Old John witnessed a sight rarely seen in his entire life. The air grew scalding hot, a fireball appeared out of thin air in the witch's hand, and the pyre was blown apart just like that.
The villagers scattered and fled back to the village. Old John, singed by a stray spark, hurriedly dragged his curious young grandson back home.
His heart pounded wildly. He bolted the door behind him, leaning his back against the wooden panel as he gasped for air, desperately listening for sounds outside while praying with all his might.
The outside gradually fell quiet. Were the soldiers and Lord Corey dead?
He didn't dare to think about it, yet he couldn't stop himself from doing so.
If they were all dead, what if that witch burned down the village?
At that thought, he became as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Terrified of running right into the witch if he went out, he paced back and forth in place, each thought in his mind more horrifying than the last.
There was no sound outside anymore.
Old John's throat bobbed. Summoning his courage, he cracked the door open a sliver. Perhaps the witch had already left, perhaps she had gone to seek revenge on someone else, or perhaps—
Through the crack of the door, a pair of pitch-black eyes stared straight back at him.
Those eyes were inches away. The witch's face was pressed right against the door, and her lips curled into that terrifying smile that scared him out of his wits, as if saying: “Found you.”
Old John couldn't catch his breath. His vision went black, and he fell flat on his back.
In his final moments of consciousness, the witch seemed to say something.
Wu Yao stared at the unconscious NPC on the floor and the warning that popped up in front of her, feeling utterly innocent. “Is insurance fraud popular among NPCs now too?”
【Warning: Intimidating civilians is strictly prohibited.】
She stepped right over Old John's body. Inside the room, several other NPCs were huddled in the corner, shivering. Like three sparrows squeezed into the darkest corner of the room, they looked as though they wished they could wedge themselves into the cracks of the wall.
Their shoulders shook, their knees trembled, and even their lips quivered. The faint chattering of their teeth was exceptionally clear in the quiet room.
However, none of them had health bars over their heads.
The NPC who had fainted the moment the door opened had an indicator over his head that read 【Ashes Village Chief • John】. These other NPCs also had tags like “Ashes Village Villager” followed by a name. The Fireball in Wu Yao's hand was itching to be cast.
【Warning: Attacking non-hostile units is strictly prohibited!】
The speed of the warning made it seem as if the system had been prepared for this.
What if she insisted on attacking?
【Warning: Attacking non-hostile units will deduct 50% of your maximum Mana, which cannot be restored.】
Fine. Wu Yao gave up with regret, putting on what she believed to be a very friendly expression. “Do you need help?”
The NPCs did not speak, only continuing to shiver.
“Are there any quests for me to do?”
Silence.
“Or do you need me to find something?”
Still dead silence.
The NPCs shook even harder. One middle-aged NPC even began to sob quietly. Yet, there was still no option to converse, nor did any quest markers pop up.
Wu Yao scratched her head, feeling like she had been scammed by the game. The promotional material had hyped it up to high heaven, boasting about things like “NPCs with fully realized life paths.” Was this level of intelligence the reality?
She had asked so patiently, yet they completely ignored her.
“Forget it.” Puffing out her cheeks, she decided to stop wasting time with these non-interactive NPCs and began rummaging through the house.
The hinges of the cupboard were already rusted. When Wu Yao pulled it open, it let out a sharp screech, causing the NPCs to flinch once more.
She reached into the cupboard and felt around. Her fingertips brushed against a few hard objects. Pulling them out to take a look, she would have thought they were stones if the system hadn't labeled them as bread. They were hard enough to be used directly as weapons.
Next, she pulled out half a jar of salt. It was kept in a clay pot, mixed with quite a few gray impurities.
Setting these two items aside, she continued to search deeper into the cupboard. Her fingers brushed against a small bundle wrapped in several layers of cloth, hidden in the innermost corner of the cabinet. It was wrapped tightly and bound with several loops of thin hemp rope!
Wu Yao's spirits lifted. Hidden so securely, it had to be something good!
She spent a while trying to untie it, but the thin hemp rope was tied in a dead knot that was hard to undo. She could only rip it apart. Peeling back the layers of cloth, she finally revealed a small packet of dull yellow granules.
Sugar.
A small packet of sugar.
Wu Yao was silent for a few seconds. Her instinct was to complain about the game's ridiculous settings, but looking at it from another perspective, this actually showed the developers' attention to detail.
After all, what kind of good things could NPCs who looked like ordinary, impoverished peasants possibly hide?
Despite her thoughts, the gamer in her refused to give up any opportunity to loot. No matter what, this was a game! Why make it so realistic? Were they trying to build a literal “Second Life”!
She couldn't ignore the space under the bed either. Lying flat on the ground, she peeked inside, only to faintly make out a few pairs of worn-out straw sandals that couldn't even be classified as equipment.
Next, she lifted the mattress. The musty smell of straw and the stale, rotting stench of old belongings rushed straight to her head. She could even see fleas scattering in all directions with her bare eyes.
Wu Yao instinctively took three steps back. After a moment's thought, she simply exited the dirt hut.
What was going on? Was this really a novice village? To be poor to this extent! There were absolutely zero starter benefits!
Wu Yao glanced at her weight bar: 【2.1/10kg】. The price of having 1 Strength was that she couldn't carry anything.
Even for materials like wood and stone that seemed useful, carrying just one or two would make movement difficult and double her stamina consumption.
She could only pick small, lightweight items to stuff into her pockets, but even her pockets were almost full now!
Leaving the village chief's house, she headed to the neighboring homes. Although some of the doors were locked, just because a player didn't know how to lockpick didn't mean they couldn't just break in!
She searched from house to house for supplies. Her efficiency was extremely high, but the harvest was pitifully meager.
A few patched-up old clothes, a bundle of hemp rope, a small bag of oats, half a candle, a few copper coins...
“No quests, no equipment, no materials...” Wu Yao stood in the small square in the center of the village, angrily shooting a Fireball into the sky. “How on earth did you design this novice village!”
The only response was the wailing of the wind blowing through the dead trees.
She opened her map and took a look. This place called 【Ashes Village】 had a total of around thirty households, their house icons clustered tightly together. She had already paid a visit to every single one of them and hadn't found anything useful at all.
She was still 160 experience points away from leveling up. The gamer decided to take the initiative and head into the wild to see if there were any low-level monsters.
Even though there was no novice guide, an experienced player would always find a way!
Wu Yao strode toward the 【Northern Path】 marked on the map, occasionally running over to rummage through and slash at the bushes, rock piles, and tree roots.
Her figure drifted further and further down the path, her silhouette gradually shrinking into a bobbing dot before vanishing at the end.
Ashes Village fell back into silence.
Rate on N.U.
