Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player-Novel

----

Ding!

〈System: A new quest has been generated.〉

Kieran's eyes sparkled with excitement while skimming through its contents. Based on the quest objectives, it synergized well with Kieran's intentions. Now that he was above Lv.5, his first thought was to tackle the dungeon available within the Fanged Forest.

Compared to the leveling field, there was a much higher chance of receiving better Warrior equipment. While uncommon-grade equipment remained sufficient for Kieran's current endeavors, it would only last for so long. Equipment truly became useful once you came across Rare items.

In terms of ranking, Zenith Online separated the grading into Beginner, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Unique, Epic, Legendary, and so on. However, to expect an Epic, Legendary, or even just a Unique item to appear from these dungeons would be delusional.

Dungeons, chiefly those located within beginner areas, couldn't drop such high-ranking equipment. They were limited by something known as the Beginner Zone Handicap. Unless players could slay powerful monsters of the right ranking and level, receiving exquisite equipment was a pipedream.

Thus, Kieran would be content with just Rare items for the time being.

Fortunately, the quest generated before Kieran's eyes welcomed the possibility of acquiring better equipment.

「A Warrior's Next Step (Normal)

Quest Rank: A

Recommended Party Size: 5

Recommended Party Level: 5-8

Objectives: Simply slaying monsters isn't enough to convince Scar of your strength. As the one he had placed part of his faith in, he believes that you have more potential to unearth and more power to realize.

- Clear an Lv.5 Dungeon on Difficult or higher. 0/1

- Clear the Difficult or higher Dungeon without using Health Consumables. 0/1

Rewards:

- Level +1

- 5 Silver

- +50 favorability with Scar

Failure Penalty:

- Level -1

- Disappearance of Scar's favorability.

Time Limit: 24 hours

*Special Note: Certain Warriors have a different path from others. Therefore, they require early grooming to temper their abilities. 」

An A-Rank Quest didn't mean that it held any large significance to Zenith Online as a whole; it simply meant that after factoring in the user's current limitations and considering it against the difficulty of the objectives, it would pose a considerable challenge. Only quests annotated with (+) held any significance towards Zenith Online since it represented a Main Quest of varying levels.

Meanwhile, Scar observed Kieran quietly and pursed his lips after remaining silent for too long. "Is this too much for you? If so, how would you register yourself at the Adventurer Guild, which would require you to clear assignments like this?"

"Too much? Nah, not quite. It's perfect, in fact," Kieran answered.

"I see. What an interesting little boy you are. Those expressions of yours are... quite hard to read," Scar said while shaking his head. Soon after, he looked at Kieran and gave a faint nod.

He then continued, "Growing quite nicely. I sense a unison within you. A good balance of speed and force. Continue like that."

Kieran smirked slightly and even nudged Scar, who gave him a blank look in response to Kieran's request. "Oh, you're praising me, yeah? Then should I receive some type of reward from Mentor Scar? Wouldn't you say?"

"Get out of my face and go do what I said before I throw you out of here," Scar said with a cold gleam in his eyes. Kieran could tell he meant business, so he wasted no time before scurrying out of the Warrior Hall.

However, after Kieran left, Scar finally cracked a faint smile. 'At least he has the confidence not to withhold his desires. Regardless, he has yet to show me he's truly deserving of my wholehearted nurturing.'

Meanwhile, Kieran received a notification after leaving the Warrior Hall.

〈System: You have received a message from your friend, Altair. Do you wish to read its contents? [ Y / N ]?〉

"Yes," Kieran answered. As a result, the message's contents appeared within Kieran's iris.

[Altair: Yo! I've reached Lv.6, but I've also noticed some parties crowding the dungeon entrance nearby. You know, the one for the Forest of Beasts dungeon? Since you've reached Lv.6, I suggest we party up and clear it before any rewards are snagged from us.]

Kieran didn't answer immediately. Instead, he rubbed his chin in thought while thinking about the dungeon in question. 'The Forest of Beasts, a simple Lv.5 Dungeon. If we do enter, we'll need three more people. Just us alone won't be enough. Besides…'

〈System: You've sent a video call request to Altair.〉

Altair's half-covered face appeared on a small screen before Kieran within a few seconds. Only he could see the screen and hear any information revealed through the call since it was fed directly to his senses.

