Monarch of Solitude: Daily Quest System

Chapter 24 - Rino Rebels

Stephanie did not give up. Even if she had to dip into her own divinity savings, she was going to annoy the shit out of this lazy lich. The Goddess could already imagine that infuriating smirk on Ace's face if she went back to the reflecting pond without Rino attempting his quests.

The sun slowly rose, and Rino discovered the art of tuning out. He attempted several ways to block the divine voices in his head, but nothing worked. Hence, he could only attempt to program his mind to be immune to the noise, classifying it as part of the background din.

Ace yawned. Stephanie was really going at it. If there was one trait about Stephanie that he admired, it was her sheer stubbornness. Maybe that was her talent. Whatever she wanted, she would not stop until she had it. The God of prayers had to hand it to her. The Goddess must be very close to bankruptcy by now. However, she never stopped trying.

[This is the last warning. If you do not complete the assigned daily quest, you would only have yourself to blame when divine punishment strikes. You have been warned.]

Impressed, Ace nodded. From persuasion, demeaning comments and finally threats, it took six-hour for Stephanie to completely fall from grace.

Yet, Rino remained unmoved by everything. Nobody knew if the lich heard the message or if he was deliberately ignoring it and not giving them any signs. If anyone chanced across the mud hut and discovered a skeleton lying on a very poorly made bed, they would probably give the poor man a proper burial. He was so still that he could pass off as a genuine corpse.

Exhausted, Stephanie growled and stomped back to the reflecting pond. Ace was still sitting there with a sleepy expression.

"Are you done?" he asked the fuming Goddess.

Despite her best efforts, Rino remained unmoved. She glared at the smug God of prayers and pointed a finger in his face.

"Just you watch! If he doesn't complete the daily quest on time, I have all the rights to smack him with divine punishment. I'm going to tell Ark now."

Ace waved at her lazily as the Goddess went to find her brother, most likely to complain and ask for her punishment system to be implemented. Whatever. Ace was more curious to know how Rino was holding up on his end.

As it was, the divine voice in his head finally stopped. The God spamming him with messages must finally be tired out after receiving no response. The sun was up now, and Rino stared at his ceiling. He was really bored. However, he didn't want to act as some kind of dog, wagging its tail to please the disagreeable and childish God. Hence, he simply waited until the reward he wanted was ready.

Besides, what was the worst that could happen to him? Death? He would welcome that with both arms. Compared to the infuriated God, Rino had nothing to lose from not doing anything. It is his second chance at life. Might as well do what he wanted.

According to the threat, he would only get smite if he did not complete a daily quest on time. Nothing was mentioned about the completion of side quests. Hence, Rino wasn't going to do it, no matter what. He wanted to see what they would do to him for not doing a side quest. No completion simply meant no rewards and possibly no future side quests. It was a win-win situation in any case. If he ever needed bone crafting recipes, it would still not be too late to attempt it.

Ace was impressed by Rino's logical reasoning skills. Stephanie gave away so much about them with her brief interaction, and the lich had it all figured out. He was making full use of the Daily Quest System's loopholes and finally rebelling against them.

Rino didn't care about the Gods and their whims. Nobody had time to cater to some stupid divine being who couldn't even resolve their own problems. If anything, he was more interested in what was in it for himself if he helped them. Seeing that the representative they sent was someone with lower intelligence than him, Rino wasn't keen to do anything they said. He wanted to see what else they would do.

The quest window hovered annoyingly at the side of his vision, so Rino closed it. He wasn't going to make a kiln. Not yet.

To show his rebellion, Rino purposely focussed on thread production. He did many things, including checking his traps, hunting, collecting more cotton pods and making some pottery. The bathtub was on his to-make list, and Rino looked at his handiwork. It was only slightly past noon, and already, there wasn't much to entertain him.

"I might as well explore the area," Rino thought to himself.

Ever since he arrived at this new location, Rino was so busy completing quests that he did not know his neighbourhood well. All he saw was this one small corner of his actual kingdom building plot. Rino sighed soundlessly. It was unacceptable.

As the lich decided on the best thing to bring along to save him from the harmful sun rays for his exploration, Phil returned.

"How is everything?" the peace-loving old God asked.

Ace shrugged. "Rino's rebelling, and Stephanie might smite him by tomorrow if the new daily quest isn't completed. What is Ark doing? He hasn't updated the chain quest."

At that, Phil sighed heavily. Even from his workroom, he could hear the siblings arguing at the top of their lungs. He didn't have to elaborate further, and Ace got the message.

"Understood. I'll let them sort their differences. Try not to get involved. I'll leave the monitoring to you and get some rest. The prayers are piling up, and thanks to her, I have not replied any."

The God of landscaping patted Ace on the shoulder and thanked him for the advice.

"Go get some rest. I will monitor Rino's progress. You look more dead than Rino."

The God of Prayers looked back at the reflecting pond. Indeed, Rino was livelier than he was even when he was rebelling. He thanked Phil and left quickly. If he wanted to watch a good show at midnight, he had to wake up on time and clear his piling work quickly.

If they had a betting pool, Ace would bet all his divinity on Rino owning Stephanie in their inter-realm feud.