Quest Sanctuary

Kriel is proud to be a fairy and believes that "there's no place in the world as beautiful as Orbis". However, Kriel accepts that her view on this could change. So, she agrees for you to change her mind on this, that is, if you can give to her a photo album of Aqua Road.

This quest was originally designed to encourage players to explore Aqua Road, which is split into three areas: the "ocean", the "sea", and the "dungeon". When this quest was first added to KMS, the maps in Aqua Road were limited to the ocean. Then, they added the sea, before finally adding the dungeon, which all came in separate updates. Kriel's opinion of Aqua Road may be true if we acknowledge that Aqua Road was initially an underdeveloped area at the time the quest was released — that is, just the ocean.



Even though Kriel mentions that her friend Lisa traveled to Aqua Road, there are no quests that have both of them interacting. I believe this quest could further play with the idea.

I can only assume that when Lisa traveled to Aqua Road, she didn't buy a photo album for herself. That might explain why Kriel might be interested about the area. Otherwise, if Lisa did have the album, you could ask Lisa to give it to you, which you can then take to Kriel.

Some of the other things that Kriel says about Aqua Road — at least, the reference to Muse selling photo albums — could have been said by Lisa herself. She probably would know about that since she went to Aqua Road herself. I just think it would be good to hear her point of view, rather than having Kriel retell it.



When you go to Muse, she'll mention that all of the "special, limited editions" of the Aquaroad photo album have sold out; that she only has a personal copy, which she can sell to you.

Muse agrees to give you the album, but only if you do her a favour: bring her a Snow Crystal Sphere. The quest now has changed from getting only the album to getting both the album and the item that Muse said she wants. (If there was initial confusion about the quest level requirement being at 30, the next part of the quest will show you why.)

So, you agree to help her. Muse tells you about Alcaster, the great wizard, who is able to make the Snow Crystal Sphere. (Somehow, she knows.) Go to El Nath, talk to Alcaster, and then he'll tell you how that is made.



Alcaster says that in order to make the sphere, he needs 100 Snow Crystals, which you get from killing Leatty. He says collecting 100 of them will be "difficult".

Leatty was created from "the snow and dust". It is a level 32 monster, which makes clear why the quest level requirement is 30. Alcaster mentions you can find Leatty in Orbis Tower. However, I prefer to hunt them in the "Snowy Hill" map since the spawn is plentiful there — and I'm surprised that wasn't mentioned by Alcaster himself.

***

Bring all the crystals to Alcaster and he'll make the sphere. Take it then to Muse and she'll give you the album because you've done what she wanted. Then, take the photo album to Kriel in Orbis. And if you lose the album, you pay 10,000 mesos to Muse, even though she says it's her last copy of it.

Quest is done.

***

A few notes.

• The Snow Crystal component of the quest, I believe, was written to encourage more players to play in the bottom floors of Orbis Tower.
• I find it hard to believe that Muse has never seen snow considering that she keeps in touch with Nanuke, who is at the Snowy Whale Island. (see Nanuke's Ingredients.) Although, as I mentioned before, since Aqua Road was previously just the ocean, it made sense for Muse to say this, but not now when all three areas are there.
• Since Dark Leatty is related to Leatty, I think they should also be made to drop Snow Crystal. If Alcaster insists that the crystal is "difficult" to find, the rate for the item dropping can be decreased, and the amount of crystals reduced say from 100 to 20.
• I also think Snow Crystal could have made for a unique ETC exchange. If they weren't quest items, they could be treated as an equivalent to Pig Heads.

"The View of the Ocean" effectively consists of two quests. I think it would've been better for them to be separated since they don't connect with one another in terms of subject matter. I also think it would make it easier to adjust values since the individual EXP rewards are quite low.

Personally, I feel they're in that weird spot. To me, they are written to be like "event quests" but also quests that are meant to fit in? That is, they're not strictly one or the other — a bit ambiguous. Ultimately, I still think the quest would benefit from rewriting, so as to make the narrative more consistent and even.

