Chapter Seven: The Mission

After accepting the quest, I strode out to the outskirts of the village, where I found quite a few people already hunting monsters. However, their chosen targets were the chickens raised by the villagers—creatures with low attack power and, correspondingly, pitifully low experience rewards.

Shaking my head, I pressed onward into the depths of the forest beyond the village. I hadn't gone far before I spotted a pack of wild dogs prowling among the trees.

Drawing the battered sword from my back, I singled out the nearest wild dog and struck.

"6!"

A bold red number flashed above the wild dog’s head—a critical hit, no doubt. There was no way my maximum attack of 3 could have inflicted such damage otherwise. Sure enough, my subsequent attacks fluctuated between 2 and 3. Fortunately, these wild dogs were only level 2 monsters, each boasting 30 health points, so fighting them was manageable.

"Clang!"

The first wild dog fell. I hurried over and rummaged through its corpse, finding three copper coins and a piece of dog hide—dog pelt: quest item!

So this was the pelt needed by Guard Harker. The task became straightforward—after killing each dog, I would sit and rest for a while. Resting slowly restored health, but money was scarce now and no one could afford potions to grind levels.

Before long, I’d gathered twenty pelts. Killing wild dogs yielded no more quest items, but I’d already reached level 2. My attack rose slightly, and my health increased from 60 to 80—apparently, each level up came with a decent boost. I received five attribute points and, without hesitation, invested them all in strength. At this early stage, you couldn’t rely on anyone else; everything depended on your own efforts, and strength was essential.

I noticed I’d wandered farther from the village, and more players were coming to hunt wild dogs. Yet, most seemed unaware of the value of the dog pelts; few appeared to be collecting them. Apparently, not many knew about this quest—the guard at the village entrance wandered aimlessly, his face lacking any obvious quest marker.

I hurried back to the village to turn in the quest and realized Guard Harker was quite generous. Twenty wild dogs slain, and he rewarded me with 80 copper coins. Money was precious at this point. Job advancement started at level ten—who knew how much it would cost? Perhaps nothing… or perhaps a whole gold coin! (1 gold = 100 silver = 10,000 copper).

Drawing on prior experience, I wandered the village, chatting idly with every NPC I could find, and as expected, I received more quests!

[Quest: Bloody Retaliation]

Quest details: Help the village chief eradicate the wolves in Wolf Valley to the east. Bring back 50 wolf fangs! Be careful—it’s best to bring companions. The wolves are fierce, and even the strongest young men of the village have fallen to their fangs!

This quest was clearly more challenging; the wolves’ levels would be higher, and the chief even suggested forming a party. I decided to postpone this task for now in favor of others.

[Quest: Tomato Gathering]

Quest details: Aunt Hua planted many tomatoes on the hillside, but wolves have been sighted near the village. Please gather 10 tomatoes for Aunt Hua.

[Quest: Village Defense]

Quest details: Defeat the vicious wild dogs outside the village and collect 20 wild dog fangs for Guard Harker!

…

Gathering tomatoes and hunting wild dogs seemed manageable. Killing wild dogs also granted decent experience, so questing while leveling up was an efficient strategy. That last quest had given me 200 experience points; in contrast, a level 1 monster only awarded 10 experience. Turning in quests doubles your leveling speed compared to others.

Glancing at the lively crowd of players grinding away in the distance, I decided not to disrupt their fun—especially since they were clearly a group, and snatching kills could get me PKed and embarrass myself. So I circled eastward around the village and slipped quietly into the woods, catching sight of Aunt Hua’s tomato patch from afar.

After slaying a dozen or so wild dogs, I still hadn’t found a single fang. I was beginning to suspect the quest was toying with me.

Deeper into the forest, I realized I’d been killing level 1 wild dogs, while before me now stood level 3 monsters—Vicious Wild Dogs!

Resigned, I hefted my battered sword and struck the first one.

"3!"

The red number reminded me that these level 3 wild dogs had significantly higher defense. As a level 2 player, I could usually deal over five damage per hit to weaker monsters.

Level 3 wild dogs had 50 health points. That meant I needed to swing my sword seventeen times to defeat one, and their attacks came frequently. Each bite only cost me two health, but by the time I finished a fight, my own health was nearly depleted.

Experience gained: +30!

I crouched beside the corpse and rummaged through its remains. In addition to 14 copper coins and a fang, I was surprised to find a tattered piece of armor. Examining it:

Wild Dog Leather Armor (Common)
Defense: +5

This was far superior to my novice clothes—at least my defense would be noticeably improved. I donned it at once. As leather armor, it would still suit me when I advanced to the rogue class. Then again, if I were still wearing this at level ten, it would be a sorry sight indeed.

With my defense now up by three, I could handle two wild dogs before needing a rest. However, wild dog fangs didn’t drop every time. After slaying nearly a hundred wild dogs, I finally collected twenty fangs!

The drop rate in "Moon Eternal" was truly stingy. When I reached level 3 after killing over a hundred wild dogs, I’d only found one other piece of equipment—a pair of cloth leg guards: Wild Dog Shorts, defense +1, the same as the novice leg guards. They had a rather unique design; I wondered what kind of expression Lin would have if I gifted her such an item?

Now at level 3, my attack and defense had improved. I was ready to challenge stronger monsters.

My attack now ranged from 7 to 9, and I could deal up to 8 damage per hit to level 3 wild dogs. It took less than ten strikes to bring one down, a far cry from the newbies still pecking at chickens near the village gate.

I pressed onward, climbing the hillside beyond the woods. The path grew eerily quiet, not a single wild dog in sight.