Ch. 174
Chapter : 174
In the next second, Merlin opened a space door. Behind the door, it was pitch black, as if a black hole had been accidentally opened.
Merlin quickly ducked inside, leaving me a sentence before he departed: "I'm going to find Isabel. Don't follow me; anyone under level 100 can't withstand this."
In the blink of an eye, the space door closed.
I frowned.
Isabel and I didn't have a curse of shared lifespan, so I didn't know what her current situation was. But seeing Merlin so nervous, the situation over there probably wasn't very optimistic.
However, I had no way to follow. I couldn't use the space door Merlin used, and since I didn't know Isabel's specific location, I couldn't find my way there even if I wanted to.
I felt a bit irritable. I took a sip of the tea Merlin had just handed me, suppressing the anxiety in my heart. I opened my panel and flipped through it a couple of times, occasionally checking my NPC friend panel.
This panel could roughly show the other party's current status, which allowed me to feel a bit more at ease.
I waited for about ten minutes, then sent a message to Merlin asking about the situation.
It wasn't until more than half an hour later that Merlin replied vaguely with a phrase saying it was fine, and then there was no more news.
Yan Yunqing: ?
Although I wasn't sure what exactly happened, since Merlin said it was fine, then there shouldn't be any problem, right?
I was helpless; I could only wait for the two to return to ask for details.
I stood up and pulled my hood up again, my face once more hidden in the shadows.
Although the matter discussed with Merlin hadn't reached a conclusion yet, it was obviously unsuitable for me to continue staying here. If I stayed any longer, who knew what the players outside would brainstorm up.
I unconsciously pulled my hood lower, opened the wooden door, and met the gazes of countless pairs of eyes.
Yan Yunqing: ?
Yan Yunqing: ......
I really wanted to slam the door shut and calm down. However, under the scrutiny of countless players, I could only leave like a 'normal' NPC, unable to show too many strange reactions.
After all, ever since the Descenders appeared, the thinking of the people in this world had undergone some small changes in certain aspects. Simply put: 'No matter how strange the things the Descenders do are, they are normal.'
It was as if otherworldly people had been collectively brainwashed... no, more accurately, it was like a virus or program had been implanted.
If I showed any abnormality in my attitude toward the players, although other NPCs wouldn't notice, the players with nothing better to do would definitely get to the bottom of it, and then do some weird things to me.
Like stripping off my pants.
I thought calmly while bypassing the few players blocking my way without changing my expression. It was just that my frosty attitude was completely covered by the hood, so the players couldn't see my 'indifference' and 'keeping people a thousand miles away' at all.
They came up again, trying to trigger so-called hidden quests.
This time it was even more excessive; several players surrounded me tightly.
"Sir, is there anything you need help with?" A female player named [Mount Emei Monkey], whose appearance was petite and cute unlike her name, rushed to the front, looking at me with sparkling eyes.
Another male player beside her, [If the World Has No Light], also chimed in, "Yeah, do you have any letters to send, or have you lost something you need us to help find?"
The otherworlders who first came to play the role of novice village NPCs weren't quite used to the Descenders' style of helping everywhere.
Now that nearly a month had passed, they had completely become accustomed to the Descenders' 'enthusiasm' and had automatically evolved into 'giant babies'—if there was any small matter, they could just grab a Descender on the street to solve it.
From the players' perspective, when they first entered [Return], the game task system wasn't perfect enough; no matter how they poked these NPCs, there were no quests. But now the task system was gradually perfecting, and these NPCs could actively issue quests without being poked!
Of course, there were still some special NPCs who were more 'reserved' and required players to actively inquire to receive quests.
I, the mysterious person before them, had become the 'reserved' NPC in the eyes of the players.
Being entangled, I found myself in a dilemma for a moment. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck me. Based on novels I had read before about transmigration into games and disguising as NPCs, I thought of a brilliant idea.
I put on a hesitant posture. Of course, because of the [Concealment Magic Robe], no matter how rich my facial expressions were or how delicate my performance was, these players wouldn't be able to see it.
