Ayaka in an uncharacteristically formal way, with a large and cheeky smile on her face.
“Shut up.” she responded under her breath, her cheeks now returning to her normal skin tone.
Hue suddenly changed from a thankful expression to a stoic, thoughtful one and stared intensely at the girls.
“.....”
“Uh… mister… What are you doing?” asked Ayaka, now slightly creeped out.
I shouldn’t reveal I’m an NPC to other Players… I don’t know enough to be sure it’s safe for other Players to know of my true identity… I think I’ll go with this…
“Hey, so… After you killed the boss, I heard the voice a lot of times… What’s that about?”
“Oh! You must be a new Player. What were you thinking, fighting a boss at your level?!” asked Yuriko, slightly judgemental.
“Well… I didn’t really try to fight it… It was more like he caught me… “
“Oh, dummy! You didn’t read the Boss Panel in the city?”
“Boss… Panel?” asked Hue slightly tilting his head to show his lack of knowledge.
“Yeah! It’s a big floating screen where you can see the time left for Bosses to respawn. Pretty stupid from you if you ask me. ” she said while lifting her chest proudly, for some reason. Her inner self was the complete opposite. She was slouched over and her facial expression could be described by a single word: gloomy.
I did the same thing when I first joined Etheria though… The only reason I didn’t die was because Yuriko saved me…
“I see… I’ll be sure to look at those before attempting new quests. Thanks!”
“About the voice… I was the one who shot it and dealt 75% of the damage, whereas you did 25%. This means the rewards are split between the two of us. I will get 75% of the coins and you will get 25%. The boss kill is also proportional to normal monster kills, for example, this one accounts for 500 normal ones. Similarly, because you managed to damage it for 25%, you get 25% of the 500 kills. As for the chest… every boss drops one after being killed, but only the Player who inflicted more than 50% of the damage will receive it, that being me..” she gave a lengthy explanation to Hue, who was listening attentively.
She’s quite the studious type… And the other… well… let’s just say she’s not.
Player Menu.
[ Menu - Player ]
Name: Hue Nightworth
Level: 2 / 99
Health: 100
Status: Strength: 1 (2) ⧫ Defense: 1 (1) ⧫ Stamina: 1 (1) ⧫ Agility: 1 (1) ⧫ Magic: 1 (1) ⧪ +3 Pts
Skill: ??? ( ??? ) - Passive Skill - ???
Money Maker ( B ) - Passive Skill - Get 25 copper each day.
Equipment: Common Sword ⧫ +1 Strength
Coins: 55 Copper
Messages: None.
Quests: Slime Destroyer. Kill slimes (x500). 263 / 500
She seems to be right. Oh, I almost forgot! The voice also said I leveled up! When I was only an NPC I reached level 3, each level giving me 3 status points, by completing quests, but that was the only possibility for an NPC to level up… It seems, as a Player, I can level up by doing both quests and defeating monsters… And I almost died because of my lack of strength so…
“Mister…”
Upgrade Strength.
Upgrade Strength.
Upgrade Strength.
That’s how it was… right?
[ Menu - Player ]
Name: Hue Nightworth
Level: 2 / 99
Health: 100
Status: Strength: 4 (5) ⧫ Defense: 1 (1) ⧫ Stamina: 1 (1) ⧫ Agility: 1 (1) ⧫ Magic: 1 (1)
Skill: ??? ( ??? ) - Passive Skill - ???
Money Maker ( B ) - Passive Skill - Get 25 copper each day.
Equipment: Common Sword ⧫ +1 Strength
Coins: 55 Copper
Messages: None.
Quests: Slime Destroyer. Kill slimes (x500). 263 / 500
Right.
“Ahhh!”
“Heeeeeey! Is anyone thereeee?” asked Ayaka while knocking on Hue’s head.
“Hey, stop it! It hurts!!”
“By the way, do you have a name, guy who likes to drift into his own thoughts?”
“Yeah, I’m Hue-”
Shit. Almost blew my cover. Most NPCs know me, the librarian, by name. But now, I seem to have been replaced by another me… So it would be suspicious if I had the same name… Hmm… Hue… Nightworth… Hue…
“Hugh Worthue!” exclaimed Hue to the girls.
“Hugh… Worthue? Are you from England, perhaps?” asked the shorter girl.
England… ?
“Uh… No… I’m from… Doesn’t matter. What about you? What’s your name? And your weird friend’s name?”
“HUUH?! Who are you calling weird, you weirdo?!” said an annoyed Ayaka, this time punching his torso.
“I’m Arata Yuriko, and she’s Ogasawara Ayaka.” replied Yuriko, disregarding Hue’s comment.
“Nice to meet you… “
“The pleasure is mine.”
“Hmph.” pouted Ayaka after shifting her head to the side.
“So, Hugh… What do you plan on doing now?”
“That’s a good question… “