I Reject Quests

Chapter 26: Muddled

Rewen: A friend of mine told me about the site. It was a typo apparently. Why do you ask?

Richard123: Would it be possible for you to send a picture of the conversation.

Rewen: Sure, here you go.

Richard123: Hm, alright. Allow me to introduce you to the world of the pre-apocalyptic period! If you are confused about the site, let me have the opportunity to tell you that the site you were in IS a site from the pre-apocalyptic period. No doubt there. You can browse and enjoy watching videos on the site but there are two conditions you need to obey. First, don't comment or make videos. Second, don't tell the site to anyone else or there will be serious consequences. It's easy to guess what we are trying to do. In simple terms, we are preserving the ancient specimens.

Rewen: How many people have access to the site?

Richard123: Currently 34. I'm sure you are wondering why there are so few. The site server is usually closed and it only opens for about a few seconds every month. Needless to say, you are a super lucky person.

Rewen: I have two questions. Are there subtitles for the videos on the site? Are there more sites like these?

Richard123: There are, in fact, many. Since you have accessed one of the ancient sites, you are fully eligible to browse the other ancient sites. I'll send you a list.

Richard123: I have sent the list to an private email and now, this private email is yours.

Rewen checked his email and sure enough, all of a sudden, an unknown email has become his. He understood why he did this though. "This is a private email and this Richard guy would be controlling this. In case he sent it to one of my emails, he couldn't be sure if I would leak it or not."

Rewen: Thanks, but it's a bit hard for me to digest everything immediately so I need to think about it. Also, can you help me with something?

Richard123: I'll try my best!

Rewen: How many languages do I need to learn to completely understand the sites? I'm positive there aren't any translators which can understand the pre-apocalyptic languages.

Richard123: Understanding English would solve most of the problems, albeit not every problem. You would be shocked to find that the anime/manga was not based on English. They were created by a country called "Japan" and the language used was "Japanese".

Rewen: Interesting. So are there any English language guides?

Richard123: I could send you a few in the private email but I think it would be better if you just learn it naturally.

Rewen: Well, bye. I will text you if something comes up.

Richard123: Anytime!

Rewen ended the chat with Richard, put on his VR helmet and logged into CHAOS.

***

When he logged in, he found himself in the same room from where he logged out previously. 'Let's see what the others are up to.' Getting out of the basement, he headed towards the dining room as it was morning and he expected his family to be having breakfast but he could find Sam sitting in the balcony near the window muttering something incomprehensible.

"Yo!"

"Huh? Rewen? Oh, did you come back?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Where are the others?"

"I have no idea."

"You haven't seen any of them?"

"Nope. I woke up a few minutes ago and came here."

"I see. Are you hungry?"

"Nah."

"Then wanna come with me?"

"Where?"

Rewen showed him a mysterious smile. "To grind."

***

In an abandoned poultry farm, several chickens and hens were playing and having fun among themselves when two harmless humans arrived at the farm. They were naturally Rewen and Sam.

"Why is this farm abandoned?" Sam asked. There were a couple hundred chickens and hens. It doesn't make sense that such a "loaded" farm is abandoned.

"Yesterday, when we were travelling, I asked Master Kaf if there were any farms which were abandoned with chickens and he said this was the place."

"But still, why are chickens here? Wouldn't they normally be taken by the locals?"

"Do you know why the farm got abandoned? It's because the farm suffered a massive loss after being accused of having defective chickens."

"No wonder. Don't tell me you are here to slay chickens?" Sam had an incredulous look on his face.

"Wasn't it given?" Rewen shrugged.

"What do I do then?"

"Give me your pocket knife."

Sam gave the pocket knife hanging from his waist.

"Let me see my goal first, status!"

---

Level: 0 (15/100)

Class: None

Social Status: Peasant

Strength: 4

Dexterity: 4

Constitution: 5

Intelligence: 4

Charisma: 4

Luck: 4

---

"Six kills, fine." He casually walked in front of some of the chickens and plunged his knife directly into a chicken's head without any warning. The other chickens felt alerted but didn't move away from their spot because they are dumb. They are sensitive to sound. So if Rewen slays them quietly, they wouldn't budge from their spot. "One."

"15 EXP gained!"

"Two."

"15 EXP gained!"

"Three."

"15 EXP gained!"

"Four."

"15 EXP gained!"

"Five."

"15 EXP gained!"

"Six."

"15 EXP gained!"

[Level Up! A single point is given. Please manage your stats immediately.]

The stat window popped up in front of him and he put the point into Strength bringing it to 5 without much thoughts. "Status."

---

Level: 1 (5/200)

..

---

The next four hours were uneventful. Rewen kept grinding tirelessly while Sam laid down in the ground half-naked basking in the sun. From yesterday night till now, his mind still hovered over one particular thing - I'm not real. 'Sigh, what the heck am I doing? Me thinking it over and over again won't change anything? I need to adapt to circumstances.' He then looked at his childhood friend. 'I'm f*cking jealous of this little shit. Damn it, I should have picked the coin that day.' Shaking his head, he focused his attention on a pair of siblings near the bridge.

A woman was carrying her little brother on her shoulders and was merrily chatting when the little brother slipped from her shoulders and fell straight down to the river below.

*Splash*

"KIO!!" The woman let out a heart-wrenching cry.

Almost instantly, Sam dashed towards the bridge. Seeing him approach, the woman begged with tears in her eyes. "Please save him! I beg you to save him! Please!!"

Sam didn't say anything. He went near the side of the bridge and looking at the height, he felt terrified but forced himself to remain calm. The woman shook his hand and almost went hysterical. Pity and sadness welled up in his heart. "I'm sorry." He knew the moment the little guy fell from the bridge that he was doomed. There is no possibility that he would be alive after such a fall. Even if he fortunately does survive, the water currents will crush him as soon as he lands.

The woman went on her knees and started sobbing.

"This is just a virtual world Why did the people outside make us so fragile? I wonder if I'm incapable of finding the reason behind this because I'm not real..." He muttered with a blank look, then his vision regained its clarity slowly. He lent a hand to the sobbing woman. "I'm going to find your little brother's body, do you want to come with me?"

The woman didn't reply for a while, then silently nodded but didn't take his hand.

After twenty minutes, they arrived at the bottom of the bridge and Sam immediately found the body. He went over to the body and observed the condition of the body. There were huge cuts on the body's head. His last dying hope died down. Picking him up, he carefully passed him to the woman. Hugging the body, she started sobbing silently again.

Sam sighed, then sat down on a nearby large stone when a bronze coin rolled off his pocket.