Chapter 976: Nowadays, NPCs Are Stealing Quests from Players

Chapter 976: These Days, NPCs Are Even Starting to Compete with Players for Quests

Just as Fang Chang and Miss Dolly were lost in their sweet nothings, Gui Gui, sitting on the other side of the tavern's main hall, had already covered her mouth and nose, making an exaggerated face as she whispered complaints to Feng Qing across from her.

"Oh no... I smell the sour stench of dead agents!"

Feng Qing, calmly sipping her coffee, tilted her head and looked at the theatrically expressive Gui Gui in confusion.

"Dead agents don't have a smell."

"It's that kind of dead agent, you know, the kind... ah, forget it, forget it," Gui Gui blushed, gesturing vaguely for a while, too embarrassed to say it outright, and finally sighed, propping her chin on her hands. "But seriously, isn't it weird to fall in love with an NPC? Especially if someone has a family in real life—does that count as cheating?"

"Emmmm..." Feng Qing thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know about that."

Whether in reality or in the game, she had no interest in romance, but this kind of thing was probably a personal matter, right?

Yet Gui Gui was still fixated, even unconsciously biting her fingers in distress.

"...Damn it, every time I think about how across from the lovely Miss Dolly there's actually a middle-aged guy with five or six kids in real life, I just can't ship it anymore. Ugh, damn Fang Chang, just explode already."

So it was because of Dolly...

Feng Qing made a helpless expression and set down the coffee cup she had been holding in both hands.

"I think if you're so concerned about what others are like in real life, you should just ask them yourself... It's quite rude to casually gossip about a stranger's private life behind their back."

"Wah... I'm sorry."

Seeming to realize her behavior lacked boundaries, Gui Gui raised her hands in surrender.

Looking at her aggrieved best friend, Feng Qing smiled gently.

"I'm not blaming you, really—more like comforting you. There are plenty of cute NPCs out there; you should discover them yourself... And I think that couple doesn't actually enjoy being in the spotlight so much. It's only because the Burning Legion friends stirred things up on the forum that they got all this attention."

"True," Gui Gui sighed in defeat, stretching her arms, her expression like someone who'd just been dumped, but she quickly perked up. "Speaking of which, Citrus is already in middle school, right?"

That was the girl Feng Qing had rescued from the orphanage run by the black gang in the slums outside Old Boulder City.

That incident had also been the spark for the Alliance to purge the gangsters outside Boulder City, and afterward, the children who had been raised like commodities were moved to proper welfare homes.

The Alliance had a comprehensive social support system to care for these orphans, including raising them until they were eighteen and covering expenses during compulsory education, so they didn't have to pay out of pocket to raise her.

But they still visited her occasionally, taking her to make cotton candy and buying her pretty new dresses... treating her like their own daughter.

When Citrus was mentioned, a nostalgic smile naturally appeared on Feng Qing's face.

"Last time I saw her, she was preparing for her next level of school. She'll probably take the exams around mid-year."

Gui Gui, chin in hand, also sighed with emotion.

"She's already going to middle school... Time flies so fast."

The players' bodies, however, hadn't changed at all.

Of course, maybe it was because they died so often—everything reset upon resurrection.

Rumor had it that there were hardcore players who hadn't died even once since leaving the newbie village, and their bodies did undergo some changes as they aged.

Looking at her sentimental best friend, Feng Qing thought for a moment and then said.

"That's true, but actually, it's only been two or three years since we first met her."

Gui Gui scratched her head.

"Uh, I guess so."

It felt like those two or three years had been longer than twenty or thirty.

Maybe that was what it meant to live a full life.

Putting her coffee cup and used utensils back on the tray, Feng Qing looked at Gui Gui across from her.

"I'm rested. Shall we continue the quest?"

Gui Gui shot up from her seat.

"Oh right! Quest, quest... I almost forgot about the quest. We need to root out that little rat from the Enlightenment Society."

Feng Qing, opening her VM interface, reminded her.

"And also the package to deliver to the city hall and clearing out the mutated rat nest in the sewers."

"Ehhh?! Did I accept a quest to go to the sewers?"

Seeing Gui Gui's horrified expression, Feng Qing tilted her head.

"I accepted it... But the reward is pretty good—1000 silver coins. The quest is short too. Just bear with it."

...

Just as a tearful Gui Gui was being pushed out of the tavern by Feng Qing's hand on her shoulder, on another street not far from the job market, a pair of nemeses were bickering endlessly.

One of them was Night Ten of the Burning Legion, and the other was Jiang Xuezhou, a C-level researcher from the Academy.

The two had originally been active in the southern quarantine zone of the Vellant Province, but since the focus there had shifted from containment to vaccine and antidote development, their mismatched expertise meant they couldn't help much.

On top of that, a major incident had occurred recently: the Academy had lost a research vessel in Avant City, and an entire beacon team had gone missing. So Jiang Xuezhou had been dispatched to Avant City.

