Arthur first took out the severed head of the Trunel Orc Leader.

"Ugh! Wait!" Looking at the bloodied and soiled head, the staff member asked Arthur to halt. 

"Ah, my apologies. It is quite dirty." Arthur realized seeing the condition of the head.

The staff member shook his head and took out a canvas sheet. He unrolled it on the desk as a protective measure and prevented it from getting dirty as well.

"You can place it now." The staff membered spoke.

Arthur did as told and the staff member took a close look. The severed head looked rather bad and its eyeballs had already turned cloudy. Dried blood covered its hair and neck, while dirt covered its face.

A foul smell was also emitting from the head, though Arthur didn't know if this was the Orc's natural smell or due to the decay.

'It was in my bag when I logged out, so it should have stayed in a suspended state of animation. It shouldn't have decayed this much, so this should just be its natural smell. Quite pungent… almost as much as the stinky downstairs neighbor of mine.' Arthur remembered.

The staff member checked the severed Orc head carefully. After all, it was hard to tell from its condition and it could very well be a common Orc head. 

"Hmm… while the condition is bad, the Tusks do match up with those of the Trunel Orc Leader." The staff membered confirmed.

>Trunel Orc Leader Bounty has been completed!<

The staff member then placed a small pouch of coins in front of Arthur.

>Player Arzhur has obtained 75 Silver Coins!<

>Player Arzhur's reputation is already at a Venerated level, it cannot increase anymore!<

Arthur lightly glanced at the notifications waiting for a particular one.

>Title: Saviour of Roran town is in effect!<

>Bonus experience will be granted for completing a quest!<

>Player Arzhur has obtained 15% experience!<

>Player Arzhur has leveled up!<

>Player Arzhur has obtained 10 free stat points!<

'Nice! Just the right amount that I needed for the level up, plus a little extra.' Arthur was more pleased by the experience than the coins.

He was now at level 23 and had risen really fast. 

"The next bounty proof?" The staff asked.

"Ah, yes." Arthur took out the two sickles from his bag, that were poking out from the sides, anyway.

~clang~

He placed them on the desk, as the sickles clanged together. 

"Yeah, those are from the Blood Mane Sickle Beast for sure." The staff member didn't have to check much this time. "Do you want to submit this as the proof or something else?" he asked Arthur.

"I can use this too, I suppose?" Arthur took out the blood colored mane of the beast.

It had a lower value than the sickles and wasn't of much use to Arthur. 

"This'll work." The staff member took the blood colored mane and stored it away, before taking out more coins.

>Blood Mane Sickle Beast Bounty has been completed!<

>Player Arzhur has obtained 80 Silver Coins!<

>Player Arzhur's reputation is already at a Venerated level, it cannot increase anymore!<

>Title: Saviour of Roran town is in effect!<

>Bonus experience will be granted for completing a quest!<

>Player Arzhur has obtained 10% experience!<

'The experience gain fell despite it the Blood Make Sickle beast being stronger than the Trunel Orc leader… guess the level ups will reduce it more.' Arthur assessed.

Normally he should have gotten at least 20% bonus experience from this, but only got half that. His recent level up to level 23 was the cause behind it. 

'Even if the title can grant me Bonus Experience, it will still depend on the difficulty of the quest. At level 23 I can easily kill three or even four Blood Mane Sickle beasts at once.' Arthur thought.

It made Arthur wonder just how much the bonus experience gain would fall in the future.

'I'll have to start taking harder quests from now.' Arthur thought.

"Thank you for your help. Not only did you assist in saving our town, you also increased the safety by removing the dangerous beasts." The staff member said with gratitude.

"It's fine. I got compensated for it too." Arthur waved his hand. "Speaking of that though, are there any more bounties?" he asked.

"For the time being there are none." The Staff member replied. "You've cleared all of them… it doesn't really happen often." The man seemed a bit surprised too.

"The adventurers from the guild don't finish them?" Arthur asked.

"They do, but by the time they get to it, more bounties pop up. It has been a while since all the bounties were finished like this." The staff member replied. 

"I see… well you'll see it more often now," Arthur replied making the man a bit confused. "There are more adventurers here, and several more will be arriving soon. They'll make things easier." He clarified.

"Ah yes! We have been getting a large influx of adventurers since yesterday." The staff member nodded his head. "It's another thing that has gotten us busy. With the absence of the Guard Captain, we need to ensure that there are no issues with the new arrivals." He explained.

"Yeah, it will make things a bit chaotic for sure." Arthur had to agree.

After hearing that though, the expression of the staff member changed a bit. A look of hesitation appeared on his face before he spoke in a low voice. 

"Say… Are you… also like those adventurers?" The staff member asked carefully, eliciting a confused look from Arthur. "I mean… 'Otherworldly'." He whispered as if afraid if speaking out loud.

Hearing that, Arthur's eyes went wide. 

'I guess the NPCs witnessed it happen.' Arthur thought to himself.

There was no way the NPCs in Morpheus Online wouldn't see the sudden disappearances and reappearance of the players. To the players, it didn't matter, and they openly logged out in front of the NPCs.

It was certainly shocking and confusing for the NPCs. The commoners didn't know what was happening, those that were a bit high up actually had an inkling of understanding.

The NPCs termed players as 'Otherworlders'.

There was a myth in the game about beings that could not die easily and would grow stronger at a stunning pace. It was said that at certain times, beings such as them would appear and bring forth an age of change.

The NPCs knew it as a legend, but were finally getting to witness it.

When Arthur was the only one in the town, it was hard to miss it since he would log out in the inn. But the players did not have the same habits and would do it openly.

The knowledgeable NPCs would recognize it as the arrival of the Otherworlders. 

Of course, while it was strange to them, it wasn't something they would find unacceptable. After all, beings more absurd and stronger than the players existed too.

When Gods, devils, demons, and strange monsters existed in Morpheus Online, players were rather low on the scale of shock value. As such, they would find acceptance from the NPCs soon enough.

And the news of their appearance would spread rapidly too. 

'It might have been restricted when the players were still stuck in the newbie villages, but now that they are in the towns, the news will quickly reach the cities and other major settlements.' Arthur thought about it deeply as it was actually a crucial part of some changes that would take place. 

After a few seconds of silence, Arthur answered the man. 

"Yes… I too am an Otherworldly adventurer." Arthur nodded his head.

"Whoa! I would never have thought you were one of them before this. But your accomplishments make sense now." The staff member nodded.

"What more do you know about us?" Arthur inquired.

"The higher-ups informed us about some things, such as the fact that all of you don't die. At least not in the normal sense, and that you can grow stronger faster than normal." The staff member replied. 

"Hmm… that's about right." Arther nodded his head.

"Oh, and they also told us that all this comes at a cost, though they didn't have a clear explanation for it." The man added.

"What cost did they mention?" This was the first time Arthur was hearing such information and was very interested.

"Something about having both a blessing and a curse at the same time. Otherworlders don't die but will have to suffer the pain of dying every time. They can grow strong, fast, but will never understand their strength." The Staff member explained, surprising Arthur. "Oh, another thing… it is also said that you all have limited time in this world. It does not fully accept your existence and expels you regularly." 

Hearing that, Arthur didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

'So that's how they explain the limited login time of players… but then again, does that really apply to me?' Arthur wondered. 

After all, he had the perceptive of both worlds and was finding them to be similar due to the Synchronization.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like