Daily Quest Grind

Daily quests... What the hell am I even doing here?

I opened my eyes, and the same tedious scenery filled my vision. The weather was always a bit overcast, the wind blowing from the northwest, and the sun shyly peeking over the horizon like it was late for its own dawn. Merchants who had set up shop since early morning were hawking their wares to every passing customer. Rusty daggers sat next to gleaming longswords polished to a shine, basking in the warm sunlight. Travelers bought weapons that fit their bodies and potions with all sorts of scents before heading to the battlefield. The merchants who'd made a killing that day had smiles stretching ear to ear.

On the other hand, there was one unique merchant meditating quietly in the corner, not hawking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at all. I could only approach the cute fox-eared girl after everyone else had left.

"Give me this one."

"Sluuuuurp? Don't get the wrong idea—I'm not asleep! Hm? You sure about this item?"

The fox girl hastily wiped the drool running down to her chin and handed me the shoes I'd pointed to. She quickly brushed off the mud from the boots with her hands. I pressed five silver coins into her fluffy palm.

"Fill the rest with potions."

She only dealt in low-grade health potions anyway, so without hesitation, she added four purple-flasked vials to the bag. Of course, she wouldn't miscount, but habit made me check the number inside. As I slipped on the smelly boots, the foxkin admired the silver coins in her hand, turning them this way and that, letting out a weird "Hoooe~" sound effect.

Now she'd probably ask if that wrapped up the deal.

"Traveler! Do you need any other ite@#!& ##!%&%@&?"

But instead of that, an unpleasant noise assaulted my eardrums. I turned around, and there it was—the source, right in front of me.

What the hell? Get lost. I thought you'd left earlier—why are you back here?

I kept ignoring it, and the spiky little turtle started getting pissed.

The spiky turtle in front of me was a player who'd be with me for the next 30 minutes in this game. But all his voice and chat were censored, so nothing reached me. No matter how mad you get, I can't understand a word you're saying.

He kept yapping after that too, but I ignored ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him and pushed on with the secret quest for my title.

Luck was on my side today. All three quests were non-combat missions—collecting wall paintings. Plus, the 50-painting one was way easier than other 3-star quests. In short, it was a chill game. I had no idea why they'd add secret quests like this to a 5v5 battle game, but...

At least they only showed up after the game ended. If everyone could see them from the start like me, it'd be a world of abusers and trolls. Angry players like that guy would just quit.

Persistent little shit. Looked ready to stalk me forever. But once the game timer hit a minute, the turtle huffed off into the forest.

Our team's comp wasn't great even if I'd joined properly. Without me at all, it'd end even faster. Felt like this mission had a tight time limit. Wasted time staring down that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turtle. In a rush, I hurried down the side path opposite him.

The 50 wall paintings in the battlefield were said to spawn randomly, but actually, they generated at 256 fixed points following certain rules. Not fully random, so checking my 10 pre-known spots first let me map them all out.

Key spot: the third central fortress. No painting here meant high chance it was in enemy territory. If the team got pushed hard, 3-star was impossible.

Click.

Luckily, there it was. That meant I could route straight from west forest to south forest and hit 40 easy. Good luck today.

Just as hopeful thoughts hit, the battlefield system alert rang out. Didn't know details, but it meant we were getting crushed.

Dashing orderly through the forest, I ran into that turtle more often. Felt rude ignoring without a wave, so I raised my hand in greeting.

Still couldn't understand it, but he glared at me with a super pissed face. Who knew turtles could scowl like that?

Click.

Game clock at 25 minutes. Surprisingly, turtle buddy was carrying—his KDA was 12/3/5. Mine: 0/0/4.

Troll penalties got stricter lately. Even early fights didn't save you if you didn't contribute to late-game teamfights, or AI flagged you. Aimed at jungle-only emo players or solo-pushers. But focusing on teamfights? They overlooked that. Worked for me—join fights when needed, just tag in.

Would've helped if dragged too long, but despite turtle's efforts, it was one-sided. At respawn in spawn village, teammates glared, then panted off to defend the nexus. No miracle.

Nexus fell. Armed holy knights lined up. Even the foxkin who'd sold me boots was helplessly bound and dragged away.

"Did you really give it your all...?"

Her max defiance was just teary eyes. Game or not, it was heartbreaking. But game was game. Back to reality.

Warped to waiting room with post-game stats. Common there: everyone pissed. Soon as I arrived, presumed teammates rushed me.

VR anyway, no physical contact possible, so just verbal. But I was invincible to words too. Shame I couldn't tell them.

Stats useless anyway. Confirmed title awarded normally, then bailed.

True to name: my private space. Tiny 3-pyeong room with bed, table, chair. Sparse junk made it feel airy. Especially the plain white walls, no patterns.

"Gonna drive me insane."

Might already be. No time to waste. Sell title, queue next game.

Riot Games didn't support player auctions—"rice-eating" content. But people did it anyway. My only outside link: illegal title market via this Chinese VR capsule. Mystery genius hacker set up server for trading titles. No big in-game impact, hard to catch, so company ignored it.

Market ~3,000 won, up to 5,000 if lucky. Not bad. Covered most electricity, now just food. Daily electric ~4,000 won, mana tax ~30,000 won, food fixed 30,000 won. Avg 3k per game: min 20 games, worst 23.

Dizzy thinking more games after one. Barely flopped onto not-so-soft bed. If asked why 30k food with no money, I'd say proudly: mana potions.

Learned post-arrival: humans survive fine on purified mana alone. Wild in mana-less or pre-science worlds, but here... Capsule sells mana potions as paid service for full-timers. Pricey as hell.

Last real food? "Want chicken."

Body relaxing, random thoughts hit. Like what daily quests and grunt work have in common. Faded memories, but that desperation lingered: skip today, starve tomorrow. Daily quests exactly that.

Am I better off? "What do you think, Mom?"

Gripped sleeping woman's hand beside me. Mother-daughter crammed on tiny bed—ridiculous if seen. But warm hand, soft touch all fake? That's the real joke.

"Did you want me surviving like this?"

No answer. No sound at all. Even breaths luxury in this barren room? Avatars breathed like real bodies. But her diaphragm never rose.

"Really gonna go insane."

This life, Mom died ~5-6 years ago. Me, 7 years locked in capsule since birth, weirdly cohabiting with corpse.