The next day went by not too different from the first, if one ignored the part where the targets had upgraded from redrats to grassmonkeys.
Slash!
Jimmy cut down a grassmonkey.
Bobby sat down on the grass behind him, a little out of breath.
"Is that the last one?"
"Should be."
Jimmy eyed his quest window.
Kill 10 C-tier Monsters [5/10]
Reward: Mystery Gift Box
In Monster Hunters 5, monsters were separated into ranks.
An F-tier monster could be fought off by a child.
An E-tier would probably need an adult with a weapon.
A D-tier like a redrat would require at least a novice hunter to take down.
And a C-tier grassmonkey? Better left to a hunter whose ink on their license had time to dry. Not an ordinary student for sure.
That didn't stop Jimmy. He had just taken down five of them. Even Bobby didn't complain, granted, after surviving the tussle with the B-tier badwolf the day before.
Jimmy kept moving along, looking for C-tiers, although most of what they'd faced off against so far were packs and swarms of D-tier monsters that didn't count for his quest.
Bobby's arms were sore from all the dodging and stabbing.
He looked over at Jimmy.
"Bro, I think we've gotten pretty strong. Don't you think we could defeat Linda and Jacob now?"
Jimmy paused for a moment.
He glanced at his status screen.
Jimmy Lin
Level 5
And then at Bobby's.
Bobby Chen
Level 4
The experience burst the badwolf had given them was a stroke of luck.
Unfortunately, leveling still meant grinding, even for the former Heaven-Slaying Sword King.
Jacob and Linda were by no means experienced hunters.
But their families had likely gone all out on resources and training for them.
From what he'd heard by asking around, Jimmy had a pretty good idea of their strength.
Put in Monster Hunters 5 terms, they were likely around level 8 or 9.
A huge leap above his own, but not so much that he couldn't make up for the difference with pure gamer skill.
Skill that he'd gained over one too many late-night binges that not only earned him a scolding from his mother, but also from his teachers who grew ever more distraught by his exceptional ability to sleep through entire lectures.
Jimmy turned back to Bobby.
"Don't worry fatty, we're almost there. Just need to knock out a couple more of these XP machines and we're good. Get up."
Bobby begrudgingly stood up.
The two of them continued up the hill, as sounds of scraping and slashing were heard from far below, where Mako and Dren stood guard.
They were pretty good at their jobs. Their ugly faces alone were enough to make passing hunters choose a different area for today.
And the occasional ones that weren't discouraged were met with a round of harassment and intimidation. More than any novice hunter could take.
Meanwhile, the boys focused on getting stronger for the quickly approaching competition.
"Hah!" the fatty swung at the monster, guiding it towards Jimmy who stood on the other side waiting.
The grassmonkey did not come straight.
It never did.
It feinted left, flung a fistful of loose dirt with its back foot, and sprang toward Bobby's exposed side with both claws out.
Yesterday, he would have frozen.
Today, he made an ugly sound, stepped outside the claw line, and jabbed the cracked wooden practice blade into the monster's shoulder hard enough to ruin its leap.
One breath.
Two.
Three.
More than enough.
Jimmy's blade swooped in and severed the beast in two.
Bobby knelt down to collect the spoils.
Quest Complete!
[Open Mystery Gift Box]
Jimmy looked to his right to see the panel.
He clicked the button to accept, and a musical chime played.
With a flash of light, the box on screen opened, and out came a scroll.
The text above it read:
Flash Step
Jimmy smiled.
Flash Step was a mid-level skill, too good for him at this stage.
It was certainly one of the better items that a mystery box could drop.
A powerful skill on its own, though the Heaven-Slaying Sword King knew of a way to make it even better.
Bobby was shaken and out of breath.
He looked over at Jimmy.
"Bro, are we done yet?"
Jimmy let out a slight grin.
"Yep, we're done here."
But the mystery box had not been the only reason Jimmy chose this corner of Greenhide Thicket.
Before leaving the hunting ground, he walked to a mossy old stump near the slope, crouched, and pushed aside a curtain of thornroots. Something green glimmered in the dirt beneath them.
Bobby leaned over his shoulder.
