6 – Sudden Visit (6)
“…”
From Noble mtl dot com
Inside the dim room, it felt like less than an hour had passed, but the real-time had also passed like game time, and it became evening, allowing the stars and the moon to rise brightly in the background.
But I remained in a daze, still sitting in my seat. It felt like a storm had passed. The fact is, I had only played the game for a little while by myself, but the consequences were far from light.
“Snap out of it. It’s reality.”
I sighed and lowered the game window, looking at the desktop. I saw the villagers happily grilling the meat I had saved from the game world.
The meat I had saved. Not game items, but real animal meat. It wasn’t just meat either. The hastily gathered ingredients were transformed into an actual sword, which they held in their hands.
[Until the next opening: 19:42:11]
[Time extension possible up to 100%]
In fact, it wasn’t my intention to send them out of the game. It was true that both me and them needed time to regroup, but opening that strange portal and sending the villagers out when the allotted time was up was the will of the master program.
If you pay 100P, the opening time can be extended. I had a feeling I knew what that meant.
In the game, you could bring resources into reality, into the background screen. So, they demanded more than just the points needed for unlocking. They even sent a message to assign residents, making it impossible for me to play alone.
[Achievement List Available]
And the points required for that can be earned by the residents themselves inside the game. Whether it’s defeating the first monster, hunting a hundred creatures, or mining rare minerals.
“This is insane.”
I let out a hollow laugh and mindlessly moved my mouse.
To keep those residents alive here, or rather, to make them stronger, I couldn’t avoid using this system.
At first, I didn’t realize it because I was too focused, but now that I see it, their possessions seem so inadequate.
Fundamentally, I wondered why I should be concerned about this and pushed aside the question. I pondered deeply and seriously about what to do, to the point where I questioned if I had ever become this serious before.
“Are they happy? Over a little bit of meat.”
That’s what I saw with my own eyes. I couldn’t help but be fascinated by their attention and care, unparalleled to any other game.
If you think of it as just a game, you might be able to think lightly about it.
“But I don’t know right now.”
In the end, as I struggled with my thoughts, I soon made a decision. I decided to stop and end it today. After all, my actions until the game opens again will be limited.
[External Intrusion Detected]
“—! –!”
It was when I was about to finish my work and turn off the monitor that a new event occurred in the world within the background screen.
“It’s a wolf.”
Along with the notification of an external intrusion, beasts that seemed like wolves appeared from the left side of the background screen, crossing the meadow.
Unlike the wolves I knew, these creatures had particularly strong front legs. They revealed themselves, seemingly unafraid of people gathered around a fire, and approached the residents.
“–, –!”
Of course, the residents panicked and grabbed whatever weapons they could to confront the intruders. Most of them had torches or wooden clubs, as there weren’t many proper weapons available, but they couldn’t just sit still and be attacked.
“It’s not working.”
I tried left-clicking the mouse to see if it would work against the wolves, but it didn’t have the same effect as when I faced Glitch. I realized that all I could do now was watch.
As I looked at their tense faces, I felt a tightness in my chest for no reason. Especially Rienna, standing at the front with her sword drawn, seemed frozen in place, afraid that any wrong move on her part would harm the others.
“—!”
And then the fight suddenly broke out. Whether the wolves made the first move or the residents did, they clashed against each other.
“Will we win? Will we survive?”
Rienna started by splitting a wolf in half with her sword as it lunged at her, and Barun and the others also fought fiercely, entangled with the beasts.
Blood splattered, and guts spilled out from the wounds. Someone screamed in pain, and the enraged bystanders took revenge by mutilating the bodies of the wolves.
A fight for their lives. As I watched the intense scene without any editing or mosaic, I could only make one firm determination.
I had to provide them with as much support as possible in terms of supplies starting tomorrow.
“There’s no time to relax.”
Eventually, this fight in the middle of the night ended not long after, with the victory of the residents who fought to protect their own lives and the lives of their livestock. Like the wolves who had attacked relentlessly, they were completely wiped out.
But the residents also suffered. There were many injuries, some tents were destroyed, and Rienna’s iron sword was damaged.
It was unfortunate to see those who were biting their lips and wrapping bandages around themselves to stop the bleeding, but I had no points left to use the vaccine program to treat them.
Ultimately, I would have to endure until the game opens tomorrow.
***
“Junyoung, is something wrong? You seem lost in thought.”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing.”
“Start getting ready. Let’s call it a day here.”
