A Village Appeared on My Desktop

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Chapter

17 – The Beginning of Progress (7)

“Still haven’t returned, huh?”

“Y-yes. Everyone else returned with their spoils, but Ur has yet to come back. We haven’t even heard any news.”

“That’s strange.”

Upon hearing this, he stroked his beard. Ur was among the most experienced and capable warriors under his command. There was no way he couldn’t capture a few scattered tribespeople who were on the verge of disbanding.

He never considered that the warrior he entrusted might have been overpowered by a younger and stronger warrior who received unknown assistance.

“Could there have been a problem while capturing the prisoners? If that’s the case, it would explain the delay.”

“Well, considering the monsters are swarming the area, it’s plausible. However, at the very least, I would expect him to send a reliable one to report back.”

He started pacing back and forth. To speak frankly, the lack of contact from a single unit wasn’t a huge issue. After all, he was the chief of a strong tribe, commanding hundreds of warriors.

As he stepped outside his dwelling, he beheld a village that had grown several times larger than before. It was the result of conquering and assimilating nearby tribes.

“But it’s still not enough. To defeat the others around us, we need greater strength and more warriors.”

Despite having built a tribe far larger than his father and grandfather’s, he felt it was still insufficient.

This was partly due to his own greed but also an unavoidable choice. In order to survive here without being devoured, he had to become the predator instead.

“The warriors want more spoils and plunder, and now that things are stabilizing, it seems time to move again.”

“Then where do you plan to attack this time?”

“The west, north, and south are occupied by stronger tribes and kingdoms. So, the direction will be east. We’ll start by attacking the vicinity of the last place we hit.”

He once again began planning a raid. Since he had grown his tribe through plunder and invasion, he had now reached a point where if there was no more plundering, he wouldn’t be able to maintain his current size.

Moreover, the warriors he recruited and persuaded needed spoils, so to keep them united and manageable, battles had to continue.

Moreover, this issue was happening across the vast grasslands, where safe territories were becoming increasingly scarce and the weaker, unwilling to be attacked, were being pushed deeper and farther afield.

“Look there. Could they be the vagrants?”

“Looks like it. They’ve noticed us.”

Some among them had already encountered the residents who were settled there.

At Balun’s command, the reconnaissance team dispatched from the village approached them on horseback. The vagrants were so taken aback by the sight of soldiers clad in high-quality steel weapons and armor that they couldn’t even think of escaping; they simply dropped to their knees and begged for their lives.

“Calm down, everyone. We won’t harm you. Where did you come from?”

“We come from a tribe near Mount Rus. B-but we don’t know where this place is. We just ran away from our pursuers, keeping our heads down.”

They seemed to have given up hope. They only wished for the slightest mercy from their captors.

However, the reconnaissance soldiers, who were also refugees, did not treat them harshly as per Balun’s orders.

*

“It seems the wars between the tribes show no signs of calming down. The seven we discovered after the reconnaissance mission today are all those who have fled from their homes.”

“…Sooner or later, those bastards will surely come here.”

Balun welcomed the newcomers brought back by the reconnaissance team and shared their testimony with Riena.

The testimonies, soaked in fear and terror, further solidified her resolve. It was a certainty that trials would come again, and she needed to bolster her strength beforehand.

“Today, will I head to that castle?”

As Riena donned her armor, she steeled her determination. Surely, he would call for her today. That was her belief.

“Ugh.”

That belief soon turned into reality. As if waiting for her to finish her preparations, the moment she got ready, her body was drawn somewhere.

When she opened her eyes again, having closed them against the fierce wind, she found herself not in the busy village but in an entirely different place. It was the save point she had left before entering the ruined village yesterday.

He was there, waiting for her as if it were only natural.

“Ah, hello?”

The moment he saw her flinch, he raised one hand and waved it back and forth. He had greeted her using an emotional expression function.

Recognizing that gesture as a greeting, she awkwardly raised her hand and waved back.

He stood still, only able to observe her actions, but it was clear that he felt a strange joy at her mimicking his greeting.

‘As expected.’

After the greetings, he pointed his sword toward the village, or more specifically, toward the place where the castle was.

Having steeled her resolve, she drew the sword from her waist. It was no longer the iron sword she had been using but the steel sword she received as a reward along with skills for clearing the tutorial.

His sword, pointing to the village, was the same. After all, she had received two swords as rewards the moment she cleared the tutorial.

