The issue with how the BBS was operated was that it was considered to be “anonymous.” Of course, anonymity offered protection – especially to more vulnerable posters still in impressionable school years. Yet, at the same time, it made organising meet-ups in the game a little inconvenient.

11H, a Flick Reaper, waited by the Quest Shop of his most favourite A.I..
He watched people come and go, either turning in their quests or accepting new ones. A couple times he asked: “are you here for the grunty quest?” Once, he received a “sorry, but no.” Another, he earned an awkward cower beneath the brim of a classic witch’s hat as the girl shuffled away.

If 11H had realised how much of a pain it would be to meet-up here, he would have broken anonymity.

Tch. It was a whatever.

Just inches to the left of the quest shop, 11H remained leaning against the brick building with arms folded over his shoulder. At a whopping 6’2, he towered over many of the passerby – though not all of them.

Long, thick lashes framed red eyes in a tight squint. “That’s very nice and all, but ‘proper introductions’ seems like a waste of time. We already know each other’s classes.” DandyLion the steamgunner, 11H the Flick Reaper, and Delicious_Milk the Harvest Cleric if the comment “heals” was anything to go by. Eden said it as much as herself. The only one who did need an introduction was Gruntles, and he was very much worth the introduction. (Still want one…)

To answer the next question regarding what else they knew about their Harvest Cleric, 11H opened his mouth only for it to shut and him to look immediately down and to his side. He knew that voice. “Ah, Radiance.”

Immediately, the Flick Reaper’s expression softened some. He sent out part invites to the both of them. “So, this is what you meant by ‘grunty quest’; I should have known--”

Wait a second… Delicious_Milk… Tiny child avatar… Milk reference instead of heals…

Was Radiance actually a perverted adult masquerading around as a small child?!

Nope. Nope. Don’t think about it. That sort of thing was nightmare fuel. (A shiver rippled through 11H’s character, but he quickly shook it off.)

“Right. Our task is to head over to the farm on the Outskirts of Mac Anu. Then we talk to the NPC there. First, let me pick up the quest for the lot us here; then we can go.”



It was a part of Mac Anu that 11H had never been to before. It was a lot nicer here with the golden grass, the dispersed buildings, and the gentle breeze. The “air” smelt fresher, too. Though as nice as it was, he suspected forever being at sunset would grow tiresome here just as it did in the centre of the city. What about night? What about day? What about weather?

“Look at all the grunties…” Still, it was a nice sight at least. Baby, juvenile, and adult grunties alike in all sorts of colours grazed out in the field. One wouldn’t expect that they were about to get mauled. If they never activated the quest, would they ever get mauled? Was the quest actually their doing? Curious.

There was a female human NPC just by the billowing linens. She was standing around with her hand visoring her eyes as she looked at the flock of grunties. That must be her, the one they needed to speak to. “Hey, we’re here for the Grunties quest.”

“Oh good!” The NPC animated to life with clapping her hands together once and kicking up a single leg in back of her in one swift motion. “The Quest Giver told me all about you three!” The farmer’s posture relaxed. “I’d be ever so delighted if you could help us. You see, we’ve been having issues of tiger monsters targeting our poor grunties…” We know, 11H’s mouth thinned in impatience. “We can’t afford to lose a single more, you see. That’s why we’ve entrusted the Guild Shop with this task. You’ll earn 45exp, 150gp, and a Grunty Bell!

“Are you all ready to begin?”

11H looked down at his Tiny Brigade for confirmation.

“It’s Eleven, not Ones-” 11H was quick to correct, though his eyes seemed to dart from tiger-to-tiger, then back to the other two – namely to the smallest and lowest level of the bunch. She should be safest with Eden, who despite being only level 8, seemed more than capable of handling herself.

If I go too ham, I may as well throw rocks instead. It was an idea. It was actually a good idea. Maybe not for now, but for future on-the-fly tactics, was that possible to use random assets like rocks in The World? “And that’s fine.” The Steam Gunner’s ammo was steam. Made sense to him. It would probably be worth reading up on all the classes after this to see how to best play each, like in a game of chess or cards. “Just play as you’d normally play, but make sure Half-Pint doesn’t-”—an a tiger bit him“you little f*er!”

Oh shit, he cursed allowed again. “Don’t repeat that!” he shouted!

There was one neat thing he noticed, though: he was swarmed by a hoard of hungry tigers, right? He expected them to whittle his HP away quickly (11H was no tank). But that bite barely did any damage. Was it because he was a level 15 now? That jump in levels did a serious boost. He was definitely over levelled for this quest now (and that Repth helped a bit, too).

Using Reaper’s Dance to summon an inverted hail of blades upon the mob focused on him in tandem with whatever skill Eden used, it became very clear: they didn’t need to be so cautious. The main thing to worry about was probably Radiance’s SP. If she over healed, she’d spend up all of her SP before the boss, and they’d probably need heals more for the boss than for these little ones. After just those two hits, the tigers dissipated. The second round would be coming within a few seconds. That just left the matter of how to preserve Radiance’s SP…

“Know what, change of plans.” Even though she was new, Radiance would clearly have a better understanding of her own class – just as Eden had a better understanding of Steam Gunner. “These are easy, so why don’t you both have a little more fun with it. We might need to be more cautious with the boss, though.” Radiance looked a little odd, though. Concentrating too much? “Just have fun.” Though easy to forget, this was just a game after all. It wasn’t like he was working--


Lv. 15 Flick Reaper
100% HP | 88% SP