chapter 8
8 – NPC of strange ties (3)
As I already mentioned, the main setting of the online game Eight is dark fantasy.
At least ep.1 is a story that flows smoothly, but things change from ep.2 onwards.
“Era. Eyes, definitely.”
“huh!”
The moment Ira went into hide-and-seek mode alone, I immediately handed her over to the Mime Golem and ran forward.
Damn it, this smell.
“……”
road in the mountains.
The situation unfolds in front of your eyes, where the road, which should have been better paved and cleaner than the surroundings, and overflowing with the smell of grass, has turned into a serious garbage can.
no. Shall we call it war?
All kinds of wagon fragments, various fruits that can only be called food waste now, and puddles of blood and meat that Ira didn’t want to see.
Even in my past life and this life, I have only encountered this grotesque situation through movies.
At least in this life, I have had time to defeat monsters and live, so it’s okay. I clicked my tongue slightly at the sight that made my stomach bloated just by looking at it.
“…The top, not. A peddler.”
dead body.
It has been horribly torn apart, its arms and legs are displaced, and its head hangs like a fruit on a tree.
The head must have been forcibly pulled out, and there was even a small bone underneath it that appeared to be a spine.
There are three such corpses scattered around.
The reason I knew there were three as soon as I saw them was not because there were three human bodies.
Because there are three heads. One even has a woman’s face but doesn’t seem to have a body.
“…f*cked up, really.”
Interbreeding in Eight.
In other words, there are often situations where monsters eat humans. My mother, my father, my older sister, and my younger brother disappeared even on the quest. The ending of the quest received is almost fixed.
Either dead, or miraculously brought back to life by the player.
But people were left wondering what the difference was between these two endings.
If I explain it this far, you will understand, right? If you die, you are just dead, and even if you come back alive, you will not be able to live a normal life.
A human being eaten by a monster like a dog.
There are even cases where limbs disappear in the process. I actually found it through a quest, but there were more than one or two stories of NPCs committing suicide after a certain period of time had passed.
In other words, if you encounter a monster and are dragged away, the bad ending is straight.
“…Is the trace a troll?”
A troll designated as a high-level monster often found in the mountains.
In reality, there are different levels for each color, but even the weakest green troll will not die in one hit with my attack. And above all, it is so fast that it cannot be compared to goblins or orcs.
Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s my enemy.
“…For this, it would be better to just go.”
Reincarnation in another world, attacked by monsters. ‘Oh my! ‘Thank you for saving me!!’ The story has already passed.
If I was lucky, I might have been able to save someone from a monster and get a carriage.
It’s a little disappointing.
I took a detour, trying hard to erase the thoughts that came to mind.
*
⎯A village where the Ponia mountain ranger disappeared.
“Uh, huh?! Dae, what the hell is going on?!”
“f*ck… goblin…”
“No!! There were five guards, but how many goblins were there?!”
“Cough… three, three.”
“ha?!”
A man who came back alone with his face covered in blood, as if he was going to die at any moment. One of the people who had surprised Jack in the village sat down trembling.
“Wow… those three goblins were incredibly fast. That was unbelievable speed.”
“…Oh, no. Someone please move this guy first! He needs to be treated right away!!”
The villagers of Poria founded the village guards after the mountain keeper Jack left the village after causing a disturbance.
Since they looked down on Jack for only taking in cans to manage a mountain of Ponia, they decided to patrol the mountain and deal with monsters by themselves, saying that it would be no problem without Jack.
In fact, for the first few days there were no problems. Because Jack, who was even in charge of guiding the mountain, was gone, they followed the path they took every time, and it was a mountain where about one goblin appeared every two or three days.
Of course, even one goblin was strangely strong, but it was not difficult to defeat it no matter how hard it was when three sturdy men were swarming around.
Just like that, they immediately started complacent, saying that the mountain ranger’s job was simple and that they only managed the mountain by following the path they were guided by. Today, the five of us climbed the mountain together and climbed the mountain with ease, talking about taking a break from tomorrow’s patrol.
and
“…Ambush… There was an ambush by goblins.”
“…What?! Goblins ambush?! Monsters are intelligent?! This is a big deal!!”
“Lee, let the chief know. Hurry up… I need to call for the military quickly…”
A man who collapsed and collapsed makes a lot of noise as if he knew a great fact, but in reality it is wrong.
I’ll say it again, but they only patrol the roads they know, and unlike Jack who hunted 2-3 goblins a day, he only subdued one or two every 2-3 days.
in other words. The goblins who did not die on the same mountain trail every day saw their dead comrades and instinctively thought that it was ‘dangerous’ to go there, so they gathered numbers and moved.
It wasn’t an ambush or anything, it was just a 3:5 head-to-head fight.
And the result.
“Huh?!! Where did our Billy go!!”
“My husband!! My husband?!!”
“…I lost to the goblin…and was taken away…”
In fact, the voice of the man who was not seriously injured and ran away as soon as the situation became unfavorable reached that point.