The experiences from last night have shaken me beyond the morning and into the day, and up until now, unlike the first day. My supervisor, Deputy Kim Kyuseok, even chuckled to himself as he spoke.
Still, I eagerly awaited the end of the workday. After leaving the company without any issues, I immediately came home and turned on my computer.
[Time until next opening: 00:04:17]
It was just the right time for the game to open again. While the residents seemed to be doing their own thing in my absence, the atmosphere wasn’t great.
The injured were not in good shape, and even Rienna, whose sword was broken, had a dark expression.
Only Chief Barun, with a serious look on his face, was touching the black portal that had appeared in the middle of the village. Perhaps he had realized that the portal held the answer.
“I wish I could tell you what the right answer is.”
After taking a deep breath, I launched the game as soon as the time came.
We can’t afford to waste time like we did yesterday, being clueless and accomplishing nothing.
Hoping that they would realize what the right answer is, I called the four I had brought into the game world again.
“—?!”
“–!”
Naturally, they were surprised and flustered again this time. Seeing Barun quickly regain his composure and calm his colleagues, I was once again convinced of his qualification as a leader of the village.
“First, let’s start with the achievement of collecting resources.”
With a mix of caution and curiosity, I tossed an item I had made at them from the combination table.
It was nothing but a stone pickaxe made of stone. Of course, a pickaxe is a tool used to dig the ground.
I, too, held a pickaxe and opened the door of the air-raid shelter to guide them outside. Fortunately, they realized my intention and followed quietly. I personally used the pickaxe to dig up the soil right in front of the air-raid shelter.
“Good. Let’s keep going like this.”
As I fiddled with the mouse and keyboard, I chuckled. Despite not being able to communicate verbally and looking different, we surprisingly got along well.
After I dug up a block of soil, I pointed to the adjacent land for them, and a man named Kun, holding the pickaxe, started digging, looking around cautiously.
Unlike me, the soil they sell is not in block form, but nevertheless it came to mind that it was recognized as an achievement through a small window.
[Basic Treatment: 100P]
Using the 100P I earned from that achievement, I treated the injuries of the injured villager who was groaning before their injuries worsened.
“Next is stone.”
There is no time to rest. This time, I handed a pickaxe to Barun and pointed to the stone that was exposed on the ground.
And Barun’s actions were faster than the others. He wielded the pickaxe and tried to dig out the stone, and when a part of the rock broke, the achievement was completed.
Their expressions were puzzled, not knowing what this was all about, but every time they soon realized my intentions when I rewarded them with meat.
“I’ll give you iron until tonight.”
After that, I wandered around the area near the portal, teaching them various things and achieving achievements.
The ultimate goal was to give them items made of iron. It seemed that what they needed right now was weapons and armor made of iron, as they seemed to lack the resources and skills to deal with metal.
“It’s getting dark.”
But before real-time 20 minutes had passed, the game world completely transitioned into night as the sun set. At the same time, monsters that appeared only at night emerged in the field, emitting eerie cries.
To me, they were just cute bits of data on the monitor, but to the villagers, they were terrifying monsters from a strange and unfamiliar world.
I took the bewildered villagers with me and entered the bunker, closing the door.
However, I couldn’t keep them all inside the bunker because of the danger.
I had planned to go outside and gather what we needed during the night, but before that, I had to complete achievements that could only be achieved at night. That way, I could continue to extend the time by paying points.
“—?”
As I slowly approached myself, Leena hesitated and stumbled.
I drew my sword and gave her a sign. The message was to go outside with me, but would she understand?
“Alright.”
Fortunately, she understood my intention, and her eyes trembled before she nodded resolutely. She stopped her surprised colleagues from trying to stop her and followed me with her sword in hand.
[Basic Achievement: First Werewolf Kill]
The achievement I wanted her to accomplish was to kill the black werewolf that kept lurking around the air-raid shelter.
In the game, it was the weakest monster. With her attack that could instantly halve my character’s HP, we could subdue it in no time.
“That’s right.”
Two of them rushed towards us, and I marked one of them with my sword. The remaining one was up to her.
And at that moment, Riena, facing the monster made of blocks and dots in the game, swiftly killed the werewolf, a real, living monster, with a single blow to the neck.
It was a clean strike, as if it was nothing. Surely, she had some special power.
[Basic Achievement: 10 Werewolf Kills]
This should be enough to proceed to the next stage. With plenty of enemies to kill and eliminate, I started walking around the air-raid shelter with her by my side.