[Episode 04] Quest Reward (1)
Owen Ju had a dream.
A peaceful afternoon.
Watching her most precious son play in the apartment playground.
Somewhere in those ordinary days when you can’t take your eyes off someone for fear of getting hurt.
Then I opened my eyes quietly.
Owen Ju, who realized that she had woken up, gasped lightly and cried.
It was a sweet dream.
I couldn’t hold back my tears because I knew full well that the dream would never come true.
That was when.
“Mr. Owen Ju.”
A man was standing at the emergency exit, looking straight down at himself.
‘what.’
Maybe it was because of the dream, but strangely, the man in front of me felt comfortable.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Kim Jae-hyun.”
He was a man with a strange aura.
My instincts were telling me.
The source of the unknown power I just experienced was the man right in front of me.
That oppression is hidden in that softness.
“···Did you do it?”
“yes?”
“Blowing off the goblins’ heads.”
He nodded slowly in agreement.
“you’re right.”
Really, he spoke as if such a thing meant nothing to him.
‘perhaps···.’
Could it be because of my hazy mind that has just woken up from a dream?
Or maybe it was because of the content of the dream.
An absurd thought occurred to me.
‘If it’s this man···.’
Wouldn’t that be possible?
Owen Ju shed tears and pleaded in front of a strange man she was seeing for the first time.
“My son, my son, please save him…. Even if it’s just for one day, just one day….”
***
My first meeting with Owen Ju was intense from the start.
[Citizen Owen’s credibility increases significantly.]
Because just making eye contact started to greatly increase trust.
I had only exchanged a few words with him to begin with, and yet another notification of increased trust appeared.
That was the moment when it was revealed that it was I who had caught the goblin.
Immediately after that, he stared blankly at me for a while before bursting into tears and making an absurd request.
“My son, my son, please save him···.”
“······.”
A request to save one’s son.
From that alone, it was possible to infer the general situation.
‘Did you lose your child to a goblin?’
The emergency stairs were currently a mess with the corpses of goblins that Owen had killed.
The bodies of the men she killed before becoming a citizen remained, and the condition was gruesome.
Heads cracked, intestines spilled out, necks broken, etc.
I could infer the urgent situation at that time at a glance.
And in those traces, a thick hatred could be felt.
‘Please save me.’
What she’s saying now probably isn’t asking for her sick son to recover or anything like that.
This literally means to resurrect a dead son.
“Ugh.”
She must have known that it was an absurd request, because after saying that, she just cried sadly.
As I looked at that sight, my heart ached again.
‘Isn’t there any way?’
A way to bring back a dead person.
In the past, it would have been a stupid worry, but now that the world has become like this, it’s not such a strange worry.
Is it even possible to talk about monsters or people with superpowers appearing?
After thinking about it for a while, one possibility came to mind.
‘If this is possible···.’
When I first gained the ability to grant quests, I tested the limits of the penalty.
But the limits of compensation have never been tested.
‘Quest granted. Hunt a thousand goblins, unlimited duration, no penalty. Reward… son’s resurrection.’
Tiring!
The moment I heard the system notification sound, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of anticipation.
If this were really possible, then I would be able to even resurrect the dead.
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And that could apply to my loved ones too.
however.
[Quest cannot be granted.]
To my dismay, the attempt to grant the quest ended in failure.
‘It’s not working after all.’
Well then, that’s right.
No matter how great one’s ability is, it is impossible to save a person.
That was the moment I thought so.
[There is not enough cash to pay (Quest Reward: Resurrection).]
[Please try again after increasing your cash holdings.]
“······uh?”
For a moment I doubted my eyes.
Because there was some nonsensical stuff written in the system window.
But no matter how many times I reread it, the notification content did not change.
‘So now···.’
It was clear what they were saying.
‘Does that mean that if you have money, you can bring the dead back to life?’
Even when I tried, I honestly didn’t believe it was possible.
‘oh my god.’
But I never thought it would actually be possible.
“Sob.”
The sight of Owen Joo sobbing quietly was extremely pitiful.
It’s cruel to say this, but I was tapping away at my calculator while she was crying in front of me.
‘It’s still difficult to guess how much money will go into the resurrection.’
I don’t know the exact amount, but it was clear that they were going to ask for a huge amount of money.
‘Is it really worth investing that much money in this person?’
There was no need to think long.
Her level and the abilities she possesses alone make her worth investing in.
“Mr. Oh Eun-ju. Mr. Oh Eun-ju.”
He spoke to her as she raised her head, covered in tears.
“I think I can help you.”
“······yes?”
“I can resurrect your son.”
“!!!”
Owen Ju answered with a face that suddenly came to his senses.
“Really, really? You’re going to save my son?”
“To be honest, that’s not possible right now.”
“ah···.”
He continued speaking to her, whose expression was filled with disappointment.
“But I promise on my name. I will definitely bring your son back to life.”
“What should I do?”
Now, it seemed like she was more interested in grabbing at straws than believing what I was saying.
The desperation was evident from his expression.
“hmm.”
I would have liked to send her home to her family right away.
So I wanted to ask you to bring your family to this apartment.
Because right now she had the strongest specs among the citizens.
But there were too many concerns about sending her out on a mission alone.
The biggest thing was that I didn’t know what level of monsters I would encounter on the way to my hometown.
‘It is less risky to send it with a solid power when sending it once.’
The most powerful combination of cards I had right now was to have Owen Ju join Ha Dong-Geon’s party.
In Ha Dong-geon’s party, there were Moon Byeong-ho and Kang Deok-su who were registered as vassals.
