A Village Has Appeared on My Desktop

7 – Sudden Visit (7)

“Listen well, Riena. This might be an opportunity for us.”

Before coming here, as if he had anticipated returning, Barun, looking at the portal, said this to Riena with a serious expression.

It was a kind of decision he made, seeing the injured tribe members groaning from the fight with the demons.

“We can’t keep running forever. It’s impossible to keep avoiding it. Whether it’s the demons, our pursuers, diseases, or disasters, we will inevitably face a crisis. We don’t have the power to prevent it right now.”

“The creature we met last night is an opportunity for us?”

“He gave us what we needed. Who knows, we might obtain something even greater.”

He reminded her of the much-needed food they obtained last night. In this strange world that was almost confusingly real, the food they got was undoubtedly used to feed the tribe members.

Unable to deny that fact, Riena couldn’t stop her father, who wanted to hold onto the lifeline to feed the tribe members, no matter what the state was.

“Can I really trust him?”

However, there was still doubt lingering in her heart towards the other party and the situation itself. It was inevitable, given the burden of protecting the remaining people as the lone warrior left in scarcity.

“Look, this is a deal. There’s no reason not to agree.”

When they actually found themselves back in that bizarre world once again.

The strange life form with angular blocks for a body demanded something from them, and if they managed to carry out the action with difficulty, it seemed to provide support in the form of food, tools, and the like.

Barun actively participated in this “deal”. It was based on the judgment that although food was all that mattered for now, they might be able to obtain even more amazing items from this mysterious entity.

“It can’t be helped.”

Although it was an uncomfortable sight for Liena to see her father and tribe leader voluntarily mining and chopping, she couldn’t intervene.

And when the sun set rapidly and it became night. As he pointed to himself with his angular hand and raised his sword, Liena clenched her teeth and nodded.

If she herself could be of help and use her most confident skills, there was no reason not to.

“Kruk…”

And so, the two stepped out of the bunker where monsters roamed. The only thing immediately visible was two werewolves prowling around the perimeter of the bunker.

He, with a stone sword in his hand, rushed towards the enemies charging at them and mercilessly began to strike one of them.

Thus, naturally, the remaining one became Liena’s target.

As she approached, she saw something that looked awkwardly outside of the angular appearance revealing the true demon towards her, Liena lowered her head to avoid the attack and swung her sword at the same time.

“I’ve cut it. It’s nothing special. Stay calm.”

With a triumphant smile, she successfully struck down the enemy in one blow. The werewolf, which was nothing more than a beast with a fierce appearance, wasn’t particularly strong compared to the enemies she had faced so far.

The werewolf’s attack with its claws failed to even graze her hair, and while exposing its vulnerability due to its aggressive attack, she separated the werewolf’s head from its body, splattering its black blood.

At least she was certain that the warrior of the hostile tribe who set her eyes ablaze and tried to kill her was stronger. Above all, the desperation that she, who had to protect her tribe, couldn’t be defeated by such a small enemy still

She shuddered at the strange sensation, but her eyes widened at the same time. Not only did her depleted mana return from the fight, but it had also increased, albeit only by a small amount.

This was an entirely new experience for her. In fact, she had never even heard of the ability to increase mana within one’s body.

Unbeknownst to herself, she turned to look at him. Just like her, he was silently watching her, already having defeated the enemy.

“Is he telling me to follow him?”

He gestured with his hand and turned in the opposite direction. The sound of the enemies’ cries still echoed in the surroundings, despite having killed two of them.

Rienna gripped her sword tightly, sensing that the hunt was far from over.

Unlike before, her fear had greatly diminished. Having realized that she grew stronger by defeating enemies and increasing her mana, a strange excitement surged within her. The theory was that the more she fought, the stronger she became.

“Haat!”

And she wasn’t fighting alone. He willingly stood at the forefront to attract the enemies’ attention and block their attacks, allowing Rienna to fight well.

As she mercilessly cut down the werewolves charging at her from all directions, Rienna couldn’t help but marvel at his ability to effortlessly defeat the enemies, regardless of whether she got hit or not.

Now, her wariness and unease towards him had gradually transformed into curiosity and fear.

“Too many of them!”

When she mindlessly killed numerous werewolves. Rienna grew terrified as she saw more and more enemies appearing.

