Mission panel and clean
After spending the entire day hunting horned rabbits, the afternoon began to settle over Drunai. And with it came the time to return to the village. It was no longer safe to stay outside: demon beasts grew restless and stronger at nightfall.
"I think with today's hunt combined with what we already had, I can easily craft several dozen talismans," said Bert, calmly doing mental calculations.
"Not only that… we finally got the glue to create the puppet core. Who would've thought it would come from a tree?" commented Sig with a grin.
When he struck the rabbit that crashed into a tree, its horn left a mark on the bark, and a brown liquid began to ooze from it. Bert stepped closer to investigate, and they discovered that the strange sap was, in fact, the missing ingredient Sig needed. They wasted no time: using their spears, they made controlled incisions on the trunk and placed small wooden containers to collect as much glue as possible while they continued the hunt. By the time they returned, one of the containers was already halfway full. It wasn't a huge amount, but probably enough for one, maybe even more, puppet cores.
As the group of four returned to the village, they spotted Ganfall standing in front of a newly built structure in the main square.
"Mm… Grandpa, what's that?" asked Loli curiously as she approached.
The structure was made from tied wooden logs, and a stretched leather sheet acted as a board. On it, several smaller leather notes were pinned like announcements.
"The little girl put it up a moment ago and left. Looks like it's a quest board," Ganfall replied with his usual calm as he turned away.
The others quickly gathered, intrigued by the new Quest Board.
—
Available Quest Board
Hunting Missions
• Slay 10 Level 1 Demon Beasts
Reward: 5 Fragments
• Slay 10 Level 2 Demon Beasts
Reward: 10 Fragments
(More similar missions…)
Gathering Missions
• Collect 10 Wooden Logs
Reward: 1 Mana Stone
• Collect 10 Stones
Reward: 1 Mana Stone
• Collect 10 Bowls of Glue
Reward: 1 Mana Stone
(More similar missions…)
Repair Missions
• Fully Repair a Village House
Reward: 1 Large Mana Stone
• Fully Repair the Main Village House
Reward: 3 Large Mana Stones
• Repair the Village Well
Reward: 1 Mana Stone
• Repair Part of the Village Wall
Reward: 1 Mana Stone per meter
(More similar missions…)
Maintenance and Improvement Missions
• Clean the Village
Reward: 5 Mana Stones
• Light up the Village
Reward: 1 Medium Mana Stone
(More similar missions…)
–
There were about fifteen missions listed, most of them related to repairing or maintaining the village. Everyone stared at the board… and then looked around.
Since their arrival, Drunai had remained in ruins—half-destroyed and cluttered with debris. Only five or six houses were still standing, and none had all their walls intact. Even the house where Lua slept—the largest one in the center—barely had one usable room, and even that had a gaping hole in one of its walls.
"Looks like we'll be able to get mana stones without needing to hunt at night," said Bert, nodding in satisfaction.
After all, if nighttime in the game was truly as dangerous as Lua had warned, they had no choice but to log out and wait for daytime—at least until they reached the necessary level to survive in the dark.
"I'm sure the wood, stone, and glue gathering missions are meant to be used for the repair missions later," said Sig, calmly examining the quest board.
"And the hunting missions are more like an extra incentive. We earned about ten fragments for killing ten beasts, but I'm pretty sure that's thanks to Loli's luck and her Goddess of Fortune title," added Bert thoughtfully.
"We don't have pickaxes or axes to gather wood or stone properly, and glue takes a long time to collect… For now, we should focus on cleaning up, lighting the village, and repairing the well," he continued, studying the board for the most accessible options.
"Let's use the remains of the houses to build posts. Then we can figure out how to light them up," suggested Sig confidently. "First, we dig holes for the posts and search for good pieces of wood among the collapsed houses. Then we repair the well. And finally, we clean up the whole village."
"Alright!" the group responded in unison, immediately setting out to find planks and beams of similar length and thickness, along with any tools that could be used as makeshift shovels.
From the roof of her house, Lua watched them with interest.
"Told you, boss. Setting up the quest board was a great idea. Time to start making this place look halfway decent," said Sia in her mind with her usual cheerful robotic tone.
"Mmm… Maybe I should come up with something to serve as temporary lighting," Lua murmured to herself, watching the players split up with surprising speed and patience.
…
Loli and the others had found about five wooden posts of similar size, which would be enough to light up at least the center of the village. The only problem now was finding a shovel—or anything that could be used for digging—because without it, setting up the posts would be difficult.
