Side Quest
The horrific incident was witnessed by a girl in her teens with shoulder-length hair. She appeared to be wearing only a tank top and blue jeans shorts, with an iron stick neatly kept on her back, a weapon acquired from a weapon shop.
Right after Seth was done with his business, the girl left in a sprint, trying to avoid the area. Because of her hasty attitude, she accidentally bumped into a garbage can in the small alley, causing a fairly strong sound to be heard.
Seth turned his head quickly, the corner of his eye directed to a small alley between two buildings with three and two floors. The man walked swiftly to the spot, looking on as he pointed his gun forward.
"STOP!" shouted Seth, asking the girl to stop walking.
But she kept running, ignoring Seth's yelling. The man had no other choice; he fired at an AC compressor outdoor unit. He aimed at the compressor's support bolts. After being hit by Seth's laser handgun, the compressor fell right before the girl, causing her to gasp in shock and jump backwards.
"P-Please ... don't kill me!" pleaded the innocent girl, kneeling down and facing the man who walked up to her, Seth.
"Are you with Jack's group?" asked Seth, sternly.
The man continued to move steadily, each footstep making the splashing sound of water being stepped on. It felt like the place was dead silent, and the scene dimmed as the sunset.
"I'm not. I'm a solo survivor," the girl said.
Seth paused his pace right before her, with the gun pointed right at her head. The two stared at each other, Seth looking at her with suspicion while she looked at him with an anxious heart full of fears.
"Show me your status," Seth pleaded. It was the only way he could know if she was telling the truth or lying.
The girl nodded slowly, pressing the button on her system bracelet. A blue holographic screen appeared above the girl's system bracelet. Seth had to crouch down to see it from the other side.
Seth's eyes focused on the party section of the girl named Mia's system screen. Mia said honestly she hadn't joined any party yet. Her level and GP were also ridiculously low.
"Huft. Sorry, I scared you," Seth said.
The man re-holstered his pistol, stretching his right hand forward to grab the girl, helping her to her feet.
"Aren't you going to kill me?" the girl asked.
"You don't show any threat to me. There's no reason for me to kill you," Seth said.
"Your level is so low. Haven't you done any side quests yet?" asked Seth.
The girl was now entirely on her feet, her pants wet from the puddle she had fallen into earlier. Seth walked past her, lifting the compressor to open the way for Mia to leave.
"I don't know how to do it," Mia said, her voice faint.
Seth glanced back slowly. Not only did she have no idea how to do it, but according to Seth, Mia was afraid to do so. She had probably heard the bad news about survivors who died due to side quests, even though there wasn't anything dangerous about going through the side quests.
"You won't be able to survive with that kind of status. If the food supply in this world runs out, you will be completely reliant on your GP," Seth said.
"Have you ever been on a side quest? Can you teach me?" asked Mia, looking enthusiastic.
Seth still looked at her deeply, considering the good and bad of teaching her to start her first side quest. One thing Seth needed to be sure of: could he trust Mia?
"Honesty and loyalty are expensive these days. If I help you, can I trust you won't betray me?!" Seth emphasized.
"You have my word. I will never hurt you," Mia insisted.
Her eyes sharpened, highlighting Seth's face, which was still clearly visible thanks to the sun's dusk light in the afternoon. Seth sighed lightly. He would help her only for her first side quest.
"If you're done with your mission, then I won't help you anymore," Seth said.
"That's fair enough. I'm sure I can survive alone," Mia replied, excited.
Seth cleared his throat. He inspected Mia's body through his eyes, although she was still a teen, but not with her body: slender legs, well-groomed pure white skin, and her breasts puffed out pretty big, matching the criteria of people who wanted a perfect woman.
Her body was not overly full, nor was it thin. She could move quickly and easily; her reflexes were also good in Seth's eyes. However, she lacked a naive attitude that could be exploited by bad people.
The man pressed the map menu on his bracelet; dots with different icons appeared. The dollar icon indicated it was a merchant place. It could only be unlocked when the survivors had reached more than 30th level. The mail icon indicated the side quest was located there. The number of mail icons was much greater than the merchant.
"300 meters ahead, you can take the side quest," Seth said.
He and Mia began to walk through the city streets, not the main street. Several survivors seemed to be surrounding the place from afar, up to 15 of them.
They became indifferent when Seth or other survivors arrived. They were still focused on finding a side quest that suited them.
They stood before a hexagonal-shaped iron, 6ft high, with a monitor screen on each side. So, six monitor screens can be used to display the side quests to be taken.
Right when Seth arrived, two monitors were empty not being used. However, Seth wasn't interested in taking on side quests, especially after he had already gotten a large amount of GP by stealing from Jack's group.
"What should I do?" asked Mia, confused.
"Attach your system bracelet screen to the monitor before you. It will detect your identity and select a suitable side quest for you," Seth said, explaining how the hexagonal-shaped side quest search tool worked.
"You seem to understand how the world works these days," Mia praised.
"Ignorance will lead to death. Didn't you see what happened to those people?" asked Seth, squinting his eyes.
Mia nodded. She saw and heard clearly that their status had changed to zero after following Seth's instructions, which was why Seth said so.
The innocent girl began taping the screen of her system bracelet to the monitor before her. Instantly, her identity appeared along with her EXP and GP status. The monitor had three menus: solo side quest menu, group side quest menu, and quest submission menu.
"Which one should I choose?" Mia asked.
"Press the solo side quest menu," Seth replied, pointing at the first menu without touching it.
Mia did as Seth said. Her finger pressed the menu, and instantly, the random text started, with a countdown from 10. The system selects a proper side quest based on the survivor's level.
When the countdown ended, a mission appeared on the monitor screen with special conditions and requirements. There are two small menus below the mission text: the accept quest menu and the search quest menu.
"Each survivor only has three opportunities to find another mission. So, be smart," Seth said.
Mia was still staring at the first mission that appeared on the monitor. It said the survivor had to collect 10 roses with an infinite time limit, the reward being 200exp and 100gp.
The higher the survivor's level, the more difficult the mission would be, so the bigger the reward would be. However, Mia's level was still low, so she got low missions with small rewards.
"Collecting roses is not that difficult. You just need to find a flower shop and take all their roses," Seth replied.
"Is that so? I'd better take this quest for my first one," Mia said. Seth smiled lightly.
She pressed the accept quest button, and instantly, the text was sent to the system bracelet attached to Mia's hand. Now, Mia could check her mission anytime while she was travelling.
"If I've got the items I'm looking for, what should I do?" Mia asked.
"You can simply visit this side quest post in another place closest to you. You don't have to come back to this place just to put the items together," Seth replied.
"Oh, okay. I see. Can you take care of me just for now?" asked Mia with a pitiable expression.
Seth sighed softly. He cleared his throat in agreement with Mia's request. However, before leaving, Seth intended to come to the nearby merchant shop.
"Merchant shop?" asked Mia, confused.
"I need to buy something."