MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

[New Quest! Mirage Part 3!]

[Find a Way to Repair the Ship!] Jack scowled at his half-locked inventory. This would have been so easy if it wasn't restricted! Heck, he would have forged the hell out of this vessel! Sadly they had to land, and soon! They headed for a cluster of islands in the distance, the place hidden under a heavy sea fog. But the closer they got, the more nervous the crew became. "What's here?" Jack raised a brow: "Death, pain, suffering…." "The unknown…" What was up with those cryptic answers? It seemed like they feared this place because they didn't know the danger the islands in the area contained. As soon as they came near the beach, the Captain began distributing straws. "As usual, we'll draw to pick who goes inland and—"

"I have a better idea…." Jack interrupted. Go in all guns blazing? Hell no! Who knew what they'd encounter in this strange mirage. After all, there had already been invisible monsters and a dragon—slug! Under their perplexed gazes, Jack began a one-man show. He moved his hands repeatedly, making tons of weird shapes….

"?!?" But that's when Moon Moon joined in, moving its paws in response. Wait, it seemed like they were…communicating?! Was that even possible?! Jack started from the beginning, teaching them sign language: 'march', 'stop', 'hide', and more. He'd gesture and quiz them on the meaning. Get it right? —> Thumbs UP! Get it wrong? —> Be looked down on by a wolf. If a beast was smart enough to understand something so simple, what did it say about them?! The Sailors quickly started competing against one another. The faster they understood Jack's directives, the better. They all trained on the ship's deck yet remained entirely silent. Soon, all their conversations changed to sign language. "Everyone, time to explore the island!" He remarked. "Go? All of us? It's dangerous!" "Drawing straws?" "Scary!" Why couldn't they just rush in and out with a small number like they usually did? They knew just enough to convey their reluctance. Jack was ready to argue as he began gesturing with the speed of a sign language rap god….or a ninja! "Sneak is the way to go! Rushing will only get us all killed! Think about how it went on that first island! Slow and easy wins the race! There's…" He overwhelmed them with so many arguments. They could barely understand him given their lacking knowledge, but his confidence nonetheless won them over. Panicking and cursing sailors —> Sneaky ninja sailors! The difference was like night and day. Given the fog surrounding the island, they were even harder to see! That only left two issues: 1. The noise. Jack mercilessly forced them to use their few remaining blankets to wrap their weapons. He even had them remove any metallic pieces from their outfits. 2. The smell Jack made them all roll in sand, dirt, and ashes. The mixture was utterly disgusting, especially with the humidity in the air, but it would help them blend in. "All this necessary?" A despondent sailor couldn't but gesture. Necessary?! Necessary! Of course! Moon Moon replied promptly, pointing its paw at the guy and imitating him dying a gruesome death. Tch— how dared they doubt its master! "Whatever, let's go!" Jack gave the marching signal. They proceeded deeper into the island. The atmosphere was as tense as the visibility nil, and the poor sailors felt like they were in a ghost story. Still, all they had to do was to be discrete and find some wood for repairs. They managed to keep their nerves in check, knowing their mission was easy. But that's when a man stepped on something… — Clang! — A soft metallic sound resounded as the man slowly lowered his eyes toward the ground. As if fate, that's the exact moment wind blew the fog surrounding them away… That's when the entire expedition went to shit: "Gold?! Oh my god! GOLD!!!" The scene before them was so marvelous that they all lost their bearings.

It was a city of gold! Everywhere the eye could see, there was a golden hue. "We're rich! We're so goddamn rich!" "This is amazing! This is—"

"Shut up, will you!" That's when they finally came back to their senses, fuck! But as they observed their surroundings, they laughed in relief. It was clear, no monster whatsoever! Everything would be fine! They had been so lucky! What were the chances of finding such a paradise in such a dangerous place?! One hurriedly shouted: "Guys, first come, first served!"

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— Greedy Sailor Noises! — They all rushed forward as if druggies in need of their fix! They even kicked the "annoying" human that tried to stand in their way… "Woo!!" (You bastards! No pushing!) The little wolf couldn't stand how impatient they were. They had even pushed its master. Talk about impolite! They'd better apologize or else… actually, what was that shiny thing? "Don't bother. They've already lost their minds…." Jack sighed, noticing the wolf's attention again landing on the City of Gold. Illusion magic? Greed spell? Whatever this thing was, even he could feel its attraction. It was even shinier than the future of a corrupted politician! "Hey, want one?" Jack took out a piece of meat. "Woo?!" (Meat?! Yesss!!) Magic gold was very attractive to the little wolf, but the meat was infinitely better! Thus the enchantment was broken. It couldn't help but stare back at the gold scenery, confused. Why had it seen so alluring just a second ago?! "Tch— So much for all that training on the boat, those fools…." Jack grumbled as he shook his head, walking away. "Woo?!" (We're not going to help them?) "Always remember your mission! Right now, we need to repair the ship, nothing else. As for that City of gold? Who bloody cares? Gold doesn't float!" He shrugged.

