Chapter 23

Roland had lived in Red Mountain Town for more than a month, but he hadn’t triggered any quests yet . However, Betta had triggered one so quickly .

 1It did make sense on second thought . Roland was incapable of Language Proficiency, and quests required communication, unlike other games where there were gold exclamation marks above the NPCs to inform the players of acceptable quests .

How could he trigger a quest when he could barely talk?

Therefore… He had to learn Language Proficiency as soon as possible .

“All right, let’s team up . You can share the quest with me . ”

Both of them were seasoned players . They soon set up a team on the system menu, and then Betta shared the quest .

 2“Search for the missing grandchildren of an old man . ”

The title of the quest was green, followed by “Excellent . ”

Noticing Roland’s confusion, Betta explained, “I’ve accepted white quests before, but the rewards were quite unattractive . I got only a common iron longsword once . ”

Betta took out a rusted longsword from his Backpack and waved it . “This is the one . ”

“Did you get your clothes and your weapon through quests?” asked Roland curiously .

Betta nodded and asked back, “Didn’t you get your magic robe in the same way?”

Roland shook his head . “No, it’s a gift from an old man . ”

 1Betta clapped his hands and said, “It seems that intimacy plays a role in this game . ”

Although Betta had just graduated from high school, it was obvious that he was quite smart . He made the deduction quickly .

 3Roland thought for a while and said, “Yes, but I have to remind you that you must not treat the NPCs in this game as the NPCs in the sandbox games we played . They are quite intelligent . ”

Betta nodded and said casually, “I know . The AI of Penguin Corporation is almost lifelike . ”

“They feel like real persons to me,” Roland said and frowned .

“Hahaha . ” Betta laughed . “You’re overthinking, Brother Roland . This game is controlled by AI . They’re just data . ”

 4Roland sighed and said, “I studied the application of intelligent programs when I was in college, or to put it more simply, I worked on AI . As far as I know, it requires tremendous work to establish such an enormous world and make every NPC as vivid as a real person . I don’t think anyone can achieve that . ”

 5“But this game has achieved it . ” Obviously a consequentialist, Betta shrugged and said, “So… a genius must’ve made breakthroughs . ”

Roland said with a bitter smile, “That’s the only explanation . ”

 14“All right, Brother Roland, should we get started?” Betta looked at him hopefully .

They were standing before Roland’s cottage . Roland pointed at the foot of the mountain . Because of the fair today, there were many more people in Red Mountain Town .

The streets were jam-packed with peddlers and customers .

The noises of the crowd came from down below and sounded like some sort of rising tide .

“Do you not want to enjoy the carnival?” Roland asked, finding it odd . “Such fairs must be new to you, right? Your generation has grown up with online shopping . ”

Betta shrugged . “I’m not interested at all . I just want to level up, challenge the more intriguing quests, and see more monsters and landscapes . ”

So, the young man was more of an adventurer?

Roland stood up and said, “All right, let’s go . ”

They left Red Mountain Town by the crowded bridge . According to the quest, the child declared that he would travel the world as a mercenary before he moved west with a sword .

 2West…

Roland vaguely recalled that Falken mentioned that a bunch of trolls were hiding in the forest dozens of kilometers to the west . The trolls were good at fighting, and there were few capable hunters around, so they were never eliminated .

 2Thinking about that, Roland mumbled, “Was this silly child trying to conquer the trolls? He can’t be so idiotic, can he?”

Betta said, “It’s just a setting . There’s no need to consider if it’s reasonable . It’s only a way to level up . ”

 1But Roland still felt that something was wrong .

Instructed by the quest system, Roland and Betta found the trolls in the evening after walking for a whole day .

The place was rather creepy with the bone totems .

A dozen green-skinned trolls were sitting around a fire . The stone pot on the fire seemed to be cooking the limbs of a human .

 1There were thirteen trolls in total, ranging between LV1 and LV2 . No wonder they were a threat to the passersby .

Crouching, Roland asked, “Should we make a battle plan?”

“That’s unnecessary . I’ve killed plenty of such trolls . Watch my back for me, Brother Roland . ” Betta stood up and charged forth .

Betta was not wrong . Killing those trolls was a piece of cake for him .

He was fast and strong . More surprisingly, he could even use magic in the middle of the battle .

He broke into the trolls’ lair like a tiger breaking into a pen of lambs . Half of the trolls were killed within three minutes, and the other half were slaughtered by Roland’s Inferior Fireball and Hand of Magic .

Blood was all over the ground .

Betta wiped off the blood on his face . With the system’s help, he found the highlighted target, which was a dry skull on a weird totem .

“Here’s our quest objective . ” Betta smiled and moved the skull off from the totem .

“Don’t you find it disgusting?” Roland asked, frowning .

Betta played with the skull in his hand, not entirely bothered . He said, “They are nothing more than data . Keep an open mind .

 4“All right, Brother Roland . Let’s go back and accomplish this quest . ”

Roland looked at the bone totems nearby . They were all the remains of human beings that had been eaten . Some were still being cooked in the pots . Thinking for a moment, he said, “Why don’t you go back first? I’ll bury those bones first . ”

Betta looked at him in surprise . “Brother Roland, everything here is data . You’re too obsessed . ”

 5Roland paused for a moment and said, “Just consider me a willful man . ”

 2Betta sighed and said, “All right, I’ll be waiting for you in the town . ”

After that, he returned by himself .