*I may have broken the system.*
Another aspect of Synergy that was more refined than its counterparts was NPC behavior. Though they weren't indistinguishable from real people yet, they were pretty close. Because of this, quests that were acknowledged by the system were granted by NPCs, not the other way around.
Jisha exploited her previous life's knowledge to break into a chain quest - a quest with multiple parts. Originally, one was supposed to speak with Razor's descendants in the center of the continent, learn about Shahar's adopted daughter, Lilliana, and retrieve the items she kept in Shahar's stead. This was not a combat-based chain quest, so Fae Sol didn't have to raise her level to gain strength. In fact, the hardest parts of the quests were gaining access to Razor's descendants and raising Lilliana's favorability which Jisha either neglected or breezed through.
One might wonder why Razor or his descendants didn't give anything tangible to those who completed the first parts quest to verify completion. This was because Razor's values lay in mind over matter; he was a basically a monk who valued unorthodox knowledge concerning strength. His teachings were obscure bits of knowledge and strange martial arts techniques.
Lilliana bombarded Jisha with questions and conversation topics related to Razor and Shahar, and Jisha navigated through the interrogation with ease.
"Looks like Father was right. I've waited for so long for someone worthy enough to show up, and in the end, you came. Here is the key to one of Father's greatly treasured items. I'm sure you can keep it safe."
With that, Jisha received a circular token with the engraving of a phoenix flying towards a crescent moon. It was Shahar's emblem.
*>System message: Quest Received.*
*>Name: Grave Robbery*
*>Description: The adopted daughter of the late Shahar has given you the key to a certain tombstone. Open it to see what's inside.*
*>Rating: F*
"That token unlocks a tombstone in the cemetery. I'm sure you can figure out which one it is."
"Thanks. It was a pleasure to speak with Shahar's daughter. Oh, and here's 4 Copper for the meal."
"No, don't worry about it. It's on the house. It's only 4 Copper after all."
"Alright, then. We shall see each other again some time."
After their long conversation, Jisha left the eatery. Even though it may not have looked like it, Fae Sol was actually quite poor. This was a given since she was just a starting character. That one meal would have cost her 40% of her bank account. Even if she had to pay for it, though, it would still have been worth it. Because...
*This is exactly what I needed.*
The token she had received was worth far more than 4 Copper. In fact, it would be difficult to put a price on it at all. Without delay, Jisha rushed over to the hamlet's cemetery.
As she walked, Jisha looked over her direct messages. Syny was still bombarding her inbox.
*>Synycal: Uval Hamlet?*
*>Synycal: Where even is that? Let me check the map...*
*>Synycal: Wait. You selected the Uval Hamlet as your spawn location?*
*>Synycal: Do you even know how far that is from the Erian Hamlet?*
*>Synycal: You and I. Literally decided to choose the Erian Hamlet. And you run off and choose that on your own?*
*>Synycal: Do you realize it's almost NOT EVEN IN THE SAME COUNTRY, YOU IDIOT???*
Honestly, Jisha had no response to this question. Before Synergy was released, the developers leaked the map of the known world. It had no information on it except for the names of every major location. It was purely for social purposes so people could decide their spawn points together. However, Jisha had ignored it in both lives. Even this made her feel nostalgic.
*This... is just classic Syny, huh?*
The bombardment of messages was even more proof she truly went back in time, and she was overcome with more emotion.
*>Fae Sol: Thanks.*
*>Synycal: What?*
*>Fae Sol: You're a good friend.*
*>Synycal: ... Are you serious? You pick a location that will take me OVER EIGHT HOURS TO TRAVEL TO and you say I'm a good friend? Saying these things won't make me not mad at you, you know!*
*>Fae Sol: Relax, it'll only be eight hours if you travel by foot. You should eventually meet me in Orchid Town. I'll have something good for you there.*
*>Synycal: Orchid Town? ... Wait. That's almost even farther away! You want me to waste valuable leveling time and travel over eight hours to meet you in a random town????*
*>Fae Sol: Don't worry. Make sure to at least buy a map before you start traveling, and get to a nearby village so you can find some transportation. Anyway, I just got a really important quest so I'll talk to you in a bit.*
*>Synycal: Wait, don't ignore me! How am I gonna do that? Also how did you get an important quest when we literally just spawned here?*
With a sigh, Jisha closed her messages as she approached the cemetery. However, there was a surprise waiting for her.
