Luna Village Treasure Hunt

The white-haired Village Chief of Luna Village was a man who had seen much of the world. At a brief warning from Pan Long, he understood the danger facing the village.

The Frees Empire oppressed heretics in every way imaginable, and its methods were by no means limited to economics or politics. If necessary, it would draw its butcher's blade and strike Luna Village without mercy.

Pan Long suspected that this was exactly how events had unfolded in the game.

Perhaps the reason this world's story had taken such a turn was that it reflected his own suspicions?

He did not dwell on it. He merely told the chief that he was an adventurer who traveled in search of treasure, wealth, and interesting things, and had happened to pass through the village. He had no love for either the Frees Empire or the One God Religion. If the chief was willing to hire him, he could stay in Luna Village for a while and help the villagers deal with anyone the One God Religion might send to cause trouble.

The Village Chief did not agree at once. First, he looked this uninvited adventurer up and down.

The people of the Northlands were tough. They commonly carried swords and knives, and families with the means even liked to wear a layer of light leather over their linen clothes so they would always be ready for a fight. Pan Long was dressed much the same way, and he did look something like an adventurer. Years of martial arts training had left him well-proportioned and quick on his feet. One glance was enough to tell he was capable. After sizing him up for a while, the Village Chief nodded, acknowledging his strength.

"What would we have to pay?" he asked.

Before Pan Long could answer, he added, "To be frank, Luna Village doesn't have much money. If you want a large sum, we truly can't afford it."

Pan Long smiled. Of course he knew the village had little money. Money was not what he wanted.

"I'm an adventurer," he said. "If you don't have enough money... you can make up the difference with something unusual."

A few minutes later, they arrived at the Village Chief's house. It was a small two-story building that served not only as his home, but also as an inn, a general store, and even, when necessary, a makeshift hospital.

The Village Chief rummaged through boxes and cupboards until he found some twenty gold coins. There were plenty of silver and copper coins, too. Piled on the table, they made a fairly conspicuous heap.

"That's all the money we have." The Village Chief sighed. "As for antiques, gold and silver jewelry, and the like... if you're interested, I can try to find some, but I doubt there's much. The most precious thing in our village is that statue of the Moon Goddess, which is over a thousand years old. It's even set with a gemstone called the Moon Goddess Crystal. But we will never give it to you. We might as well bow to the Empire!"

Pan Long had only wanted a pretext. He had never intended to extort money from them, but he needed to go through the motions so they would not suspect him of hiding some sinister purpose. Hearing this, he asked, "Do you have anything like medicinal herbs?"

In the game, "herbs" were common items. One or two could be found in every early stage, and a shop would sell ten at a time—though each shop only stocked ten. That was simply how it worked.

One herb instantly restored ten health points. That might not sound like much, but even a fully leveled character built for maximum health had only 125 health points. Even the Earth God, the boss with the most health, had only 400.

In the first stage, the protagonist was still wet behind the ears and had a mere twenty health points.

Translated into real terms, one herb should be able to heal a sturdy man from a moderately serious injury. Stranger still, it worked instantly.

If Pan Long could take the herbs back to reality and they retained their effects there, these common plants would be miraculous medicines capable of bringing the dead back to life and putting flesh on bare bones!

"Our local specialty is Moon Dew Grass," the Village Chief replied. "Crush it and apply it to the forehead, and it works well for dizziness, fever, heatstroke, and other ailments. I'm an herbalist myself, and I've made some remedies for external injuries. They're quite good."

Pan Long smiled again but said nothing.

Clearly, no one would help them fight the One God Religion, much less the Frees Empire, for a reward like that.

The Village Chief understood this too. He gave a dry chuckle, seven parts helplessness and three parts embarrassment.

Luna Village truly had nothing else to offer.

Only then could Pan Long finally say what he had wanted to say all along. "You know I'm an adventurer. I'm quite confident in my ability to find treasure. If you're willing, I'd like to search in and around Luna Village. Perhaps I'll find something valuable."

The Village Chief looked at him. "Not including the Moon Goddess Crystal?"

"Of course not." Pan Long smiled. "And I promise I won't go rummaging through anyone's home. I'll only look for treasure outdoors."

The Village Chief lowered his head in thought.

He did not deliberate for long. In truth, he had little choice.

Luna Village had a fair number of people. If they gathered the able-bodied adults, they could muster seventy or eighty. But if the Empire's army really came—especially if the Holy Legion came—seventy or eighty untrained villagers would hardly be a match.

He had seen real combat and knew that people without military training stood no chance against regular soldiers. Thirty or fifty troops would be enough. They could loose a volley of arrows, charge on horseback, and send the villagers scattering like a broken army. After that, all that remained would be the chase and slaughter.