"Any ideas?" asked Sig, glancing at the group.
"This would be so much easier if we had the digging versatility of those horned rabbits," Bert muttered, clearly frustrated.
"Horned rabbits… wait, I have an idea!" Loli exclaimed, smiling as she opened her skill bar.
The others turned to her, expecting an explanation—but instead, Loli raised her hand, pointed at the ground, and shouted:
"Falling Star!"
A small, glowing orb shot out from her hand and crashed into the ground with a loud impact, scattering dirt like a miniature meteor strike.
Everyone stood frozen, eyes wide. They couldn't tell if they were amazed by her creativity… or shocked by the absurdity of it. But it worked: the skill's impact left a small crater in the ground.
Wasting no time, Loli began casting the skill repeatedly, waiting the three-second cooldown between each blast.
After ten shots, they had a half-meter deep hole dug right in the center.
"Well… honestly, that's not a bad idea," Bert admitted, inspecting the result with mild astonishment.
"And I can even level up my Falling Star skill!" Loli said with delight as she saw the notification pop up on her screen:
—
🌠 Falling Star – Level 2
Type: Direct Damage
Mana: 18 MP | Cooldown: 2.8 s | EXP to Lv. 3: 200
Effect: Launches a fast star that pierces up to 2 enemies with a blazing trail.
Damage: 0.5 × INT = 25 (if INT = 50)
Bonus: Knocks down enemies with less than 5 resistance.
—
"I absolutely love this game," Loli said with excitement, already preparing to fire more magical meteors into the ground.
After draining her entire mana pool to dig holes for all five posts, the others moved in to set them into place, filling in the sides with dirt and stones to keep them stable.
Exhausted, Loli sat down to rest, watching as they secured the last one.
"Done. That actually went by pretty fast—thanks to Loli," Sig said with a satisfied smile.
"But now what do we use to light them up? Torches?" asked Ganfall, looking around calmly.
"I have something for that," said Lua, cutting into the conversation. Everyone turned as she approached.
She carried several wooden spheres—each made of two interlocked rings, with a fragment of mana stone suspended in the center, held by thin leather cords. She had brought five—one for each post.
"Will those really light up?" Sig asked, intrigued.
"Yes," Lua replied. She gently touched one of the mana fragments, which instantly lit up with a bright yellow glow. "I inscribed a purification rune on them. They shine quite a bit."
As the golden light spread, a message popped up in front of each of them:
—
[Impurities are cleansed from your body: profession skill learning and comprehension increased by 20%]
[Your body, bathed in sacred light, regenerates rapidly: +200 HP/sec | +100 MP/sec]
—
"Wow, this is going to be insanely useful!" Bert exclaimed, eyes sparkling. That boost would help him level up his talisman crafting profession much faster.
Loli and Sig also quickly realized how much it would benefit their own professions—cooking and puppeteering, respectively.
With the players' help, Lua installed all five lanterns onto the posts, forming a glowing ring around the village's center. The soft golden light gave the area a warm, magical feel. The small plaza they had created looked peaceful… and quietly powerful.
"Here," said Lua, handing each of them a medium mana stone with a soft smile.
Meanwhile, Loli was thinking to herself:
"Please… you have to stop doing things like that so suddenly. My heart won't survive it..."
Now that the village center was illuminated, Loli and Sig turned their attention to fixing the water well. They replaced the fallen stones and rebuilt its small roof.
Bert, Alfred, and Ganfall took on the task of moving the heavier debris, sorting usable stones into a pile for future repairs. Old, rotten wood was gathered in a corner to be used as firewood later.
Seeing how hard they all were working, Lua couldn't stand by and do nothing. Quietly, she joined in—effortlessly lifting rocks the size of beach balls. The three men stared at her in disbelief… especially Bert and Ganfall, whose magic-focused bodies lacked physical strength. Even Alfred, being a skeleton with seemingly enhanced strength, metaphorically blinked as he watched her lift a stone that had taken the three of them to move.
By the time night fully settled in, the task was complete. The village still had plenty of ruins and debris to clear, but the main square—now bathed in purifying light—was spotless and organized. They even arranged a simple seating area and set up a small campfire in the middle.
Loli took charge of cooking, with Sig assisting her. Lua lit the fire, then stood back, gazing over the scene with a faint, almost nostalgic smile.
It had been years since she had seen the village like this… even if it was only the beginning.