 

Pirates were promoted before they became available in the game.

The entrance to Nautilus Harbor (i.e. "On the Way to the Harbor") used to be sealed off, as was shown here:



The promotion video for the class:



The reason I'm showing these things is because it will lead into what I will talk about next. Inside the game's files, there were at least five quests that came from this time. None of the quests written were implemented into MapleStory. (Just to note, in the quest log, they are treated as being "Event" quests.)

List of quests

• Unidentified Strangers
• A Strange Development
• A Mysterious Letter
• The Unidentified Group
• A New Force Emerging

Even though these quests begin in different places from different NPCs, the end-result is the same. You visit Nautilus Harbor and talk to Bart, who reassures you that Pirates are not dangerous, that is, they should not be viewed as a threat to the Maple World. Bart concludes that if you're interested, you can join them in their fight against the Black Mage, of course, by making a pirate.

Each of the quests begin with a separate premise:

• Unidentified Strangers
  
  
• A Strange Development
  
  
• A Mysterious Letter
  
  
• The Unidentified Group
  
  
• A New Force Emerging
  
  

While it is clear that the first two quests — Unidentified Strangers and A Strange Development — were intended to talk specifically about The Nautilus, the other three, however, seem to be a bit more open-ended. That is to say that outside of its original context, the other three could have been taken into various directions.

I believe the quests could be further developed to become their quests or combine with other stories. For example, I can imagine A Mysterious Letter connecting with The Messenger of the Toy Palace since it talks about wanting to strengthen the bond between two areas (i.e. Ludibrium and Leafre). (Of course, that quest was introduced in a different version and in its own context, but I still give it to use as an example.)

When these quests were first written, I imagine, like thieves, pirates were thought to be "dangerous". I think MapleStory wanted pirates to feel accepted, and that to create a more inclusive environment, avoided giving any sort of reference to that. Although, I still admit, if that idea was kept, I think it may make for some interesting quests and story for the game itself.

 

That's a good find!

I believe it was intended to be an Event quest, which might explain why it's disabled. Definitely a taster for newer players and friendly, I admit.

GMS, I think, had this quest, but not in other regions — and if they did, I wasn't able to find any information about it. I assume it was added sometime around v0.54. That was when Showa Town was introduced. I also think that because in the third part of the quest, you have to meet Skai, who is at Showa Town.

It's still an interesting idea to play around with though. Quests like these are quite rare to find, but somehow quite in demand. I think in the other server, they held a writing contest. It seems the team there liked the idea of having more quests designed like that to encourage travel around the Maple World. One of the winners wrote a quest like this and it was then added into the game.

Edit: I forgot to add that you're welcome to ask anything else as well!

 

I only briefly mentioned it briefly before (when I was talking about the unused Pirate quests), but I think I will talk a bit more about The Messenger of the Fairy Forest and The Messenger of the Toy Palace because I'm still intrigued by it.



At level 70, if you go to either Ellinia or Ludibrium, you can talk to either Grendel the Really Old or Marcel. Even though it may be for different reasons, both of them provide an introduction to Leafre, which is a place that is designed to cater for both "mid game" and "end game" players.

In the timeline of MapleStory, Leafre was introduced in 2006 alongside Orbis Party Quest. Since the game started in 2003, it could be argued that it was an "early" addition to the game. Although, if you were to ask me, I would say I consider it neither as "early" nor "late".



Returning to the quests, you can only start and complete one of them; just like the quests I mentioned early on that involved Robinson. However, the end result is meant to be the same. If you do the quest, and talk to chief Tatamo after you finish it, you can purchase Magic Seeds, which you can use to travel (quickly) between Ellinia and Leafre.



As of this moment, there are only two regular ways of how you can get to Leafre. Orbis Station connects Ossyria to Leafre. So to complete the quest, you would most likely need to take two trips to get to Leafre. That is, Ludibrium → Orbis → Leafre, or Ellinia → Orbis → Leafre, and vice versa.

