[SP-F1] [Quest] Earning a Living

[Juzt 0]

 

 

<<Earning a Living>>

This quest takes place on Floor 1
This quest is repeatable
This RP will not count in the benchmark

Description: Every player, to survive in this death game, must make some form of Col. For some, they just hunt mobs. For others, they may earn a living and take up a profession. may meet During your search for a profession you meet a friendly NPC who will train you with your profession. You will have to material hunt and craft your item, or receive a free basic item from the NPC (such as an instrument or fishing rod for performers or fishermen.) Profession options and guides can be found here

 

 

Requirements:

-At least two [2] Pages (21 or more posts)

-RP can be PP or SP

-You may have assistance, however only one player may gain their profession

-Repeatable for Materials only


Rewards:

1. A title relating to your profession
2. The ability to open up a shop
3. 1 extra Skill Point
4. Extra materials (rolled by GM with Loot Die upon topic completion)

EXTRA: Until 2/27/15, you have the option to SWITCH your profession by retaking the Earning a Living quest. However, if you switch professions, you lose all progress in your former profession and tools you may have used (such as a crafting needle if you were a tailor) are rendered useless to you.

 

All items formerly for sale in your shop related to said profession (such as smith materials if you're becoming a performer) must be sold before the switch is made (either in your old shop or to a merchant). If you had the items that you crafted as part of your personal inventory, you may keep them.

 

 

 

Recommended Level: 2

 

 

Justin wasn't too sure of where to start, having only played a few games of this genre before. This certainly wasn't as straight-forward as some of the classical fighting games he excelled or one of his favorite single player roleplaying games from decades ago. There was a bit more complexity of where to start, though it turned out most people had hopped straight into combat, something that seemed quite hazardous. If this really was a game in which people would lose their life in the real world when they hit game over, why would they put themselves on such a flimsy front? Surely, they'd want to be a bit more prepared, but to each their own. Justin shrugged his shoulders, "Their loss, my gain."

[Juzt 0]

He had noticed a small crowd formed around a player, all in a frenzy of shouting and yelling over one another. He made his way over, wondering what could cause such a ruckus in a fairly quiet town, but it wouldn't be clear to him at first. The player that had been surrounded was trying to answer everyone's question one at a time, though he way having trouble in doing so due to the consistent interruptions. Justin pushed his way into the middle of the bunch, knocking a few down to the ground as he did so, "Get out of my way, assholes. Give the man some space." He grabbed the arm of the geezer getting harassed and pulled him away from the group, finding a nearby shop and blocking the door, "What's the fuss? Why are they giving you such a hard time?"

[Juzt 0]

The older guy, probably somewhere in his late forties to early fifties seemed a bit choked up on words as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, "I don't know what to tell ya kiddo, these players all hoard around me the moment I tell 'em about my quest!" The man threw his hands up into the air, "I try to help out every single one, I do, but I am unable to handle so many ruffians at once!" Justin let out a small smirk, interested in hearing more about why this particular NPC was so important to such a number of people, "Go ahead, tell me about it. Take it nice and easy, give me all the juicy details." He lifted one foot up against the door, both arms crossing over in anticipation for what lucky find he happened to come across. The NPC gladly obliged, taking one of the nearby chairs to rest his tired self, "Well, I'm sure this might come across as a surprise, but this is... well, what was... my shop." Along the walls, counter, and a few locations spread about the floor were empty, dusty display cases, "I was the greatest salesman of the game before everyone started pouring in here, now I've decided to retire and teach all these guppies how to grow into flourishing entrepreneurs."

[Juzt 0]

Justin perked his head a bit further upwards at the mention of starting up a business, something that would offer him a personal building, source of income, and available opportunity to chat with some people that had a few things in common. There were far too many pasty white children speaking in some foreign leetspeak tongues about how sophisticated the mechanics of this place was and... "Oh, damn. It's starting to give me a headache just thinking about those hardcore nerds." Upon coming out of the short-lived daydream, the NPC had just finished describing what all the pros and cons were of running a business much like he did as he moved on to what it took to start up, "It doesn't take much to kickstart the whole business scheme, in fact, I'll give you a helping hand!" He closed the distance between him and Justin, lowering his tone once he stopped shuffling around, "I've got a few pieces of prime real estate that I don't really need, I'd be more than willing to give you one if you can show me you're the real deal!" He laughed as if it was some sort of endless joke he's told a thousand times, but Justin latched on to the opportunity in case the older gentleman considered taking it back, "Okay, I -am- the real deal. What's the catch?"
 

