"Don't run! Get back here and die!!!"
Huoyanyan shouted and tried to chase after the fleeing slimes,
but Liang Chuan stopped him.
"You looking to die? Charging deeper into the forest at night?
Out there, it won't just be a few Slimes waiting for you."
"But if we don't kill them, we won't get EXP…"
Huoyanyan muttered.
"Is EXP more important than your life?
Stay here and help me clean the base."
Just as Liang Chuan finished speaking,
several message windows popped up in Huoyanyan's vision.
The BOSS has assigned you a quest — [Clean the Base].
Quest Objective: Clean the bloodstains and organize scattered supplies.
Quest Reward: 1 EXP, 10 Copper
[Accept] / [Reject]
"What—? I'm a Fire Elemental Mage!
You're asking a mighty spellcaster to clean? I'm a mage, not a janitor!"
He reached to hit Reject—
when flashing red text appeared:
Rejecting the BOSS's quest will lower BOSS Affection.
If BOSS Affection becomes negative, you will be expelled from the faction
(= forcibly kicked offline + account banned).
"WHAT—?! I accept! I accept!
Don't kick me! I finally found a game this realistic,
I'm not losing my account over cleaning!!"
Huoyanyan instantly hit Accept and began sweeping like his life depended on it.
Liang Chuan lit a large bonfire with fire-element power to prevent another monster attack.
"Boss, I'm done!"
Huoyanyan approached after finishing the cleaning.
He was certain the quest was completed—
because the "?" above Liang Chuan's head lit up.
A "!" meant a quest was available.
A "?" meant a quest could be turned in.
Every veteran gamer knew this.
No way this game would break such basic rules.
After turning in the quest, Huoyanyan gained 1% EXP and 10 copper coins.
"So I need 100 EXP to go from level 1 to level 2…
This game's leveling curve is brutal.
If I don't kill monsters, I'll need to do 100 chores just to level up once.
Hmm… so these 10 copper coins—
what can I even use them for?"
He leaned toward Liang Chuan.
"Boss, can copper coins buy things from you?"
"They can. What do you need?"
Liang Chuan nodded.
Player rewards came from the system,
and he could recycle the players' currency to buy items from the system himself.
A very "ethical" loop—in his opinion.
"Got any gear? Like… the strongest sword in the village or something?"
"You're a Fire Mage. What sword?"
"My little flame… doesn't exactly hurt anything."
He scratched his head awkwardly.
"No swords. I do have a bow, but it's not for sale."
"Then at least sell me some food.
My satiety is only at 30%, and I'm getting hungry."
"Food, huh…"
Liang Chuan thought for a moment,
returned to the hut,
and found a loaf of bread that the Hilichurls had stolen from humans before passing it to him.
He sliced off a piece so thin it was practically transparent
and handed it to Huoyanyan.
"How much?"
Liang Chuan raised a finger.
"One copper? Great—give me ten slices."
"Not one. Ten copper per slice."
"HOW MUCH?! Ten copper for something this thin?!"
Huoyanyan was stunned.
"Boss, pray you never run into a dropout art student.
If you try to scam one of those guys, you're dead."
Liang Chuan chuckled.
"So? You buying or not?"
"Guuuurrr…"
Huoyanyan froze.
His stomach answered for him.
"Satiety 29%… This game doesn't let you starve to death, right?
Even if it doesn't, this hunger feeling is torture…
But ten copper for one slice? That's robbery!"
His eyes drifted toward the dark forest.
"Maybe I should… go hunting?
But going alone at night…
I might never come back.
Who knows what the death penalty is in this game."
He muttered to himself and opened his personal interface.
"Death penalty…
You don't drop gear, don't drop EXP?"
"Oh! The developers are actually human beings!
Unlike those trash games where dying drops everything—gear, levels, dignity."
He continued reading.
"To revive…
you need to spend bio-energy?
Level 1 revival: 10 bio-energy.
Level 2: 20… and so on.
If you have no bio-energy… your character's basically dead?
Oh—no, not dead. Players can trade bio-energy with each other.
Even if you run out, you can buy some.
So bio-energy… is actually more important than money."
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
https://www.patreon.com/Mindsmithstudio