These townspeople had been planning to escape Gross Town, taking advantage of the Night Hunters church's lessened control due to their large gathering.
Normally, anyone attempting to escape would be reported and captured.
But now, many of those who supported the church had their eyes taken, and the church no longer cared about the townspeople. This was a good opportunity.
Unfortunately, their plans didn't go smoothly. The night they finally gathered enough people and were ready to escape, the monsters that usually only stayed within the tunnels appeared in town.
Although Nie Hong had arrived relatively quickly, there had already been casualties. Several mangled bodies lay scattered around, and the belongings they had been carrying were strewn across the ground.
Nie Hong calmed the terrified townspeople and led them to an empty house to regroup.
Mithra went out and, after killing several waves of cursed creatures attracted by the noise, returned.
"I feel like I'm collecting NPCs," Mithra said, watching Nie Hong successfully interact with the townspeople again.
Nie Hong wiped his forehead. "Didn't you tell me not to treat this place like a game?"
"I never said that. How you treat this place is your business, not to mention that I also prefer to treat this as a game. Of course, I'm more of a hardcore player," Mithra said thoughtfully.
You're a heartless monster grinding machine!
Nie Hong kept that thought to himself.
Although he thought that, Mithra had more style than him. At least Mithra treated everyone with the same detached attitude.
When Nie Hong first arrived in Dreamland, he hadn't encountered any dangerous situations and had been quite reckless.
He wouldn't kill for fun, but he wouldn't hesitate to kill those who attacked him.
Although he initially felt uncomfortable with death, the environment in Dreamland was harsh. If he had seemed stronger, it might have been different, but Nie Hong looked easy to bully.
His flashy clothes and earrings were meant to make him look tougher, but the effect was limited. Dreamland didn't care about appearances.
After dealing with various troubles, their Dreamland practice instructor had said calmly, "It's fine. You'll get used to being harassed. That's just how the relationship between Dreamland and Planet Blue is these days. If you don't provoke them, they'll provoke you. It's a free-for-all here. It doesn't matter."
It sounded irresponsible, but it reflected Planet Blue's general attitude towards Dreamland.
Nie Hong hadn't learned any profound lessons from being hit by Mithra, but he was now more cautious and respectful.
"There are a lot more cursed creatures outside. We might not get any sleep tonight," Mithra said, describing the situation.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Nie Hong agreed.
"That feeling is probably the feeling of being cursed. Safin said believers are sensitive to it. But as long as you don't die here or lose your eyes, the curse from Gross Town isn't that serious."
Nie Hong looked embarrassed. "That's easy for you to say, but I still don't feel safe."
"Why would you need to feel safe in a place like this?" Mithra's rhetorical question left Nie Hong speechless.
At this point, the tallest of the townspeople spoke hesitantly. "Excuse me, what are you two doing in town? If we can help, we'll do our best."
Mithra and Nie Hong looked over, surprised.
"What do you want in return?" Mithra asked directly.
"...We want to escape," the man said, looking at the others.
Mostly women, children, and an elderly person, all emaciated and weak.
Nie Hong was sure they wouldn't survive the journey down the mountain.
"You'll probably lose a few on the way down. You're lucky I didn't scare you to death," Mithra said bluntly.
You know you're terrifying, right? Nie Hong suppressed the urge to yell, then quickly changed the subject. "We're looking for a silver pendant, it might be with the cultists. Sorry for the vague description, but if anyone has information, please tell us!"
Honestly, he had little hope. Finding a pendant in a town was a nightmare.
"A silver pendant, in the hands of the cultists, right...?" the old man in the corner spoke weakly.
Nie Hong and Mithra turned to him.
"You know about it?!" Nie Hong asked, excited. A clue would be a godsend.
"I've seen it. But... it shouldn't be with the cultists anymore. The one who had the pendant gave it to Erik," the old man's voice was faint and raspy.
"Who is Erik?"
"The foreman, the leader of the miners. He used to work closely with the Hokuten family who founded Gross Town," a woman holding her child said softly.
"But after the cult arrived, he was the first to collaborate with them, revealing information about the Hokuten family and bringing disaster upon them. In a way, it was Erik who handed the town over to those cultists," the man who had spoken earlier added.
Angry whispers erupted among the townspeople; they clearly had no good impression of this Erik.
"He was never a good person. He pocketed our wages, controlled everything in the tunnels..."
"I wouldn't even share a drink with him..."
They had found an outlet for their emotions, and the room became noisy.
Mithra flipped over a nearby cabinet to quiet them down, then approached the old man in the corner. "Are you sure? A cultist with a silver pendant gave it to Erik?"
"Erik is a smooth talker. He has good relations with some of the cultists, so he often receives rewards," the old man said.
"Where is Erik?" Mithra pressed.
The old man's eyes were unfocused as he looked up, trying to remember. "He's living in the Hokuten family mansion... Poor Hokutens. If their eldest son, who's studying abroad, returns, he'll be devastated by the state of the town."
Ignoring the other comments, Mithra stood up and turned to the other townspeople. "We'll go check the mansion. If we find what we're looking for, we'll come back and help you escape. Don't go outside or make any unnecessary noise before then. We're not responsible for your deaths."
The townspeople quickly nodded their understanding.
Mithra and Nie Hong helped reinforce the entrances to the room before leaving.
Stepping outside, Nie Hong saw the situation and realized Mithra's earlier assessment had been overly optimistic.
The streets were littered with the corpses of cursed creatures. It was a charnel house.
Some had been dismembered; most had been crushed.
"It seems the cult has reached a critical point, or maybe they've already succeeded? The curse from the tunnels has spread," Nie Hong said worriedly. "Things have gotten out of control. I'm worried about Mr. Safin."
Mithra didn't reply, focusing on moving quickly.
Nie Hong sighed and followed.