A Village Appeared on My Desktop

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Chapter 69 – Status (9)

We clashed. The Banshee’s debuff hit us. Naturally, my character got afflicted with the debuff, causing my health to drop and my movement speed to decrease.

“—!”

But they were different. Gritting their teeth, they charged forward toward that horrific specter brought to life.

The rings on their fingers shimmered softly. The effects of the items obtained from Dark Blood, a world entirely unlike this sandbox survival game, were fully manifesting.

Though they had opened various types and genres of games to assist them, to them, it was all just reality.

‘Doesn’t seem like much.’

If even powerful debuffs could be neutralized in the game, then the Banshee wasn’t such a formidable foe. In reality, it proved true.

The mage Rasen swung his staff and unleashed a fireball, hitting the Banshee, which shrieked and trembled.

Seizing the opportunity, Rakum’s spear pierced through the chest, and unlike the game monsters that knew nothing of escape, Shura, who charged in with daggers in hand, cleaved the panicking creature that tried to flee.

Clearly unable to withstand anymore, the Banshee, unable to resist, tried to escape but was hacked apart by Shura’s blades.

With a strategy discovered from another game, we dispatched it with remarkable ease, especially considering the trouble it had caused us.

The ability to combine elements from entirely different games that would normally be unreachable might just be the strongest weapon of the residents living in the screen.

‘Essence of Monster.’

The Banshee, disappearing with a scream as befitting a boss monster from a high-difficulty area, immediately dropped the Essence of Monster. Perhaps it was just a feeling, but it seemed a little brighter and larger than other essences.

As Shura slowly picked it up, the difference became more apparent.

“—, —.”

Approaching me as I hastily munched on whatever food I could find to replenish my health from the debuff, Shura’s demeanor had shifted to something more solemn.

The atmosphere was tense; it didn’t seem right to be chomping away at food as if it was a casual break.

‘It’s quite burdensome every time this happens.’

Shura knelt respectfully on the ground and offered me the Essence of Monster. While collecting and utilizing these essences had typically been my job, something about this incident seemed to have changed her attitude, making it more reverential.

I knew they viewed me as a divine being. Balun was intentionally exploiting this to control and unify the tribe. When seen from their perspective, it was quite natural to think that way.

However, every time they showed their unwavering faith in me as an absolute being, my shoulders felt heavier.

In reality, I was just an ordinary person, and thinking that their lives depended on my judgment and actions made it hard to keep a calm mind.

“The system is roughly taking shape as planned. Essential resource gathering, acquiring skills to enhance power, and crafting special equipment. I’ve established what I think the residents desperately need by utilizing the various games. Of course, we’ll have to see if it runs smoothly as planned over time.”

– I’m about to open the third game, so I’ll take note of that.

After taking revenge on the Banshee, I chatted with Lee So-Yeon while awakening warriors who lacked awakening but had talent using the harvested Essences of Monsters.

As the advance party, I gave advice grounded in my experiences, and she raised her residents accordingly. In return for that help, she utilized her status in reality to solve problems that I found difficult to manage.

– Everything’s settled now. It’s not a small amount… are you thinking of picking it up in cash?

“This time, yes.”

She had no way of knowing my face, let alone my account number, so I decided to take the loot money in cash. It was more than my annual salary when I was a rookie employee.

I felt a little anxious, but still, I hadn’t revealed my identity to her yet.

Perhaps this was due to a lingering fear deep within me. I was still just an ordinary person existing a step beyond. I didn’t want to let go of that fact. Once I crossed that line, I would no longer be safe.

‘So I have to raise them as well as I can.’

Glancing at the desktop wallpaper where raindrops were falling, I sighed softly as I watched the residents scurry about to avoid the rain.

In the end, the best I could do was care for them well. Still, I felt confident that I had been doing reasonably well so far.

There were sacrifices, but with appropriate resource distribution and investment, we preserved power as much as possible. While the abilities of those I supported were remarkable, I believed recognizing that was part of my skill.

“…Was I forgetting something?”

It struck me suddenly that I had forgotten something important. A few seconds later, as I sat there blankly, it dawned on me.

Alarmed, I reconnected to the game I had closed hours ago.

*

“Uh, where did they go?”

“I’ve never heard anything like this. This is…”

In front of the Hunter Association in the city of hunters. Naroo and Dune were bewildered as they looked around after finishing their first mutant hunt.