But if the villagers had an expert on their side, someone who could lead them in a countercharge from the start and break through the Empire's formation, the outcome would be far less certain.

Only in a chaotic melee could the villagers make use of their numbers!

In the end, he accepted Pan Long's proposal. Pan Long promptly set out to search for treasure in and around the village.

The Feather Boots were a family heirloom belonging to the household at the southernmost end of the village. According to the story, their ancestor had left the boots so his descendants could flee if danger came. Unfortunately, his descendants had not been lucky enough to use them in time.

Pan Long could hardly set his sights on someone else's family heirloom. He had to give up on that piece of equipment.

But he could still take the Slayer Sword by the village entrance.

He did not intend to bring the sword back to reality, but it would be of great use to him in this world.

If he was going to fight, he needed a good weapon. Even if the Slayer Sword's special effect, "double damage against humans," never came into play, it was still a sharp blade.

At the village entrance, he greeted the guards at the gate, then walked up to the statue of the Moon Goddess.

"It's all right if I touch the statue, isn't it?" he asked.

"As long as you don't blaspheme against the goddess," replied a guard leaning on his spear.

Pan Long nodded and pressed his left hand against the blade of the sword held by the statue. Then he applied a little pressure.

The stone, which looked thick and blunt, was unexpectedly sharp. It immediately cut his hand, staining the blade with blood.

The guards stared at him in surprise, unable to fathom what had gotten into this adventurer.

Pan Long offered no explanation. He spread his blood across the blade. He had not shed much, but it was enough. He had no idea how much of the sword he had covered when it suddenly blazed with red light. Stone dust fell away in a soft shower, and the plain-looking stone sword became a long blade, blood-red from end to end.

It looked simple and unadorned, yet waves of killing intent rolled off it, enough to make anyone's heart tremble.

This was one of the two hidden treasures in this stage: the Slayer Sword.

As Pan Long recalled, the way to obtain it in the game was to have "an injured character stand beside the goddess statue." The message that followed read, "Blood stained the sword in the statue's hand red. The stone sword became a sharp blade, filled with a thirst for slaughter."

Now, with the Slayer Sword in his hand, Pan Long could faintly sense its hunger for battle and bloodshed.

The two guards were utterly stunned to see the stone sword turn into a real one. Pan Long smiled at them. "Do you have a spare scabbard?"

The guards shook their heads.

So he went to the Village Chief, who said he could make one on the spot. It only took a piece of leather, after all.

As Pan Long sat in the hall watching the Village Chief fetch an animal hide and begin cutting and stitching a scabbard, he wondered whether there were any other treasures he could find.

It doesn't seem like there are...

He went over the guides and his own experience with the game several times, but could not think of another treasure.

Find Lilina and ask her for her healing wand?

It would be useless even if she gave it to him. Only priest-class characters could use it.

Lilina's Moon Goddess Tear Pendant was a treasure too, and could greatly increase magic defense. But it was a keepsake from her mother. How could she possibly give it to him?

Just then, another thought struck him.

After finishing the game, players could start a second playthrough, using the abilities, equipment, and items of the characters who had completed it to begin the story again. They could speed through familiar scenes and easily take a different path from the one they had chosen before.

In a second playthrough, a player with high enough movement speed could reach Luna Village before it burned down. In the flowerbed before the statue of the Moon Goddess—the same place where the Moon Shard could be found after the village was destroyed—they could obtain a truly hidden item.

Little Luna Statue.

This "truly hidden item" was described as "exercise equipment made by the fat programmers at Luna Company to keep themselves from dying suddenly." It looked like a palm-sized statue of the Moon Goddess, but it was extraordinarily heavy, weighing as much as a full suit of armor. Equipping it in an accessory slot slightly increased attack and defense, but its most important effects were "double experience gained" and "negates experience reduction caused by level differences."

Across all its routes, Sword and Lament had an enormous cast of 120 playable characters. Raising every one of them to the maximum level would be a colossal, soul-crushing task.

But with this item equipped, a character who needed levels could be taken to a few maps teeming with monsters and swept through several rounds of area attacks. Their level would shoot up before your eyes, and they would soon reach the maximum.

For players on a second playthrough, this "truly hidden item" was the most valuable thing in Luna Village.

It sounds a little far-fetched. That thing shouldn't exist in this world, but... what if it does?

Muttering to himself, Pan Long said a word to the Village Chief and headed out toward the statue of the Moon Goddess in the small square.

For now, that will be the update schedule: one chapter at noon and one after midnight...