A Village Appeared on My Desktop

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Chapter 45 – The Wind of Change (5)

‘Yeah. That makes sense.’

Thinking about it, it was only natural. Not everyone in the world would have the same desktop background as me.

The monitor and computer I bought solely to enjoy games and the various games scattered all over my desktop were all results of my own taste.

I had no idea about the conditions to become a ‘User’ when I met the Master Program. Of course, there must be some criteria, but perhaps even an ordinary person like me, an elderly individual who isn’t good with computers, a foreigner, or a child could qualify as well.

– “Why install games? I don’t play games; I only use this computer for work.”

As I expected, this person was someone who didn’t play games. They didn’t seem particularly old, but there are plenty of people around my age who don’t play games either.

“You can activate various genres and types of games using the Master Program, and help the residents with it. Other apps can be really useful too.”

I advised someone who seemed to only do document work on the computer that it would be good for them to install various programs, including games.

Including programs like breaking desktops and such. Upon probing a little more, it turned out that the other person was also nurturing ‘Guardians’ at the village level.

‘Are they a settled people?’

It seemed like those the other person was nurturing were a bit different from my nomadic residents. Of course, even if that’s the case, resource farming through games is much more efficient than real-life farming or hunting, so I recommended the sandbox crafting game, which I activated first.

It was a game that could yield essential resources not only for basic food but also for things like the residents’ mana awakening.

– “I’ve heard of this game.”

The other party mentioned they had heard of the game and said they’d give it a try as I suggested. Seeing that, I suddenly became curious about their true identity, but eventually, I couldn’t bring up the topic.

I was also conflicted about whether I would be able to answer if they asked about me. While I felt a sense of kinship, I wouldn’t want to expose information to someone whose identity I didn’t know right now.

– “I’ll give it a try. Can I contact you again then?”

“Sure, that’s fine.”

It seemed the other person was equally keen to wrap up the conversation. They looked somewhat desperate, as if they didn’t want to let go of the hint they had finally found.

‘Maybe more will come up. They say two heads are better than one, so maybe things will improve.’

It felt oddly mixed with excitement and instinctive vigilance, and I had the same feeling. Moreover, a conviction that this was just the beginning hovered in my mind.

“…You seem to have enough qualifications to be a Hunter.”

That turmoil continued as I returned to the game, progressing through the chapter with Riena. Thanks to that, I didn’t catch the words of the Armor Artisan correctly as we received the hide of the beast we had caught.

It seemed slightly different from the dialogues that were originally set.

“Did I say to find proof of the demon? Show it to me.”

The Armor Artisan stood up and guided us inside his attached house. It was good that the quest was functioning properly. Completing this quest related to the Artisan’s grudge and sorrow would reward us with special equipment independent of the story progression.

A cycle of resource acquisition based on free farming and crafting in sandbox crafting, obtaining skills and equipment through quests and story progression in this action RPG.

Indeed, thinking back again, gaming was essential. Without help from the games, we could never triumph against the bugs.

“—!”

“It’s my son.”

The place he took us to was a fairly large house adjacent to his workshop. It was in the basement. It matched what I had already learned. And as I had learned, there lay a corpse.

But it wasn’t an ordinary corpse. It was dried up, almost like a mummy.

Riena, startled, flinched and lightly brushed against my character.

“Just caught for no reason.”

The Armor Artisan merely looked down at the corpse with a sour face. This was a scene already familiar to me from攻略 videos.

However, his expression was somehow different from what I had seen in the videos. The intensity of the grief was felt even by me, watching from behind the screen.

‘Is this reality?’

Though I was playing as a game, ironically, that world was very much reality. Fighting and rolling around with quests, those gaming elements really didn’t hold much meaning.

I was truly in another world, fighting against the demons of hell.

“I haven’t told anyone. I feared harm would come, not being able to save my son. The current Order is not trustworthy. Moreover, this is not the end.”

The Armor Artisan then requested, no, begged us for a new quest. According to what I knew, his son and a twin daughter had been captured by a suspected demon, and he wanted us to rescue them.

“—.”

Riena looked back at me. Judging by her expression, it seemed she wanted to take on this mission. It was likely more important to her than it was when she completed side quests in Chapter 1.

*

‘To invade the world… demons.’

The monsters called demons were creeping out. However, the people in the world forgot about the danger and were pouring all their effort into squabbling and competing, engulfed in greed and complacency.

Riena’s face darkened as she vaguely understood the game’s background. For some reason, it didn’t feel like someone else’s business to her.

The sudden winds of change that blew into her hometown brought upheaval and many sacrifices. That upheaval, whose causes remain unknown to them, could very well be considered the work of outside enemies.

However, the Tribes of the Grassland chose to invade other tribes to survive, rather than join forces. In that process, victims similar to the Armor Artisan’s children emerged. Riena herself was one of those victims.

