Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Instant Debt, Instant Repayment

I didn't! I'm not! I don't know!

When Mo Tan was pinned to the ground by a surging crowd of people, his mind was completely blank. Setting reality aside, he hadn't done anything heinous in the game, had he? Even if he had... it definitely wouldn't have anything to do with this character, right!?

So, could someone please explain to him what the hell was going on!?

A few seconds later, the receptionist who had processed Mo Tan's paperwork a while back walked gracefully over from the other side of the hall. She crouched in front of him like a delinquent girl, gritted her teeth, and glared at him with a fierce look. "Finally caught you, huh."

"Um..." Mo Tan, pressed to the ground by a towering ogre adventurer and being rubbed against the smooth marble floor, said helplessly, "I think there must be some misunderstanding here."

Indeed, a scene like this—being ganged up on by a crowd—shouldn't have happened to him, at least not to the 'current' Mo Tan. After all, in the game, this [Lawful Good] Mo had never done anything bad. The style of that certain [Chaotic Neutral] personality was absolutely impossible to appear here right now. From any angle, he was a law-abiding citizen.

But now, this law-abiding citizen was pinned to the ground by a bunch of people, and the receptionist sister from the Anka Market Adventurer Branch looked like steam was about to shoot out of her head.

"Misunderstanding?" The receptionist sneered. "Someone's already come knocking on our door, and you're still here talking about misunderstandings?!"

Mo Tan was even more confused. First, he didn't know who had come knocking, and second, he had no idea how this was related to him...

"Tsk, tsk, you'd better come clean now!" The receptionist clicked her tongue and suddenly raised her voice an octave. "Why did you let your dog attack someone?!"

Huh?!

Let his dog attack someone? What dog? Attack who?!

"You don't know?" The receptionist raised an eyebrow, turned her head, and scanned the crowd of onlookers. "You, the big one, yes, you—bring her over!"

...

After a long while, the grim-faced cyclops adventurer returned, pushing a large iron cage fitted with four rollers at the bottom.

And inside that cage was none other than...

"Yaya?!" Mo Tan squinted. Sure enough, there she was—the pointed gray beast ears, the tail drooping listlessly to the side, two sharp little fangs, and a face full of grievance. Wasn't that the dog-eared girl who couldn't even speak Common Language and whose 'woof' still had a bit of an accent?

There even seemed to be some scorch marks on her...

What was she doing here, and why was she locked up?

For some reason, a very familiar feeling suddenly surfaced in Mo Tan's heart. It was the same feeling he got every time he switched back to this state after doing something bad in another (everyone knows which) personality.

Extremely ominous...

"Two nights ago, our branch received two complaints simultaneously." The receptionist sister glanced at Yaya in the large iron cage and said expressionlessly, "The complainants were the publishers of E-Rank Quest No. 17502 and E-Rank Quest No. 10308, Lady Molly and the Guro Couple."

Gulp.

Mo Tan swallowed.

"Woo..." Yaya's ears drooped as well.

"Among them, Lady Molly highly praised our branch because the pest removal quest she issued was completed to a very high degree." The receptionist sister showed a sweet smile. "And she demanded 30 gold coins in compensation."

Mo Tan let out a dry laugh. "Uh, why demand compensation if it was completed so well..."

"Ask your dog," the receptionist sister continued smiling.

Mo Tan turned his gaze to Yaya.

"Um... Woof!" Yaya hugged her knees tightly, her tail drawing circles beside her as she mumbled vaguely, "So many woof... bugs woof! Scared me... a big woof!"

Scared me a big woof, huh.

Mo Tan's comprehension was decent, and he immediately deciphered (no mistake) the meaning behind Yaya's words.

The quest was to remove pests. After being led to the destination, she saw many bugs and got scared a big woof.

"Yeah." The receptionist sister shrugged. "So, startled as she was, for some reason she suddenly began slaughtering... yes, that's what I mean, slaughtering all the bugs, plants, and flowers in Lady Molly's yard, then tore down half her house."

Mo Tan's look at Yaya instantly turned extremely horrified.

"Woof... gu..." The dog-eared girl's tail, which was continuously drawing circles, was almost blurring from the motion.

"Alright." Mo Tan let out a long sigh and looked up. "And then?"

Since she mentioned two complaints, this definitely wasn't over yet...

