"First thing you need to know is, this quest is not something you can just waltz into. It is pretty difficult, mostly because only about five players have ever completed this quest as a whole."
Alex was the first to speak, his hand resting right under his jaw as he laid out the situation.
Then Leo followed up immediately after.
"The only reason I got this information to begin with was that I had to pay quite a huge sum of money to one of the players who completed the quest. So please, keep this a secret."
Kai, with his hands folded, stared at the group as they spoke.
'I see. So it is one of those things.'
He slightly tilted his head to the side, processing the information.
'It is not a new thing for open-world games to drop hidden maps and quests every once in a while. Considering how massive this exact game is, I would be surprised if there wasn't any to begin with. As a beta tester, I can say I am aware of this.'
Then he tilted his head to the other side, narrowing his eyes slightly.
'But then, why would they be choosing to tell me this? This is one of those things you keep to yourself until you have completely milked the shit out of it. Am I missing something here? Sure, they can make the argument that they need my help, but surely that can't be it. They just met me today after all.'
"So are you in? I don't know about you, but this is a pretty good deal," the Archer spoke from the far back of the seat.
Kai changed his seating position, leaning more comfortably into the chair.
"I humbly refuse."
"What?"
The team was surprised, shocked even. Kai has just accepted to help a few moments ago.
Most newbie players would have immediately jumped in on the offer if it came down to it. At face value, it did seem like free money if anything.
And yet, this particular newbie was rejecting their offer without a second thought.
Kai didn't seem phased by the look on their faces; in fact, he somewhat welcomed it as it only further proved his suspicion.
"As you can see, I am still a noob."
He pointed towards the upper side of his head, where he was sure the others could see his stats displayed.
"Someone like me can't hope to stand a chance against a level 56 boss. I am afraid I will only hold you down. And I refuse to die as well, so I am afraid I won't be joining you on this raid."
This was part of his calculated disguise. In addition to Kai changing Lyra's dress in order to fit in with the crowd, he also had to do the same to their general stats.
Upon seeing their true numbers, anyone would immediately tell they were not normal.
After all, having a Level 999 monster roaming about the street was the last thing anyone wanted to see in a starter town.
Luckily, he was able to hide their true nature by acquiring the [Status Hack] blessing from the dungeon.
This ability basically allowed him to manipulate the visual display of his stats and his subordinate's as he wished, but without it affecting their main attributes or actual power.
However, there was a catch. He could only change a single thing, which was their levels. Their health bar and every other thing was not something he could mess with visually.
Which led to him having to hide it completely.
Lyra being a Level 19 and having an HP bar of 900,000 was straight-up no different from her real level being exposed. It would raise too many questions.
So as the group looked up at Kai's stats, all they saw was a manipulated profile.
[Kai.
Health: [----]
Level: 23.]
Unlike everyone else who had their health number glowing at the side of their health bar, Kai chose to hide his.
This was pretty normal for most players to do, usually to hide their build type in PVP.
Besides, Kai had no health bar. Hiding it was much better than people having to see the confusing question mark that appeared every time they looked at him.
"You would still refuse to join us, even though we are offering to carry you?" Sofia chimed in, a soft, pleading look on her face.
'It is more like I would rather do a quest on my own than have to watch my back with these guys around. How exactly do I tell them that politely?'
Kai calmed himself before responding.
"That is correct."
The silence after was heavy. They all had their eyes on Kai, their expressions shifting to anger mixed with a bit of rage.
Lyra still remained silent at the side, slowly chowing down on the food that was right in front of her, completely ignoring the tension.
After realizing that the situation was going nowhere and they couldn't convince him, Alex finally spoke.
"Sofia, remove him from the party."
"H-hai."
Sofia began to move her fingers, bringing up the status view right in front of her gaze.
[Would you like to remove Kai and Lyra from the party?]
She clicked on yes.
Immediately, the notification showed up right in front of Kai and Lyra respectively.
[You have been kicked from the party.]
A somewhat relieved smile played on Kai's face in that moment.
'Yes!'
He slowly stood to his feet, Lyra following after him instantly.
"Thank you so much for your hospitality."
With that, he turned around and walked away from the table.
The group remained seated on the chair, glaring hard at his fleeting form as he exited the tavern.
...
'Jackpot!!!'
Kai had a satisfied look on his face as he walked down the pavement, the crowds of people murmuring as they passed his ears.
'I didn't think they would give up that easily, but they did. Good. All the more win for me. 800,000 cens, eh? If I had that much with me, I could easily start up my own guild without any stress.'
He uttered the words cravingly to himself.
For starters, even before Alex told him about the secret quest in Ramosa, he was already aware of its existence.
Being a beta tester in his past life—or at least retaining the knowledge of one—he had often gotten into other starter towns and realized they all followed a pattern.
They all had the same time windows and locations where their secret quests would take place.
If anything, he was surprised that Alex's group knew about it.
It would have most likely been another beta tester that informed them about it for some fat cash, just like Leo mentioned.
Either way, he figured there was no reason for him to join with them when he could get it done by himself.
'Besides, who is to say they won't sly me at the end? It is better to play it safe than sorry.'
He turned to look at Lyra. She had been quiet the entire time, following a step behind him.
"We are going to hunt for a threat. If you are not in fighting shape, do not hesitate to tell me."
Those were his words to her.
Lyra looked at him, bowed her head, and responded with fervor.
"It would be an honor to kill your enemies. I wish to serve, please let me."
'With Lyra, I can end this quest fast and return to the dungeon. But first, I do believe I have to apply for being an adventurer before I can partake in it.'
....
[A\N]
I understand the confusion, author this is different from what you did before, and why did you delete six entire chapters.
How do I explain it was done by accident? After I had written this particular chapter, I managed to get the deleted chapters back with some help.
The issue here is, I already planned out the arc following this new one. So here is the thing, are you happy with this chapter and should I go with it?or would you rather the old one.