Of course, these are just two pathways, but I've always have thought there would be more ways to get to Leafre. The inclusion of Magic Seed suggests to me that there would be more (potentially) that haven't yet been discovered.



Marcel and Grendel's requests are quite different from each other. Marcel mentions that Ludibrium is looking to improve their relationship with Leafre. Grendel's request, on the other hand, is more about him giving an item to an old friend. In both cases, Chief Tatamo serves as the person of interest.

The choice may seem random for Ludibrium to improve their relationship with Leafre but I actually think it hints at a story that wasn't fully developed.



I include this screenshot which I believe came from the official servers that shows Tigun the Advisor and Rhinne, the Goddess of Time, both of whom are important to the story of their areas — Ludibrium and Temple of Time (ToT), which you access from Leafre. Even if it may not directly relate in general to Magic Seeds, I like to think there were more stories that involved the areas of Ludibrium and ToT which were not written or added.



In Grendel's quest, he talks about wanting to give Tatamo an " item that he [Tatamo] asked for a long time ago". I believe they refer to the item in the quest as a "Holy Water of Protection", but the server named them instead to "Pure Water of Protection". Despite the terms being somewhat synonymous, in any case, the item uses the same sprite as Holy Water, so it's to be understood that it's an item that has some important magical powers.

I know that Grendel's request only involves players just bringing the item to Tatamo, but I've wonder if the idea could be played with further, specifically in terms of gameplay. Dark Scrolls, for instance, brings about a higher probability of success, and they were introduced, I believe, when Mushroom Shrine was added. I think everyone knows that using dark scrolls can be dangerous — there's a 50% chance that the item will blow up. Of course, I'm not suggesting that an item like the Holy Water of Protection should be added to the game to stop items from being destroyed. Ultimately, I just think it's fun to think about.

 

This is not a post about a particular quest, but rather about a particular NPC in Ludibrium.

Robert Holly or Harry, as he is named in every other server region, is better known as a Buddy List Admin. He's one of two NPCs who can expand your buddy list. The other NPC is Mr. Goldstein, who, I believe, at first, was placed only at Lith Harbor but now is also in Southperry.

I sometimes think of him being not just a Buddy List Admin, but as a regular NPC — someone who you could talk to start a quest. I think that for two reasons. First, because of the clipboard he's holding, and the second with the machine that's next to him which, to me, looks like something used to identify players. Of course, if it's just for Buddy function, then I'll accept it as being that. But it does also give me the impression that it could be for something else altogether.

I sometimes think of him as being a town planner. Just as there are guards in Ludibrium to defend the castle, in the same way I can imagine there would be many things going on, especially festivals and celebrations. In effect, if he had quests, I think he would be asking for help to get items say from inside the Terrace maps. So in a way he could be a Quest Office NPC, much like the ones you see in Flyff.

 

Shulynch can be found in the Training Room at the Nautilus. If you're not a pirate, the most of an interaction you're going to get with her is when Bartol asks you to give her a lemon.



I was briefly thinking about the second job pirate advancement where you warped by Kyrin into different maps where you fight OctoPirates to get back those crystals. Of course, there are small differences between the second job pirate advancement to the advancement of the (original) four classes, such as the amount of items you have to collect. For instance, with others, you collect 30 Dark Marble, whereas for Pirates, you collect 15, which is half of that.

In other advancements, there is usually a specially dedicated NPC who warps you in. More specifically, they're named quite generically, but their names are as follows: Warrior Job Instructor, Bowman Job Instructor, Magician Job Instructor, and Thief Job Instructor. For pirates, Kyrin has been put in charge of both the first and second job advancements.

It might be a bit too quick to suggest that Shulynch was probably that person who should have been in charge of the second job advancement. Because she could just be a regular NPC. At the very least, she's not generically named "Pirate Job Instructor". Or, of course, that might say more about how everyone else is named — maybe those NPCs could be given some names.

