Chapter 6

As Jhin left the forest, he was wondering whether he had indeed failed to continue the hidden quest.

If so, then he had gambled away a very precious item.

This realization made him slightly bitter but...

'Such is the way of life.' He thought as he walked on the dirt path that led to the village.

Maybe it was by chance that he triggered that hidden quest since he didn't know what conditions he had done in order to trigger it.

In any case, as regretful as it was, he did not linger on that thought for too long since it was useless to think of regretting something that was already done.

After all, he already knew several locations and quests that would reward him Revival Scrolls.

'But of course... I'll just kill her and retrieve it later on....'

For him, it wasn't impossible to kill and escape the feared guardian of the map. The annoying part is after he killed them, he would be stigmatized as a villain and is denied every entry to other cities and countries.

In any case, just knowing its existence is good enough for now.

Moving on to his next agenda, he should start leveling up and clearing the first dungeon.

[ Name: Hoarder Level: 1 (EXP: 32%)

Title: Adventurer's Will

Class: Rogue

HP: 380/380

MP: 370

Status: Healthy

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Strength: 32>38

Agility: 31>37

Intelligence: 31>37

Vitality: 32>38

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Available Attribute Points: 0

Available Skill Points: 7

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Active Skill(s):

-Oblivion Smite: Available

-Shinpo: Available

Passive Skill(s):

-Decay: Available ]

Looking at his exp progression, Jhin sighed helplessly at the reminder that leveling up in the game was truly brutal.

He had finished all the side quests in the game that rewarded experience points but even then, he could only get to 32%.

Just then, as he was nearing the village, he heard a small high-pitch voice calling from behind him.

"Mister wait!"

Realizing that it was Lily, a smile appeared on Jhin's face as he knew that he had won the gamble.

'Looks like I won't need to kill her after all.'

Jhin stopped and turned behind him where he saw Lily running towards him as fast as her little legs could take her.

Looking past her, Jhin noticed that Boots the cat was also running after her.

As Lily neared closer to him, she was too focused on Jhin's figure to the point that she didn't see a particularly large rock on the ground.

Consequently, this made her trip and stumble forward. "Ah!"

She closed her eyes as she felt herself falling downwards at great speed.

"Hn!

....?"

However, the expected pain didn't come as she felt a lean figure receiving her.

Looking upwards, she saw Jhin's gaze looking at her strangely as she was caught on his chest.

"What's wrong, Lily?"

Jhin was glad that his stats had improved otherwise, he would have failed to catch her since she tripped several meters away from him.

"Oh uhm..." Lily grew flustered by the unexpected events and Jhin's charming face at close proximity made it even harder for her regain her composure.

"Lily?" Jhin gently put Lily down as the latter seem to avoid his gaze.

Understanding that she wanted to say something, Jhin patiently waited for her next words.

Lily took several deep breaths to stabilize her breathing since she had been running all the way towards Jhin. With small beads of sweat dripping down her soft plump cheeks, She took one last deep breath before looking at Jhin with a determined gaze.

"Mister!"

"Yes?"

She stepped closer to him and with an eager face, she said, "Mister! Could I join you on your adventure?!"

For the first time in a very long time, Jhin's thoughts were shown on his face as he uttered, "...What?"

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"Mister, I would like to join you on your adventure!" Lily repeated.

Jhin took a second to get rid of his confusion anf focusing back on the conversation.

Just as he was about to ask why, a game notice appeared in front of him.

[Lily would like to join your Party. Accept or Decline?]

Normally, when a player requests to join a party, his or her request would be limited for a minute. This was so that players' vision would not be bombarded with party requests in the case where multiple wanted to join his or her party.

However in this case, There was no time limit.

This meant that this is an important event wherein his choice would make a significant impact.

He didn't know how or where the impact would occur but what he did know is that it would affect him.

Jhin took a moment to think about the current situation.

He knew that NPCs could join a player's party but this was a very, very, rare case in which it is necessary or required for the NPC to patricipate on the quest the player is completing.

Which was why Jhin was currently confused. There was no indication of any quest nor did he have any ongoing quest.

'This means that the hidden quest can only be continued with her by my side. If so...'

Seeing that Jhin was taking too long to respond, Lily became anxious and spoke, "Lily will do anything to join Mister! Lily will even carry all of Mister's stuff!"

'We have inventory so we don't even need to carry bags.' Jhin thought inwardly before turning to the desperate little girl and asked, "Why do you want to join me? Is there any place you want to go to or is there any goal you wish to achieve?"

Lily's tensed face softened as she heard Jhin respond. She answered truthfully, "The reason Lily wants to come with mister because Lily wishes to be important to mister?"

"...Huh?" For the second time, Jhin's thoughts appeared on his face as he couldn't understand Lily's answer.

Seeing the confusion on Jhin's face, Lily became disheartened and asked solemly. "Is that... not possible after all?"

