Chapter 16 – Hub and Bad Quests

Horizon Online's Hub was a special facility for the players to come together. In a way, the Hub was just a larger airship anchored to flying islands in the sky.

It had many functions and was also designed specifically for comfort. It had restaurants and cafes around the main street as well as bars on a separate block from the other buildings.

One could even buy a room in the Hub, which would lead to a private space. Players could do some social activities in the Hub, different when they were in the Lobby.

Many daily and weekly quests were also available at the Hub. Finishing the quest would give rewards ranging from Nar to equipment.

Some exclusive quests were also available here. But this one was pretty rare though as usually only high level quests were exclusive ones.

"To the Hub, please!" Ferin said to the NPC in the airport responsible for the ticket sale and received two tickets from him after paying 50 Nar each.

Atlas and Ferin didn't have the teleportation or the Hub pass yet. Only by reaching Level 20 and finishing a certain quest would they receive them. They worked to teleport players directly to the Hub and enter the Hub without paying, respectively.

They climbed into the airship and waited until it arrived at the Hub after a few minutes of flight. Once it landed at the Hub, they got out of the airship and jumped into the Hub.

No one was here yet aside from them and the NPCs, mainly because its existence wasn't known to players yet. Thus, no one came here at this time.

After all, players at this time would be busy exploring the world or grinding in the field. But in a few days, the Hub would be bustling with players every hour of every day, especially after they finished a certain quest called 'Sky Hub' available at the Guild Hall in the middle layer of Rudina City.

"What kind of quests are available here, I wonder?" Ferin murmured to herself as they entered the Hub. There were many NPCs lining up along the sides of the large flying ship.

"Hmm, if there is a weekly quest, we can complete them for reputation and easy EXP." Atlas suggested as they walked side by side. 

"I really like the Quest Board mechanic that allows us to take quests regardless of our affiliations. In the Guild Hall, we can only get a few quests if we're not affiliated in any guild." Ferin spoke with an excited smile on her face while hopping around happily like a little kid, her bunny ears flopped around because of the movement.

Before long, they arrived at the quest board, which was located at the center of the Hub and affixed with the mast of this flying ship.

The Quest Board was just a large paper attached on top of a wooden wall that had 50+ quests listed on them. Most of them were daily quests that offered Nar rewards from 250-5o0 Nar per quest. While some others were weekly quests that offered equipment like Iron Sword and a pair of Iron boots as a reward on top of the money.

"Aw, most of them are daily quests. So boring." Ferin pouted cutely while scrolling the menu that appeared once they were near the quest board. "There are only two weekly quests. And the rewards are shit compared to what we can get in the field."

Atlas also scrolled through the quest list, looking at the rewards and the types of them.

"Hmm, that's true. One give out a [Common] Sword, but it's worse than your current one. While the other only gives us 3 Middle HP Potions and 500 Nar." He tilted his head as he analyzed them further. "Let's not take this kind of quest unless we are desperate."

"Ugh, right!" She nodded with an annoyed face. "I want to report to the developer if this is a bug or what! It's just wrong for daily and weekly quests to have shitty rewards."

"Well, they must have their reasons." Atlas shrugged as he took his hand off the screen. "All games are not perfect, especially since this is just the opening day. I hope they change the reward soon. Let's just go hunt and get some materials to create Level 20 equipment."

"Mhm, okay!" Ferin also did the same as Atlas and stopped touching the menu screen.

After checking out the Quest Board, they left the Hub and returned to Rudina City.

Rudina City was located in a warm place where there was always sunny weather and not a single cloud in sight, making it a perfect place for farming crops and lazing around in a park.

Not all places in Horizon Online had good weather like this, and one might have to travel through many cities and fields before finding this kind of climate.

The climate was also varied based on the area, where some were just warm and sunny while some were cold with snow falling almost every day. 

There were also areas with everlasting rain and tornado storms, and the worst case was volcano eruptions raining down magma on players' heads.

Although these areas were limited, one had to be careful when traveling around the world because of it. But no one would really care about that though, because it added to the game's beauty and challenge.

"What should we hunt?"

Walking through the plateau road outside the city, Ferin asked while holding her favorite sword with a bright smile on her face. She was obviously excited to fight monsters.

Atlas followed her while swinging his new Fireball staff, inspecting its stats one more time.

[Fireball Staff (Rare)

Class Requirement: Mage

Level Requirement: 10

Attribute Requirements: INT 20

INT +5

Magic Damage increase 5%

Effect: Skill - Fireball

– Fireball (Lv 5): Launch a ball of fire at a target. Damage scales with MAG x 2.5 [0 MP, 4 seconds cooldown]

Description: A staff with Skill Fireball enhanced to it, perfect for a beginner Mage.]

Atlas sighed at his Level 10 Rare staff and shook his head. Even though the effect was decent, it could be better.

'At least this staff allows me to use Lv 5 Fireball without using any MP.'

After some calculations in his head, Atlas responded to Ferin's question.

"I'm not sure about what monster, but we can try hunting the Lizardmen in the nearby swamp."