[Juzt 0]

The old man's grin peaked from ear to ear as if enticed with neverending joy, "Oh, there's no catch, no catch at all! I would throw in my old lady too, if she hadn't already kicked the bucket!" He laughed, then paused for a moment, revealing a small whisper of despair, "I miss the annoying coon, she always kept the store clean and stocked for the customers..." He looked back up at his guest, whom hardly raised an eyebrow at the NPC venting his frustrations of his dearly departed piece of cybernetic data, "Oh, right. There's only three things you need to find before I'm willing to pass the key on to you, lad. However, there is one ca-" Justin sighed as if this wasn't his first rodeo, "I knew there was a-" The NPC interrupted him just as nonchalantly, "Abubuuub, let me finish, if you will. Before I can offer you the details, I must ask what profession you're looking into?" He pulled up a few screens with video of him performing different activities, pointing to them one at a time, "You could choose the life of a Blacksmith or Tailor, creating armor and weapons for players to enhance their training. You could live the more heated life as a Chef or Performer, striving to bring a sense of calm and community to the world. Perhaps you're a bit more complicated and would like to become a Merchant or Fisherman? Your call!"
 

[Juzt 0]

Justin looked across the variety of videos available, slightly amused by the fact that the man had lived quite a diverse life over his programmed days, debating over which particular profession would offer him the better opportunity. After a while of weighing the options, the old man grunted angrily as if his days were numbered, "Okay, I think I've decided." The NPC waited a moment while waiting for the player to announce his official decision, "I believe I'll take the route of an Alchemist, ought to fare me well with my plans." He knew he needed an arsenal of weaponry and armor, which would be far too easily acquired if he was able to make it on his own. He wasn't too sure what the running rates of decent pieces of armor or individual weapons were, but with such a huge influx of players in the game and having only been a few weeks in... It gave him a slight chill at how expensive some of the equipment could be, whereas this newcomer had absolutely nothing more than digital pocket lint to his name. However, he'd only need a few pieces of armor, but he'd probably go through dozens of alchemical items. The older man clapped happily, taking away the visual cues, "That's splendid, now down to business. First thing's first, I need the venom of a redback snake - a big nasty thing it is. It's in the jungle to the west, catch that thing, and I'll trust you're really committed to this deal."

[Juzt 0]

Justin snapped his fingers and pointed his index towards the older fellow, "You've got it, gramps. I'll be back in a flash, don't get stuck in a mob before I get back though. I expect you to be waiting right where you are, got it?" The NPC nodded, "No worries, lad, I've got all the time in the world!" While Justin exited the building, the old man shrugged down, "I wish all of us did, Betsy..." Without taking a second glance, Justin began to take a solid jogging speed to the west of the town in a hustle. The sooner that he was able to collect the variety of materials, the better, even if he wasn't quite certain about what kind of danger these creatures possessed to a player as new and powerless as himself. Sure, he had a spear, but it was a starting item, "What good can this beat up thing do? It's even got a rusted look to it." Regardless of the quality of his spear, he couldn't imagine a snake being too much of a threat to a man with a lengthy spear. If they were anything like the real world, they only attacked when they got at a close distance, which didn't matter since Justin chose to specialize in spears, "Lucky me, I guess."

[Juzt 0]

He was pretty uncertain going in, even if he was pulling a poker face to those that he passed running towards the jungle. Some of them looked a little roughed up, but for the most part, the vast majority looked quite alright even if a little tired. Upon arriving, it took a few minutes of walking through tall grass and low hanging vines, struggling to chop what tangled mess truly occupied his path, "I knew I should have went with the typical sword, would have made this a bree-EEEAAAAYYAAHHH!" Just as he was clearing some tall grass to continue walking, he saw a large and fearsome snake nearly as tall as his kneecaps glide by with a hiss. The back was stained with a crimson red, hopefully not from the blood of its fallen victims, "What in the actual hell was tha- No way... That can not be the snake the old fart was talking about," he moaned as the realization struck him dead in the jaw. When the NPC had described the red scaled snake as 'big' and 'nasty,' the geezer wasn't lying or overcompensating in any shape or form. This... thing... was truly horrying, almost as if it was plucked right out of some poor child's nightmare and tossed into a game of life and death, "No snake should be two feet thick and twenty, no, thirty feet long."

