Chapter 285 - Game and Dream

 285 Game and Dream

Roland had thought that if Rollaford was a businessman, his boss should be a businessman too.

However, when he met the boss in person, Roland realized that he had made a mistake.

This boss was a Lorewalker. Some players in this game were plain and some attractive, and this man was among the pretty ones. He must’ve added stat points to Charm. Extending his hand with a smile, he said, “Roland, how fortunate of us to meet you here.”

After more than half a year, most people had realized the benefits of Charm. Even though they only added two or three points to Charm, they would gain invisible advantages during interaction with NPCs.

For example, it would be easier for them to bargain, make a good first impression, or hit on girls or guys. There would be much fewer social obstacles and many more opportunities.

Even though the players knew that the pretty face in the game was virtual, they would inevitably back off or be more generous when they saw a good-looking person.

Roland smiled and said, “Hello. You are…?”

“You may call me Kennedy.”

“That’s really an impressive name…” Roland gasped, not knowing what he should say about the players.

Kennedy laughed and said, “It’s just a common Western name. Please don’t overthink it.”

Okay. I won’t think!

At this point, Rollaford said next to them, “Our deputy chairman is Lincoln, our minister of diplomacy is McKinley, and our minister of execution is Garfield.”

Roland was even more speechless.

Kennedy slightly shook Roland’s hand, smiling delightedly if not proudly.

The namesakes of those four people ended up the same way in history. They were truly bold enough to give themselves such names.

Looking at Roland’s face, which seemed to indicate that he was constipated, Kennedy laughed. “That’s exactly what I hoped to see. We’ve told a lot of people our names, but only one0third of them know that these names belong to celebrities, and only one-fifty know who they are.”

Roland did not know how he should comment on those weirdos, because he wasn’t one. After a brief silence, Roland said, “Let’s talk about the quest.”

Kennedy seemed disappointed. “It’s rare to meet someone who can understand our names. But aren’t you too boring? Can you praise us a little bit?”

“Attaboy!” Roland clapped his hands with the eyes of a dead fish and then said, “Okay, can you share the quest now?”

It’s really annoying to deal with a guy who knows why you’re fun but refuses to be amused. Kennedy sighed and led Roland to his home.

It was a two-storied building in a mid-sized neighborhood.

The second floor was a library, where the bookshelves were laden with quaint books.

Also, there was the stink of mud and dust on this floor.

At the northeastern corner of this floor was a desk, and a painting had been unfolded on the desk in the middle of many books.

Kennedy led Roland to the desk and shared the quest with Roland.

New quest received: Translate the ancient words (Excellent).

Roland cast Unhindered Communication on Kennedy and said, “Take a look yourself.”

Kennedy eagerly looked at the painting on the desk.

Roland looked at it too.

It was more of a collection of hieroglyphs than a painting.

At first look, those words seemed to be Elvish, but then Roland disapproved of the idea, because the Elvish writings were beautiful and elegant, while the words here were crude and simple. They were not nearly as attractive as the Elvish writings.

Thanks to Unhindered Communication, Roland understood what they meant.

“We’re falling back. Our brothers and sisters who have monopolized our mother’s love are driving us away from our mother with their fine weapons. That’s unfair. Why are they so beautiful and smart? Our mother didn’t treat us fairly.”

It was everything on the painting, without any context.

Roland, however, found that Kennedy was shaking.

The man blushed and then laughed so hard that his laughter echoed throughout the building.

“My speculation is true! The trolls and the elves are of the same origin. They’re both the children of the World Tree. This is the evidence!

“This is the evidence!”

While laughing, Kennedy shouted and danced as if nobody were around.

Roland shook his head and left the building.

Rollaford walked him out of the building and said, “Sorry about that, but that’s just what our boss is like. In reality, he is a civil servant who graduated as an archeology student two years ago. He loves archeology, but it’s hard to make ends meet as an archaeologist, so he became a civil servant. However, he still considers himself an archaeologist, and he’s always excited whenever he discovers anything in the game.”

Roland nodded in sympathy.

He was actually similar. When he found a new magic theory in his Magic Tower, he would laugh aloud too.

He was definitely not in a place to mock Kennedy.

Then, Rollaford gave the gold coin that he promised to Roland.

After thanking him, Roland left.

On the street, Roland turned on the system menu.

Quest “Translate ancient words” accomplished. EXP +214.

The reward was a lot for a blue quest. However, Roland’s EXP bar only increased by a tiny bit.

Starting from level five, the EXP required for a level-up had soared, and hundreds of EXP points were not nearly enough.

Leaving aside the Masters who were older than fifty, Roland was confused about how Andonara became a Master Swordsman when she was only in her twenties.

It didn’t make sense. She didn’t have a system and couldn’t accomplish quests.

Did she automatically receive EXP every day due to her Hero bloodline?

He decided to ask Andonara later when he had time.

Then, Roland took out the black gem he bought and examined it in the sunlight. He found that the silver stripes within the black gem seemed to have formed a strange magic array.

Enchantments, magic scrolls, and magic arrays, the three advanced magic ancillary skills, could decide the upper limit of a Mage to some extent.

Now, Roland had learned a thing or two about enchantment, but he did not know where he could study magic scrolls and magic arrays.

But there was a magic array in this black gem. Did it mean that those major Magic Towers had lessons on magic arrays?

Roland focused his mental power on the black gem, and soon, a red spot moved in the gem and stopped at one side of it.

“The east!”

Roland turned the gem, and the gem simply pointed at the east without turning.

It was truly an indicator.

In a corner, Roland activated Human Cannonball.

While everybody exclaimed in shock, Roland took off into the sky at an unbelievable speed.