The Legendary Moonlight Scluptor

Next Expedition Quest!

On the road to commander Darius!

Weed invited his party members to stop by the grocery store.

Surka and Romuna looked at each other and shrugged, not knowing what Weed would do in a grocery store like this, instead of going to a blacksmith shop.

"Weed, why are we stopping by here?" Finally the most innocent Irene couldn't bear to immediately ask.

Weed grinned faintly, "Look at it later."

Unfortunately, their questions did not get a clear answer.

The shop was crowded with shoppers. Most of them were couriers of restaurants in Fort Serabourg.

A skinny man wearing courier-like clothes shouted out loud in the crowd, "I want fresh chest!"

Everyone looked surprised for a moment then laughed out loud. A fat man tried hard to assuage his laughter, he was a shopkeeper. "You're wrong to enter the place, young man. The brothel is located in the right corner of the street. Come there, even if you have a resident card." he laughed again with the others.

"Dam. I want chicken breast!" The skinny boy grinned sharply.

The shopkeeper smiled warmly, he had a tongue sharper than the boy's grin, "Are you sure it's just chicken breast? Don't you need eggs too?"

"Oh yeah, almost forgot." The boy patted his own body. "I need eggs too."

"Wait ya. I'll give you the eggs when the hen lays the eggs."

"If chicken?"

"Wait for the eggs to hatch first, son."

Romuna laughed at the conversation between the shopkeeper and the skinny courier. "A funny kid."

"I guess he works at the restaurant because he hasn't been able to go out of the fort for 4 weeks." Surka let out her opinion.

"Owh! A bad choice. Why should you choose to work in a restaurant from so many places? Restaurants are places that don't provide much to learn." Pale shook his head weakly.

In Pale's eyes, working in a restaurant was not the right choice. When first logged in, new players are advised to do quests with good prizes, or for those who want to learn magic must read and learn many things in the library. All of that in order for them to buy better equipment, hunting monsters was much easier and the important point was to level up quickly.

Weed shook his head firmly, "Not really. When you work at a restaurant, you can learn cooking skills. That skill will be very useful."

"I know, but what's the point of learning an insignificant skill like cooking? Why bother learning the skill, if you can buy black bread that is given preservation magic. The bread even lasted for a month" Pale said.

"Pale's right. Why should we learn how to cook when we can easily increase the satisfaction factor?" Surka nodded in satisfaction with Pale's reply.

According to Weed, Pale and Surka sounded stupid and childish. They underestimated the cooking skill just as they underestimated the mastery sculpture, without knowing the huge effect on the stats resulting from the good food. 'These people don't know what it's like to live a poor life.'

Weed's eyes looked dark. Those who have gone through difficult times because of money will never underestimate the importance of cooking skills. Imagine what it would be like to be forced to eat only black bread while hunting monsters in the wild.

If you are a small beginner and run out of money, of course you will survive because there is no alternative but to eat black bread. But once you reach a level where you can buy better food, your tongue will automatically reject black bread.

Pale doesn't always eat black bread. Finally, humans are the same. They have the same wish list, when they succeed in getting it, the desire will increase as soon as the next. Moreover, about the needs of clothing and food that can not be separated from life.

Moreover, cooking skills also have an effect in real life. As the cooking skill develops, your skill will provide a list of available recipes based on the type of ingredients you have. You can try out a new recipe in a virtual game, and it will be in your memory once you log out of the game.

If you master the most advanced cooking skills to an expert level, you will not worry about finding a job, because all restaurants will recruit you with open arms.

Virtual reality!

It means that reality is really realized in the world of imagination. In other words, what is learned in virtual games will have an impact also in real life. Royal Road is a game that has realistic and very slick details.

Of course, most players were not interested in learning handicraft skills as sincerely as Weed. Actually Weed would never understand the true value of the handicraft skill until he experienced it with his own hands.

'I'm also not sure if they want to try it or not even if I have explained it in detail.'

Weed believed that the value of the cooking skill would soar high when a player's level reached hundreds. The food Weed cooked with basic cooking skills even gave off a bonus HP effect, so the effect would definitely be huge when a cooking master served his dishes.

