Volume 2, Chapter 4 – Chain Quest, Colin’s Mechanical Engineering

First stage of the hidden chain quest.

[Colin’s Mechanical Engineering]

Quest Description: Colin, the owner of Colin’s Repair Shop, has recently been carrying out a mysterious mechanical engineering project. But he now seems to have run into some trouble, and the project does not appear to be progressing smoothly. He needs some help.

Quest Reward: 200 experience points.

Quest Repeatability: Unique.

To the current Anran, 200 experience points was not actually that much. After all, raising a main profession to Lv4 required 2000 experience points. But considering that this was a unique hidden chain quest, it was understandable for the reward to be low as the first stage of the quest.

As long as the game planners were not idiots, the final rewards for completing this quest were definitely going to be extremely generous.

In some games, a unique hidden quest alone could turn a rookie into a famous figure.

Anran had never expected this kind of surprise at all. She had originally been ready to clock off, but what was the point of getting off work now? Pulling herself together with full vigor, Anran strode into the workshop brimming with energy.

The large lamp overhead in the workshop cast a weak yellow glow. With a sweep of her eyes, Anran saw that the number of precision components on the workbench in the corner had increased.

This was presumably the fruit of Manager Colin’s labor today.

Most of those precision components were transparent glass tubes, with glossy black metal pieces embedded at both ends. Inside the glass tubes, silver wires connected the two ends.

Colin walked over to the table. He ignored those glass tubes, pulled a sheet of paper out of a drawer, turned around, and handed it to Anran. “This is the design blueprint for the thing I’m going to make next. Take a look first. We’ll start in ten minutes.”

After saying that, Colin walked over to a machine.

A blueprint?

Anran’s eyes lit up. As a Mechanic, she would never complain about having too many blueprints at her disposal.

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Mechanics had a skill that allowed multiple blueprints to be combined together, with a certain chance of producing a new blueprint.

Opening the blueprint, Anran read through it once from top to bottom in order.

The structure was not very complicated. With her 16 Intelligence, she could fully understand it, but the information she got from it left her depressed.

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This single sheet was only one seventy-ninth of an entire blueprint!

Anran felt like posting a crying-facepalm emoji. What a joke.

This was obviously an amazing blueprint, but clearly there was no way she was getting the full set for now.

Secretly shaking her head, Anran began studying the drawing seriously. Better finish the quest properly first.

“Done?” Colin stood up right on time as soon as the ten minutes were up.

Anran nodded. “No problem.”

“Then let’s begin,” Colin said. “You’ll operate this machine in a moment, and I’ll cut the grooves.”

What Colin was making was a metal cylinder as thick as an arm. While Anran operated the equipment to smelt the metal and cut the grooves, Colin also took out a drill bit and began carving.

The specially made drill bit had an extremely hard tip, and it easily left marks on the metal cylinder.

As he worked on the cylinder, Colin looked like a painter with a brush in hand, sketching whatever was in his mind onto a blank sheet of paper.

When Anran’s attention wandered and she caught sight of Colin’s expression, she saw that he was utterly focused, but there also seemed to be a trace of unusual tenderness in his eyes.

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“…”

Good lord.

Anran could not help swallowing. Could Colin possibly be some kind of perverted Mechanic with improper thoughts about metal?

Thinking about it carefully, the thing they were making right now was shaped like a pillar.

Emmm…

Anran was just about to sink into deep thought.

“Focus!”

At that moment, however, Colin suddenly spoke up and cut off her wild thoughts.

Anran’s expression sharpened. Of course not. Those glass tubes obviously were not the kind of thing that could be put to use like that.

But then another voice sounded in her mind: “Maybe they’re for heating it?”

That… actually made a lot of sense!

Anran hurriedly steadied herself and threw her attention back into the work.

Time passed slowly. Colin cut all kinds of differently shaped grooves into the metal cylinder. He even bored straight through the middle of it, creating a slightly winding channel.

At last, after grinding away the last burr, Colin shut off the power to the drill. He raised a hand to wipe his forehead, instantly smearing it black. “All right, it’s done. You can shut down the equipment too.”

Anran did as told. The mechanical arm clamped around the metal cylinder released its hold, and Colin grabbed the cylinder as if it were a priceless treasure. The delight on his face was impossible to hide.

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“Maybe I guessed right after all,” Anran muttered under her breath.

“What is it?” Colin asked in confusion.

“Nothing, nothing.” Anran waved her hand. “I was just saying it’s getting late. If there’s nothing else, I’m going back.”

“Oh.” Colin nodded lightly. “Thanks for today. I’ll count it as overtime and pay you double wages.”

“Huh?”

Anran was startled. She had thought there would only be an experience reward, but it turned out there was money too!

Whatever Colin was making, Anran’s opinion of him instantly improved.

“Quest [Colin’s Mechanical Engineering] Stage One Complete. Reward: 200 experience points.”

After leaving Colin’s Repair Shop and walking home, Anran was in an excellent mood. She even bought some fruit from a roadside stall, extravagantly luxurious by her standards.

…

“Haaah!”

In a side room of Your Grandpa’s Weapon Shop, Zhou Jieyu let out a long sigh. She pulled out the Bilu coins she had earned from a full day of work. After subtracting food and drink expenses, she had only managed to save 20 Bilu.

If she wanted to look at that map, she would need to save for another three days. If she wanted to scrape together enough money to go to a nearby main city, who knew how many more days it would take.

At a time like this, Zhou Jieyu felt miserable.

Because from the forum, she had learned that not every beginner player was as pitiful as she was.

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Players who had a useful skill in the real world quickly unlocked the corresponding sub profession and could find decent work in the game, building up both experience and money.

As for the more adventurous players, they teamed up to fight monsters and do quests. Though life was a bit rough early on due to their lack of equipment, they were all improving quickly.

Players like herself, who only knew how to eat, drink, and sleep, were too lazy to go exploring, and did not even have followers with them, were stuck right at the bottom of the player pyramid.

With things in this state, what was all that talk about letting herself run wild? Miss Zhou Jieyu was practically starting to despair over life.

She had even begun to miss her older brother, “Leading the Charge.” Sure, he would keep her under control, but at least she would have someone around to help her come up with ideas.

No, no.

Zhou Jieyu quickly shook her head. She had already said she was going to stir things up in Night of the Stars all by herself. How could she sink into depression this easily?

I, Zhou Jieyu, am going to become stronger!

Clenching her fists, Zhou Jieyu suddenly heard voices talking outside.

“The goods have to be delivered to Twinmoon City tomorrow. Why isn’t your girl back yet?”

The old man from the weapon shop replied unhurriedly, “She ran into a rainstorm on the road. She won’t be back anytime soon.”

“Then what are you going to do? The people on the other side need this shipment urgently. The schedule can’t be delayed, and you can’t travel far yourself.”

The old man frowned. “Let me think.”

“I have to set out by noon tomorrow at the latest. Don’t miss the time.”

“Quit nagging. Your grandpa here has an excellent memory.” Irritated, the old man waved his hand and shooed the visitor away.