Chapter 29 - The Joy of Doing Nothing

[Mine Five Moonstones]

[Rating: B]

[Fokil wanted to make a point to the beginner that having a clear goal is crucial for success. He decided to challenge the player by asking them to find and mine five Moonstones and bring them back. Any quality would do.]

[Clear Conditions: Find and mine five Moonstones.]

[Clear Rewards: An upgrade on the "Become an Apprentice of Fokil the Blacksmith" quest, A boost in affinity with Fokil, and a rare blueprint for a weapon. ]

[Quest Failure: Missing out on the opportunity to become an apprentice of Fokil.]

Broken immediately checked the new quest he had received, noticing that it had a fairly high rating, B. However, it wasn't directly related to blacksmithing but rather focused on mining.

He tried to make sense of it, perhaps because he had demonstrated his mining skills earlier. But what were Moonstones? He had never heard of them during his time playing Immortal Legacy.

He lifted his head, considering asking Fokil for more information about the quest. However, the Dwarf had already returned inside the smithy.

Broken approached the door and rapped firmly on its wooden surface. "Mr. Fokil," he called, "could you tell me where I can find the Moonstones? Since this is the first time I've heard about them, I'm sure I'll do well if you give me some hints."

He waited for a response, but there was none. Taking a deep breath, Broken wondered what to do next.

This quest was truly testing his patience, and it seemed he needed to resort to more conventional methods—seeking information on how and where to mine the Moonstones.

He glanced again at the rewards for the quest, which clearly stated that he would receive an upgrade rating on his previous quest. Additionally, there was a Rare Blueprint for a weapon. This was a highly tempting reward, especially if he succeeded in obtaining the Blacksmith Class. He would definitely need blueprints to craft items.

Finally, he felt the effect of his Quest Advancement skill, which was indeed remarkable. The skill had a profound impact on his environment, including influencing the behavior of the NPCs around him. It was truly a game-changing skill worthy of a Divine Champion.

He walked away from the smithy, thinking it would be best to log out of the game because his stomach was twisting with hunger. However, he had a thought.

"Maybe I should rest my character at an inn before I log out?" he pondered aloud. He felt entitled to experience more of the comforts offered by the game.

If a player logged out of the game, their virtual body would instantly vanish. However, they would reappear at the exact same place they logged out from. Additionally, there were certain conditions that needed to be met in order for someone to log out; they could not be engaged in a fight, and if they were forced to log out due to any unforeseen circumstances, their virtual body would remain but become a spiritless form, making them much more vulnerable to attack.

If one wanted to obtain beneficial effects such as stamina regeneration, one could opt to place their virtual body in an inn or a comfortable bed before logging out. Although this was not something everyone did, some 'pay-to-win' players strove to reach the highest rank in Immortal Legacy.

Broken checked the contents of his inventory and noticed that he still didn't have enough money to even think about luxury.

[Coins: 0 gold 41 silver 40 bronze]

He smiled wryly, muttering under his breath, "I can wait. I will work very, very diligently again after this."

"But wait, diligent?" He was silent for a moment, and then he smiled in confusion.

He was the champion of Sloth, right? Was he supposed to be lazy? Why did the goddess Akidia choose him? If he just lazed around, all these blessings would be useless, wouldn't they?

Broken pondered, attempting to make sense of the situation. "Could this be related to the leveling up rule that I got? All the other players are striving to level up by killing monsters, and I don't even need to think about that – I won't gain any experience by doing so. I suppose it's kind of funny, but I'll go with it – it's so much fun. This is really changing my life. Thanks, Goddess Akidia."

He then chose a quiet place to log out of the game.

***

Leon emerged from his capsule device, blinking a few times as he adjusted his vision to the dim lighting of the room. He glanced at the clock on the far wall and noticed it was 5 p.m.

For the first time, he had truly spent a lot of time in the game. It felt like he had been in the game for an entire day, even though in the real world, it was in the evening.

He stepped out of the room, surveying his surroundings. It seemed that Lily had returned from school. "She should be sleeping in her room," he thought.

Leon went to the bathroom and swiftly took off his clothes. The chilly water flowed over his body, relieving him of his fatigue and leaving him feeling rejuvenated. It was as if he had spent more time in the virtual world than in his physical body over the past few hours.

He had been immersed in the game for a full day and night, maneuvering his virtual avatar with ease. It was a bizarre experience, as if he existed in two planes at once: one in his real life and the other within the game. It was often difficult to differentiate between the two realities.

Leon emerged from the bathroom. He shuffled into the kitchen, where Lily was standing in front of the stove wearing a pair of tight denim shorts and a crisp white t-shirt.

She glanced over her shoulder. "I see you had quite a bit of fun today, am I right?"

Leon grinned back. "I think so."

Lily was heating up food on the stove.

"You haven't had lunch either, Lily?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I was deliberately waiting for you to exit your virtual world," she said, then turned to the dining table. "Let me prepare this food for both of us. Clean up the dining table, will you?"

Leon nodded and began clearing the table, feeling a sense of normalcy return as he moved plates and utensils into place. It was a small but grounding task, a reminder of the tangible world outside the immersive game.

A few minutes later, the two of them sat down at the dining table and ate their lunch—or rather, their evening meal—together.

"You don't have to do this much, you know," Leon said, glancing at Lily. "You're not responsible for this."

Lily chuckled and glanced back at him. "You're saying this as though it's the first time I've done this, right? After all, you've been doing a lot for me since I was a child, and I'm not doing this out of necessity. Don't feel burdened, okay?" she said reassuringly.

Leon smiled at Lily's response and continued, "By the way, I just ate quite an expensive meal at Immortal Legacy."

"What, really? What food was that? Tell me more."

"It was called the Minotaur Burger." 

"Huh? What? Mino what?"

"Minotaur, a humanoid shape of a bull, something like that."

"Yuck, why would someone eat the meat of a monster like that? Just imagining it makes my appetite go away."

"That's also what I thought at first," Leon said, "but I was really amazed and stunned by the taste of the food, which even now seems to linger on my tongue."

"I can't believe your review. After all, how do you know that it's really good? Have you ever compared it to food in the real world?"

Leon laughed. "But the experience felt so real. The flavors were incredible. It makes you appreciate the level of detail in the game."

While they were eating, Leon shared his experiences in the game over the past few days. Once he finished eating, he went back to his room and searched the forum for any mention of Moonstone now that he had satisfied his hunger.