Most players enjoying Silia Online don’t like escort quests.
First off, the duration is way too long.
Even though it varies by quest, you have to be stuck there for at least half a day to several days, so unless you have the patience of a saint, it’s bound to get boring.
Next, the rewards are a problem too.
It also varies by quest—some offer hefty rewards, but sometimes it’s more beneficial to just hunt some extra monsters during the quest time.
Especially for low-level players, most escort quests tend to be like that.
There are many reasons players shy away from escort quests, but…
Most people cite time as the biggest issue.
With slight variations, time in the Silia world flows almost identically to reality.
In other words, if you accept an escort quest and are stuck escorting for several hours, you’ll spend a similar amount of time in reality as well, and for those who play a bit after work before bed, there’s no way they have that kind of leisure time.
[The escort quest is literally a cheat??]
Filtering out the bad reward spots and doing a week’s worth of running at the decent ones pays off enormously; it’s foolish not to do it!
[Comments]
-Teacher, not everyone is as unemployed as you…
┗Would you call me ‘Time Bill Gates’?
┗Unemployed brat
┗Fk;
-Anyway, there are so many life online players. Why play such trash games?
┗Please go outside!!!
It was so bad that such posts even existed.
Anyway, because of these reasons, many escort quests ended up being carried out by NPCs, the natives of the Silia world, rather than players.
And Joanie was no different.
For Joanie, who had a habit of running around so much one might wonder if she were cursed with wanderlust, escort quests only felt like shackles around her ankles.
Yet, Joanie still took on escort quests.
The reason she could make that choice was that her job was a streamer.
She wasn’t a professional game streamer, but since she could make a living just by streaming games, Joanie felt less burdened by time compared to others.
‘Of course, this kind of thing is only possible when you have a certain scale….’
Joanie knew very well that many small-time, colloquially referred to as ‘hako’ streamers couldn’t make a living off just streaming and often juggled other jobs while streaming.
“Accepting quests won’t change much anyway.”
Kana was an NPC, not a player.
So once she was with Kana, Joanie would have to use time regardless.
“If I listen to Kana’s opinions and get quest rewards too, I guess this is what’s called killing two birds with one stone?”
-We decided to call this parasitism now.
-Does this bus go to Seoul??
-For free rides, you have to pay 30 times.
“It’s not a bus, but a wagon? Sneeze! …Ah, sorry.”
-?????
-???????
-???
-I really feel like swearing right now;
-Should I go for some PK instead?
“… please hold off on that.”
I really thought I was about to die. Joanie muttered weakly, recalling the past.
‘Well, when it comes to the past, it’s only been a day.’
It wasn’t a fan meeting of some celebrity, yet people rushed to see Kana.
‘Besides, there was even a weird rumor spreading that if you fought and won against me, Kana would give you a souvenir….’
After fighting, there were more fights, and after those fights, even more fights.
It was annoying, but remembering Kana, who was not looking to stop but rather to egg everyone on, made me feel wronged. But what hurt the most was something else.
“Why don’t I get a present…! I wanted a gift from Kana too!”
Joanie pretended to sob.
But the chat reaction was icy.
-What a pity—
-The one who has gets more, huh…
-Level 9999999 for holding back bad words.
-You’re walking around with Kana, aren’t you?
Joanie was currently the only person who could be with Kana.
Although she didn’t get a present like those who fought and won against her, she could do things they could only dream of.
For example….
“Kana.”
“?”
Poof.
‘Like hugging her like this.’
Joanie tightly wrapped her arms around Kana, who was sitting next to her in the wagon.
“…”
Even with her hood pulled down, it seemed Joanie could tell what kind of face Kana was making under there.
After finishing their short healing time, as Joanie relaxed her arms, Kana moved to the side, a bit further away.
Despite being in a small wagon, it wasn’t like they couldn’t reach each other.
Seeing Kana with eyes like she was watching a small animal, Joanie stuck her tongue out.
“Hmm, aren’t you jealous?”
-Message deleted.
-Message deleted.
-Deleted message.
-?? Something feels off.
The chat filled with viewers pouring responses like molten lava to Joanie’s trickery.
The arsonist ignoring the blazing chat left only the poor managers to suffer.
A mercenary sitting in the same wagon smiled warmly and spoke to Joanie.
“You two seem really close. Are you sisters?”
“Yep! Not biological sisters, though.”
“You look well together.”
“Thanks!”
Joanie replied fakingly to the mercenary’s comment.
However, there was no one among those in the wagon who could expose Joanie’s lie.
“I’ve never seen an Apostle so friendly with a Silia person before.”
“Is that so? Oh, just call me Joanie.”
“Is that really okay?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll call you Joanie, then. My name is Catherine.”
“You could just call me Joanie….”
Catherine smiled warmly.
“I couldn’t possibly do that to someone called by Edel.”
“Ahaha….”
Faced with a warm rejection, Joanie scratched her head awkwardly.
Catherine’s manner was not much different from how many NPCs treated players.
A response showing reverence to Edel’s Apostle.
