Chapter 10

A Certain Lost Teddy Bear

Malec's Teddy

HIdden Quest A little boy by the name of Malec has lost his doll in the woods. Rodzic, the owner of the restaurant you were eating at is afraid of what would happen to the boy if he was left crying while Rodzic looked for the doll. He offers to treat the meal you just had as free if you would look for it. Will you accept? Quest Accept Rewards:

The purchase of Panda's Bowl x1 will be treated as free. Quest Clear Requirements:

Find the Missing Teddy Bear Difficulty: ???

Reward: ??? Accept Quest? (Y/N)

“A hidden quest?”

It was not the first time Lost had gotten a hidden quest. In fact, not too long ago he had gotten the evil slime king’s hidden extermination quest. Hidden quests weren’t something rare themselves. It’s just a term for quests that are impossible to get through normal means.

To get a hidden quest, players could sit in front of a place and pray, consume a certain consumable item at a specified time of the day, and so forth. But he had never heard of a hidden quest that was triggered through a coincidence.

And even more intriguing, is the quest difficulty and rewards. The rewards were actually quite acceptable. I mean, what would you give someone when they find your lost belongings, just a thank you, right? But the difficulty, why was it unknown? Finding a teddy bear that was lost in a forest, it would probably be an E difficulty at most, why was the system being so mysterious about this?

Lost got suspicious. However, just before he rejected it, he saw Malec’s crying face. It reminded him of when he was a child. He lost his favorite teddy bear, and he cried for weeks. He didn’t want another child to feel that either, so he accepted the quest.

“Okay, leave it to me!” Lost said, putting his hand on the kid’s shoulder, smiling widely.

“R-r-really?”

“Yup!” Lost reassured the crying child. “Did you give him a name?”

“Th-Theo.” Malec responded, still stuttering as he cried.

Lost was surprised.

Theo.

That was the name of his lost teddy bear. The one he lost when he was a child. Theo was the first gift from his parents. They were busy people, and were rarely at home, leaving him with his grandfather when he was at home. And thus, this gift meant a lot to him. Lost shed a tear without realizing.

“Why are you crying?” asked the boy, clueless to Lost’ past.

“Ah.. it’s nothing.” Lost responded, wiping his tears away.

Was it a mere coincidence? Could this quest be something that his parents created before they passed away? Nevertheless, he was even more determined to find Theo.

After saying goodbye to Rodzic, Lost quickly left the restaurant. And immediately headed to the nearest forest. As he did, Rodzic looked at Lost with a melancholic look on his face.

“What’s wrong, papa?”

“...”

***

Freedom Fantasy is a VRMMORPG that shook the world, literally. The day of the game’s release, there was a massive earthquake that shook Japan. But that’s a story for another time.

One of the reasons for Freedom Fantasy’s success is the Class System. It is said that Freedom Fantasy harbors tens of thousands of classes. This has been never heard in any game before, as the balancing of each class would be hard. This made the impression that every player can be a unique existence within the game.

Each class is unique, with its own advantages and disadvantages. There are two types of classes in this game, common classes, and hidden classes.

A common class is a class that could be obtained by ordinary means such as studying from a class master and such. Common classes are by no means easy to obtain, but they have a straightforward way to obtain them. For example one could become a knight by enlisting in the army of a kingdom, a wizard by studying under a magic teacher and so on.

A hidden class is a class that is unobtainable through normal means. Hidden classes can be obtained by a player when said player finishes certain quests a certain way, or meets the requirements needed to obtain a class.

However players didn’t really care about whether or not a class is common or hidden. Since the only thing that made a difference was actually the rank of the class itself.

The highest ranked known by players thus far was epic. It was leaked that there were currently 4 players that had an epic class. One of them was Kjellberg, a swedish streamer that had accidentally gotten the class on-steam. Other than him, the other three’s identities were kept confidential.

Ann Hamasaki, a player from japan was currently venturing the Griefyard Badlands, an area in the south of the west continent. She went by the username of Ann.

[“Shadowblade IV” Quest Complete!]

“That son of a witch..”

