Epic Quest Unlocked

Cheonma furrowed his brow at the notification that an Epic-grade quest had appeared.

—...An Epic quest all of a sudden? There's a limit to how out-of-the-blue something can be.

The emergence of an Epic quest here was information even Cheonma, with over ten years in Last Savior, didn't know about.

—Normally, it'd just be a simple "find something for us" quest. That's it.

'And if you do that, they hand over a Hero or Unique item as a reward?'

—Yeah. And that's the end of it. As ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠far as I know, you're the first to trigger something like this.

Figuring out why this was the first time such a quest had ever appeared wasn't hard.

The quest condition explicitly stated: "Affinity with dwarves must be at maximum."

In Last Savior history, Carpe was the only player who'd ever achieved that!

'That's kinda surprising. Out of 500 million players, no one's ever maxed out dwarf affinity?'

—...It's because you play so abnormally. Grinding affinity, especially with other races, isn't easy.

Carpe had been playing for over two months now, meaning Last Savior had been out for about nine months.

It was a long time if you thought about it that way, but laughably short for maxing out affinity with NPCs.

—Around two years after launch, right? Some guy who was the first to max beastkin affinity posted a guide.

'Oh. He must've been a famous ranker.'

—Unfortunately, no. He wasted login time on NPC affinity, so his level was super low. Nickname was something like "Kanf" whatever... Anyway, he was famous as a weirdo.

According to that guide, grinding affinity with hostile non-human races required at least three hours a day—for about a year.

Not only did you handle all the chores, but you had to laugh and nod along to their boring stories, flattering them as much as possible.

It was basically volunteering as a slave. At that point, you started wondering if you were playing an RPG or filming Extreme Jobs: Isekai Edition.

And that was just for beastkin, who were only "somewhat" less hostile to humans—it took a year. For far more hostile races like elves or dwarves? The guide ended with "it's unimaginable."

'Ah, total noob. Elves are such a friendly race.'

—That's just you!

'Hmm. A whole year, huh. No wonder it took years for anyone to find it.'

—Yeah. Without abnormal events like saving the elf forest or holding an ancient god's medal, it's impossible.

In essence, this was a quest only Carpe—as the temporary apostle of the ancient god Astel—could undertake.

—The devs probably never imagined a hidden quest like this could trigger. Who'd predict some lunatic becoming a temporary apostle of an ancient god at level 65? And specifically the dwarves' ancient god, no less!

Cheonma kept grumbling, clearly annoyed by the quest he'd never heard of popping up.

—This is exactly that trope from game fantasy novels. The monitoring ops team freaks out: "T-Team leader! Big trouble! Epic quest activated!!" And then the team leader's like, "What? A quest that's not supposed to start for a year? You drunk bastard, I told you not to drink on the job!"—classic cliché, roasting the newbie.

—Then the team leader realizes it's real: "Damn it! We're screwed! No one goes home until we monitor this player!" ...Wait, isn't that weird? Quests are made to be cleared—why's it such a crisis when one triggers?

'...Bro, did you fall asleep reading game forums last night? You're rambling out of nowhere.'

But hearing that made Carpe curious too.

'Does Last Savior even have monitoring GMs?'

—Who knows. Nothing's public about the ops team, so probably only they know.

'If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they do, I'm probably flagged as an abnormal player by now.'

—Maybe. But don't sweat it. I played just as abnormally and nothing happened. No idea what these Last Savior devs are thinking with their game management.

'Hmm. What kind of outfit are they, really...'

As Carpe tilted his head at Cheonma's words, the dwarves bowed to him once more.

"Apostle, please help us."

"Ah, sure. Of course. I'll do everything I can."

"Ooh! Truly? We are grateful!"

"Then I'll go find your chief in this dungeon."

"To be honest, we've considered the possibility that the chief is already dead. If so, at least bring back any of his belongings."

—Ah, that's it. The quest I knew was just "find this item and bring it back."

For a normal player, it was a simple fetch quest—no backstory about Lunderia tribe chiefs, just grab some dead guy's stuff from the dungeon and done.

'...So that means the chief's already dead?'

—Probably. Finding the item won't be easy. This place is a pretty big dungeon despite appearances.

The Hymer Mine dungeon had five floors—not deep, but each floor was huge.

—And the item's position is pure RNG, so no strategy guide works. You just have to comb through every single inch...

"Apostle, take this."

Before Cheonma could finish, Gis held something out.

A small medal.

It was the exact same size and shape as the one Carpe had received from the dwarves' ancient god.

Just one difference.

The god's medal had engravings of a hammer and anvil, while this one had only the anvil.

"This is?"

"One of two treasures passed down in our tribe. We call them the Hammer Token and the Anvil Token."

Treasures of the tribe, but nothing too powerful.

They were just called treasures because they'd been bestowed by the god.

However, the two tokens were enchanted to be drawn to each other.

"Aha."

With that explanation, Carpe easily guessed Gis's intent.

"So the chief has the matching token."

"Yes. No reaction yet due to distance, but it'll respond as you get closer."

—...They didn't give me anything like that on my quest.

Cheonma grumbled, but it was only natural.

Why hand a tribal treasure to a human after a few quests?

Only an ancient god's apostle was trustworthy enough.

—That'll make it way easier. As expected from an apostle of the Freebie God—pure freebie power.

'At this point, I'm scared all these freebies will jinx me.'

Of course, that didn't mean he'd refuse.

As Carpe took the token, Gis spoke again.

"We'll trust you and wait outside. We'd love to help, but with Mikhail's condition..."

They'd patched him up, but Mikhail's wound was deep.

He could barely walk alone—no way to send him out solo.

"I think that's best too."

"Thank you. Apostle. And finally, this..."

Mikhail, who'd been silent, approached and offered a bracelet.

"I was going to give it as a reward if someone else took our request... But please use it well, Apostle."

Carpe grabbed Mikhail's hands firmly.

"Just leave it to me. I'll find every trace of your chief."

"Thank you. Truly."

Carpe escorted Gis and Mikhail to the dungeon entrance, then pressed deeper in.

—Others grind quests for rewards you get upfront. Is this even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a game?

"Heh. They give a Unique item just for accepting—god knows what clearing it gets. Epic quest, so maybe an Epic item? Wait, originally it was random Hero-to-Unique, so maybe this one's random Epic-to-Mythic?"

—Delusions like that are a sickness.

"Anyway, let's push fast. So many quests piling up."

Ore gathering, Blue Mithril's whereabouts, and now an Epic quest.

He'd come just to enhance some items, and suddenly got hit with a quest nuke.

—Some people beg for one...

"Guess I'm the quest-magnet type."

And even more the reward-magnet type. Carpe admired the Solid Rock Bracelet on his left wrist with a satisfied smile.

Carpe advanced through the mine again.

Bronze golem corpses littered the path—Gillian's handiwork, no doubt.

No big hauls, but he looted everything and pushed on.

Clang! Clang!

Soon, combat sounds ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠echoed from nearby.

"Ah, Gillian must be close. Hunting bronze golems... Huh?"

Carpe sensed something off mid-sentence.

The metallic clashes from afar felt... wrong.

—This is... sword-on-sword? Not sword-on-golem.

"Yeah?"

And obviously, bronze golems didn't wield swords.

"Bro, any other monsters here besides bronze golems?"

—Sure, but on other floors. Floor 1 is only golems.

So what was making that noise?

The answer came quick.

Gis had said: "We were attacked the moment we entered."

That combat ahead? Gillian versus the attacker. No doubt.

In other words, a clue to the Epic quest.

"On my way!"

Carpe bolted toward the sounds at full speed.