PRSR | Chapter 6.2

“What’s the quest? Does it say to move to the next area?”

“No, it’s a completely new quest.”

Jjikjjiki stared into the air, where his personal text hovered invisibly to me, and read it aloud.

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“Special Quest: Rescue the kidnapped Awakened.”

“Rescue Awakened?”

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That was odd. Weren’t tutorial quests supposed to help Awakened adapt to their new powers and environments? Hunting monsters and adapting to new areas were the main themes. Why was there suddenly a quest about rescuing Awakened?

“What does it say? Read the whole thing from the start.”

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“It says, ‘Some Awakened stationed in Belford have been kidnapped. Find and rescue them. Reward: the kidnapped Awakened’s gratitude.’”

“What?”

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“The reward is… their gratitude.”

Jjikjjiki, who had been staring at the Quest Window, turned to meet my gaze, his face suddenly flushing pink. Was he… embarrassed?

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“You looking up at me like that… it’s so pretty.”

“……What?”

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I thought I misheard for a second.

“You looking up at me….”

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“Stop. I didn’t ask you to repeat it because I couldn’t hear. Just stop.”

I instinctively stepped back, putting distance between us so I wouldn’t have to look up at him anymore.

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“Soul….”

“Stay where you are. Don’t come any closer.”

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“You’re misunderstanding. I also like it when you’re looking down at me.”

When Jjikjjiki tried to close the distance, I held out my hand to stop him. He interpreted the gesture however he wanted and ended up grabbing my hand instead.

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‘How did the conversation even end up like this?’

Ah, right. The special quest. I’d been fuming over how ridiculous the reward was when he derailed the conversation. Nearly forgot about it.

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“Let’s get back to the quest. Is gratitude seriously the only reward?”

“There are three question marks after it.”

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Question marks. So aside from the baffling “gratitude,” the reward was completely unknown. Was this “special quest,” which broke the monster-hunting norm, worth pursuing with such ambiguous rewards?

“We can’t just jump into a quest with no clear rewards. Let’s skip this one.”

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“Skip?”

“Our opponents are strong enough to kidnap several Awakened. It’s likely a group, not an individual. Even though I know you’re stronger than most Awakened, this quest is just too risky.”

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“You’re worried about me?”

“No, I’m worried about myself. If you fail the quest, I’ll be stuck here forever.”

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“Yeah… I want to return to Earth with you too, Soul.”

Jjikjjiki flashed a dazzling smile, the kind that could make even passing orcs swoon.

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“But this quest… it can’t be skipped.”

“What?”

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His bright expression didn’t match the dreadful news. It felt like the ground was crumbling beneath me.

“What do you mean it can’t be skipped? The last special quest had options!”

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“That was after completing the quest. You could decide whether to change the base area, not whether to accept the quest itself.”

“Then let’s just ignore it and proceed with the main quest. There’s no penalty for leaving quests incomplete, right?”

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“Hmm….”

Jjikjjiki frowned, looking troubled. A bad feeling crept over me.

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“This quest seems to block new quests from appearing until it’s completed. I haven’t seen any new quests since it showed up.”

So if we didn’t tackle this nonsensical “gratitude” quest, I’d lose my chance to return to Earth. Great.

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‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

If the kidnapped Awakened decided to give up and choose game over, Jjikjjiki’s quest would auto-fail. Who knows? Maybe failure would forcibly send Jjikjjiki back to Earth, leaving me stranded here alone.

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“Soul, don’t make that face. I’ll protect you, no matter what.”

Jjikjjiki pulled me into his arms, holding my hands tightly. His words did nothing to solve the problem, but somehow, they comforted me. Just a little.

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“Yeah. Now’s not the time to be sitting around.”

The sooner we acted, the higher our chances of success. I pushed away from Jjikjjiki and extended my arm—my usual signal for him to return to his rat form and hop onto my hand.

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“Jjik!”

Transformed, Jjikjjiki promptly perched on my palm, winking playfully as we made eye contact.

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Then his earlier words came flooding back.

‘I also like it when you’re looking down at me.’

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…Great. Now I’d even feel awkward glancing at rat-form Jjikjjiki.

“This special quest might have been given to all Awakened taking the Belford route.”

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If the “Rescue Awakened Quest” was a cooperative effort among multiple Awakened, that would significantly improve our odds. With Jjikjjiki in my arms, I began wandering the field, observing the reactions of other Awakened. I saw several familiar faces from Trine, but none of them showed any signs of having received the same quest as Jjikjjiki.

‘So it’s not a group quest?’