'Not only the taste of the cuisine, but the statistical bonuses obtained are also very spectacular. Hard black bread is tasteless against French cuisine that tastes like heaven and adds a variety of statistics! The contest was even finished before it could even begin. I'm sure even a happy couple who have been married for a few years will kill each other in order to taste it.'

Weed imagined that the food prepared by a famous chef would produce a lot of gold. He began to think that the price of the statue was nothing when compared to the cooking master cuisine. Because, as long as food is still the most important need in life, then cooking skills will never go down in value in everyday life.

Champions also want the best food they can find, so the value of a professional chef will be at its peak. 'Well, some people might have thought about this before. Chefs are one of the most strict professions in keeping their secrets. They must have created their own recipes and improved their cooking skills slowly.'

Weed turned to face everyone in the party with a stern face. "I will not deny that you look down on the whole profession of craftsman like a chef. But, I need to remind you guys that fighting skills are important. However, who knows maybe craft skills could be the most needed skills in the future. All craft skills have advantages over each other and they can also help increase the fighting strength of a profession. I suggest you learn cooking skills. This skill is very important in everyday life."

"..." - ".All the members were silent hearing Weed's hospitality.

"I'm sorry "Surka said in a soft voice she lowered her head withstanding regret.

"I forgot that you're a sculptor, and I didn't think about what I used to say when I vilified the artisan profession. I'm really sorry, Weed." Pale also looked very sorry.

The faces of Surka, Pale, and Romuna seemed to be flushed red withstanding embarrassment. They thought Weed was angry because they underestimated the cooking skill, one of the skills of a craftsman, right before his eyes.

"Hey, that's not what I meant. You guys misunderstood." Weed shook his head looking desperate. No matter how hard they try to show it to them, they will still not understand it clearly before they really need it.

These food stores have a relaxed atmosphere as they cater to many regular customers. Weed broke through the crowd of customers and walked towards the cashier. "Hello" said Weed.

"Hello. I just heard your opinion. Your view is very correct about the cooking skill!" the shopkeeper said.

Weed smiled slightly, "Thank you."

"Your face looks familiar."

"That's because I was shopping here a few days ago."

When Weed sold food a few days ago, he always visited this store to buy cooking spices. He maximizes profits by buying large quantities of cooking spices in order to get discounts. And the other advantage is one simple reason, the price here is cheap. Weed was always shopping here, but it was only the first time he spoke to the shopkeeper.

"Ohhhh it just looks familiar. Thanks for shopping here. By the way did you choose the path as a chef?"

"No. My main profession is not a chef, but I know the value of cooking skills." Weed gave the best smile he had.

"Ohhh so. So what do you want to buy?" The shopkeeper's eyes shone brightly as he looked at Weed.

Weed himself already knew that the shopkeeper was a player, seeing his intense conversation with several couriers, "Cuisine spices and soy sauce."

"Hmm, we've got a lot of different kinds of seasonings." He showed Weed a few bottles of kitchen spices, "There is salt, sugar, pepper, and I can show you special local spices, such as seasonings from the Elf forest, and a bottle of rare flavoring sap squeezed from a special seasoning plant from the North."

This continent is very wide, in addition to equipment, there are also special cooking spices harvested by local farmers and sold through Merchant.

"I don't need excessive seasoning, which is normal."

"Good, only the arrogant fool often looks for something special because the goal is nothing more than to show off." The shopkeeper beamed at Weed, "Well, what about the quality?"

"Of course I want the best." Weed replied loudly.

"How much?"

Weed counted how much money he had in his pocket now. Because he had not sold the equipment he had obtained, so he had yet to profit from the results of hunting the worm queen in the Litvart dugeon. Weed deliberately kept the equipment to improve the repair skill. Fortunately, one of the drop items dropped by the worm queen is in the form of silver.

After summing up everything, Weed had already come to a conclusion about his savings, "Give me as much cooking seasoning as possible. I'll pay him 27 gold."

"Sure, I'll give you an extra discount." The shopkeeper of course felt very happy that Weed bought his merchandise.

