Wang Zhi--Qiu Yunru--hurried down the streeet in sear of this "Eat Well Inn". It wasn't hard to find. That woman--he felt bad calling her "that woman", but he'd left in too much of a hurry to ask her name--was really correct! The front of the inn, from the color to the wooden sign, was exactly the same as hers! Only the name was different. From inside came the sounds of many people laughing and cajoling each other, and the upstairs windows were open with patrons enjoying the summer breeze in their rooms.
Wang Zhi took a moment to assess the situation. There was an easy method to complete this kind of quest--set a distraction, then climb through the back window. Sneaking off around the back of the inn, Qiu Yunru quickly tested his spiritual powers. His heart practically shriveled up on the spot.
He'd wanted to cause a leaf to float in the air, but even that wasn't possible with his current abilities. It merely shook briefly on the ground, then went still, as if telling him to buzz off and let it sleep. Qiu Yunru lowered his head in shame. He couldn't even do such a basic task!
Whatever, he would have to stick to physical methods for now. Like a cat, he crept up to the window of the kitchen at the back of the inn. The smell of roast duck, pepper, and simmering congee wafted out of it. His mouth watered.
Who knew food in a video game could smell so real?! Just as he was wondering whether he would be able to taste just as well (he'd never had a good sense of taste in his past life), a cook swept by the window, and he ducked his head. It wouldn't be good to be found out now. They'd surely chase him away with a ladle, seeing his clothing. Peering over the windowsill, he saw that there was a glaringly obvious porcelain vase that had been placed on a table by the kitchen doorway. It was already practically teetering on the edge, ready to be knocked over by the slightest breath. So that's why this quest was marked Easy! It was too bad there were only three official quest levels--Easy, Medium, and Hard--or this one would be called Do It With Your Eyes Closed!
He picked up a pebble from the ground and flicked it at the vase. In his past life, his aim had been incredibly poor, but it seemed this body had at least one good thing about it. It smacked into the vase easily, causing it to shatter on the floor. While the cook rushed over in a panic to see what had happened, Qiu Yunru slipped through the window.
It wasn't hard at all to find the salt. It was in a wooden bucket with huge letters painted across the front: SALT. Qiu Yunru couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Did the game think he was so stupid he wouldn't be able to find it?! No matter, he didn't have time to cover his face over the game's judgements of him. He grabbed the bucket, dumped it into the huge pot of congee nearby, shoved the salt back where it had been, and jumped out the window again. Done, and done!
He didn't bother to stay and watch the aftermath. He felt a little bad for that cook who had to pick up all the porcelain pieces, but he would rather not stay and watch everyone's faces turn white from the deadly sodium content when the congee reached the patrons. He did like a bit of gossip and drama here and there, but he wasn't a sadist! Feeling satisfied with his quick work, he headed back to the original inn to await the quest completion and collect his prize.
News came quickly. Apparently, the old inn owner woman was a bit of a sadist--she had snuck into Eat Well Inn to see the carnage herself! She burst into her own inn some time later with a beaming face that Qiu Yunru couldn't help but feel was a little too gleeful.
"They've all left that damn Eat Poor Inn in a heartbeat! Some of them even threw the congee on the floor! I got a taste of it myself--young man, you've done such a thorough job, it tasted like a bowl of wet salt! Ha!"
Qiu Yunru sat at the table. He had been idling his time away by looking through his stats menu in the game system. With every stat, his heart bent over a little more, until it was lying on the ground in a heap of tears.
Spring Blossoms, Autumn Fruits was a simple game in terms of stats. There were three main stats to improve: Cultivation, Martial Talent, and Reputation. The first referred of course to one's stage within cultivation: there were the four main stages of Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul. Past that, one would simply be considered an immortal cultivator no matter how highly they cultivated--the game really was that simple! The developers hadn't wanted to research too hard, so who needed more stages after that? Though your cultivation could still grow after Nascent Soul, there would be no more official level titles.
The second referred to one's physical abilities, usually with the sword. Weapon choice was rather limited in this game; though you could really use whatever you wanted to fight, from your bare hands to a chair you had stolen from an inn, you couldn't do too much damage without a classic jian. There were options to use spears, mo blades, or even throwing darts as weapons, but their upgrade paths were so un-optimized that it was practically a self-nuke to choose any of them.
The third referred to one's fame throughout Central Plains. One could have negative or positive reputation; anything was possible. Most players worked hard to rise to the highest heights of fame, gaining thousands upon thousand of reputation points until they became masters of legend. Some players preferred to play the villain, sinking their reputation points so far into the ground that any NPC who recognized them would run screaming or try to kill them on sight. There was a debate in the community over whether there was any limit to how high you could bring your reputation points; as they grew higher, it grew harder and harder to gain them, like trying to push a stake farther and farther into the ground. The consensus was that reputation points evened out around 3,000. Qiu Yunru had only ever made it to around 2,000 once before growing bored and turning to demonic cultivation for fun (he'd been practically losing his mind over a Chemistry exam, okay?! He had to vent his stress somewhere!).
Right now, Qiu Yunru had the build of 1 Cultivation, 2 Martial Talent, and -3 Reputation.
Players were never supposed to start with any stat below zero! How had he already amassed negative reputation?!
Alas, he didn't have time to mourn his situation. The old woman was already pressing the decrepit sword into his hands, still practically dancing with joy. "Stay here, kid. I'll even give you something else! We'll make you look presentable. My gift!"
The woman hurried off up the inn steps. Qiu Yunru couldn't help but feel a bit dejected in his heart. Did he look so bad that he needed a makeover?