Chapter 66: A Casual Quest (3)

After the pets' introduction and a brief drama, Jake and the couple finally entered the depths of the forest—the northern line of the defense of The Warmonger Empire.

It was swarmed by monsters that didn't judge anyone. Unless their instincts told them to turn around and break away from the impossible, they'd attack anyone.

Conveniently, Mary and Robert's levels were so high that no monster wanted to approach them.

Meaning Jake could freely look around and make notes for his solo adventure here.

At the forest's feet, he'd noticed the soldiers' tents and them standing on guard. Occasionally, the monsters' numbers would grow so high that the forest was forced to spill them out, creating a monster tide.

It wasn't a threat to the capital, but it was surely a nuisance.

A few villagers outside were in danger during those times, and some losses couldn't be spared. Of course, players loved those monsters' tides, as it was cool, heroic, and simple.

After all, no one had to go to the forest and search for monsters.

While players would indulge in the fun of a monster tide and battle lust, the guards would do their best to protect their kin and scout a few clearheaded players to assist them. With the quest feature, it wasn't difficult.

'So far, I've seen like raw wild monsters, halves, and tree monsters,' Jake commented. The forest was magical, continuously producing monsters and even taking a few natural animals to its side.

It meant that wild monsters similar to the tutorial island's residents dwelled here on top of the forest monsters.

The latter was as though someone had breathed the demonic mana into the previously peaceful forest, giving birth to the tree monsters that would die upon losing their health points—the only way to kill them.

Though he may have been in the forest for around ten minutes, Jake had already seen nearly all the monsters the forest offered to the newbie players.

The moving trees, foxes with branches and bushes sprouting from their backs, and common feral boars he would be able to see in the real world—Jake had seen all except the bosses, the dungeon, and strangely, Leavie Bears.

"Leavie Bear must be tastier than a normal bear," Jake commented.

Robert smiled, "You could say mana is tasty. It's also nourished by the forest, so this kind's meat is of a higher quality and with naturally more mana."

"Oh," Jake nodded.

Robert chuckled, "I've asked our friends from the guild about this common quest. They told me that the demand for this meat is high in Last Night, and various restaurants are in a heated battle for it. We might have been done down."

"I mean, anyone could tell you two are high-level players, so I'm not surprised," Jake shrugged.

It wasn't offensive, but the casual quest was far from the casual if the information was true.

Mary didn't seem to have been offended, at least. She kept leading them deeper into the forest as though she knew directions. After some time, Jake noticed that fewer and fewer players were around them.

"You know this forest?" Jake asked his sister.

Smirking, Mary looked over her shoulder and said, "I can see that others don't want to hang out around here, so I'm interested to see what's going on."

"You don't expect anything serious if you're still in casual clothes," Jake sighed. She must have forgotten already that they were here for the casual quest...

Following her boyfriend's advice, Mary focused all her fun on the newbie player across her.

Because of her uncensored words and the implications she threw at the newbie mage, the high-level players of the Raven Guild grew so pissed that their faces were red and contorted.

The newbie player, however, squeezed herself out of the group and smiled at Mary.

"You're wrong about me being an experienced player. This is my first account and character... I'm a newbie in flesh and blood, though I had spent a lot of time on the tutorial island for a few reasons," the woman said in a soothing and flowing voice. Jake wouldn't be surprised if she were a singer in real life.

Her nickname was...

[AAAAAAAA Lv. 10 HP: 760/760 MP: 3100/3100]

The representative of her group chimed in, "Maria! You don't have to explain yourself to her!"

Maria smiled, "I know you're holding back because of me. I'm already taking your precious time, which is why I don't want you all to suffer any losses."

With her arms crossed, Mary thought aloud, "Sounds like a certain someone behind me!"

When Mary turned around, however, Jake was no longer there.

"Eh? Where is he?" Mary asked her boyfriend.

Robert was as surprised as her. He shook his head.

It was Maria who pointed her staff in the direction in which Jake had run away.

Robert narrowed his eyes and thought, 'She's not opened her eyes... so how does she know that?'

Meanwhile, Mary screamed, "JAKE! Come here, you little bastard!"

She ran off in the direction Maria had directed.

Compelled to follow her, Robert turned around and ran after her. One by one, the pieces of his heavy equipment disappeared on its own to his inventory. In less than twenty seconds, Robert returned to his casual clothes, meaning he could catch up to Mary quickly.

Maria let out a relieved sigh when the trio was gone. "I must thank Mary November's brother."

"Forget about her! If it were another day, we already would be at each other's throats!" the representative of the guard replied, her voice louder and confident.

Maria curved her lips into an adorable smile, "That's why I want to speak with only her brother. Has anyone of you been able to see through his nickname?"

Another woman replied, "He doesn't display his nickname, but I could see it with my thief class. It's Archer."

"Thank you," Maria nodded. "I want to add him to friends... can you help me?"

"Yes, wish for your game system to appear visible to me," the representative replied, familiar with this request.

It was because Maria was blind, meaning she couldn't see any game system features.