"Then she dashed to Scented Avenue No. 11, which is the Guro Couple's residence." The receptionist sister said calmly. "It seemed she was looking for you, but you weren't there at the time, so she..."

[No! Don't say it! I don't want to hear it!]

Mo Tan particularly wanted to shout that out loud, but out of some inexplicable guilt in his heart, he obediently continued listening.

"So she casually completed quest No. 10308 for you, which was to 'weed' for the Guro Couple." The receptionist sister shrugged. "She completely plowed their yard flat, including twenty percent weeds and eighty percent precious magical plants. By the way, it seemed she also intended to tear down the Guro Couple's house, but she failed because their steps suddenly exploded. Then those two goblins caught her, interrogated her, and brought her straight to the branch!"

The nearby human axe warrior's legs were trembling like sieves as he said, "Those two goblins were absolutely insane. They nearly blew up our entire branch!"

"Ah well, look on the bright side." A tall Dark Elf thief rolled his eyes. "If people like that became adventurers instead of botanists, would we still have a meal to eat?"

Not far away, the Orc Shaman leaped to his feet and exclaimed in surprise, "So they were botanists! I thought they were both into field engineering!"

"In any case, that's roughly what happened." The Receptionist Sister glared at Mo Tan with a face full of exasperation. "The Guro Couple came here and made a huge scene, demanding an explanation and insisting that the person in charge compensate them with three thousand gold coins. Of course, the actual loss wasn't as much as those two money-grubbing goblins claimed, but it was at least a tenth of that. And then..."

She glanced at Yaya, who was shivering in the cage, and spread her hands. "She has no money."

"Woof..."

Mo Tan suddenly felt a bit of self-contempt, because he realized that just a moment ago, he had actually harbored the thought, 'If only I could get kicked offline right now...'

Indeed...

"So, based on the extensive information provided by witnesses near Yangchao Avenue, as well as the adventurers who saw the two of you at the branch entrance back then." The Receptionist Sister handed a piece of paper to Mo Tan. "And combined with the fact that this half-orc girl helped you complete your quest, you, who are tentatively recognized as her keeper, are required to pay a total of 340 gold coins in compensation and 90 copper coins for food expenses. This girl really can eat quite a bit."

Mo Tan's vision went dark... He failed; in the game, he couldn't faint.

"I..." Mo Tan sighed. "I don't have that much money either."

"You can pay within three days." The Receptionist Sister shrugged. "After all, the Adventurer's Guild does carry some weight. Of course, you can also disassociate yourself from this matter, since it was this girl who went crazy at the time."

By then, the surrounding crowd had already released Mo Tan and pulled him up from the ground.

Yaya let out a confused whimper from inside the cage.

"But she will be stripped of her adventurer qualifications and added to the blacklist of most neutral organizations on the continent." The Receptionist Sister reached into the cage, patted Yaya's head, and said with a bitter smile, "Life will surely be very difficult for her from now on..."

"Woof?"

"Be good, I'll give you a big bone to gnaw on later."

"Woof!"

Mo Tan was speechless for about two seconds, then nodded readily. "I understand. I'll find a way within these three days. If I still can't scrape together enough money by the end, I'm willing to accept all the consequences on her behalf."

The math was simple. He was, after all, a player. Even if this matter led to some very unfavorable outcomes, it was still far better than Yaya, an NPC, losing her footing in this world.

One had to know that a large number of institutions, such as the Adventurer's Guild, Mercenary Guild, Thieves' Guild, and Mage Guild, all belonged to the 'Neutral Organizations.' Once someone ended up on that so-called 'Blacklist,' the consequences for a native of the Innocent Continent were obvious.

So Mo Tan took the matter upon himself without a moment's hesitation.

At the same time...

[You have triggered the event quest: Repay Debt. Reward: 500 Optional Experience, one random Fine equipment. Failure penalty: -5000 reputation with all Neutral Organizations except Celestial Pillar Mountain.]

Mo Tan didn't need to look to know that the quest content was naturally to repay Yaya's debt of 340 gold coins and 90 copper coins within three days.

Although the failure penalty felt like it had hit the ceiling, this matter couldn't be said to be entirely unrelated to him. Mo Tan was quite open-minded about it, and he began mentally calculating whether there was a way to come up with this huge sum through legitimate means.

Speaking of which, did this world even have lottery tickets or anything like that...