Although, if I do say so myself, the Training Room does look like it was intended to be used for job advancement. I refer to the target that's behind Shulynch, which I imagine was a reference to those who wanted to advance as Gunslingers, and the punching bags for the Brawlers. Of course, that may just be objects that sit there for aesthetic purposes. Regardless, it's just something that came to my mind.

 

Richard the Sailor is someone who can be found in the map, Tae Gong's Ferry.

Outside of his job, he has a wife, who can be found in Amoria. At level 35, you can talk to his love, Angelique to start a quest named Cupid's Courier. Even though the quest is divided into different streams (i.e. Beginner, Warrior, Magician, Bowman, Thief, Pirate), the rewards in each are exactly the same.

In GMS, the quests were made to be repeatable after every 24 hours. However, here, at MapleLegends, the quest is not repeatable. If I understood it correctly, it was because of the way the quest was designed. More specifically, once the quest was completed, the quest did not appear in the "completed" tab — instead, it went back to the "available" tab in the quest window. Hence, it was decided that the quest would be made to terminate after one completion.



Returning to the quest itself, what Angelique wants you to do is actually quite simple. She mostly just wants you to bring a letter to Richard. However, to meet Richard, she also suggests that you fight some monsters to get some items. In this case, Angelique asks that you bring Stiff Feather, which drop from a variety of mobs including Pigs, Stirges, Wild Boar, etc.

If it was kept to be a repeatable quest, I think the most valuable item from the list of rewards would be Diamond Ore. That is because some quests request Diamonds. Otherwise, Diamond can also be used to make a ring, which you can do by going to Moony, who is also in Amoria.



The quest involves you to move back and forth between Aqua Road and Amoria, much like The Sakura Garden quest which is offered at the same level.

Once you get the letter either from Richard or Angelique, you will have to deliver that letter within 24 hours after receiving it. If you don't, the letter will disappear. When that happens, the quest gets "softlocked", meaning because the letter is gone, you may not be able to complete the quest. At the moment, for that, the only option now is to @gm when something like that happens.

***

Specifically, for this quest, I'm curious as to why Richard has to be on Tae Gong's Ferry. I think Richard, being a sailor himself, is probably comfortable travelling on his own. So, I kind of don't get why he needs to tag along with Tae Gong. Possibly, there may be a reason for this but that hasn't been disclosed.

Could Richard have a map to himself, just like Robinson or Nanuke? Possibly. There are many ideas that could be bounced around to make that happen.

I personally don't mind the quest asking you to be the nominated "courier". Although, it still feels to me like a quest designed to be an "event quest". So, if Richard wasn't someone who tied to Angelique, what else could he be doing? I sometimes wonder. But here's an idea: let's say he gets moved to the Nautilus. To me, at least, he seems to fit that sort of aesthetic anyway. He could take you between The Nautilus and Aqua Road, or The Nautilus and Mu Lung, knowing that some of the NPCs in The Nautilus are connected in some way to that area.

That's all I wanted to say about that. The rewards, of course, can always be improved, especially the EXP, because 3,000 EXP is really not that significant at level 35.

 

This is the Time Control Room, a "secret" room in Helios Tower. In the World map, they also sometimes call this "Helios Tower 101st floor". If you go to the portal, you can go to Ellin Forest.

I think you get a notification above your character at level 45: "Invitation to Ellin Forest", which you (have to) accept. After you accept it, you get a boost of EXP, and then it goes into your "completed" tab under the category "Ellin Forest".

I find it interesting with where the Time Gate has been placed. I wouldn't contest its actual location, other than to say that I think it's an interesting choice. Because personally, when I first went into the Time Control Room, I related that more to the questline for Papulatus than to Ellin Forest.



Karen is also found in the room. She was never given any quests. But judging by her job, she appears to be a technician.

MapleStory eventually put in a quest, but that was years after her inclusion into the game. I wonder if she was originally meant to fit with a newly redesigned Papulatus story line, or whether she was really intended to be the point of contact for entry into Ellin Forest. Anything goes.



