Chapter Twenty: The Forest Is Vast

For nearly two-thirds of his life, Mo Tan has spent his time dealing with trouble. Half of this time, he was the one causing it—trouble for himself, for his friends, for local thugs, for school bullies, for a hacker code-named SUN (real name Mu You, nickname Shuangye), for honest folks, for teachers and classmates, for the local police, for neighborhood committees, and for city management... though the difficulty of that last one seems a bit too high.

Regardless, the label of "troublemaker" has always followed him, most recently contributing to the noble cause of padding the author's word count by forty characters. (The entire preceding paragraph is crossed out.)

What I mean to say is that this behavior doesn’t place much of a burden on him. Whether in terms of quality of life or moral condemnation, the obstacles he has created for others have never affected Mo Tan himself—not even in the slightest.

However, the issue is that during those two-thirds of his life spent dealing with trouble, the other half was dedicated to solving it. Or, to put it another way: he enjoyed helping others.

During this half, as long as the people facing difficulties or crises were not strictly evil or suffering the consequences of their own actions, he was always happy to lend a hand without asking for anything in return, unless that "reward" could make the person feel a little better about themselves.

He might not be kind enough to give a single penny to those lazy, highly skilled, and overly dramatic fake beggars, but he would willingly spend half a day picking up empty bottles and scrap paper with a young boy who relied on recycling, all to avoid bruising a self-esteem that others might deem humble and fragile.

In fact, never satisfied with vague morality or the law, he never felt he represented "justice"—at least not justice in the literal sense—yet he always followed a set of his own principles to help anyone he deemed worthy. This may seem narrow-minded, but it is often more objective than the generalized version of fairness.

"Have you read *A Study in Scarlet*? If that were a true story, I would do everything in my power to help Hope. Perhaps the law wouldn't forgive a murderer, but I would. If the truth meant that a good man would be judged and punished for sending two villains to hell, I would rather help him keep the truth buried forever."

This was something Mo Tan once said to Yi Dong during a chat years ago while in his [Lawful Good] state.

"A very fair trial, but the problem is, the law doesn't offer forgiveness," Yi Dong shrugged. "And a detective's stance is to reveal the truth. Still, I never expected you to say something like that. I thought I already knew you quite well~"

"I know myself even less than you do," Mo Tan replied with a faint smile at the time. "I never harbored any delusions of becoming a judge, nor do I feel I represent justice. I only seek a clear conscience."

Yi Dong stared blankly for a long moment before rolling his eyes. "You know, there is nothing more exhausting in this world than being your friend. You realize that three hours ago, I watched you swap dozens of high school entrance exam reference books in the library for illustrated copies of *Jin Ping Mei*, just for the sake of some 'fun'..."

"I already regret it. That kind of reading material is far too corrupting for teenagers of that age," Mo Tan asked with a helpless, bitter smile. "Would you mind helping me switch them back?"

"Get lost!"

...

In short, despite a detour of over 1,100 words, there is only one point I want to make: Mo Tan, at this moment, feels no dissatisfaction with the rather tedious E-rank quests before him. After all, to him, even a trivial matter like helping an old lady find her beloved cat that went missing two days ago has meaning.

Upholding the justice he understands, standing on the side of the weak, the kind, or the suffering as much as his capabilities allow, and striving only for the fairness in his own eyes—judging those who deserve punishment but are drinking toasts atop the misery of the innocent—that is enough.

Even if the ones he helps are AI, what does it matter? Even if the ones he judges are data, so what? Even if these things are entirely meaningless, what does it matter?

It doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter.

Standing before the quest board in the main lobby of the Adventurers' Guild, Mo Tan spent about ten minutes reading through the hundreds of E-rank quests on the magic crystal screen, feeling that his next period of time would be quite fulfilling.

Assuming he didn't disconnect...

Do not find it incongruous that this world, filled with fantasy elements, has magic crystal screens with "quick quest lookup" functions. After all, while it may not be very scientific, it is at least very magical.

Those settings in worlds filled with swords, battle qi, or spiritual energy—where the big shots, when losing their temper, could annihilate a star in one strike or fly at dozens of times the speed of light in a minute, yet still have to flip through ancient books for half a day and choke on dust just to find a bit of information—those are what you call absurd. That is truly neither scientific, nor magical, nor even very "cultivation-like"...

In short, the detour is over.

After looking through them, Mo Tan didn't rush to accept quests to increase his adventurer rank. Instead, he planned to head back, greet Mag, and ask when the leader of the caravan—the Wood Elf elder who employed the Ground Dragon Mercenary Group—would be available to see him. He wanted to arrange his time as best he could; even if he were to be forcibly disconnected, it shouldn't be too abrupt.

After all, one should try to avoid causing others unnecessary trouble because of oneself.

Unexpectedly, just as he turned to leave, he saw Mag in the distance, accompanied by three other members of the mercenary group: the man with the mustache from that day, the human female mage who specialized in staves and possessed a fine grasp of dragon breath, and the lizardman second-in-command who supposedly owned an Idari musket.

"Hey! Mo! We're over here!" Mag saw Mo Tan as he turned back, waving and laughing. "Come over here!"

Actually, he didn't really need to wave so hard. Although the combination of Mag and his three companions was quite common in the Adventurers' Guild branch, their distinct aura (mostly appearing more reliable than others) made them highly recognizable.

Think about it: in a place filled with elderly novice mages whose staves are liable to explode, thieves who forgot to cut holes in their masks, rangers who buy flash powder mixed with gunpowder in an attempt to make themselves look flashier, and dog-girls who can only bark "woof"... even someone like Mag—an old drunkard with a penchant for melodramatic soaps—could be considered remarkably reliable here.

