Chapter 47

Chapter 47: Cordova

My name is Cordova, an ordinary player in the Innocent Realm...

At least, at the start, I thought I was pretty ordinary.

Until the first time I entered the game, the moment I took that @#￥% first step.

I got caught up in a brawl between NPCs, and then... well, there was no "then." I died instantly.

That was just the beginning of the nightmare...

After the realistic simulated pain faded, I emerged from the darkness and found myself back among that damned cluster of doors. It was utterly useless, because only that neutral-good door would open for me.

I was randomly assigned a new race and, in a daze, entered the game again...

A Sand Goblin. That's right, I became a Sand Goblin—an ugly, weak, talentless race. Honestly, if the system hadn't made me the king of my tribe from the very start, I would have just deleted my character.

But what happened next made me realize I really should have deleted it right then!

The Tutorial Quest had me lead my tribesmen to cooperate with some sneaky guy for a supposedly safe, surefire robbery with an exceptionally generous reward. So, I believed him.

And then...

Sorry, there's no "then." I only remember leading my tribe out of the small woods when I saw a Lizardman riding a lizard charging straight at me.

"Take my big Idari Firearm, you bastard!"

Those words, along with a bang, put an end to my second gaming experience.

What the hell was that all about!?

I was shocked, but I didn't learn my lesson. After all, I didn't like the Sand Goblin race anyway, so starting over from the beginning was acceptable.

So, I began my third journey. My goal wasn't some grand ambition—I just wanted to survive...

Luckily, this time I was randomly assigned as a human. Great, I love humans.

Also, I noticed that when I created my character this time, I had an extra Talent. But given that it's a bit embarrassing to mention, I'll skip it for now...

The people around me were friendly and gentle, and the Tutorial Quest was just a simple task like working at the blacksmith's. At the time, I naively thought I was finally on the right track. But I never expected...

Half an hour later, the nightmare struck. It seemed a riot had broken out at some noble's banquet, and soon, people fleeing from the central district kept appearing on my street. In the distance, there were cries of despair everywhere.

I hid inside an oak barrel in front of a nearby tavern, trembling for nearly an hour. Eventually, I shook all my Stamina away, but the tragedy outside still hadn't ended.

After a while, I heard a bone-chilling voice nearby.

"Not a bad hiding spot..."

And then...

Well, you all know the drill. I was sent back to that damned cluster of doors again and pushed open the neutral-good one.

To be honest, even I don't know why I didn't just flip the lid and smash the game pod my dad gave me as a birthday gift right then and there!

But this time, I survived... Heaven knows why I'd say that, but anyway, that day passed without a hitch. I completed the Tutorial Quest, joined some Territorial Guard, and managed to survive until the end of that day's game time.

At noon that day, out of a spirit of serving the public, I even posted a thread on the forum about interpreting the Death Penalty in Innocent Realm, and it got a huge response!

I have to say, even though this game tortured me for half the night, I still felt like I loved it deeply.

But good times didn't last long...

Two days later, now with some strength under my belt, I went on a Patrol mission with my squadmates. According to the Captain, we were just going to take a stroll outside the city. But as we wandered a bit to the south, we ran into enemies!

Over twenty fully armed Orc soldiers!

Under our desperate resistance, they paid a heavy price too. It took them almost an hour to wipe us out. Well, time is life, and we wasted a lot of theirs.

When a muscular brute sent me flying with a heavy blow, that's how I consoled myself...

Then reinforcements arrived, but by then I had at least seventeen or eighteen layers of Bleeding Buff stacked on me. I was clearly beyond saving. A Priest whose face I couldn't make out tossed a Healing Spell or something at me, but its only Effect was to make me suffer a little longer.

"Trash game, terrible experience!"

I left those final words, then quit the game the moment I died.

I couldn't take it anymore!!

For the entire next day, I never logged into the game again...

But people are pathetic. After some thought, I decided to give this garbage game one last chance!

One last chance!!

Ignoring the two new crappy Talents that appeared, I started my fifth life in Innocent Realm. While doing the Tutorial Quest, I ran into a lunatic who caused a huge mess, and in the end, I died again...