I think most players know that Ellin Forest is a look into the history of the Maple World. I could imagine a Maple where Ellin Forest can be accessed by going to the library at Helios Tower, or to enter from the same portal that takes you to Korean Folk Town. Of course, it would mean changing the World Map, which, to some, might just be a bit too custom.

The other option I had considered was to have it go through Leafre. In GMS, they used to have Neo Tokyo connect through Leafre; here, Neo Tokyo is part of World Tour (i.e. Japan). I think the item "Time Traveler's Pocket Watch" was used for that purpose. So, it makes sense to connect it with Ellin Forest, which is about traveling into the past.

This is more of a random fact, before Ellin Forest was released, in KMS, they opened the area on a test server. If I understood it correctly, the people who came to testing brought their characters, some of whom were over level 100. Even though the area eventually became a mid-range area (levels 45–55), I've always wondered what it would be like if the area was scaled up. I'm not suggesting it has to, but I do wonder.

 

Manji owns a sword that was once held by a hero who fought against Balrog. At level 45, if you speak to him, he'll tell you about his story, which happened "decades ago", when he went to Sleepywood and had narrowly escaped being killed by Balrog after being saved by a warrior named Tristan.

Even though Tristan died in the fight against Balrog, Tristan agreed for Manji to take his sword back with him. Manji agrees. As Manji says to you, the sword as a result of the fight was "worn-out by the sheer evil of Balrog".

Even still, Manji wants to restore the sword to its original state. He says that you visit Chrishrama at Sleepywood to get advice on how to proceed. He also makes a remark saying: "I think you have to eliminate the evil force of Balrog". However, in this quest, you won't be asked to fight against (Jr.) Balrog.



When you visit Chrishrama, they'll notice that you have an Old Gladius and tell you that they made that sword for Tristan. In this quest, Chrishrama's main role is to "reawaken", that is, to restore the Gladius to its original state. To do that, Chrishrama asks that you bring four materials, and then they will find a way to make it happen.

After that, skipping ahead, Chrishrama restores the sword. You bring that back to Manji, he thanks you, and then gives you a pair of earrings that once belonged to Tristan. So, clearly, Manji didn't just bring back only the Gladius; he also brought back Tristan's earrings which he gives to you.



The Hero's Gladius is a recoloured variant of the same Gladius item that you can buy from an armor NPC. From what we've been told, it is the item that you take from Chrishrama to Manji. But there is no suggestion, at least from how I read it, that you keep the sword. So, it doesn't make sense to me, as it stands, for there to be two rewards from completing the quest.

If there was a reward, from what's been said, Skull Earrings should be the only item considered. Besides, we know Gladius is an item that can only be held by Warrior. If your character isn't that, then you're almost forced to take the Skull Earrings anyway. Although, it is true that if you're not planning to use either the Gladius or the Earrings, Gladius is probably the one you want to choose, because you can sell it to gain an extra 20,000 mesos.

That's enough talk about the Gladius item.



There's a lot of backstory, especially concerning Manji, who we simply don't know enough about, at least until this quest. This is a quest that makes you move around. In any case, you're definitely going to Sleepywood; and it's logical, given that the "Dungeon" in this story is referring to that. Collecting four items can be daunting but it's not impossible.

Although I do think this quest had potential to be developed further since many details are skipped over. For instance, we're not told why an Ancient Scroll or Flaming Feather is needed to reawaken the Gladius. I personally would have liked to know more about them. Those two items don't have to be together; they could be separated into different quests. They could also potentially involve more NPCs around Sleepywood as they may have been affected by Tristan's passing.

And then, of course, other things — EXP, rewards, and what have you — could also be improved.

 

Sometimes when I go to Ant Tunnel Park, I use the 24-Hour Mobile Store NPC to sell my items. It also helps that they sell "Return Scroll - Nearest Town" scrolls. It makes it convenient to travel back to Sleepywood. The same cannot be said for the Gumball Machine in Eos Tower.

