Chapter 359

Chapter 359: It’s All About the Reputation

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Zhang Yang laughed and said, “I’m not on a horse. This is a bear!”

Zhang Yang was expecting some rude comeback, but the villagers were obviously not programmed to have a sense of humor. They had only screamed angrily at him and demanded him to get down from his mount.

[Fanatic Follower] (Normal, Humanoid)

Level: 85

HP: 8,500

Defense: 80

Note: They are the most loyal followers of Eins Brook.

As they were all normal tiered, Zhang Yang would not have trouble facing thousands of them! However, that was if he were to attack them. The NPC name tags were all in green! Which meant that Zhang Yang could only take a beating and not return any!

Zhang Yang sighed and moved towards the entrance of the village. However, when the bear was about to enter the village border, it was stopped with such a sudden force, as if it had just hit an invisible wall! The huge force nearly threw Zhang Yang off!

Zhang Yang finally understood. For him to enter the village and meet Eins Brook, he has to follow the rules! In Russia, do as the Russians do!

Zhang Yang got down from the bear and smiled as politely as he could. “Please. Everyone. There’s no need for a fuss. Let’s talk it out! Honestly, I am here because of my overwhelming admiration of Eins Brook!”

“That’s Lord Eins Brook!”

“…Lord…Eins Brook.”

The villagers then lowered their weapons. One of the villager that had the name “Solace” walked to the front and said, “Young man. Lord Eins Brook is the Son of the Fire God! He is the only man who can listen to the Fire God’s words! You have no right to meet him!”

[Solace] (Elite, Humanoid)

Level: 86

HP: 85,000

Defense: 450

He was the only elite tier NPC among the crowd. It seemed like he was the village leader.

Zhang Yang asked. “What could I do, to have the opportunity to have an audience with the great Son of the Fire God?”

Solace observed Zhang Yang from top to bottom with discerning eyes and said, “First, state your name and origin.”

“I am but a lowly adventurer from White Jade Castle. My name is Zhan Yu. During my days adventuring in the wild, I had accidentally obtained news of…Lord Eins Brook’s miracle. To express my admiration to him, I have traveled far and wide!” Kissing people’s butt was free, besides, it seemed that the situation might really need it.

Hoping for the best, Zhang Yang was rewarded with a large smile from Solace. The villagers were also so happy that they were smiling from ear to ear. That kind of smile was something that you would not see when you praise someone.

With a smiling face, Solace’s expression softens and was warmer. “Young man, you have made a wise decision. Ahh…Praise the Lord Eins Brook, for he is the son of the Fire God! He shall be the prophet of the Lord. To listen and convey His every command and deliver His judgment to us all! To have the opportunity to serve His grace, that is a certain blessing from the previous incarnation!”

Incarnation? This game is based on a western culture! How was there such a thing as reincarnation? Don’t all westerners believe in eternal lives of peace in heaven? Reincarnation was a really eastern concept1!

Zhang Yang hurriedly interjected Solace. “Blessed be upon thee! Please tell me, how do I have an audience with His grace! For I wish to fulfill my wish!” That was a load of crap. Zhang Yang true wish was to have “His grace” beheaded, and swipe the fifth piece of the Dimensional Key Fragment, and be done with it.

If Solace knew what Zhang Yang was about to do, he would have marked Zhang Yang as an “Infidel,” and have the entire village murder him. IF they could.

Solace nodded his head in satisfaction. “Lord Eins Brook will open the Worship Altar every month and announce the words of the Lord! However, only the most loyal followers shall have the qualifications to join such holy event. Zhan Yu. From here on out, you must steel your beliefs and serve the Lord’s wishes! Only then, you shall gain His blessing!”

‘Ding! You have unlocked a new Reputation: Son of the Fire God. Current Reputation Level: Neutral!’

‘Ding! You can only meet Eins Brook after obtaining the Reputation rank: Revered!’