While some NPCs responded rather coldly, you could still feel that they respected players more than when dealing with the same NPCs.
‘Edel holds that much significance for the people of Silia.’
It made sense considering she had personally descended to the mortal world. Joanie thought, yet it didn’t resonate much with her as a player.
Joanie shifted topics.
“By the way… what’s your rank?”
“I’m a silver-ranked mercenary. And you, Joanie?”
“I’m gold-ranked.”
“Wow, you seem younger than me, yet you’re already gold-ranked….”
‘Truly someone called by Edel.’
Or,
‘Truly an Apostle.’
Joanie easily guessed the hidden meanings in Catherine’s admiration.
‘The real genius is right next to me.’
For a brief moment, Joanie’s gaze flickered to Kana before returning to its original place.
Being admired while sitting next to someone truly talented made Joanie feel a bit giddy.
Catherine lowered her voice and said,
“I was worried about the lack of escorts, but I’m glad you’re here, Joanie.”
“Ah, haha, ahaha….”
At Catherine’s relieved words, Joanie, simply a fellow passenger, awkwardly smiled again.
*
Clatter, clatter.
The wagon carrying the group bumped along a bumpy dirt road.
Whenever they hit a bump, the wagon shook wildly, and the people inside would groan in discomfort.
“Ouch, ouch… my butt is killing me…! How come I can reduce pain during battle but not in situations like this?”
Naturally, that included Joanie, who was sitting next to me.
If it hadn’t, I wouldn’t even call them people.
Every time it rattled, I found myself recalling previous life memories.
There seemed to be a ride similar to this one. Round in shape and shaking around wildly….
Biting my lip at the elusive memory, I soon gave up and shrugged it off.
“Kana, are you alright?”
While I was gathering my thoughts, Joanie turned to me, looking worried.
At that moment, the wagon hit a particularly bad spot and shook violently.
Joanie’s body flew up with it, hitting the ceiling with a bang.
Bang!
“Ack!”
“A-are you okay?”
“Um, I-I’m okay…!”
Whether or not she bit her tongue, the words spilling from Joanie were drenched in pain but still coherent.
As Joanie rubbed her head, which had a loud encounter with the ceiling, she suddenly gasped.
“Kana is fine. How come?”
“…?”
Did she lose her language ability during the crash?
Clicking my tongue at her, Joanie waved her hands in a panic.
“Ah, no… the wagon is moving. But Kana is fine. How come?”
Well, looks like she didn’t lose her language ability, she was just struggling to find the right words.
Still strange, but now I could understand what she was trying to say.
I guess it fascinated her that I was stuck to my seat without flopping around, even as the wagon rattled.
But even if I told her, she wouldn’t be able to copy it.
“You just use mana.”
“Mana? How?”
“….”
Well, if I explained it, she could understand?
With that thought in mind, I stared at her intently.
Daegekk, or Peep, was a very studious and talented student, but Joanie was like that lazy student who didn’t care much.
Of course, when it came to combat, it was a different story than language, but still…
Anyway, according to my analysis, Joanie quickly lost interest in not-so-studious topics.
And instead, she scooted her butt over to stick close to me.
“…what are you doing?”
“If I stay like this, I’ll be fine too.”
Ignoring my look of disbelief, Joanie slipped her arm into mine, linking arms with me.
… Honestly, I couldn’t even.
“This will totally— Whoa?!”
Clatter!
Joanie’s butt flew up, hovering for a moment in the air before falling down.
“Why isn’t it working…?”
‘…Of course it wouldn’t work.’
My arm wasn’t a seatbelt or anything.
“Aw.”
Sighing, I withdrew my arm as Joanie made a disappointed noise.
“Does my little sister get flustered easily?”
“Yep! I’m super shy and took forever to befriend anyone. Seriously, I just got too forward there…. No, I didn’t mean it like that! Are you all trying to twist things around?”
Something about this felt off…
Suspecting something was up, I suddenly became aware of a disturbance up ahead.
The two talking excitedly hadn’t noticed yet, but it seemed they would soon….
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
As I predicted, the wagon came to a stop.
The two young women, baffled, looked at each other before rushing to open the wagon door and dash out.
“Monsters! It’s an attack, an attack!”
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
Mercenaries from other wagons also jumped out, and the previously peaceful atmosphere was dramatically overturned.
Wreeeawk!
The sound of pigs getting slaughtered echoed from all around.
“Looks like we don’t have to worry about dinner tonight.”
“Ugh…! Please don’t say that…”
Murmuring as I leisurely stepped down from the wagon, Joanie, who had been anxiously gripping her sword, almost vomited.
She had eaten perfectly well until she didn’t know. Quite ironic.
“Are you going to help?”
Joanie whispered, and I tilted my head.
“A little bit.”
Having gotten into the wagon, I’d play my part, but I wasn’t going to take it any further than that.
Most importantly, I still had my goal of making Joanie strong!
After all, people grow through trials and tribulations.
There’s a saying that the ground hardens after rain, right?
Why not feel firsthand why the old sages said such things in this opportunity?
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