For two-thirds of his life, Mo Tan has been dealing with various troubles, and half of that time was spent creating trouble: creating trouble for himself, creating trouble for his friends, creating trouble for local hoodlums, creating trouble for school bullies, creating trouble for the hacker codenamed SUN, real name Mu You, nickname Shuang Ye, creating trouble for honest people, creating trouble for teachers and classmates, creating trouble for neighborhood police officers, creating trouble for the neighborhood committee, creating trouble for city management… This difficulty coefficient seems a bit too high…
But no matter what, the phrase 'creating trouble' has always surrounded him. The most recent instance even earned him the distinguished service of providing forty words for the author. (Entire paragraph crossed out)
What I want to say is that this behavior doesn't really cause him much burden, whether from the perspective of quality of life or moral condemnation. The annoyances he caused others never affected Mo Tan himself, not even a tiny bit.
But the problem is, in the two-thirds of his life spent dealing with trouble, the other half was dedicated to solving trouble.
Or we could use another four words, such as—helping others for pleasure.
During this half of the time, for people facing difficulties or crises, as long as they were not strictly evil or suffering from their own consequences, he was almost always willing to lend a hand, without expecting any reward, unless that 'reward' could make the person feel better.
Perhaps he wouldn't be kind enough to give even a single coin to those lazy, highly skilled, and expressive fake beggars, but he would willingly spend half a day picking up empty bottles and waste paper with a boy who lived by 'recycling garbage,' fearing he might hurt that humble and fragile self-esteem in others' eyes.
In fact, he, who was never satisfied with vague moral standards and laws, never felt that he represented 'Justice,' at least not literally. Yet, he always followed his own set of principles to help anyone he deemed worthy of help. This might seem somewhat narrow-minded, but it was often more objective than Justice in the broad sense.
"Have you read 'A Study in Scarlet'? If this were a true story, then I would definitely do my utmost to help Hope. Perhaps the law wouldn't forgive a murderer, but I would. If the truth meant a good person would be judged and punished for sending two villains to hell, I would rather help him keep the truth hidden forever."
This was something Mo Tan, in his lawful good state, said to Yi Dong during a casual chat many years ago.
"A very Justice judgment, but the problem is, the law doesn't forgive." Yi Dong shrugged: "And a detective's position is to reveal the truth, but I really didn't expect you to say something like this. I thought I understood you quite well~"
"I understand myself less than you do." Mo Tan just smiled slightly then and replied: "I've never fantasized about becoming a judge or anything like that, nor do I think I represent Justice. I just want to have a clear conscience."
Finally, Yi Dong was stunned for a long while before rolling his eyes and saying: "You know, the most tiring thing in the world is being friends with you. Three hours ago, I watched you switch dozens of sets of junior high to senior high reference books in the library for illustrated 'Jin X Mei,' just for some so-called 'fun'…"
"I've already regretted it. That kind of reading material is too polluting for teenagers of this age." Mo Tan asked with a helpless wry smile: "Do you mind accompanying me to switch them back?"
"Get lost!"
…
In short, despite the roundabout eleven hundred plus words, what I want to express is just one thing: Mo Tan at this moment would not feel any dissatisfaction with the truly somewhat frustrating E-rank quests before him. After all, for him, even trivial matters like helping an old grandma find her lost cat from two days ago are meaningful…
Adhering to his own understanding of Justice, striving to stand with the weak, the good, or the suffering whenever possible, and working only for the Justice in his own eyes, judging those who deserve punishment but celebrate on the suffering of the innocent—that is enough.
Even if he helps AI, what then? Even if he judges data, what then? Even if these things are meaningless, what does it matter?
It doesn't matter~ It really doesn't matter~
Standing before the quest board in the Adventurers' Guild's first-floor hall, Mo Tan spent about ten minutes reading through all hundreds of E-rank quests on the magic crystal screen, feeling that his upcoming period would be quite fulfilling.