There were simply too many monsters spawning in the open terrain for just the two of them to handle. Moreover, while her health wouldn’t recover without consuming food or potions after getting hit, unlike him, she would sustain injuries from even a single mistake.

“Rienna!”

“What’s happening!?”

Whether he understood her words or sensed her panic through her expression, he stopped fighting and led her back to the bunker.

Her father, Barun, and their comrades rushed over, covered in blood, when they saw her return, gasping for breath. But all she did was gasp for air, showing them her broken sword and her exhausted self.

“Fighting increases your mana. Honestly, I don’t quite understand what that means, but at least you’re gaining something. That should be enough.”

“But Chief, we have enough food, but I’d rather he give us more tasks.”

Inside the bunker, Balun sighed as he listened to Rienna’s account of the fight with the werewolves. However, Koon, who was part of the group, glanced at the carefully stacked provisions on one side and shook his head.

“It’s inevitable, even though it’s greedy. It’s a matter of survival. Especially after two consecutive monster attacks, our vigilance has increased even more.”

“Rienna’s sword is completely broken now. Don’t we need more supplies?”

“But isn’t it difficult to ask for more? Let’s wait for now.”

Koon’s words made sense. They needed more supplies. While Balun agreed with that statement, he was skeptical about whether they could realistically obtain anything more.

No matter how much they searched and looked around, this area was just a barren wasteland of trees and grass. Apart from this makeshift bunker, there were no other facilities. It didn’t seem like even the owner of this world with their mystical abilities could create something out of nothing.

Right now, he had left them inside the bunker and had gone somewhere else. They had no idea where he was or what he was doing.

“Wow, it’s already getting bright.”

“What? Has the sun already risen?”

And as they spoke, the gradually brightening dawn appeared through the opening of the door.

It hadn’t even been an hour of perceived time. When the sun set, they hadn’t noticed because it was originally late afternoon, but now they were all confused by the time concept in this game, where the night passed much faster.

“He’s here.”

At the same time, Rienna blankly muttered as she saw him running towards this place from a distance.

***

“Something is definitely off.”

After completing the werewolf hunting achievement with Rienna and leaving the villagers inside the bunker, I had spent the night moving to another area, digging into the ground to explore the mines. But the harvest was much less than expected, so I could only complain.

From the start, everything about this game was twisted, as evidenced by the fact that the villagers were here in the first place.

If it were my usual self, I would have found plenty of iron ore, but this time I only managed to find a few pieces. Clearly, it was the result of something affecting it. If iron, which wasn’t even the ultimate resource among many, didn’t come out like this, no one would play this game.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

As I opened the door, the villagers, including

Laughing as I watched them, I, who had unknowingly spent a considerable amount of time, decided to end the playtime today without extending it any further.

And before that, I had the intention of giving them a final gift, a reward for helping Leona catch the werewolves.

A refined iron sword crafted by processing Canan iron ore in the combination table, produced in an instant with a series of clinks and clanks. Compared to the ordeal of mining iron ore to make a sword, this was beyond mere cheating; it was at a magical level. Since this was purely a game, the production process was as simple as possible, and the iron sword thus created was strictly just a game item.

“—…!”

But if that item were to end up in their hands through me, the story would change. In Leona’s hands, carefully picking up the iron sword I had scattered, a new shining iron sword had somehow appeared.

Her expression upon seeing it was akin to witnessing some precious luxury item. It was evidence of the considerable responsibility she held as a warrior.

“Looks good, doesn’t it.”

When the game ended, and the residents returned to the village. I muttered to myself, gazing at it from the darkened room. It was vastly different from the gloomy atmosphere just a few hours ago.

Those who returned to the village rejoiced as if they were about to jump, seeing the residents recover from injuries using achievement points, and the residents cheered when they saw the food and weapons brought from the game world.

It might sound conceited, but my influence was undoubtedly strong. Their joy meant that my efforts had made a significant impact.

There probably wouldn’t be anyone who dislikes making others happy because of me. I realized that just a moment ago.

I wanted this sudden connection that came out of nowhere to continue a little longer, and I wanted to observe it more.

‘It should be nothing special.’

Of course, as someone who had to live in the real world, I couldn’t spend the whole day just watching the monitor. All I could hope for was that nothing special would happen until it was time again.

Fortunately, the day after tomorrow is the weekend. Since I don’t have any plans, I’ll probably spend the whole day watching.