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On the way to Trowulan...
----------------------- [QUEST!] -----------------------
DEFEAT ALL THE MONSTERS IN THE AREA! COLLECT THE ITEMS THAT APPEAR AFTER DEFEATING MONSTERS.
REWARD : 100 GOLD COIN
FAILURE : -1 LEVEL
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"Guys, a new Quest has appeared!" Loka informed everyone.
"We should prepare before the Quest starts," I told everyone, urging them to get ready for the upcoming Quest.
"Shouldn't we stop first?" Roro suggested that we halt our journey to focus on the Quest.
"Roro's right. Bima, pull over here," Loka instructed Bima to stop the car.
"Alright, sis," Bima replied.
We stopped midway through our journey to complete the Quest first. We all prepared our weapons to fight the incoming monsters. We waited for the gate and the monsters to appear.
This Quest felt slightly different. Normally, during Quests, we'd be joined by many others. But this time, it was only our party present in this place. Ever since we left the city, we hadn't encountered many people on the road. Here too—aside from the five of us, no other players were around.
Now that I think about it, our car might have been the only one on the vast road, parts of which were cracked and filled with potholes. We stopped by the roadside. Right next to our car stood a ruined minimarket. We waited for the Quest to begin beside its wreckage.
After a long wait, the Quest finally began. As usual, Arya charged in with his sword. Bima wielded a large iron staff. Loka carried two sharp iron rods and a pistol strapped to his side. Roro had a long wooden staff, like a thick and even billiard cue. I used a dagger to fight.
The gate appeared, revealing the monsters within. There weren't as many monsters this time compared to previous Quests, but we still had to be cautious.
As the monsters noticed us, they charged with their weapons raised. We did the same, running toward them to engage.
"They're finally here! Let's take them down!" Bima shouted.
"Yaaaah!" Everyone screamed and attacked.
One by one, we defeated the monsters. They kept attacking fiercely, as if desperate to kill us all. But we didn't back down. The five of us worked together to wipe them out.
Compared to the last fight against the Boss Monster called Wandering, this one felt easier. It almost felt like nothing.
After killing many of them, the gate began to fade away. The monsters stopped appearing. It looked like the Quest was about to end.
Suddenly, one last monster came at me from behind, ready to strike me down. I sheathed my dagger at my side and stood still, waiting for it to get close.
"Jay, watch out! Behind you!" Loka shouted.
"By the glory of the noble and generous King Prabu, who always helps his people in times of danger—I summon your sacred weapon... Trisula Wedha!"
Slashhh... (Head severed.)
I had purposely put away my dagger. I was now level 10. A system notification had told me that once a player reaches level 10, they can summon the sacred weapon of their Constellation. It was just like the novel I had read. Not only that, but players at level 10 could also use magic, though using it would consume Mana Points (MP).
Each spell has a different MP cost. The more powerful the spell, the more MP it consumes. If a player's MP drops to zero, they could faint for a whole day—or worse, die. This is because Mana combines both soul and energy. Once it's restored, the player recovers.
Summoning my sacred weapon reminded me of Arya and his black sword. He had always used it since the gates appeared. Had he already been level 10 from the start? That was odd, since it didn't seem like the others had reached that level yet.
After defeating the goblin that attacked me, the others came running over. They were amazed by my sacred weapon.
"Whoa, that's awesome! What weapon is that, Jay?" Bima asked in awe.
"Is it from the system?" Loka was also curious.
"Yes, the system notified me. It said I can summon the sacred weapon used by the Sponsor I'm contracted with," I explained.
"Will I be able to get one too?" Roro asked, eager to have her own sacred weapon.
"Me too!" added Bima and Loka.
"Of course. Once you reach level 10, you'll get the same notification as I did."
"I really want to level up fast now. I'm curious what my sponsor's weapon will look like. Hahaha," Bima laughed, excited.
"Looks like your level's higher than ours, Jay. I know you're strong, but how did you level up so fast?" Loka asked, curious.
"Crap! I've said too much. I know all this because of the novel I read. Everything's happening just like in the book. I have to act normal. I can't tell them about the novel," I thought to myself.
"Um, I don't really know. It just happened, I guess. If you guys keep doing quests and fighting, you'll level up fast too, like I did."
"Leveling? What's that?" Roro asked.
"Leveling means doing things like defeating monsters, completing quests, and so on. Basically, you need to gather a lot of EXP to level up," I explained.
"Alright, enough talk. Let's finish this Quest!" Arya urged us to continue.
The few monsters that remained attacked again. We fought them and finished them off, completing the Quest.
Once all the monsters were dead, many items appeared around us. These were the drops from the defeated monsters. As they died, their bodies vanished and left behind glowing items. We gathered them all.
"Huh... Finally done."
"That Quest was much easier than the last one," Roro said happily.
"This is strange. Normally, nothing would drop like this after a fight. What are these things?" Bima asked, holding a glowing object.
"The items dropped from defeated monsters are called 'Items'. I think they can be used to craft things. I don't know exactly what for yet, but eventually, they'll be useful," I explained.
"There are so many types. They shine like gems. And the colors are different too," Roro observed.
"Let's collect them all," Loka instructed.
After a while, once we gathered all the items, the system gave us a new notification.
[Quest Completed!
You can store or sell your Items in the Store Panel. The rarer the Item, the higher the selling price.]
[Say "Open Store" to open the Store Panel.]
"Hey look! Another notification," Roro pointed out.
"Looks like all the items we gathered can be sold in the Store," Loka thought aloud.
"So we sell items to get gold coins? Does that mean regular money is useless now?" Bima asked.
"Do you think any banks are still open?"
"Hahaha, you got me there, Arya."
"There are a lot of items for sale here. Elixirs, potions, gems, metals, stones, and more. There's an equipment menu too, but it looks like no players have listed weapons or armor yet," Loka observed.
"You're right. This is a lot like an e-commerce site—just without shipping fees. Hahaha."
"Hahaha, true Jay. But... how does the item get to the buyer?" Bima asked, confused.
The Store is a place where players can sell all the items they've gathered. Items are divided into two types: raw items and refined items.
Raw items are materials used to craft refined items—such as various stones, metals, gems, sand, wood, etc. The most valuable raw items are dragon scales and adamantine, both of which are highly sought after for crafting weapons and armor.
Refined items are finished products made from raw materials, like elixirs, potions, armor, weapons, and other gear. Refined items are usually used by players for battle or everyday activities.
Both types of items come in grades: C, B, A, S, and SS. The higher the grade, the better the item—and the more expensive.
"Looks like the items we got are all raw materials," Arya said.
"I think so—metals, stones, gems, and such. The market price isn't that high, just 1–10 gold coins."
"Should we sell all the items? If they turn into gold coins, I want to sell them. There's something I want to buy," Bima said.
"What about you, Loka?" I asked.
"I'm not sure about you guys, but I've already sold all the items I collected," Loka replied.
"You sold everything?"
"I kept a few Grade B items. You guys should sell the worthless stuff and save the valuable ones. Sooner or later, gold coins will be essential for transactions—especially since regular money doesn't work anymore."
(Everyone nodded.)
We all sold the low-grade items we had gathered and kept the Grade B ones. Loka was right—eventually, gold coins would be crucial for our lives.
"Excuse me… Sorry to bother you. It looks like you have a working vehicle. May I join you?"
Just as we were selling our items, a man with glasses approached us. He came alone, asking if he could join us in our car.
.
.
.
To be continued…