The Grand Duelist

Ray Gabriel, one of the scientists who led the creation of Victory observed Joseph whenever Joseph was online. But why Joseph, you say?

It was because Joseph was amusing...

He was only Level 1, yet he made connections with a Great Magician that had an interesting past.

"Oh, so now he's in the Divine Sword Sect? He has the recommendation letter of the Great Magician Lilibeth so he's guaranteed to be accepted."

"Now he's in front of Juzo, the drunkard. Okay, show him the recommendation letter. That recommendation letter is one of a kind since it contains the personal request of the Great Magician. If Juzo reads that letter then you're in luck."

"Wait, why are you closing your eyes? Give him the recommendation letter! Hey, retard! Why are you... Ah, now he's dead..."

Ray Gabriel was frustrated. But now that he saw everything that happened today. He finally confirmed that the hidden quest wasn't really fated for Joseph. If not for that then his misfortune of getting kicked out from the Divine Sword Sect and acquiring their hostility wouldn't happen.

"Ah, what a poor guy." Ray Gabriel shook his head and stopped his surveillance. Since Joseph failed the quest that the Great Magician Lilibeth bestowed onto him. It's now impossible for him to continue on the path of that hidden quest anymore.

In other words, Ray Gabriel lost his interest on Joseph. He finally concentrated on his work and didn't bother about Joseph anymore whom he thought wasn't fated towards that quest...

Inside Victory, Joseph was finally back at the Capital of the Kingdom of Nether.

However, aside from being too exhausted from walking back to the Capital since the Divine Sword Sect was located a few kilometers away from the Capital City of Nether. Nothing really changed.

Joseph still earned the mocking of every NPC. Even the entrance guards didn't allow him inside the Capital. He only managed to get inside the City by hiding himself among the crowd.

But now he was back at square one. How could he get to the Beginner Village? He had no money. He could use his money from the outside world on buying money here in Victory. But all of his money was inside his high-yield savings account and he's prohibited to withdraw from it until next month.

"I must earn money!" Joseph concluded. At three times the average market price. He must have at least ten copper coins or a single silver coin so that a coachman would help him towards his destination. But why won't he just walk towards the Beginner Village?

Well, it was the issue of monsters. Monsters ruthlessly attacked anyone that wasn't inside carriages that had Monster-Repelling Runes stuck on them. Apart from that, bandits often patrol the area for any stupid player or NPC that they could kill and steal from.

It wasn't really a problem for Joseph to walk his way towards the Beginner Village. Only if he wasn't at Level 1.

At Level 1, a player's stats were too low that a single punch from a random bandit could probably kill them in an instant.

"But how do I earn money?" His common sense told him that to earn money, he must provide his services or sell something towards someone that would pay for it. But his affinity towards the NPCs in this area was at the lowest, and he doubted that a player would take his words seriously.

If Joseph wanted to sell something... He needed capital so that he could produce whatever goods he wanted to sell.

But since Joseph didn't have any money right now, how could he produce goods that he could sell to other players?

'Something that doesn't require capital to make yet sells like pancakes...' Joseph thought to himself before his eyes flashed with excitement. "I do have something like that!"

Joseph exclaimed before he hurriedly went towards the Central Square of the City.

The Central Square of the City could be considered as a huge local market. But, instead of NPCs. Only players sold their merchandise in here. But of course, everything could be sold here. Everything that has value to someone could be sold, even a handful of sand or you name it.

Every six hours of Victory, an hour would pass in the outside world. In short, right now it was night time and night time meant that the number of players online and playing Victory was at the peak.

Joseph scouted the area and he stood near the entrance of the Central Square of Reinhardt. After this, Joseph went into the forums and typed in some information about what he was selling.

In just a short moment, a player approached him and said.

"Are you the Madman of the Festival of Battles?" The player that approached him wore a straw hat. His ID was hidden since Victory automatically concealed the IDs of those players with their faces covered.

Joseph didn't mind this. He simply replied: "Yes, that's me. Are you from the forums? Interested in the hidden quest given by the Great Magician Lilibeth to me?"

"Yeah, but you are asking too much. A hundred gold just for a piece of unverified information? Are you kidding me?" The player said. Joseph merely shrugged and said.

"Brother, I wrote at the forums that the quest isn't just a simple quest. The quest that was given to me by the Great Magician Lilibeth should be a hidden quest."

"A hidden quest?" The player's interest was piqued.

"Yes, a hidden quest." Joseph's smile intensified.

"Then why did you not keep it to yourself? I doubt that you would sell that kind of information to everyone." The player doubted.

Joseph stared at him. After pressing some buttons in his Settings Tab located at the Main Menu of the game. Joseph's level popped up above his head.

"You... You're a Level 1? How did you defeat the Great Magician Lilibeth?!" The player was thoroughly shocked.

"Calm down, calm down. Did you forget that the Festival of Battles had Equipment Disparity Compensation? In other words, it doesn't matter what equipment I wore, we would still be even..."

After Joseph's explanation, the player visibly calmed down. But then he asked once again.

"How is that connected to the reason why you are selling information about that quest?"

"Well, It is because that quest required me to fight something that a mere Level 1 cannot possibly defeat. That's the reason."

"Wait, you need to fight against someone?"