The bipedal raccoon that had been guiding them had suddenly vanished. It was a shocking deviation from the common knowledge that divine avatars, taking various forms, would guide them in another world.

“Calm down. We were planning to rest anyway, so they must be telling us to relax.”

Naroo managed to regain some composure and shook his head. He thought that since the guide wouldn’t abandon them, remaining here and killing time would mean they would return soon.

Hearing this, Dune seemed a bit reassured as he scanned the surroundings.

As they calmly looked around, they saw that this was truly a mystical place for people who had only ever seen the grassland tribes.

Aside from the fact that it was a city formed by people whose profession was hunting monsters, it was their first time witnessing so many people living together in one place.

“Uh, I’m not sure where to go. Isn’t it kind of awkward just standing here?”

“Yeah. We should move to a different spot.”

Standing directly in front of the Hunter Association drew attention from others. Although their appearance wasn’t particularly unusual, the two felt strangely burdened and tried to shift elsewhere.

“Huh?”

But among them, someone recognized them. The surprised duo was startled to see a girl staring at them wide-eyed.

“Are you perhaps that girl’s companions and the raccoon? You look similar.”

Tina remembered Riena, whom she had met just a few days earlier.

“So you formed a party after all. Your rank will quickly rise. That girl has the skill to take down a Blue Drake too.”

“W-Well, thanks for the drink then.”

Tina awkwardly accepted their admission that they were part of Riena’s party and headed toward a nearby shop. Holding the drinks she treated them to, they slowly tasted from a large wooden cup.

“Whoa…!”

At the same time, both were astonished. In this sultry weather, a cool icy drink of a flavor they had never encountered in their lives overwhelmed their senses.

This juice was one of the simplest items in this game, which offered not only hunting but a variety of content, but they had no way of knowing that.

“Is there any way to get more of this?”

“Of course, you can get more. As long as you have the money. And that money, as you know, is earned through hunting.”

Tina chuckled, finding their reactions amusing, and pointed at the shop owner, who was secretly preparing to sell their items.

‘If only I could bring this to the village.’

At the mention of money, they rummaged through their belongings. Before he had hastily closed the game, he had given each of them a coin in a moment of hope.

It was an experiment to see if the gold used in this world could be itemized, but he had left without picking it back up.

“What? Is that all? You can’t buy anything with a single coin.”

“So we ultimately have to earn this more, by continuously hunting those monsters.”

Upon hearing Tina’s words, their eyes sparkled. Until now, they had fought monsters out of a sense of duty as if the god had chosen them, but in this moment, another desire began to stir within them.

It was a pretty wholesome desire. They wanted to work hard to earn money to buy this cool fruit juice and share it with those in the village.

“Right. If we work hard, we’ll be able to buy something like this anytime.”

Seeing the rural bumpkins with rough, hairy appearances sparkling their eyes at a glass of juice, Tina giggled and prepared to leave, but not without uttering that they should meet again should fate allow.

“Are you going hunting too?”

“Of course. I’m at a high rank, so hunting small fries is pointless. There’s a new variant suspected to be in the area. They say it’s a scorpion with a black carapace that has already caused trouble for several people. Capturing a strong new variant will help with rank ups.”

To Dune’s question, she nodded. Tina was a high-ranking hunter in the setting and smiled as she prepared her arrows.

“…What a confident woman.”

“Just a female warrior.”

After waving her hand and leaving, Naroo and Dune stared blankly at her retreating figure.

Just as Riena had grown from her experiences related to faith in the Dark Blood world, their encounter with Tina was an unexpected opportunity for them as well.

It was a chance that could sufficiently shake and break their previously fixed values and worldviews.

‘They handled themselves well after all.’

At that moment, when he recalled them, he reconnected to the game.

Upon seeing Naroo and Dune comfortably waiting, he let out a sigh of relief and set them off back to the village.

“I’m already itching to go. Isn’t the rain coming down just right?”

“They must be dying to know.”

As soon as they arrived at the village, they grinned and ran towards the residents waiting for them.

Sharing what they had seen and experienced in those mysterious other worlds—a privilege granted by being acknowledged by the Guardian Deity—had become a culture and tradition already established in the village.

Sometimes mixed with exaggerations and embellishments, those stories continued to morph into a legend, spreading from mouth to mouth.