mesbooks Chapter 3: Did the NPCs dislike you?
Chapter 3: Did the NPCs dislike you?
The little girl in the white dress is a relatively cost-effective side quest in the game's prologue, and she can be linked to several beginner quests, which can be completed all at once. She is one of the three routes that Youche has compiled.
Her task itself is quite simple, consisting of two parts. First, after the player helps her, they can accept the task of helping her purchase ingredients.
This task requires the player to go to a farm outside town to buy some potatoes for her, because the little girl cannot leave the town alone.
She will give players funds—a small bag of pocket money she has saved up—but in reality, it is far from enough to meet the material requirements of the quest.
There is a high degree of freedom in how to complete this side quest.
Players can choose to pay out of their own pocket to buy directly from the market, or they can choose to steal. When buying or stealing, they can also use their skill level to increase the success rate.
However, the most recommended approach is to first go around in circles and register a temporary adventurer certification with the Adventurers' Guild, then accept the bounty quest "Clear the Farm Wild Beasts," and after completing the quest, choose to have the farmer use some of the farm produce to offset the quest reward.
Although going through such a long detour may seem like just saving a little money, it's not actually that simple.
Because the adventurer identity in the prologue cannot be registered casually, the little girl's father is a member of the militia. Players must accept her mission and obtain her money pouch before they can pass the verification by the Adventurer's Guild counter lady and obtain the certificate.
If you don't take this side quest, you'll have to complete the prologue before you can obtain adventurer certification through another quest.
Adventurer certification is a prerequisite for unlocking many quests in the game and also provides some additional functions. It is something you must get and the sooner you get it, the better.
Moreover, putting aside the more distant examples, the method that Youche envisioned for escaping the town also required the identity of an adventurer.
Therefore, the little girl's quest is extremely cost-effective in the prologue, especially for Yuche, it is almost a must-accept quest.
You Che immediately walked towards the little girl, but after taking two steps, he unconsciously slowed down.
Ahead, a little girl in a simple white dress lay on the ground, tears welling in her eyes, clearly trying hard not to cry. She clutched a small, hand-sewn pouch tightly, and the half-loose ribbon on her head swayed gently.
Suddenly, memories from long ago flashed before You Che's eyes.
In the second phase of the little girl's questline, after you bring her the potatoes, she will go home and cook a delicious lunch, then ask you to deliver it to her father, who works in the militia.
After delivering the lunch, the elderly father will sincerely thank you and present you with a handmade music box for his daughter.
According to the veteran, he hadn't had time to go home recently because the dark races were being very restless, but his daughter's birthday was approaching, and this music box was a gift for her.
The player then needs to return the music box to the little girl, and the quest ends there.
As a reward for completing the mission, players can exchange a potato at the little girl's house each day for a delicious lunch that temporarily boosts their attributes. This also unlocks access to the town's central ring, where buildings such as the blacksmith's shop are located.
However, although the little girl's mission ended there, her story has a sequel.
Several days later, when the dark race breaches the city, you will pass that familiar intersection on your way from defeating the mini-bosses in your route to the final boss of the prologue, following the game's storyline.
If you turn slightly at this point and walk down the side path, you will see a collapsed hut.
There was no one there, only the last echo of a broken music box amidst the chaotic pile of rubble, and a ribbon, mostly stained with blood, lying quietly among the ruins.
Memories flashed through his mind in an instant, and Youche's steps came to a complete stop.
"..."
He suddenly didn't want to take on this task anymore.
Although not accepting the mission doesn't necessarily change the girl's fate, at least this way he won't feel so upset.
"Anyway, there are other startup tasks, we can just choose another one..."
Just as he was thinking this, a figure suddenly swept past him and walked straight toward the little girl.
Are you alright?
A clear, cool female voice rang out, and a girl dressed in a robe and wearing a dark hat helped the little girl up and gently brushed the dust off her.
You Che subconsciously looked at her and immediately noticed the staff she was carrying on her back, his eyes lighting up.
That's... another starting point for players: the initial staff used by apprentice mages!
The staff worn by the apprentice mage is exclusive equipment and will only appear in the hands of the "protagonist" in the early stages, so there is absolutely no mistake for it.
This magician is another key NPC who possesses the protagonist's template!
What? You're asking why other people got the protagonist template?
This all starts with the prologue of the game "Dark Fantasy".
According to the lore of *Dark Fantasy*, during the prologue's siege by the dark races, all the characters from the player's chosen origin are actually in the town, each with their own storyline. After the great battle, only the character chosen by the player survives.
Of course, this is how the game is set up in single-player mode, but in multiplayer mode, the player's protagonist will encounter other "survivors," and there will even be situations where the total number of survivors exceeds the entire town... This can be considered a classic compromise between plot setting and gameplay.
Putting those aside for now, let's just talk about the apprentice mage girl who is now standing in front of Yu Che. She is one of the people Yu Che is looking for in his plan.
The reason is simple: the mage class is very powerful, with excellent exclusive skills and attribute growth. At the same time, most of the corresponding superior classes are also very good. As long as the build is reasonable and the enhancement path is correct, you can enjoy the game from the beginning to the end. It is an absolutely powerful output character.
You Che understood very well that since he himself came from a bad background, recruiting and training teammates was a viable solution.
Everyone's in the newbie village now, so there's no need to worry about going astray. With a top player like him around, there's absolutely no need to worry about the subsequent development path.
As for gender, these are secondary. Players upload their own image by default when creating an account (which can be customized), but there are special tasks in the game that support customization, so it is possible for the "protagonist" to look like an ancient god.
Yu Che watched as the magician girl helped the little girl up, and after a brief exchange, he took the purse from the girl's hand. He knew that the girl had accepted her mission.
Although it felt somewhat awkward, Yu Che couldn't let this teammate get away with it, so after the little girl left, he went up to the magician and tried to talk to him:
"Hello, ma'am..."
The apprentice mage girl had long, deep purple hair and a face that still held a hint of childishness, but her demeanor was already quite remarkable. At this moment, she was sizing up You Che with her beautiful eyes.
You Che was very polite. After a brief self-introduction, he sincerely invited her to join his team.
As mentioned before, a character's charm value has a significant effect on social interactions, and Yuche is very confident in his charm value of 8 points - although he is currently only 7 points due to negative status effects and is still wearing tattered burlap, but that's not a big problem.
In the past, even for key NPCs with extremely high intelligence in games, his high charisma had a significant impact.
So even though it was their first meeting, You Che still went up to strike up a conversation. Even if the other party didn't agree to team up right away, it was good to make an impression first, so he could slowly persuade them later.
Unexpectedly, the other person gave him a cold glance and then said in a way that kept him at arm's length:
"Thank you. However, I cannot trust someone who is unwilling to even lend a helping hand to a helpless child, so please allow me to decline."
After saying that, she nodded perfunctorily and turned to leave.
You Che: "..."
Gan!
He was actually disliked by the NPC because he didn't accept the quest?
There's no such feature in the game!