Chris's Past (Part One)

"Could you tell me more about Chris? I'm very interested."

Digging into the stories behind interesting NPCs was part of how players unlocked story quests, and it also satisfied their curiosity.

Some people paid no attention to the stories behind quests. All they thought was, I don't know who I am or what I'm supposed to do. All I know is that I'm about to go on a killing spree.

Others liked digging into the details and stories behind a quest before doing it, learning what made its NPCs happy, angry, sad, or joyful.

As it happened, Lin Ruoyu was a story buff. His curiosity wouldn't let him pass up a chance to uncover an important NPC's backstory.

"What is your relationship with Mr. Chris?"

Connie turned the question back on him. Lin Ruoyu thought for a moment and decided to tell a white lie.

"For now, you could say we're his subordinates."

"For now?"

"Yeah. We haven't become permanent employees yet."

Lin Ruoyu kept a straight face.

"He bought these clothes for us. There are ten of us, but four went missing after we went out today. We heard two of our companions were here, so we came to rescue them."

"Oh."

Connie accepted Lin Ruoyu's explanation for the moment. There wasn't much point in him lying about this, and Prince Chris's affairs were hardly a secret in Inyama.

Even the newspapers had published reports about him in a joking, mocking tone.

If Lin Ruoyu wanted to know about Chris, he could find out later with a little asking around, so Connie told him what she knew.

"Boss, I checked the information. It pretty much adds up."

A player came down the stairs and spoke to Lin Ruoyu, interrupting his pleasant conversation with Connie.

"Mm... all right... oh, I forgot to let our brothers out of the wine cellar. Little Ghost, hurry up and take some people to get it done."

Lin Ruoyu waved Little Ghost away, the dagger still lodged in his shoulder, then turned back to face Connie.

"All right, sis. You've earned my trust. Now you can tell me why you stayed."

"What are you planning to do with the girls upstairs?"

"Can you get them settled somewhere?"

Lin Ruoyu pointed to the iron box on the bar counter. It held a lot of silver coins. He had given it a quick look and estimated there were around a hundred.

Not all that money belonged to Lin Ruoyu. Three-quarters of it belonged to the other players, but he decided to borrow it for now. Later, he would top up with yuan, exchange it for silver coins, and pay them back.

Lin Ruoyu still didn't know how much silver coins could buy. He needed more information.

"Yes."

"If I give you a hundred silver coins, will that be enough for them to live on for a while?"

At that, Connie immediately gave Lin Ruoyu a strange look.

"Is there a problem?"

"No. It's just the first time I've ever met someone as kind and generous as you. That much money would be enough for them to leave Inyama right away, go back to their hometowns in the countryside, and marry good husbands."

Okay, now Lin Ruoyu knew his decision had been a little rash. He turned to the other players.

"I'm borrowing this money for now. I'll pay you back later."

"No problem."

Just then, Little Ghost and the two trapped players emerged from the back of the tavern. The latter two were still disheveled and swearing.

The first thing the two unlucky bastards did after getting free was find the tavern owner lying motionless on the floor and start punching and kicking his corpse.

"All right, if you want to vent, use a knife, not your hands."

"Then forget it. Using a knife would be nasty. That's mutilating a corpse."

"And what you're doing now isn't?"

"Nope."

Lin Ruoyu couldn't be bothered to argue with those two. He turned back to Connie and waited for her answer.

"I want to work with you."

"On what?"

"Running a tavern, starting a gang, anything that makes money. I know a lot of people and a lot of things. You've only just arrived in Inyama. You need my help."

Lin Ruoyu remained noncommittal. He gave it some serious thought. Connie's proposal might work, but he needed to discuss it with the other players.

"Can you keep this place under control?"

"Yes. I can go out and get a few people to watch it."

"Then let's leave it at that. I'll come over tonight, and we can talk about it later."

Lin Ruoyu waved and left with the other players.

Connie followed them outside and watched them walk away. Then she waved at the onlookers across from the tavern, and two young men in ragged leather jackets ran over.

"Follow them. Be careful not to get spotted. I need to know where they're staying."

"Yes, boss."

"I knew it..."

Chris sighed. He knew the players couldn't behave themselves, but he hadn't expected them to kill a few people along the way when all they'd gone out to do was bring back two corpses, then come running home covered in blood and wearing tattered clothes.

He beckoned to Little Ghost and the other two injured players.

"Come here. This is the Medical Room. Go inside and take your clothes off so I can clean your wounds."

"What about the dead ones?"

"We'll deal with them later. Resurrection can wait until tomorrow. I don't have time tonight. Go eat. The food is being kept warm in the soup pot in the kitchen."

There were three rooms on the ground floor of Chris's apartment: the master bedroom, the kitchen, and a room containing an iron bed and some equipment of uncertain purpose.

Lin Ruoyu hadn't understood what that last room was for before, but now he knew... so it was a medical room!

Lin Ruoyu and the two unlucky players went to the kitchen to eat. After wolfing down two large bowls of rice and a small basin of chicken carcasses and potatoes as fast as he could, he went to the Medical Room to watch the fun.

Two people were lying in the living room. They were the two guys who hadn't joined in earlier, and they had already logged off.

It seemed they weren't suited to the hardcore simulation games produced by Hundred Households Studio. They wouldn't even seek out their own fun, instead just passively doing quests.

Shaking his head, Lin Ruoyu walked into the Medical Room. The moment he pushed the door open, he heard Little Ghost howling.

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts... Doctor, give me some anesthetic!"

"I don't have any. I don't have anything like that. It's supposed to hurt. Bear with it!"

After some rough treatment, Little Ghost's upper body was wrapped in bandages. He grimaced as he put his clothes on, yelping with every movement. The flesh wounds all over his body wouldn't kill him, but they certainly didn't feel good.

Lin Ruoyu fell silent for a moment. In the end, he decided not to remind Little Ghost that players could turn down their pain sensitivity.

The other two guys in the Medical Room were enjoying the spectacle. There was no need for him to be the spoilsport.

"Mr. Chris, are you free right now? There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Lin Ruoyu earnestly asked Chris for a private conversation. Chris looked at him.

"Something serious?"

"Something serious!"

"Then let's go to my room."

P.S. I pushed myself to post four chapters yesterday and overworked my brain. Today it came back to bite me, and I caught a cold.

It wasn't bad enough to cause a fever, but I felt awful during the day. I slept all afternoon and took some medicine. Only tonight did I feel well enough to write, so I can keep updating now.