They had reached levels 30 and 25 respectively, and had also awakened decent abilities.
If Owen Ju, who is level 33, joins here, we will be able to chew up most monsters.
‘The best is to make all seven vassals.’
If that were the case, there would be no need to worry even if I were to encounter monsters of a level that I couldn’t fight against. I could just summon them all with the summoning of the gods.
There is much less worry about losing power.
After I finished organizing my thoughts, I opened my mouth to speak to Owen Ju.
“First, come up with me. There are some people I would like to introduce to you.”
***
“Nice to meet you. My name is Ha Dong-geon.”
“My name is Owen Ju.”
The place where Oh Eun-ju was introduced to Ha Dong-geon and his group was the living room of Choi Hyeong-jun’s family.
The survivors who had filled the place dispersed to their homes with relief supplies, but there was no place to accept Ha Dong-geon and Oh Eon-ju, who had come from another village.
It was thanks to the kind person Choi Hyeong-jun accepting them that we were able to gather here now.
Owen Ju spoke cautiously first.
“You’re the one who hunts goblins by throwing baseballs, right? That woman shoots arrows.”
Hadong Geon asked with a surprised expression on his face.
“Do you know us?”
“Don’t you know me? We’re old friends.”
When they looked like they had no idea, Owen Ju demonstrated his ability.
Crap!
“Huh!”
Until just a moment ago, Oh Eun-ju had the appearance of an ordinary middle-aged woman, but she had suddenly transformed into a black-furred beast.
Kim Ga-young, who saw that sight, screamed in shock.
“The werewolf of the shortcut!”
The identity of the werewolf that Ha Dong-geon’s party saw on the side road was none other than the personified form of Oh Eun-ju.
Owen Ju, who had immediately returned to being human, responded calmly.
“To be exact, it’s a bear, not a wolf.”
“···A bear?”
“Yes, bear.”
Thanks to Owen Ju’s response, which was more gentle than expected, the atmosphere flowed smoothly.
‘Is this the leisure of an adult?’
At that moment, Owen Ju smiled and said.
“I helped you a few times, didn’t you know?”
“ah-!”
“at that time!”
There was a moment when I guessed, and the reaction came out immediately.
“It wasn’t a coincidence that you helped us at the entrance to the underground parking lot.”
“It was intentional. The enemies of goblins are my friends.”
I simply thought he was sociable, but after listening to his conversation, it seemed like he had a liking for Ha Dong-gun’s party.
Thanks to that, the story progressed quickly.
“I’m glad you already know each other.”
First, I briefly explained the situation to Owen Ju.
“I see. Grandma···”
[Citizen Owen’s credibility increases significantly.]
“The rescue operation for Mr. Moon Byung-ho’s grandmother is scheduled to be carried out early tomorrow morning. Mr. Oh Eon-ju will also be deployed for tomorrow’s operation.”
There was nothing special about the operation.
The number of goblins in the surrounding area has been drastically reduced by hunting down the goblins in the underground parking lot. The plan was to take advantage of this gap and rescue Moon Byeong-ho’s grandmother.
“i look forward to.”
“me too.”
So the preliminary meeting for tomorrow’s operation was concluded.
“Everyone, you worked hard today. Sleep well. I’ll see you early tomorrow morning.”
At that time, Choi Hyeong-jun, who was quietly listening to the story from the side, asked me.
“I… Jaehyun.”
“yes?”
“Am I included in tomorrow’s operation?”
He was dripping with cold sweat.
Originally, I had planned to send him along as well.
However, after seeing Choi Hyeong-jun’s performance during this goblin operation, I had no choice but to withdraw my plan.
‘Even if you have incredible strength, it’s useless if your body freezes in front of a monster.’
In fact, Choi Hyeong-jun was quite dangerous even during the hunting expedition.
Even though I knew that, I couldn’t put him on the mission.
I shook my head once and answered.
“No. You were hurt, so you can rest well tomorrow.”
“Phew.”
Choi Hyeong-jun let out a sigh of relief after hearing my answer.
Park Hye-won, who was feeling relieved next to him, asked with a worried expression.
“But what should I do? I prepared a blanket for guests, but it’s not enough.”
“Is it not enough?”
“That’s not true… I wonder what would happen if I fell asleep while lying down.”
It seemed like everyone would be able to sleep comfortably if only two people left.
I said.
“The rest of you, please sleep here, and Mr. Moon Byeong-ho and Mr. Kang Deok-su, please follow me.”
“yes?”
“Oh, me?”
He nodded towards them, who were looking flustered, and said:
“Yes, two of you.”
Moon Byung-ho came into the house more calmly than expected, and Kang Deok-su followed him, looking very nervous.
“The small room over there is for guests. The blankets are in the built-in closet, so you can take them out and use them.”
“thank you.”
He spoke to the two people who were about to go in.
“Do you know why I called you two out separately?”
Kang Deok-su answered, scratching his head.
“I don’t know.”
Immediately after that, Moon Byung-ho opened his mouth.
“Is it because we were chosen by Jaehyun?”
I nodded to him and said.
“you’re right.”
I continued my explanation while looking straight at the two people.
“Both of them have awakened. Moon Byung-ho gained the ability to teleport, and Kang Deok-su gained the ability to be the Steel Knight.”
Moon Byung-ho and Kang Deok-su opened their eyes wide.
It seemed like he didn’t believe what I said.
I repeated to myself.
‘Quest given. Show off your abilities in front of me. Time limit is one hour. Penalty: sleep in the hallway. Reward is…’
Quest rewards, how far can you go?
‘Strengthening muscle mass.’
Tiring!
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