So I let out a long sigh. That sigh was so affected that I couldn't help but get goosebumps myself. However, the players didn't notice anything wrong; after all, in their perspective, the performance of all NPCs was much the same.
Hearing this sigh, the players got excited. This looked like a real quest appearing!
So a player with quick eyes and hands squeezed in front of me and asked enthusiastically, "You look very troubled. Did you encounter some problem?"
The corners of my mouth hidden under the hood rose slightly. I cleared my throat inconspicuously. "Actually, I am a traveling merchant. I recently traveled here and heard that there is a craftsman with excellent skills in the blacksmith shop here. I wanted to ask him to forge a batch of weapons for me."
"Of course, as a merchant, I couldn't easily hand over such a large order to a blacksmith I don't know. I first customized a longsword at the blacksmith shop." I conveniently found a reason for my visit to Merlin just now. "That blacksmith accepted my order and just handed me a longsword of good quality. I was very satisfied."
[Mount Emei Monkey] listened very seriously and asked in confusion when she heard this, "Then why are you sighing?"
I paused. "Precisely because I was too satisfied—"
"Then I placed a very large order with this blacksmith. I guarantee the amount absolutely exceeded that old man's imagination, yet he refused me!"
My voice was tinged with a hint of anger. "He actually used insufficient production to put me off, even though his blacksmith shop clearly has so many apprentices! This greedy blacksmith must want to use this to make me raise the price of the order!"
The players looked at each other and whispered softly.
"Eh, a blacksmith? Is he talking about Buck?"
"Idiot, he said that the blacksmith just refused him. It was Mason who took him in just now, right?"
"Ah... Is Mason really a blacksmith in the blacksmith shop? I always thought he was the shop owner's brother who was drunk all day long. I haven't seen any weapons he made in the shop, have I?"
"No, there are still some, it's just really few, and they are all basic white weapons. No one buys them at all. Spending money earned from hard tasks to buy a white weapon with little bonus feels like a loss!"
"I often go to the blacksmith shop to look at weapons. I can only say that the weapons Mason forges are really few, and the bonus stats are particularly strange. Can you imagine what the stat on a mace is? It's actually Wisdom! Can the goddamned Wisdom stat increase my damage or what?"
"Eh, maybe if you hit yourself once, you can turn into a child painlessly?"
"?"
"Mason, huh... If it's Mason, it seems understandable. With Mason's sporadic attitude toward smithing, maybe that weapon delivered for the order took a long time to make."
Seeing the players' topic straying further and further, I hurriedly spoke up to continue acting, controlling the players' thoughts that had inadvertently drifted away.
"Anyway, I hope you can think of a way, whether it is to make that blacksmith accept my order or find me a cheaper and more affordable blacksmith to cooperate with—if you can help me complete this order, I will consider letting you purchase my goods."
Players: ?
Before the players could understand, a quest notification popped up in front of their eyes.
【Help the [Mysterious Traveling Merchant] complete his order】
Description: A mysterious person suddenly appeared in Rock Town (Romunik Novice Village). He claims to be a merchant traveling in all directions. He came here to place a large order with the most famous blacksmith, Mason, in the Rock Town Blacksmith Shop, but Mason refused him. He is very distressed about this and requests your assistance.
Quest Objectives:
1. Persuade Blacksmith Mason to accept the merchant's order.
2. Assist Blacksmith Mason in collecting all necessary materials.
3. Ensure the order is completed within the specified time.
Quest Completion Time: 10 days
(Please note, the traveling merchant will only stay here for 10 days. If the quest is not completed within the time limit, it will be regarded as a quest failure, and the traveling merchant will leave here.)
Quest Rewards:
[Copper Coin x10], [Experience x100]
(Remark: After completing this quest, the traveling merchant's favorability will increase, and players in the area can open the [Traveling Merchant's Product List] and obtain purchasing qualifications.)
[Traveling Merchant's Product List]: Randomly spawns items of different qualities brought by the traveling merchant from different regions. There is a certain chance to spawn Rare and above items.
Players: ???
Leaving aside the gold coins and experience, which were so little it was like dismissing a beggar, what was that remark?!