"Is that treasure?"
"More like a special kind of curse."
Jimmy hooked two fingers beneath the roots and drew out a jade pendant. It was cold, smooth, and marked with a faint branch-shaped engraving.
Bobby stared at it.
"Bro, are we going to sell that too?"
"No."
"Why?"
Jimmy smiled.
"It's a non-tradeable item."
Bobby stared, confused.
After they left the hunting ground, Jimmy dumped the rest of the spoils with Bobby and the other two, and had them carry it back to base.
He had something more important to do.
Jimmy walked through the city streets without giving off too much of a presence.
He turned a corner.
Then another.
Walked down an alley.
Climbed a gate.
Slid down a hill.
Until finally, he was at a little shack on the corner of town.
He knocked twice on the shabby, splintering wooden door.
No answer.
He knocked again.
Still nothing.
He reached to knock again when suddenly the door opened, revealing an old woman of short stature, hunched back and holding her cane like it was a weapon.
"Go away! I don't want whatever it is you're selling." She let out, before exhaling and preparing to close the door.
Jimmy slid his foot in just a hair, stopping the door.
"Ma'am, don't worry. I'm not here to sell you anything," he said with his most reassuring smile.
He pulled out a jade pendant from his pocket, with an engraving of some sort, and held it up.
"I'm a hunter. I found this in the woods and thought it might belong to you."
The old woman's eyes widened.
Then narrowed.
"What do you want?"
Jimmy leaned forward.
"May I come in?"
The woman paused for a moment before turning around and slowly walking inside, her cane tapping the ground with her step.
Jimmy smiled. It was all going according to plan.
Rashtalika was a hidden NPC in Monster Hunters 5. Her quest was difficult to get, and needed a lot of conditions to be fulfilled, earning it the frustration of many pro players, who collectively gave her the nickname "Gatekeeping Granny".
Once the method was leaked, Jimmy was among the first players to complete it. He knew the quest like the back of his hand.
Of course, that included the shortcuts and exploits that he'd found himself.
The inside of the cottage was worn and shabby. Jimmy found a seat by the mantle.
The old lady was already sitting across from him with a slightly irritated expression.
"I'm not serving tea."
"Don't worry miss, I'm not here for tea."
He placed the pendant on the table.
"All I wanted was to make sure this was yours."
The woman eyed him.
Jimmy cleared his throat. With his most sincere expression, he continued.
"If it's alright with you, would you mind telling me more about this jade?"
The old lady paused for a moment.
Then slowly started speaking.
"That is my family's heirloom... It was passed down to me by the Graymoore Zhang family."
Jimmy showed a slight, calculated surprise.
"Graymoore Zhang, I feel like I've heard that name before somewhere."
The woman squinted her eyes for a moment, then turned her head.
Jimmy gasped, putting his hands together.
"Oh, that's right! Isn't that the family of Official Zhang in the City Council?"
"Yes... the Zhang you are speaking of is my son."
"Then you are-"
"Rashtalika Zhang"
Jimmy cupped his palms to his mouth.
"Such a respectable person. I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to be living-"
He paused for a moment, expecting the lady to continue.
"Yes... I know. I've raised an unfilial son."
Jimmy lowered his eyes.
Not too low.
Too much pity failed the branch. Too little respect failed the branch. Asking directly about the son failed the branch so hard Rashtalika threw the pendant at the player's head and refused to speak for three in-game days.
Jimmy had learned this route the ugly way.
He continued.
"They say the rivers have eyes and mountains have ears. In this world, what kind of son abandons his mother and dares to stand without shame?"
The old lady's fingers stopped moving on her cane.
Good.
Correct branch.
Rashtalika lowered her gaze.
"The kind who discovered that shame weighs less than an official's seal."
Jimmy straightened slightly.
"Heaven's judgement begins at the ancestral hall. A man who casts aside his elders cannot hide his shame beneath an official's robe."
The old woman studied him for a long moment.
"You have a slippery mouth for a child."
"Thank you."
Her eyes narrowed.
Jimmy reached into his jacket and placed a small paper bundle beside the jade pendant.
Rashtalika did not touch it.
"What is that?"