She had recently fought the field boss ‘Shadow Witch's Offspring’, and had barely come out of the battle alive. Her health was currently in the lower 5%, and has run out of mana.

[Due to the completion of “Shadowblade IV” another quest has been generated.]

Shadowblade V (Final) Defeating the Shadow Witch's Offspring, you have acquired the organic material needed to born an artificial life. With four materials obtained, the only thing left is the source of magic the Shadow Witch has left in her beloved pet. Be careful, the Twilight Cat's magic is enormous, and will kill anyone unprepared. Quest Accept Rewards:

You cannot accept another Quest while this Quest is active.

Other Quests you had prior to this quest will be deleted. Quest Clear Requirements:

Defeat the Twilight Cat! Quest Fail Punishments:

Shadowblade Chain Quest Progress Erasure (you cannot re-take this quest) Difficulty: Epic

Reward: ??? Accept Quest? (Y/N)

“Finally, it’s almost over...”

‘Twilight Cat, is that monster strong?’ Ann wondered.

“Miss Ann, help..” a man mumbled, crawling on the ground. He looked dirty and was bleeding. His hair was yellow, and his face was that of a french teenager’s. His body was covered in armor, yet every piece of it looked like it was about to break.

“Larron, you’re still alive?”

“...”

***

Mirrond Grasslands, an area outside of the city of Mirrond. Every corner is covered with vegetation of many kinds. As the name states, it’s mostly covered by only grass.

“Theo.”

He can’t get that name out of his mind. It’s been so long since he heard it.

“Where are you, old friend?”

Theo was his only friend when he was little. He would bring Theo to the dining room to eat with him, and take him to the bathroom to take a bath together. He told Theo his secrets, and they slept together everyday. He couldn’t sleep without Theo, and Theo would bring him courage every time there were lightning strikes.

They were inseparable, like wine and cheese. Lost- no, Axel’s old friend existed within the game Freedom Fantasy, and he can’t wait to see him again.

‘Will Malec let me keep Theo?’ he wondered.

‘...’

‘Probably not.’ Lost sighed.

“Status Window.”

Lost

Level 31 Monster Eater HP: 6,619/6,619

MP: 1,156/1,156 Strength : 46

Vitality : 32

Dexterity : 31

Agility : 43

Intelligence : 31

Luck : 85

Stamina : 42 Skills:

[Lesser Devour], [Speed Burst], [Blood Gnaw] Abilities:

[Hand-to-Hand Combat (F)], [Statue Morphing] Characteristics:

[Hungry Viscosity], [Black Iron Body] Lesser Devour Active Skill

By using the Hungry Hand or inserting the corpse of a monster into your mouth. There is a chance to obtain the monster's skills and/or characteristics.

Can only devour 'Beginner' skills and skills rated F. Once a characteristic is absorbed, you can choose to equip that characteristic at any time.

Cooldown: 15 Seconds

Cost: 10 Mana Speed Burst Active Skill

For one second, increases speed to 1000%

Cooldown: 30 Seconds. Blood Gnaw Active Skill

Bites at an enemy, deals damage proportional to 150% of a normal physical attack. 15% chance of ignoring armor on that target while also leeching some damage.

*Hungry Hand can be used to bite an enemy.

Cooldown: 30 Seconds.

Cost: 50 Mana Hungry Viscosity Characteristic

The characteristic of a viscous Body that due to compability with a Monster Eater's Hungry Arm, has evolved. It is now a slimey substance that can dissolve objects. Black Iron Body Characteristic

A body made out of black iron; a material stronger than steel. Can withstand most impacts, and is very durable. Due to its weight, it is slower than the human body.

'Wait... I've just realized this but..'

'Where are the passive skills I've gotten?'

"Settings."

Lost opened the settings menu.

"What's this?"

To his surprise, under the standard options (display, audio, etc.) there were another option, it was labelled "Special Class Options". He accessed that option, and he found a rather interesting sentence.

Count Passive Skills* False *Passive Skills will be Counted as the requirements of certain aspects of the Class "Moster Eater". However, doing so will reduce the amount of bonuses of gaining skills.

