Getting to the sewers under one of the gardens only took five minutes. Roth was disappointed. He was expecting a clean chamber where he could sit and gather his thoughts, but it was more of the same. It was dark, dingy, and foul.
At least here, the water coming down seemed crystalline, perhaps the drainage from a fountain or a pond in the park, which washed away some of the stench.
Sick of being itchy, he jumped into the water. It only reached his knees. Closing his eyes, he lay on the floor so the water could cover his whole body.
[Flea] debuff has been lifted.
What a relief. The water was filthy, but at least it wasn't brown. He was also happy not to be awarded a new unpleasant debuff. As he came out of the water, he found Scratchy sending fleas everywhere. If he didn't do anything, he'd be itching again.
Grapple!
"Human? What are you doing? Why are you hugging me?" Roth dragged Scratchy under the water. He held him there for a few seconds and saw countless black dots being washed away by the current. He then took him out. He was squirming and flailing. Roth put him on dry ground again.
"Human! What have you done? I'm filthy!"
How dare you bathe a sewer rat? Have you no sense of decency?
-20 reputation with all ratans.
"I'm sorry, Scratchy. I thought I saw a cat behind you and wanted to protect you," he said half-heartedly.
"Hmph. May this be the last time you do this to a rat, sir!"
Roth didn't care if he lost 20 reputation points. At least now, he could think for a while. He had a few [Smelly Cheese] from the Greenleaf Inc. left from his barters. He had planned to sell it, but he supposed he could use it to appease Scratchy.
"Here you go, Scratchy. Sorry about that."
"OK! All is forgiven... But don't ever do that to me again. OK?"
"Deal."
+3 reputation with all ratans.
From what Scratchy said about the commercial district, the sewers seemed to run under the whole city. Even though it was unpleasant, he could reduce the chance of being found by his former squad if he traveled underground. But that wasn't enough. He had to find a way to disguise his identity. His forms slightly changed his appearance, but not enough to make him unrecognizable. Besides that, he was very tall. That would raise suspicions with his old crew. Once they gave him a closer look, they'd find him immediately.
It wasn't the first time he looked this up in the forums, but he had to give it another try. He would pay in-game currency for the needed information if he had to. He tried looking in the forums for 'hiding identity.' There was only one post.
Find Out a Girl's Tag
#love #dating #gethernumber #persistencepaysoff #imnotcreepy
Poster: HopelessRomantic
Post: Hello, fellas. Are you trying to get a message to a girl you fancy and can't seem to get her to befriend you? Then worry not. If you pay me 100 gold, I'll teach you how to unlock insight. It's a stat that can help you see more information on other players and to see through some disguises. She won't be able to hide from you, even if she tries!
Comments
LoveUnicorns11: You disgust me. Someone call the police.
PrettyBetty1923: You creepy.
Jill1023: Reported to the GMs.
It sounded like a stalker, which was gross, but he had learned two things from the post. One, it was possible to disguise one's identity. Two, it was impossible to see through a disguise. Great. That meant that not only he had to find a disguise, it had to be good. He tried looking for 'insight.' Only paid posts showed up; they were way more expensive than he could afford. He had to look at this from another angle. He tried looking for the keyword 'bullying.' Still nothing. Then, inspired by the post he had just read, he tried 'stalker' and finally got a hit.
There was a post from one girl complaining that she'd been harassed inside the game. She had looked for ways to protect herself from a creepy stalker that kept disturbing and freaking her out. Roth sighed. He wouldn't be surprised if it was this HopelessRomantic character. The first thing she did was call the police. He couldn’t do that. She asked for help from the GMs; he couldn’t do that either.
She then said that a chain quest had given her a special item that helped her disguise her identity. Now, that he could do. As he read more information about the quest, his heart sank. No. This quest wouldn’t work for him. It required him to have an evil alignment. One had to go to the slums of the town and ask for help from a local goon. The NPC would only help those with an evil alignment. That ruled Roth out.
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Roth punched the ground in frustration. This quest was perfect for most players. Every time someone attacked someone else, or hunted mobs, they would gain some evil alignment points. Since most players in the game made it a habit of fighting and hurting others, their alignment was typically neutral or bad.
From what Roth could glean from the forums, better players tried to keep a neutral alignment, as it was very troublesome to be denied access to many quests. It was a constant game of pull and push, with them trying to keep a clean slate despite doing evil deeds. Others embraced the evil alignment entirely and did everything possible to gain negative alignment.
This post didn't help him but showed there were items that helped players disguise their identities. He shook off his frustration and started pacing in the tunnels. There must be other similar quests out there. Who besides thieves needs to disguise their identity? Actors? No… that’s stupid. Clowns? That was also stupid.
What about law enforcement? Sometimes they have to go undercover. If there was a quest with such a reward in the slums of a town, why wouldn't there be a similar one for players who had a righteous alignment? It was a long shot, but it was the only thing he could think of. Since he couldn’t go to the police outside the game, he could at least try in-game law enforcement.
The Gazette said that the peacekeeping of Hilsford was left to the local garrison. The soldiers there defended the city from invasions and kept order in town. Roth skipped over a guide for rogues in the Gazette that taught them how to avoid the eyes of the law.