"Wintermint tea from Auntie Marn's stall. Wrapped twice."
The old woman stared at the bundle.
Jimmy smiled politely.
In Monster Hunters 5, most players found out about the tea after an hour of searching, four failed conversations, and one unnecessary argument with a vegetable seller who knew too much about everybody's family problems.
Jimmy had brought it before knocking.
Rashtalika's expression became more suspicious.
"Who sent you?"
"No one."
"Who told you I drink this?"
"A good hunter investigates."
That was technically true.
It just skipped over the part where the investigation had happened in another world, on a forum post titled Gatekeeping Granny Full Clear Guide - No Council Bribe Route.
Rashtalika picked up the tea bundle and smelled it.
Her face remained stern.
Her fingers, however, held the paper a little more carefully.
"You found my pendant in the woods," she said.
"Yes."
"You returned it out of kindness."
"Yes."
"And you brought my favorite tea because you are thoughtful."
"Yes."
"Yet you placed the jade with your left hand."
Jimmy paused.
The guide had not mentioned hands.
Of course it hadn't.
In the game, players clicked.
Jimmy's smile twitched.
Small mistake.
An acceptable loss.
"In my defense, most heirlooms don't complain."
"The living complain. The dead remember."
She tapped the pendant once with one crooked finger.
"If you want to speak of ancestral halls, child, then go to one. Take this jade to the Graymoore hall before sunset. Place it before the tablets with your right hand, burn three sticks of incense, and recover what is hidden beneath the third kneeling stone."
Jimmy's eyes sharpened.
There it was.
The real branch.
"What is hidden there?"
Rashtalika's mouth curled.
"The reason boys with fast feet live long enough to become men."
Hidden Quest Triggered
Graymoore Zhang: The Root Before The Branch
Return Rashtalika Zhang's jade pendant to the Graymoore ancestral hall before sunset.
Condition: Do not let the pendant fall into Official Zhang's hands.
Reward: Graymoore Step Foundation
Jimmy grinned. He knew what was next.
After saying goodbye to the old lady, he headed straight to the quest location.
On the way, he stopped at a roadside stall and bought three sticks of incense.
"For your family?" the stall owner asked.
"Temporarily," Jimmy said.
The stall owner stared, confused.
Jimmy paid before the question could become a conversation.
The Graymoore ancestral hall sat in the old north district, tucked behind a closed herb market and a row of shuttered medicine shops. Its outer wall was gray brick, old enough that the moss had given up trying to look decorative and simply claimed ownership.
A city notice had been nailed across the front gate.
CLOSED FOR OFFICIAL RENOVATION
BY ORDER OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Two men stood beneath it.
They were not city guards. City guards wore uniforms, carried themselves with official boredom, and usually had at least one reason to pretend they cared about the law.
These men had short clubs, cheap leather armor, and the kind of relaxed confidence that came from borrowing someone else's authority.
Official Zhang's hands, then.
Wonderful.
Jimmy looked at the front gate.
Then at the wall.
Then at the two men again.
The quest condition was very clear.
Do not let the pendant fall into Official Zhang's hands.
Walking up to Official Zhang's men while carrying the pendant was the sort of plan Bobby would find brilliant.
Thus, it was better not to drag him along here.
If that fatty saw an ancestral tablet in the dark, he would apologize to it loudly enough to alert three generations of the dead.
Jimmy went around the back.
In Monster Hunters 5, the Graymoore hall had three entry routes.
The front gate required reputation.
The roof required a movement skill.
The side wall required knowing that one very specific brick was decorative, because apparently the Graymoore Zhang family had built their ancestral dignity on a secret hole beside the drainage ditch.
Players had complained about that for weeks.
Jimmy had complained while using it.
The roof route finally belonged to him now.
Jimmy waited until both hired men turned toward the street, arguing with a passing cart driver about whether "official renovation" included blocking half the road.
Then he moved.
Flash Step
One breath took him from the shadow of the side wall to the top of the outer roof.
The tiles accepted his weight with one soft click.
Jimmy crouched there, perfectly balanced, and let himself enjoy it for half a second.
No lag.
No recoil.