"Thank goodness you finally woke up," the female mage who had cleared a path for everyone with her dragon breath technique smiled at Mo Tan as he approached. "How do you feel?"

Mo Tan blinked and gestured to his surroundings. "Are you referring to my physical state or this place? The former was fine, but because of the latter, I can only be grateful that I'm still alive..."

He then briefly recounted the "staff explosion" that had occurred not long ago to the curious Mag and his companions, leaving all four of them stunned.

"Tsk tsk..." Mag looked at him and shrugged. "Well, it seems I should have warned you to be careful. The main lobby of every Adventurers' Guild is quite chaotic because the low-level adventurers are always causing trouble. I just didn't expect you to run into something like that. At least you're still alive!"

Kasha, the human female mage nearby, muttered, "I've heard of that guy. His name is Jadk. They say his ancestors were all knights, but he insisted on becoming a mage. He even picked up an antique-level staff from somewhere and claims it's an heirloom. But then again..."

She scratched her cheek thoughtfully, frowning. "They say that guy was quite impressive in his youth, capable of taking down a dozen high-level savage beasts in a minute. Who would have thought he'd still be a novice mage now!"

"Um," the man with the mustache raised his hand. "Interruption—I've never heard of any novice mage capable of taking down that many high-level savage beasts in a minute!"

Kasha rolled her eyes. "He did it by smashing them with his staff. Mo just experienced it—that thing explodes, you know..."

"Wasn't he hurt himself?!" Mo Tan finally couldn't help but ask. "Or does that staff not explode on its owner?"

If that were the case, his act of nearly being blown to bits to save that old man would have been a rather unjust sacrifice.

"That's not it," Kasha shook her head. "They say the staff explodes on everyone."

Mo Tan felt slightly more balanced upon hearing this, but then...

"But he can take it," Kasha continued. "Maybe it's a bloodline thing. Although he's a human like me, with relatively mediocre talent in all areas, I've heard that Jadk's physical constitution is at least on par with a high-level warrior. And despite his extremely poor spellcasting ability, he has a natural affinity for the fire element. While it hasn't helped his mage career much, it does grant him a certain resistance to fire elements. So... sigh... if he had focused on being a knight or a warrior, he would probably be a Great Adventurer by now."

By the time she finished, Mo Tan had turned completely pale...

So, the white-bearded old man wielding a staff like a siege hammer, the wooden puppet Pinocchio with maxed-out sniper skills, the skeleton who looks like a lich but is actually a succubus, and the tauren machine gunner—these aren't performance art, but reality!?

Mo Tan felt as if he could hear his worldview shattering into pieces...

"Damn it!" Mag sat stunned for a long while before grumbling, "This world is so dangerous."

However, Mo Tan had already quickly adjusted his mood and changed the subject. "By the way, Mag, you came at a good time. I was just about to go back and ask you when that Wood Elf elder wants to see me..."

"Heaven knows," Mag shook his large head like a rattle. "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. I might be a bit busy, so I wanted to give you a heads-up so you wouldn't have trouble finding me."

The second-in-command finally found an opportunity to interject, laughing in the broken Common tongue characteristic of lizardmen: "That's fine. We'll be staying in the city for a few days anyway. It's good for you to find something to pass the time. There's no rush with the caravan; Wood Elves are all slow-paced~"

"That's settled then. We'll be heading off," Mag let out a burp and waved his hand. "E-rank quests aren't hard. We'll be staying in the same place for the next few days; just find me or the other three if you need anything."

Mo Tan quickly agreed. After Mag and his group headed toward the nearby mercenary guild, he turned and walked back to the window he had been at before, only to find the staff had changed.

"Hello, how may I help you?" A polite half-elf bowed to Mo Tan. Their demeanor and professional air were from an entirely different dimension compared to the young woman from before.

Mo Tan didn't mind; shift changes in a place like this were perfectly normal. Just like that one time he exploited a loophole in a bank...

Better not talk about it. He was rather resistant to memories in that regard; after all, he was the one who did all the good and bad deeds, and thinking too much about it usually led to depression.

"I'd like to accept a few quests." Mo Tan showed the adventurer's manual he had just received and read off a string of numbers. "The codes are 10308, 53267, and 44759."

The receptionist paused for a moment, then picked up the magic board at hand, looking a bit embarrassed. "Could you please repeat that?"

Mo Tan slowed down and repeated them. He realized that he had been taking things for granted. For those who hadn't undergone specialized training in instantaneous memory and temporary transcription, projecting what they heard into their minds and completing shorthand notes was a very difficult task.

Without targeted practice, it was nearly impossible for an NPC with an intelligence stat of around 40 in the game.

"Right, weeding for the Gulo couple in the South District, collecting soil samples outside the market for the alchemist Dumen, and... uh... inquiring about the likes or interests of Lady Heatblast." After confirming, the half-elf receptionist verified, "All are two-day quests, accepting all of them at once, is that correct?"

Mo Tan confirmed. He had already weighed his options; these three quests were currently the most suitable for him. They had no overly strict time limits (like watching a stall), and no chance of him accidentally triggering something that would cause him to shift personalities due to anxiety (like babysitting a brat whose parents were away). Furthermore, the rewards were quite good.

Ten minutes later, Mo Tan, having finished his quest registration, walked out of the Pioneer's Gate, ready to head to his first quest location. Before he could even align the map he had memorized with the scenery in his field of vision, he felt someone gently tugging at his sleeve.

He looked back... Oh, quite familiar.

"Woof~~~"

Chapter 20: End