The hidden quest resulted in an unexpected level of fame and notoriety for Willow. The young graduate had planned for multiple contingencies, but the sudden level of renown, verging on infamy for discovering and completing the hidden quest was unexpected.
Kieun and Mara had leveraged their newfound fame as the first cadets in history to complete a hidden quest to join reputable clans outside the city. A nice joining bonus helped both of them join their chosen guilds.
But it was that same status and standing Willow sought to escape. Clans chased after her and hounded her for days after word got out. Every knife hand and two-bit spellcaster wanting to make a name for themself offered her a senior position in a clan or a partnership.
In the end, she chose a small clan who had, until recently, been inactive. While they had a storied pedigree, it was their future she was far more interested in.
“Hana, I never got to thank you for your help with the Scholar’s Guild. I needed the gold from the Quest for-”
“We all have our expenses, Willow. And I’m sure you’ll explain in due time.”
Willow spoke to be heard above the din. “But, then again. If we have to wait here any longer, I might have to reconsider.”
The two of them had been waiting for hours at the main offices of the Player Society. Office workers politely explained the intricacies of bureaucracy while adventurers stifle the urge to scream at them. Most of the time. Hence the din.
Hana hated being here, but it was necessary. The Phoenix clan had previously been placed on hiatus and needed to be put on active duty. That way, she could register Willow and Jinyoung. But she hated being here.
“Maybe,” Willow hesitated to speak. “I heard that you knew the director of operations here at the Society. Wouldn’t we be able to get an appointment if we talked to her?”
The frozen mask Hana had so often practiced with Jinyoung kept her face emotionless. Until their trip to the cemetery, she had kept everything from her brother. Even now, she felt guilty for only giving him most of the truth.
“I’m not in any position to ask Seah for favors.” Hana sighed. “Maybe I should’ve asked Jinyoung here. They knew each other too. I just… I didn’t want to put him through this.”
Almost against her will, Willow made a face. After what she’d heard and seen of the brother, she had her concerns. But out of respect for her sunbae, she had kept her mouth shut. It took considerable effort.
The attendant at a window called out, “Number 381!”
At the window, Hana filled out the forms to put her clan into active service. Since she was the only member listed on the registry, she was immediately promoted to Clan Leader. Congratulations, she thought to herself. Now it would all be on her.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Yes. We’re planning to travel east to the Seorak region for the outbreak quest.”
“Of course,” clans and unaffiliated parties had been registering for the quest all day. “I can get that done for you right away. Just so you know, the quest will be held in May rather than April this year.”
To Willow, this seemed like part of the bureaucratic process, but Hana was taken aback. The Seorak Outbreak was in April every year. A delayed start didn’t make sense. Not in any way that Hana liked.
“Can I get the names and ID no. of your party members, please?” The attendant’s question brought Hana back to reality.
“Jinyoung, ID No. NC008233. Willow, ID. No. SC510672.”
While the attendant worked on her computer, Willow pulled Hana aside. “Where is he, anyway? Shouldn’t he be here for this?”
***
The market was the last place he remembered being with Seah, Johann, and Cyrus before their graduation. Most cadets avoided it because the monsters were overly difficult while most intermediate adventurers found it too easy.
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But Jinyoung had always liked the challenge. More than that, it was the last place he visited with his mother. They were running an errand for his grandparents, picking up ingredients for a big family dinner. He remembered visiting walking down the long corridors flanked by grocery marts, shops, butchers and fishmongers. It had originally started off as the town square before the streets leading to it were slowly taken over by merchants. Finally, at the peak of its popularity, it had been redesigned in a wheel and spoke pattern.
Jinyoung used to remember walking down the alleys and corridors, taking in the scents of bakeries and restaurants. He vaguely remembered a toy store somewhere in the area. But those memories had been replaced with months of training and monsters that could appear from dark corners.
The dungeon appeared later, after the World Break. The market also had multiple underground tunnels whose layout had been long since lost to time. Somewhere in there, there was a break. But until it was located, it couldn’t be sealed. And instead, monsters slowly found their way to the surface and patrolled the market.
The skeleton warriors that walked the ground level were easy enough to pick off one by one. The problem was when they grouped up. Most low-leveled warriors were easily overwhelmed.
But Jinyoung wasn't like most warriors.
He had walked through the corridors looking for a group like the one he had just found. A group of five walking tightly in a unit. Jinyoung gripped the bastard sword tightly. Just a few steps closer.
The [dash] moved Jinyoung into the center of the unit before the monsters could react. He had a second to take a breath before immediately activating [charge]. The same familiar surge of power electrified his entire body.
Now, let’s see if this works.
[Charge] worked by converting some of an adventurer’s magical power into kinetic energy. This energy was released when using a skill, spell or a regular attack. But Jinyoung wanted to test the limits of the latter.
Instead of attacking a single monster, he gripped the handle of his sword and swung wide in a full circle. Almost immediately, he could see the sword arc blaze brightly as the magical power helped the sword cut through the skeletons like butter.
image [https://i.imgur.com/ObVRL4t.jpg]
By the time he caught his balance, there were only the remains of five skeleton warriors left.
“Worked like a charm.” He could hear his voice echo off the walls in this place. Over the past three days he’d grinded the area so he could (a) get used to the Novice skills and (b) complete the extra quests to earn new aspects to his skills.
QUEST: The Path of the WIND (I)
REWARD: [DASH+]
QUEST COMPLETE.
New (+) ASPECT Unlocked!
[DASH] is now [DASH+].
[DASH+] does not require MP to use. [DASH+] cooldown time reduced.
It was just like Hana had said. Each of his Novice skills probably had a (+) aspect that could be unlocked by completing quests. Even just [scan+] unlocked untold possibilities by allowing Jinyoung to find hidden quests. By comparison though, the upgraded [dash] was much less impressive.
At the least, I’ll have an easier time getting around now. Having a reduced cooldown time made it easier to use in battle, but the negated MP cost meant he’d be able to practice using it more without having to wait for his MP to recover.
Yesterday, when he started getting close to completing this quest, Hana had asked a simple question. She wanted to know the exact name of the quest he was given. And when he told her, she made a very important prediction.
Ding! A notification appeared in his system HUD.
QUEST: The Path of the WIND (II)
OBJECTIVE: Use [DASH+] to move across 10,000 km of distance
REWARD: New ASPECT
The roman numerals at the end of a quest name signified that there was more than one version of that quest available. Even the hidden quest had a “(I)” behind it. This weird onion knight class might not be the worst thing after all.
Jinyoung? It’s me, Hana. Don’t freak out.
I just finished registering you to the clan so the system’ll allow us to send each other messages like this.
Willow and I just finished up at the Society. It’s time to start getting ready. Meet us back at the Phoenix offices and I’ll explain our next steps for there.
Jinyoung sighed. He’d hoped to complete the [charge] quest, but it proved to be difficult. Even with a new sword. But the new [dash+] would certainly come in handy, not to mention the additional levels he’d gained while training.
Okay, Hana.
I’m heading back to the office now.
See you in a bit.
QUEST: The Path of the ONION KNIGHT (I)
OBJECTIVE: Reveal and COMPLETE 3 secret SUBQUESTS.
Current Progress: 1 secret SUBQUEST completed (33% completed)
REWARD: New ASPECT
QUEST: The Path of INNER STRENGTH (I)
OBJECTIVE: Deal 10,000 DMG with CHARGED attacks.
Current progress: 6,522 DMG (65% completed)
REWARD: [CHARGE+]