Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Kopopo Egg Delivery
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A new region for adventure, reached by crossing the rocky mountain area of the forward base from the Roselia Plains.
The first town in the Silva Plains, Kirine Village.
At a time when more and more people were finishing their grind at the forward base and advancing to the next region, I, too, began my adventure in the new area. Instead of rushing to level up, I started tackling sub-quests one by one.
I had been too focused on leveling up and earning gold until now, and I thought it would be nice to leisurely wander the Astria Continent while doing minor quests.
I also had the goal of getting to know the current Astria Continent, bit by bit, through these sub-quests.
After all, this was the world I would be living in from now on. There was no harm in deeply understanding the lives and culture of the NPCs of this era's Astria Continent.
The sub-quests included some directly related to leveling up, like 'kill a few monsters', but there were also many simple quests that could be done within the village.
From minor errands and letter delivery quests to ingredient farming quests, the variety was wide.
Today, I was doing one of the sub-quests available in Kirine Village.
However.
"I see why no one but the story enthusiasts does these."
[Kopopo Egg]
[Quest Item]
[Seems like it needs to be kept warm]
*Thump, thump.*
I was carrying an avian egg the size of my head.
Just a simple egg delivery. The reward was paltry, and the quest's purpose was completely unclear.
But most sub-quests were of this kind.
Regardless, since I'd decided to do it, I had to see it through with a sense of responsibility.
This 'Kopopo Egg Delivery' quest seemed simple at first glance, but it demanded a high level of concentration.
To succeed, I had to deliver the egg from the Kopopo farm on the outskirts of the village to a restaurant within, keeping it warm by heating it at braziers placed along the route. If the egg cooled down, the restaurant wouldn't accept it.
Why? Weren't they just going to cook it anyway?
There were many things I wanted to question, but since those were the instructions, I had no choice but to follow them.
The first brazier was just a little further. I just had to heat the egg there for five seconds, then pick it up and continue on my way.
*Plonk.*
While I was taking a short break after placing the egg on the first brazier.
*Whoosh!*
"Ah."
The Kopopo egg that had been on the brazier suddenly vanished.
In my view, I saw a player snatching my quest egg and scurrying away.
I stared blankly at the sight.
Why did he take it? It's just a quest item.
The blue-haired player, who looked like a human male, stood a short distance from my quest path, holding the egg and snickering.
*Please give it back.*
*I can't do the quest if you take that.*
I wanted to say that, but being extremely reluctant to talk to others, I couldn't bring myself to ask for it back.
It couldn't be helped. I didn't know what that player's motive was, but now that my egg was stolen, I had no choice but to go back to the Kopopo farm and get another one.
As I was heating the second egg at the brazier.
*Whoosh!*
The same player snatched the egg again and ran off.
"Ugh."
Tears welled up slightly in my eyes.
This made it clear. That player just wanted to bother people doing quests.
Standing in front of the brazier with a tearful face, I timidly glared at the player who had taken my egg.
"Hah."
The mean player suddenly gasped, then approached while avoiding my gaze and placed the egg back on the brazier.
"Ah."
For some reason, the egg was back.
I smiled brightly, picked up the egg, and moved on to the next brazier.
"Hmm. So a Kopopo is like a chicken on Earth."
Still, it wasn't like I gained no knowledge from doing these sub-quests.
During the era I was active in, the Astria Continent had a severe food shortage. The land was contaminated by demonic energy, making it difficult to grow anything other than a few highly adaptable crops.
The Kopopo was a species of flightless bird that grew almost to the size of a person. Would it be like a delicious ostrich on Earth?
The people of this era's Astria Continent had succeeded in domesticating the Kopopo. The skewered meat I first tasted upon arriving in Astria was also Kopopo meat.
On my way out to the plains after accepting a monster-slaying sub-quest in the village, I opened my messenger window.
[Yin-Yang Master 'Chris' (Online)]
-What are you up to, sis?
-Hunting in Roselia Forest!
I grinned at Chris's instant reply.
Lately, I'd been communicating with Chris like this from time to time.
Compared to my old self, who always had messages blocked, my communication skills had improved by leaps and bounds. Of course, I'd still turn them off while soloing dungeons.
Roselia Forest was a PvP field.