"Of course, did you think that a hidden quest would be so easy?"

"And then, who did you fight? Are they strong?" The player continued asking.

But Joseph now had a frown on his face as he replied...

"I already gave you an inch, now you want a mile? You cannot bait me into giving you further information than that. Now, decide if you want to buy the complete information or not."

The player hesitated. A hundred gold for a piece of information about a hidden quest wasn't expensive for someone like him. However, it wasn't also cheap.

After all, the player couldn't properly determine the worth of the information just by Joseph's words. It would be pretty stupid if he just paid money for a piece of information that wasn't even guaranteed.

Joseph could sense the hesitation within the player and he couldn't help but shake his head.

Of course, he knew that the information that he was selling was quite expensive among the unverified information sold within the forums. But Joseph believed that once the information that he had was verified, the value of the information would soar.

But in that case, selling the information that he had would be meaningless since a lot of players would have acquired the information that they needed from other secondary sources of information by then.

That was why Joseph had to gamble, gamble that players were greedier than he expected and they would bite at the carrot that Joseph had which was called, "hidden quest".

A hidden quest in the world of Victory didn't guarantee bountiful rewards.

Some hidden quest granted trash rewards, but most of them granted rewards that any player didn't regret acquiring. That's the reason why Joseph had a higher than fifty percent chance of succeeding on selling more of his information if just a single player bit his carrot.

Through that player's testament, people would believe him easier than the first time.

"I can see that you're hesitating. But how about this? Give me half the amount and once you confirmed the legitimacy of the information then you can give me the other half." Joseph said and the player's hesitation finally disappeared.

But still, the player couldn't help but ask.

"What if I didn't give you the other half after verifying the information?"

"Well, in that case... Forget about receiving further valuable information from me." Joseph's smile turned sly and the player finally gave up.

He felt that Joseph was really cunning. If he confirmed the legitimacy of Joseph's information, then he would've established himself as a reliable source of information. In that case, if he reneged with his promise with Joseph, it would make him lose out in the future.

After the first player bit his carrot and after Joseph acquired that player's testimony. His business significantly boomed for that day and in the end. Joseph acquired five hundred gold coins in pure profit.

On that same day too, the Divine Sword Sect was thrown into a turmoil...

A bunch of players suddenly appeared in their Sect shouting that they were recommended by the Great Magician Lilibeth.

Juzo heard what was going on, and he promptly smacked down those bastards acting like they were genuinely recommended by Lilibeth.

Unfortunately, those players never gave up...

Using their curse of Immortality, the players returned from the grave and repeatedly caused a ruckus in the Divine Sword Sect saying that they were recommended by the Great Magician Lilibeth and Juzo should honor the Great Magician's recommendation.

"Just who the fuck are these bastards?! How do they know my connection to the Great Magician Lilibeth? If this continues, I'll be fucking kicked out of the Sect because of the disturbance that these cursed bastards are doing!" NPCs referred to players as cursed beings.

They referred to the act of respawning as the Curse of Immortality. Not aging, fated to live forever and seeing their loved ones die one after another. If that wasn't a curse, then what was it?

But that wasn't the point of Juzo's anger for today. He was angry because the players kept on disturbing his rest and drinking with the mindset that Juzo would eventually give them their hidden quest if they just kept on pestering him.

However, that wasn't the only basis why they kept on pestering him.

It was also because of a particular system notification that they received when they first arrived at the Divine Sword Sect and shouted that they were recommended by the Great Magician Lilibeth.

[The Great Magician's so-called Recommendation]

Quest Difficulty: F

You heard from a reliable source that something special will happen once you inform Juzo, the famous Drunkard of the Divine Sword Sect that you were recommended by the Great Magician Lilibeth.

Quest Clear Conditions: Be acknowledged by Juzo.

Juzo, the renowned good for nothing and drunkard of the Divine Sword Sect. Although despised by everyone, his skills cannot be underestimated. He may look brash and crude. His heart is made of cotton and easily moved.

Quest Rewards: ???

Quest Failure: Nothing.]

A quest that had clear success conditions and had no repercussions when failing. It was the perfect quest! And looking at the difficulty of the quest.

As long as they keep being persistent, they knew from their experience that the rewards that they wanted were coming for them soon...

In the end, after six hours of Victory-time. Juzo finally gave up and acknowledged everyone.

"Since all of you bastards are so persistent, then I will give up..."

"Okay, I will now hand over to each and every one of you all the alcohol jugs that I kept inside my room! You bastards take care of them and don't sell them to others, ya hear me?! Only those acknowledged by me, Juzo should have permission to drink them!"

The players excitedly stood up and received the jugs of alcohol from Juzo. But when they appraised the jugs of alcohol that they received. Their bodies trembled in anger...

[You completed the Quest: The Great Magician's so-called Recommendation!]

[Acquired Juzo's Favorite and Beloved Jug of Beer~]

[Juzo's Favorite and Beloved Jug of Beer~

Juzo of the Divine Sword Sect loves randomly drinking a jug or two of this fine beer. Made from the malt of barley, a crop considered as a staple in the Kingdom of Nether. It has a nice bitter taste and sweetness that could make anyone forget about their problems!

Unique Effect: Intoxication.]

"That sham... We must find that bastard con-man!" They simultaneously cursed at Joseph.