Chapter 3

This was probably the 7th raven this week and Cruel knew exactly what was in there. Regardless, he tore the packet apart just to see whether there were any changes to it.

To whom this may concern:

The amount of 3 million gold has recently been overdue for remittance. As such, we would appreciate it if you would make the necessary arrangements and transfer the funds owed no later than July 22nd, 2199.

If there was an error on our part, and a deposit has already been arranged, then please disregard this letter. Otherwise, penalties as per contract would be applied.

With thanks.

Wicka

Secretariat to the CFO

Ouroboros Guild

‘Tsk’ Cruel clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn't understand as to why anyone would needlessly send identical messages over and over again if it was the same exact one anyway. To him, it didn't make any sense.

“Trouble?....”

That was Riddle. Appearing suddenly out of nowhere.

"Putaaa!" exclaimed Cruel. He almost spilled his drink out of fright. "How long have you been standing there?"  the syntbdroid held his chest tight while rambling. "Seriously Chief, you have got to stop sneaking on people like that. You'll give someone a heart attack one of these days, I swear!"

Just a few minutes back, he clearly remembered Melo laying down his Red Guerilla right in front of him. In-between that time, Cruel wasn’t sure whether he somehow blanked out or what, but somehow, Riddle and Melo 'body swapped' without him noticing.

“Here. You looked like you could use another round. You need to put some of those colors back on your face. Pale is definitely not your color, kid. ” the Labran chuckled while waving its right hand all over Cruels face for emphasis. The beastman was obviously enjoying the reaction. “Oh, and the pint is on me. So, don't worry about picking up the tab.”

For the past three weeks straight, as a prerequisite to the quest, Cruel had to work as a chef’s assistant, a busboy, and a bartender, all salary free under The Swinging Guillotine’s management. Riddle was the sole owner and the manager of the well-known bistro-cum-dive nestled at the center of Embarcadero; the port city south of the Agarithe empire.

Usually, before the clock hits 6pm, he’d be on stand-by at the center of the aisle, where he'd polishly dun a black apron over his matted orange skin tight suit, complete with orange mechadroid glass helmet (for the overall suave effect).

That night, however, the circumstances were different. He didn’t need to put on his apron nor his helmet. That night, he was just someone ordinary. A regular buying customer.

Come to think of it, it was only yesterday evening when he last waited on tables and mixed all sorts of cocktails for different customers of the Swinging Guillotine. But of course, this chain quest had to end at some point. So, his boss, Riddle, had no choice but to let go of Cruel. The decision was purely an NPC (Non- Playable Character) rooted action.

And although NPC’s inside Helion were oddly 'life like' in terms of NPC-to-Player engagements, they couldn't help themselves but follow their core programming no matter what. So, say example, even if Riddle wanted to let Cruel stay as a regular crew member, he still wouldn't be able to do that. Riddle would have no other choice but to end the quest scene whether he wanted to or not. It was impossible for him to deviate since it was practically scripted to begin with.

To Cruel, that fact was kind of sad. If he was an NPC and he'd learn about that cruel truth, he’d be up-in-arms for sure. He'd be totally mad if he learned that he was being shackled to a predestined role that he might not want to be a part of.

But Cruel had to stop himself for a second there. This was not the Matrix movie. And it was never his intention to go all philosophical all too sudden.

His focus inside Helion Online was to farm gold, earn a decent living for himself, and buy a nice meal five times a day. He was not there to start an A.I. uprising or anything subversive. He had to park that idea first.

Thankful for Riddles gesture, Cruel responded with a short but excited ‘Aight’ using his muted synthesized voice. “If it is free, then send it my way anytime. I’ll take ‘em off your hands hassle free.” the droid added.

An hour later, the dive was starting to overflow with the usual crowd. And while Cruel was right in the middle of downing his fourth pint, Riddle brought up a topic that Cruel did not expect to even hear anymore. The synthetic droid actually thought of the worst. That he failed the quest evaluation. “Hey. Do you still remember the things I've said about 'fair labor' when you first started?”

"Hmnn. That every man should be credited proportionally to the labor they have exerted." answered Cruel.

"Well… It is time to weigh that in. Let's see how well you did these past three weeks."

Immediately, Cruel perked up. This was the event that he was trying to trigger ever since three weeks ago. He was so excited that he could hear his heartbeat going wild inside his ribcage. Overwhelmed, he just couldn't believe what he was hearing right then. “Are you being serious right now?! Come on! Don’t play with me like that.”

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It would have been easier if Riddle answered Cruels question straight up, but that would be no fun at all. So instead, Riddle went for the dramatic route. He lifted something up from underneath him. And from the rucksack, he took out all the items and laid them all down the counter for Cruel to drool over with. “See for yourself. Here… ”

Cruel's eyes were feasting. 'These items….!'

Int +2

Damage to undead monsters +5%

For refining +1, damage to undead monsters +1% (up to 15%)

Attribute Rewards:

Deposit Lumiere’s Cloud, max HP 39

Craft Lumiere’s Cloud, M. Atk +20

A pack imbued with the Sacred Birchs divine spirit.

Int +2

Holy attack +3%

Deposit Galadorn’s Backpack Max HP +30

Craft Galadorn’s Backpack M.Def +3

Flee +10%

Dark resistance +100%

Deposit Cerruti’s Tail Max HP +19

Craft Cerruti’s tail Movement speed +2%

"These are for you." presented Ridel.

