You Said You Didn't Want to Stay Here

The layout of Firelink Shrine had changed considerably in ways everyone was familiar with, down to the details.

Although everyone had been shouting about setting off just now, for the better part of half an hour, they had actually been running all over Firelink Shrine, trying to find more of the changes.

Todd and Crestfallen Guy sat off to the side, watching Hewei and the others run around.

Why weren't they helping?

Because Todd had barely explored Sain Underground City before. Everything he knew about Firelink Shrine had come from recording stones—he was basically an armchair player. Asking him to spot subtle changes? They might as well kill him.

As for Crestfallen Guy, he was only an afterimage. There was nothing he could do. Were they really expecting an afterimage to help explore a dungeon and point out changes in the same scene?

That would be the kind of horror that broke the fourth wall.

Before long, Hewei and the others returned from the graveyard near the path leading deep underground, each carrying a weapon they had scavenged. They then continued toward the structures built atop the mountains—buildings that could be called fortresses, bastions, or even city walls.

They had gone searching for equipment because they were nearly out of Repair Powder.

In truly intense adventures, weapons broke down incredibly fast. Adventurers in the past had to carry several weapons with them, swapping to another as soon as one broke. If they wanted repairs, they had to find a blacksmith, so few people were willing to use precious weapons in battle. If one broke and nobody could repair it, they were finished.

The appearance of Repair Powder changed all that. It could even be said to have drastically changed adventurers' habits. Carrying a few packets of Repair Powder was far