The 24-Hour Mobile Store is shown on the current map used for Sleepywood.



In 2008, another version of the same map for Sleepywood appeared, but it does not show the 24-Hour Mobile Store.



Theoretically, depending on the map on which you base your opinion, you could argue that the 24-Hour Mobile Store could be taken away. Of course, in this version, his presence at the park may be thought to be quintessential, so that might make things harder.



Speaking of ideas, the Hotel Receptionist is also just an NPC who takes you in to the sauna rooms. We don't get to know her, other than to immediately recognise that she shares the same sprite as Rina and Maria. She's also not given a name unlike the two NPCs I just mentioned.

It might be interesting if there was an interaction between her and the guy who runs the 24-Hour Mobile Store. For instance, a quest about delivery of goods, similar to the Delivering Food to Spiruna quest at Orbis.

Although, I do still think it might be better to keep the NPCs as they are. Perhaps, beyond his current function (i.e. his shop), I would consider putting him in Sleepywood but have him take you to the Ant Tunnel Park. His van could also be parked outside the Sleepywood Hotel.

 

Yoona's Quiz on Shopping is one, probably if not the most well-known, of the beginner quests available. Her quest is incredibly simple. She just wants you to go into the Cash Shop, find the Beginner's Shopping Guide, and then go back to her to play a quiz.



You can search for the Beginner's Shopping Guide very quickly by using the inbuilt search inside the Cash Shop. I didn't realise that before. In fact, I had become so used to clicking on every page, just to make the item appear. But, as they say, knowledge is power.

Once you buy the guide from the Cash Shop, you give it to Yoona. Then she'll open a quiz that involves five questions, all of which are questions specifically related to the Cash Shop. For instance, she'll test on your knowledge of Memos. Gachapon Tickets used to be exclusively sold from the Cash Shop, so the question that pertains to that has been modified.



Usually at the end of the quiz, you get a choice of picking a reward: Blue Potions or Stolen Fence. None of those items are available on Maple Island, not including Myo Myo the Traveling Merchant.

In most cases, and I presume most similar like-minded adventurers would do too, I would choose Blue Potions. To buy 30 Blue Potions, that costs around 6,000 mesos, assuming that each Blue Potion costs 200 mesos, whereas the Stolen Fence can be bought for 2,000 mesos from Lith Harbor. Also, not every class uses shields (e.g. Bowman).

Confession time: I used to steal from Yoona by completing this quest on new characters and taking the Blue Potions to the character on whom I was playing. It takes at most only 3 minutes to get to her. It also helps that the quest isn't level restricted.



Aside from that, I think the quest serves as a friendly and small introduction to the Cash Shop feature in the game. If the quest wasn't about the Cash Shop, the "shopping" part would probably be changed such that, say depending on your character's gender, you'd go to armor or weapon sellers to buy clothes that you can wear or and learn, roughly, how much mesos you'd get if you decide to sell it or another item to the NPC; and that's usually half of its priced value.

There are other quests in the game that do require you to go into the Cash Shop to buy things. I think it's interesting and I would've liked to know if MapleStory had planned to open more quests like that, even though I know the Cash Shop was originally a P2W feature.

 

Yeah, when I first did the quiz, I thought it was quite funny, especially with that same pattern you just mentioned as shown by the options.

I think the quest first came from JMS, just like the other Maple Island quests, specifically Protect Lucas's Farm and New Life. The quest ID at least seems to suggest that.

You mentioned about marketing and I agree. I'll just mention that JMS's gameplay was different to other regions. For instance, each mob gave more experience per kill — 1.25x. So, relating that back to the quest itself, I think the way this quest was written was done such that it would encourage more players to buy more stuff from the Cash Shop, namely 2x EXP coupons — to increase the multiplier to 2.5x — as a way to motivate them to progress more quickly to enjoy content set at higher levels (i.e. Neo Tokyo or the Showa Town Hideout).

