That Slap

"Eh... um..."

Hades stared at the man before him, who stood bare-chested with sturdy muscles, his expression wary as if he were about to lunge with his pitchfork at any moment.

If this were an NPC, the facial expressions were far too rich; even in games, the "uncanny valley" effect existed, and to avoid such situations, YGGDRASIL never programmed NPCs with such vivid expressions.

Yet, to Hades's eyes, every hair and subtle muscle twitch on this man was lifelike, sending a chill down his spine.

"I'd like to ask, where is this?" Hades asked the man. If this were a game, these NPCs would only respond to player inquiries with pre-set lines and animations.

Thus, a brief exchange would be enough for Hades to determine his current situation—whether he was still in a virtual world or had arrived in reality.

"Who are you!?" Emmet asked again, his tone involuntarily sharpening. His eyes darted around; although it was night, the terrain was flat with nowhere to hide, leading him to conclude that the youth was alone.

However, this did not lower his guard; he intended to judge whether the stranger was a thief based on his answer.

"Tch~, so it really is a virtual world." Hades spat, hearing the man repeat his question. He had already decided to sue the manufacturer of his nano-device later.

YGGDRASIL clearly wouldn't risk violating public laws by unauthorized access to real-experience functions meant for medical use, so it was highly probable that his equipment had malfunctioned, coinciding with the game's delayed shutdown or perhaps some prank beta test for a sequel—all of which required further observation.

"What are you talking about?" Emmet paused, then pushed his pitchfork forward and said, "Answer me, who are you? Where did you come from?"

"Yes, yes, I come from 'Midgard,' so, is this 'Helheim'? Now, how do I leave the game?" Hades said, his tone growing slightly impatient.

He had things to do tomorrow and didn't want to waste time here. Surely, saying the keyword "leave the game" would trigger the NPC's pre-set dialogue options.

NPCs had fixed templates, and players could guide them to pre-designed dialogue options by simply stating the right keywords.

Surely, the operators of YGGDRASIL wouldn't be so brazen as to trap players in a virtual world; that would only result in a public relations disaster.

Damn it, he was truly unlucky. He had only wanted to log in to bid farewell to his naive but earnest youth, only to encounter equipment failure and some new game event hosted by the operators.

But the man's next words left Hades stunned.

"Game? What is that? I don't know what you're talking about, but can you leave? You aren't welcome here. If you don't leave now, I won't be polite!"

Emmet didn't understand the meaning behind the stranger's words. To him, the youth seemed like a fool, babbling nonsense he couldn't comprehend, but that didn't matter—he just needed to drive him away.

"Eh?" Hades stared blankly at the man, a sudden sense of dread rising in his heart. The NPC's reaction was far beyond his expectations.

"If you don't want to suffer, leave now, or I'll show you the sharpness of this pitchfork!" Emmet gestured with the weapon.

Judging by his physique, the youth was frail and no match for him. While he didn't look like a thief, being pestered by a fool was a headache.

"Who is it outside?"

Just then, a female voice came from behind Emmet. Hades watched as a young girl in thin clothing peeked out from behind the man.

She had golden hair and brown eyes, and in the dim light, her wheat-colored skin was visible. She appeared quite young.

She was looking at Hades with curiosity, her eyes blinking, looking very lively.

"Why did you come out, Enri? Get back inside, this guy might be a lunatic." Emmet kept his eyes on Hades while lowering his voice to speak to his daughter, Enri.

Although Emmet deliberately lowered his voice, in the quiet of the night, even the smallest sound could be heard—perhaps Emmet didn't even care if the stranger heard him.

"Eh?" Enri looked at Hades in surprise upon hearing her father's words, then timidly pulled her head back.

Hades stared blankly at the pair, then suddenly slapped himself hard across the face. The crisp sound made Emmet and Enri stare at each other in confusion.

"Not an NPC?" Hades muttered, rubbing his cheek. He had used almost his full strength for that slap, nearly bringing tears to his eyes. This level of pain far exceeded the thirty-percent limit of real-world sensation provided by his nano-device.

"Hey, kid, let's get this straight. I don't want trouble, and I hope you don't want any either. Just leave, and I won't give you any grief." Emmet nudged his daughter toward the house with his body, his words laced with warning.

Carne Village had no defensive measures and no patrols. Although it was far from the city, it was near the Tobo Great Forest, and because the village sat on the edge of the "Wise King of the Forest's" territory, no monsters ever came to attack.

As for bandits and thieves, there were none, simply because there was nothing to plunder here; even criminals had to consider the cost of their actions.

Thus, Emmet, who had almost never encountered such a situation, was far less calm than he appeared. An experienced person would never have come out to investigate in the first place.

Seeing that the man was about to retreat into the house, Hades hurriedly shouted, "Please wait! I am a traveler who has come from very far away."

"A traveler?" Emmet stopped his retreat toward the house and asked, "Do you have any proof?"

"Proof?" Hades thought for a moment and said, "Wasn't the gibberish you thought I was speaking earlier proof enough? That is the way we greet people in my hometown."

"Hm? Does that include slapping yourself in the face?" Emmet asked, eyeing Hades suspiciously.

"Uh... that... please don't mind it, that's just my... personal habit." Hades awkwardly rubbed his nose. It would be too strange to claim that behavior was a standard greeting.

But as soon as Hades finished speaking, Emmet and his daughter Enri took a synchronized step back, their eyes filled with fear and pity.

"Wait, I mean, this isn't... isn't... uh... not something I do regularly... so... please don't misunderstand, I am a normal person." Hades hurriedly explained.

Though it was hard to believe, even feeling magical, that slap convinced Hades that even his top-tier nano-virtual equipment couldn't simulate that level of pain.

Not to mention the reactions of Emmet and his daughter, which were flawless and completely devoid of the stiffness of an NPC. From their expressions and demeanor to their speech, they were no different from real people.

And YGGDRASIL could never have such NPCs.

So... he really had arrived in reality... but... where was this? It didn't seem like YGGDRASIL, and it certainly couldn't be Earth. If such a place still existed on Earth, it would have been occupied and developed by capitalists long ago.