As for Night Ten, half of it was that he'd been dragged along, and half was that he was worried about her running into danger alone.

The Academy's higher-ups had given up hope that the missing beacon team was still alive, but the lost research vessel had to be recovered.

Outer space was littered with too many things that could easily slip out of control.

If someone who shouldn't touch those things got there first, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Fully aware of the importance of this mission, Jiang Xuezhou had been diligently searching for the missing research vessel since arriving in Avant City, but after nearly two weeks, they had found no clues at all.

The longer time dragged on, the lower the chances of the missing members surviving, and the slimmer the hope of recovering the vessel.

Jiang Xuezhou was getting anxious and couldn't help venting her frustration on Night Ten, who looked like he was about to give up.

"Don't you have that so-called sixth sense? Can't you use it to find that guy?"

Night Ten, caught off guard, rolled his eyes and shot back without holding back.

"That's not how the sixth sense works. Do you think I'm a magician or something?"

It might be possible if that guy was aiming at him from a distance.

But tracking a target from an unknown distance out of thin air? That was just cheating, plain and simple!

Jiang Xuezhou's lips curled downward.

"Tch, useless."

Hearing that, Night Ten immediately took offense.

"How am I useless? When I was carrying the whole team, you were still a lowly D-rank! By the way, aren't you from the Academy? Don't you have some kind of tech that can lock onto our target in a crowd?"

Jiang Xuezhou flushed red and glared at him.

"What 'carrying'? I don't understand... What nonsense are you talking? Maybe organize your thoughts before speaking."

"'Carrying' means MVP... Forget it, forget it. A hero doesn't brag about past glories. I don't even have my little brother anymore now, sigh."

Looking at the bewildered Jiang Xuezhou, Night Ten crossed his arms behind his head, sighed, and looked up at the sky. After a pause, he continued.

"But I mean... your Academy is one of the three major powers. Since you've confirmed that the Enlightenment Society took your research vessel, why not just send that Alpha Task Force? Even if you turn Avant City upside down and find that little rat, the Enlightenment Society isn't going to willingly exchange hostages with you, right?"

The Alliance had indeed captured prisoners from the Enlightenment Society, and even the Thorn Brigade in Pioneer City managed to nab one or two every now and then.

But it was utterly useless.

All they could do was subject those misguided shelter residents to labor reform, show them the fruits of the Alliance’s labor, and then persuade them to turn back from the wrong path.

As for finding the Enlightenment Society’s headquarters or extracting intelligence through these prisoners—

Those shelter residents fooled by the Enlightenment Society didn’t even know themselves.

Exchanging hostages was out of the question; those sneaky bastards had no concept of comrades in their hearts.

Hearing Yoshi badmouthing her organization again, Jiang Xuezhou’s eyes grew complex.

Normally, she would have retorted, even arched her brows and argued with him, but this time she was genuinely uncertain.

“I don’t know… but I think the higher-ups must have their concerns, and finding the only clues is the one thing we can do.”

Yoshi glanced at her, then turned his gaze back to the street ahead.

“I believe it’s no secret that the Academy has a thousand schemes in the wasteland… I’m just worried that you’re not within the scope of their concerns.”

What did C-rank matter?

Seeds like that only needed one to survive to count as victory; the rest were just nutrients in the soil.

The Academy probably didn’t care about just C-rank researchers—he even thought they didn’t care about A-rank or even the sole S-rank.

They were true leviathans.

Unlike the Family Association, which used ideals as a front for deception, they were an organization truly united by faith, born for knowledge and wholly serving it.

Everything was expendable except their sole goal.

Including the Chief Technology Officer himself.

Even Doctor Conclusion.

A C-rank researcher was far too insignificant before that narrative measured by civilization.

Yoshi’s original intent was just to persuade her not to risk her life so recklessly—it wasn’t worth it—but he hadn’t expected her to suddenly fall silent.

He looked at her in confusion, only to see that Xuezhou’s expression had inexplicably turned shy.

Just as he was about to ask, “What’s wrong?” a voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz came through.

“…Were you worried about me just now?”

Worried?

“Not really—”

“Yo, Yoshi, on a date?”

An ill-timed voice suddenly came from the side, cutting off what Yoshi was about to say.

What the hell?

Yoshi quickly turned his head toward the source of the voice, only to see Big Eyes and the Construction Worker grinning and winking at him like idiots.

“Such good feelings between you two.”

“Right? Their feelings are so pure, not like you—only entering bodies, never entering families.”

“Get lost, get lost, get the hell lost!”

Big Eyes, who had been all smiles a second ago, suddenly turned hostile, but unconsciously became Yoshi’s mouthpiece, saying what the latter had wanted to say.

Watching Big Eyes chase after the Construction Worker with fists raised, Yoshi swallowed the venomous words that had risen to his lips.

Jiang Xuezhou, standing beside him, stared blankly at the two running off, then tilted her head to look at Yoshi.

“What are they talking about?”