 

Today marks 100 days since the creation of this thread!



I thought I'd give it a mention. Thanks for a lot for being here.

There's still a lot of things that I'd like to talk about. As I've said, you're also welcome to use this space to talk about things that may interest you too.

 

I have some general thoughts about Rowen the Fairy and the Cursed Dolls quest. There aren't many comments to make about the quest itself because we already know how many dolls you need to collect for her — 2300 in total — but I think it's a bit of a shame that you have to first complete Mr. Wetbottom's Secret Book quest just to be able to do Rowen.

If Mr. Wetbottom's quest wasn't made to be a prerequisite for this quest, the story would probably be rewritten such that Ronnie sits in Ellinia, you talk to him, and he recommends you visit Rowen. Then the rest would follow. That's all I have to say about it.

 

We are told that Mom and Dad are the player's parents. You talk with them when you want to get married.

I find it interesting for where they've been placed because, naturally, given the World Map:



I assumed it was a house that you get to from going to Amoria. But, actually, you have to go to Henesys Hunting Ground II to find them. (Because there you'll find a ladder.)



Here, the other time you get to speak to them is during the "Bouquet of Roses" quest — a Valentine's Day quest where you turn in 4 different colored roses to get a Ring of Passion.



In the official servers, you get used to get an Allowance from Mom and Dad, which was given as a way to encourage buying Game Cards, which, here, are used as Legends Vote Cash.



I still find it a bit awkward and cheesy for them to say that they are my parents. It just sounds more logical to me for them to be parents for another NPC. For example, Shatima.

 

Mr. Shim's Request is one of the earlier Korean Folk Town storybook-based quests that require you to hunt 300 State-held Rice, which drops from Retz.

Mr. Cantsee Shim, as he is named — the "Cantsee" being a reference to the character's blindness — is, as he says, not fully blind. However, this detail sits in contrast to what the original fairytale says about Mr. Shim — they write that he is blind. That is, he is not partially blind or in need for "reading glasses".



Similar to the original story, Mr. Shim is told by a merchant, that, in order to restore his sight, he needs to bring 300 State-held Rice. (Some argue it was actually a Monk, but regardless of whoever it might have been, Mr. Shim was told this.) The figure might sound very exaggerated — which it is — but it is something that nevertheless gets mentioned.

It doesn't take much long before you get to see how "big" that amount is. In terms of gameplay, those items stack only up to 100, and so, in order to complete the quest, you do need at least three free inventory ETC slots. That can be tough, especially when your inventory is filled with other loot.

Personally, I found it a bit hard to finish this quest. I prefer to move around a bit, so it is a bit frustrating to sometimes stop doing whatever else you wanted to do, just to complete this quest. Sometimes I would collect as many as 200 Rice but still drop them to make room in my inventory.



I'm surprised that because the story talks about a merchant, in the current game, it would be interesting to see some involvement from Bung's Mama. In the original story, she's Bbaengdok's mother. I think there was potential to play with this story in this game — since she appears, though her role is minor, in the story. In other words, I think it would be interesting if she could talk to you to let you know that she needed the 300 State-held Rice in order to satisfy her vocarious appetite. I admit that would deviate considerably from the original narrative, but in my opinion I think it would help to keep things "fresh" and "interesting".

I think it could also work for Mr. Shim to have his quests reorganised such that, given the Rice only stacks up to 100, you bring to him that same amount to him, three times — in three smaller quests; for example "State-held Rice I", "State-held Rice II", "State-held Rice III" — rather than having to collect it all in one go. Then, the rewards could be tailored individually. You get 9,500 EXP (base EXP) for the full completion of the quest. It would be beneficial, if I can argue, if that same amount could be retained similarly but across, now, the three smaller quests.



Going back to the storybook, it is important to mention, of course, that:

These messages are culturally relevant and changing the story, such that, when it no longer belongs to its context, it would "ruin", so to speak, the appeal of the story.