Earlier, as Jisha was chatting with Syny, she had noticed that there were more players walking around than before. This was because not everyone had instantly logged in the second the game launched, and most people had spent longer than Jisha had on character creation. After all, not everyone had a custom model ready to go.
Even though there were more players roaming around now, the walls of the cemetery were more crowded than normal. It was as if a bunch of people decided to come watch a performance. This was odd, since the cemetery was deemed a "War Zone" by the system. Most people would like to avoid these scary places early in the game.
*What's going on?*
When Jisha arrived at the cemetery, she understood why people were crowding.
*That makes sense.*
In the middle of the cemetery were 7 players who were picking up loot.
In most of the world of Synergy, player versus player combat was lightly discouraged. However, the exceptions were War Zones. In a War Zone, PvP was highly encouraged. If you were to die in a War Zone, you would lose all of your items in addition to losing a level. However, if you were to kill in a War Zone, you would gain 100% of the experience lost by the player you killed. It was a very effective method to level up and almost cheat the leveling system.
It didn't take a genius to deduce this, but Jisha suspected the 7 players in the center of the cemetery were allies and were killing players who approached them to collect their loot. Her suspicions were proven correct when she overheard some of their words.
"Hey, won't the club president be thrilled when he sees what we've collected?"
"Why would he? They're just starter items."
"But it proves we're not trash at PvP, doesn't it?"
"I guess that's true. After all, Starter Sticks and Starter Pellets are proof of kills."
"How many have we collected so far?"
"Uh... In total, we've got 11 sticks and 413 pellets."
When she heard these numbers, Jisha's eyes flashed with greed.
11 sticks, 413 pellets!
Though these numbers were absurdly common when the game launched, their rarity would skyrocket to an unprecedented degree 11 years later. Jisha, who had just returned from the future, was not used to hearing these numbers. Unable to control herself, she unflinchingly strode towards the entrance. However, before she could pass through the gate, she was stopped by another player.
"Um... Miss... Fae Sol?"
"What?"
Jisha wasn't surprised that someone knew her name, because player names could be seen above the character model itself. She was instead greatly annoyed that someone was stopping her from obtaining free money. However, when she saw who it was, her expression softened greatly.
*This... Isn't this Castle?*
In her previous life, Castle was a bruiser-class player whose level was over 900. He was not far from level 1000 which was the level cap. Due to his prowess with the sword and shield, he was known as The Fortress. In fact, his prowess did not fall too short of Fae Sol's.
Despite his future achievements, Castle was currently a cute boy with no experience whatsoever. How could one not feel endearment when looking at such a character?
"Ah! I... I didn't mean to annoy you..."
"Oh! It's okay! I'm sorry if I came off as rude. I just wanted to go collect some money. Stay here and watch as big sis goes and kills the bad guys, okay?"
"Uh... Miss, please don't do that. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you."
"Don't worry. They're just a pile of cash waiting to be collected."
"I don't think it will be that easy... They've killed over 15 players and they show no signs of slowing down. It looks like they've stocked up on food beforehand, so they keep regenerating their health. If 15 players can't kill them, you don't stand a chance, miss. Are you crazy?"
As Castle spoke, his timid nature gradually disappeared and was replaced by confidence and annoyance. This was his personality. When it came to VR games, he was confident. When it came to anything else, he was a nervous wreck. And this confidence was not unfounded; Castle was a skilled player. In ordinary circumstances, he would be completely correct. However, this circumstance was anything but ordinary.
"You're so cute. What if I am?"
"..."
Castle blushed and turned his head away. Well, he didn't actually blush - Synergy didn't allow such detailed facial expressions yet. However, it was easy to guess what he was feeling.
*He's easy to tease.*
"M... mi... miss, don't say things like that! I don't want you to die!"
Jisha sighed and continued softly.
"I appreciate your concern, Castle. But I have a zero percent chance of dying to them, alright?"
"..."
Castle remained silent. Though Jisha was slightly annoyed, she didn't press him for a response.
After a few seconds, he finally responded.
"... Alright."
Castle reluctantly agreed to let her go. He knew that the girl in front of her was walking to her death. However, he was unable to stop her from doing so.
Jisha knew what feelings must be toiling around in Castle's heart. However, she had no intention of placating him any further, because she knew exactly what she was getting herself into.
*Sorry, Castle. Don't be sad. Free money is waiting.*
A/N - Discord link in synopsis. Check it out!