Chapter 4: Chapter 3: “Favorability”

[Book of Languages, Unique, Bound - Boost quest rewards, Boost NPC relationship point gain, Boost EXP gain for skills classified under [Language]]

All support boosts and no details on the ATK status, the same as the accessory version the wiki and forum had described. Was this some kind of bug? Should he send in a support ticket and report it?

Ai held the book up to his face to examine the object in question. 

It looked exactly like how the wiki described it. A simple leather cover book. There were faded etchings on the cover with a faded gold color and no title. There seemed to be an image on the cover but it was much too faded. When he opened the pages, there were writings on it but like the cover, it was very faded to read and understand. 

What on earth was he supposed to do with this? 

For now, he placed the book back to his side and got up. He dusted his pants and began to walk. The first thing he needed to do was get out of the forest and maybe find the quest to kick off the main quest of the game. 

Ai didn’t research as far as quest contents and the best way they should be completed. He took note of important quest titles but didn’t see the story. Though he liked to be prepared when playing games, he didn’t like to spoil himself with the story and how it would end. [World Symphony] had a very vast lore depth. Players could basically decide what they want to do and it wasn’t much of an impossibility to say that ‘no two players will experience the same story’. So it was almost impossible anyway to find out more about the story by reading the wiki and the forums.

Like the beginner quest that Ai was searching for now. All players receive the same base quest but the NPCs would react differently according to how the players behave, what they say and how they say it. This was another reason as to why [World Symphony] was so many people’s favorites. 

Ai thought about what NPC would be the one to greet him on his adventure. As he walked through the glittering colorful forest, he started to notice other things about his character. He wanted to wait until he could get to a full body mirror so he could see in full HD what sort of appearance the game had randomized from him. So far he knew that he had white hair that fell just below his ears, slightly longer than his real life hair length. He could see strands of it swaying in front of his eyes as he walked. 

And then…

He lifted his hand to feel the tips of his ears. It was pointy, much pointier than human ears. These were...elf ears weren’t they? The shape was an odd feeling to touch and they felt ticklish when he did. Down his earlobes, he could feel cold metal rings, probably earrings. He also realized that there were also rings, bracelets, and anklets on him, all accessories not part of the standard [Traveler Garb]. 

This was probably part of the elf’s lore. He read that the elf race of [World Symphony] put beauty above all else, that was why they loved to accessorize to look their best.  The accessory looked heavy and a pain to move around in, but actually he barely felt them. He could feel the cold sting of the crystal pendant, but he could barely feel the weight of the bracelets and the anklets. 

After seemingly hours of walking, Ai finally saw an entrance to what he assumed to be a village. He only assumed because that was what it said on the plaque. 

[Pymule Village]

Other than the big bold elven letters spelling village, it didn’t give off a normal rural village feel at all. 

The plaque was made from shiny polished wood, similar to mahogany in the real world, the writing was etched in gold, long vines with multicolor leaves akin to shining jewels in a box grew on the plaque stake. It was one of the fanciest, if not the fanciest, village entrance Ai had ever seen. Was the game really trying to welcome the players? Was all the village entrance this...expensive? Or was this just another part of the beauty loving elves?

Unsure of what to do, Ai stood at the village entrance awkwardly. Even though the game decided that he was an elf, he didn’t know elf etiquette and how a traveler was supposed to behave, and knowing [World Symphony], doing something considered rude by the elves will surely not give him anything good.

“Are you a traveler?”

Ai nearly jumped out of his garbs. A soft voice had spoken right next to him. He couldn’t tell if it was a female voice or male voice - who knew with elves anyway - but he knew that it surprised him. When he turned to look at them, he still wasn’t sure if they were male or female. They had green eyes, blonde hair braided down their back, the pointed ears with no piercing, and they were dressed in a light green dress. 

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“Yes…” Ai said hesitantly. “I got lost in the forest and stumbled upon your village.” It wasn’t a lie...it was true that he didn’t know where he was. 

 The other elf tilted their head then looked at him closer. Ai gulped. He hoped he didn’t get deemed as a fake elf or an impostor, that would be the most troublesome.

The elf seemed satisfied with what they saw and smiled at him, their face looking even more beautiful when it did. 

“I see, are you an envoy of Aethera?” The elf asked, their eyes almost shining. “I sense Aethera’s energy on you.”

Aethera’s energy? Could it be that they were talking about the crystal pendant?

Gently, Ai took out the pendant from underneath his collar. He decided that it was best to keep the necklace hidden until needed. It was an odd object that no one ever mentioned, so wearing it out for everyone to see was probably a bad idea. The elf in front of him was an NPC, so it should be no problem if he showed the pendant to them, right?

Staring at the pendant, the elf seemed even more excited. Their eyes were wide in wonder and their hands floated just above the pendant, as if afraid that it would break under their touch. 

“Oh how long has it been since we’ve found a real envoy of the god himself!” The elf exclaimed. 

 Excitedly, they grabbed Ai’s hand and began pulling him into the village. Their grip was surprisingly strong for someone who looked so gentle. 

Midway, the elf seemed to remember something and turned back to look at Ai. “My name is Athiel, I’ll guide you inside.”

Just then, a single notification popped up in the [Thought System]. 

Player Ai met Elf Player Guide, Athiel!

The name Athiel was colored green on his [Thought System], so that meant that they liked him. Ai was slightly taken aback.

Since the NPCs in [World Symphony] were supposed to emulate lifelike interactions and feelings, they had a Favorability ranking for each player. Green meant Like, Grey was for Neutral, and Black was for dislike. There were also extreme Favorability such as Gold for Love and Red for Hostile, but getting those required extreme actions. There was an exception for this Favorability ranking system, and that was NPC with certain uses.

NPCs who dislike or hate a player will refuse to talk or even provide the player with service they were providing. So, [World Symphony] implemented a system where important NPCs would be the exception for the Favorability rankings, as to not doom players who wronged NPCs they needed such as NPCs related Ascension Quests. Important NPCs would be strictly Grey or Neutral, their Favorability ranking cannot turn to any other color. Guide NPCs were counted as an Important NPC since players needed to open the Help option.

Now, seeing the Green name, signaling that Athiel liked him, made Ai think again. Was this another benefit to the Mediator class? As confused as he was, he couldn’t help but feel excited over the possibilities. 

NPCs tended to give more rewards to players they liked, so Ai was incredibly curious on what an Important NPC would give. 

With that, he let Athiel pull him deeper into the village, this time more sure in his steps and brimming with excitement.

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