HC:Pacifist | Ch. 34 - Theatrics

Roth's shouting became louder and louder as he drew closer. “Stoooop! Stoooooop!”

“Oh no! It’s the crazy guy everyone keeps talking about in the forums!”

“It’s just one guy. What can he do?”

Healing Ray!

A [Healing Ray] bathed the elite in light, and a sliver of his hp recovered. Seeing that he was being helped, the elite faced its savior. Then the most unexpected thing happened.

“Brother! Oh, brother! Look at what these vicious beasts have done to one as handsome as you. I can’t stand still and do nothing while they skin you alive and cut you into bacon.” Roth's outcry had been said with such sincerity that players momentarily stopped to look at him.

What in the world was he doing? Was he serious? His sad tears seemed to indicate so. Everyone stopped fighting as they glared stupidly at Roth.

Within a moment, and thanks to its running speed, Roth came close enough to try his new skill.

Grapple!

Roth latched on the now immobilized SmellySock, interrupting the skill he was channeling. Roth followed with a [Shepherd Shout] to disperse the aggro.

Shepherd Shout!

“Let me die in your stead, brother. Run away! Run away to your little piglets. I will take your place. Please. Don’t feel sorry for me. It is an honor to die for such a handsome boar as yourself.”

Roth kept screaming and crying desperately, to the dismay of the players. He also kept throwing himself at both parties to block the attacks they were throwing at the boar with his body. Any other player would have already died by now. It was only thanks to Roth's high endurance that he had lasted this long. With each attack, Roth screamed and squealed in pain. He didn't have to fake that. He was feeling each blow.

The elite boar walked away, then came back, pacing back and forth. It roared. “Grunt! Grunt! Grunt!” Guessing at what the boar was trying to say, Roth answered between shots and skills being thrown at him.

“No, brother boar. It is too late for me. Go back home, and live your life happily, for all my piglets are dead, and my companions have been hunted. You still have something to live for. Begone, brother. Begone.”

Prompted by the insistent [Shepherd's Shout] and Roth's performance, the boar turned tail and ran away. Everyone was furious at the frustrating intervention of this crazy player. Didn’t he care about losing levels? Why did he insist on this Shakespearian nonsense? One of the players, who had a relative who suffered from a disability, turned to the others and said sorrowfully.

“Guys, I think this dude has a mental problem. My cousin is special too, you know. He spent one year convinced that he was a chair. I can’t be mad at this guy. He must think he is a boar. That's why he kept calling it brother.”

“You can’t be mad at him?" protested SmellySock. "He just scared the elite boar! Kill him! Kill him! No mercy.” A few more attacks landed on Roth, and he disappeared.

You have died.

You lost a level. Penalty canceled because of your title [Martyr];

You lose 3 charisma. The penalty was canceled because of your title [Martyr];

You saved an elite gray boar. Your heroic rescue profoundly moves him. He cries out in the woods sharing the heroic tale of your valiant rescue. +24 Reputation with all boars.

You will be returned to the nearest saving point

Your valiant rescue was so heroic! +1 Charisma.

“Jackpot!” Screamed Roth in the respawn point. The happiness was such that he almost forgot the pain he had just been through. It seemed that by adding a bit of theatrics to his rescues, he could gain more reputation each time he saved a mob.

The comradery had so profoundly touched the elite boar that his reputation with the boars had skyrocketed in a single leap. He went to look for another group of players hunting boars.

*

After a few more rescues, Roth finally heard the sound he sought.

+16 reputation with all boars.

You have achieved 100 reputation with boars.

You are now friends with boars.

New title unlocked [Friend of Boars]

Title: Friend of Swine (Uncommon)

Title description: Boars have seen evidence of your physical prowess and the strength of your character. They see you as their friend.

Title effects:

• +2 strength;
• It's easier to learn Boarish.

Conditions to unlock [Friend of Boars]:

• Achieve 100 reputation with boars without ever hurting one {complete};
• Achieve 1000 reputation with boars.

With this, Roth had unlocked his fifth [Friend of .....] title. Just from the bonuses he got to these titles, he had +10 stats. This was the equivalent of gaining two levels' worth of stats! It wasn't much different from eating the prized [Power Trufle]!

With half of the battlefield withheld from attacking him, Roth knew that things would go more smoothly from now on. He had already used up his last [Soothing Scrolls], but the item's limitations were becoming increasingly noticeable.

Boars were stronger mobs, after all. The title and improved relationship with boars was the missing ingredient he needed to increase his survivability. He happily moved toward the boar fields again. It was time to save some more boars.

