---Third POV---
Someone entered the room carrying the enticing aroma of roasted meat. A familiar, fierce scar ran across the bridge of his nose. All the captives gathered around.
"Cobb!"
"What's that smell on you? It's such a delicious meat aroma!"
"It smells even better than normal meat, like there's some rich spice mixed in."
In this foreign land, the captives naturally grew closer, seeking warmth in numbers. Only a select few captives were fortunate enough to assist with the banquet.
The rest were deeply curious about the festivities outside. They waited anxiously for the others to return.
In truth, Viktor hadn't restricted their freedom to move during rest periods. Even if they wandered aimlessly around town, the most it would do was trigger "NPC random events" for the players, drawing some attention.
Staying low-profile was entirely their own decision, based on what they thought they understood from Viktor's subtle hints.
Cobb patted the lingering aroma off his clothes with a grin.
"The adults have come up with a new marinade for the barbecue, it really smells amazing."
It was peculiar. The nobles and mages didn't lack spices or seasonings. Yet no matter how much they used, they couldn't fully mask the gamey and off-putting smell of meat; adding more often made it worse. The Watchers, on the other hand, were exceptionally particular about their food.
Cobb produced a basket he'd been carrying on his back, with wisps of steam rising from it.
"There's still some food left here. Come and take some."
As the banquet wound down, the drunken players were carried back to the church. Some, still hungry after digesting a round of food, suggested another bonfire barbecue.
They left behind the surplus ingredients for him and the others who had helped.
Someone wrinkled their nose as they picked up a warm, sweetfruit.
"What's this...?"
It turned out to be a baked fruit, which was a player's impromptu culinary experiment.
The odd combination of salty, sweet, and hot had been too much for the creator, who abandoned the dish as mere decoration on the table.
The person hesitated before taking a bite, and their eyes lit up.
"Delicious!!" The sticky, rich texture suited their taste perfectly. Once the first person tried it, the food in the basket began disappearing at an astonishing rate.
Even though most of it was just filling staples, it didn't slow down their voracious pace.
"Burp~" Someone rubbed their belly and let out a contented belch.
"Amazing craftsmanship! Could The Watchers' source of funding be running a restaurant?"
"Cobb, didn't they notice you sneaking so much food out?" someone asked, worried.
"They actually insisted I take it, afraid it would go to waste. Maybe it's a victory banquet, and they're in a good mood?" Cobb speculated.
"A victory banquet? Aren't those reserved for knights, legion commanders, and nobles?" A captive shuffled closer, their eyes filled with disbelief.
The scale and atmosphere outside were nothing like the luxurious, solemn court banquets they knew. Even ordinary soldiers seemed to have joined in.
Another person nodded, equally skeptical. "And they're giving free food to captives?"
Though they were down on their luck now, most of them came from affluent backgrounds and had studied magic. Their upbringing taught them that the powerful despised wasteful generosity.
Today, you give a beggar a dirty rye loaf, and tomorrow, they'll demand two, and made of fine white flour!
Pointless acts of kindness that brought no benefit were the most destructive.
The room fell silent. Only the faint sounds of chewing remained. After a while, someone muttered under their breath.
"They really are... as strange as the rumors say." And completely unconventional.
---
The rare moments of leisure quickly passed.
At dawn, the players, despite their hangovers, threw themselves back into the task of building the territory.
"We've got enough wood! I'm telling you, stop taking logging quests!" MemeKnight patrolled the edge of town with a wooden megaphone.
"If you keep cutting, the price of lumber will drop by over 40%! Someone come help me build houses! And start collecting stone, lots of stone!"
ProGamer_Daddy stared at a mountain of new quest slips, his head throbbing.
"Cranes, transport carts, ore transport railways... No, seriously, who's putting in these orders? I'm not some kind of universal crafting station!"
He clutched his head and shouted to the sky. "Custom game character skins! Choose from five fabric colors! Available at Cloth Cuckoo Workshop!"
"Try my homemade meat! It's not poisonous, only unique looking!"
"Selling quest items! Shovels, hammers, wooden crates, everything you need!"
The ruins of Honeyvale steadily diminished, leaving the players beaming with pride. Some jokers even debated whether they should build a monument near the tree at the town entrance to inform new players: "The starter village you see now? It was built by us!"
