Trapped Inside the Beta Test World for 1000 Years-Chapter 26 – You you you you are a player!?

"Did we do something wrong?"
The voice was tinged with sobs.
It belonged to a member of the mercenary group, a petite girl.
She was excessively petite, and no one would argue if you said she was only fifteen or sixteen.
Her youthful body was tightly wrapped in a brown and black mercenary uniform, a felt hat on her head, with green long hair tucked inside, a few strands of which fell alongside the hat's strap.
Xia Ya couldn't help but let out a soft "huh."
Every time this storyline played out, the mercenaries always had the same four faces, so he hadn't paid much attention this time.
But this girl, with a voice as clear as a yellow warbler...
He had never seen her before??
A new NPC randomly generated after the public test?
Her demeanor and outfit practically screamed "young girl," giving off a unique freshness.
Xia Ya was instantly intrigued.
"Watch your attitude towards the employer!"
Mendelssohn stood up with a start, his corpulent body like a mountain of flesh, blocking the girl.
"We paid three times the average hiring fee to get you, not to see you cry! So what if someone died? If you can't handle that as a mercenary, you might as well go back and drink milk for a few more years! Truly lowly commoners!"
The girl was stunned by the scolding, then her mouth pouted big.
"Waaah! I quit! I'll pay the penalty! I'm never being a mercenary again!"
She tugged at her uniform, which fell off, revealing the Starter outfit underneath...
Damn...
She's actually a player!?
Xia Ya was so shocked his jaw dropped.
A player could actually...
Wait, if the starting point is near the South Sea County, it might actually be possible!
Once, his starting point was randomly near the South Sea County, coinciding with the Brusolo Mercenary Association recruiting there. But Xia Ya was busy flirting with mermaids in the sea and didn't pay attention.
Later, when he went to Brusolo, he learned that the recruitment lasted a whole month.
—It turned out to be an optional profession open to the Starter Village.
Xia Ya finally understood.
The mercenary profession is quite special; you don't automatically get the job after learning the skills. You need the association's recognition to be granted the identity.
Because it emphasizes the spirit of the contract, it doesn't care about your strength—after all, many tasks are non-combat related.
The benefit of being a mercenary is that even if you don't want to fight monsters and level up, you can still crazily do tasks to accumulate experience. Just running errands, delivering messages, picking melons, and finding cats can get you to level ninety.
In Illusory Realm, there's no such thing as an NPC casually saying, "Kid, deliver a letter for me, and I'll give you money and experience when you return," or "Kid, fetch me some soy sauce, and I'll give you ten pieces of 1982 black bread when you return."
It doesn't exist.
Not to mention whether the NPC trusts you, whether you should trust him is also a problem.
What if you run the errand and he doesn't reward you? Can you it to the police?
That's why intermediary organizations like the Mercenary Association exist, to solve the trust issue well.
The Mercenary Association only conducts a few open recruitments each year, and Xia Ya has switched to being a mercenary before.
But the experience... was quite terrible.
How to put it, everything about it is good, except it's not free.
The mercenary profession is more like switching the game mode, letting players experience the most traditional RPG—where to go, how many to kill, how much to collect.
Doing tasks to earn money, experience, and points to exchange for equipment, with endless dailies, weeklies, and clearing cooldowns.
It's similar to the endless task and DQ mode.
But for a wild horse like Xia Ya, it's too restrictive.
Most importantly, the mercenary code clearly states: no intimate contact with the employer.
But the employers are never short of mature women or voluptuous ladies...
So Xia Ya always loses his mercenary identity due to anonymous complaints, with the association saying his conduct is improper.
He had no idea how this female player managed to become a mercenary in two days and ended up with such a task...
Xia Ya's curiosity was piqued.
...
"Now that I'm not a mercenary, I can curse you, right?"
The girl threw her badge to the ground with force, pointing at Mendelssohn's fat face.
She was so angry that her fingers were trembling.
"Uncle George is dead, Miss Anna is dead too, both of them saved you! If we had taken the main road, nothing would have happened, but you insisted on taking a shortcut, claiming you've done it many times, and if something went wrong, you'd take responsibility... all lies! You bastards! You're not men, you have no sense of responsibility!!"
The girl didn't seem to be good at cursing, her words were soft and repetitive.
When she mentioned the sad parts, she turned into a crying mess herself. How could she possibly curse fluently when she was this sensitive?
"Waaah... you bad guys, you're not men... waaah..."
Ah.
This is really...
Really too cute.
"Have you said enough?" Felix said with a dark face.
"Waaah..." The girl was still sobbing.
"You unilaterally breached the contract, according to the association's rules..."
"It's time."
Xia Ya suddenly spoke, interrupting Felix.
"I'll deal with you later."
He glared fiercely at the female mercenary, then turned to Xia Ya, instantly changing his expression to a fawning smile.
It was smoother than changing faces.
"Sir, what did you say?"
"Follow me."
Xia Ya casually said, pushing through the bushes and heading in a direction.
The merchants and guards quickly followed behind, and the girl, who was no longer a mercenary, stood there stunned for a few seconds before suddenly chasing after them.
"Wait for me, don't leave me alone!"
...
A few minutes later, they arrived at the foot of a mountain wall.
There was a dark cave above, with a foul stench wafting out.
This was the griffin's nest, normally found by following the scent of blood after injuring a griffin. Xia Ya just directly led them here.
While everyone was puzzled, Felix's rental contract ended.
According to the rules, "Gem Firework" was supposed to fly back to his hand.
When you're just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
And so...
A miserable roar came from the cave, followed by a blood mist exploding at the entrance.
Amidst the dark blood, a brilliant red light emerged, casting a long shadow, like a homing swallow, returning to Felix's hand.
Along with it came the demonized griffin, struggling to crawl to the cave entrance, letting out a mournful cry, and then its body fell from above.
Its chest had a large hole, blood gushing out.
[You have killed the griffin lord Krulu, gaining 2500 experience.]
That's right, this feels good.
Every time Xia Ya saw this one die so miserably, he felt a thrill of success.
Who doesn't love a one-hit kill?
If it really came to a fight, it would be a mess. This one was considered the smartest wild monster before level 40.
Beasts are naturally less intelligent than humanoid monsters, but Krulu was as strong as a level 35 at level 20.
If monsters had talents, it would probably be a genius.
A dead genius is a treasure.
A large black griffin corpse fell to the ground, its claws gleaming with a metallic luster, clearly valuable.
Felix and Mendelssohn couldn't move.
The two of them panted like snails, slowly inching towards the corpse.
But Xia Ya stood before the loot, his thin frame like a high wall, and neither dared to overstep.
At this moment, a soft voice emerged.
"Hi, hello... can, can you sell me the griffin's head as a token?" the girl asked timidly.
She probably mistook Xia Ya for an NPC.
"Are you going to apply for compensation for them?" Xia Ya asked.
If there was a token proving that a creature beyond the evaluated level appeared during the journey, the compensation for the deceased mercenaries could be doubled, and the task wouldn't be deemed a failure, lowering the team's rating.
"Yes, yes..."
"But you're not a mercenary anymore. Even if the task is settled, you won't get a reward, and as a deserter, you can't even enter the main door of the mercenary hall."
The girl was stunned, then suddenly covered her mouth and screamed:
"You, you, you, you're a player!! You, you, you, you're not an NPC?"
"I never said I was an NPC."