“There’s a quest I’m looking for.”
“A quest?”
I’d assumed that since he’d seen I had the Special Supply Station’s warehouse key, he would obviously ask for something that used to be sold there as his reward — so this was unexpected.
“From what I can tell, it seems like you have the ability to analyze quests that Players possess. Am I right?”
He was looking at me steadily as he asked, and I hesitated for a moment before nodding.
In truth, I had once felt a slight sense of debt when Jeong Euijin used the Healing Handkerchief to treat my wrist, and since I couldn’t simply ignore that, I had given him some advice regarding his Awakening Quest. Thanks to that, Jeong Euijin’s Awakening Quest was now in a state where no major hurdles remained — only an easy wrap-up left to go.
“I know that NPCs suggest quests or offer advice based on a Player’s level and stats. That means NPCs can read part or all of a Player’s status window.”
A smile of certainty settled at the corner of Jeong Euijin’s mouth.
“Then wouldn’t you also be able to see where a quest originates?”
Sharp.
No matter how accurately I had pinpointed the crux of his Awakening Quest and given him hints, the fact that he could be this certain meant he had been observing NPCs that closely all along.
Turning his words over in my mind, I could hazard a guess at what he wanted as his reward.
“So there’s a quest another Player is currently running that you want to receive yourself? And you want me to find the clue for you.”
“Yes, exactly.”
The corners of Jeong Euijin’s eyes curved prettily once more. Those eyes — enough to effortlessly beguile more than a few people — were thick with something that looked unmistakably like praise for my cleverness.
The weight of his gaze made me uncomfortable, so I quietly looked away.
“Why not just ask that person where they received the quest?”
“Unfortunately, that person is currently in a coma. And I’ve never met anyone else who has received the same quest.”
“I see.”
Certainly, if things were as Jeong Euijin said, there was no way of knowing where or how that Player in a coma had received the quest.
In this world, there are many NPCs who grant quests, and many quests that only trigger once specific conditions are met.
Without even knowing the trigger conditions, there was no way to receive the quest you wanted just by wandering around looking for NPCs.
Given that situation, it was perfectly understandable that Jeong Euijin was asking me for a clue to a specific quest as his reward.
That much is easy.
Finding a specific Player, reading the quest they were currently running, and reporting back — for me, that was a laughably small price to pay. For Jeong Euijin, who was a Player, it would be more than adequate as a reward.
I was a little curious about which quest Jeong Euijin was after, but it was obviously going to be one tied to a Player’s survival or leveling up. None of my concern as an NPC.
“Alright. Let’s make that the reward.”
“Thank you.”
“We’re exchanging things, so there’s nothing to be grateful for.”
The moment I thought I want to grant a quest in my mind, a system window that had been inactive up until now materialized before my eyes.
<You have made contact with a Player eligible for quest assignment.>
<Would you like to generate a quest?>
Looking at the system window, I smiled back at Jeong Euijin, who was smiling faintly from the other side of it.
“No, I should still be grateful. If it weren’t for you, I’d have been wandering around since morning, eyes practically falling out of my head, searching for a Player with a movement skill. …Genuinely, thank you.”
If I’d known it would come to this, I should have come looking for Jeong Euijin the moment I left the Special Supply Station, instead of running around trying to dodge Players at every turn.
Even if I couldn’t be sure about other Players — Jeong Euijin, I could trust.
I gazed steadily at the system window.
<NPC ‘Lee Jaea’ generates a quest targeting Player ‘Jeong Euijin’.>
***
Generating the quest wasn’t difficult.
All it took was the will to assign a quest of Lee Jaea’s own design to Player Jeong Euijin.
<Quest: NPC Delivery Service>
— Transport NPC ‘Lee Jaea’ to another zone in a surviving state and reunite him with his younger sibling.
— Reward: Securing one clue to a quest of Player ‘Jeong Euijin’s’ choosing
— Time Limit: None
Having confirmed the quest had been assigned, Lee Jaea soon left Jeong Euijin’s room.