Several veteran gamers got excited. So it's a real Traveling Merchant NPC! How did this game serve up new content without saying a word?!
Apart from anything else, just the part about 'a certain chance to spawn Rare and above items' was exciting enough.
Currently, the game had only been in open beta for less than a month. The highest level equipment in the hands of players on the level leaderboard was only green, which was Exquisite quality items, while the Rare items in the quest remark were purple items, directly jumping two tiers above green items!
This quest had to be completed, and it didn't matter who completed it; after all, the quest rewards were scarce, but the authority to open the traveling merchant's product list was open to players in an area.
However, a few quick-witted players had already noticed the note in the remark column: 'After completing this quest, the traveling merchant's favorability will increase.' Although they didn't know what use the favorability increase had, since it was specifically marked out, there must be some hidden benefits.
They had already decided. Even if the quest rewards weren't high, they had to be the first to complete this quest!
"Speaking of which, didn't a lot of players from other novice villages come to our novice village recently? If they complete it, can this regional reward still count for us...?"
Someone in the crowd raised such a question. Suddenly, the eyes of the players present, whether from Romunik Novice Village or other regions' novice villages, became sharp.
This wouldn't do!
In just a few breaths, the players who had originally surrounded me so tightly that not even water could trickle through dispersed, leaving only two or three small stragglers.
Deeply hiding my merit and fame, I closed my quest publishing panel and took a deep breath of fresh air.
Sure enough, to attract players' attention, one had to keep giving players quests.
As for the promised product list, this wasn't difficult. I had checked my NPC panel, and the NPC panel indeed had this function. I could throw some unwanted trash from my backpack into it, and maybe when selling it to the players, the players would even have to be 'grateful' to me.
There were still a few players left who wanted to try receiving other quests from me, but I politely rejected them all: "If you are very idle, you'd better help me think about how to persuade that blacksmith to complete this order for me."
When asked too much, I simply used monotonous scripted lines to repel the players' enthusiasm.
"I need more rare items. Perhaps you know where to get them?"
"I really hope business is booming this year and everyone comes to buy my goods."
"I want money, I want lots and lots of money."
"......"
All these various responses successfully made the last few players who still wanted to pester me leave.
Before leaving, I heard those few players whispering.
"Do you feel that this NPC isn't very intelligent?"
"You have that feeling too? Indeed. Maybe because the Traveling Merchant NPC is a special NPC and it's a newly launched feature, so it's not made as perfectly as other NPCs."
"True."
Yan Yunqing: ......
What do you mean not very intelligent? You stop and explain clearly, where am I not intelligent enough?!
I looked constipated, like someone who was walking on the road and was suddenly pointed at and called a fool, yet my setting as an NPC prevented me from haggling with the players—I shouldn't even understand what 'intelligent' meant!
I ground my back molars. Fortunately, the hood covered me, otherwise the players would have noticed my incorrect expression.
I stood in place for a while and sighed. Merlin hadn't returned yet. The players forgot the thing I originally intended to do after the interruption. I stared at my NPC panel in a daze for a while, suddenly remembering that I still had a group of players waiting to be fed, who were diligently exploring the village that Isabel had led people to exterminate.
Opening the published quest panel, it showed that the quest progress was almost full. I thought about it and decided to go see these players; maybe they could bring me new surprises.
I pulled my hood and walked toward the outside of the village. The hem of my magic robe clearly didn't move much, and my steps weren't that big, yet my moving speed was very fast. In the blink of an eye, I disappeared from the players' field of vision.
"Is this NPC one who likes to run around everywhere?"
"Never mind that Traveling Merchant NPC. Has anyone seen Mason from the blacksmith shop? Why can't I find him anywhere?"
"What? Check the small tavern? Usually, if you can't find him at the blacksmith shop, he must be in the small tavern."
"Checked, he's not there. I almost dug three feet into the ground at the small tavern, and got thrown out by the bartender inside, banning me from entering the tavern again for three days!"
The players who received the Mysterious Traveling Merchant NPC's quest looked at each other, and a thousand words merged into one sentence: "Have you seen Mason?"