Naturally, Max realized that. He could see his viewers increasing at a fast speed from the corner of his vision. The chat was also filled with new names.
— I am here! This streamer looks interesting
— Breeze, huh? I've heard about him. To think he would pull such a crazy stunt was something I didn't expect lmao
— Airhead? Is he an airhead streamer?
— A thread in the forum brings me here.
'Someone posted a thread in the forum, huh? They are really active, which is good for me. I should hold an event with them soon to show my appreciation for their support.' It was a thought for the future.
For now, he had to deal with Old Man Rig. Based on the mission's description, talking to the old man wouldn't be easy. There was an explanation that he was grumpy.
'I should greet him politely.' He thought so as he found Old Man Rig.
Finding the old man was relatively easy. Just as he exited the station and followed the main street, he arrived at a stable by relying on the guiding lump of light. An old man with a question mark floating above his head was sitting on a wooden box just right in front of it.
Just like the mission's description, he looked so grumpy. His wrinkled skin only made him look more grumpy and didn't help to make him look kind.
"Excuse me." Max greeted the old man politely, following the mission's description.
Old Man Rig looked up and seized up to him. Then, with a frown, he asked.
"What?"
Facing the unfriendly answer, Max still maintained his smile.
"Are you Mr. Rig, by chance? I was told to ask you if I want to learn about taming monsters. They said you're the best at it." He said, "Ah, my name is Breeze. My apologies for the late introduction."
— He's sucking up to the old man.
— Is this the way?
— Damn, he sounds like a pro at sucking to someone. Old Man Rig's expression softened a little!
— Did he read the guide? Or is he doing this purely because he's a polite man, to begin with?
— FOR NEW VIEWERS: NO BACKSEAT AND NO SPOILER! Breeze is trying to have fun with us. And yes, he hasn't read any guide yet. It's a vanilla run! His virgin run!
— So he's a virgin. Good to know. *nod nod*
The old viewers helped to regulate the chat. Max appreciated it, but there was no need to say that this was his virgin run. It wasn't necessary.
'They can word it better...' He grumbled in his mind as he shifted his focus back to Old Man Rig.
"Hah! Don't think I would be happy with you saying that." The old man scoffed, throwing his face away, and jumped down the box. "But since you come here and ask me politely, I guess I will teach you. Follow me, fool."
Max was speechless as he looked at Old Man Rig's back.
Still, that didn't matter for a lot of viewers. What they cared about was that a new branch mission was found. Not to mention, it was the second quest that nobody seemed to care about.
— Tell the exploring party. How can those no-lifers miss this branch in the early game?!
— I have contacted MonLovelove. He will be here soon
— You know how they act around NPC. They are too depressed to be polite to such a grumpy old man!
— They are so grumpy that the old man doesn't like them
— More importantly, what's the monster provided by Old Man Rig? I am curious!
Max was waiting patiently while stretching. The old man asked him to prepare himself, and he wouldn't take any chance by not heeding his advice. He knew that sometimes NPC understood something better than he did. Their advice was often true.
'Will the Goddess of RNG smile at me, or will she frown upon me? I hope it's the former. I have enough with bad RNG.' He sincerely hoped. 'Please, make it a good monster that I can tame easily!'
Before long, Old Man Rig reappeared from the stable while pulling a big cat. It was bigger than the others that Max had seen inside the stable. The fur was also different. It was golden instead of red.
While getting pulled by the old man, whose muscle somehow popped up, it trashed around and tried to run away. It was a wild one, indeed.
"Stay still!" A thunderous roar escaped the old man's lips.
The black cat monster that trashed around earlier suddenly went quiet and sat down. Nodding in satisfaction, Rig turned to Max and pointed behind him.
"This is the kid I want you to tame. It's a Catlapu."
— ...
— Isn't that a mutation? For real?
— Holy... The old man gives him a chance to tame mutated Catlapu!
— His luck is heavenly!
— Indeed. But... Did you not see his weapon? How could he tame a mutated Catlapu, which is twice stronger than a normal one, with a default weapon and armor?
— Kekeke, it will be a slaughter!
"How is it, fool? You think you have the guts to try?" The old man smirked and taunted Max. "If you chickened out, feel free to back away and tame one in the wild. But if you're up to tame this kid, take this taming device." He pulled out what looked like a wooden token from his pocket.
Facing such an obvious challenge, Max walked to the old man and took the taming device from him.
"I am not a coward, so I will tame this Catlapu."
"Good, good. Don't die, you courageous fool."
It seemed like his name was upgraded from dull fool to courageous fool.
Max smiled and unsheathed his sword.
"That's a tall order, old man." He chuckled, "But I will try."