Yoshi was about to explain but didn’t know how to start, his old face flushing with embarrassment as he mumbled.

“Those bastards are badmouthing me.”

“Oh ho ho…”

Misinterpreting completely, Jiang Xuezhou’s face broke into a mischievous grin, her left hand covering her lips as her right hand lightly poked his arm.

“Seems like you’re not very popular in the Alliance. How about coming with me to the Academy? I’ll throw in a ticket to the Ark.”

Yoshi rolled his eyes.

“No.”

Jiang Xuezhou’s brows shot up, and she bared her teeth.

“Why! Haven’t I been good to you?”

“It’s not that… Wait, why should I follow you just because you’re good to me? I’m doing just fine in the Alliance, alright!” Yoshi was shaking his head when he suddenly snapped back to reality, realizing he’d been led into a logical trap.

Jiang Xuezhou glared at him through gritted teeth, but in the end, she just snorted and said nothing more.

“…Ungrateful bastard.”

For the rest of the journey, they exchanged not a single word.

Yoshi had no idea what bug had bitten her, making her suddenly sulk.

Why was she so stubborn about getting him to join the Academy anyway?

Wasn’t it fine as it was now?

Talk about loyalty!

Just then, the VM on Yoshi’s arm buzzed. He raised it, tapped the screen, and saw a brief message floating in the center.

[Edge Paddler: New lead on the Enlightenment Society’s disciples. The guard post on 17th Street got a tip from a resident—suspicious people have been spotted in the alley between 203 and 202. Don’t look like locals, don’t look like our people either. If you’re interested, go check it out. If it’s a false alarm, at least let the folks sleep easy.]

Yoshi’s eyes lit up, and he immediately replied.

[Haha! Thanks, bro!]

Within seconds, another message popped up.

[Edge Paddler: No problem! If you catch a big fish, remember to share a bite! (Grin)]

Yoshi: [Damn! Am I the type to hog it all? Wait up! I’ll be back soon.]

Glancing at Yoshi typing on his screen, Jiang Xuezhou couldn’t help leaning in a little to see what he was up to.

The moment she did, Yoshi suddenly grabbed her wrist.

“What are you doing?!” Jiang Xuezhou froze, stunned like a statue.

But Yoshi didn’t wait for her; he opened the VM map’s navigation and pulled her along.

“Don’t ask so many questions, just follow me!”

“???”

Jiang Xuezhou was dragged forward in a daze, and together they crossed two streets before arriving at an unremarkable alley.

It looked like an old district—many houses were empty, their residents either moved away or dead from the war, leaving only a few old folks.

Jiang Xuezhou, her face red, pulled her arm free and glared at Yoshi, who had finally stopped.

"Why have you brought me here?"

A smug grin spread across Night Ten's face as he fixed his gaze on the alley ahead.

"Didn't you say I was slacking off? I'm just proving that I'm not."

Jiang Xuezhou: "…?"

Seeing her utterly bewildered expression, Night Ten patiently laid out the clues he'd gathered.

In short—

This needle-in-a-haystack job was best left to the "Beggar's Gang" brothers of the Death Corps.

Those guys scurried everywhere, especially Big Eye and his crew, who loved diving deep into conversations with local NPCs. Finding a lead was almost too easy.

The moment he'd arrived in Avant City, he'd tipped off Old Man Edge, who promised to pass along any intel immediately.

Jiang Xuezhou stared at him, frozen for a long moment, then suddenly dropped her gaze and murmured, "Thank you."

Caught off guard by her sudden move, Night Ten's first instinct wasn't delight—it was wariness.

"...What's with the sudden thanks?"

Jiang Xuezhou hesitated, struggling to speak, but finally confessed.

"...I shouldn't have thought you weren't pulling your weight."

Night Ten looked at her, utterly speechless.

"Good grief, so that's how you saw me."

Did he have to shove a magnifying glass into every crack in the wall to prove he was working?

Damn!

She was starting to resemble his meddlesome old mother more and more.

Jiang Xuezhou turned her head away, cheeks flushed, and let out a soft huff through her nose.

"Who told you to always act like nothing matters to you?"

"I do think your higher-ups are pretty ridiculous, and I don't really want to get tangled up in your mess—but that doesn't mean I don't care about you..." Night Ten gave a wry smile as he watched her blush creep from her ears down to the back of her neck. He sighed, scratched his head aimlessly, and said, "Wait here for a bit. I'll go check it out."

As he strode straight into the alley, Jiang Xuezhou snapped out of her daze and hurried after him.

"Ah, I'll help too!"

Night Ten rolled his eyes.

"Just don't get in the way!"

She shot him a fierce glare.

"I will! Pfft, when have I ever gotten in the way? Besides, this is my mission!"

"Yeah, yeah, your mission."

Night Ten sighed, but beneath his casual demeanor, a hint of seriousness crept in.

These days, even NPCs were competing with players for quests.

This game was way too realistic!