Roth had wondered how his former guild mates had succeeded in torturing him inside a town. After all, in most games, such behavior wouldn't be allowed inside a city. He was reading this was the case in Hilsford too.
But the fact that the Gazette advertised a way to assassinate players inside the city and get away with it told Roth that there must be loopholes. Maybe some special items or skills allowed players to circumvent law enforcement. Gary had used that weird orb, hadn't he? That must have been what they had used to keep killing him repeatedly without the town intervening. Either way, he now had a lead. He would go to the garrison to look for more clues.
If there were such a quest, he would have to use all his tools to find it. His greatest weapons here were his [Discoverer of Species] and [Fox Form] combo. Since it would be the first time he'd meet the factions in the garrison, the bonus he got from his epic title would certainly activate. That, coupled with [Fox Form], would make his charisma soar and increase his chances of success.
If he did activate [Fox Form], though, he would become too slow because of all the goods he was carrying. He took out the letter of introduction that Margaret had given him. He had to dump his cargo.
He looked for Golden Mountain Inc. in the forums and found nothing. Nothing in the Gazette either. It must be an NPC that not many people know. It was OK. He'd ask around.
"I'm ready, Scratchy. Can you take me to Merchant Street?"
"Yes, I can. But..."
"What?"
"Many horses, many camels. It's going to be smelly there. I'm not sure you can take it."
Roth felt a sick feeling in his stomach. He had no choice.
"Let's go!"
*
"What do you call a ratan shroud in an enigma?"
"I don't know! What do you call 'em?"
"Anonymouse." Scratchy's happy squeaks resounded in the tunnels of the sewers. Although there were significant differences between the city ratans and those living in the woods, at least they all shared a good sense of humor.
"That's a mouse-terpiece!" Added the ratan. It was Roth's turn to laugh.
"You're not too bad yourself, Scratchy!"
"Don't underestimate me, human, or it might be the last mouse-stake you make."
After washing off the fleas, Roth was in a better mood and could appreciate his company more. He was happy for the company in this dark, smelly place.
"How many different ratan nests are there in Hilsford?"
"Not sure. I've never left my turf."
"Really? Is it that dangerous out here?"
"If I leave my turf, chances are that I will either get into a fight with another ratan, be eaten by snakes, or by an alligator."
"Snakes?"
"Yeah."
"And alligators?" He recalled reading about a quest for rogues that involved hunting an alligator.
"Alligator."
"Excuse me?"
"There's just the one. Alligator."
"Really? There's only one?"
"Yes. He lives in the slums. He's responsible for plumbing."
"What is he like?"
"Strong. Dangerous. He prefers to eat snakes, though. He only comes after us when he's starving."
He looked at the eight factions on his stat sheet. So far, there hadn't been one race or faction that Roth couldn't befriend. But here, things weren't as straightforward. All the races living in the sewers were at odds with each other. Ratans were prey to alligators and snakes. Snakes were at odds with the alligator and the ratans. And the alligator was at odds with the snakes and ratans.
"This is as far as I go. From here on out, this is Stenchy's territory. I can't go in. Go down that tunnel, over there."
"Thank you for bringing me here, Scratchy."
"Bye." Scratchy turned and ran.
With his furry friend gone, Roth's only company was the leaky pipes and fetid stench. Roth headed in the direction Scratchy had pointed. Now that he was alone with his thoughts, Roth went to the forums to look up the two other factions that Scratchy had mentioned.
First, he looked up any information available on snakes.
Snakes were monsters with high damage but low health. One attack from them could take a big chunk off a player’s hp bar. The Gazette mentioned that their bites had a chance of stunning the target for a second. If the stun landed, other snakes could bite you, chaining stuns. Chances were that you’d die. He didn't find any reference to snake bosses or elites.
So far, he'd been able to walk on dry ground, but to proceed further, he had to jump into the water. Now with his knees up in the water, Roth looked up the information about the alligator. It was the wild boss that roamed the sewers under the slums. Hunting it was required to complete a very popular quest among Rogues, which offered excellent equipment. The alligator was a cyborg, meaning it was part beast, part machine.
With each step, Roth felt the silt and mud under his boots being disturbed. As he agitated the water, the stench only intensified. After walking for a couple of minutes in the sewage, he got an unpleasant notification.
The unhygienic sewage is starting to affect your health.
You've gained a new debuff [Trench Foot]. -20% Movement Speed
Roth instantly felt the discomfort in his feet and sighed. It seemed that he was doomed to being under debuffs down here. There was nothing he could do about it for now. He pressed ahead.
Even though the water was still, Roth could hear it moving ahead. It was maybe a cascading pipe, almost a sibilant sound. He tried to turn his attention back to what he was reading, hoping it would help him get his mind off his discomfort.
The guide suggested that players weaken the boss first to improve the chances of successfully hunting the alligator. It then offered the complete information at a premium fee... Roth felt a shadow move to his side.
Frightened, Roth saw two yellow eyes shining from within a dark pipe to his right. A triangular-shaped head slithered out of the pipe, with its elongated body following. Roth's apprehension grew as the snake's biforked tongue sampled the air in his direction.