HC:Pacifist | Ch. 37 - Greensburg (Patreon)

The trip from the beginner zone to a city was not easy. Instead of going on foot, beginners preferred to wait until they reached level 10 when they were offered a free teleport to a city of their choosing. This was a one-time offer. After that, players had to pay their weight in gold to teleport. Only the wealthiest players in the game even dared to do so, though. Had teleporting not been so expensive, merchant professions would have abused it and blinked from place to place while raking in profits.

Roth was not level 10 yet. Unlike other players who could resort to hunting and dungeoning to level, Roth took a different route that relied on completing quests. Although the [Cat Burglar] quest could be achieved without him leaving the woods to complete all five trade quests he was offered, he had no choice but to travel to a human city the hard way. Thankfully, none of the items he was given to trade weighed much. Otherwise, it would have taken him forever to complete this trip.

Roth followed the roads that led out of the Green Woods region, and after arriving at the edge of the beginner zone, he received a warning.

You have left the Green Woods. You've entered Verdant Forest.

Roth ran north toward Greensburg, complaining about not getting a title for entering Verdant Forest or any bonuses. Although the maps available on the forum were not complete by any means, since the locations of cities were not a secret, they were generous enough for him to figure out the city closest to him. He would go to Greensburg.

As the regions changed, the cobblestone road transitioned to a brick one.

The well-built road makes it easier to travel on it. You have gained a [Swift] buff of +10% running speed.

Roth welcomed the unexpected boost. With this, he would reach 140% running speed! Feeling the acceleration, Roth thought he would get to the city quickly. Boy, was he wrong. After he ran for two hours and compared his map to the one he had seen in the forums, he surmised he wasn't even a third of the way there. It would take him another 7 to 8 hours to reach the city. That, if he made it in one piece.

Unlike the beginner area, mobs in the Verdant Forest weren't respectful enough to respect the road. Sometimes, Roth would see a scary mob far ahead that would undoubtedly kill him with one hit. He would sit tight and wait for it to roam away from the road, or, if there were no mobs around, he would take the long way around it. These unplanned stories added considerable time and danger to the trip. But Roth was patient. The longer he traveled, the more progress he would lose if he died.

As he ran, he also noticed that, although all around him, the map was filled with forests, the terrain changed somewhat. On one occasion, he saw what seemed to be a rainforest to the east. Inside it, it was pouring rain, but on the road Roth traveled, it wasn't raining. At another time, he saw a forest burning unendingly. It all seemed strange to him but very captivating at the same time.

After four hours, he finally ran out of luck. He reached a point on the road where, up ahead, there was a giant silverback. He tried to stay away from it, but when he turned back, he saw that another mob had crept up behind him. It was a golden rhinoceros. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

As both monsters kept roaming, to Roth's disgrace, they kept moving toward him. Roth tried to keep as much distance as possible from both, but with nowhere to run, he entered one of the mob's aggro zones. He found out what being trampled by a rhino felt like. It wasn't pretty.

As Roth woke up back in the town he had left, he felt all the pent-up rage he had been damming up in his heart come back. He flailed his arms and let out a scream of frustration, scaring all beginners around him.

He had to take a few deep breaths before he got over it, and he managed to send all the blood rushing to his head back down. Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. After the outburst, Roth felt deep shame. He had almost lost it. Drake would have been disappointed if he'd seen this. But, goodness, that had been frustrating. Four hours of his time for naught. The worst part was that it could happen again!

Roth went back on the road and tried again. This time, he died one hour into the trip. He wanted to cry. He tried it again, and everything went well until he was six hours into the trip. A group of baboons were blocking the road ahead. After waiting for one hour, Roth was about to give up when, fortunately for him, a player traveling in the same direction passed and, in one glorious blaze of esper-fueled fire, wiped them all out and opened a path.

Roth just followed after him for as long as he could. Since the esper was much higher-leveled than he was, soon enough, he was well out of Roth's reach.

On his fourth try, after 13 painstaking nerve-wracking hours, Roth finally got to see Greensburg. It was a walled city surrounded by a river in the middle of a grassy prairie. In the distance, there were trees and trees and more trees.

Little dots entered the city through its many lowered gates. The city was at an intersection of six roads that led to different places, adding to the traffic he could see from far away.

When Roth first got a view of the city, he thought he was only ten minutes away, but the city was much bigger than he thought. It took him thirty more minutes to make it into the city. As he drew closer, he saw more and more players.

