Chapter 72: Iron Cauldron Tavern
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The construction of the Unnamed Town was already on track, and even though the Yield Points that Angora had were quite limited so there weren’t a lot of system buildings in the town, but it wasn’t purely a game world after all. In fact, many believers within the refugees were skilled craftsmen before Lovinia was destroyed in the war.
After settling down, many of these players picked up their original livelihoods, helping the townspeople to build various buildings and furniture, as well as crafting useful items. If someone came to the town now, their first impression would be that the town was filled with vitality, everyone’s faces filled with hope and the town growing prosperously.
The Iron Cauldron Tavern was one such building that was built by the players themselves.
Different from the restaurant created by the system at the center area of town, the food that was served in the Iron Cauldron Tavern didn’t bring with them any buffs or special abilities. The prices of the ale were slightly higher than the system restaurant, but there were more varieties of better tasting food. In fact, the owner of the Iron Cauldron Tavern was a renowned chef back in the day in Lovinia, and his steak that was marinated with a secret sauce and was juicy and delicious was his signature dish. Because it was excellent when coupled with bread or ale, so it attracted many loyal customers, making it even more popular than the system restaurant.
“Did you challenge the Living Dead Cellar again? How did it go?”
The owner of the tavern called Tie Fu floating on top of his head wiped a wooden mug with a piece of cloth as he asked a loyal customer that came in with a discouraged expression.
“Hah, don’t get me started.” The player sighed, and continued, “We met a Black-Robed Bishop immediately upon entering the dungeon, and lost after a long battle. Not only did we get no rewards, we even lost 10% of our experience!”
After dying in the dungeon, the players would revive directly from the Lifestone with a deduction of 10% of their EXP. That being said, 10% was quite a lot for a high-leveled player.
“That’s nothing!” Another player that was wolfing down a bowl of rice looked up and cut into the conversation with a mouthful of rice. “Our last run was more unlucky! We got all the way to the boss point, and even got an elite grade piece of equipment, but guess what happened? Once we started battling with the boss, the Rotten Bones Archbishop jumped out and used AoE magic spells on us as he asked if we were surprised, and before we could even respond we were wiped out!”
Most of the other players that heard this showed pity to him, while some laughed at his misfortune.
At this point in time, because there was a party limit for the dungeon, there was no way for the players to defeat the Rotten Bones Archbishop. Only the saintess in-training Eleena and the warrior princess Leah could barely manage to hold up against him.
The same could also be said if a party came up against a Black-Robed Bishop. Only top-tier players could win against them, while regular players were basically guaranteed defeat when met with them.
Granted, the rewards that a party could obtain from defeating a Black-Robed Bishop were quite lucrative, with a guaranteed piece of Elite-tier equipment. The rewards for defeating the Rotten Bones Archbishop would definitely be even better, perhaps even rewarding the party Excellent-tier equipment, but the problem was that it was too hard! At this point, the Rotten Bones Archbishop was still undefeated.
According to the rule that there were thirty-six rooms in the Living Dead Cellar that Xi Wei had created, it meant that there was a one upon eighteen chance that the players would be met with these two enemies. Besides that, perhaps it was the probability that Xi Wei had set wrongly, or because the players themselves were too unlucky, but there was actually a higher rate of getting these two rooms. This was the reason why there had been many groups of players lamenting their losses at the Lifestone for the last couple of days.
In extension, this cooled down the players’ urge to clear the dungeon quite a lot, and many of them started to go back to their daily lifestyle of clearing daily ch.o.r.es and exploring the Valley of the Tragic Dead.
“What you guys experienced could be regarded as natural disasters, but what I experienced was problems with my own party.” Another player that was munching on a honey-grilled steak joined the conversation too. “One of my friends had something to attend to over at Lancaster, so I could only choose to join a ragtag party of a chubby man and a skinny man. When we were clearing the dungeon, the skinny one kept on telling jokes while the chubby one kept on laughing and laughing and laughing, and before we could even get to the boss area, those two crackheads didn’t attract aggro in time, which caused the enemies to attack the ones at the back.” He clapped his hands together, and spread them in the air. “Of course we all died!”
“Hey, who are you calling a crackhead!” A fat figure stood up at the corner of the tavern.
“Yeah, yeah! I just wanted to joke to ease the mood of the party! What, you’re blaming us for you guys not being skilled enough?” Another skinny figure stood up next to the former and shouted.
“You goblinf*ckers, I’m talking about you!” The player that had brought the topic up had honey all around his mouth, but wiping it clean was the last of his concerns right now. “Look at your own rubbish plays, I’m praising you by saying you guys are just weak!”
“Spidersh*t! What do you know?! Us brothers are strong players that even Lord Faust requested to clear a top-secret mission for him! Right, Silva?” The fat player asked the one next to him.
“That’s right, Bro Terrosche!” The player that was called Silva replied with a proud expression.
“Peh! Wasn’t it just a quest to investigate the Society of the Secret Eye? What kind of secret mission is it if you two are blabbering nonstop about it everywhere! I bet you two are spouting bull!” The player with honey on his mouth scoffed, and sneered with scorn. “I only let you join the party because of those claims of yours!”
The atmosphere in the tavern was gradually becoming more and more tense.
Even Tie Fu stopped wiping his mug, staring at the three players that were quarreling in his tavern. His place wasn’t owned by the system, so it wouldn’t even lower their reputation points even if they started fighting in here. Even worse was the fact that these tables and chairs couldn’t be repaired all at once, and had to be remade by carpenters…
As the three players were about to duel, a commotion started outside the tavern.
A few players ran into the tavern, and bought many rations from the owner hurriedly. “Boss, give me ten pieces of sauced jerky, I’m going on a crusade!”
“Did something happen?” The owner was taken off guard by the sudden turn in events.
“It’s a new event, and it’s apparently related to the Society of the Secret Eye!””You guys can claim the quest from Sis Vela!””There’s a new quest called [Frogman Guardian-Doused Crusade]! Wryyyyy-!”
The players that rushed into the tavern all started chattering excitedly.
Tie Fu was dumbfounded for a moment, before he took out all the rations he had and distributed them to the players, before taking out his own iron tomhawk from under the counter. “What are you all waiting for then, let’s do it!”
And so together with the other players, Tie Fu left the tavern, and even the players that were eating in the tavern finished their food promptly and joined the expedition.
The only ones that were left were the three players that were mid-fight, which looked around at the empty tavern in confusion. The player with honey smeared on his mouth stared at the duo in suspicion. So it was true that there was a secret quest for the Society of the Secret Eye?