*

Crazy Activist in Boar Zone

#news #alert #greencountry #beginnerzone #boars #crazyhobo

Poster: SmellySock

Post: I have decided to take a few days off this game because I am too frustrated. The animal rights guy is now camping in the boar zone, making my life horrible. It's difficult to keep it together amid all the boars and players, but that guy gets out of his way to antagonize us. He keeps talking to the hogs as if he is reciting Hamlet and as if they were his children. The worst thing is that he must be some rich guy with an infinite supply of soothing scrolls. He spams them and keeps holding off the players while the boars sit around and do nothing. On top of that, I have gained a curse from killing the guy. I will log off and wait for him to move to another map. That guy is crazy.

Comments

BunnyNutty51: I have bumped into him. Just stay away. He will move on eventually.

GreenFelp19: Has anyone figured out what the curse does yet?

SmellySock: Not so far.

BunnyNutty51: Uh, uh.

WeAreWes: I have had it for a week, and it still hasn't worn off. I wonder if we have to do something to make it go away. Does anyone have the crazy guy's tag? I would like to PM me and ask him what his deal is. Perhaps he needs a psychiatrist or something. I will offer him the first consultation if he tells me what this curse does.

AppleADay994: Seconded.

GreenFelp19: Same.

BunnyNutty51: I was going to move from the Raven's Nest to the boar fields, but I'm just going to stay here and grind for accessories. Seems better than going there and wasting my time.

*

While several players had given up on hunting in the boar fields, the allure of the Boar King was just too great, and many players still poured into the muddy hunting grounds jumping at the chance to hunt it. It spawned only a limited amount of times a day, and the chances of getting a [Power Truffle] were one in a hundred kills.

It was considered exceedingly lucky if it dropped three times in a week. This was not the only map where this item could be farmed. The final wild boss of the Thunder Mountains and the Fire Pit beginner regions also dropped it.

Several guilds had teams farming these non-stop. The price of maintaining such teams paid off compared to the amount of gold they would have to spend if they bought it from other players.

It had been almost ninety minutes since the boar king had last been hunted. It was almost time for it to respawn. SmellyShirt was a lieutenant for the Pegasus guild. His responsibilities involved grinding at only two locations, the Rat Caves and the Boar fields.

He and his team had been doing it for over a year. It wasn't such a difficult job once they got used to it and figured out the most optimal party configuration. They had become so good at it that they would run straight into the Rat Caves at level 0 and hunt until they were level 5.

After they were no longer eligible to gain the [Miniaturizing Potion], they would come to this map and stay here until level 10 to try their luck at getting a [Power Truffle]. They had quotas to meet, or their time off the capsules was greatly reduced. 5x[Miniaturizing Potions] and 1x[Power Truffle]. Any more than that, and they received a performance bonus, especially for any extra [Power Truffles].

Even though the game had been going on for two years, the number of players who consumed the item inside the Pegasus guild was no more than 15. It was already an imposing number. No matter how many times SmellyShirt filled his quota, there was never enough. So they stayed in this grinding hell, trying to pay off their debts to Loki.

"OK, listen up, crew," screamed SmellyShirt on the squad's channel, "This is it. The key is to get to the boar king first. Assume your stations. Let us know when you see it. Let's try a Hail Mary. DisgustingHamper, I want you to run decoy this time. We haven't done it in a while. Hopefully, you can take some of the leeches away."

"Yes, lieutenant." They still hadn't gotten a [Power Truffle] this month. If they did not meet their quota, they were in trouble.

As the countdown clock hit zero, everyone in the party started to run through the fields, careful not to draw any aggro from the normal boar mobs. Their competitors were here gunning for the boar king too. He had already seen the Cerberus and the Krakens, not to mention minor guilds who could not be underestimated.

To add to their troubles, they had to make do with only players and skills below level 10. Nothing would drop from the boar if there were even one player level 11 or above in the vicinity. The system enforced this measure to ensure big guilds couldn't hog all the rewards. It would be distasteful to noobs to find a party of level 40 players camping a level 10 boss.

The lack of classes and skills to handle the hunt added more complexity. When there was so little you could throw at a boss to ensure one got the last hit, the chances increased that someone stole the kill. All it took was a random shot from a single player or the meddling of a minor guild to score the drain the last hit points and ruin things for them. Desperate, the Pegasus' squad would try a Hail Mary.

"Lieutenant, I see it. It's on-site A3." They had gridded the boar map and knew it by heart. SmellyShirt instantly knew where this was. He tried to remember where he had seen the Cerberus and the Krakens and gave off the order.

"DisgustingHamper rush in the opposite direction. Go to D8. Try to draw them out. Everyone else, hold it for a few seconds and only head toward A3 when DisgustingHamper says so."

They waited and, after twenty seconds, got the OK from their mate. He would try to fool the other major guilds by pretending to have found the boss far away. This should give them enough time to finish the boss.

Ch. 33 - Boar Fields

INDEX

Ch. 35 - Wallowing