NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3: The First Main Quest
"Ding! Main Quest Name: Recruit Talents.
How can a grand empire be built without talented individuals?
Please recruit a talent within one month who has at least one attribute over 80 or has special skills.
Quest Reward: Depending on the strength of the recruited talent, the stronger the talent, the greater the reward.
Quest Failure Penalty: Randomly deduct 5 attribute points from the host.
Quest Deadline: One month.
To help the host recruit talents better, the information query system is activated.
The host can query the attributes and skills of up to ten talents per day (including the host himself)."
Yuan Shu thought: Wow, this system is ruthless. Failing the quest deducts 5 attribute points?
With my current pathetic attribute template, if I fail both quests, with 8 attribute points deducted, I'll probably be done for.
But the system is pretty smart. It let me query right after the main quest started, so it's not just trying to kill me.
With my identity as the young master of the Yuan family, recruiting a talent with one attribute over 80 within a month shouldn't be too hard, right?
If that doesn't work, I could just pay for a beautiful woman with an 80+ charisma attribute, maybe that would save my life?
Right now, completing the task is secondary; surviving is the most important.
I already know my attributes clearly. Yuan Shu was eager to check his skills.
He murmured: "Query my skills."
Yuan Shu hoped that his skills would be a bit more useful.
His attributes were already in such a bad state, so if the skills could make up for it, that would be great.
"Ding! Querying for the host, please wait.
Query completed. The host's skills are as follows:
Commoner Four (Not awakened)
False Honor (Not awakened)
Pseudo Emperor (Not awakened)
Same Illness (Not awakened)"
"What... are these my skills?"
After looking at the skill panel, Yuan Shu was utterly disheartened.
There were quite a few skills, but what were they?
Though they weren't awakened, just the names alone made it clear that they were all useless.
If these skills awaken, wouldn't I just die faster?
He whispered to the system: "System? Can I change these skills?"
"Ding! Skills are generated based on the host's abilities and personality. Changing skills requires changing abilities and personality.
Please complete more tasks to improve your abilities!"
Well, hearing this from the system, Yuan Shu realized he couldn't change his skills for now.
For now, let's focus on completing the task at hand.
"My son, you finally woke up!" An anxious female voice came from outside the door.
Yuan Shu knew it was probably his "cheap" mother.
Sure enough, a richly dressed lady hurriedly entered, heading straight for Yuan Shu.
She first stroked Yuan Shu's head, then immediately hugged him, with a sobbing tone she said:
"My son, you've been unconscious for two days. You really scared your mother."
Yuan Shu was in her embrace when he saw a middle-aged scholar in a black brocade robe walk in.
The man appeared to be around forty years old, with a refined beard and a very presentable appearance.
He was an old handsome man, and his features resembled Yuan Shu's by about seventy to eighty percent.
Yuan Shu knew this must be his father.
The middle-aged scholar said sternly:
"A doting mother spoils the child. You've pampered him too much, which has led to him being unskilled.
He spends all his time outside, and it's bad enough that he wastes the family's money, but now he gets drunk to this extent!"
Yuan Shu wanted to learn more about his father, so he said in his mind:
"System, check my father's attributes."
"Beep! Query successful. Talent name: Yuan Feng"
"Yuan Feng's attributes: Strength: 52, Leadership: 61, Intelligence: 87, Politics: 95, Charisma: 82, Luck: 80"
"Yuan Feng's skills: Governance (Awakened): Improves efficiency in handling political affairs by 50%."
Wow! I didn't realize how strong my father's attributes were until I saw them.
Yuan Shu couldn't believe that his father's attributes were so powerful!
Maybe I should just recruit him.
With so many attributes over 80, and a political stat as high as 95, the rewards should be pretty substantial.
But he quickly dismissed this thought.
Recruit my father? That's a joke. Just look at how dissatisfied he is with me based on his attitude.
At this point, the noblewoman seemed quite displeased with what Yuan Feng said. She responded to him:
"My lord, look at how just waking up has already upset him. Why are you scolding him again?
What if you scare him unconscious again?
Our Yuan family's estate is so vast, what's wrong with him spending a little money?
When you were young, how much better were you than him?"
The noblewoman's words made Yuan Shu feel overjoyed.
He silently thought to himself: my mom is awesome, she really nailed it.
Thanks to her support, I can waste Yuan family's money to complete the tasks of the prodigal system.
Yuan Feng was left somewhat speechless by his wife's retort. After thinking for a while, he remembered that when he was young, he was also quite the playboy in Luoyang, and had done many reckless things that weren't any less than what Yuan Shu was doing now.
After a long pause, he managed to say:
"Learn from your two older brothers. They've already entered the court as officials and have earned much praise from the elders.
Look at you, what can you do other than wasting money?"
Yuan Shu wanted to retort. He thought about saying that for every 100,000 money he wasted, he earned an attribute point, and that being a prodigal was better than them.
But he was afraid that if he said that, Yuan Feng would beat him to death, so after thinking for a moment, he decided to just stay quiet and let Yuan Feng lecture him.
Yuan Feng continued to lecture Yuan Shu in the room before reluctantly leaving.
Before he left, he reminded the maid to take good care of Yuan Shu, and that the kitchen should specially prepare his meals.
Yuan Shu thought that while his father was strict, he did care about his legitimate son.
"Mother, I'm out of money. Do you have any?"
Seeing Yuan Feng leave, Yuan Shu quickly asked his mother for money.
I need money, I can't avoid it. My first prodigal task is about to be due.
If I don't have money by then, my attribute points will be deducted.
Yuan Shu's mother's surname was Wang, and she was the legitimate daughter of the Taiyuan Wang family.
Madam Wang looked at Yuan Shu strangely and said:
"Son, don't you have money?
If you're running low, you can just go to the accounting office."
Yuan Shu was very familiar with the skill of asking for money for prodigal tasks, and he boldly said:
"Mother, that little money is not enough. I need to do something big, at least five hundred thousand!"
Originally, the task was to waste 100,000, but for safety's sake, Yuan Shu said the amount was five hundred thousand.
It's better to ask for more to save for completing the next task.
Madam Wang was surprised: "Son, why do you need so much money?"
Five hundred thousand was not much for the Yuan family, but it was still a considerable amount.
If they casually gave it to Yuan Shu, Yuan Feng would definitely get angry if he found out.
Yuan Shu said a bit displeased:
"Mother, father always praises my two older brothers in front of me, does that mean I'm not as good as them?
I just want to use the money to do some business and prove my ability. If you won't give it to me, forget it!"