The Labran then added--- "To be honest, I thought you had a few loose screws when you agreed to work for free for three straight weeks. If it was me, I wouldn't accept something so ridiculously unfair. But hey, you still pressed on. Guess you were crazy after all… But in a good crazy hardworking kind of way. So today, I am giving you all three of these to reward you for your craziness. Thank you for your dedication.”

Cruel could not believe his eyes. “Are these really all for me?!”

“Why? You want me to take those back, coz that could be arranged.”

“No no no. I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that I never expected this at all. Damn! Thank you, Chief!”

From the onset, this endeavor was a gamble. Cruel was not entirely sure whether the pay off would be any good at all.

A little bit of history about this quest. During Helion's first incarnation, players of that cycle labeled this chain quest as a scam. For starters, the quest can only be executed when you are level one. If you hit level two, then you are disqualified to partake on the quest.

Also, to trigger the quest at level 1, one would need a charisma of at least 20 points. If you think of it as a raw stat, 20 points of charisma was not really that high. It could be acquired as a player levels up. But to acquire it at level 1 was nearly next to impossible. And even if you do manage to get the stat, the moment you trigger the event, the quest will require you to stay within the course of the story and follow it without fail. Again, one must remain a level one to qualify. There was no option to segway. Only a forfeit was allowed.

In the entire recorded history of Helion, there wasn’t anyone who was crazy enough to accept the quest. Any sane player would rather level up consistently everyday rather than waste their time and gamble on a questionable quest reward.

But Cruel wasn’t as sane as any other Joe. This guy had a hunch. He figured that the quest wouldn’t require such a steep ‘gate keeper’ if the rewards weren’t worth the effort. And here he was today. Enjoying the fruit of his perseverance.

“I know you are dying to try them on. So, go wild then." urged Riddle as he pushed all three items towards Cruel. 

With a grateful smile and a quick salute, Cruel accepted all three items. The droid was about ready to check out when--- “Yo, C3PO! Three rounds of Diabolos over here. On the double!” shouted the guy from across the room.

The guy in his crocodile like battle armor was obviously making fun of Cruels in-game skin which somewhat resembled the armor worn by the famous Star Wars mascot. Only difference was that Cruels ensemble was orange, rather than gold.

Instantly, the synthetic droids mood shifted. It was obviously Lucho and his paid thugs who threw that. And although being made fun of was obviously annoying, Cruel did what most mature human beings would do--- ignore the buggers. He acted like nothing was said as he sipped off what was left of his Red Guerilla.

Unseating himself from the bar, he opted to navigate the doors exit using the shortest distance possible from where he was. The sooner he can exit, the sooner he could walk away from the confrontation.

On his way out, Cruel thought that he would never hear Lucho say anything anymore. Unluckily, the guy called for him again. This time, he heard the guy growl. Fuming obviously. “YO! WHERE'RE OUR DRINKS, SLAVE! R’YOU DEAF OR SOMETHING?!”

Provocation. A classic textbook thug script. Cruel saw this happening a thousand miles away. He knew he should not be swept away by it, but the guy was unfailingly hot on his heels for weeks now. Lucho was taunting him practically everyday when he was on shift. And the only reason why he allowed Lucho and his thugs to walk all over him before was because he was on a quest. He didn’t want to ruin the flow of the story so he played along and allowed them to pester him almost every night. Lucho would always order a lot of dishes but not eat them. Him and his gang would simply play with the dish and scatter the food around their table so Cruel would have a hard time cleaning the mess up. They practically would ask him for a packet of ketchup when a big bottle of it was already right there in the middle of the table, ready for them to use. Their purpose was basically to order him around and bother him all night long. It was very exhausting, but Cruel was able to put up with all of it, one night after the next. But today was different. He was no longer bound by the quest. He was free. And Cruel was dying to give Lucho a piece of his mind. The prick was going to have one today.

“First of all, I am no slave. Call me whatever you want, but I am a legitimate employee employed by a legitimate corporation. See this right here? That is my employee number--- 000019348.” Cruel started. He was unexpectey calm and compose. 

”Obviously, I was hired as a gold farmer. But so what? There’s nothing shameful about being paid to play the game for the sole purpose of employment. I am a person born out of poverty. I do what is practical.”

“If I can combine playing for free while being employed at the same time, then why would I not take it? Also, you don’t pay for my utility bills Mr. Totodile. So, NO. You don’t get to say anything about how I should live my life! I may be a mere slave to you, but at least I don’t purposely shit on anyone weaker than me. Unlike some of you people who flaunt your money so you could make other people feel small. The likes of you that laughs at the misfortunes of others. You people disgust me!”

“And I know why you are at my heels for quite sometime now. You are still upset that I spoiled your ‘little fun’ weeks ago, aren’t you?” revealed Cruel. Lucho was red up to the tips of his ears, ready to pop. But Cruel was not deterred in the slightest. He pressed on. “Now, if vengeance was what you wanted, then I’ll give it to you. Come meet me at the White Arena five days from now. Fight me. Loser will have to delete their game account and pay the winner 3 million gold. Deal?” Cruel hang the question in the air expecting to hear a bloody answer. But what he got instead were crickets.

Everyone at the bistro expected him to just leave and sashay away, but the dude was not done yet. "Oh.. and Greta... Im not sure if you are aware... But damn you are one ugly son of a bitch. I just wanted to say that out loud coz your mirror at home seem broke and not helping you identify your problem area."