"Hunting" meant she was busy beating down the minions of the Betarion Empire.
I remembered the blue-haired human male player who had taken my egg earlier.
Judging by the Betarion Empire faction uniform he was wearing, his allegiance was clear.
Normal players usually took off their faction uniforms outside of PvP fields. A player who wore it even in a normal field was definitely a dedicated PvP player.
Chris, busy hunting people, must be occupied right now.
I left just one necessary message and closed the messenger window.
-Good luck, sis. And if you see a blue-haired player there, please punish him first.
"Alright."
Just like the Roselia Plains, the next elite dungeon in this Silva Plains region would probably be sealed.
There was no news of an elite dungeon being discovered yet, and since the game was starting to control the pace of content consumption, it was a safe bet.
There was no need to rush leveling up. I could just enjoy a leisurely adventure, refining my damage cycle and doing sub-quests.
The monsters commonly found in the Silva Plains were large, bipedal creatures. Ogres and trolls had high attack power and a lot of HP.
Still, the players who had made it this far were all battle-hardened veterans who had finished grinding at the forward base. They weren't pushovers who would fall to monsters of this level.
Having a lot of HP meant they were perfect training dummies for testing out my damage cycle.
I decided to test out my newly ranked-up skills one by one.
*Tat-tat-tat!*
I targeted an ogre in front of me as my prey and quickly closed the distance.
"Krrrk!"
*Fwoosh!*
The ogre, having noticed me, swung its massive club.
[Counterattack (C)]
[Move to the opponent's rear (8-second cooldown)]
[(D-Rank) Invincible during casting]
[(C-Rank) Switches to 'Blade Draw Stance' on use]
[Block (A)]
- Blocks attacks in a 180-degree arc in front.
- (A-Rank) A successful block within 0.2 seconds of skill use grants the 'Vitality' buff, increasing all damage for 10 seconds.
*Clang!*
I blocked the club with perfect timing, and the Vitality buff enveloped my body.
Using Counterattack, I instantly moved behind the ogre, simultaneously switching to Blade Draw Stance.
*Swish! Slash!*
"Kuaaaargh!"
*Thud.*
Riddled with slashes from a Vitality-buffed Starlight Slash, the ogre's HP was depleted in an instant, and it collapsed. Due to the long delay between its attacks, it couldn't even launch its next one.
"Huh."
I stared blankly down at the dead ogre.
Field monsters were no longer sufficient practice for my damage cycle. Even an ogre with high HP couldn't withstand a single rotation.
Perhaps because I had diligently used Counterattack on cooldown while fighting Galloban at the forward base, the skill's rank had increased.
The C-Rank Counterattack skill no longer had the 'Usable in Blade Draw Stance' condition; instead, it now had 'Switches to Blade Draw Stance on use'.
If used in Blade Draw Stance, it functioned the same as before.
If used in a normal stance, it switched to Blade Draw Stance.
In other words, I could now switch to Blade Draw Stance every 8 seconds without relying on Moonlight Slash. It had excellent synergy with the 10-second Vitality buff.
I just had to trigger the 0.2-second perfect guard every 10 seconds to get the Vitality buff, then maintain Blade Draw Stance, deflect attacks, and unleash maximum damage.
Swordsman was an easy and strong class.
It won't get nerfed, right?
*
[Title]
Today's haul from the Kirine Village Kopopo Egg quest.jpg (+92)
[Content]
(Image file)
Isn't this that kid? The first owner of the full Orc Warrior costume set, who got screenshotted in the Orc Forest.
I stopped by before heading to Roselia Forest for dailies and snatched the egg 'cause it was cute seeing them walk with it.
But they looked like they were about to cry, so I felt super guilty and gave it back;;;
[Comments]
- It's them alright lololol. Look how freaking cute they still are.
- Gasp... Gasp... lololol
- Wow, you're a real devil. How could you steal an egg from someone that cute?
- Are they actually a minor? Or just a small custom character? I wanna take them through a dungeon.
- Hey, you're from the Betarion Empire, right? Don't go to Roselia Forest for dailies right now. Chris is on a rampage. You'll lose all your raw mana stones.
ㄴOP has blue hair too. Blue hair is the main target. Chris goes nuts and charges the moment she sees a blue-haired character. She's practically a bull.