"So what is the second benefit that I'm going to recieve?" Leo inquired, eager to know what more he was going to get in return for his hardships over the next 6 months.
"Before we explain your second benefit, we need to tell you about the unhatched reward currently sitting within your inventory….." Raya said, as Leo looked at her in confusion.
Although he had read the flash of notifications on his screen when the rewards for killing the Demon Count were announced, he did not really have the time to properly check them out yet.
"When you killed the Demon Count ... .You received a reward, remember? An unhatched mystery egg?" Raya reminded, as it was only then that Leo seemed to recall about it.
"Yeah? What about it?" Leo asked, curious as to where this was leading.
"So the way we designed this game is that the reward for killing the 32 Demon Counts is to receive a mystery egg of a mythical beast.
As per our statistical model, a Demon Count only had a low chance of dying at the hands of a player and that too only during the last stages of the game with not many months left till we arrive at our destination.
However, you have somehow defied that norm–" Raya said, shaking her head in amusement before continuing.
"Usually, the way this system works is that someone kills a Demon Count and gets the egg, which takes roughly 6-9 months to incubate and hatch.
Once it hatches, a mythical beast is born from it and at that time we inform the player that they will also receive the same mythical beast egg/ newborn mythical beast in real life upon reaching the destination planet.
9/10 times, we only have to hand over a half incubated egg, however, sometimes we do deliver newborns.
However, you have jumped that timeline by a long shot.
You will have time to not only incubate and hatch that egg, but also have time to train and raise it.
Which means, we will need to train and raise it in real life–" Raya explained, as Leo nodded in understanding.
There seemed to be a lot of back-end processes going on behind the scenes and him getting the egg early seemed to be some sort of logistical nightmare for the ship operators.
"Your second reward is that you will not have to deal with the headache of raising a newborn mythical beast during its newborn stage.
Usually, for non-beast tamers, raising a mythical beast is next to impossible.
They need constant care like babies, high nutrition food and they don't listen to anyone.
Hiring beast tamers to train them are expensive and cost millions of gold coins a month, which most players can't afford, which is why 9/10 players who do get mythical beast eggs, end up selling them upon hatching.
However, we will hire a beast tamer for you, who will nourish and train your pet until you arrive on planet Terra Nova… free of charge.
Considering we have 2.5 years left on our journey, you will most likely arrive to a healthy, obedient beast kid who will listen to your every command and be very loyal to you.
It's also an unprecedented honor…." Raya said, as she looked visibly jealous of Leo at this point.
"I see …" Leo murmured, stroking his chin as he never thought that in-game NPC characters could turn real someday.
One of his worst fears these days was that once their journey ended, it would be the end of his relationship with Ben, since he would no longer play Terra Nova Online.
Some days he tried to dismiss this fear thinking that he could purchase a VR headset on planet Terra Nova and continue playing the game when he wished to.
While on other days he tried to delay thinking about this problem as the end of their journey was still a far cry away.
However, if the universal government could turn his in-game pet into a real pet, then perhaps there was a way to make Ben a real person as well.
"I see ….. that is very generous" Leo muttered, before looking Raya and Raven in the eyes, as he decided to ask them one last doubt.
"Before you go, I have a few more questions," Leo said, as Raven gestured for him to ask them.
"The NPC's in Terra Nova Online, are they real people?" Leo asked, as Raya immediately shook her head and said "No they are all historical figures. None of them are alive today"
"Think of it as, you're playing a simulation of Real Earth but from the year 1665.
Similarly, the Terra Nova Online you're playing today, is the real world with real people, but from 200 years ago.
Most NPC's from back then are already dead, except for a few elves and the Black Dragon Drogo" Raya replied, as Leo felt a pinch in his heart to know that the real Ben Faulkner, the character on which his master is based is actually dead already.
"So is there a way to bring a character from Terra Nova Online to the real world?
Since you can arrange for my pet to be created in the real world, you can make a person too, can't you?" Leo inquired, as both Raya and Raven looked physically uncomfortable when faced with this question.
They were almost hesitant to answer it, as this was a morally gray area even for the universal government, however, they could not deny Leo his answer as they were under a binding contract to answer all his questions today.
"Yes…. It's not impossible to replicate a person, but it will cost a hell lot of MP.
As for what exact non player character you want replicated, it will cost you variably depending on the strength of that character.
If it's just some random pretty lady that you have fallen in love with, it will cost you maybe 20-30 thousand MP.
However, if it's a powerful and significant character, it may even cost you millions.
MP is a very important currency on planet Terra Nova, and if I were you, I would save them rather than spend them on replicating an NPC" Raven answered, as he advised Leo to not go down that road.
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/// End of the Q/A. Please drop any additional questions that you have down in the comments below and I'll take my time to answer them all. ///