Chapter 22 – Resource Scarcity, And The Standard Path

Daniel’s stomach churned as he read the message. In other words, this inquisitor event was specifically designed as a wake up call to players that found hidden quests or hidden events in Raskal or the tutorial. It was basically the developers saying that they were not responsible for whatever events that could be triggered due to accessing those secret routes, and that players could find themselves dealing with consequences far beyond their level and capabilities to deal with.

It was smart design as well, now that the young man thought about it. Most players would eventually find themselves going to an official building in Raskal, whether it be the chamber of commerce or the mage’s guild or whatever. And that was when the inquisitor event would activate, slapping a hefty punishment on the player for ‘mana’ or ‘illegal possession’ or some other roundabout way of giving them the lecture about the risk of taking alternative paths.

Now that he understood the reason behind the inquisitor event, the penalty didn’t feel as bad. The lessons he learned from this inquisitor would save his ass in the future.

Right now, his priority had to be earning enough gold to cover the fine. There were still a few hours till the visitation ceremony, which by system standards was a standard path option. Checking the map of Raskal, he saw the noble woman’s fetch quest icon not far from the chamber of commerce. He could make it there in about ten minutes on foot.

Daniel first swooped into a deserted corner between the buildings to the right of the chamber of commerce tent, and unfurled his hood.

Aerie hopped out, sweating a little from her claustrophobic hiding spot. She looked stressed and exhausted, taking deep breaths while fluttering in front of Daniel. “I thought I was gonna die… waaaaaaaaaa!” she cried, still traumatized by the inquisitor event in addition to all that happened to her today.

“It’s alright,” Daniel comforted her. “We’ll get through this. I think you are emitting mana though, so I can’t take you into official governmental buildings. We’ll need to find a hiding spot for you to stay the next time I head to the chamber of commerce or something similar.”

Looking a bit dizzy, the pint sized faerie spun in a circle in the air. “O-okay. I don’t know where to hide, though.”

Daniel thought for a moment. “You know, once I have enough goods to set up a shop in Raskal, you can stay in our shop.”

The violet winged faerie’s face with glowing skin brightened up at that. “Yes, that sounds good. I can be a shopkeeper faerie~”

Daniel nodded, leaning against a building in the alleyway. “Definitely. You can be my shopkeeper, or maybe the shopkeeper’s assistant.”

“Hehe~ that sounds fun~” said Aerie with a tired smile.

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With Aerie in stow, Daniel made it to the quest giver without further hassle. His decision for now was to complete as many main line quests and side quests as possible, so first he’d complete this fetch quest and then head to the visitation ceremony quest.

[Fetch quest: Speak to the noble woman sitting outside of her apartment to begin the quest. Directions will be provided on the map. Expertise required: none.]

Sitting on a rocking chair on a porch was an elderly noble woman knitting a woolen sock. Daniel walked up and greeted her.

“Hi. I’m here for the fetch quest?”

The elderly noble woman looked up and spoke. “Yes. Would you help me pick some apples? A dozen from the Raskal gardens will be fine.”

[Fetch quest task updated: The noble woman wants you to procure a dozen apples from the Raskal gardens. Directions will be provided on the map.]

“Alright, I’ll be back soon.” Daniel blinked his eyes while reading the fetch quest guidelines. It seemed so simplistic and almost boring, just picking apples for an old lady. But he remembered what the system warning told him– that these standard path side quests were part of a carefully designed introduction of the difficulty curve to new players.

From that perspective, it made sense for a day one quest available to novices to be relatively simple.

Daniel departed towards the Raskal gardens, crossing through the market street again, then walking uphill for a while until he reached an elevated garden on a hill overlooking the city. The scenery of the bustling outpost city along with unexplored wilderness beyond the city walls was majestic, showcasing the sheer scale of the world of Edenquest. Daniel spent so much time exploring Raskal already, and Raskal was just one city in a world full of cities just like it.

As he finally made his way to the entrance of the garden, the lanky dark haired novice merchant let out an exasperated cry of despair.

“W-what the hell is this?” he shouted.

Walking around in the overhanging gardens full of fantasy inspired trees and various flora and fauna including some small rodents and frogs, were several dozen new players, all hunting for apples.

An apple just spawned on one of the strangely shaped apple trees. Instantly, a thief class girl climbed up the trunk of the tree and grabbed it off the branch, as an older guy and another player both tried to leap up for it.

Daniel couldn’t believe his eyes. An entire apple picking battle royale was occurring, just to complete one of the basic side quests.

[System tutorial: Resource scarcity in Edenquest.]

Daniel opened up the explanatory tutorial and read its contents.