"No it's just..." What are you talking about? Jhin questioned inwardly.

Jhin coughed and restated his question. "Are you sure of your reason? You must know that in order to achieve my goal, I am going to go through an incredibly harsh and arduous road but even so, are you sure about it?"

Looking at Jhin's grave and scary look, Lily took a deep breath and refused to be intimidated.

With great courage, she met his eyes in determination and answered, "Yes!"

Jhin lightly scoffed for a second and looked on the path behind her. Without meeting her gaze he said, "Do you have any stuff you wish to bring? If so, then bring gather them now."

Then, A sweet bright smile blossomed on Lily's face as she almost jumped in joy after hearing Jhin's words.

She enthusiastically shook her head and showed him the small sack she kept behind her. "Nope! All of Lily's clothes are in this bag and.. Lily's only important item is this amulet..."

Jhin glanced at Lily's small bag for a moment before nodding and standing up. "Very well. If you are ready then let us go."

Saying these words, He turned and proceeded to walk.

"Yes!" Lily nodded happily and followed behind him.

Jhin decided that allowing Lily to join his party would bring no demerits nor would it affect his plans.

Which is the main reason he accepted Lily's intention to join despite not completely believing her intentions.

'Because you want to become an important person to me?' Jhin scoffed in his mind.

Out of all the excuses or reasons he heard in his life, that was somewhere on the top 10 bullshit he had ever heard.

At the same time however, another reason he accepted is because he found NPCs more trustworthy than other players so he was alright with her joining his party.

Jhin pressed on the "Accept" option and on the top left corner of his vision, where could see his HP and MP bar, another bar appeared below it.

From there, he can tap on it to show some options he could do to Lily.

[ Party Member: Lily Class: None

➤ View Character Information

➤ Kick from the Party

➤ Add as friend

➤ Whisper

➤ Request a Trade

➤ Give a like (20 Left for the day) ]

He chose to view Lily's character information.

[ Name: Lily Level: 1 (EXP: 0%)

Title: None

Class: None

HP: 40/40

MP: 50/50

Status: Healthy

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Strength: 4

Agility: 3

Intelligence: 5

Vitality: 4

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Available Attribute Points: 0

Available Skill Points: 0

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Active Skill(s):

N/A

Passive Skill(s):

N/A ]

From what Jhin knows about NPCs is that aside from not having the ability to respawn like players, an NPC is similar to a player in every other way.

They can level up, earn titles and achievements, trade, earn a class and skills, etc.

However, once an NPC dies, they will die permanently.

But at the moment, Jhin didn't need to worry about it since now he was technically in possession of Lily's incredible necklace.

While he was within his thoughts, a ringing noise resounded in his head followed by the appearance of a game notice.

Ding! Ding!

[You have completed the achievement: "NPC for a party member?"

Condition: Successfully invite an NPC into your party.

+1 Points to all base stats ]

Jhin wondered if by taking away Lily, her quest would no longer be available. While her quest didn't have any rewards, it was still one of the necessary quests in order to complete the condition and unlock the special achievement: "A helpful fellow."

Will the achievement no longer be achieveable or will the game remove Lily's quest and maybe even replace it?

Either way, Jhin no longer cared about it since he had already taken what he wanted. What happens to others did not concern him.

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The sun has long set when they entered the village. The moon shined brilliantly in the night skies as it was accompanied by magnificent sea of stars.

The ambience of the night sky was a million times better than the ones on earth which was understandable considering that this place was designed by Gods.

The pathways were lit up by wooden poles of torches but the bussling noise and energy of players did not dissipate despite the poor lighting the Village offered.

Walking along the path, Jhin asked the little girl beside him. "Now that I think about it, How did you lose Boots?"

He glanced at the cute heterochromic eyed cat behind Lily. "And why is he following obediently behind you now?"

Lily also glanced at the cat before answering Jhin. "Truthfully, Lily does not understand why Boots decides to disappear from time to time..."

"Usually, Boots is a behaved cat who would always stay with Lily. He always stood by Lily's side which was why Lily was able to not feel sad and lonely.

She crossed her arms and continued in a dejected tone. "But nowadays, he would disappear from time to time but then recently he had been missing for more than a week which is why Lily started asking for help."

She turned to Jhin and smiled. "Thankfully, Mister helped Lily. Boots' current attitude must also mean that Lily's journey with mister is meant to be."

"Is that so..." Jhin didn't believe in things such as fate or destiny. What he did believe however, is that Lily joined him for another reason.

A reason that he knows is different from what she said earlier.

At the same time, he glanced suspiciously at the heterochronic eyed cat who was following them.

He had a feeling that this cat was not as it seems.

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Eventually, they arrived in an establishment with an open and wide field.

Over a hundred of practice dummies were planted and symmetrically seperately positioned within the field.

This place is called the [Training Ground]. It was place where players and some NPCs train their skills.

