After saying goodbye to Uncle Warren, I decided to check out the town hall.
The town hall was right across from Kate Sisters' Inn. It was the grandest building around the plaza. As I stepped through the entrance, a spacious reception hall came into view. There were three counters: the Mercenary Guild, the Commercial Association, and government services. The government services counter had a “close” sign hanging on it, though, so it didn’t look like anyone was working there. That left me with only two options. But before officially taking on any quests, I decided to check out the notice board.
The notice board was plastered with commissions. The red ones were from the Mercenary Guild, and the blue ones were from the Commercial Association.
The Mercenary Guild’s commissions fell into three general categories: gathering, extermination, and escort quests. Gathering quests involved collecting specific items, like herbs. Extermination quests required clearing monsters or pests from a certain area, or killing a set number of them. Escort quests were simple: safely escort a target to a designated location.
Extermination quests paid well, while escort quests paid a little less. Gathering quests paid the least.
The Commercial Association only had one kind of commission at the moment: production quests. These required production skills like Alchemy, and there was a high demand for all kinds of potions.
Looks like these are the only four types of quests available in the beginner village. I guess more will be added later in the game?
After thinking it over for a few seconds, I rose onto my tiptoes and pulled one gathering quest and one extermination quest off the board. The information I’d read from the NPC’s blood earlier said that the plant known as nightlight grass grew in the same places as gray wolves, so I could tackle both quests at once.
But when I took the commissions to the counter to register, the big sister at the Mercenary Guild desk looked troubled.
“Little girl, are you planning to take on a pack of wolves all by yourself?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
“A big one!” The receptionist nearly shouted. She glared down at me, her beast ears twitching on top of her head. “Even experienced mercenaries wouldn’t dare face a pack of wolves alone. This quest is meant for a party of five! If you go by yourself, you’ll be walking straight into a wolf’s jaws! We get plenty of arrogant rookies like you every year, but you’re the first one I’ve met who’s this stupid. How about you pick a different quest and go kill a few horned rabbits instead?”
“All right…”
I had no choice but to switch to another extermination quest: hunt horned rabbits. For some reason, unlike the beast-eared big sister, who looked delighted at my misfortune, the bespectacled girl at the Commercial Association counter gave me a pitying look, as if to say, “Don’t take that quest.” But… rabbits couldn’t be dangerous, right?
With the commission and a map in hand, I set off at once. I followed the main road into the forest and headed toward Teardrop Lake. There was only one narrow animal trail through the dense woods, and the ground was wet and slippery. But with my Sprint skill, none of that was a problem. After running flat out for thirty minutes, I reached the quest area without a hitch.
“Horned rabbits… Oh, there they are.”
In the lush green grass, white bunnies were nibbling away. They were twice the size of ordinary rabbits, though, and each had a sharp horn growing from its head. They’re so cute—how could I kill them? But I needed money to buy equipment, so I shoved my guilt aside and started farming. I raised my crossbow and aimed at the nearest horned rabbit. Whoosh—a bolt pierced its heart. The message “EXP +10” appeared in my vision. Off to bunny heaven with you.
The other horned rabbits didn’t scatter. They gathered around their fallen companion and warily searched their surroundings. It didn’t take them long to spot me.
Then something happened that left me completely stunned!
The biggest horned rabbit in the group suddenly swelled up. Hard muscles bulged beneath its fluffy fur, and in the blink of an eye, its fluffy body turned into a mass of muscle that would make a bodybuilder feel ashamed. Only its head still looked like a cute little bunny. Wait, wait, wait—what the heck is this muscle rabbit?! Did the game designers have rocks for brains?
“Bun—!”
The muscle rabbit charged at me. I drew my sword in a flash. It lowered its head and aimed its horn at me, but just as it was about to crash into me, I darted to the left and dodged by a hair’s breadth. The horned rabbit looked stunned after missing its strike. Who knew this rabbit could make such a ridiculous face? Too bad for it, though—it didn’t get another chance. As we crossed paths, my sword came down hard and severed its head.
The headless muscle rabbit collapsed, spurting blood. The heavy scent of it stung my nostrils, and a powerful thirst came over me. Without thinking, I activated my Blood Sucking skill. The next second, the blood swirling through the air formed a vortex and poured into my body. The dryness in my throat vanished, and my mind cleared. Oh? What kind of buff did that give me?
I opened my status window:
Name: Elsa von Lancelot
Gender: Female
Race: Vampire (True Ancestor)
Level: LV2/LV999
Skills: Blood Sucking, Blood Weapon, Mist Form, Beast Bloodline, Mecha Master, Herbalism (Beginner), Potion Making (Beginner), Sniper’s Eye (Beginner), Swordsmanship (Beginner), Swift Run (Intermediate)
Titles: Last Vampire Princess (Innate/Hidden), Otherworld Transmigrator (Hidden), Vampire Slayer
Buff: Blood Drunk (All stats +20)
Abnormal Status: Loli-fied
So drinking your fill of blood gives you a buff. Vampires really are a walking cheat code, huh? With a race this powerful, I guess I won’t delete my character and start over.
“Bun-bun—!”
A piercing howl cut through my thoughts. Every one of the horned rabbits transformed into a muscle-bound bruiser, glaring at me with blood-red eyes before charging over at full sprint.
In this situation—run!
Seeing how things were going, I turned and ran. The muscle rabbits froze for a moment, then let out furious cries and charged after me like track athletes. And just like that, my “simple commission” turned into a bizarre scene: me running ahead, with a pack of muscle rabbits chasing me from behind. So much for a “beginner quest”! Only then did I remember the notes at the bottom of the commission: “Live in groups. Become ferocious. Ranged hunting recommended.”
Was this what I got for not taking the beginner tutorial seriously?
All I had to do was sneak up, shoot one, and run. Then, after losing combat, come back and shoot another one before running away again. Repeat until the quest was done. It should’ve been easy, but somehow I’d turned it into a muscle-rabbit rampage!
For the rest of the day, I ran all over the hills with the pack of muscle rabbits on my heels, right up until sunset.