It was already close to nine in the morning, and he was starting to worry about the other team members — and Alt. Alt had a habit of baring his teeth at anyone other than his owner, Lee Jaea, so for all he knew, the lodgings might have been reduced to chaos.
Before Lee Jaea left the room —
There had been a small argument between the two of them.
Lee Jaea wanted to participate in both the briefing and the raid that day.
For Jeong Euijin, who knew Lee Jaea was an NPC, there was no choice but to strongly oppose this. If Lee Jaea were to get caught up in combat, there was no way his frail body would come out unscathed — and if he accidentally got swept up in a Player’s skill and his identity as an NPC was exposed, things would spiral beyond control.
But Lee Jaea reassured Jeong Euijin, saying he had something in mind.
— Just do one thing I ask, and there’ll be nothing to worry about. It’ll definitely be a worthwhile proposal for the alliance, too.
After hearing Lee Jaea’s “request,” Jeong Euijin made a displeased face. He asked if it really had to be that way, but Lee Jaea told him to trust in him.
In the end, Jeong Euijin gave a reluctant nod and let him out the door.
And after Lee Jaea left —
Jeong Euijin stood rooted in the entryway for a moment before pressing his forehead against the hard door. The faint, feverish warmth that had clung to his brow the entire time Lee Jaea was with him now gave way to a cool chill.
Jeong Euijin’s clear eyes gradually grew distant.
— Euijin.
The sound of Lee Jaea calling him so familiarly was spinning through his head, dizzyingly, endlessly.
He called me… by name… informally….
Now that he allowed himself to fully register it, a vivid flush spread across his cheeks and the tips of his ears went bright red.
It had been two years.
Two years since Lee Jaea had called him by name without formality.
— Were you a university student? Third year?
— Looks like I’m your hyung. The world turned into this mess just six months into my job search after graduating.
— Euijin, try calling me hyung.
— Oh, I was joking, but you actually said it?
Even in a world as murky and dust-choked as this one, everything seemed unusually bright whenever Lee Jaea was with him. It felt as though a longed-for past had unfolded before his eyes as living reality, and it made him ceaselessly revisit a time that had been, without question, peaceful.
Though that period had ended far too briefly due to the system’s interference, it was the memory of it that had kept him going — clinging on desperately all this time.
To Jeong Euijin, Lee Jaea was the light of this world. His one and only anchor.
And now, at last, they were able to meet not as the NPC of the Special Supply Station and some Player, but as Lee Jaea and Jeong Euijin.
He had absolutely no intention of letting this chance slip through his fingers easily.
Jeong Euijin’s gaze turned cold for a moment.
The truth was, when Lee Jaea had been generating the quest, Jeong Euijin had quietly laid a hidden trap within its contents.
<Transport NPC ‘Lee Jaea’ to another zone in a surviving state and reunite him with his younger sibling.>
Reunite.
In other words, the quest would only be completed when Lee Jaea directly met with his younger sibling in person.
Two years ago, right before the world became what it is now, Lee Jaea’s younger sibling had apparently been in Zone 1 — the Seoul of the past.
Whether they were alive or dead there now, he’d said there was no way of knowing.
So then — what if the sibling had died in Zone 1? What if it became impossible to ever reunite with them again?
Since no failure condition was set for this quest, it would naturally never end.
Even knowing that the quest Lee Jaea had created carried no failure condition, he had deliberately said nothing.
A quest was the most reliable and legitimate justification for binding a Player to an NPC.
In order to clear a quest and receive its rightful reward, a Player can always check the location of the quest NPC through the system, at any time.
In other words — as long as this quest remained unfinished, he could pinpoint Lee Jaea’s location and make his way to him, whenever and wherever, with ease.
With an advantage like that, Jeong Euijin was in a position where it didn’t matter whether the quest was completed or not.
If someone found out about this… I’d probably be hated for it.
Jeong Euijin was fully aware of just how rotten his own intentions were — and yet, he had not the slightest intention of backing down now.
jeong euijun, you crazy bastard 😶