If he didn't disconnect…
Don't find it incongruous that there's a magic crystal screen with a 'quick quest information query' function in this world filled with fantasy elements. After all, while it's unscientific, it's at least very magical.
Those settings where mighty figures in worlds full of swords and battle aura or spiritual energy, who can annihilate stars with a single blow when their temper flares up and fly dozens of times the speed of light in minutes, still have to spend half a day flipping through ancient books to look up information, getting a nose full of dust in the process—that's truly absurd. That's genuinely neither scientific, nor magical, nor very cultivation-like…
In short, the digression ends…
After reading, Mo Tan didn't rush to accept quests to raise his adventurer level. Instead, he planned to go back, greet Mag, and also ask the leader of the caravan, the Forest Sprite elder who was the employer of the Fudi Long Mercenary Group, when he would be free to meet him, trying to arrange the time well, so that even if he might forcibly disconnect, it wouldn't be so abrupt.
After all, causing unnecessary trouble for others because of himself should be avoided as much as possible.
Unexpectedly, just as he turned to leave, he saw Mag's figure in the distance. Beside him were three other Mercenary Group members: the short-bearded man from that day, the human female mage specializing in staves who was skilled with dragon's breath, and the Lizardmen second captain who was rumored to have an Idari flintlock.
"Hey~ Mo! We're over here!" Mag almost simultaneously saw Mo Tan, who had just turned his head, and laughed as he waved to him: "Come over here!"
He really didn't need to shout so loudly. Although the combination of Mag and his three companions was common in the Adventurers' Guild branch, their distinctive aura (mainly appearing more reliable than others) made them highly recognizable here.
Just think, in a place filled with aging junior mages whose staves explode, Thieves who forgot to cut holes in their masks, rangers who buy gunpowder-laced glitter to make themselves more dazzling, dog-girls who only bark 'Woof'… and so on… even someone like Mag, who is a bit of an old drunkard and a fan of melodramas, can be considered extremely reliable…
"Thank goodness you're finally awake." The female mage who had used Dragon Breath to clear a path for everyone that day smiled at Mo Tan as he approached and asked: "How do you feel?"
Mo Tan blinked, gesturing around him: "Are you referring to my physical condition, or this place? The former was fine originally, but because of the latter, I can only be grateful that I'm still alive now…"
He then briefly recounted the 'staff exploding on the spot' incident that had occurred shortly before to Mag and the others, who were curious, leaving the four of them stunned.
"Tsk tsk…" Mag glanced at him, then shrugged: "Alright, it seems I should have warned you to be careful earlier. The first-floor hall of every Adventurers' Guild is quite chaotic because it's full of lower-level adventurers who easily cause trouble. I just didn't expect you to run into something like this. Anyway, it's good that you're alive!"
Kasha, the human female mage next to him, muttered: "I've heard of that guy. His name is Jia Deka. They say his family has been knights for generations, but he insisted on becoming a mage. He even picked up an antique staff from somewhere, claiming it was a family heirloom. But then again…"
She scratched her cheek thoughtfully, frowning: "They say that guy was very powerful when he was young, able to take down dozens of high-level savage beasts in minutes. And he's still a junior mage now!"
"Um~" The short-bearded man raised his hand and asked: "Interrupting for a moment, I've never heard of any junior mage being able to take down so many high-level savage beasts in minutes!"
Kasha rolled her eyes: "He did it by smashing them with his staff. Mo Tan just experienced it, didn't he? That thing explodes, you know…"
"He himself was fine?!" Mo Tan finally couldn't help but ask: "Or does that staff not explode on its owner?"
If that were truly the case, then his action of almost getting blown to bits saving that old man would have been too unfair.
"No, that's not it." Kasha shook her head: "They say that staff explodes on everyone."
