novelraw Chapter 8 : Chapter 8
Chapter 8 : Chapter 8
Chapter 8
【System Notification: You have been killed by the Dark Mage Victor.】
Well then—Victor, you sly guy, you were actually baiting them!
He looked weak and frail on the surface, but he turned out to be a Dark Mage?!
Although this kind of contrast was not uncommon in games, the world felt so realistic that they had unconsciously applied real-world stereotypes to it. They had assumed they were dealing with an easy target.
Who would have thought that this “soft persimmon” was actually made of stone?
But that was not the end of it.
Although their screens had turned gray due to death, they could still receive system messages.
【System Notification: You have committed robbery. You must serve 5 hours in prison or complete the ‘Labor Reform’ quest to be released.】
Their corpses disappeared from the spot.
The next moment, they respawned inside a pitch-black dungeon cell.
Lightning screamed, “Ah! My leather armor! My pants! My beginner gear is all gone!!!”
Now he was wearing only a plain white T-shirt and white shorts.
Although beginner equipment had poor stats, at least it looked better than this outfit.
Ten Billion Volts screamed, “Ah! My money! My entire chest of money—nooooo!”
Once he had taken it, it was his property. Losing it felt worse than death.
Night Arbiter screamed, “Ah! My staff! My staff is gone too!!!”
In other games, replacing beginner gear usually took only a few minutes.
But this death immediately made them realize that 《Legend》 was completely different from previous online games.
Game equipment, game currency, and even leveling speed were clearly not going to be fast.
That meant beginner equipment was extremely important.
Without beginner gear, killing monsters would be much more difficult compared to other players.
Their cries of despair could practically be described as heartbreaking.
However, the viewers in the livestream chat found the entire situation hilarious.
The happiness had not disappeared.
It had simply transferred onto their faces.
If Lightning and his two companions could rob NPCs, then it meant that quite a few other players would try the same thing.
Some players who had arrived earlier patted their shoulders and comforted them.
“The labor reform quest isn’t that difficult. If you work hard, you can finish it in about an hour.”
If it were not for the grin on his face that he was struggling to suppress, Lightning might have actually believed him.
However, what did comfort them slightly was that one minute after they arrived in the dungeon, another player was thrown in as well.
Lightning grinned.
“Welcome, little brother.”
The smile had transferred to his face again.
Lanoss, who had been observing the players’ actions the entire time: “……”
Although he had already predicted that these players would cause quite a bit of trouble, he never expected that within just one hour, half the players would already be locked in the dungeon.
Lanoss had indeed allowed them to act freely because he wanted to watch them suffer a little.
After all, if the knife never falls on your own body, you never truly feel the pain.
To these players, in-game laws were about as effective as playing a lute to a cow.
Only by personally experiencing the consequences of breaking the rules could they learn to behave.
As for whether players might later grow stronger and then attack NPCs out of resentment for being killed earlier.
The system would not allow it.
From a fundamental perspective, all player skills were actually issued through the Magic Network.
NPCs belonging to the same faction were marked in green and could not be attacked.
Only when the system detected intense malicious intent would the Magic Network automatically judge them based on hostility values, changing their status to yellow or red NPCs. Only then could players use skills on them.
Moreover, for most players, dying in a game was extremely common.
The probability of holding a deep grudge against an NPC simply because of one death was actually quite small.
For Lanoss, this fishing operation had achieved two goals at once.
Not only had the players suffered a painful lesson, but the villagers of Tata Village would also adjust their attitudes.
The existence of game players had been justified through Lanoss’s divine oracle.
However, to the inhabitants of this plane, Lanoss’s oracle was something they listened to with the utmost devotion.
As a result, their admiration filter for the players was not just a hundred meters thick—it was dozens of meters thick at the very least.
Even Lanoss could not break such faith.
The only way was for them to experience reality themselves.
Considering the high probability that the Fourth Calamity would cause chaos, the first batch of NPCs chosen to distribute quests were all combat personnel with high battle strength.
Norsevi Plane had been locked in a thousand-year war of attrition against the Void Demons.
Human children were sent to the battlefield after the age of ten.
Those teenagers who appeared to be fifteen or sixteen years old in the players’ eyes were already experienced warriors with many battles behind them.
Once their admiration filter shattered, dealing with these players took less than ten seconds.
Although the players who had suffered at the hands of NPCs were extremely unwilling, they still had to complete the labor reform quests if they wanted to return to normal leveling as quickly as possible.
Lightning regretted his earlier actions deeply.
