Bennin was walking around Marksville when he heard a sharp ping and glanced to his left. A small bubble had appeared floating on the village map.

“The hell…?”

He leaned closer, trying to study it, but the map floated back with his movement, and he cursed silently. He’d wanted to buy an enchanted lens the last time he’d visited Magician’s Tower, but hadn’t had enough coins or time to do so.

“Where is that bubble?”

He glanced around. He was standing close to it, which meant it had to be nearby.

“A quest bubble in Marksville… who knew?” Bennin muttered. “How did I unlock a quest here? I didn’t even do anything.”

But as he thought about it, he froze and reached for the private message function through the system screen. He recalled hearing Alaric, the captain of the Legion of Valor, mentioning some strange quests popping up that seemed spontaneous but were monstrously hard, almost always ending in death. Because of it, knights had been urged to alert each other if they discovered or talked to someone with such a quest to be prepared for any accidents.

-Al,- he typed. -Big problem. I just got a spontaneous quest without doing anything. It’s in Marksville.-

He didn’t have to wait long for a response.

-Marksville? Isn’t that area considered a neutral spot in the game? I heard quests can’t generate there because it’s regarded as a sanctuary for those who are coming back from the Magician’s Tower and The Haunted Forest.-

-It is. Normally. That’s why I’m so confused. I’m not even sure where the damn thing is.-

-Well… there’s no other knights near Marksville, so you’ll have to handle it yourself. Think you can?-

-I guess I’ll have to try. I have no idea if it has a time limit.-

-I figured. Good luck.-

The private message screen disappeared, and Bennin took a deep breath before glancing at the map again.

“Okay. Let’s do this. Where are you, you little bugger?”

He walked around the village for twenty minutes. Every time he thought he was on top of it, he couldn’t find it, and so walked around and came back in case the game just hadn’t generated the NPC or whatever was going to give the quest. But it didn’t, and every time, he ended up standing right in front of the Captain’s Tavern, where the bubble led.

“The hell? Maybe Yarn knows what’s going on… I’ll go inside and wait for her. After all, I play this game for my job, so I can afford to wait. I could even run some training games!”

He went to push open the door, and as he crossed the threshold, he heard another loud ding, and in front of him, a giant blue screen appeared.

= YOU HAVE TRIGGERED THE QUEST “ZERO’S PLEA”. PLEASE PROCEED TO THE FOLLOWING SPOT ON YOUR MAP. =

He glanced at the map again.

“Zero’s plea, huh? Who is Zero?”

“That would be me,” a soft voice whispered, and Bennin whirled. There was no one in the tavern, but sitting on the bar was Yarn’s cat.

“Wait a second… are you Zero?” Bennin whispered, slowly approaching. “I mean, I know that’s what Yarn calls you, but are… are you the quest NPC Zero? The one in my quest?”

“I am.”

All Bennin could do was stare at the cat in confusion. As he did, the cat yawned and blinked lazily.

“Well, aren’t you going to ask? What the quest is?”

“Yes, but… how are you talking?”

“It’s a long story. But if you want your quest, sit down.”

Bennin sat obediently in front of the cat and clasped his hands in his lap.

“Okay. What’s my quest?”

“I want you to help Yarn.”

“Pardon?”

“You heard me. Your quest is to help Yarn, the half-elf bartender, start again as an adventurer, and take her to the Haunted Forest, where you will receive a co-quest.”

“A… co-quest?”

But the cat was silent.

“Zero!” Bennin pleaded, but the cat curled in a ball, closed its eyes, and dozed off, leaving a stunned Bennin still standing in the middle of the empty tavern, his mind racing. 

What was a co-quest? Why was Yarn suddenly needing to be an adventurer when she’d been so adamantly against it? What was Zero, and why was it giving him a quest? How did a quest even spawn in Marksville?

He kept thinking, and as he stood, there was a bright flash from behind the bar, and he looked up hastily as Yarn materialized behind it.

“Bennin!” She gasped as soon as she saw him, and ran around the bar, grabbing his arms. “Thank goodness ya still ‘ere!”

“Yarn? What are you… Don’t you have work?” Bennin cried and regretted it as he saw Yarn’s face fall. “Oh… I’m sorry…”

“I got fired,” the bar-tender whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “I don’t… ‘now what I’m gonna do… I’m the breadwinn’r for my family, and ‘ith my skills, no one ‘ll hire me.”

She was trembling somewhat, and Bennin wanted to hug her, but was wearing heavy armor, and knew if he hugged her, he’d injure her.

“Hey… listen.” He squeezed her hand. “I know things seem bleak right now, but I’ve got some news that might help. I just have a question I need you to answer first.”

