The Apostle's Medal

Ancient God Astel let out a massive sigh of frustration, but unfortunately, his cries didn't reach the dwarves.

"Human! Why the hell are you doing this to us?!"

"What did we do wrong to deserve you hounding us like this... Ugh!"

"Mikhail! You okay?!"

The dwarf called Mikhail had a nasty gash on his right leg.

He'd done some emergency bandaging, but blood was still seeping through, so it was clear he needed proper treatment.

Maybe because of that, their attitudes were razor-sharp, like wounded animals growling. Carpe decided to wait for them to calm down a bit.

They were way too worked up for any real conversation anyway.

Are these really the dwarves who give the quest? Their vibe right now... I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled a knife on me.

-That's the challenge of this quest. You gotta earn their trust first before the real one unlocks.

How do I earn trust?

-With a quest, obviously.

What the... Now quests have stages too?

If you earn our recognition, we'll give you an amazing quest! Oh, and here's a separate one just to prove it!

It was absurd, but a classic RPG trope.

The NPC begging for help turns into the boss, and the player doing the favor becomes the underling. That role reversal was the world of RPGs.

-You saw it earlier in front of Fergus's forge on Forge Street. Players begging NPCs to give them quests.

Yeah... If the rewards are good, you gotta suck it up.

For items and EXP, gamers had to cater to NPC whims.

Gamers were tragic creatures like that.

"You filthy human scum! Get lost!"

How do you appease a wounded, snarling NPC?

Carpe tried the textbook approach first.

"Looks like there's a misunderstanding. I'm not your enemy, so no need to be on guard. That wound looks bad—here, let me heal it with a potion..."

"Like we'd fall for that! It's probably poisoned. The food that last human gave us was laced too!"

"..."

Carpe's attempt crashed and burned. The dwarves' distrust of humans was beyond his imagination.

Tough even to talk to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them... What would you do, hyung?

-Back in the second-to-last playthrough? I unequipped all my gear to show I was harmless, knelt there for two hours, then cut my own arm, poured half the potion on it to prove no poison, and gave them the rest.

...

-And that wasn't even the end. Once they eased up a bit, they'd say they were hungry and send you foraging, then test your strength by making you hunt like 100 monsters. Repeat that crap a few times, then they give the real quest. Man, power-tripping at its finest.

Damn, that intense?

Cheonma nodded like it was obvious at Carpe's question.

-Tsk tsk. You wouldn't get it, you lucky bastard. How much sweat goes into every item for normal players! Everyone else grinds like that for scraps—not everyone gets heaven's handouts like you!

...Why're you suddenly pissed?

-As a rep for average luck plebs, I can vent at freeloaders! Ugh, revolution brewing.

...

Carpe waited for Cheonma to cool off, then asked again.

So what's the final reward worth all that?

-Hero item at level 80 cap, or Unique if you're lucky.

Hmm, solid rewards, sure.

Of course, that was relative to normal players.

It'd make average gamers sell their souls, but Carpe wasn't desperate.

Guaranteed Unique might tempt me... Tough call. Any linked hidden quests?

-Not that I know of.

Hmm.

While Carpe pondered, the dwarves kept growling.

Yeah. Pass.

He was busy hunting enemy mithril and upgrade mats anyway.

If it was quick, maybe—but no way he'd burn time and energy for a Hero item.

Just as Carpe firmed up his resolve to leave—

Astel started peeking at Carpe's mood.

He had to make Carpe his apostle somehow, but his own worshippers were baring fangs...

No wonder he was exploding.

And thanks to that shout, Carpe remembered something.

"Oh, wait a sec..."

When he'd met Astel in the divine realm, hadn't he gotten something?

Right—a palm-sized medal. No special powers, but Astel called it his sacred relic.

That clicked. Carpe pulled it from his inventory and showed the dwarves.

"Hey, you guys know anything about th—"

"Gasp?!"

"Wh-whoa!"

The dwarves' attitudes flipped instantly.

They gawked at the medal and Carpe's face, eyes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wide in disbelief.

About 10 seconds later—

"We greet the Ancient God's apostle!"

"Slay us, please!"

Thud!

They slammed their foreheads to the ground.

"...Udyr-level pivot."

-God's relic from a tribal deity. Packs a punch.

Ignoring their reopened wounds, they kept kowtowing. Carpe rushed over to stop them.

"You get I'm not the enemy now, right? Treat those wounds first. Potion here."

"Urgh! Thank you, Apostle."

"It's temporary apostle, technically..."

"Temporary or not, the fact you've earned His recognition means we dwarves trust you completely."

And right then—

"...Whoa."

-...What the hell was my suffering back then?

Cheonma sounded extra glum.

"First, allow us to introduce ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ourselves. I'm Gis of the Red Anvil Tribe, and this is Mikhail."

"Ah, yeah. Nice to meet you. Carpe."

"An honor to know your name, Apostle. To think the one absent for centuries would choose a human as apostle..."

Gis stared at Carpe's face repeatedly.

No suspicion—just pure wonder.

"You seem in a bind. Mind sharing the details?"

"Sigh. It's a long story..."

Gis began explaining.

It started five years ago with the Red Anvil Tribe's next chief.

The chief was a top-tier artisan among dwarves.

With skills backed by character and passion, the tribe had thrived like never before.

But his one flaw: curiosity and zeal too intense.

'We're the finest artisans, but the world's vast. Stagnant water rots—I'll see the human world and learn their crafts!'

The tribe flipped out at his declaration.

They begged him not to trust greedy humans, but he wouldn't budge.

They tried sending escorts, but the chief—master artisan and warrior—insisted on going alone.

So he set off for the human world.

"We were too complacent. We traded with humans sometimes, so we thought it'd be fine."

But the chief, who went to study human tech, never returned.

Year after year—five years passed before they realized something was wrong.

"Mikhail and I came to the human lands to find him."

Lunderia Federation.

The nation famed for advanced tech.

They figured their chief would visit here.

And they were right.

"A high-ranking human confirmed he'd been here—and was researching deep in the mine."

Gis and Mikhail tried entering the mine, but the noble stopped them.

"How could we trouble guests? My men will fetch him—rest up."

"Urgh. All lies, in hindsight."

Grateful, they stayed and crafted gifts.

But days passed—no chief.

They pressed, but got "He's deep inside; it'll take time."

"We couldn't wait anymore and sneaked into the mine ourselves..."

"And?"

"That's when we were attacked and had to hide. Sob! Apostle, please help us!"

-...This is off-script. Totally different from what I remember.

Wait, really? What hap—

And then—

"Holy... "

-What the fuck. An Epic quest here?!

Carpe stepped onto the stage of a world-altering epic.