The Heifer Strikes Back


 * This quest name used on this article is based on Crunchyroll's translation in season 1, episode 2. The name of this quest is alternatively translated as Revenge of the Cows (Yen Press).

The «The Heifer Strikes Back» (逆襲の雌牛) is a repeatable quest that can be found at a farm on the outskirts of Horunka Village in Sword Art Online. The quest was previously known as The Lost Calf (迷子の仔牛) in the game's beta test, before being renamed due to alterations to the quest's plot in the official release of the game. The players are rewarded with a sizeable sum of Cor and a single basket, filled with two pieces of bread and a jar of sour cream, for completing the quest in the retail version of the game. The cooldown time for this quest is six hours.

Background
A middle-aged male farmer on the outskirts of Horunka Village has lost track of one of their calves. The farmer believes that the calf wandered off to a prairie on the other side of a forest to the east of the village. Fearing that the calf might find itself attacked by monsters, the farmer is looking for someone to help find their missing calf and lead it back to safety.

Quest Details
The quest can be accepted by approaching the farmer on the outskirts of Horunka Village and asking them if something is troubling them. The goal of the quest is to find the missing calf and safely return it the farm. However, in order to find the lost calf, the players must enlist the services of its mother. The cow must be escorted to the prairie, where they must scour the area for the missing youngling. When closing in on the missing calf, the mother cow will begin mooing, followed by rushing in the direction of their offspring. However, the cow has a nasty temper and must be placated with rock salt every four to five minutes; otherwise, the cow will wander off in the wrong direction and eventually return back to its farm. Although the cow is not targeted by the monsters of the forest during their journey, the player is still forced to ensure the cow remains happy even during combat.

The plot of the quest was revised in the retail version of the game to include a scripted encounter with two Swamp Kobold Rat Hunters and a Swamp Kobold Trapper, whom the players find attempting to kidnap the missing calf. This event serves as a jumpscare to players, as the Swamp Kobolds are somewhat higher in level than the player would be expecting, while the Swamp Kobold Trapper is an especially dangerous opponent to face for low-level players. However, the cow is scripted to ram the Swamp Kobold Trapper with its horns for attempting to harm its offspring, easily dispatching the otherwise dangerous foe.

In the official release of the game, a cooldown timer was added to the quest. Whenever any player accepted this quest, no other player was allowed to start the same quest for a period of six hours.

Completed By

 * Kirito - party leader
 * Argo

Trivia

 * According to Argo, The Heifer Strikes Back is the second best quest obtainable in Horunka Village in terms of rewards, second only to the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest.