As a Beast Tamer and one of the instance’s designated merchants, Sylas’s wares were successfully tamed beasts.
Of course, there were other things as well.
“Noir is my companion, and I want us to be able to go through the next instances together.
Do you have any items that could help with that?”
Yuna Bishop explained her reason for being here, her tone earnest.
The NPCs in this world were aware that players existed, and they knew perfectly well that they were NPCs themselves.
‘How bizarre.’
“If that’s what you want, then this will be perfect for you.”
Sylas waved his hand, and a permanent buff appeared before Yuna Bishop.
[Eternal Companion: The two players possessing this buff will always enter the same instance, but their starting locations will be random.]
[Cost: 1,000 Sylas Goodwill Value]
“???”
‘The currency for this is…
Sylas’s Goodwill Value?’
‘And it costs 1,000 points!’
Yuna Bishop resisted the urge to curse and patiently read on.
Sylas was a rather unique NPC.
To be precise, all the NPCs in this instance were unique; each had a different Goodwill Value mechanic.
Take Sue Carter, whom Yuna Bishop had met earlier.
Her Goodwill Value was difficult to raise, but the higher it got, the more rewards one could obtain from her.
Sylas was completely different.
His Goodwill Value was purely a consumable resource, with a cap of 9,999!
‘That’s even higher than the maximum number of Backpack Grids!’
Yuna Bishop had just been thinking how easy it was to raise Sylas’s Goodwill Value.
Now she was eating her words.
30/9999
Then again, raising Sylas’s Goodwill Value was actually quite simple: you just had to complete his quests or donate supplies.
For example, ten bottles of water or one pound of fresh meat could be exchanged for one point of Goodwill Value.
At first glance, the donation seemed easy to complete.
All she needed was a thousand pounds of meat.
But in reality…
this was a city of extreme scarcity.
The more supplies you carried, the more danger you were in.
…
Yuna Bishop fell silent.
She was thinking about the meat…
‘Does human flesh count?’
If so, she wouldn’t mind setting a little trap.
Instead of asking Sylas right away, Yuna Bishop glanced at the quest board.
Most of the quests Sylas offered were related to his tamed animals: things like brushing a white tiger’s teeth and giving it a bath, mucking out the wild boar’s enclosure, or caring for a dire wolf’s cubs.
These quests were typically worth 10 Goodwill Value points each, but you needed 100 points with Sylas just to be able to accept them.
‘What a pain.’
Yuna Bishop glanced at Sylas, who was cradling a black cat. Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
He offered her a faint smile.
[Beast Tamer Sylas’s Goodwill Value +10]
The Goodwill Value came out of nowhere, much like Sylas himself.
He seemed easygoing, but in reality, he was cold as ice.
‘I need to find a way to score big.’
Yuna Bishop didn’t just want the [Eternal Companion]; she also had her eye on the [Animal Awakening Potion], which cost 2,000 Goodwill Value.
It allowed an animal to speak and to think independently, just like a human.
‘If Sylas has a potion like this, do other NPCs have a similar one for humans?’
Of course, the immediate priority was to raise her Goodwill Value with Sylas, and providing meat was undoubtedly the quickest method.
Yuna Bishop had a few cans of beef in her backpack, courtesy of The Watcher Organization.
“Humans are acceptable as well, you know.”
Sylas lowered his head to stroke the black cat in his arms, his long, silver-white hair spilling forward.
His words were full of seductive temptation.
He was like a demon from Hell, tempting Yuna Bishop to commit an unforgivable sin.
Although Yuna Bishop was a law-abiding citizen in her real life, she had done her fair share of killing since entering the game.
The only difference was that she’d gone from killing in self-defense to actively seeking targets.
Yuna Bishop weighed the risks and rewards and made her decision in an instant.
She was going to do it.
But the immediate priority was getting back to her shelter.
Yuna Bishop didn’t believe for a second that Sylas would protect her and Noir through the night.
Sylas watched the two of them—Yuna Bishop and Noir—depart, the smile on his lips widening.
…
Yuna Bishop and Noir made it back to their shelter in the sewers just before dark.
It was a large space, more than enough to accommodate the two of them.
The smell, however, was less than pleasant.
After a hasty dinner, Yuna Bishop listened to the zombies roaring above as she switched on her flashlight and began to study a map of Salix.
Most players had been dropped into the New District and the Old District.
The Central District had the fewest players but the most zombies.
But in terms of resource-rich locations, besides the New and Old Districts, there was one other place.
Yuna Bishop’s finger landed on a corner of the map: Salix Seaport.
‘The harbor attached to Salix.
Lots of ships…
which means there must be lots of players there, too!’
Yuna Bishop hadn’t wanted to go there initially.
The zombies there would certainly outnumber the humans by a massive margin.
She would pull one big heist, gather enough supplies, and then focus on finding NPCs to trade for the special resources she needed.
Sylas might accept human flesh, but that didn’t mean all NPCs would.
The standard currency was still regular supplies.
Yuna Bishop planned a new route, intending to farm mobs on her way to the Harbor.
Yuna Bishop’s appearance was deceptive, making her the perfect bait for a trap.
She looked like an easy target—and in some ways, she was.
Without a gun, Yuna Bishop would undoubtedly lose in a head-on fight.
‘Speaking of which, I’m down to my last bullet,’ Yuna Bishop thought.
‘If only a group of critically injured players would just fall out of the sky for me.’
But that was just wishful thinking.
Yuna Bishop put the map back in her bag, switched off the flashlight, and took out the Talent Cards from the players she had killed.
The two players’ Talents were Sprinting Champion and Cold Resistance.
[Cold Resistance Level 1 (0/50): Reduces consumption by 5% in low-temperature environments.]
‘Perfect for a winter instance.
With this Talent, I can outlast anyone.’
Assuming she ever encountered a winter instance, of course.
Yuna Bishop used the card without much thought.
The Sprinting Champion card was a duplicate.
If Yuna Bishop used it, it would only add 50 Experience Points to her own Sprinting Champion Talent.
‘Rather than just turning it into Experience Points, I might as well give it to Noir.’
Noir was already fast.
With a Talent bonus, he could become a dog as swift as the wind!
Yuna Bishop gave the Talent Card to Noir.
The dog was smart; he immediately tore it to shreds.
He didn’t understand what the card did, but he knew to do as Yuna Bishop said.
With everything taken care of, Yuna Bishop decisively pulled the covers over herself and went to sleep.
But her sleep was anything but peaceful.
At three in the morning, Noir was pawing at Yuna Bishop, waking her from a deep sleep.
She didn’t scold Noir.
Instead, she looked outside, instantly alert.
The sound of several sets of hurried footsteps echoed through the empty sewer, accompanied by low voices.
They were moving quickly toward her position!