When Weed's party members heard Weed and the shopkeeper's conversation, they could feel a mutual understanding of each other like they were old drinking buddies reunited. Simple but comfortable conversation.

But, the fact that the shopkeeper was a player like them, he had taken the path of becoming a chef. When he saw Weed, he sensed that a strong rival had appeared.

Weed also admitted that the shopkeeper was a senior in the cooking field. The two of them did not need words to express that, just by eye contact did they understand that they were strong rivals someday.

Weed packed the cooking spices into the bag on his back. Since he had been content to prepare the items for the trip this time, he had only taken his team members towards Darius' army.

Darius sat in a small chair to interview the enrollees on his quest. "Next." He said firmly and loudly, like commanding a war.

"Meet me Cochran, archer level 68. I'm an expert in Multiple Shot, and my weapon is Lasante's Bow."

"accepted."

The next line to advance was the Pale team. They walked towards Darius restlessly. Especially Irene, she glanced at Weed several times while breathing out a long breath.

Pale spoke as a representative of their party. "We were all in the same party. Have a 50s level. There was a Priest, a Mage with the fire element, an Archer, a Paladin, and-" Pale was a little hesitant to introduce Weed's profession, because he was afraid when he mentioned that Weed was a Scluptor, Darius would get angry and reject them sadistically.

Seeing Pale speechless, Darius spoke first, "Hmm, you guys are a balanced party. Real nice. And her?" Darius looked at Weed while asking Pale, "Is he also part of your party?"

"Yes." Yeah."

"Total 5 people. Perfectly fit with the empty slots left in my squad."

"So?"

"Will you join the expedition quest to save Baran Village?" ask Darius.

Then the Stat Window instantly appeared before the eyes of Weed and his team members.

Expeditionary Quest in Baran Village!

Outside the borders of the Rosenheim kingdom was a wild realm full of monsters. The wall had been built, and troops had been sent to keep the monsters from invading the village, but there was a gap hollowed out by the monsters. Through the gap, a horde of monsters baran broke in and took control of the village.

Together with the Rosenheim warriors, save Baran Village from disaster by exterminating the monsters.

Difficulty level: D

Time limit: 1 Month

Pale smiled cheerfully and then replied loudly, "Sure."

"I want to join too." Directed by Romuna.

"Either." Irene was also beaming along with the three girls on her team.

"Thank you for the quest."

"Yes." Yeah." Weed was the last person to receive this quest.

You received the quest!

"Let's go now." Darius stood up and shouted loudly to the expedition.

"Everyone who participated in this expedition quest, gather here! We've got enough people, so we're leaving now!" His eyes gushed with confidence.

There was no special ceremony for the expeditionary forces of Baran Village.

Some people who were friends of some members of the troops waved their hands excitedly stepping forward.

300 players with various uniforms walked along the south gate to Baran Village. With the same goal, which is to eradicate monsters that invade Baran Village.

"Hehe. I've never gone this far from Fort Serabourg before. It feels like I'm doing a tour!" Romuna's face was delighted.

"I should have brought a food box," Irene sighed again.

The two girls chatted casually.

Fresh air on a clear morning! This is the perfect day to do a tour. Across the road, there were lions and wolves, they ran in fear seeing the large army. Some players laughed at the ridiculous action of lions and wolves running around dodging them.

Including members of Weed's party, they laughed watching the lions and wolves just now. While walking casually enjoying the scenery around, they also chatted about the wild nature they passed.

In contrast to Weed, he instead observed the rest of the squad, about their appearance and the items they were wearing. 'The average player in this expedition force was between level 40 to level 60. According to rumors, Darius is level 140.'

Darius also had 5 special team members, 3 knights, a Thief, and a Warrior.

'I assume they have almost the same level as him.' Weed also concluded that Darius accepted everyone who asked to join the quest, in order to quickly reach the quest requirement of 300 players.

Suspicion had come to Weed's mind when Pale signed up for this quest, and Darius seemed very relaxed in accepting his team. In Weed's case, Darius didn't even ask his level and profession. 'He definitely wanted to complete this quest as quickly as possible. Because there will be many gifts given if he completes it in a short time.'