[Juzt 0]

He followed after the snake, keeping a safe distance between him and the very tip of the lengthy tail, daring not to creep closer until he was at the point in which the grassy forest scape wouldn't render him less than fully capable of fighting. After a bit of tracking and a few hiding spots, just in case this monster of a reptile was going to attack him on site, it finally got to a small clearing near a river giving him the perfect opportunity to strike. It took a moment until it had quieted down, finding itself a nice relaxing spot to soak in the artificial sun rays before Justin crept up with his javelin in hand. Taking one final gulp, Justin let out a hefty grunt while jabbing the spear towards the snake, but pulls downward on the spear just a bit too soon causing him to miss. The snake hissed in anger, wriggling in its own terrorized fear as it was awoken mid-slumber by some incoherent scoundrel looking to ruin its serene life. Justin, on the other hand, was still quite packed with adrenaline as he created some distance between the snake and himself. While it was obviously a bad move on his part to separate himself from striking distance, all he could think was, "Holy censored, I actually attacked that thing. It's going to wrap me and pop my eyeballs out."

 

[Dice Roll] 18918 || 4 || 8 || 4 || 10

 

[Juzt] 11/11

[snake] 6/6

 

[Juzt] misses [snake]!

 

[Juzt] 11/11

[snake] 6/6

[Juzt 0]

Justin wasn't too sure exactly how he should strike next, considering that he was now at the disadvantage. Fortunately, he wouldn't have to really put much thought into it since his answer would quickly arrive. Unfortunately, it would only arrive so quickly because the snake would decide that answer for him. In a matter of seconds, the snake had slithered all the way up to the player and struck out with its fangs, leaving a few slivers of red data as he took a direct blow. It didn't deal much damage, but it bothered Justin that he had so clumsily made the mistake of not landing that first strike, "Yeah, that's right. Stay right there!" He struck out at the creature after it had dislodged its fangs, hoping that his spear could make contact before the head of the snake hadn't pulled too far back, but he was a tad too slow in doing so. The snake had reared its head back to a safe distance and had become a little more wary of precisely what Justin was going for, retreating a few more meters back for good measure. Justin didn't want to be the idiot to run wildly towards the enemy so he beckoned forth, "Come on, get over here!"

 

 

[Dice Roll] 19336 || 3 || 5 || 2 || 6

 

[Juzt] 11/11

[snake] 6/6

 

[Juzt] misses [snake]!

 

[snake] hits [Juzt]! +1 Damage!

 

[Juzt] 10/11

[snake] 6/6

[Juzt 0]

It was likely wise to say that provoking an enemy was a bad idea, especially if it was angered due to a certain someone’s surprise attack. Not many people or things liked surprises, especially when it came to a matter of pain and/or life and death. Unless it was a surprise birthday, which would have been an unexpected exception to the prior statement. However, it was not. No, it unfortunately wasn’t, which meant that Justin was likely in for a world of hurt. This was his first monster that he had attacked and he jumped right in without any thoughts for the consequences of missing such an easy target, “I’m such a miserable fool.†He flinched, not sure of what else to do when the snake obeyed his orders and rushed forwards, fangs extended. They latched on and it slithered away, slowly circling the foolish man for his pitiful attempt, “Well, standing around isn’t going to get it done… Guess I’m going to have to go all in.â€

 

[Dice Roll] 19823 || 3 || 9 || 2 || 10

 

[Juzt] 10/11

[snake] 6/6

 

[Juzt] misses [snake]!

 

[snake] hits [Juzt]! +3 Damage!

 

[Juzt] 7/11

[snake] 6/6

[Juzt 0]

The snake didn’t seem as if it was in any immediate danger, rather, it was almost as if it was toying with its prey. Much to Justin’s dismay, it had already whittled the player’s health down by a third and it wasn’t like Justin had much more than a spear to defend himself. What could he really do besides charge wildly at this wild creature? He took a sharp breath and ran forwards, spear extended as he launched himself towards the mammoth of a snake, but it was quicker than he recalled. Within a few seconds, the entirety of the snake had cleared its previous location and was soon wrapped around the sides of its plaything, “Let go of me, you disgusting little basta-“ Almost as if on command, the snake would unfurl the length of its body, sending Justin flying outwards into a tree, “Oomph!†He was kind of getting pissed off now, he should be able to hit something so large, but the speed of it was really messing with him or so he thought.

 

[Dice Roll] 19824 || 1 || 3 || 4 || 7

 

[Juzt] 7/11

[snake] 6/6

 

[Juzt] misses [snake]!