“Those bastards again?!”

The two entered together into a foggy, eerie village devoid of life and even the slightest hint of small creatures.

Having lived solely in the tribes of the grasslands for her entire life, the scenery of the village and castle brought her a unique and exotic mystique that exceeded its eerie ambiance. Unfortunately, reality offered Riena no respite.

Vile, corpse-like specter soldiers emerged from the broken houses and barns, bursting out to roar at them.

Clenching her teeth, she naturally prepared for battle alongside him.

Her mindset was distinctly altered from the first encounter with such creatures. Though they were the horrific monsters she had never seen before, they now felt like annoying little pests.

The basis for this lay in the power she had gained. Dodging the enemies’ spears, her mana surged as she swung her sword. It was a force beyond mere physical enhancement, a raw power bursting forth.

As her sword swung violently with a shockwave, the specter soldier that tried to block it with a worn wooden shield was blown apart alongside the broken shield.

The skills granting extraordinary power beyond reality to the player provided her with a strength even greater than that.

‘T-this isn’t the end, is it?’

However, her confident expression, which had easily sliced through the many specter soldiers attacking her, didn’t last long.

She was soon horrified to see dozens of enemies rushing in from all directions.

“Ah!”

Then, without a second thought, he spun around and ran toward the alley. Riena had no choice but to follow him.

*

“Is it left here? Yes, it is.”

Games usually have a defined route. No matter how twisted it became, that route seemed to remain intact.

While pursuing the game with a guide, I fled from endlessly respawning enemies behind me as I searched for the path.

With Riena’s combat power, enhanced by her skills, they easily bypassed the battle, but it was evident she couldn’t fight forever. In this place, fleeing was the way to progress, so there was no need to push herself.

‘A bomb shelter to serve as both a save point and base.’

Following the number one ranked strategy guide, I easily found my target within the complicated medieval-style village.

It was a building resembling a church, with a hefty door immediately visible. Without hesitation, I entered there and sought a passage leading inside.

Once Riena followed me in and we blocked the passage, the first task was accomplished. Indeed, the quest to find a safe location had been completed, and potions were rewarded in my inventory.

“—, —?”

As she took a breath to calm herself, she seemed quite startled. The sounds of the creatures outside made her cover her mouth in shock.

After all, this was a sort of safety zone, so monsters shouldn’t be able to enter, but who knows? For Riena, those monsters were real creatures.

‘Here, I need to find clues.’

According to the guide, I needed to look for clues on how to enter the castle from this location. Knowing the position already, I promptly went up to the second floor and discovered clues hidden in a small room.

[The Priest’s Diary]

It was a small book. The diary, translated to show me its contents, detailed how this village was overtaken by one of the game’s seven boss monsters, the Demon Lord Talas.

Honestly, the game’s story was outside my interest. To me, it was just a cliché game plot. I was only focused on progressing the game to give Riena experience, equipment, and skills.

Therefore, I had no intention of engaging in side quests that served as mere backgrounds for the story left behind in the village.

‘…Is it different for you?’

However, when I had gathered everything I needed and stepped outside, I began to think that maybe my notion was wrong.

“—.”

Noticing I was watching, she awkwardly smiled and turned away. What Riena was looking at was outside the window, the corpses of a woman and a child.

It had likely been some time since their death, but due to the curse laid upon the village, the bodies remained preserved in their death state. It wasn’t only those corpses; inside the village and castle, the remains of the dead were scattered everywhere. I knew that once the story progressed, those corpses would rise as enemies to attack us.

‘She mentioned losing her family except for her father, Balun.’

Having known the circumstances from her concerns yesterday, I could guess what emotions she was harboring now.

I also recalled how she conversed with the NPC she met for the first time yesterday. For me, this was all just within the monitor, but for her, this place was the very reality. It wasn’t possible for her to think of it as just a game because I did.

‘For now, there’s no choice but to proceed.’

I gestured for Riena to follow and started walking ahead.

For now, advancing the story was paramount.

The goal was to prepare to enter the castle filled with enemies, including the boss. The boss would already be aware of our presence.

Descending into the underground was a way to avoid combat with the spectral soldiers outside and prepare ourselves.

“—!”

And so, entering the underground passage below the church, I encountered yet another monster. Like the specters, the ghouls were also one of the weaker enemy types.

However, those bizarre undead were slightly stronger than the specters.