X
I returned to the beginner village and found the jeweler. His eyes lit up as he processed the Slug Queen’s mucus. Soon, five jars of Giant Slug Mucus were sitting in my inventory.
<The Missing Orcs – 2>
[Hidden] <The Regressor’s Path>
With all the items secured, it was time to see Bibi. I retraced my steps to the spot where he stood. Bibi, still sporting his braided hair and a grumpy expression, turned his head toward me.
“I brought the items you asked for.”
“Finally, snort? I thought my neck would snap from waiting so long, snort.”
Bibi grumbled. You didn’t even wait that long. It’s only been a day. Besides, do you have any idea how many Slugs and Lions died because of your vague request? I took a breath to suppress the urge to snap back and dropped the items into his large hands.
Bibi squinted at them, gauging their quality, then spoke.
“Hmm, Slug mucus and Lion mane. Correct, snort. I suppose you have the minimum competence of a hero, snort.”
“I do. So, are you ready to tell me the secret now?”
“Wait a moment, snort. How did you procure these, snort? Surely you didn’t do something sleazy like buying them at the market, snort?”
According to the brief guide I had seen earlier, it didn’t matter if you said “yes” or “no” to this question. If you said you bought them, he’d say, “Well, I suppose that is one way to solve a problem,” and give the reward. If you said you got them through combat, he’d say, “Really? Why bother?” and give the reward.
But that “Why bother?” part bothered me.
As I’d realized while talking to Sephiroth, this game loves to hide hints in dialogue. The issue is usually that the hints require insane mechanical skill to act upon; but once you clear that hurdle, every delicate choice of words could be a pointer.
After a moment of thought, I answered carefully.
“The mucus was processed from the Slug Queen’s own essence, and the manes were given to me from the place where the Lion King sits.”
“You did favors for the two of them, snort? Good, snort snort.”
A third response—one not found in any guide—triggered. A notification window popped up.
<You have cleared the quest in the manner Bibi desired.> <Calculating the highest possible reward.>
I knew it. Wait, hold on. If this was the “desired” way to clear it…
“Hey, Bibi.”
“Snort?”
“Just checking, but were you originally suggesting I should go help the Kings? Instead of just killing the Giant Slugs and Orange-flower Lions?”
“Good heavens, snort. Why would you just go around killing weak races like that, snort? We Orcs don’t do such cowardly things. Snort.”
For the catalyst of a racial conflict, he was making some remarkably peaceful statements.
To put it simply: because of Bibi’s ambiguous phrasing, “heroes” had been running around slaughtering innocent Slugs and Lions for years, fueling a cycle of misunderstanding and revenge between the three races.
Earlier, when I was rambling to the Slug Queen about “misunderstandings” and “tragedies,” I was just making up lore as I went. I had basically stumbled into the truth like a blind man catching a sparrow.
The people who designed this quest are absolute perverts.
“Why do you ask all of a sudden, snort?”
“……No reason. I just wondered if you realized the ‘Butterfly Effect’ your words have caused.”
“Snort? Butterfly Effect?”
Bibi tilted his head. I half-hoped for a moment of contrition, but he just popped back into his house and returned a second later. Apparently, the lecture was over.
In his hand was a small pendant.
“What’s this?”
“Langrusa told me to pass this on if anything ever went wrong, snort.”
“Langrusa?”
I questioned the unfamiliar name, but Bibi’s scripted dialogue continued.
“I’ve been trying to hide it as much as possible, snort. But since the Chief has dragged an outsider into this, I have no choice but to reveal it, snort.”
“Right. So who—or what—is Langrusa?”
“Snort. Hear it from him directly.”
Bibi clicked the pendant open.
The jade-colored pendant, accented with gold, was incredibly delicate. It was an oval shape, the front carved with white jade to look like a tiny, intricate bouquet of flowers.
Inside was something resembling a compass.
“A compass?”
“Follow this, snort. Then you shall find Langrusa. Snort. Hear the full truth of this situation from him, snort.”
