"It makes people demons.." the shop owner in the backwards Nexus Kin village said.
Kai squinted at the guy.
The man continued, "Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man healthier than Oxfan starts spitting blood and craving human flesh.. Disker's hand was chewed off by one of those Hains brothers. That lot was always a bad influence on the poor folks in this village. They were the first ones to bring in that accursed Exodian blood tech. Why wouldn't the Motherland hate us after such atrocities?"
The man stopped to spit on the ground but still went on. "I tell ya', in my time, a spirit-forged bow could take a goblin's eye from seventy meters away without flinching.. This useless Exodian crap doesn't even hit properly at fifty meters before sucking a man dry of his life essence."
Then he started complaining non-stop about how the younger generation and the evil influence of the Exodians had ruined their relationship with the Motherland—and how they'd all have to pay for it eventually.
Kai tuned out halfway through, doubtful about half the shit the old man was spouting. Unlike most games, Nyxfall's NPCs were famous for making players confused as hell. They had so many speech patterns programmed into them that only a little of what they said was ever true—most of it was useless, random crap. Kai was glad to see that the crap quality level had increased, making the NPCs feel even more realistic than before.
Just as the guy was reaching the end of his rant, someone suddenly started screaming.
Kai and the shop owner immediately ran outside.
A woman was screaming from atop a wooden cart, gripping a large wooden stick as she tried to keep a boy at bay. He had gone insane—constantly lunging at her, his jaws snapping open and shut menacingly. His bloodshot red eyes showed no trace of memory or self-awareness.
There were no other physical signs of him being different, except that he was acting like an animal. And judging by the woman's terror, it seemed like he was her own son.
Kai stood there for a moment, watching the scene unfold. The shop owner shot him a confused look—why wasn't he helping?
Then, the moment Kai had been waiting for arrived.
[Mission: The illness In My Land
Difficulty: C
Objective 1: Save the mother from the sudden attack of her changed son.
Objective 2: ??
Objective 3: ??
Objective 4: ??
Objective 5: ??
Reward: 10% discount in the village shop, ???]
'Woah.. A C-rank mission the second I start my journey? Nice! Nice.. The reward for the first objective is shit, but it's a chain mission. The other rewards should be noice!'
Kai freed his bow from his back and shot an arrow at one of the empty wooden huts. Then, dashing behind the zombified kid, he grabbed him—used Godstep—and locked the door from the outside before sprinting away from the scary little freak. And just like that..
[The Illness in My Land: Objective 1 Completed.]
[The Shopkeeper considers you a hero sent by the Motherland now.]
'Hero my ass! Who gives a hero a 10% discount!? And that's after I already bought my shit! Where is my refund?'
A few minutes later, the scratching at the door stopped. The worried mother and the shop owner nodded at Kai, signaling that it was safe to open the door. When he did, the little ugly fella stumbled out—crying. His mother rushed to him, pulling him into a hug and consoling him.
Rolling his eyes, Kai moved away. Killing the guy would've been way more effective, but he knew it would hurt his standing with the NPCs.
Just as he was about to leave, the shop owner found him again, grabbing his shoulder.
"Ah! Such bravery! It is rare to see a person put others before himself in this selfish age. It seems the Motherland has not abandoned us completely yet. She has finally sent a worthy warrior to our aid. Tell me, brave one, would you try to find out what is happening to us? And how can we stop this illness?"
Kai just nodded along, unlocking the next objective.
[...
Objective 2: Find other villages that this illness has spread inside. Gather more information about the illness.
…
Reward: 10% discount in all the infected village shops, 10 Gold.]
Well.. good enough. Kai was not too worried about making money, but he wouldn't say no to free rewards.
With his task done, Kai wandered around the village for a while, looking for other worthwhile missions. But there was nothing. So, he continued traveling west.
The shop owner had told him the next village wasn't far.
He would have loved any kind of transport system or fast travel right now, but there was no such thing yet. The forums were already complaining about it. But it was the same last time too—fast travel only unlocked around level 35 for city-to-city travel. However, horses and other mounts became available once players reached a decent civilization or town. It should be the same here; people just hadn't discovered it yet.
Nyxfall never handed out important information to its players. Everything had to be discovered through trial and error. The game's difficulty was a notch above most other titles, and it was clear the Beyonder—the mysterious creators—didn't care about making things easier for players or maximizing profit. They only cared about entertainment. The harder the challenge, the more players pushed themselves to overcome it and make a name for themselves.
As Kai sprinted at full speed through the wilderness, a notification popped up on his interface, linked to his holo. It was a message from Mimi. He opened it and immediately asked for her ID—she clearly had no idea what she was doing.
Mimi - It's IllegalMeowves.
Kai - …
Mimi - What!? It's cute!
Kai - Let me call you.
He stopped texting and slowed to a halt. The monsters here weren't that bad, but he wasn't invincible either. Calling while running was the better option.
She picked up. "Kai? Why did you call?"
He replied, "Select the small map on your screen. It'll expand. The top right corner should have your coordinates—"
Silence.
Kai frowned. "Hello? Mimi? Are you there?"
Then, suddenly, loud breathing came through the receiver—followed by her screaming into his ear:
"Kai! YOU'RE TALKING!"