I was in despair. I wanted to quit. Couldn't I just stop playing!?

Having made up my mind, I posted a thread while hanging out with friends—basically a quitting announcement—and planned to smash the game pod that had been specially airlifted over as soon as I got back to the hotel that night.

But...

In just half a day, I received countless messages of support and encouragement. One reply in particular, about 'Heaven-sent Great Responsibility falls upon such a person,' moved me to tears.

Alright, one last time! I swear, this is absolutely the last time!

That night, trembling with anxiety, I crawled back into the game pod...

And unexpectedly, my luck turned!

With the system prompt that read, [You have completed a Hidden Condition: Died non-voluntarily five times in a short period, triggering a Special Event], I glanced at my quest panel...

Freaking overpowered, right?! At that moment, I felt like I was invincible!

But... wait... why can't I move!?

This goblin, who was shaking his head and sighing about 'another failure,' is now walking toward me holding a chainsaw—what exactly does it intend to do!?】

...

Anka Market, Innocent Realm, noon

Mo Tan logged in, and his expression was quite grim...

The reason was simple: the moment he had tried to log in right at the server opening time, he had immediately disconnected, and his memory from then until now was completely blank. This filled him with an indescribable unease, and a certain suspicion he had harbored not long ago was increasingly approaching the truth.

"But I need to hurry back for now..." he muttered, hoping that Jadka and Yaya had already cleaned up the mess from before, or at least hadn't let things get too out of hand. Otherwise, when the employer returned, there would be big trouble!

Still, he first made a trip to the market, intending to buy some repair materials and ingredients he had planned to purchase yesterday (the money was given by Jadka).

Although the two had insisted yesterday that Mo Tan go back and rest first, leaving them to clean up the farm, he was still uneasy. In the end, they agreed that he would bring some materials back as early as possible today and try to get everything in order before the farm owner returned.

But because of that earlier accident, time was now very tight!

As it turned out, just as Mo Tan was halfway through his shopping, he ran into someone he absolutely did not want to see right now...

"Yo, young man!" The old orc, who was browsing at a stall, greeted Mo Tan with a cheerful smile. "I came back early~ I was just about to buy some snacks and head back to find you all! Huh... what's that you're carrying?"

Mo Tan: "...Nothing, nothing."

He could only pray desperately that the other two were somewhat reliable, and that at least when he and this employer, who currently knew nothing, returned, they would have made some progress!

As it turned out, dreams are always beautiful, but reality is often harsh...

When he saw the Main House, which had nearly been reduced to ashes, and the bare farmland, the old orc let out a 'gah' and fainted on the spot.

"I was wrong!" Jadka knelt helplessly on the ground. "When I was repairing things last night, it exploded twice more... and one of those times even singed Yaya's fur..."

Mo Tan stared blankly at the ruins that had been a farm just yesterday, his entire being turning pale.

...

An hour later, the Adventurer Branch in Anka Market

"Is there anything else you want to explain?" Sister Chris looked at the three of them with a benevolent expression as they shrank like quails, and asked softly, "If you have something to say, go ahead. Don't hold it in."

Mo Tan: "No..."

Jadka: "No."

Yaya: "Woof..."

"Nothing, huh?" Chris pursed her lips and nodded, glancing at the old orc's receding figure, which was like that of a grieving widow, then clicked her tongue at the three of them. "All the losses add up to about 100 gold coins, plus three dog lives or so~"

Mo Tan and Jadka had no reaction, but Yaya, standing in the middle, was startled. She looked left and right, furrowed her little brows, and counted on her fingers: "Woof?"

The gist of it was, "Where did three come from?"

"Um, let me pay the money," Jadka said with an awkward smile. "Actually, this is all my fault..."

"Shut up!!" Chris roared, and not only did Jadka fall silent, but all the other adventurers in the first-floor hall also shut their mouths. Everyone cowered in fear, glancing over, looking at Mo Tan and the others as if they were three corpses that had already gone cold.

