"Quest kompetitif? Maksudmu apa?" Lex bertanya, tidak menyukai sedikit pun apa yang dikabarkan Mary kepadanya. Untungnya, itu fitur yang belum dia buka, jadi bukan kekhawatiran mendadak.
"Aku juga nggak yakin. Informasi soal itu belum dibagikan. Yang kutahu cuma kalau punya mitra Quest Gabungan yang bagus bisa bantu saat Quest Kompetitif nanti."
Lex nggak langsung jawab, malah nyandung ke belakang di kursinya sambil mikir sebentar. Informasi yang dia punya terlalu sedikit, jadi dia nggak yakin dengan spekulasinya. Meski begitu, gambaran mulai terbentuk di benaknya soal arti Quest Gabungan dan Quest Kompetitif, dan dia nggak suka sekali pun.
Dia bisa bayangin kalau sistem dan pengguna sistem jadi lebih kuat, terus naik ke panggung universal, keberadaan dua tipe quest ini bakal menentukan aliansi dan permusuhan.
Dia bayangin, misalnya, kalau ras Artica dan bank Versalis dipimpin oleh pengguna sistem, dua tipe quest ini saja bisa mendikte tindakan kedua raksasa itu, memengaruhi cara alam semesta berkembang.
Kalau memang begitu, siapa pun yang mengontrol sistem, menentukan Quest Gabungan atau Quest Kompetitif, otomatis akan dapat kendali dan kekuasaan atas bagian besar alam semesta. Mereka bisa pakai sistem untuk sasaran siapa pun yang nggak di bawah pengaruh mereka, dan perlahan memperluas kendali mereka.
Kalau memang begitu, dia akhirnya mengerti kenapa kayaknya sistem nggak pernah mau apa-apa darinya. Itu karena dia sendiri, di bawah pengaruh dua tipe quest ini, jadi sumber daya.
Semua ini mengasumsikan sistem di bawah kendali seseorang, hal yang dia nggak bisa dibuktikan atau dibantah berdasarkan situasinya. Yang lebih penting, meski dia bisa bluff seluruh alam semesta dengan identitas Pengelola Inn, dia nggak bisa bluff sistem miliknya sendiri.
Tapi penjelasan semacam itu, meski menjelaskan banyak hal dan mengungkap komplotan licik, juga nggak masuk akal. Siapa pun yang bisa ciptakan sistem dengan kekuatan besar nggak butuh orang lain bantuin dia dapetin kekuasaan. Lebih masuk akal kasih sistem ke bawahan langsung daripada orang asing acak di seluruh alam semesta kalau itu tujuannya.
Terakhir, dugaan ini nggak cocok dengan tujuan sistem yang kayaknya bikin keputusan berdasarkan potensi hiburan. Lex mengalihkan perhatian dari pikiran itu. Dia nggak punya waktu fokus ke hal lain sekarang.
"Baik, jadi Quest Gabungan memberikan tingkat perlindungan tertentu untuk semua pihak terlibat," kata Lex. "Sekarang lanjut ke pertanyaan lainku. Aku perhatikan nggak ada hadiah quest yang disebutkan di notifikasi."
"Itu karena Quest Gabungan ibarat pedang bermata dua. Sangat berbahaya, itu kenapa butuh lebih dari satu pengguna sistem. Tapi, itu juga peluang besar buat yang bisa tangkap. Lihat, tujuan quest itu sendiri bisa jadi hadiahmu, belum lagi kau terpapar peluang langka dan berharga lain yang nggak ditempat lain.
"Bisa dibilang, kayak quest lainmu, hadiahmu ditentukan performa. Bedanya cuma kau harus ambil hadiah sendiri. Kalau kau lemah, atau tidak kompeten, keberadaan Quest Gabungan kayak penipuan. Tapi kalau kau memanfaatkan peluangnya sebaik mungkin, kau nggak cuma dapet banyak hadiah tapi bisa bikin aliansi yang langgeng."