Eventually, the monument idea fizzled out, much like in real life. Nobody wanted to take shortcuts, but most players found it too tedious or unrewarding to bother.
---
The Duskwind River was abundant with water. Even during the dry season, its width remained around 700 meters. The river's flow deposited organic matter, creating fertile soil perfect for farming on its banks.
Using his newly restored cultivation abilities, Viktor cleared a patch of farmland in the northwest, far from the town center.
Most of the captives set to labor reform were assigned to plant potatoes there.
Though Hawkes' greenhouse project was progressing slowly, it didn't stop them from tilling and preparing the soil.
Under Viktor's personal supervision, the farming adhered strictly to scientific methods. The good news was that the artificial fertilizers produced by the players finally found a purpose.
---
Rustle! Dirt dug up by shovels formed a mound nearly knee-high.
NeverShowOff was vigorously excavating one of the few remaining ruins in town. Not far away, similar mounds and players dotted the area.
Hedgehog glanced at the sky.
"It's almost noon. Let's break for lunch."
NeverShowOff stopped digging at the call. "Alright."
The five of them gathered in a circle, eating discounted potato pancakes from the shop.
Hedgehog scarfed down his food in a few bites, chugged half a bottle of water, and couldn't help but ask, "Seriously, Show, we've been searching this area for two days with nothing to show for it. Are we really going to keep looking?"
They'd initially planned to expand and explore beyond the town after temporarily delegating tasks at Cloth Cuckoo Workshop.
Yet two days later, they were still running in circles here…
NeverShowOff sighed. "Let's give it one last day. If we still don't find anything today, we'll follow the original plan and explore south along the Duskwind River."
Their presence here was tied to the exploration mission posted on Honeyvale Town's bulletin board.
While other event activities had come and gone, this one remained steadfast. Aside from a wave-patterned map found by LootGoblin in the town and a Holy Light notebook discovered by Lux, no other major discoveries had been made.
The fact that the mission remained active suggested that its key objective had yet to be uncovered. So, NeverShowOff suggested everyone try another exploration mission together.
The location? Starting from where Lux discovered the notebook.
It was the only written piece of paper they'd found, and it was clearly a mage-specific item. Just from a glance, anyone could tell it wasn't ordinary. But despite searching for so long, they had found absolutely nothing. It had gotten to the point where they were practically digging up the ground out of frustration.
Lux propped her chin on her hands and sighed. "We've been digging downward for two whole days, and it doesn't look like there's any kind of secret chamber down there."
Oh, right, should probably mention this.
For the past two days, besides NeverShowOff, Garble, and Lux, their temporary exploration party had gained two new members.
One was Lux herself, someone who was always running around and interested in every task. The other was a semi-new player who had joined the game just ten days ago: "Child, I Want to See Rivers of Blood!"
Well, that was how he introduced himself. The game restricted IDs to fewer letters, so he chose the name was "Child, I Want". Well, this was worse than the original one. At least the original wasn't that ambiguous...
Before explaining the origin of his name, he'd earned some seriously strange looks from NeverShowOff and the others.
Child had a perpetually world-weary expression, but there was a naive, almost dumb clarity in his eyes that couldn't be hidden. Just from a glance, it was obvious he was still quite young.
He kicked an old, rusted, deformed iron pot at his feet.
"In reality, we probably haven't even reached what used to be the surface of Honeyvale Town."
No one knew what exactly happened to town back during the tide.
On the surface, it looked like an abandoned village, or, rather, a small town that had been deserted for a long time. But the deeper they dug, the more daily life objects they unearthed. It was as if some massive landslide had forcibly raised the entire town several meters higher.
Yet strangely enough, none of the buildings seemed to have been even partially buried by dirt.
Garble pondered for a moment. "Maybe some kind of earth-controlling magical creature was involved? And the residents of Honeyvale Town back then had a way to counter it, which is why the buildings were preserved?"
Child shrugged. "No clue."
The game's story provided very little background information, players had to guess and piece things together themselves.
After lunch, the five of them, reinvigorated, returned to their enthusiastic digging.
Clink!