Langrusa sounded like an Orc name. The tiny needle of the compass flickered delicately, pointing the way. The item was so small it looked like it would snap if I touched it wrong, yet Bibi managed to open and close it perfectly with his massive hands.
“Thanks.”
“Tell Langrusa I’m sorry I couldn’t keep the secret, snort.”
Okay. So Langrusa is likely one of the missing Orcs, and he told Bibi a secret he didn’t share with the Chief. That’s the lead for the next main quest.
“And this is a gift for helping me, snort.”
The reward came through. Unlike the massive level-up I got from helping the Kings, this one only filled my experience bar by about 10%.
Well, this is actually the normal pace for an early-game quest.
I also received an item called [Orc Leather Gloves]. I put them on, but compared to the “broken” stats of Pluton’s Sword or the Leather Armor, these were basically cosmetic.
Then again, even Pluton’s Sword felt like a toothpick in the Walpurgis Ruins.
Thinking about my time in the ruins with Sephiroth brought a wave of adrenaline and exhaustion. The adrenaline was the gamer instinct shouting that the dungeon and its monsters were a blast; the exhaustion was the logical part of my brain screaming that I had just spent hours dealing 1 damage with a spoon while partied with a maniac.
“……The developers are definitely out of their minds.”
How could they hide quest conditions this deep? A quest that stayed “unsolved” for three years? Who would ever think to have a veteran delete their account just to theory-craft a pacifist route with another high-ranker?
Well, I did it, so it worked. But if anyone else found out, they’d call it a “trash game” for being so obtuse.
Additionally, I received an item called [Shattered Tear Fragment]. The description simply read: A fragment of someone’s shattered tears. No other explanation.
Anyway, time to find Langrusa. The tiny needle in the pendant twitched, as if urging me to move.
Just as I turned away from Bibi—
“E-excuse me.”
“Yes?”
I turned around, worried I’d been caught cursing the developers in my head, only to see a player standing there. Her nickname was Smile-Smile, someone I’d never seen before. She was playing a short, cute female character with pink hair. I blinked, and she held out her hand.
“I’m really not very good at this game…”
“Okay.”
“Could you… maybe help me through it, Oppa?”
Oppa? I didn’t have a sister like this. In my years of online gaming, anyone who uses “Oppa” on a first meeting is either a “Net-kama” (a guy playing a girl) or a “Queen Bee” looking for a carry. Zelpia was likely no different.
“I’m a newbie myself.”
“I saw you clear the Nightmare Tutorial yesterday, Oppa!”
I shook my head with a smile, but this “Oppa-parrot” was persistent, trailing right behind me. To make matters worse, people began to flock behind her like she was the Pied Piper. They didn’t seem to be her friends, but they were just as troublesome. I could hear them whispering—well, shouting—behind me.
“Hey, didn’t you use hacks? Tell us the strat for the Nightmare Tutorial!” “Blueberry! Accept my friend request!” “Blueberry-nim, I’m a fan! I’m broke, can you give me some gold?” “I wanna taste BlueberryWhiskey, huff, huff.”
That last one was actually terrifying.
“Look, everyone, just a second……”
“BlueberryWhiskey is here!!”
My voice was completely buried by the crowd. The growing swarm reminded me of the nightmare I faced when I first arrived in town after the tutorial. I hurried away before the path could be blocked, but the crowd followed like a tail.
“Oppa!” “Blueberry!” “I wanna taste BlueberryWhiskey, huff, huff.”
Please, don’t say that out loud…
[Guild] BlueberryWhiskey: ㅠㅠ Seonhwa Noona, please save me. [Guild] VeggieSteamedBun: What’s wrong with our Eonha? ><?? [Guild] JustOneHitOppa: ㅋ Noona, he’s probably surrounded by people again. [Guild] JustOneHitOppa: Just leave him. There are too many people, you couldn’t even reach him if you tried. [Guild] VeggieSteamedBun: Ah, I see. By the way, Gyu-tae… [Guild] VeggieSteamedBun: Is your spacebar broken? ^^
It was hopeless. Even my guildmates had no intention of saving me.
You’ve got to see this next! The June I Killed will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : The June I Killed
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