I mention Kong Ji, because looking at the storybook, if Shim Chung was added as an NPC to KFT, she'd probably look like her, but would wear blue instead, as suggested by the cover of the Storybook:

Spoiler

The other item, the Flamboyant Petal, that you collect, if you do want to get the Storybook — whether you lost that accidentally or intentionally — is kind of detached from the narrative. But it would still interest me, at least, if that quest was introduced as a regular quest, as a pre-quest, if you like, to Mr. Shim himself. So, having Shim Chung in town would, in effect, as I argue, sustain that interest, and I think it would encourage more players to visit and play in Aqua Road.

 

To add on a note to this quest:



I think, somewhere in the drafts, when this quest was written, it seems that Mike had some role to play in this quest? Or, at least, he seemed to have a role, but that which wasn't realised. If you click on the option "Old Gladius", you get:



I think there is a mix-up of messages. So, when you click on "Old Gladius", ideally, what should return is the first message I've shown, which was:

This provides context for where you can find the items, at least, in terms of who drops it. It also shares information about those items, especially the rocks and the Ancient Scroll, giving particular reference to past and current magicians.

It surprises me, then, why some of those items, namely the Ancient Scroll and Flaming Feather, has been added to the drop table of certain mobs or introduced to other exchanges. Specifically, Flaming Feather can also be collected from killing other mobs, such as Jr. Cellion, Jr. Lioner, and Selkie Jr.; and Ancient Scroll was added to the Orbis Exchange.

It doesn't become known to us, however, what "old document" Mike might be referring to. I suspect the document could have something to do with a list of instructions for "re[a]wakening" the Gladius that Chrishrama wrote down (years beforehand) but somehow lost? That explains why Mike might have been part of the original story. Even then, I think it's kind of random, but I suppose we can still work with it.

In MapleStory, Mike was given "A Way to Fight Off Sleep" as his only quest — which I completed, but felt was underwhelming. I think it would be interesting to see him in more quests — or even a small quest that talks about the relationship that the two guards at each of the Dungeon Entrances have with each other, that is, Mike and Luke.

However, returning to this particular quest, I also suspect that he might have been, as I said previously, another individual who may have heard about Tristan's passing. Again, we don't know, and it's likely we'll never get to know.

 

Anne and Estelle appear in relevant sub-quests, namely: Estelle's Special Sauce (Estelle), and Research on Animal Fossils (Anne).



In order to get Estelle's Special Sauce, you need to trade 1 Garnet, which, in order to refine on Victoria Island, currently comes from going to Chris at Kerning City and giving him 10 Garnet Ores and mesos. It's the last ingredient you need to give to Mrs. Ming Ming in order to complete the quest to get the Ribboned Pig Headband.



Estelle's Special Sauce is supposedly done by Estelle. To me, however, I think the item could have been similarly done by Rina, who, as we learn from Mr. Wetbottom's Secret Book quest, can, in fact, make "Unagi special", suggesting that she enjoys or prepares a lot of meals. Moreover, outside of that quest and Pia's quest, we also don't really get to know much about Rina. We just know from talking with her that she holds great and utmost respect for Athena Pierce, who she calls the "hero" of the town.



Completing Anne's request, on the other hand, is much easier. You don't need to collect any items. All you need is to talk to her and she'll give you a quiz where you are to answer her questions correctly, to which she'll then agree to pass you the item.

Both NPCs are similarly sprited — main difference is that of colour — despite serving different functions for the quests in which they appear. Their case is not unusual, seeing that many NPCs in the game share the same sprite. What also seems to be common is that they are young girls. I think it would've been nice to learn more about them, and what they aspire to be.

However, I'm still a little confused as to why they are placed where they are. Specifically, to get to Estelle, you need to go to Ellinia, which is a town away from Henesys. Similarly, for Anne, you need to go to Henesys, which, again, is a town away from Ellinia. I just think it's odd. I think it would be more convenient for the quests if Estelle and Anne were placed in Henesys and Ellinia respectively. It would be a QOL change.