The receptionist sister took a soft breath and forced a faint smile. "As for the money, you don't need to pay it back."

The three of them shuddered instantly—this meant they were preparing to pay with their lives...

"That Forest Spirit sucker's payment earlier really couldn't be broken down, so this time the branch will cover it for you," Chris said flatly. "But your temporary party must accept a quest. The reward is quite good, but there's absolutely no room for negotiation."

Jadka sighed upon hearing this. "Just tell us straight up where you want us to go die..."

"I don't want you to die," Chris shook her head. "You know the Underhill Ruins southwest of the market, right? Your task is to go there and pick up a stone for me. The deadline is thirty days."

Mo Tan was stunned. "What kind of stone?"

"I don't care what stone you pick up," Chris said darkly. "But you must only return to report on the last day of the quest. You can be late, but not even a single day early!"

Jadka was also confused. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is!" Chris suddenly stood up, bright lightning crackling in her hand as she pointed at the three of them and shouted, "I don't want to see you guys for a while, so get the hell out of here as far as possible! Don't show up in front of me for a month. Disappear now! Immediately! Right this second!!!"

And then the three of them scrambled and fled out of the Adventurer's Guild...

"Well..." Jadka shrugged at the two of them. "This is a rare opportunity. Should we set off now?"

Yaya lowered her little head and let out a grumble, indicating she had no objections.

"You two go ahead," Mo Tan shook his head. "I promised a friend I'd wait for someone here, so it's not convenient for me to leave in the next couple of days. Besides..."

He paused. "I want to go help out at that farm again, if I don't get chased out."

Both of them were taken aback. Yaya immediately grabbed Mo Tan's sleeve, but after a long moment, she gently let go and said softly, "Woof... sorry for you... woofs... to make amends."

Jadka also sighed and patted Mo Tan on the shoulder. "We'll follow your lead. Both of us owe you one."

For some reason, even though this was a statement that carried immense weight among adventurers and mercenaries, it sounded oddly unreliable to Mo Tan at that moment...

In the end, the three agreed on a meeting time and parted ways at the south gate of Anka Market. Jadka took Yaya and set off first toward the Underhill Ruins, while Mo Tan headed for the farm that now had almost nothing left.

Half an hour later...

"Old man~" Mo Tan greeted the elderly orc, who was staring blankly ahead, with a wave. "I'm here to help you. The compensation will be sent to you by the Branch soon. I'd like to stay here for a while and lend you a hand."

The old orc took a long moment to react before snapping out of his daze with a jolt. He immediately stumbled backward several steps, frantically waving his hands. "You're my old man! Please, have mercy and spare me!"

With that, he let out another 'gah' and fainted again...

Mo Tan: "..."

After a long pause, the old orc finally came around, slowly sitting up and eyeing Mo Tan suspiciously. "You... really want to help?"

For some reason, he felt that this young man wasn't lying. And after calming down, he recalled that the earlier tragedy didn't seem to be this lad's doing—those two demon-like scourges were nowhere to be seen.

"I promise!" Mo Tan didn't hesitate. He immediately grabbed some materials piled nearby (bought at noon) and strode over to the ruins of the Main House (...), where he began working swiftly and efficiently.

The old orc watched his busy figure, a faint, relieved smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He felt that perhaps this world wasn't so full of malice after all.

Little did he know that a poor soul, who had been screwed over by the world countless times, was drawing closer and closer...

Time slipped by quietly like this...

The moon rose silently, joining the stars beside it to replace the sun, shining down on every corner of the land in the Innocent Realm...

The farm was coated in a layer of silver sand. The old orc had already dozed off, leaning against a half-broken fence.

Not far away, the rough outline of the Main House was gradually taking shape under Mo Tan's tireless efforts.

But just then...

A faint, distant sound—growing closer, carrying a whistling wail—reached Mo Tan's ears...

He set down the wooden planks and tools, instinctively looking up.

A figure was plummeting—no, crashing down—at a terrifying speed...

The sound grew louder and louder~

"Go~d~da~mn~it~all~~~~~!"

Chapter 47: The End