Lex nyandung ke belakang dan mikir sebentar, mengibaskan jarinya di kursi saat itu. Tapi kenyataannya dia nggak punya banyak waktu buang, jadi dalam beberapa detik dia sudah kumpulkan pikiran dan lanjut bertanya.
"Notifikasi quest bilang aku harus bawa Kedai Midnight ke tentara bayaran Reaving Dread, dan aku punya satu jam sebelum quest dimulai. Artinya apa? Aku bakal dipaksa teleport ke mana-mana?"
"Justru sebaliknya. Aku rasa ini quest yang nggak harus kamu lakuin sendiri kalau nggak mau. Aku pikir kamu bisa tugaskan staf sebagai kedai pilihanmu untuk dikirim saat quest dimulai.
"Detail spesifik quest masih hilang, dan sangat memungkinkan batasan tambahan berlaku. Misalnya, quest bisa bilang tidak ada immortal yang boleh ikut, atau hanya immortal yang boleh pergi. Batasan bisa bervariasi, tergantung quest spesifik itu sendiri. Batas waktu cuma buat persiapan sebisa mungkin.
"Tapi buat jawab pertanyaan lainmu, aku yakin siapa pun yang kamu tunjuk akan diteleport ke lokasi quest. Maksudnya, karena harus bawa kedai ke lokasi tertentu, pasti harus sampai ke sana irgendwie."
"Bukan cuma ke mana saja. Aku yakin aku harus bawa kedai ke medan perang, dan lindungi tamu sampai mereka pulih. Aku duga akan ada semacam serangan, atau beberapa serangan, sementara mereka istirahat dan pulih. Aku juga duga aku harus melindungi mereka terus menerus selama periode itu."
"Itu nggak kedengarannya pertanyaan," kata Mary.
"Pertanyaannya, bagaimana aku tahu level musuh yang harus dihadapi? Kalau aku nggak tahu itu, gimana aku bisa persiapan?"
Mary cuma memandang Lex — meski sebenarnya dia mungkin cek ke sistem. Setelah beberapa detik dia menggelengkan kepala.
"Kau harus tunggu hingga inisiasi buat dapet detail. Saranku, persiapkan untuk musuh terkuat yang mungkin bisa kau hadapi. Lakukan yang terbaik — dan pikirkan apakah kau mau pergi sendiri, atau kirim orang lain menggantikanmu."
Lex mengibaskan jarinya di mejanya beberapa saat sebelum mengambil keputusan. Tidak ada keraguan atau ruang untuk keluh di benaknya.
Ini cuma satu rintangan lagi di jalannya, dan dia akan hadapi seperti biasa. Dia nggak bisa ngehindari mikir betapa sayangnya Orin nggak tersedia sekarang. Bantuan dia bakal ideal buat desain kedai baru.
Tapi karena dia nggak ada, Lex harus akalin dengan pilihan terbaik berikutnya. Tatapannya tiba-tiba mengarah ke anggota spesifik Midnight Inn — orang yang terlalu lama santai saja.
Dia nggak bisa hindar bertanya-tanya apakah idenya akan jalan.
"Competitive quests? What do you mean?" Lex asked, not liking one bit what Mary was telling him. Fortunately, that was a feature he hadn't unlocked yet, so it wasn't an immediate concern.
"I'm not sure. Information on that isn't shared yet. All I know is that apparently having a decent Joint quest partner can potentially help during competitive quests."
Lex did not immediately respond, and instead leaned back into his chair to think a bit. The information he had was too limited, so he wasn't sure about his speculations. Even so, an image started to appear in his mind about what Joint quests and Competitive quests could mean, and he wasn't liking it one bit.
He could imagine that as systems and system users became stronger, and entered onto the universal stage, the very existence of these two types of quests would dictate alliances and hostilities.
He imagined, for example, if the Artica race and the Versalis bank were led by system users, these two types of quests alone could dictate the actions of these two behemoths, affecting the very way in which the universe develops.