No awkward reminder that his current body was still playing catch-up with his old instincts.
Good.
Very good.
He crossed the roofline low and silent, dropped into the inner courtyard, and landed behind a rain barrel with barely a sound.
Ahead waited the Graymoore ancestral hall.
Dust lay over the courtyard stones. Weeds pushed up between old cracks. The main hall's doors were shut but not locked, which was worse than a lock. Locks were honest. An unlocked door in a quest meant the danger was polite enough to invite you in first.
Jimmy stepped inside.
The air changed.
Outside, the city made its usual noise. Wheels on stone. Vendors shouting. Someone arguing over the price of dried roots.
Inside, everything sounded covered.
Rows of ancestral tablets watched from the far wall. The offering table stood beneath them, dark wood polished by age and neglect. An incense burner sat in the center, full of old ash.
Jimmy took out the jade pendant.
This time, he used his right hand.
He placed it before the tablets, set three sticks of incense into the burner, and lit them with the cheap sparkstick the stall owner had thrown in after deciding not to ask follow-up questions.
The smoke rose thin and straight.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then a panel appeared.
Offering Rite Accepted
Jimmy smiled.
Good.
He turned toward the kneeling stones.
There were nine in front of the offering table, arranged in three rows of three. Flat gray slabs worn smooth by knees that had bowed there long before Official Zhang learned how useful an official seal could be.
Rashtalika had said the third kneeling stone.
Most players counted from the door.
Most players were wrong.
That was why most players got hit in the face by the floor.
Jimmy crouched and brushed dust away from the nearest stone.
One stroke.
Second stroke.
And then another.
A thin line appeared beneath the dust, carved so shallow that only someone looking for it would notice.
Not a number.
A branch mark.
The Graymoore main line started at the right.
Of course it did.
Ancient families loved nothing more than making "three" an argument of tradition.
Jimmy counted properly, stepped where the old route said to step, and did not step where the game had taught careless people to die.
The hall remained silent.
Which, in a hidden quest, meant he was winning.
Probably.
The third kneeling stone did not move when he first pressed it.
Jimmy frowned.
He pressed again.
Nothing.
He looked at the incense.
Then at the jade.
Then at his hand.
Right hand for placing.
Left hand for taking would have been the easy assumption.
Too easy.
Rashtalika's voice echoed in his memory.
The living complain. The dead remember.
Jimmy sighed.
"Fine," he whispered. "Respectfully, then."
He knelt.
Not fully.
He had limits.
But he lowered himself enough that his knees touched the stone, bowed once toward the tablets, and pressed both palms to the slab.
The stone clicked.
Jimmy's smile returned.
Correct branch.
From the front gate, a man's voice drifted faintly through the walls.
"Did someone light incense?"
Jimmy looked toward the door as the stone beneath his knees began to sink.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
Because naturally, the ancient mechanism had chosen this moment to develop dramatic timing.
Outside, the same voice spoke again.
"I smell incense."
Another man answered, "It's an ancestral hall. It's supposed to smell like incense."
"But it's closed."
"Maybe the ancestors didn't read the notice."
Jimmy decided he liked the second guy better.
The kneeling stone sank the last inch and slid aside.
Beneath it lay a narrow wooden case wrapped in old gray cloth.
Jimmy took it.
The moment his fingers closed around the case, the stone began to move back.
The hall door creaked.
Jimmy tucked the case under his arm, stepped backward across the old pattern, and ducked behind the offering table just as the door opened.
One guard stuck his head inside.
Jimmy held still.
The man squinted at the incense.
Then at the tablets.
Then at the empty hall.
For one uncomfortable moment, his gaze almost reached the offering table.
The second man called from outside, "You find the ghost?"
"Shut up."
"Ask it if renovations are on schedule."
The first man glared back over his shoulder.
Jimmy moved.
Just one quiet shift of weight, one breath, one foot placed where the old floor wanted it. He slipped from behind the table to the side aisle while the man was busy being annoyed.
Flash Step
The man turned back.
The hall was still empty.
"Nothing," he muttered.
He left and pulled the door shut behind him.
Jimmy waited until the footsteps faded.
