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HC: Handyman | Ch. 114 - Weird Egg
🕑 Added 2024-11-06 10:47:06 +0000 UTCJack scanned the chicken farmer’s outfit, thinking about the massive operation outside and the many cleavers clacking in the next room. He wasn’t sure how rich chicken farmers were supposed to be, but there had to be hundreds, if not thousands, of chickens here. He hadn’t expected a tycoon running his chicken empire from an ivory tower, but he hadn’t pictured such a gritty businessman either.
“What profession does he and the other NPCs here have?” Jack asked.
“The rancher major,” Amari replied automatically as if he’d been asked a question by a game show host quizzing him. “Many also have the butcher minor,” he added after a while.
“Butcher minor… that’s a harvesting profession, right?” Jack asked. He’d skimmed over the details for it while researching minors.
“It basically allows you to harvest more resources from carcasses. Butchers can collect hides, bones, tendons, and meat.”
“And do I need to… you know…” Jack made a clumsy mime of a knife cutting across a throat.
Amari laughed. “Common question—no. The game doesn’t make it gory; otherwise, hardly anyone would choose it. It grants passive skills that let you get extra loot after a kill in the wild or, in this case, from harvesting animals at a ranch. It’s a good, lazy minor. Many players take it because it gets them more money while hunting,” Amari explained.
Jack nodded, curious. Lazy minor. That had a nice ring to it. He already had plenty of hardworking minors to manage. If there was a minor that didn’t require him to do much, he’d take it.
He got his mind back on the quest. “What am I supposed to say to the chicken rancher?”
“Ask him about the weird egg. It’ll trigger a quest. It grants a free level and isn’t too time-consuming.”
Jack nodded and took a few steps forward, positioning himself across the table from the old man. The farmer’s skin was tanned and wrinkled, and his eyes looked glassy as if he were almost blind. Yet he looked straight at Jack, proving his eyesight was still serviceable.
“Yes?” the man asked, never pausing from plucking feathers.
“Hello, sir. I’ve heard that you need help with something,” Jack began. “Something about a weird egg?”
The old man’s eyes widened, and he nodded in understanding. “That’s right, young man. I do. You must have been at the tavern the other day when I was discussing it with Roger and Nancy.”
Jack shrugged, neither confirming nor denying the man’s assumption.
“Come, I’ll show you.” The man put the carcass down, and led him into the next room where the racks with eggs were. Jack followed, watching as the farmer reached for one of the top shelves. Carefully, with both hands, he removed a weird-looking egg, just as promised.
Unlike the other white-shelled eggs, this one seemed almost translucent. It was three times the size of the largest normal egg nearby. Jack could partially see inside it: purple, healthy-looking veins and an odd shape nestled near the shell.
“We get one of these every fortnight,” the man explained.
“Is this… a chicken egg?” Jack asked, confused.
“It should be. We raise nothing but chickens here. The elephant birds… well, they’re kept in a separate roost. This was taken from the hen house. It’s a chicken egg, or at least it used to be. Something made it bloat.”
“Strange.”
“This egg is extremely fragile. It also has an odd secondary effect. Something about its smell drives foxes wild.”
Jack recalled seeing an elephant bird chasing a fox away earlier. “So, what do you want me to do?” Jack asked.
“I want you to take it to the Agropastoral Institute. It’s on the other side of the woods, near the siloes. Be warned—just a small bump or wrong move, and the egg will break.”
Jack grimaced. An escort quest. He’d seen plenty of memes and internet reels about players going berserk after escorting something almost to the end, only to fail at the last minute. It had been funny to watch, but it looked like he was about to experience the frustration firsthand.
“The shortest path is right through the Vulpine Woods, but you’ll need to be very cautious,” the old man cautioned. “Those foxes will try to get in your way. Many couriers have failed my request to take it to the experts. The foxes just went crazy after smelling the egg, and they couldn’t avoid them. The moment they jumped on them, the egg broke.”
“Very well, sir. I’ll be glad to help you with this.”
“Wonderful. Even if you fail on the first try, I’ve got three eggs like it,” the old man added thoughtfully. “Please let me know what the experts from the institutes say. Maybe it’ll be good for business, or maybe it’s a disease—I don’t know. I don’t even know if I can eat this thing.”
“Don’t worry, sir. I’ll do my best.”
“Very well,” the man said, carefully handing the egg to Jack as if it were a newborn child. “Careful now.”
You’ve accepted the new quest: [A Weird Egg].
A Weird Egg (Uncommon)
Jerry is a successful chicken farmer who has noticed a strange phenomenon. Once every fortnight, one of the eggs swells mysteriously. He fears it may be a sign of disease or a missed business opportunity.
He asks you to take the egg to the experts at the Agropastoral Institute. To find it, head toward the siloes.
Mission objectives:
Take the egg from Jerry’s farm to the Agropastoral Institute.
Any jolt, bump, or attack will shatter the egg.
Avoid the foxes.
Requirements: Lvl. 15-19.
Jack held the egg gingerly, afraid to even squeeze it too hard for fear of shattering it. The old man turned away, heading back to the room where the chicken carcasses waited.
“Well done!” Amari commented as the old man disappeared back into the room of clacking cleavers.
“What now?” Jack asked, keeping his voice steady as he glanced down at the fragile alien egg.
“Let’s head outside. Don’t lose your focus, and watch your step. You’d be surprised how many players have broken eggs before even leaving the compound.”
