Ben took measured steps across the threshold of the wooden gates. A captivating tableau unfolded before him, etched in three-dimensional reality, with a dream-like appearance. He let out a sigh of awe as he looked at the beautiful village. And the tension on his face dissolved into thin air.
One thing was clear from the scene in front of him: he was in a fantasy world. The landscape was dotted with wooden houses adorned with verdant expanses and vibrant blooms. Sturdy wooden carts navigated stone pathways, and children launched paper boats into the glistening brook that ran alongside.
[A/N: Brooks are narrow watercourses used for irrigation by farmers.]
"Isn't it incredibly serene?" Ray mused, regarding Ben, whose face mirrored surprise and reverence.
"Just a hundred meters ahead, there were ruins and barren lands; then how come there is this beautiful scenery inside the village?" Ben's inquiry crept out, tempting his curiosity.
In answer, the red-haired buddy gave a faint smile. "It is due to an underlying mana vein. Not only does it provide us with unlimited magic, but it also invites magnificent plants and fauna to coexist."
"Shall we proceed then?" he asked, jolting Ben from his thoughts. His response was a nod of agreement, and he followed in the red-haired man's footsteps.
As they journeyed through the streets, Ben discerned an unusual occurrence. While it was early in the morning, the village life was already on track. People are working in fields, and children are playing outside.
While some of them welcomed Ray with a wide smile, others didn't. People changed their way just by looking at him, while some shut their doors and windows.
Ben initially dismissed it as a coincidence—until he noticed a few people emerging from a house, hastily retrieving playing children from the brook's edge, and quickly securing all doors.
Ben looked at Ray, who also had this concerned expression on his face. Although he didn't know Ray for very long, he had a feeling that Ray was one of the softhearted kind. He couldn't understand why people would hate him that much.
"Are they avoiding us on purpose?" Ben asked his red-haired companion, both puzzled by the chilly reception. The chief, visibly affected, clenched his fists before explaining.
"Before me, an old man was the chief here. He was a powerful archmage, honored by the king with this village, Lumina."
"So, this village is Lumina. What happened to the old chief then?" Ben's curiosity grew.
"The old chief used to be a friend of the king; although he was a communist, he was regarded as of high value by the empire. The nobles couldn't accept this change; feeling threatened by a communist government, they rebelled against the empire, and a cold war took place.
"I don't know very much about what happened either, but the villagers seem to be attached to their previous leader and hate me for that reason," Ray explained, sighing in disappointment.
'I am not sure if there are plotholes in the story or stories in the plothole,' Ben sarcastically thought.
[ I have 29 questions regarding the story host; it doesn't make sense to me. ]
'Who cares? I just need to stay in the village for a few days, that's all.' Ben thought with a nod as he followed the two towards a residence.
Made with a mixture of wood and concrete, the residence was like an old, broken mansion with eastern-style architecture. While the two floors and tens of rooms of equal size were surrounding the courtyard,
The difference here was just that the courtyard was not normally decorated with flowers or trees but was surrounded by boundaries with fine sand on the ground; clearly, it was used as a practice arena.
"That's damn big! Just how many people live there?" Ben couldn't help but look at the enormous housing with wide-open eyes, his mouth open in admiration.
"If we count you two as well, then there will be four of us living there." The red-haired guy said this, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Pff, the fuck, only four people in this entire big thing? You make it sound like a horror house. What if a vampire attacks us while we are sleeping?" Ben asked all these questions in one breath like he saw a corpse walk off the ground.
'Jeez, just relax a little, will you? There is nothing like ghosts and vampires in real life, so stop acting like a pussycat already." The red-haired guy said this, stepping back a few steps from Ben.
"So which room do you want to choose?" Alex asked nonchalantly.
"No questioning, I want the one on the top floor!" Ben said with a grin.
After being allotted a room, Ben was also provided with clothes and a few weapons, as promised. Since both Ray and Alex were guarding the village the whole night, they too took their leave to rest. Ben alone was left to clean the room.
It took him an hour to take a long, good bath and set up his bed before he was prepared for the dreamland adventure. As for Freya? Ben just threw her in a room, not dealing with cleanup responsibilities.
After god knows how long, he finally jumped on the soft bed, stretching his back. He had almost forgotten this feeling of sleeping like a human. For the next five minutes, Ben spent rubbing his body against the pillow.
'System, do you have an alarm clock?' Ben asked wholeheartedly, smiling.
[ Host, I am not designed to do such an underhanded thing─]
"Alright, then wake me up before Freya does, see ya!" Ben said before putting his body to rest. It was only a second or two before he began snoring.
[ Host, you can't use me like that! I have some dignity; please take that order back… Ben, host!!]
[ How the hell can someone sleep so fast (TT _TT) ]
............
Weekly PS and Golden Ticket Challenge-
1. 100PS = 2 extra ch on Sunday
2. 30GT= 1 bonus ch on Sunday
3. 200PS= 5 ch mass release on Sunday
4. 50GT= 2 bonus ch on Sunday.
Hope you guys can complete it, -