The Annoying Quest Debuff (Part 1)

A few weeks have passed and there is no sign of the General Monster. We end up exploring the whole dungeon but to no avail.

And right now, things took a different turn.

I don't know what is happening but it seems Vermil, Ren, and I are in deep trouble.

We are running from hordes of giant ant monsters reaching the numbers of several thousand. They reach around the height of a house.

[Giant Wood Ant

Level: 120 ]

Earlier, without warning, a cute sunflower with petals glimmering in gold casts a curse upon us.

Regardless, it was no ordinary monster. It just vanished completely after it cast its spell.

I think this place is teaching me that cute thing are bad.

Usually dealing with these ants is easy but all of us let our guard down, thus this has turned into a great challenge.

We are given a penalty - no reward quest debuff and it is the first time I encountered such a thing.

It's the worst debuff I have ever seen!

Not even our mind stats blocked it since it seems to be quite a high-level debuff.

[Debuff: Forced Ordeal!

-Comply with the demands in the allotted time to remove the debuff. Failure to comply means death.

Quest 1: Survive the great wood ants without killing even one ant. Using clones is not permitted!

Time remaining: 3 hours ]

We can easily annihilate these ants but the quest details are too damn specific!

Ugh, I can't use my clones this time, damn it!

This is tough!

Vermil and Ren are running with their lives. We can barely keep up at this pace and we may end up being their lunch.

We have been running for 2 hours after all. No matter where we go, they are found almost everywhere to intercept us. Worse, they can detect our presence so it's no use hiding.

"Ah! Damn it!" I then crouch and give my back to Vermil. "Vermil, here!"

She nods and hops on my back.

"Eh?! Hey, what about me." Ren speaks in confusion. He is now panicking.

"Sorry Ren, I'll come back for you later. I'll start with Vermil for now. Hehe."

I then aim at the tall stone formation and use [Silk Shooter] to pull myself up. I then swing across the air to find an elevated place for me and Vermil to stay.

***

[Ren]

"That kid!" I stomp my feet in annoyance.

I have to pay him back later.

I can't believe he just left me out here. I'm truly gonna hit him once I see him. Feeling the tremble of the ground I feel wary.

I run as fast as I can at great speed. I can easily outrun them since my endurance as a ghoul is limitless.

However, I may not be able to survive for long since they are all over the place. And right now, I just remember someplace where I can escape from them completely. I then run in that direction.

It took me a while but I am close.

However, the ants catch up to me. The closest to me lunges its sharp mandibles. I block yet I got pushed away.

I then roll and fall. The giant ants show up and then surround me. Without much choice, I cast a holy skill. [Holy Shield]!

Casting this skill damages my body thus I have to hurry.

A transparent light barrier dome forms around me. The ants ram upon the barrier, trying to shatter it but to no avail.

They are stupid if they think they can break it.

I then hurry and dig into the ground using my sword. Through the ground, I then come out far away from the dome to buy myself some time.

I then run away and the ants notice me. Some begin to chase me.

Tsk.

Regardless, I'm close to my destination which is a giant yellow flower bud.

"Sorry Mili Flower, I'll have to cut you."

I then use my sword to slice it. I then enter it and bathe upon its yellow nectar.

I take a deep breath. "It seems I'm saved."

***

[Verni]

I am looking for Ren. He seems to be gone and the ants as well. All that was left are the uncountable tracks of those creatures on the ground.

Is it possible that he is dead? If that is the case then I will feel bad because it was my fault.

I scratch my head since I don't know what to do now.

"The least I can do is to give you a burial," I say while praying.

"Too bad that burial will be yours." Yells Ren from the distance.

Huh? That voice... He seems to be alive. Tracing where the voice comes from, my eyes widen.

Ren is riding the one ant leading the whole giant wood ant army. "That's him guys, get him!" He yells as he points at me.

I can't even say anything from surprise. However, seeing him he is quite pissed. It looks like I brought it upon me.

"Haha, nice prank Ren. Now can you calm down and get down there so we can talk about this."

We always have times like this in the previous dungeons. When we get into a disagreement, we jokingly threaten each other. But we keep it minimal as to not endanger the whole team.

I hope he drops the jokes now since this is taking too far.

"Say your prayers, you traitor!" Ren yells. He then falls from the top of the ant and rolls down to the ground. Several ants then step over him one after another.

Looks like he isn't controlling those ants, but I'm still in danger. Thus, I have to run for myself.

***

[Vermil]

My brother placed me on top of a small mountain so I'm safe here. He recently returned down there to look for Ren.

I look around the terrain to the forest to look for something that can be of help to the team.

Right now, I can see Ren on top of an ant, with several ants behind him. Is he leading those creatures?

That doesn't seem to be the case.

I wonder what happened that escalated to this situation.

Will he be okay?

Right now, I can see Ren getting trampled by the ants.

Uh...

I can't process what I'm seeing. Ren is a good comrade but I'll pretend I didn't see it for now.

Also, it seems the ants can't see nor detect Ren.

That's right, when Ren and I went on an expedition we used some plants to erase our scent from certain creatures. How silly of us that we just recalled it recently.