Nearer to the city, some in their early teen levels could be seen hunting wolves. Their flashy skills and cool equipment signaled them as players who had unlocked their classes. Wealthy merchant players drove carriages moved by oxen or a caravan of camels. Players in shiny armor or fancy robes talked and reminisced about the highlights of their latest exploits. The gates to the city buzzed with life and exciting sights.

Entering the city was free. The guards at the gate were there for security purposes only and not to charge admission. Roth excitedly joined the crowd entering the city and made it through the gate.

From the prison to the apartment and then on to the game, Roth had not seen a city in many years. This was the first time in a long time that he had seen so many people together. Roth's eyes feasted on the view of one of the city's main streets. Upward, further into the city, the garrison stood tall, watching over the prairies and city below. Players hawked their wares or campaigned for their guilds all over the place in a chaotic shouting contest that overwhelmed Roth.

Even though there were so many people, the city didn't feel cramped. The streets were vast, making the city feel expansive and open. The vines climbing the walls, the flowers at every window, and the many gardens and trees dotting the city in green reminded Roth that this was Green Country. He wondered what the architecture of cities in other regions was like.

Roth's gaze was drawn toward one of the players walking to his left. Its scales glittered in the sun, and its golden reptile eyes fascinated him. The tail it dragged on the ground seemed heavy and muscled. It was some sort of hybrid lizard creature. The exciting part was that it was a player! He had to look later into how to become one of those!

When Roth read that auction houses were not centralized, he worried that selling his merchandise at a high price would be hard. But now that he could see the crowds roaming the city and its massive size, he could rest assured. Millions of players made their base here. There were many potential buyers. After Roth was done admiring the magnitude of the vision before him, he shook it off and began exploring the city.

Near the entrance of the city gates was a map that gave an overview of the city. The most important public buildings were all listed, as were the game's shops.

In a city such as this, Roth imagined that there were secret shops, hidden places, and mysterious NPCs. There was so much to see and do. No wonder players spent so much time in these cities. Only from level 40 onward did players begin moving toward the capital of each region, but that was a long way off.

Roth located on the map the auction house and noticed how his world map was updated with this run-of-the-mill information. He tagged the auction house and started to find his way there. He first stuck to the main road but then saw what seemed to be a shortcut. It was a dark alley. Roth went into it to make it to the auction house as soon as possible. He'd heard many things about it and was excited to check it out.

A hoarse voice called out to him as he was about to leave the alley.

"Please, help. Help a starving man with your valuable coppers."

The man calling out to him was elderly and emaciated. He had a white beard and only had a pair of ragged trousers. Flies flew around the man as if drawn to his impending death. The man seemed so accustomed to them that he didn't swat them away. Roth was petrified. My goodness, what a wretched creature!

"What has happened to you, sir? How did you fall into such dire straights?"

The man stared at Roth, then looked down. "I have made some bad decisions along the way, son." Roth thought about his own life and the mistakes he made. He knew this beggar was just an NPC, but he couldn't leave him without doing anything. He looked at his inventory. He only had roughly 1 silver—not even that.

Clenching his teeth, he took the 94 coppers in his inventory and put them in the man's hands.

"I'm sorry, sir. This is all I have. I wish there were more I could do for you."

"Thank you, son. It will help. It will help." The man stood up and disappeared into the dark alley. Roth got a notification he wasn't expecting.

You have given everything you had to help a stranger.

+20 righteousness

Oh wow! That had been a considerable boost to his alignment. He was only 10 short of unlocking Righteous. But Roth hadn't helped because he wanted to get something out of the man. He did it because that could be him down the road, and he couldn't bear not extending a helping hand. Sighing and now penniless, Roth made his way toward the auction house.

The auction house was at the crossroads where different streets from the commercial district met. Its architecture reminded him of an old Greek temple, with all the decorated columns adding to the grandeur of the establishment. The marble of the columns was lined with vines that climbed them like veins and then blossomed into beautiful pink flowers. Roth had seen many amazing landscapes in his games, but this game outdid itself. More impressive than the architecture, though, was the flow of people entering and leaving the building. It felt like a train station during rush hour.

He went into the auction house. There was a deposit area where players could open an account and deposit goods. There was also an auction room where players or guilds could organize closed auctions for specific buyers. Finally, there was the open market.

It was a massive open area with seating around all and fancy fountains in the middle. Players were gathered in groups, discussing prices or bragging about a good deal they had made. Many others kept to themselves and sat in the corner of the room, exploring the system windows that only they could see.

Roth decided he wanted to be on the low end, so he went to join them. He picked a place with few players around and sat down. For sure, this would be an excellent place to enact his plan.

Ch. 36 - Polyglot

INDEX

Ch. 38 - Auction