Weed felt he had to be on standby.

When Pale sent a message about this expedition quest, Weed first conducted intense research on Darius, the leader of this expedition, to reduce the risk if something unexpected happens when he joins the quest.

According to the research he had obtained, Darius had a bad reputation. The fact that the public already knew that this man would justify any means to get what he wanted, "Everything heard." Weed whispered softly to his team members.

"Huh?" Surka looked at Weed in confusion.

"When we get to Baran Village, don't trust anyone." Weed spoke firmly.

"What do you mean?" Romuna's forehead frowned deeply.

"I mean, we're fighting alone here" Weed said.

Pale looked around realized by Weed's words. He nodded in agreement, "I see your point, Weed."

"Explain in detail, I don't understand." Surka looked at Weed as if begging.

Weed pouted at him. "Do we know any other members of this squad?"

"Of course not." Answer Surka quickly.

"So you're saying if there's a drop of good items coming up, someone might kill us in order to get them." Irene began to analogy after being silent for quite a long time. He seemed confident in his words.

But his words just now shocked all the members of his party. Surka and Romuna even looked scared.

Weed breathed a deep breath, "That's not what I meant, although it was very likely that it could happen. But no one would dare cross the line in front of the many witnesses in the expedition. That person would get a killer mark after killing another player, when that person appeared in public, he would automatically become the enemy of hundreds of people, they would kill him as a form of revenge. And again, Darius would definitely not let it happen, because it would endanger his leadership."

"Then what's bothering you?" Romuna started to get dizzy with Weed's words. All he wanted was the core of his conversation.

"We can't depend on anyone else. That's our problem." Weed led his party members slightly away from the troops to avoid eavesdropping, then added, "We have a low level, and will fight monsters in large numbers."

"Just right! Wasn't that why they recruited 300 players in this quest, and borrowed 200 NPC soldiers from the Rosenheim army? When we finish it, we will get a lot of experience and fame," Surka was very enthusiastic about the prize.

"Then answer this question. How will you fight when the battle has begun?" ask Weed. "It is true that we have many people, but we are all strangers. We don't know what skill that Archer has. We don't know what the guy who looks like the mage over there is really a Mage or just a mere disguise. Imagine if a monster attacked suddenly, how would you react? Are we able to cooperate with these strangers in eradicating the monsters that came suddenly?"

"What's wrong? Wasn't the expedition formed with that goal?" Irene was dizzy with Weed's explanation.

After Irene asked that question, Pale shook his head weakly. "Most expedition quests are just about killing a number of monsters or clearing some areas of the monster invasion. I have never heard of a great battle against an army of monsters in the wild like this quest. We have 300 players and 200 NPC soldiers here, but when the battle begins, we will still rely on our own team members, it will definitely break into pieces."

"So that means?" Irene still did not understand where this conversation was headed.

"Irene, numbers are always deceiving.300 players and 200 NPC soldiers do not guarantee that this army will become as strong as the numbers. If we can defeat the monsters, then we will be fine. But if we experience an unexpected event, we will be torn apart like sand. So we have to be vigilant" Weed said.

Darius was impatient and too obsessed to win quickly. In fact, there were so many players who wanted to join the quest, he could only accept high-leveled players to reduce the risk of failure in dangerous situations, while Weed's low-level team was accepted with open arms.

It was all because Darius was intending to obtain all the fame, so he rejected all players who had levels above 100. Instead, he filled his army slots with low levels. He also ordered the Rosenheim soldiers to stay behind and follow the main force a short distance away. 'I'm sure he was worried that the NPC soldiers would take some experience and fame that should be theirs.'

Weed deeply regretted Darius' cheap tak-tik. If he was the leader of this expeditionary force, he would obviously do the opposite. He would ignore the 300 player recruits, instead, utilizing the Rosenheim warriors.

After commanding the NPCs to eradicate the monsters, he would gain confidence and his leadership status would rise greatly. You can get fame or experience in different ways, but leadership status needs a chance like this to rise quickly. Darling Darius could not see this point properly.

Weed once again warned his friends, "Remember, always beware of your left right."