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Next, I decided to visit the Brown Merchant Caravan. Having noted their location when we first arrived in Trine, it didn’t take long to find them. I had hoped to meet Jane’s colleague, the bear beastman, and ask for help. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there.

“Is there any way to find out where he might be? Can I buy that information?”

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I held out the purse I’d received from the caravan. Thanks to the steady income from leather sales, the pouch was satisfyingly heavy. Yet the caravan staff seemed more interested in the pouch itself than its contents.

“This is one of our caravan’s pouches. Would you like to use it?”

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“Pardon?”

“If you use the Brown Caravan’s pouch, you can request our assistance once.”

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Apparently, the pouch itself, not its contents, was the real reward.

“What kind of assistance can I request?”

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“Anything within the capabilities of our caravan.”

For a mere delivery, this was an extraordinary reward. Perhaps the caravan knew I had been used as bait.

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“Would you like to purchase information with the pouch?”

“No.”

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Having the Brown Caravan’s full support was an invaluable opportunity. How I used it was already decided.

“I request the Brown Caravan’s assistance in rescuing the black-haired outsiders kidnapped from Belford.”

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Rattle, rattle.

A large freight wagon rolled past Trine Village. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary merchant caravan transporting goods. But something about the people guiding the wagon seemed off.

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They didn’t even glance toward the village or stop to rest, an unusual behavior for a typical caravan. Most traders would take breaks at every village or city to recuperate and prepare for the next leg of their journey.

Rustle, rustle.

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“Why’s it so noisy back there? Did you secure everything properly?”

“Relax. You know one restraint artifact can hold down even an ogre. Let them thrash around all they want.”

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“Are their mouths tied shut? It’d be a pain if they bit their tongues. Their bodies vanish when they die.”

“Yeah, yeah, they’re secure.”

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They weren’t ordinary merchants—they were slavers.

Specializing in kidnapping isolated members of other races, they sold them to far-off lands. Recently, they’d grown excited over a new discovery in Belford.

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The so-called “outsiders” resembled humans but were clearly a different race. They spoke an unknown language, displayed unusual strength, and wielded powers that seemed like magic but were slightly different. Most intriguing was their unique trait: upon death, their bodies disappeared without a trace. To the slavers, these beings were nothing short of a gold mine.

Sssss, ssss, ssss.

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“Do you hear that?”

“Hear what? It’s just the wagon creaking. If you’re so worried, go check it out.”

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“Fine. Stop the wagon for a moment; I’ll take a look.”

As the wagon halted near Trine, one slaver approached the cargo hold, where the suspicious noise was growing louder. A sense of unease filled the air. They knew little about these new outsiders. If they possessed unique abilities for escaping, they needed to act fast to contain them.

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The slaver hurriedly opened the cargo hold.

“Jjik?”

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And locked eyes with a rat.

“What the…?”

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Thud!

That was the last thing the slaver saw before losing consciousness.

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A few hours earlier, the Brown Merchant Caravan had tracked down the route of the wagon carrying the kidnapped Awakened and passed the information to me. The wagon happened to be traveling through the forest near Trine.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to gauge the enemy’s size or strength. Charging head-on, relying only on Jjikjjiki’s strength, wasn’t a viable plan. So, instead of sending Rio, I sent Jjikjjiki to infiltrate the wagon. His small size and agility made it easy for him to move undetected by the mercenaries guarding it.

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I had assumed that once Jjikjjiki opened the cargo door, the Awakened inside would be able to escape easily. However, the door wasn’t locked with a key—it just refused to open. Undeterred, Jjikjjiki crawled into a gap in the wagon, planning to push the door open from the inside.

While he was working on that, one of the slavers, alerted by strange sounds from the cargo hold, stopped the wagon and approached.

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Thud!

The moment the door opened, the slaver went flying in a perfect arc. The mercenaries guarding the wagon rushed over, but they, too, were launched through the air without so much as a fight.

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“What’s going on?!”

“We’re under attack! Enemy spotted!”

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With the wagon completely halted, the merchants and mercenaries poured out, looking around in confusion. But before they could even locate their enemy, they all ended up sprawled on the ground.

If they had bothered to look down instead of just turning their heads side to side, they might have spotted the tiny culprit. How unfortunate for them.

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“Jjikjjiki!”

Hiding nearby, I observed until I was sure all the enemies were knocked out before running to the scene. Jjikjjiki was dusting off his hands like he’d just finished some light housework. When he spotted me, he spread his arms wide.

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“Soul-jjik!”