If Zhang Yang could scream and yell, he would have. Farming Reputation points was the most boring thing to do! He could almost feel the vomit surging out from his mouth when he recalled farming Reputation points for the Centaurs!

However, a quest was a quest. He had already gather four pieces of the Key fragments, he could not just stop halfway through. Besides, if collecting key fragments would be such a nuisance, the last reward for completing the quest should be extremely luxurious! At least, it would surely be so much better than any of the previous rewards from all the previous quests that he had already completed.

There was a blue color exclamation mark hovering over Solace’s head. It indicated that Solace now had a repeatable quest for Zhang Yang to complete.

Zhang Yang then talked to Solace over again and accepted a bunch of scrap quests, like killing tigers to protect the village, collecting exotic fruits and giving them to Eins Brook as an offering, and chopping some wood to resupply the village. Almost all of the quests offered by Solace were ranked D. Naturally, it was not hard, thus the Reputation points rewarded were rather measly. One quest completion reward was only at 250 points. Luckily, the in-game time was set to be 3:1, so he could invest some time in farming for those points.

The next problem was the fact that the quests had daily limits. He could only complete each quest once a day! Solace had 10 daily quests for Zhang Yang. One quest completion would reward him with 250 Reputation points. In two days, he would have reached Friendly. In four days, he would have reached Respectful, nine days to reach Admired, and 17 days to reach Revered! That meant that it would take as long as 6 real days for him to complete the requirements for him to meet Eins Brook!

That was the main problem with Reputation points! It could not be done in a flash!

Sighing heavily at his fate, Zhang Yang left the village and started clearing all his daily quests. All of the 10 daily quests had Zhang Yang running all around the place like Hermes the messenger. None of the quests were concentrated at one spot! The developers had it that way just to toy with the players and waste their time!

As Zhang Yang went around the world, he had roughly gauged the center of the entire island. It was about a 7 to 8 cubic kilometer square of the area that he could never enter. The place was blocked by an invisible wall that could not be breached, even with {Dig} or {Shadow of the Void}. The developers were smart enough to seal all the possible loopholes to prevent players from “cheating” their way in.

Even though the farming of Reputation points was a boring, dead task, Zhang Yang was lucky that the island had an abundance of Herbs and monsters lying around. As he cleared the quest, he had also collected herbs and killed monsters to gain some experience points. Zhang Yang had accepted the Reputation points farming since it had not drastically affected his leveling speed.

After 2 hours, Zhang Yang had finally completed all the 10 daily quests. He went back to the village and had his Reputation raised to Neutral: 2,500 / 3,000

This time, Zhang Yang had a thought. Players would eventually stumble across this place, and not because of the Dimensional Key Fragment quest. The system would never set up a map solely for Zhang Yang alone, for the sake of a single quest. Since it had to be that way, the Reputation points that Zhang Yang had farmed should have other uses, besides meeting the son of the Fire God! There should be a Reputation shop!

Zhang Yang went back to the village and search for the NPC. It was a little longer than expected, since the Reputation shop NPC was called the “Priest of God”.

[Maltus, the Priest of God] (Normal, Humanoid)

Level: 85

HP: 8,500

Defense: 80

After having a short, meaningless conversation with the NPC, he opened the shop menu.

Zhang Yang nodded in satisfaction when he noticed there were quite a number of useful items, such as Enchanting Gemstones, the Pet skill book {Sprint}, and a few Professional recipes!

Enchanting Gemstones were special. They could be used to further upgrade all kinds of Gemstones that were socketed in the equipment. For example, Zhang Yang’s [Level 3 Vitality Gemstone] had a 50 Vitality bonus. After having the Gemstone “Enchanted” it would increase its specs from 10% to 100%.

Similar to Gemstone, Enchanting Gemstones will have a failure rate, ranging from 10% to 100%. The chances were completely random. If players wished to have 100% Enchanting rate, they would have to keep on enchanting the equipment with the same [Enchanting Gemstone].