 

[snake] hits [Juzt]! +1 Damage!

 

[Juzt] 6/11

[snake] 6/6

[Juzt 0]

Justin dug the head of his spear into the ground, using it as leverage to hoist himself up. He brushed some of the dirt off with a slight shock on his face, “Holy censored, didn’t expect that.†Tugging on the handle, he removed the spear and readied it ahead of him, “Eyes on the prize.†The snake, daring in its current and apparent power, was more than willing to lunge head first towards something as small and insignificant as a player without any natural ability to fight. With one idiot quickly approaching another, fangs and spearheads were traded causing both players to retreat slightly back, “Hah, got you that time!†He looked down towards his spear to see some red fragments of data slowly decaying from his arms, “Seems like he wasn’t the only one to get struck.†At least he had landed a hit now, slightly evening the playing field from its original scenario of being heavily in favor of the snake.

 

[Dice Roll] 19825 || 10 || 2 || 19 || 10

 

[Juzt] 6/11

[snake] 6/6

 

[Juzt] hits [snake]! +4 Damage!

 

[snake] hits [Juzt]! +3 Damage!

 

[Juzt] 3/11

[snake] 2/6

[Juzt 0]

Unfortunately, even though things were pretty fair at this point, a single hit from either opponent could permanently remove the other from the game. For one, it would merely mean being reset and living on to fight another player some other day. For the other, it would mean escaping from this world only to find the real world wouldn’t accept his return. It would be a cold, vile death and it wasn’t something that Justin was looking forwards to. Suddenly, the little health bar that sit comfortably in his view became a little more practical and of much more importance, “No, no, no… This isn’t good. I’ve got to finish this fast!†He pulled back the spear and lunged it forward, hoping that the increased length would deal for a stronger blow, but the snake avoided it with ease. It did strike back though, knocking the player’s health down to the same number, but having dealt nearly twice as much damage already.

 

[Dice Roll] 19826 || 2 || 4 || 2 || 8

 

[Juzt] 3/11

[snake] 6/6

 

[Juzt] misses [snake]!

 

[snake] hits [Juzt]! +1 Damage!

 

[Juzt] 2/11

[snake] 2/6

[Juzt 0]

Justin began to seriously consider what he might be doing wrong, knowing that there had to be some way to actually land a hit on this hideous thing. “Okay, think this through Justin. I haven’t hit him more than once and that was probably because it thought I was just shitty at defending myself. It’s hit me EVERY single time and I haven’t…†He just about finished himself off due to the sudden realization of his sheer stupidity, “I haven’t even bothered dodging the damned thing. It might be fast, but it’s big and can’t keep up if I’m agile enough.†He kept the spear at hip level as he rushed towards the enemy, but this time, he dashed to the left of the snake just before the fangs glowed white. It worked, giving him time to get just out of range of the snake’s head, but he wasn’t clear to land the killing blow that he assumed was required. Certainly, the only way to finish off something like this would be a deadly stab through the head of the beast.

 

[Dice Roll] 19827 || 5 || 11 || 13 || 2

 

[Juzt] 2/11

[snake] 2/6

 

[Juzt] misses [snake]!

 

[snake] misses [Juzt]!

 

[Juzt] 2/11

[snake] 2/6

[Juzt 0]

He kept on running, hoping that he would have enough time to get to the rear of the snake before it could turn its entire body around. He had cleared half of the length of the snake by the time it had started chasing after him and he was pretty confident his plan would work well in action, but he didn’t account for external possibilities. Surely, the snake would be easy enough to keep an eye on, but what about that unseen root sticking slightly out of the ground? Justin hadn’t even considered it, let alone known about it, but it would be his downfall as his foot collided with it at full sprint. He crashed down on the ground, spear clear of his body as the snake finally closed the distance, “This can’t be the end, I swear it.†The snake, however, seemed to have reached the conclusion that such a statement would easily be overruled. It raised itself up, extended its jaw and flashed its fangs before hurling itself forwards towards its next meal.

 

[Dice Roll] 19828 || 1 || 4 || 1 || 4

 

[Juzt] 2/11

[snake] 2/6

 

[Juzt] misses [snake]!

 

[snake] misses [Juzt]!

