A trio of girls turned the corner into the clearing, ragged and out of breath. They flopped down in the corner, tired. “Damn, that was hard work. Thank goodness for this safe room. That guide I bought was worth it, a hundred percent.”
“Phew! Who aggro’d the Lost Ones? Clara…”
“It wasn’t me. Don’t put that evil on me! They just jumped at us out of nowhere in the middle of the day! It’s a glitch or something!”
Vivian sighed to himself. Does everyone know the clearing trick? And here I was, patting myself on the back for being a Gardener…
In the middle of pulling out an SP potion, one of the girls looked up. Her eyes locked with Vivian’s, and she startled. “Fuck! Another party!”
“Another party?”
“No wonder!”
Kors smiled. “We’re just leaving. Consider the clearing yours.”
Exchanging a sour look with the other girls, the lead girl nodded. “Sure. Hey, Kyung!”
Vivian whirled. That bastard! Three girls at once? No way. It can’t be him!
Soft footsteps. A gentle wind blew the luminescent rose petals into a flurry, cascading them around the hairstylist as he stepped out from around the corner. Although he wore the same black NPC clothes Vivian wore, they somehow fit him like designer clothes. Dark eyes regarded Vivian the same way Vivian regarded cockroaches. He looked Vivian up and down, then scoffed quietly.
“You damn playboy. Using your looks for evil,” Vivian said, shaking his head.
“As soon as you see me, you accuse me. Aren’t we comrades?” Kyung replied.
Vivian rolled his eyes. “Comrades? We’re only comrades now? Where was this comrade talk when I wanted to join your party?”
“Skip. Follow,” Kors ordered.
Vivian opened his mouth again.
Warning. Penalty will apply if you ignore your Party Leader’s orders.
What the fuck? Even something like this… even a Skip Dialogue command counts as orders? NPCs have it rough! Vivian shut his mouth and pursed his lips, unwilling.
Sympathy flashed through Kyung’s eyes. He shook his head lightly.
Vivian rolled his eyes. Hey, c’mon. You have three girls hanging on your every word. I’m stuck with a bunch of lowlife mafioso wannabes. It’s not the same!
“I’m tired. Kyung, tell me I’m pretty,” one of the girls requested.
“Kyung, come here. Sit with me!” another called.
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Kyung stumbled forward unwillingly. “You’re pretty,” he muttered, voice flat.
“So cute!” the third girl trilled, clasping her hands together.
Oh. Well, okay. He does have it rough, too. I forgot how common it was for NPCs to get harassed, especially the female ones… though I suppose hot men are on the same level, just for girls. Vivian snorted. Guess we both learned our lesson. NPCs shouldn’t party with Players! The rules are way too restrictive.
“I’m worried about Jane, though. We should have heard from her by now,” Renee said, as they walked away.
“Worry about her after we find Noah and get the damn flower the boss wants,” Lewis grumbled. “She’s tough. I’m sure she’s fine.”
Oh, she’s fine. Fine gardening soil, anyways! Vivian thought, chuckling to himself.
Renee glanced back. “Walk in front. You’re creepy.”
Vivian saluted. Alright, alright, fine. I’m in the party anyways, so I can’t betray them without suffering the consequences.
The Checkpoint, too… I need to spend those levels. But not blindly. I need a strategy. Depending on who I want to take down, I should spend them differently.
Let’s start with Lewis. Kors is too tough. Even level ten… I don’t know how I’d start to go about defeating him. I don’t know enough about Renee to plan against her. Probably speed, but I don’t want to slap ten points into speed only for Kors, a Player in a speed-focused class that almost certainly grows more than one stat point per level, to wildly outspeed me anyways. In summary, let’s focus Lewis!
If I want to defeat a high-DEF player, then what I need is either magic or high STR. He checked on his stats again.
[Status]
HP: 10/10
SP: 5/5
STR: 5
MAG: 1
SKL: 7
SPD: 7
MDEF: 5
DEF: 5
One MAG, huh. Well, I really doubt Gardeners can learn spells, anyways. Which means… all nine points into STR, here we go!
[Status]
HP: 10/10
SP: 5/5
STR: 14
MAG: 1
SKL: 7
SPD: 7
MDEF: 5
DEF: 5
Vivian nodded to himself. But I shouldn’t attack until tomorrow. I don’t want to lose this Checkpoint thing. Nine levels is a lot of levels!
“Come on. Let’s go hunt some Lost Ones. Kid isn’t going to kill Lost Ones on his own,” Lewis said, stomping on.
“Quest’s started. Might as well finish it. The Phantom Rose’s worth good money,” Renee agreed.
“You seek the Phantom Rose?” Vivian asked, putting on his best NPC voice. C’mon. Explain it to me. I’m just a harmless NPC, so tell me. What are you guys thinking?
Lewis smiled at Vivian. “If we finish the quest, we’ll have the rose. If the kid comes out to get the rose, we’ll have everything with no effort. If he doesn’t, we’ll at least recoup the losses from this excursion with the Phantom Rose.”
“And if we get close, and the kid’s smart…” Renee smirked. She and Kors exchanged a look. A second later, she punched Lewis in the shoulder. “Stop talking to the NPC like he’s a person.”
“What? I’m allowed to do what I like,” Lewis said, shaking his head.
As they turned the corner out of the safe room, a Lost One lunged. Long white hair draped over a pale, childish face, her eyes wide, jagged teeth and clawed fingers bared. She lunged for Kors’ throat.
“Kors!” Lewis shouted, jumping up. A worn metal shield appeared around his forearm in a green flash. He ran toward the Lost One, each step plodding and slow.
Not much speed. A typical defensive build, Vivian thought, quietly watching him.
Kors stepped forward. Green glowed around his limbs.
Vivian straightened. His eyes widened. I have to see this. If I can see it, I can handle it! He’s a System junkie. Right now, in this moment, I’m in the best spot to capture the critical weakness of any System junkie!
The sword flashed. Screaming, the Lost One fell back, separating into two pieces as she fell. Bright green blood splashed over the ground. Her body faded away.
In the distance, the Lady of the Lost screamed. Green, ghostly flames surged into the sky.
Kors sheathed his sword. “One more down.”
Quest Progress: 4/10
Vivian pressed his lips together, frowning. His eyes followed Kors’ sword, and he narrowed them intently. One more time. I need to see it one more time!