"What the hell is this?"

"I haven't had any bonuses anyway, let's turn this on."

Count Passive Skills* True

The moment he did so, a notification appeared.

Notice Monster Eater (Poor) → Monster Eater (Normal)

The requirements* of class evolution had been met.

*Acquire 5 Different Skills

[Commencing Class Evolution...]

[Class Evolution Complete!]

Monster Eater Normal Class (Growth)

A monster eater is a class that relies on ones hunger. By devouring and taking away a monster's qualities, they would become a force to be reckoned with. The main weapon, Starving Arm, is a weapon that is bound to the owner's body (You cannot unequip it). It starts off weak, but will grow according to the growth of the class. The potential of this class is endless, however growth depends on the user, it can be trash, and it also can be the best class. This class is unique to a single individual, there cannot be more than one monster eaters.

Main Weapon

Starving Arm Starving Arm Normal Weapon (Growth)

A weapon that is embedded to the owner's body. It starts off as a poor quality weapon, but it has the ability to evolve into a better version of itself.

At this stage, the Starving Arm will generate the skill [Devour]. When used to attack, Hungry Arm will recover health with the same amount of 5% of the damage dealt.

When this weapon is equipped, all defeated enemies will stay as corpses until user exits the area.

If the owner of this weapon equips another weapon, then it would become dormant. When dormant, it is not physically visible and unusable.

Attack power and speed depends of the stats of the owner. It is powerless by itself.

Before Lost could react, another notification appeared.

Notice Monster Eater (Normal) → Monster Devourer (Rare)

The requirements* of class evolution had been met.

*Acquire 10 Total Different Skills, Abilities and Characteristics

[Commencing Class Evolution...]

[Class Evolution Complete!]

Monster Devourer Rare Class (Growth)

Once a mere eater, now evolved to become a devourer. By devouring and taking away a monster's qualities, they are destined to become a legend. The main weapon, Ravenous Arm, is a weapon that is bound to the owner's body (You cannot unequip it). The potential of this class is endless. This class is unique to a single individual, there cannot be more than one monster devourer.

Main Weapon

Ravenous Arm Ravenous Arm Rare Weapon (Growth)

A weapon that is embedded to the owner's body. It starts off as a poor quality weapon, but it has the ability to evolve into a better version of itself.

At this stage, the Hungry Arm will generate the skill [Greater Devour]. When used to attack, Hungry Arm will recover health with the same amount of 10% of the damage dealt.

When this weapon is equipped, all defeated enemies will stay as corpses until user exits the area.

Using this weapon with another skill will remove the cooldowns of the skill.

The owner of this weapon can choose to make this weapon active or dormant on command. When dormant, it is not physically visible and unusable.

Attack power and speed depends of the stats of the owner. It is powerless by itself. Greater Devour Active Skill

By using the Ravenous Hand or inserting the corpse of a monster into your mouth, there is a fixed chance to obtain the monster's skills and/or characteristics. There is a very small chance of absorbing stats.

Can absorb any skill under the rare rating. Once a characteristic is absorbed, you can choose to equip that characteristic at any time.

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

Cost: 1 Mana

"Whoa...."

Lost felt immense joy. After getting stuck with a poor rated class for weeks, he had finally managed to evolve his class, although it was purely coincidental. What's even more surprising is the fact that he evolved twice in a row. Surely this made up for all of his bad luck. After reading the each description, his face turned grim.

"Raven..ous?"

He had recalled a forgotten memory from the past.

"The reason I lost Theo..."

Suddenly, he saw a cat's sillhouette heading towards him from the corner of his eye. He felt that it was quick and deadly, and he had barely dodged it. The cat had a sudden halt, and turned his head around. Upon closer inspection, the cat's fur was jet black, with bright yellow eyes to contrast it. In the cat's tail, it held a bear-like plushie.

He saw the cat's name, and he laughed.

"Is this merely coincidence, or is this fate?"

The cat let out a sharp cry

"That's right. It was you, wasn't it?"

Lv. ??? Field Boss

"Raven."