["The ward around the night watchman's room is unusual. It can only be opened between nine and twelve every morning. To open the door, speak the password to the face on the wooden door: 'Open up or I'll poke your eyes out!'"]
What kind of violent door-breaking password was that? Mu You thought as he quietly pressed the Pocket Watch.
[Time flowed backward. The fifty years of lifespan you lost were fully restored, and you returned to before the previous choice.] [Greed still glittered in the scarecrow's eyes as it asked in a tempting voice, "Would you like to pay 50 years of lifespan now to obtain the method for unlocking..."]
"No!"
Scarecrow: ???
[You interrupted the scarecrow's offer. The excitement in its button eyes turned to confusion. "Adventurer, are you sure you don't need to purchase the unlocking method? Buy it now, and it'll only cost forty years of lifespan! Adventurer, I know you're tempted, so why not act on that..."]
"I said no!"
[You firmly chose no again, interrupting the scarecrow's sales pitch once more.] [You saw faint beads of sweat beginning to form on the scarecrow's forehead. It forced out a dry chuckle. "All right, adventurer, I'll make another concession. For just thirty years of lifespan, I can tell you how to unlock it. Also, I must solemnly remind you that without my unlocking method, no one can enter the night watchman's home. That's right, no one! You'd better think this thr..."]
"Heh. I'll come back tomorrow."
After selecting no this time, Mu You selected "Leave directly" from the next menu.
[Under the scarecrow's resentful gaze, you left the village entrance and headed into the village.] [The roads in Peaceful Village are winding and complex. As a first-time visitor, you are unfamiliar with the village's layout. Three roads appear before you, leading east, west, and south. Which direction will you choose?]
There were three options: [East], [South], and [West].
The night watchman's home was at the eastern end of the village, so east was obviously the right choice.
But Mu You did not select east right away. Instead, he tried the other two roads first.
[You chose the road heading west.] [After walking some distance, you came upon a dining hall.] [This is a restaurant run by the village cook. It sells simple magical foods that can replenish your mana and stamina. If you're hungry, you can go inside for a bite-as long as you're willing to pay with your lifespan.]
A dining hall that replenished mana and stamina. Mu You guessed that "stamina" here meant action points. In other words, action points in the game really could be restored through other means.
Even so, Mu You certainly would not eat there. After all, mana and action points both recovered over time. Spending lifespan specifically to restore them was a bad deal no matter how he looked at it.
[You rewound time and returned to the previous crossroads.] [This time, you chose the southern road.] [After walking some distance, you saw a steaming iron forge standing in the snow ahead. This is a smithy run by a heavily bearded dwarf. Devoted to forging, dwarves possess superb smithing skills. If you have equipment you want made, you can bring the raw materials here. Even if all you have is scrap iron, the dwarf blacksmith can turn it into treasure for you-provided, of course, that you're willing to pay with your lifespan!]
"So west of the village entrance is a dining hall that replenishes action points, and south is a smithy that crafts equipment."
As Mu You pressed the Pocket Watch to rewind time, he found a blank sheet of paper and sketched the relative positions of the village entrance, the dining hall, and the smithy.
The village seemed to have been designed entirely like a real town. Since it had a dining hall and a smithy, there were bound to be other shops catering to everyday needs.
What gave Mu You a headache, though, was that after two days of playing, every option he had encountered so far consumed his lifespan. Getting killed cost lifespan, buying things cost lifespan, and even asking questions required payment in lifespan...
In this world, lifespan seemed to be the most basic currency.
The problem was-he had yet to find a single way to increase his lifespan!
Even if his Time Pocket Watch could greatly slow the rate at which he spent his lifespan, with nothing coming in and everything going out, he would eventually squander it all...
Whatever the case, the lifespan problem certainly had no solution in reality. He could only look for one in the game. Mu You shook his head and continued playing.
[Time rewound, and you returned once again to the crossroads at the village entrance.] [This time, you chose the path leading east.] [You explored eastward along the outskirts of the village for some time, finally arriving at its eastern end.] [You are now close to the edge of the village, where few people venture. Only a dilapidated wooden cabin stands alone among the trees ahead. Since its owner has died, it is now an unclaimed cabin.] [Would you like to enter the Night Watchman's Cabin?]
He had actually reached it in one go!
Apparently, the village gate was not far from the eastern end.
Mu You first tried clicking "Enter."
[You approached the cabin's front door and tried to push it open, only to be repelled by the cabin's ward.] [A twisted, hideous pumpkin face quietly appeared on the wooden door. It glared at you and said, "Apart from the owner of this room, any stranger wishing to enter the cabin must speak the correct password at the correct time!"]
An input box immediately popped up beneath the text.
"So it even has a dual unlocking system with facial recognition and a password..."
Mu You marveled briefly at the wonders of this "magic lock," then looked up to check the time.
9:12 a.m.
According to the scarecrow, the cabin could only be opened between nine and twelve every morning. If time in the two worlds corresponded, then he was within the required window.
Mu You entered "Open up or I'll poke your eyes out" into the text box and clicked send.
[You spoke the correct password. The pumpkin face twisted and vanished, and the long-sealed door slowly opened before you.]
"So time in the two worlds really does correspond?"
Mu You nodded and clicked "Enter."
[You entered the Night Watchman's Cabin.] [This is a house built from cypress wood. Having stood unused for a long time, its air is thick with the smell of rotting, moldy wood. A thin layer of dust covers the floor and the few pieces of furniture. The windows and door panels look shabby and sinister, making it resemble a haunted house.] [You explored the dilapidated cabin and finally found something.] [You obtained one Night Watchman's Pumpkin Lantern, one Night Watchman's Backpack, and one Night Watchman's Skin.]
"Well, would you look at that?"
Mu You's eyes lit up.
After reading the earlier description of the shabby cabin, he had thought there was no hope. It had looked like an abandoned, empty room no matter how he viewed it, yet he had actually managed to find something!
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