Then he allowed himself one silent laugh.
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
He opened the wooden case.
Inside was a thin manual, three dark ankle cords, and a strip of black metal no longer than his finger.
The manual's cover was cracked with age, but the title remained clear.
Graymoore Step Foundation
The panel appeared.
Hidden Quest Complete
Graymoore Zhang: The Root Before The Branch
Reward Acquired: Graymoore Step Foundation
Another panel followed.
Flash Step Enhancement Route Opened
Jimmy exhaled slowly.
Good.
That was the thing he had come for.
He reached for the manual.
Then stopped.
The black metal strip was wrong.
Not wrong as in suspicious.
Wrong as in present.
It had not been in Monster Hunters 5. Not in the hidden route. Not in the leaked guide. Not in the bugged version where the quest reward duplicated if a player dropped the pendant and picked it up during the second incense tick.
Jimmy would know.
He had tested that bug fourteen times.
For science.
His fingers brushed the metal.
The system window flickered.
Not opened.
Flickered.
Like something behind it had noticed him.
A new line appeared beneath the completed quest.
Legacy Route Fragment Detected
The ancestral hall went colder.
The third kneeling stone clicked again.
Something beneath the hidden compartment began to open.
His eyebrows rose.
Then, slowly, the corners of his mouth turned upward.
The air the next day was different.
As Bobby walked to class, whispers followed him through the hall.
Not loud enough for a teacher to call out.
Loud enough that every laugh felt aimed at the back of his head.
A bit on edge, he plopped down into his seat and let out a deep breath.
He tried his best to shut out the subtle gazes and whispers.
The first bell rang, and Jimmy was still not here.
That the boy who had gotten him into this mess would oversleep the day of it was by no means reassuring.
Linda and Jacob, for their part, seemed fairly unbothered.
They carried on as usual, chatting and laughing with their friends, their demeanor showing no hint of concern.
It was as if the whole thing was some silly farce that would be over tomorrow, maybe even serving as a slight stepping stone for their reputations.
Meanwhile, the unease in Bobby's stomach made him want to run away.
The homeroom teacher, Ms. Selser, entered the room and placed her bag on the table, trying to get the class to settle down.
The rest of the day did not fly by.
It dragged itself over Bobby one period at a time.
Every time a door opened, he looked up.
Every time it was not Jimmy, his stomach sank a little lower.
By final period, when everyone walked outside and gathered in the athletic field, Bobby felt wrung out before the match had even begun.
The stands were packed with students not just from Bobby's class, not even just from his year. There were too many people to count.
The rumor had spread far enough to draw students who wanted to witness the talented heirs of Farris and Wilfrey face off against two losers.
Bobby gulped.
Mr. Windham sat at a table on the edge of the field, just below the stands, with the slightly perturbed expression of a man whose simple assessment had somehow become a public spectacle. He checked his watch.
Linda and Jacob took their places on the other side of the marked-off field while Bobby kept looking around nervously.
Jimmy was still nowhere to be seen.
"Ha, did that trash seriously skip school to spare himself the public humiliation?" Linda laughed. "I guess you're on your own, tubby."
Mr. Windham started tapping his desk as he checked his watch again.
"Mr. Chen, where is Mr. Lin?" he called out.
Bobby glanced to his left and right, then shrugged helplessly.
If it were possible for Mr. Windham to look more annoyed than before, he would have.
The whispers in the stands grew louder, then broke into occasional small bursts of laughter.
Bobby's neck flushed.
Mr. Windham pushed his chair back slightly.
Before he could stand, a lazily composed James Lin strolled onto the field.
He did not hurry.
He did not apologize.
He crossed the grass with his hands in his pockets, looking less like a student who had arrived late and more like someone the whole field had been waiting for.
The whispers thinned.
Everyone's eyes turned to him.
Jimmy rolled his shoulders and yawned.
For a blink, as his hand lowered, Bobby thought the air beside Jimmy's hand looked cut, a thin black line vanishing before he could focus on it.
Then it was gone.
Relief caught up a heartbeat later. He exhaled, then shot Jimmy a look that said, Where on earth have you been?
Jimmy smirked.