Because the voices of mothers and wives screaming that their husbands and sons were taken away by goblins were completely erased.
The name of this continent is Eight. A world where monsters, people, and other races coexist.
And, it is a terrible dark fantasy world where both males and females can be eaten by monsters.
*
“My master doesn’t know how to speak.”
“…Hmm. Um, your face looks very young…”
“You’re naturally baby-faced.”
“Hmm. I see. Then, what is your identity…?! Hee!! What about this hand?”
“You are an alchemist. You lost a limb and are now using the stone limb for magic.”
“…So, put your hand in. I-I only check your ID.”
no. does this work?
What is the level of security in this world?
After having the mime golem ride Ira on its neck, put a large hood on it, and tell Ira to look at the other person’s eyes without saying anything, and then I talk instead of Ira, which is a mute concept.
And at the end, I passed with the -porter- Mr.’s ID that I had brought from the wagon I encountered earlier.
To think that such a thing is possible, it seems that this country is cheap even if it really perishes.
“Oppaha.”
“huh?”
Maybe because I was told not to speak louder than usual, I involuntarily tilt my head when I see my cute little sister who puts more effort into her pronunciation than usual and makes a flirtatious sound.
“Don’t tell me?”
“Yeah. Be patient a little longer. Just until you get a room at an inn.”
After being kicked out (?) from the previous village, I ended up leaving my younger brother homeless.
We were weak and small, so we were going to keep sleeping in the house somehow, but even if we couldn’t, we didn’t want to make them homeless until we got a wagon, but it was because of the goddamn tempura baron who wanted us.
‘I have no intention of doing that in the future.’
I could do embarrassing acting and plays for my younger brother. Instigation and fabrication, thanks to memories from previous lives, stick to your mouth and there is nothing you can’t do.
Thinking so, I went to a nearby market and bought some skewers, then set up a small inn.
Fortunately, there were no wanted letters attached to this inn.
“Hmm. Let’s take a carriage ride from here.”
Originally, I had planned to take a carriage from all over the city, but the plan was turned upside down when a wanted letter was attached.
And even if you ride a carriage, there are problems.
“Hey, status window. Can you follow that golem wagon separately?”
[skill. You can follow along if you follow the words using Follow.]
“…they run on all fours?”
[yes.]
I imagined for a second. Pay the coachman two servings, and the golem will follow on its own. and run the wagon
And next to him, a golem with a plain face starts running while copying the words.
…what kind of horror game is this?
“hahahaha. I’ll have to make some real money.”
“Nyeomnyomnyom… oppa? Don’t you have any money?”
“Uh, huh? No. My princess doesn’t mind and eats a lot. Ah! Era?”
“huh?”
“Oppa, I’m going to leave for a moment. Stay here with the golem lady for a moment. I’ll be right back.”
“yes!!”
When I think of something and want to leave, the girl who listens well to us responds by vigorously holding a skewer.
It’s so cute that I really want to bite it.
“Status window.”
[I will protect Ira.]
I didn’t say anything, but I nodded at the answer on the status window that answered right away. You mean he’s pretty smart too? It’s a golem, but its intelligence is 22 high.
So I went out of the inn.
*
As in the game, it is good to take a picture of an NPC that is clicked and asked for information.
Of course, since it has become a reality, all humans can take pictures if they want to, but I, who became a wanted man, could accidentally shoot the wrong person and have to literally cut off the other person’s head, so I moved with caution.
Sunset time, the town’s pub. Even in the Eight Game, the bar at night was a place where information was gathered, and it was a good place to ask the master at the counter for a drink and ask about various things.
Of course, it was just an act of reciting information that the user already knew over and over again, but sometimes, when I gathered information at the tavern, a rare quest would pop up.
It is an action derived from the thought of wanting to make money. If you are lucky enough to get a rare quest, you will probably be able to earn 20,000 to 30,000 more cans.
I casually ordered a pint of beer at the counter and paid 300 cans. Even though it’s expensive for a glass of beer, it’s quite a lot of money considering that it’s 100 cans. And in game you do this.
“Guest, do you have anything you want to ask?”
In this way, the store owner takes care of the money and tells me various things. I asked about the situation of Fonia these days and people who make money around them.
and.
“Hmm. If you talk about making a lot of money in a short period of time, wouldn’t it be subjugating monsters?”
“…Ha. I’m not an adventurer. Is there anything else besides that?”
“Um. I’m sorry. There’s nothing to make money these days other than escort requests and subjugation in the area I mentioned earlier.”
The escort request is in the opposite direction to where we are going. As for subjugation, I’m a wanted person, so it’s hard to sell magic stones after catching him.
Ugh, that sucks.
“No. Thank you for letting me know.”
First of all, there are no underage drinking laws in 8, but it’s a bit hard to drink in a 15-year-old’s body, so if you try to get up…
-Wow!!
“Put that money down right now!! I said I saw you stealing it?!!”
A sharp voice rang out from inside the bar after a deliberate sound of destruction as if the dining table had been overturned.