Lily scanned the place curiously before following after Jhin who approached one of the training dummies.

"What are we doing here, Mister?" Lily asked.

Jhin didn't answer Lily and went closer to the training dummy. Just then, a game window appeared in front of them.

It was a long list of weapons which varied from melee weapons, long ranged weapons, dual-wields, and more.

Jhin turned to Lily and said, "Starting from the top all the way towards the bottom, you are to try all the weapons."

Without hesitation, Lily answered, "Yes!" and walked closer to the training dummy as a wooden sword appeared on her hand.

Jhin nodded in satisfaction and stood on the side.

For the next few hours, Jhin proceeded to teach Lily the basics of each weapons. Naturally, Jhin didn't expect for Lily to learn the basics perfectly within that short amount of time.

Instead, he used this chance to observe Lily's nature in terms of combat. He continued to observe until he had a full understanding of her weakness, tendencies, strengths, and many more traits of Lily.

In the end, after eight hours of non-stop trial of various weapons, Jhin's cold voice resounded in the training ground.

"Again."

The sun has long risen up and its heat landed directly on top of the open field.

On the other hand, A little girl was in a pitiful state as she panted heavily while wiping away the sweat that accumulated on her face.

Her jade white skin face became rosy as she desperately gasped tried to catch her breath.

She wanted to respond to Jhin's orders but she failed to do so since her mouth had long dried up.

However, not once within those hours of trial did she complain nor look at Jhin with a hateful gaze. Her eyes of determination remained as it did in the beginning.

So in response to Jhin's order, she wordlessly raised her weapon once more with her small trembling arms.

Players who were at the Training Ground at the time were whispering among each others as they watched over Jhin and Lily.

"Hey... isn't that child abuse?" One of them said.

"Probably... They've been here earlier than me and I've already been her for six hours." Another replied.

"Wait, what?! Then shouldn't we stop them?"

"No. I don't want to mess with that guy. He seems like the guy who would PK."

"Coward!" The former cursed but after seeing the cold gaze one Jhin's eyes, He murmured reluctantly, "I suppose we could report him..."

The latter snorted and said, "I've already done that much earlier than you. Besides, why should we even care? It's not like it's our business, is it?"

The former turned to the latter. "But! Don't you even feel a little sympathy for the child?"

"Not at all."

Much like these two players, the others did not bother Jhin and Lily. Some thought it would be better to simply record this and report it to the game masters.

However, not one of them approached to help the pitiful little girl who seemed to be struggling under the orders of that cold man.

Initially, they thought that these two were a pair of NPCs and they approached them thinking that there was a new available quest.

However, they were met with complete ignorance. Both Jhin and Lily treated them as if they were air.

Lily on the other hand, approached the target dummy and completed a set of attacks while trying to follow the proper form she was taught.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The stone flail hit the training dummy in succession but the rebound of the hit was too much for Lily's small arms.

In the end, she failed to do the final hit which was to hit the training dummy on its head.

After missing her final shot, Lily's eyes irises tilted upwards as she lost consciousness.

Jhin caught her before she fell to the ground. He didn't mind her drenched in sweat clothes wetting his arms.

[ Name: Lily Level: 1 (EXP: 0%)

Title: None

Class: None

HP: 12/40

MP: 50/50

Status: Overfatigued (-80% Overall stats)

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Strength: 4>1

Agility: 3>0.8

Intelligence: 5>2

Vitality: 4>1

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Available Attribute Points: 0

Available Skill Points: 0

-

Active Skill(s):

N/A

Passive Skill(s):

N/A ]

Although players like Jhin were not affected by statuses like hunger, thirst, and fatigue, this did not apply to NPCs.

Jhin only found this out now when he pushed Lily to her limits. Her small arms were still trembling and her palm was filled blisters.

She still kept taking sharp breaths while in her unconscious state however, not a trace of sympathy could be seen from Jhin's eyes.

But even so, as unfeeling as his face seemed, he still carried her in his arms and proceeded to exit the Training Grounds.

Jhin didn't care about all the recordings the other players made since unless he allowed it, his face and username will remain blurred.

Seeing the mysterious man leave the Training Grounds with the little girl in his arms, The onlookers began to talk amongst themselves once more.

Discussing various things and making speculation about the mysterious man and the small girl.

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Jhin entered a tavern where sets of round tables were placed around the room. NPCs with various jobs sat beside the round tables, enjoying the merry atmosphere of the tavern.

His entrance gathered the attention of the costumers, particularly because he was carrying an unconscious child.

The room turned dead silent where Jhin's steps could only be heard inside the room with many customers.

Jhin stopped on the counter where an elderly woman stood. She had a surprised face as she recognized the child on the man's arms.

"I-isn't that... Lily?" She said with an aged voice.

Instantly, the faces of the NPCs inside the tavern changed as they all glared dangerously at Jhin's direction.