Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Dolls in a Forest?

'Actually, I'm not that young in mind.'

Ethan retorted silently after hearing the remarks of the old man. He was really 31 years old before he regressed.

He was offered to sit so he pick one of the sofas near the desk.

The old man only looks at Ethan and sighs afterward. Nevertheless, this lad was still his visitor so at least he offered an introduction.

"I'm Sergio Finas. As you can see, I'm a guild master of the adventurer guild in the Palak branch," he paused then asked the name of the young man in his front.

"I'm Samael. A seeker," Ethan responded curtly.

"A seeker, you say? So it makes sense why you're very confident, hmm..."

Sergio nodded at his response.

Seeker was a well-known being in this world. One of their traits was that they never die.

They'll resurrect again and again. In short, they're immortal.

That's why it was obvious to guess why this young man in his front was not afraid of taking his request.

"How much do you know about my problem?"

Sergio asked and Ethan answered immediately as if he was waiting for this question.

"The bartender in the downtown mentioned that a group of miners and personnel from the trade guild were attacked during an inspection at the mining site of this city.

"He also added that the son of the Adventurer's Guild master was included in casualties."

Ethan explained then give a side glance to the clenched fist of the old man.

Actually, he had lied about the fact of meeting the bartender.

That one encounter was needed to discover the quest related to the guild master.

But since he already knows how to trigger the quest, he skip that part, obviously, and went directly to this place.

"He said that the bodies of the casualties were never retrieved. So I presume that you need a person to retrieve the body, or maybe a memento from your son," Ethan continued.

"...You're correct. I'm no longer expecting a body from my son since it was a monster attack. Right now, I need a 'strong' person to retrieve anything, even a single shred of his clothes."

The old man said emphasizing the word, strong.

Ethan on the other didn't seem to bother about this tone and spoke again.

"If that's what you wish, I'm willing to take up your request, Guild master," he assured.

"Is that so... If may I ask, what's your current level lad?" inquired Sergio.

"Level 5."

As soon Ethan revealed his level, Sergio frown his face.

"Ha! Even if you're a seeker, you can't just waltz in the cave full of monsters with that level."

Sergio shakes his head in exasperation.

"You might be right," Ethan simply replied in a light chuckle.

'This is damn too long for just getting a quest!'

His cheeks were twitching but he still maintain his cool.

"But I have already a plan. Within this day, I'll complete your request, Guild master."

"However, even if you revived for so many times, it will be the same results. You're wasting your time."

"Guild master. You can trust me. Right now, I'm more knowledgeable than you," Ethan firmly reassured.

A sudden silence descended on both of them. After a while, Sergio slowly nodded his head.

"....Alright, if that's what you think. Even if it was just a sliver chance, I'm willing to put my hopes in you," Sergio finally put his trust in Ethan.

Ding!

[You have received a Unique quest.]

[Bring any things related to the Guild Master's son.]

Ethan heaves a sigh after finally receiving the quest. That took him so long.

"Then I'll go now, excuse me," he stands from the sofa and immediately bids farewell to the old man.

Descending on the first floor, there's still a long queue at the counter. Players of different races and professions can also be seen in the bulletin corner.

Ethan walks out of the building and goes to the trade center of the city. He went to stack his MP potions and buy some haste scroll.

After that, he didn't waste any time and started walking on the north corner of the busy street. Arriving outside the city gate, he can see a forest ahead of him.

That forest has no name, just a habitat for so many kinds of beasts. There's no limit on the level to what kind of monster living Inside.

But it was quoted by default that the deeper someone goes, the more vicious the monster is. So players in this time of the game can only hunt in the outskirts area.

Stepping on the meadow plain, Ethan increase his pace and directly went to the wilderness.

"What do you think, Goh?" Krilin asked the other person at his side.

He was one of the players who had noticed Ethan back in the Adventurer's Guild and had been following him ever since.

"No doubt about it. That guy must have got a hidden quest!" exclaimed the person with scaly features in his arms and neck. He was from the Dragnil race.

"I thought so too! It's from the guild master after all. Should we loot him, bro?" asked Krilin.

He was confident they can easily kill Ethan since their group had currently 5 people and their level was already level 6.

"You moron! Quest wasn't a loot. It won't transfer even if we killed him now," Goh quickly jab Krilin for being stupid.

"Let's follow him and see what he does next. Maybe his quest was related to a secret place. When that time comes, we could get benefits from it," he continued.

Upon the agreement of the others, they started to tail Ethan at a considerable distance.

Since they have a person from the elf race in their group, they were not afraid of losing track of their target.

Just like the demon race's talent of mana blood, the elven race had also one unique talent.

When they were inside the forest, their PRC attribute would increase to 20%. Hence, the elven race usually excels in tracking and hunting in the wild.

After several minutes of trodding inside, the group was still on the tail of Ethan. Though the route has so many dangerous 'Den' and 'Roam' monsters, they're still eagerly following him.

In contrast, they become excited about this since the situation only adds to their assumption that Ethan would certainly go to a secret place.

"Hm, why did you stop Friez? Did something happen?"

Goh asked when their guide suddenly stopped moving.

"Ah, it's nothing boss. It's just that, aside from the guy we've been following until now. I can also feel a presence that was coming to us," replied the elf.

"It's a monster then?"

Upon hearing the words of their guide, the group instantly turns into a battle stance, brandishing their weapons.

They glared at the bushes in their front. Since they already traversed a little deeper in the forest, they're always cautious about meeting a stronger monster in this place.

After a while, a 'thing' suddenly stepped out from the bush thicket.

"Eh... a doll?"

The group simultaneously tilted their heads in confusion.

The build and the movement of the doll were not the same as a monster. They can also see it was really made from cloth.

They breathed a sigh of relief when they realized it was just a doll.

They don't even wonder why such a thing exists in the middle of the forest.

Goh picked up the adorable doll that was now on their flank. However, the moment his hands touched its body, a blinding light suddenly occurred.

It was then they realized that it was wrong to pick up dolls in a forest.

BOOM!!

Birds in the treetops flap their wings to avoid the explosion.

But the group of tailers is perfectly caught up by it.

Three of them instantly died. Goh with his strong constitution was barely alive along with his Dragnil companion.

However, their HP would not last long either since it was continuously depleting because of burn damage.

They scream in pain and frustration.

After a while, the forest was back to a quiet place.

A single silhouette arrived at the spot where the explosion occurred.

It was Ethan.

He scanned the surroundings and then nodded his head seemingly satisfied with the results.

"Even a level 6 Dragnil was killed. I might be underestimating the explosivity of my doll, huh," he muttered then bend to scope the dropped items on the ground.

When a player was killed on the field, severe punishment was waiting for them.

Aside from a random drop of items, a decrease of two levels was also implemented.

When a player died inside the dungeon, however, only 50% of experience was cut and the other punishment of dropping an item is omitted.

That's why it was very important to avoid being killed when roaming in the wild unless a player was inside a dungeon or other instances.

Ethan checks the new status in his head. He killed five people even though he wasn't attacked. So obviously, he'll get a status of orange.

Orange, red, dark red, and black.

That was the level of status when it comes to player killing.

"Oh, and there's also an achievement if a player would kill a certain number of people," he remembered.

In Utopia, all things are balanced. Doing evil things or being a good gracious hero have special benefits.

Ethan remembers that there was one time a PK player become a multi-millionaire because of continuously killing people...it was a good profession.

"Well, I'll just erase this thing after doing the quest."

Ethan nonchalantly said and walks away from the spot.