“Robbery is something you mess around with in single-player games. How could we do something this stupid in an MMORPG?!”
Victor, who had come to help as a temporary prison guard due to manpower shortages, glanced at Lightning with slight surprise.
But he immediately despised himself for wavering.
Do not trust them, Victor!
Have you forgotten what these Chosen Ones did to you just now?!
Robbery!
They actually robbed him of money right in front of him!!!
Unforgivable!
To locals like Victor who had long suffered under the invasion of Void Demons, robbery was an absolutely unforgivable crime.
If the players had not openly robbed him, Victor would not have shattered his admiration for the Chosen Ones so quickly.
The existence of the Chosen Ones had been confirmed by a divine oracle.
Before their arrival, Victor had imagined them in many ways.
As saviors, they should have been elegant and powerful.
Or perhaps dignified and compassionate like the Father God.
Even though Victor had already been to the battlefield at his age, he still possessed the sincere dreams of a young man.
For example, he imagined himself as a hero who would drive the Void Demons out of this world and save the world.
But unfortunately, dreams were only dreams.
When the Chosen Ones appeared—heroes personally acknowledged by the Father God as the ones who would save this world—Victor poured all his hopes and admiration into them.
Yet the Chosen Ones themselves shattered that admiration.
Seeing the Chosen Ones imprisoned hurt Victor even more than being imprisoned himself.
Even if they regretted their actions now, what was the point?
Why did they have to rob him in the first place?
Thinking of this, Victor glared fiercely at Lightning and the others again.
Lightning, who had already realized that the NPCs were far more intelligent than expected, kept watching Victor carefully.
When Victor glared at them, Lightning shouted excitedly instead.
“This NPC’s glare is terrifying. It feels like he wants to carve a piece of flesh right out of me. Incredible—this is seriously incredible!”
The livestream chat quickly filled with comments.
“Leaving everything else aside, the character models in this game are amazing. There are so many NPCs in the beginner village, and almost none of them are ugly.”
“If this NPC had blond hair, he would definitely be a tsundere.”
“Don’t stereotype. Silver hair can also be tsundere.”
“Silver hair, green eyes, Dark Mage… a gloomy beauty. I’m into it! Potter, go romance him!”
Lightning replied firmly.
“This game feels way too realistic. I’m a straight man of steel. There’s no way I’m going to romance a male character just for you people!”
To emphasize his determination not to “sell himself,” Lightning declared boldly:
“I, Lightning, would rather jump off here, break my legs, and starve to death than romance a man!”
Victor had not expected that his intimidating glare would only make the other party even more excited.
He felt utterly speechless.
Did these people have some kind of mental problem?
Victor could not understand their behavior at all.
But whether he understood them or not, as an NPC he still had to complete his job.
At present, Tata Village was extremely dilapidated.
After countless cycles of reconstruction, destruction, and rebuilding, the villagers had long mastered efficient rebuilding methods.
Logically speaking, they did not need these Chosen Ones—who did not even have levels yet—to help.
However, since the quest chain needed to be expanded, these basic labor quests still had to be included.
Waiting five hours in prison would be unbearable.
Therefore, almost everyone chose to complete labor tasks to reduce their prison time.
The area currently protected by Tata Village’s magic barrier was only a portion of what used to be the main city district.
There was no quarry nearby, but there were mountains.
Obtaining stone was actually quite easy.
For example, they could blow up part of a mountain to create smaller stones that the Chosen Ones could carry.
While Lightning and the viewers in the livestream chat were still joking around, Victor had already selected a target.
He took out a greatsword and waved at the players.
“You should step back a little.”
It might have been better if Victor had not said anything.
The moment he spoke, several players noticed the large sword in his hands and immediately rushed toward him.
Victor: “……”
Victor looked at them cautiously.
The players had left too strong an impression on him.
Their wolf-like eyes reminded him of unpleasant memories.
Their comments also made him uneasy.
Instinctively, he gripped the greatsword even tighter.
“Wow, this greatsword looks amazing! My Appraisal skill can’t even identify it. It must be at least a blue-tier weapon!”
“What? You already got the Appraisal skill?! We agreed to rob people together, so why did you secretly complete quests first?”
“Is that really the important part, you idiot? Check whether the Appraisal skill says where this sword can be obtained!”
“This sword feels really heavy. The physics engine in this game is incredible. Damn it, I want a sword like this too!”
“Wait, isn’t this NPC supposed to be a mage? How can he use a sword? Does this game have a dual-class system?”
Victor: “……”
Victor slowly closed his eyes.
The veins on his forehead nearly burst through his pale skin.