On the large notice board, one of the tasks read: Need help with killing the goblins that are raiding my farm. The group is around seven goblins strong, so the reward will be 70 copper coins. Contact Bob for more info.

“He only offered me ten copper coins when I first appeared! This is a scam!”

Disgruntled, Jack kept looking around at the other notices and found many of the quests he was offered amongst them, all with a higher reward. He even found a strange parchment that read: The ones allowed to approach the next arrival from the monastery first are Bob, Ann and Joseph. After their turn, the next batch will be nominated by lottery as per usual.

“What the hell? They are a bunch of scammers!”

“Most of the monastery’s new arrivals take all the quests that are thrown at them, no matter the contents or rewards. When people began to realize that, they took advantage of it. After all, it’s hard to commission a chosen for work and the prices can be tough on the common folk.”

“Huh?”

Jack turned around to see who was talking to him, but found the streets empty. Presently, only he and the dog that was following him around were nearby. The dog looked at him and turned his head sideways, throwing him an inquiring glance. It was as if he was asking ‘what you’re looking at?’

Who was talking just then? Is that a random explanation from the system to help newcomers? The voice seemed different than the usual one, though.

Confused about what was going on, Jack scratched his head and turned back to the notice board. His eyes darted around to every paper and parchment pinned on the board, scanning all the available tasks. He was looking for a low risk quest that would pay just enough for him to get by for a few days, after all he was penniless right now. Thankfully, he didn’t have to pay for accommodations, since he could just return to his Safe Zone, but meals were another deal.

“All right, this one works. I accept this quest!”

Command failed. Find and talk with the quest giver before accepting this quest.

“What’s up with this game world… it’s like it can’t decide if it wants to be a proper game or not. Sometimes it behaves like a game, other times it tries to be realistic.”

DON! A gong sound rang out in Jack’s head and a special screen flickered across his view.

You earned an achievement!

Criticizing the Game [-1 pts]: You don’t like the game I made? Ho-ho-ho, that’s fine! Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.

Jack was flabbergasted. Out of the blue he got an achievement, one that gave him negative points at that… He couldn’t help but feel that the tone of it was rather threatening too. He was about to complain again, but managed to contain himself just in time.

I better watch my mouth in the future. Now, where do I find this butcher guy?

He continued walking around and decided to ask the first person he saw for directions. The stray dog watched him move away for some time before deciding to follow him again. Thus, the duo made their way to a little shop on a backstreet. Pieces of meat hung from chain hooks that dangled from the eaves. On the counter, a strong man in his mid-thirties hacked at a particular tough slab of meat with his cleaver.

Jack found the whole scene strange, but it didn’t make him feel ill at all like he expected. The stray dog that followed him till now was drooling. Jack cleared his throat to draw the attention of the butcher and extended the quest notice forward.

“Hello sir, I’d like to take on this task.”

The man set his cleaver aside, lodging it with strength in a piece of log to the side and gave the young man an appraising glance. “Oh, sure. Bring me back the meat of three wild boars. I’ll pay you twenty coppers for that.”

“I accept this quest,” Jack said solemnly.

You’ve accepted the quest of butcher Tony. Time limit: 2 days.

The butcher gave him another look over, still unconvinced.

“You do know how to prepare game for keeping, right?”

“Huh…”

“I knew it! Why are you taking on jobs if you don’t have the necessary skills to complete it?” asked Tony in annoyance.

“I thought… The game…” Jack was at a loss for words. He was about to complain about the game again, that it was not behaving at all like he expected, that the tutorial was shit and that it had a bunch of systems without a damn help menu. In the end, he just kept his silence and tried to control his frustration about the situation.

“Game… that’s a word most of the chosen from the monastery throw around a lot. Are you one of them?”

“I don’t know about chosen, but I indeed came from the monastery.”

“Then you’re a chosen, it’s that simple. Tell you what, since you’re a chosen I’ll make you a deal. I’ll teach you how to prepare game, but in turn you’ll have to bring me back the meat from twenty boars instead of three.”

I get to learn a new skill for collecting seventeen extra boars? Although I don’t know the price for acquiring skills, that doesn’t sound too bad. I bet preparing game will also be useful to me in the future too.

“Agreed! First though, can you explain to me what’s the deal with this chosen thing?”

“Sure. Put this on and come around,” said Tony as he threw a dirty apron to Jack. “I can answer some of your questions as you practice what I’ll teach you.”

“Woof. Woof.”

“No meat for you mutt, go bother someone else,” said Tony as he shooed the stray dog away.

“Bitch.”

“Did you say something?” Tony asked Jack with a raised eyebrow.

“No, I thought you’d said something.”

“Forget it then, first let me get a pig that was on ice and we can start.”