Enchanting Gemstones require a specific rank of Reputation. However, it did not mean that with Reputation, you could acquire it, players would still need gold coins to purchase them!

To put it blatantly, it’s all about money.

On the side note, the skill {Sprint} was extremely well sought for. It allowed the mount of a pet to gain a double movement speed burst in a short period of time. It was extremely useful for both chasing and running away!

So far, Zhang Yang’s Professional Alchemy was the only Profession that required recipes. As such, he had taken a liking to one of the recipes that were for sale. The [Level 4 Natural Resistant Potion]. The potion will grant players, a strong and useful 5,000 bonus to Natural damage resistance for the next 2 minutes.

Surely but sadly, all of these good items would only be sold to players with a Reputation rank of Revered. With such a good cake, Zhang Yang had to share this piece with everyone. He then contacted Han Ying Xue and the rest of his friends and informed them about the news and had them farm Reputation points with him. Truth be told, he had indirectly dragged them down the waters with him. In truth, farming Reputation alone in the fields was just too boring.

Zhang Yang posted the Reputation shop item descriptions and drew in everyone else, like cats to a fish. While the others had taken quite some time to arrive, the easiest and fastest was Han Ying Xue. She had asked Zhang Yang to put on the Lover’s Charm to allow her to teleport to his side instantly.

The moment Sun Xin Yu arrived, she walked up to Han Ying Xue and thrust her hand out coldly. “It’s about time now. Can I have the thing you borrowed from me?”

Han Ying Xue scoffed coldly back at her and turned away. “Hmph! The Lover’s Charm was not yours to begin with! Why must I return it to you?”

Zhang Yang frowned worriedly. “Woman, how old do you think you are? What are you trying to pull by acting all cute and immature? Are you trying to be like a little girl now?”

He was no psychologist, but it does not take a Ph.D. certificate to know that there was something going on between the two females. Zhang Yang did not want any internal conflict between his own members and had decided to act out.

Sensing that Zhang Yang was at her side, Sun Xin Yu smiled smugly and turned her gaze to Han Ying Xue. “That’s a gift from Zhang Yang!”

“Please. That’s what you said! Back then, Zhang Yang had only passed it to you to help him claim the Territory! It was a tool to only allowed you to pass the final wave! It’s not like he had given it to you as a gift! Stop trying to be presumptuous!”

The smile on Sun Xin Yu faded and was replaced with a sulk. “Give it back!”

“No!”

The two females then bumped their voluptuous chests against one another, trying to assert dominance over the Lover’s Charm. Zhang Yang could swear that only he could see an electrical spark flaring between the two tigresses.

“Erhm…” Zhang Yang tried to speak but was immediately interjected by the two females.

“Shut up!” said both of them simultaneously.

“I think…” Zhang Yang tried to speak again.

“Who do you think should have the Lover’s Charm?” asked the both of them.

Zhang Yang frowned. Logically, Zhang Yang felt that the Lover’s Charm should be on Han Ying Xue. It would surely come in handy to have a healer on standby for he is a tank. He could have an emergency call for help to kill any sudden boss. However, Sun Xin Yu had been extremely helpful. Even though having a healer would be helpful in boss fights, Han Ying Xue would only be useful in boss fights! Sun Xin Yu was extremely helpful during the Territory War, and the day when he went to the Japan-Korean Region to farm for the Monster Attack Order! It’s nail biting to not be able to make a clear decision here.

The problem now was the fact that they were fighting over it. It’s a female fight! If a man suddenly jumped in to solve the problem, he might end up being chewed out by them, or something worse…

The smartest way to do was to turn around and run. However, as the party leader, the guild master, and their friend, he had to take the responsibility! Both of them were main assets!

Zhang Yang thought of a strategy and tried it out. “Why are you even quarreling over a piece of accessory?” What best, but to demean an object, so that they would not view it as a precious item! “It’s just a piece of a badge, just pass it to whoever who needs it. Isn’t that simple?”