As they continued to dig downward, NeverShowOff suddenly turned his head toward a section of the wall. He leaned his ear against it and knocked, then shouted behind him, "Hey, come check this out! I think there's something inside!"
The other four crawled out of their own pits and jumped over to his side.
"What is it? Did you find something?" Child asked curiously.
As soon as Garble came over, something clicked in his mind.
Without waiting for NeverShowOff to point, he gestured toward the spot the guy was eyeing.
"Here, right?"
Hedgehog approached with an excited expression. "I can feel it too! There's some kind of magical energy coming from inside!"
Lux and Child exchanged confused looks.
"Why can't we feel it?"
Magical energy? Wasn't mana supposed to be everywhere in the air?
"Hmm… maybe it's because we're Level 10?" Hedgehog guessed.
After all, once they reached Level 10, their titles no longer said Novice but had changed to Beginner Mage.
It was like overnight, their understanding of certain vague concepts had deepened, almost intuitively. If they had to put it into words, it was… some kind of special sense?
Unable to explain clearly, he brushed it off. "You'll understand once you level up."
More importantly, they had to dig out whatever was in there.
The five of them worked together, switching from digging downward to digging horizontally. Before long, they uncovered a wall.
An intact wall.
"Just as we thought." NeverShowOff ran his hands over the hard, greenish wall. "There really is a building beneath all this."
"So, do we dig it all out?"
NeverShowOff shook his head. "No need."
Garble explained, "The magical energy on the wall suggests it's likely some kind of magic artifact, one that can still be used."
If that was the case, they could probably figure out its function by channeling mana into it from outside.
To increase their chances of success, he, NeverShowOff, and Hedgehog all began channeling their mana into the wall.
Rumble, rumble...
Within seconds, the dirt around the wall began collapsing, and the ground started shaking.
Lux nearly lost her balance and grabbed onto the uneven dirt wall for support.
Then… She felt herself falling. The wall she was clinging to gave way, and she plunged downward along with it.
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!"
Her first in-game death!
Thud.
Thud, thud!
Along with chunks of dirt, all five players tumbled to the bottom.
"Ouch!"
"My butt!"
"My kneecaps!"
The ever-dramatic Hedgehog and Child snuck glances at the other three, who remained expressionless.
They immediately sat upright. Hedgehog quietly removed his hand from his bruised knee.
"Ah, right, there's pain suppression in this game. Never mind."
Lux rolled her eyes and cast Holy Light on each of them. One spell per person, just enough to stay below the mana-exhaustion penalty threshold.
Thankfully, the fall hadn't been very high, and the dirt had cushioned their landing. They'd only sustained minor injuries, just enough for the healing spell to fix.
She brushed off the clumps of dirt on her head and looked around in confusion. "What is this place?"
They had landed in what looked like a very spacious, vintage study or alchemy lab. But it was as if the entire room had been flipped upside down. Above them was the entrance they'd fallen through, its threshold painted with faded red lacquer. The walls were lined with candle sconces, clearly meant to hang from a ceiling.
The air was heavy with the musty smell of decay, as though this place had been sealed away for years.
She stepped on something and looked down.
It was a lifelike swan relief carving, next to a blue painting she couldn't understand.
Hedgehog patted the surface of what could either be called a wall or a floor. "What is this, a flipped space?"
"The whole room is probably a magic artifact, which explains the anomaly," Garble speculated.
He propped himself up against the wall and immediately spotted a pile of books in the distance.
"Anyway, it looks like we're in the right place."
This could very well be the first, and possibly only, recorded place in Honeyvale Town!
The room wasn't large, but it was packed with clutter. There were piles of books in the corner, broken cabinets, shattered glass, and dark stains scattered across the floor. There was even a large "fireplace" built into the ground.
The walls, with their intricate carvings, had become the floor after the flip. Various gaps in the carvings had turned into garbage collection spots over time.
After painstakingly clearing the mess in their way, the five of them eagerly opened the dusty pile of books.
And then…
"Wait, what? There's nothing inside?"
Hedgehog, in disbelief, picked up another book. The brown cover opened to reveal the same thing, blank pages.
The five of them quickly examined every book, ignoring the grime. No matter the style or type, every single book was filled with nothing but blank pages.