The Strongest Wizard

Acquiring The First Hidden Quest To Get A Badge...!

25th December 1018

There was no mistake with the gaming time stamp above, as the MMORPG - The Lord Of The Red Dragon, was set one Millenium from the actual world time.

Yup, that's right. But frankly, the date held no importance at all, only for me to keep track of the timeline, that's it. The setting of the gaming environment was not set to that era, as it does not affect the weapons, armours, gameplay et cetera.

I was leaning against the wall of the city's border to catch my breath. Who would be running 15 miles straight out and be able to waltz inside the City of Votrieburg, as if it was a stroll, am I right?

Even though this was only a game, but the physics of the MMORPG was like the real world. It was all down to physique and physics of this game, the moment I slapped the wrists and ankles weights on myself.

It was the edge that I had wanted when I first started this game two years ago, and I got my chance once more. Do you think I would let it go that easily? Hah, in your dreams...!!!

=*=

I reached into my coin pouch and recovered some credits. I sauntered over to the market where there were NPCs selling fruits, vegetables and other stuff. I walked up to a makeshift stall and stood there as I eyed the seller.

"Good day, adventurer, what can I be of service to you? You seemed rather hot and sticky after your long travel, am I right? How shall my vegetables be of your choice for the day then?" The seller was a female NPC, and they somehow knew that I had run the last 15 miles to reach the city's borders. These NPCs were smart, and they will get smarter as time goes by, since the MMORPG platform would get updated time and tie again.

"How much are those, friendly trader? There's not much worth in them, am I right? And how about these inside the basket?" I pointed to the female NPC some rotten tomatoes that were in a receptacle next to her stand.

I knew that it was free, but we gamers were unable to take anything we like whenever we see anything that would be worth a few credits. We had to ask for permission, or it was considered as theft as the guards would be summoned and put you away for some hours.

During that imprisonment, you cannot do anything but serve your sentence. Even the option to logout from the MMORPG platform would be disabled.

To be released from prison, you either serve time or pay a hefty fine. But early in the game, where could we find a player who would have thousands of credits in their virtual bank account unless they had prepared to exchange some cash to game credits before they log in.

"Oh, these tomatoes are ten credits each. The ones in the receptacle are free, but you can take only 6 of them only. How many of the fresh tomatoes, would you like to purchase, young adventurer?" The female NCPC seller had a twinkle in her eyes, as she mentioned the free rotten tomatoes in the receptacle next to her stand.

"I would like to have three tomatoes, please. Here are 30 credits. Could I have a paper bag to place the six free rotten tomatoes, please?" I requested for one since, in this MMORPG setting, all gamers should respect these NPCs. There was no need to explain and be ready for its repercussion if one does defy these simple instructions.

"Oh, definitely, young adventurer. Here you go. These are for the perfect ones for consumption. This paper bag is for the rotten ones. Thank you for your patronage, young adventurer. Good luck...!" the female NPC handed me two paper bags as I received them with both hands and thanked her.

=*=

Tomatoes could also be consumed to replenish HP but at a miniscule scale. Besides, since this MMORPG- The Lord Of The Red Dragon uses exact physics, so what we eat or drink would also affect us, like in the real world. Who doesn't feel tired and thirsty after running for 15 miles flat out? Crazy fool...!!!

As I walked and took a fresh tomato to munch towards the Town Hall, the gamers were looking at me and were whispering to themselves. They were wondering why an NPC was leisurely strolling and eating at the same time towards the Town Hall that was handing out quests. There was a long queue that snakes around the town square. Countless gamers were bickering with others, to cut the queue, by offering credits to those who were in front of them.

"Come on, man, here are ten credits per head. If you go out to grind monsters, you might get killed immediately, right? So it would be better for you to accept these credits, rather than waiting in line and get nothing. There's three of us here, so you would be able to earn 30 credits easily, am I right?"

I heard some rich ass gamers were jumping the queue. To those kinds of people out there, they would rather pay to let others serve them. Levelling up and equipment do not escape these rich fat ass gamers, since money would be the one that controls the game after all.

"WOW... Look at that female NPC. Not only was she dressed like us, but she also is eating those tomatoes like as if her credits grow on trees."

"That tomatoes are ten credits per pop, man...!" I heard one of the gamers within the queue were talking to the rest within my earshot. Fortunately, I cloaked my name and status and disguised as an NPC. Or else, I would be molested by their roving eyes.

"Keh... I think this NPC is enticing us to buy them. Hey, girl. Would you like to be my mate?" one of the stupid gamers called out to me. Out from the corner of my eye recognised the name that was hovering on top of his head. "ButtholeSurfer"

I remembered the ID very well since he had crossed my wire several times when he was a lone wolf right up till he was a leader in a guild. Somehow, his ID was blacklisted, due to some unforeseen risks that he had taken in the future.

I munched on the fleshy tomato as I walked along the queue, heading towards the Mayor of the Town Hall as he was handing out quests to the gamers.

"LOOK...! AN NPC. THERE MUST BE A CUTSCENE SOMEWHERE...!!!" A gamer shouted within the queue line as they looked on, expecting a cutscene to happen in between that would make a good storyline. Everyone looked on with anticipation, as they hoped to get something out from the so-called cutscene. Little did they realise that the line what they were queuing in was for nought.

I looked at the Mayor, which had just completed handing a quest to a gamer as his other buddies were waiting for him to complete the transaction.

I reached my hand into the paper bag that contained the rotten tomatoes and took one out, and I sneered at the Mayor of the Town Hall. Well, I guessed you should have been able to predict what would happen next, am I right?