I Reject Quests

Rewen's eyelids fluttered as he opened his eyes with some difficulty. His eyes were terrifyingly calm. Surveying his surroundings, he found himself in a room with a familiar old man staring at him.

"How are you doing?" The old man crackled.

"I'm good…" When he tried to get up, he found out that his pain had subsided. "Forgive me for troubling you."

The old man swayed his hands. "It's of no big deal."

Rewen nodded, then got out of the bed. "Did the event start?"

"It started two hours ago."

'As expected.' Rewen had a grave face. "Thank you for looking after me. Can I be allowed to take part in the event now?"

"You can't."

"..."

Although Rewen expected this, he was still disappointed. 'But why is the Old King's face looking so odd?'

"You might want to check your pocket."

Rewen frowned, then checked his pocket. "The envelope isn't there." Calmly staring at the old man, he said.

"I didn't take it."

"So it was the man who hit me." 

"Couple of men."

"I see."

"You aren't angry?"

"I'm not."

"Smart kid. Because you aren't sure who the perpetrator is, you can't show off your anger carelessly." The old man had a thin smile on his face.

Rewen neither denied or affirmed what the old man said. "Can I go back?"

"You can but do you really don't want to participate in the event?"

Rewen's eyes widened. "I want to."

"Then take this envelope. The ones who stole your envelope were ordered by my granddaughter." The old man tossed an envelope to Rewen.

"I will remember this kindness." Rewen lied. How can he so easily sway? 'Do I look like a pushover? Perhaps not right now, I will definitely remember this. Not the kindness, of course.'

"I know you still aren't pleased with this. In case you want to do something funny, just remember that I exist." The old man walked to another part of the room and pulled out a drawer. "Take this as compensation." He tossed a small ball glowing in green over to the fat young man.

"This is…" Rewen wasn't expecting this. 

"This is a Light Green Gruer Orb. It probably has some healing abilities. It's a one-shot though."

"By one-shot, you mean that this can only heal me a single time?"

"Why the confused face? Do you not know that all Gruer Orbs are one-shot?"

Rewen's face fell. 'No wonder Gruer Orbs are available like vegetables. It was stupid of me to think that Gruer Orbs give permanent skills.'

"For someone who got a Gruer Orb before he had even started hunting, you look pretty disappointed."

"Ah no, it's not like that. I'm overcome with joy receiving this… uh, great compensation from…"

"You can leave. As for the Gruer Orb, find it's properties by yourself. It will be beneficial to you in the long run."

Rewen nodded, then turned to leave the room. 'Beneficial to me in the long run? Even though it has temporary abilities?'

He walked out of the Main Hall and to the entrance of the Forest of Michaile. A single guard was standing here.

"Halt! Where do you plan to go?"

Rewen rolled his eyes. 'Is the entrance to the Forest of Michaile leads somewhere other than the Forest of Michaile?' He took out his envelope and showed it to the guard.

"It's a bit late but there's no such thing as a person who comes late couldn't enter the event. Very well, you may go."

"If I may ask, how much long will the competition last?"

"Do you not know something this basic? It will last for two weeks."

"Two weeks!? Where am I going to stay? What do I have to eat?"

The guard pulled out a long face and sneered. "From your words, you must be an arrogant silkpants who didn't leave your parent's shelter till now. You have to live in the wilderness out on your own. Do you still want to enter the event?"

"Of course, I will." Frankly speaking, Rewen was indeed uneasy about his first adventure in the wild. He was confident while fighting against the cannibals because he was confident of his own strength. The current him is no different from a normal human. 'But wait, there should be supervisors around.' Thinking this, his mind cooled down.

Rewen took his first step into the Forest of Michaile and instantly felt a chill running from his body. 

"Why is my body feeling so cold? Whatever or whoever it is, thank you. I have not been in the best of condition after staying under the Capital's hot sun. This is good." Rewen smiled, then walked to some distance before taking out the Light Green Gruer Orb.

'Steps to consume a Gruer Orb. First, peel off the outer layer…' He scratched out the outer layer with the help of his fingers.

'Then gulp it down.' 

Rewen felt no changes in his body. 'I have to find out what this Light Green Gruer Orb does… but before this…' The outer layer of the Gruer Orb was very thin and delicate. As proof that he had indeed collected a Gruer Orb, he must keep a single piece from the layer. Only a single piece.

'Now then, how's the progress on this end?'

---

Alter Points: 51

---

To read the second volume of the story, he needs 60 Alter Points. Since he already had 51 Alter Points, he just needs nine more to get the second volume.

Rewen had more or less figured out how the Alter Points worked. 

Factor 1: The more relevant the character is, the more would be Alter Points.

Factor 2: The relevance of the character may not always depend upon the entire time period of the story but also on how relevant the character is in the particular volume or arc.

Factor 3: The closer you are to a relevant character, the faster will be the increase in Alter Points.

Factor 4: It is sometimes mysterious.

As a person who questions and doubts in mystical things, Rewen felt the need to add the 'Factor 4' because it really is as he wrote. Sometimes, it gets an abrupt increase while he was doing nothing.

'It surely doesn't just happen out of nowhere.'

He stood in the spot for two minutes wondering what he should do. After that, he reached his decision. 'I should find Princess Ayame to farm Alter Points. As for the skill in the Gruer Orb, I will find it out in due time.'

"Hey! Hold there! Hand over all your Gruer Orbs and I might consider letting you go!" Rewen turned back and saw a boy looking at him with an arrogant smile.

He felt a headache seeing this. "Eat dog sh*t."

"What did you say!?"

"Stupid. Are you deaf? I told you to eat dog sh*t and you are like a cat that got it's tail stepped on. Do you really eat dog sh*t or are you scared of me?"

"I'm not scared of you!" The boy shouted from a distance.

"Then why are you standing there? Let me get a look at you properly. Nevermind, I'm coming to you myself." Rewen felt the need to vent.