Mo Tan felt a bit more balanced upon hearing that, but unexpectedly…
"But he can withstand it." Kasha continued: "It might be a bloodline issue. Although he's a human with relatively average talents in all aspects, like me, I've heard that Jia Deka's physical fitness is at least that of a high-level warrior. And despite his extremely poor spellcasting ability, he has a bit of innate fire elemental affinity. Although it doesn't help his mage career much, it gives him a certain resistance to fire elements. So… sigh… if he had focused on being a knight or warrior, he would probably be a Grand adventurer by now."
By the time she was halfway through her explanation, Mo Tan had already turned completely pale…
So, the white-bearded old man who wields his staff like a battering ram, Pinocchio the puppet who maxed out his sniping specialization, the White Bone Spirit who looks like a lich but is actually a succubus, the Minotaur machine gunner, and such things are not performance art, but are actually real!?
Mo Tan felt his worldview shatter with a crisp sound…
"Damn it!" Mag was dumbfounded for a long while before finally cursing: "This world is so dangerous."
However, Mo Tan quickly adjusted his mood and casually changed the subject: "Speaking of which, Mag, you came at just the right time. I was just about to go back and ask you when the Forest Sprite elder who wants to see me will be free…"
"Heaven knows." Mag shook his big head like a rattle drum: "Probably in the next day or two. Why?"
"Nothing." Mo Tan pointed to the magic crystal screen behind him: "I plan to do some quests first. I might be a bit busy later, so I wanted to give you a heads-up in case you can't find me."
The second company… the captain finally found an opportunity to interject, laughing in the Lizardmen's poorly punctuated common tongue: "That's fine. Anyway, we'll be staying in the city for a few days, so it's good that you can find something to do to pass the time. The caravan isn't in a hurry. Forest Sprites are slow-paced~"
"Alright then, we'll be going now." Mag burped from alcohol, waving his hand: "E-rank quests aren't difficult. We'll be staying at the same place for the next few days. You can find me or the three of them if you need anything."
Mo Tan readily agreed, and after Mag and the others left for the Mercenary Guild nearby, he turned and walked back to the previous window, only to find that the person inside had changed.
"Hello, how may I help you?" A polite The half elf bowed to Mo Tan. His demeanor and professional conduct were completely on a different plane from the previous young lady.
However, Mo Tan didn't pay attention. It was perfectly normal for people to rotate shifts in a place like this. Take, for example, that one time he exploited a loophole in a bank…
No, let's not talk about it. He was quite resistant to those memories, after all, both good and bad things were done by himself, and thinking too much about them could easily lead to depression.
"I'd like to accept a few quests." Mo Tan showed the other party his newly acquired adventurer's Handbook and directly recited a string of numbers: "The codes are 10308, 53267, and 44759."
The other party paused slightly, then picked up the magic mirror tablet beside him and said somewhat apologetically: "Could I trouble you to repeat that?"
Mo Tan then slowed down and repeated them. He also realized that he had been a bit presumptuous just now. For people who haven't specifically trained in instant memory and temporary imprinting, it's quite difficult to immediately project what they hear into their minds and forcefully take quick notes.
Without targeted practice, it's almost impossible for NPCs with less than around 40 Intelligence in the game.
"Hmm, weeding for the Groff couple in the South District, collecting soil samples for Alchemist Dumen outside the market, and… uh… inquiring about what Lady Hot Blast likes or her interests." The half elf receptionist confirmed with Mo Tan after a brief check: "All quests have a two-day deadline, and you're taking them all at once, correct?"
Mo Tan affirmed. He had already weighed his options earlier, and these three quests were the most suitable for him at the moment. They had no strict time limits (like helping someone watch their stall), and there was no chance of accidentally triggering something that would cause him to switch personalities due to anxiety (like taking care of a mischievous child whose parents were out). Plus, the rewards were all quite good.
Ten minutes later, Mo Tan, having completed the quest registration, walked out of the Pioneer's Gate, ready to head to his first quest location. However, before he could even align the map he had memorized with the scenery in his sight, he noticed someone gently tugging at his sleeve.
He turned around… Oh, quite familiar.
"Woof~~~"
Chapter Twenty: End