[Resisted the Golden City's attraction!] [Mental Resistance increased!] "Amen to that!" It was the beginning of a strange treasure hunt, one surrounded by the everlasting glow of gold in the distance...but they didn't care! Nope, they were looking for something far more valuable: wood! It didn't take long for their search to bring them all around the island. On one beach, they finally found something… < Very Normal Palm Tree Level 40! > Bullshit! What kind of normal palm tree had teeth?! No, there was actually something unbelievably strange. Level 40?! How was it so weak?! [Host Seems Disappointed…]

[Most Braves Are Level 20-30…]

Why did it seem like the system was defending the monsters' honor? Either way, the duo wouldn't show any mercy! They went all in, engaging in a (un)epic battle. "Woo?" (Isn't this a bit too easy?) "It didn't help that their finishing move was essentially a joke..." Jack remarked.

The palm trees' special move was to immobilize their victims, forcing them to stare at the City of Gold for a few seconds. #Not Very Effective! #Waste of Time! The two stood atop their victims, dragging their barks back to the ship. The system could only watch them cruise through this, expecting them to hit a wall at any moment. The crew was missing! This meant they were lacking a carpenter to repair the place! It wasn't something Jack'd simply be able to cheat his way out of! Still, it didn't stop him from trying… [Your Carpentry Level is Too Low!] [Your Carpentry Level is Too Low!] […] The system was definitely trolling him! He had all the wood he could potentially need to fix the whole thing, but now he was missing the know-how. "Welp, you know what this means, right?" He helplessly sighed. [New Quest! Find a Carpenter!] [Host Should Check Out The City of—] "Woo!" (Carpentry Training Montage!) "Hehe, Precisely!" [?!?] A human and a wolf got to work, shaping wooden planks. They appeared utterly worry-free, as if they had all the time in the world! They alternated boisterous singing, woodworking, and palm tree monster slaying. They even established a small base on the deck. Jack knew the system's agenda, but he didn't care. Why would he dive into a dubious city to rescue that foolish crew? He didn't have any desire to argue with greed-blinded idiots. The main issue was that it was a city of gold…yet his inventory was restricted!! Right now, he couldn't put anything in it, so what was the point?! [Abandon the Poor Crew to their Fate?!] "Yep! Now, let me work on this wood in peace, will you?" Jack tirelessly kept going. Still, the whole thing was madness. There was no way that he'd be able to gain enough proficiency to repair a ship of that size anytime soon. He appeared like a petulant child that was simply going against the system because he could. He seemed to think that everything would just work out, but… [Reminder: Mirage Quest = Time Limit!] [Taking Too Long Will Result In Failure!] "Is that so? Just award me my crafting XP, will you?" Even then, Jack was still showing a wry smile. […] [Reached Carpentry F!] [Mastery Still Too Low For The Current Task!] "Oh? Do you mean to repair the ship? I think you've made a mistake along the way. How about you examine our wooden planks a little bit closer?" Jack chuckled. He pointed toward the pile of planks that layered the entire deck.

[This System Fails to See the Point In— W-what?!] Under Jack's suggestion, it examined the items closer, only to receive a great shock as it found errors in its previous assessment. [Regular Plank!] —> [Sculpture of a Plank!] What the heck was this?! This player had used an entirely different craft to accomplish something so similar that even the system had misunderstood it. < Sculpture of a Plank! > It looks like a plank, feels like a plank, works like a plank…but it's a sculpture?! Disregarding its slightly lower durability, it can be used as a plank… [Error! Error! Recalculating!] [Carpentry F —> Carpentry Unranked!] [Congratulations! Carving Increased to Rank D!] That's when Jack gave a radiant smile at the empty air as he began hammering his "sculptures" in the ship holes, patching it! [Successfully Repaired the Ship!] "There we go! It wasn't that hard, right?" Jack happily chuckled, Moon Moon raising a tiny paw to the sky. [New Quest! Leave This Island!] [Good Luck Without a Crew To Man the Ship!] "Luck? Why would I need luck for that? Hahahaha!" Jack didn't seem worried in the least…