Chapter 12

[ You have accepted the quest 'Slay the Silestal Guild Master (A)' ]

[ Affinity with the Barony increases exponentially from 100 to 300. ]

[ Baron Rael was just notified by the system. ]

[ He greatly applaud your bravery and valor thus commanded his knights to let you freely enter his manor whenever you wished. ]

Jaycee remained cool and collected however, his hands were secretly trembling. Denver was one hundred percent sure that he was flustered at the moment.

'It was an accident. Yes, it was indeed an accident. I didn't even want to accept that quest; it wasn't me who accepted it. It just happened that way. Right, there's nothing we can do about it. Let's just don't make such a fuss about it. This is just a game.'

Jaycee's self-justification momentarily calmed him down. However, in the end, all of a sudden, his gaze shifted towards Denver. His eyes were menacing in red. He then grinned all of a sudden.

"Hey slave …"

Jaycee slowly approached his direction with frighteningly heavy footsteps. His every step caused Denver great turmoil. He instantly felt disturbed and that feeling slowly grew larger as he was approaching him. He can't help but swallowed in tension.

Denver stepped back a couple of steps and stuttered, "Jaycee, w-what's the m-matter?"

Jaycee stopped in front of him and as he raised his head, what Denver saw was a terrifying demon veiled in heavy, suffocating atrocity. Denver was obviously petrified.

"Let's die together."

'What did he just say?'

"Huh?"

"Accept it …"

"Huh? What are you sayi-," he was cut off.

Jaycee clutched his both shoulders and emphasized, "I said 'accept it'."

Jaycee was scowling in the scariest way possible.

'Why is he suddenly like this!?'

Denver on the other hand, snapped out and awkwardly laughed.

"Hohoho~ I think I declined it already. What should I do? I don't think I can help you with that quest."

Denver briefly twitched after Jaycee's clutches tightened. Though it was heavy, Denver desperately endured it.

'He's the one who is clearly at fault here! Why is he trying to drag me with him!?'

However, this and that is a different matter. Denver, who can no longer resist the overwhelming pressure of his gaze, desperately avoided locking eyes with him.

"You can't fool my eyes, Mr. Denver Choi. I never saw you moved your hand towards your pop up screen."

'Now what? Let's see … uhmm …'

"Eh? No, I already declined it a bit earlier. I played before coming h-here."

Jaycee grinned threateningly.

'Fuck. What's with that grin?'

"Oho~? I think I just heard Uncle Choi saying that he would never buy such thing to his dumb third son earlier when he called me. Isn't it strange?"

'GG, game over. I'm doomed.'

"Hahaha~ Right it's kinda strange."

'This is the worst. Should I just beg him to spare me at least? The Jaycee I know was patient and understanding after all. Maybe he'll at least spa-'

Denver reached a dead end. As he had nothing left to say, he swiftly glanced at him and instantly pulled back his eyes the moment they locked eyes for a split of a second. It was unexplainably frightening. If it was in the real world, Jaycee's gaze could almost make someone peed their pants in fear.

'Shit. I'm literally fucked up.'

"Finally out of reasons? Now, 'accept it' and let me see the quest screen. I'm taking you down with me."

Jaycee condescendingly commanded with a scowl.

'It's because of that player's fault! Why am I taking the blame for something I didn't even do!?'

Just like what Jaycee had said, right after logging in the game, Denver was preoccupied for a moment and still did not reject the quest yet.

Denver was keeping his silence as he struggled finding a convincing reason he can say. Even if he found one, it's still nearly impossible to deceive Jaycee, not in a million chance.

'Yeah, there's no other choice. Let's go with plan B.'

Denver heavily breathed then sighed and kneeled all of a sudden.

'Let's beg.'

"Jaycee, can't you spare me just this once? I don't think I can end my gaming career rotting in prison. I'm begging you! Please spare me."

There goes Denver's puppy eyes and almost tearing up expression. If it was a normal person, they would instantly fell for it however; Jaycee was a totally different entity. If it's him,

"Oho~ I don't think you still realize what I am trying to say, no?"

He would never fall for such schemes.

'Ugh! Whyyy?!!'

"Jaycee, we got 50% chance to get imprisoned if we failed you know!"