"Alright, then it's settled." The Receptionist Sister's gaze toward Mo Tan softened considerably. She lightly tapped the iron cage beside her twice, and the iron bars in front of Yaya vanished instantly.

"Woof!" The girl slipped out in a flash, then quickly ran behind Mo Tan, muttering in a low voice, "Woof sorry, for... causing you... trouble woof..."

Yeah, that was adorable.

The few single men watching nearby nearly had their eyes pop out.

"Come to the Branch to pay within three days," the Receptionist Sister instructed Mo Tan, then lowered her voice: "I've left a few quests for you. Though time is a bit tight, if you push yourself, it might not be impossible to complete them. The rewards are pretty good."

Mo Tan could only smile bitterly and nod in thanks, but he couldn't muster any joy in his heart...

After all, that guy Dave hadn't received his due judgment yet. When the time came, he'd have to switch characters to deal with that matter. Trying to have the best of both worlds was nearly impossible.

But there was no choice here. After all, giving him three days was already quite generous. He couldn't abandon Yaya, nor could he let Dave off without punishment, so...

"I'll do my best," Mo Tan said with a wry smile. "I'll pay back as much as I can."

However...

"No need." A sharp voice rang out from the entrance of the first-floor hall: "We'll pay those gold coins."

[You have completed the quest: Repay Debt. Obtained 500 Optional Experience. Obtained equipment: White Lion Round Shield.]

Huh!?

Mo Tan was completely stunned!

Not just him, but even the Receptionist Sister in front of him and the onlookers around were all shocked.

The crowd parted slightly, and three Forest Spirits that looked like green stick figures walked over. The one in front came straight up to Mo Tan and nodded in greeting: "We never had the chance to thank you in person, and we didn't know how to repay you for saving our caravan. Let us cover this sum."

The Forest Spirit Merchant Caravan!

Mo Tan immediately realized what was happening, but he waved his hand at once: "I couldn't possibly accept that."

He wasn't just putting on airs; he genuinely felt he hadn't done anything particularly remarkable before, and having them pay this "huge sum" on his behalf made him feel uneasy.

"It's nothing." The Forest Spirit with a long beard like a bundle of leeks seemed to smile. "It was just a small favor."

With that, he took a green fruit from one of his kin behind him and handed it to the receptionist sister, who was busy staring off into space, saying softly, "This Jade-Luster Fruit should be enough to offset our friend's debt, shouldn't it?"

His tone was as calm as could be, as lavish as could be...

Although he couldn't see the item description, Mo Tan's intuition told him this thing was definitely valuable.

"Enough, enough." The sister's hand traced an afterimage through the air, and the fruit, which was constantly emitting a refreshing fragrance, disappeared into her pocket. Then she said with an awkward smile, "But we can't make change!"

Well, I've taken the thing anyway, and now I can't make change—what do you want to do about it...

The Forest Spirit, however, shook his head nonchalantly: "That's fine, but could you arrange a quiet room for us? There are some things we'd like to discuss with this friend before we leave."

"Room 7 on the third floor, the VVVIP Room, is currently vacant." The sister's smile was as sweet as could be: "Available anytime for our generous... esteemed guests~"

If Mo Tan weren't in such a good mood right now, he would definitely have started complaining!

"Woof..." Yaya timidly tugged at Mo Tan's clothes, muttering, "Woof wants... to follow..."

Mo Tan was stunned for a moment, then turned around... and looked down at the Forest Spirit who seemed to hold some status.

"No problem." The other nodded: "With this level of language function, the possibility of leaking secrets is basically eliminated."

Yaya: "Woof?"

Mo Tan: "..."

Two minutes later, Room 7 on the third floor of the Adventurer Branch in Anka Market, the VVVIP Room.

"Allow me to introduce myself." The Forest Spirit, having just settled down (by jumping onto a chair), slightly bowed to Mo Tan and said, "My name is Broken Branch · Xuan Yuan, one of the elders of my clan, and the leader of this merchant caravan."

Broken Branch Xuan Yuan, huh...

Mo Tan certainly wouldn't make such a remark at a time like this. Instead, he politely returned the bow (following suit was always safe): "My name is Mo. Thank you for your generous help."

He didn't say any unnecessary words. Since the other party insisted on helping, being overly sentimental would be pointless.

"Actually, it's like this." Elder Broken... Branch didn't beat around the bush at all, cutting straight to the point: "I have a presumptuous request..."

Chapter 36: The End