“NO!” both Sun Xin Yu and Han Ying Xue screamed simultaneously. For Han Ying Xue to scream every now and then was normal, but for Sun Xin Yu to raise her voice like that, it was extremely rare.

“In that case, how about a game of scissors, paper, stone? The winner takes it all?” said Zhang Yang.

“Fine!”

The two of them pushed against each other, squishing their breasts together, but it was impossible since the both of them had the chests of inflated airbags! There was no way for them to have a moment like men who could easily bump their foreheads together physically!

“Hehehehe. Noob tank! You’re one sly, two timing pig!” said Wei Yan Er as she stood behind Zhang Yang, watching the entire scene. If there were some popcorn on the side, the little girl would definitely be munching on them happily.

Zhang Yang sighed tiredly. “I’d say, you could have spent some of the spare time you have to read some books and filled your empty brain with some knowledge. Yet, you’re here, standing behind, me smirking like a crazy girl, hoping the worst to happen.”

“Excuse me? What are you saying? It’s 3am here! How could I study in the middle of the night! That’s ridiculous!” Wei Yan Er pouted in defense.

“Hmm. Have you actually thought of going to any special schools?”

“Please…this young lady is as smart as Einstein, of course, it would be one of those top tier institutes.”

During their little casual conversation, Sun Xin Yu and Han Ying Xue were still busy throwing out their fists in an intense game of scissors, paper, stone.

Stone vs Stone!

Scissors vs Scissors!

Sun Xin Yu Paper won over Han Ying Xue’s Stone!

“Grrr…3 matches!”

“Ok!”

The game continued on but Han Ying Xue was completely crushed by Sun Xin Yu after 2 consecutive losses.

“…5 matches!”

“Ok!”

…

“7 matches!”

…

“9!”

“21…!”

The two of them continued to haggle over their winning conditions. It’s not like Sun Xin Yu was losing, but Han Ying Xue was still holding the Lover’s Charm. Even if she won the match, Han Ying Xue would only further increase the match count until Sun Xin Yu could win it fairly and squarely! After some time, Wei Yan Er was already yawning. Zhang Yang quietly nudged the bored little girl.

“Let’s go. I’ll collect some herbs while you farm some Reputation.”

“Ok.”

The two of them walked away, leaving Sun Xin Yu and Han Ying Xue puffing at each other. Without having the final decision settled, Zhang Yang was at a loss. He only knew one thing; from that day on, whenever Sun Xin Yu and Han Ying Xue encounter each other, they would continue their match, probably till the end of time…

As time passed, everyone’s Reputation points had accumulated and rose from Friendly, to Respectful, and Admired. Since everyone had started farming from the first day together, their Reputation growth was the same, since they could only complete the quests, once a day. On the 19th of March, everyone came together and completed the last Reputation quest. Everyone glowed with a bright green light and gained the Reputation rank of Revered.

At the same time, Zhang Yang had reached Level 81!

The experience point required to level up during Level 80 to Level 90 was roughly 20% more than the experience points required to level from Level 70 to Level 80. At Zhang Yang’s grinding speed, he had needed at least 10 days (real world time) to gain just one level!

“Congratulations!” Solace clapped his hands and expressed his gratitude. “You have passed each and every one of the tests! I am proud to bestow upon you, the name, the honor, and the rank of the most loyal followers of Eins Brook! Walk tall and proud with the name. I have but one more good news for you. Due to your unrelenting selfless acts, Eins Brook was proud of your deeds and has granted you the permission to have an audience with him.”

Finally! After so many days of tirelessly farming (and picking herbs), Zhang Yang had the chance to kill that s.o.b.

Zhang Yang was so excited and he could feel the tears falling down. “Brother Solace, where is Lord Eins Brook?”

“The Lord is in the Fire God’s Altar, waiting to hear the words from the Fire God himself!” said Solace. “Go forth! You mustn’t let the Lord wait for you!”

1. This opinion is based on the author.