“W-what?” She sniffed, rubbing her eyes, and Bennin took a deep breath.

“What is Zero?”

“Zero? Ya mean my cat?”

“That’s the one. What is it?”

“It’s… a cat? Why’re ya askin’ such a question?”

Yarn stared at him like he’d grown three heads, and Bennin shook his head.

“I don’t think so. It… gave me a quest, Yarn.”

She blinked.

“A… quest? ‘ere in Marksville?”

“That’s right.”

“And ZERO gave it to ya?”

“That’s correct.”

“How did…?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Bennin muttered with a sigh. “I didn’t think quests were allowed to generate in Marksville, much less be given by an animal. And it’s related to another player - something I’m not sure has ever happened before.”

“Another player?” Yarn seemed curious, now. “Who? Someone famous? Maybe Alaric, the Capt’n of the Legion of Valor? Or that famous steamer… what was ‘eir name… oh, Wendy the Fire Witch!”

“Nothing like that…” Bennin could feel his face heating up. “It’s, um… you.”

Yarn stared at him, her eyebrows raised and her left eye twitching, and Bennin shifted his feet. 

“I’m not kidding. Here, um… let me add you as a friend and I’ll share the quest details.”

She nodded numbly, so he opened the system and held out his hand, a blue button settling into it. Yarn clasped his hand, pressing her palm into the button, and it vanished. Immediately, the game system on Bennin’s side added a new person to his friends’ list. 

-Yarn, #334502

Yarn snorted.

“Ya username is -”

“Don’t!” Bennin spat, cutting across her. “I know it’s bad, so don’t. Anyway, here.”

He flicked his hand across the air, sending the quest details over to Yarn.

Her forehead slowly wrinkled, and she frowned.

“What … how did… how did Zero ‘now I decid’d to go adventurin’ again?”

“You did?” 

“Yeah.”

“That’s good news, then, since the quest lines up. What do you need to set you up as an adventurer again? Do you still have weapons?”

“ ‘Ourse I do,” Yarn muttered, and slid behind the bar, rummaging beneath it before setting a churchwarden pipe with an extremely long stem on the well-worn bar top. 

“That’s… your weapon?” Bennin demanded, extremely confused, and Yarn rolled her eyes.

“Ya saw my vines ‘tis morning, hm?”

“Yes, I remember. But what does that have to do with that pipe?”

She picked it up and snapped her fingers next to it. A small flame ignited on her fingertip, and she dipped it into the bowl. Within seconds, whatever was inside it started to smoke, and she pulled her hand away, the fire on her finger going out. She then slipped the mouthpiece between her lips and inhaled deeply before blowing out a puff of smoke. As she did, the ground rumbled, and vines popped out of the ground at her feet, swaying back and forth around her boots, playing with the laces.

“What are… are you saying you need tobacco to summon your plants?”

“Not ex’ctly.” Yarn muttered, crouching down to pat the vines. “Not tobacco, ‘at is. Herbs work, too, depend’ng. Smoke types rule all.”

“Rules all,” Bennin corrected, but Yarn shrugged.

“Hope ya know ‘tis wasn’t my choice of accent.” She grumbled. “Stupid generator.”

Bennin nodded sympathetically.

“Well, you’ve got a weapon. Do you need anything else?”

Yarn shook her head as the vines sank back into the ground.

“I ‘ave expand’ng inventory.” She announced, coming back around the bar, and patted the pouch on her hip. “Sent a message to boss, he’ll man the tavern til I return.”

Bennin nodded back to her, and stepped to the tavern door.

“Well…. If you’re sure you’re ready…”

Yarn just drew in another breath from her pipe, staring out through the yellowed window panes in the wall, and Bennin took this as affirmation, strolling outside. She followed, and various people looked up.

“Is that Yarn?”

“She never comes out of the tavern unless she’s doing laundry, and that’s only Tuesdays. What’s she doing out here?”

“Who?”

“Oh, you’ve never met her. That’s Yarn, the barkeep at Captain’s Tavern.”

“I’ve never seen her outside of the bar.”

The two kept walking until they reached the edge of the village, where Yarn paused.

“I ‘avn’t been on ‘is side the village in forever.” She muttered. “It’s… scary.”

“It’s alright,” Bennin soothed, and carefully patted her shoulder. “You have me. Let’s go.”

She still seemed uncertain, but took another drag at her pipe, which seemed to calm her down a bit, and Bennin watched her relax somewhat.

“Wow, that pipe really does wonders for you, doesn’t it?”

She glared, and he shrugged off the mean look, turning towards the thick line of trees that surrounded the village.

“Shall we?”