Chapter 3
"Hey, old man at the weapon shop! I brought the lunch you forgot!"
"Oh, Zephyrus! Sorry, I completely forgot about it."
With fulfilling Job unlock conditions as my top priority, the first thing I did was deliver the lunch the weapon shop owner had forgotten.
Despite looking like a tough old guy with a square face, the lunchbox I delivered was a cute little thing in a floral bag. Seriously, it didn't suit him at all.
Well, the client was his wife, so I guess it was a lovingly made lunch from his wife.
I was a little jealous.
I watched, eager to see what the weapon shop owner would do next as he accepted the lunch with a happy look on his face.
"By the way, Zephyrus, you're sixteen now, right? You're going to the academy, aren't you?"
"Yeah. I'm planning to leave tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?! That's awfully sudden... Oh, right, it's about that time of year, isn't it?"
The weapon shop owner put a hand to his head and groaned, then seemed to reach the conclusion on his own. He pulled a long object wrapped in cloth from beneath a shelf.
"In that case, take this as a parting gift. It's a sword I used back in the day, but it's still in great shape. You should take it with you."
When the owner removed the cloth, a simple one-handed longsword came into view.
That's right. I started the subquest 〈Deliver the Forgotten Lunch〉 because I wanted the sword that was its reward.
Just as I expected, I accepted the sword with a big smile.
"Thanks, old man. This is a huge help. I'll use this sword to mow down monsters left and right!"
"Sure thing! Just make sure to spread the word about my shop while you're at it!"
"Haha, got it. Oh, do you have any other errands for me? I'm making the rounds to say goodbye to everyone in the village, so I can drop something off while I'm at it."
"Oh, in that case, take this to the armor shop owner. I've been having trouble leaving the shop just now."
"Sure thing. Leave it to me."
The weapon shop owner took a small package from the shelf, and I accepted it.
At the same time, an announcement played in my head.
'You cleared Subquest 〈Deliver the Forgotten Lunch〉.'
'Reward: You acquired a Short Sword.'
'You accepted Subquest 〈Deliver the Package to the Armor Shop〉.'
I left the weapon shop, inwardly grinning at how smoothly I'd accepted a subquest.
What I was doing now was part of 〈Dan-Katsu〉's early-game greeting quest.
It served as a tutorial in the game. You went around the village greeting its residents, and the story progressed once you cleared three of the ten subquests available around the village.
If this was the world of the game, then my first task would be to progress the story, enroll in the academy, and obtain a Job.
And so, I was working through subquests right now.
Carrying the package, I headed for the armor shop. The route was the same as it had been in the game, so there was no chance I'd get lost.
Man, it's amazing to see scenery I'd only ever seen on a game screen right here in reality!
While I was marveling at the view, I arrived at the armor shop. I went inside and took care of the quest.
"Hey, old man at the armor shop! I've got a delivery for you!"
'You cleared Subquest 〈Deliver the Package to the Armor Shop〉.'
'Reward: You acquired a Buckler.'
"All right, all right. Now I've got a sword and shield. On to the next one!"
Still riding high, I headed next to the forest on the outskirts of the village.
Why go outside the village when all the subquests were in it? Because a hidden quest would trigger here.
One of the most important events in 〈Dan-Katsu〉 was a hidden event that took place here.
Clearing the hidden event added more Jobs to my list of choices.
〈Dan-Katsu〉 has an absurd number of Job types, but can you become any Job you want right from the start? The answer is no.
There are several conditions you have to meet to unlock a Job.
For example, if you have a sword and a certain level of skill, you can choose 【Swordsman】. If you're highly attuned to animals, you can choose 【Beast Tamer】.
The way the game worked, you could meet these Job requirements by completing quests or subquests, or by choosing certain options.
For example, if you completed the subquest "Sword Combat Training," the game considered you to have met the condition of having a sword and a certain level of skill.
Why make the conditions so roundabout? Because there were countless quests and choices that could fulfill them. I remembered there being over 200 that could meet the 【Swordsman】 requirements alone.
The hidden quest I was heading to now was one of those Job unlock conditions.
The first time I played 〈Dan-Katsu〉, I didn't know about it since it was hidden, and I progressed without completing it. I got stuck and found myself unable to choose a Job, which was a real pain.
Those were the days.
Ever since then, whenever I started a new game, I always made sure to complete this particular quest.
Since it was hidden, it was a juicy event quest packed with requirements for rare Jobs.
There was no way I was going to miss it.
Now then, I'd made it fairly deep into the forest.
About time?
Just then, a piercing scream rang out from deeper in the forest.
"Aaaah!"
Yes! The quest had triggered!
Full of confidence, I ran toward the source of the scream.