‘We must resist.’

She intended to fight. She had power now. In fact, she’d had the experience of defeating a manifestation of the Demon Lord intending to possess her.

The quest from the Armor Artisan was merely a part of that struggle.

“Is it you? How did you know…?”

Since Riena’s will was the most important, he dashed forward for the quest without hesitation.

She followed after him, slightly panic-stricken, just as she had always done, knowing he had made the right choice.

‘What on earth is that?’

They continued to run out of the city. Since both were transcendent beings, they could run without tiring even in armor. He even rolled as if there were no onlookers, jumping and creating chaos, outpacing Riena.

The destination they reached was a clearing located a bit away from the city in the hills. There, resembling the one in the city, was a flickering portal. Riena was taken aback at the sight.

“Wait a moment!”

He leaped towards the portal without hesitation, seemingly targeting it. As he disappeared into the portal, Riena, startled, bit her lip.

She had already made the decision to throw herself into where he was going as a faithful believer.

“Ugh.”

Riena threw herself into the portal. Jumping just like him. As the space changed, the surrounding scenery shifted.

[The prey walks right in.]

Bellas, an elite monster from the game and a low-level demon. A monster with the upper body of an old crone attached to a spider’s form.

As the boundaries between hell and earth blurred, and the demon lords themselves attempted to breach those boundaries, Bellas, who had emerged amidst the crumbling chaos, grinned at the intruders in its nest.

Though the ground, filled with descendants of heroes and followers inheriting divine power, was surely dangerous for them as well, this state was abnormal, thus he clung on to it.

In this realm, being just a low-level demon, Bellas could exist as an incarnation of fear and grow in power.

[Come, foolish… huh?]

But that applied only to the people of this world.

To someone, Bellas was merely a monster appearing in Chapter 2. Regardless of what ambitions and aspirations Bellas might vocalize as it grew stronger upon coming to the surface, all it could do was wave its staff and unleash hot magic.

[What the hell…! Listen, listen… Aaaah!!]

Even if Bellas had the art of seduction, it would have no effect against the opponent already set in their mind and actions.

Even the black-haired Female Knight who followed after him ignored Bellas’s words and simply unleashed her skills and swung her sword. Especially because of their celestial blessing—Light of Protection—they were impervious to its special hypnosis.

[This cannot be happening!!]

Soon, unable to withstand the joint attack of him and Riena, Bellas was overwhelmed while watching its melting body in disbelief. It never even imagined it would be taken down without exchanging a single word.

“Be gone, demon.”

[This bitch, I’ll remember your face…]

Riena, who stabbed her sword into Bellas’s face as it melted on the ground, casually muttered in disgust.

And with that, the quest ended.

While Riena caught her breath, he, unaffected by any fatigue, moved forward and rescued the victims entangled in webs. Among them was, of course, the daughter of the Armor Artisan.

‘Armor is taken care of. Now, I just need to farm for skill points in Chapter 2.’

He returned the rescued victims to the city along with Riena. Now, accepting his reward from the Armor Artisan would complete the quest.

After that, he planned to move to another location for what he would gain next. No matter how real it seemed, in the end, the rewards were what mattered to him the most.

“Where did you come from? The Grassland? So, you came all the way from there? Ah, what’s your relationship with that person?!”

However, the return journey was anything but quiet.

The Armor Artisan’s daughter, named Sophia, was obviously interested in the demon hunters who had rescued her while being drained alive, and her eyes sparkled to the point that Riena felt uncomfortable.

Without speaking, the taciturn one had all the attention of those rescued focused on her.

In contrast, Riena, considered an outsider, was almost dizzy by the fervent interest directed at her.

“When they were saying it was the work of the rumored evil demons, nobody believed it and I felt despair. But it seems the light hasn’t completely vanished from this world yet.”

Eventually, the father was reunited with his daughter. His eyes, which had been lifeless and cynical, finally sparkled with the light of hope.

“I just thought it was something I had to do.”

Feeling proud of herself, Riena, who was joyfully watching the reunion, casually said something that would make him flip out if he heard it.

“Gratitude should always be repaid; it never comes back as an obligation.”

Still, the Armor Artisan didn’t just express his thanks without compensation. He brought them to the secret space of his workshop and offered the special armor he already knew about as a reward.

‘So it’s just one. That’s fine. As long as Riena wears it.’

Seeing that covered thing, he smiled bitterly. Hoping perhaps it was two, but unlike the two celestial blessings that had come down, the Armor Artisan’s prepared reward was just the one as originally planned.

“Just one, is that a bit much? How about this for you?”

But at that moment, the established flow twisted. Riena had not taken this simply as a quest, and thus the Armor Artisan didn’t regard his request for her to save his daughter as just another simple quest either.