 

[Juzt] 2/11

[snake] 2/6

[Juzt 0]

The snake’s head grew closer and closer in less than a second, giving Justin a fraction of aforementioned second to tilt and extend his spear, lodging itself right through the top of the snake’s mouth. Red data fragments bursted out and the snake all but disappeared immediately afterwards, revealing the fortunate victor of this close match up. With a loss of words, Justin leaned back and sprawled out, pleased to have finally accomplished his mission and defeated the monstrous demon from some early twentieth century horror movie. He looked at the prompt on his user interface displaying that he had obtained [snake Venom] and he grinned, it was proof that he had actually done it. Not only that, but it meant that he could now return to the sanctuary of town and get on with this quest, earning himself a sweet new shop. Granted, he’d still have to learn the trade, but he didn’t imagine that it could be anywhere near as bad as the previous encounter.

 

[Dice Roll] 19829 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 6

 

[Juzt] 2/11

[snake] 2/6

 

[Juzt] hits [snake]! +4 Damage!

 

[snake]? Snake? SNAAAAAKE!

 

[Juzt] 2/11

[snake] 0/0 - Dropped one [snake Venom]!

[Juzt 0]

Justin would eventually pick himself up and run on back towards the town, half expecting some other monstrous creature to get in his way. It wouldn’t be anything close to pleasing, even if it was some overly cuddly looking monster as he was so weakened, nearly anything could kill him at this point. He watched the distance, his footwork, and his surroundings as he carried on – nothing was safe out in the wilderness. Eventually, he would wind up back at the town in much worse shape than he had left in, but upon approaching the retired shop, it was safe to say that nobody had bothered the old bloke while he was gone. Knocking three times with no regards to pattern, he opened the door and closed it behind himself as he took a seat, “Ah, man. Glad that’s over with, should have told me that I was hunting down a GIANT ASS SNAKE though.†The older man laughed as if he was expecting such a reaction, “Oh, but I did tell you! I think, but that doesn’t matter now!†The grin was either that of delight or deceit, “I can now teach you the way of making potions and other alchemical goodies!â€

[Juzt 0]

At this point, Justin could do nothing more than shrug his shoulders in slight disappointment and relief at the same time. The old fellow raised his hands, ushering the player on, “Oh, we must hurry now! If you ever imagine becoming a real chemist like myself, you must show that you are light on your feet otherwise CLICKY CLICKY WHAM WHAM WHAZZLE and whole building burn down! Then wife laugh at you and you find a new job… Oh, Betsy… The good times…†Justin got out of the chair, not sure of what to expect at this point, but he was certainly hoping that there would be no explosions or unexpected gadgets catching fire, “What’s first, gramps? Got any equipment I need to put on before I get sta-“ He laughed, tears forming, “A real man needs no equipment, just his bravery and wits! You must believe that you can do it if you wish to be able to do it!†A solid and obviously annoyed “humph†was released by Justin as they got the show on the road.

[Juzt 0]

After a bit of tinkering and mixing the [snake Venom] with other secondary ingredients, Justin was pretty disappointed to find that he had a terribly diluted variant of the potion, "I thought you said you were pretty good at this, gramps." He shook the potion around, wondering where he had gone wrong. It was nowhere near as radiant a color as the old man claimed, but rather, a very transparent red hue. The NPC scratched the back of his head, seeming slightly confused, "I don't know what YOU did wrong, but I used to be the top notch alchemist around." He slowly began to lower his voice as he continued talking, "Then again, it's been quite a long time since..." Trailing off, he waved his hands as if everything he said didn't matter, "Well, there is one thing that you can do in these sorts of situations! You can salvage the [snake Venom] by the method of fractionation, which doesn't take up too much time and it's pretty hard to screw up." He took him over to a different nearby table with the bad quality potion in hand before pouring it in the top flask, "Just like so!" After a solid ten minutes, they'd take a look at the split fluids, finding the [snake Venom] from before looked nowhere near as prominent as they used to, "Oh well, guess you goofed up so bad we can't save it! Better luck next time!" He'd hand the keys over to Justin and usher him out with haste, "Now go, I've got things to do, places to be! I can't be wasting all day on you!" After hearing the door slam behind him, he'd let out a sigh of relief, "Damn, am I glad that's over." He held the key up to inspect it before placing it in his inventory, "At least I got what I was looking for."

 

[Dice Roll] 19991 || 10 || 5 || 14 || 5

 

[CD of 5] Bad item! Can still be salvaged!

 

[Dice Roll] 20001 || 8 || 4 || 8 || 9

 

[CD of 4] Failed to salvage item!