Jack gulped and followed Amari as he navigated through the rows of eggs toward the nearest door. The egg felt unnervingly fragile in his grip, every step making him more aware of its delicate weight.
Horace and Marie were already by the door, waiting. Jack walked over to them, moving carefully, his hands steady yet hyper-aware of the quest item cradled within.
“You got the egg,” Marie stated, her gaze unwavering on his hands.
“Yes, I took the quest.”
“Alright, let’s get to the gate,” Amari said, his voice firm.
Jack heard the distant call of an elephant bird, followed by a whimpering sound, then another and another. It sounded like a battle was already raging outside. Combined with the heavy atmosphere that settled over the group, it was enough to make his pulse quicken. The three veterans stretched, cracking their joints as they walked, rolling their shoulders and flexing their fingers like they were gearing up for a brawl.
“Guys… what’s going on?” he asked, his nerves tightening.
“Wait, Jack. Focus only on the egg. Don’t get distracted. We’ll talk at the gate,” Amari cautioned.
Jack swallowed, feeling his heart race. When they reached the gate, he spotted three elephant birds patrolling the perimeter, more vigilant than before. There were no foxes in sight yet, though.
“Good, no stragglers got through,” Amari said with relief. “Horace, you’re the last line of defense. Don’t leave Jack’s side.”
“Yes, siree!” Horace replied, giving Jack a confident grin.
“Marie, keep your focus on concussion bombs. Nothing else will stop the foxes from charging.”
Marie fished several projectiles from her belt, slipping one of each between her fingers like a professional prepping for a showdown.
Amari adjusted his metal claws and then flicked his hands to make shurikens and throwing knives appear and disappear with practiced ease, like a magician testing his tricks. He seemed to be mentally reviewing his inventory.
“Guys… you’re scaring me,” Jack said, eyes darting from one serious face to the next.
Amari turned to him with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Don’t be scared, Jack. Everything’s going to be fine. We promise,” he said, brushing his claws together with unsettling calm. Jack glanced at Marie and Horace, but they both wore that same unsettling smile.
Why do they all look so creepy? Jack thought. They look like a group of psychopaths ready to ambush someone.
“The key to succeeding in this quest,” Amari began, his tone shifting into that familiar, tutorial-like voice, “is absolute trust in us, Jack.”
Jack raised an eyebrow, feeling puzzled. He’d thought the key to the quest was simply avoiding foxes. But Amari, catching his look, went on before he could speak.
“The quest mentions that the egg drives foxes crazy, but it doesn’t really explain just how crazy.”
“H-how crazy are we talking?” Jack asked, his grip tightening around the egg.
“Black Friday crazy,” Horace muttered with a smirk.
Jack peered through the fence, noting the elephant birds patrolling the perimeter and occasionally issuing sharp warning calls. Beyond them was the meadow separating the chicken house from the woods, where Snowy was napping peacefully. He saw no foxes yet. Is it really going to be that bad?
“What the quest doesn’t tell you outright is that you can break the egg just as easily as the foxes. People fail this quest more often because of stress than anything else. If you get too tense or worry too much about what’s happening around you, you might squeeze your hands too tight—and, crack—you break the egg.” Amari paused, casting a glance at Jack’s tense grip.
Jack coughed as he forcefully relaxed his hand.
Amari continued. “One wrong move, a sudden jerk, or even looking back too quickly…”
“I’ll break the egg,” Jack finished, feeling the weight of the task settle over him. “Got it.”
“Exactly,” Amari confirmed. “So all we want you to do is focus on the egg. Walk toward the siloes without looking back. We’ll handle the foxes.”
“Can I ride Snowy?” Jack asked, hopeful for a simpler solution.
Amari shook his head after a moment’s thought. “It might work, but I’d rather not risk it. I’m confident we can do it in the three tries we have if we stick to our known method. Let’s play it safe.”
Jack nodded, calling Snowy, sprawled in the meadow, belly up, digesting her last grass meal.
“Here, girl!”
Hearing Jack’s voice, she rolled over and started ambling toward him.
“Horace, can you help me take off the pot hive from my back?”
“Sure thing.”
Horace helped Jack take off the shoulder straps one at a time and then placed the pot hive in one of Snowy’s saddlebags. Jack thought about unsummoning Snowy for simplicity, but he couldn’t while she was carrying the pot hive.
“Horace? Marie?” Amari asked.
The tree veterans exchanged a silent glance—an unspoken agreement among warriors who had clearly been through many battles together.
“Alright, Jack, you ready?” Amari’s voice was steady, a hint of encouragement in his gaze.
Jack glanced down at the fragile cargo in his hands. The egg felt delicate as if his own heartbeat might shatter it. He could feel the tension in his hands, aware that one wrong squeeze could end the quest instantly. He shifted his grip slightly, holding his breath as he adjusted his fingers along the shell’s delicate surface.
He’d done his fair share of quests in New Earth. The pit in his stomach reminded him of raiding the compy nest with Amari or kidnapping the allosaurus infant with Horace. They’d pulled through together back then, hadn’t they? Even though he didn’t have as much experience as the rest of the team, he trusted them.
Jack took a final look at his team, then down at Snowy, who nuzzled him with sleepy eyes. Her calm, dark gaze met his, steadying him. “Alright, Snowy,” he whispered, feeling her slow, steady breathing ground him. “Follow after us.”
Jack honed his gaze on the distant siloes. They’d make it. They had to. He took a steadying breath, focusing all his concentration on the egg. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”