I think it's called a Milli flower, and I have to find one immediately.

I think it's in that direction and I think it is close.

I then use [Break Dash] to look for it.

***

[Verni]

The ants are close and are advancing to me. I have to use several skills in my sleeve to shield against their sharp mandibles.

They ain't a threat to deal heavy damage against me but it will be bad if they attack me nonstop.

I use [Stone Skin] to strengthen my defense and nullify the sharpness of their attacks. They are found everywhere, thus I use my high agility to dodge each of their attacks.

However, I can't keep up this long. Eventually, I get hit by their mandibles and lose my form. I become vulnerable and I am being thrown around like a rag doll. It's worse since I can't even fight them.

Even though my defense is high and they don't cause much damage, they still irritate me.

My clone skill which is my most powerful weapon is blocked by this stupid quest.

Ah! I don't know what to do!

The ants advance again but this time there are more of them lunging at me.

Vermil passes by and carries me, causing their attacks to miss.

I take a deep breath since I think I'm saved. I have to thank Vermil now.

Though she smells kinda weird, like bleach or the white thing.

When we are at safe distance, she then splashes some weird yellow liquid on my body.

So it's this liquid that effuses the smell, huh? It is making me uncomfortable and I'm not sure what this is for.

However, whatever it is, it causes the ants to fall back and give up on us.

We are safe now it seems. I sigh in relief.

"By the way Vermil, what is this?"

"Ah, these are Milli Nectar brother, taken from Milli buds. They can hide our scent from monsters, making us invisible in their field of perception."

"I see. I appreciate it."

The smell still bothers me though it's no use complaining.

Ren yells at me while stomping towards me. "This is for leaving me earlier!" Looking at him, he is in a mess. He then jumps at me and tries to go for a punch.

"Hey Ren, wait! I thought you are mature as you say. So, let's be adults, for now, okay?"

"One time is fine, but how many times did it happen?" He growls.

I chuckle as I scratch my head. "Haha, good question."

Ren then punches my face squarely. I didn't move a muscle but it hurts.

I take a deep breath as I glare at him.

I think I'm starting to lose my patience. "Ren that really hurts!"

"You did even worse!"

I then fight back by punching his skull, causing it to spin on his neck joint. I then laugh. "Hahahaha, how about that?"

He then kicks my crotch.

Ah! It almost caused my spirit to leave my body. I sag to the ground. "You... cheating... bastard. Aren't... you... a... guy as well?"

"Hmmph!" He says while looking away.

Both of us then fight each other, exchanging blows.

"You bastard that was your fault!"

"Don't think I won't fight cause you started it!"

"Take this! Take this!"

"If you continue this I'm gonna feed you to the hounds!"

Vermil tries her best to come between us, though none of us are listening.

"Umm... brother, Ren. Umm..."

Vermil takes a deep breath. "Both of you, stop!"

We cease when Vermil yells at us. It's the first time she does that which surprises us. Ren and I have calmed down afterward.

"Vermil, you said something?"

Vermil nods. "Brother look." She points at her system.

[Quest 1 (Completed)

Quest 2: Finish the Solaris Festival within 8 hours otherwise face instant death ]

Eck. Another one, huh?

This quest is ridiculous.

For this to work, we will choose a priestess on our team. One will wear Solaris temple clothing which resembles a red kimono that we got from a ruin. Of course, it will be Vermil which Ren suggested before I can even say anything.

There is a narrow road that spans 25 kilometers to an altar. We have to deliver Vermil to the altar so she can pray and finish the ritual, all of it for less than 8 hours.

It may sound easy but it ain't. We have to give Vermil a ride on our back as we proceed to our destination with all fours.

Knowing this, I feel like crying.

"Hey Vermil, let's switch places and let me be the priestess."

Vermil nods. "Huh? Sure."

Ren yells. "The hell you will!"

Even using clones won't work for this quest. So I have to deal with this myself.

We then adjust ourselves into position. Ren and I are in all fours, adjacent to one another. Vermil then sits on our back.

At least Vermil feels light. Maybe this isn't a challenge after all.

[Note: If you step over the edge of the road or let the priestess fall to the ground, you will return to your starting point]

Eh?! What kind of a stupid punishment is this? Give me a break.

The road towards the altar is already narrow. With unnecessary movements, we will easily fall.

"We need to go now! We are running out of time." Ren speaks.

Huh? Eh?

Ren crawls forward. I get surprised and thus late but I manage to catch up and sync my speed with him.

We are going nice and steady. We consumed about 4 hours now and we are halfway there. This is taking us too long but I have nothing to worry about since our stamina is high.

Hey, maybe this isn't bad after all.

If nothing happens we might be able to reach our goal on time.

However, I wonder why I can even speak to them now without getting nervous. I used to be very bad at socializing but I feel comfortable around these guys.

Well, I've been with them for months after all.

So, it feels nice to have friends, huh?

However, my eyes widen when a giant serpent appears from the woods.

"No doubt, this may be the most dangerous dungeon yet because of how annoying this place is."