"Forest of Beasts, you said? Are you aware of any clearing the dungeon's Normal Difficulty yet?" Kieran questioned. He wouldn't have asked this question if this were anywhere aside from the beginner village. Unfortunately, beginner villages had restrictions that other places in Zenith Online didn't.

For example, the higher difficulties would only be accessible after someone cleared the Normal Difficulty. While the dungeon itself was instanced, sending everyone into a separate copy of the dungeon space, the unlocked difficulty was universal. This restriction was set in place with intention of having players share some semblance of information amongst themselves.

After all, unlike the rest of Zenith Online, there wasn't much of an advantage to the dungeons in the beginning areas. It would only be reasonable to remain secretive about clear strategies once the real Team and Squad Dungeons came into play. These regular 5-man Dungeons were not worth mentioning when Team and Squad Dungeons entered the fray.

"Clearing it? Don't you want to be the first one to clear the dungeon? I'm sure it'll give some type of reward," Altair answered. In truth, he was astonished by the tone Kieran used because it seemed as if he wanted someone else to clear it before he did.

"Nah. At least, not the Normal Difficulty. It's no better than clearing out an area of the Fanged Forest. In fact, it might even be a little worse considering how time-consuming it can become," Kieran said.

Rather than waste his time on clearing a partially useless Normal version, Kieran wished to delve right into the contents of the quest from the beginning. To do so meant he needed to hand the menial task off to someone else without them realizing it.

"If that's the case… then I've noticed some people who should be part of guilds from other VR games. I think it's only a matter of time before it is cleared," Altair responded after giving the matter some thought.

While he focused on grinding to Lv.6, he caught wind of some people rushing to the Forest of Beasts as soon as they reached Lv.5. Given the fact that Forest of Beast's Normal version wasn't hard to clear, Kieran estimated clearance within the hour.

"Good, good. Call me when you're certain that it has been cleared. When a clearing party exits from the dungeon, there'll be a small chime. Look out for that specific noise. Because afterward… it's going to become a race."

"Cool, I'll remain here for the time being. Just make sure to collect enough consumables. I want to try the Difficult Mode, just to let you know," Altair responded.

Hearing this, Kieran grinned. It appeared great minds thought alike.

Afterward, the two canceled the call. Altair remained in the dungeon entrance's vicinity while rejecting many offers to join a Normal Party. In the meantime, Kieran eyed a run-down shack in a seemingly destitute part of Gena Village. Because of its appearance, every player walked past without sparing the shack even a cursory glance.

It was similar to how most individuals walked past a homeless person on the street as if they didn't exist. However, Kieran wasn't that type. Partly because he was raised in an orphanage, Kieran was sensitive to run-down areas with faint signs of life.

But, Kieran's decision to visit this place was prudent because he recalled it imparting a convenient item that could greatly assist him. Of course, because Kieran's equipment was noticeable, he dipped into a corner before switching to the beginner items belonging to newly made characters.

Once he changed, Kieran meandered through the village crowd without arousing any suspicion from his actions. If someone donned a complete set of heavy armor, the public would become curious about what business they had with such an unassuming shack. But, if someone akin to a beginner entered the shack, then not a single person would pay any mind to their action.

A thick atmosphere of dust made Kieran cover his mouth while looking around the shack's interior upon entering the shack. Aside from the thick layer of dust resulting from the lack of upkeep, the shack's overall condition wasn't bad. It was clear that this place was some type of antique shop. But, none of the items on the shelves had any effects, appearing decorative at most.

Still, Kieran approached the counter before him and tapped his finger against the desk. The rustle of brittle bamboo straws and the sound of polished beads knocking against each appeared from behind the counter, revealing a hunched-over and extremely aged individual shuffling towards the counter.

Kieran frowned slightly when he witnessed the condition of this person. Evidently, he was unsettled by this elder's circumstances.