If that was the case, whoever was in control of the systems, deciding on Joint quests or Competitive quests, would automatically gain control and power over a large portion of the universe. They could use the systems to target whoever was not under their influence, and slowly expand their control.
If this were the case, he finally understood why it seemed like the system never wanted anything from him. That was because he himself, under the influence of these two types of quests, would become the resource.
All this assumed that the systems were under someone's control, something he could neither confirm nor deny based on his given situation. More importantly, while he could bluff the rest of the universe with the Innkeeper, he could not bluff his system.
But while such an explanation explained much, and unveiled an insidious plot, it also didn't make sense. Whoever could create the systems which had so much power didn't necessarily need others to help him attain power. Moreover, it would make more sense to give these systems to direct subordinates rather than random strangers across the universe if such a thing was his goal.
Lastly, none of this conjecture fit in with the system's seeming objective of making decisions based on entertainment potential. Lex diverted his attention away from these thoughts. He didn't have the time to focus on other things right now.
"Alright so the Joint quests provide a certain level of protection for all parties involved," Lex said. "Now let's move onto my other questions. I noticed a distinct lack of a quest reward mentioned in the notification."
"That's because the Joint quest is like a double edged sword. It is extremely dangerous, which is why it requires more than one system user in the first place. But, it is also a great opportunity for those who can grasp it. You see, the objective of the quest itself can become your reward, not to mention that you are exposed to numerous other rare and valuable opportunities you cannot find elsewhere.
"You could even say that, just like your other quests, your reward is determined by your performance. The only difference is that you have to go get your rewards yourself. If you are weak, or incompetent, then the existence of Joint quests is like a scam. But if you can make the most of the opportunity it brings, you can not only gain many rewards but you can make lasting alliances as well."
Lex leaned back and thought about the situation a bit, tapping his finger on his chair as he did. But in reality he did not have a lot of time to waste, so in just a few seconds he had already gathered his thoughts and continued to ask questions.
"The quest notification said that I need to bring the Midnight Tavern to the Reaving Dread mercenaries, and that I have one hour before the quest is initiated. What does that mean? Am I going to be forcibly teleported somewhere?"
"On the contrary. I believe this is a quest you don't even necessarily need to do yourself if that's what you wish. I think you can assign staff members as the tavern of your choice to be sent when the quest is initiated.
"The specific details of the quest are still missing, and it is entirely possible that more restrictions come into place. For example, the quest might claim that no immortals can join, or that only immortals can go. The limitations can vary, all depending on the specific quest itself. The time limit is just so you can prepare as much as possible.
"But to answer your other question, I do believe that whoever you designate will be teleported to the site of the quest. I mean, since you have to bring the tavern to a specific location, obviously you're going to have to get there somehow."
"Not just somewhere. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to bring the tavern to a battlefield, and protect the guests until they recover. I expect that there is going to be some kind of attack, or any number of attacks while they rest and recover. I also expect that I'll have to continuously protect them over this period of time."
"That doesn't sound like a question," said Mary.
"The question is, how do I know what level of enemies to expect? If I don't know that, how can I prepare?"
Mary just looked at Lex - although to be fair, she was probably checking in with the system. After a few seconds she shook her head.
"You'll have to wait until the initiation to learn the details. My advice is preparing for the strongest enemies you can possibly contend against. Do your best - and think about whether you want to go yourself, or if you want to send others in your place."
Lex tapped his fingers on his desk for a few moments before coming to a decision. There was no hesitation or room for complaint in his mind.
This was just one more obstacle in his path, and he would handle it like he always had. He couldn't help but think how unfortunate it was that Orin wasn't available right now. His help would have been ideal in designing a new tavern.
But since he wasn't available, Lex had to make do with the next best option. His gaze suddenly turned towards a specific member of the Midnight Inn - one who had taken things easy for way too long.
He couldn't help but wonder if his idea would work.
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