"So what? Are you telling me to be imprisoned by myself? Aren't you the Albus successor's loyal retainer? Isn't it time for you to prove your worth?"

"That's …"

'Now he's using my title! What a conniving bastard!'

Denver paused as he really can't deny nor refute his statement. Despite not in his usual self, Jaycee remained rational just like he usually was.

"That's why 'you will accept it' now. If the successor goes to hell, the retainer will always follow, am I wrong?"

Jaycee slowly calmed down from his berserk mode.

"Think about it, if you decline, Albus will be very upset, no? As a retainer, isn't it your duty to follow wherever your master goes?"

'Fuck. I just remembered. There is that betrayal penalty also. If I refute him, does that counts as a betrayal? Damn, what should I do?'

"…"

Denver gone silent.

Jaycee ominously smiled and said, "If you don't accept it then I'll probably reconsider our contract."

'!!!'

"Fuck, fuck! Okay! I'll accept it! Stop it now. I get it!"

'Fuck. To play the game, I need to survive in the real world first. Damn monthly allowance. Ugh! Why am I always losing when we fight? He always had the upper hand in everything.'

Denver felt a sudden burst of agitation and ended up clicking the accept button heavy-heartedly.

[ You have accepted the quest 'Slay the Silestal Guild Master (A)' ]

[ Affinity with the Barony increases exponentially from 100 to 300. ]

[ Baron Rael was just notified by the system. ]

[ He greatly applaud your bravery and valor thus commanded his knights to let you freely enter his manor whenever you wished. ]

Right after accepting the quest, he quickly showed it to him and in an instant, as if nothing happened, Jaycee's went back to his usual self.

"Oh, congratulations. Welcome to hell." Jaycee teased.

"Fuck you. If it's not for the daily food, I would never even bother listening to your threats."

Jaycee brushed a light laugh and said, "How bold. There are still 7 in game hours before that baron gives his next instructions. Let's brushed up some monsters and blow off some steam while we're at it."

Denver dispiritedly followed Jaycee's back.

"Yes, yes master."

They went outside the town's wall and recklessly going wild like a madman throughout the vast Sahara Plains. It was kinda sad and pitiful at the same time, seeing the monsters being brutally killed in their hands. After six hours of grinding, with the use of one medium EXP potion, they raised their level by eight during that first four hours and gained additional two levels after the EXP potion expired. They easily reached level 17 and as they killed their current target, they decided to take a break. They were battling monsters for six in game hours straight nonstop.

"Hey slave, how did you allocate your stat points?"

"I didn't allocate them yet. I was hesitant and was extra careful not to mess my stats. How about you?"

"Oh, same with mine. I didn't use them yet."

It was a surprise seeing that they finally had something in common.

"Right now I got 78 stat points and 85 skill points. I really don't know where to invest these points."

Denver lay down and gazed at the sky. Jaycee on the other hand, remained seated as he silently browsed over his own status. They were both doing their own thing under the calm and soothing silence. A faint noise of the wind breeze can be heard. Though that silence didn't last that long. It was suddenly broken by a sudden pop up screen appearing in front of the both of them.

[ There are '2' players who have accepted the quest 'Slay the Silestal Guild Master (A)' ]

[ Updating the quest 'Slay the Silestal Guild Master (A)' ]

"Updating?" Jaycee whispered.

[ Update Successful! ]

[ The quest 'Slay the Silestal Guild Master (A)' was changed to 'Baron Rael's Personal Request (C)' ]

[ Baron Rael's Personal Request (C) ]

Difficulty: C

Baron Rael Graciano was once a high-ranked hunter before he became part of the Afruvite nobility. In fact, Baron Rael and the Silestal Guild Master were both members of a legendary party and were closed to each other more than just members in a same group. For whatever reason, the Baron assessed every player's bravery and courage to take on such difficult challenges by giving them a nearly impossible quest.

*Congratulations! You have passed the Baron's test.

*Visit Baron Rael's estate for further instructions.

Quest Clear Condition: Unknown

Quest Clear Reward: Unknown

Quest Failure Penalty: None

Denver jolted up in surprise.

"What the hell? That quest itself was a dud all along?!"