The Village
Three hours later, Min opened her eyes.
Beyond the window, the sun was sinking. A wash of crimson light spilled through the glass and pooled across the floor of the room. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, then sat up.
"Status."
Min studied the window in silence. She had gone up four whole levels. She hadn't done a thing while she slept. All she'd done before drifting off was switch on Mana Resonance.
Her MP sat at zero. It had all been burned through while she was out.
And yet—
A moment later.
Her experience had gone up. She waited a little longer. Her MP was still sitting at zero.
Min looked at Mana Resonance. It was still on. She thought it over for a moment. Every scrap of mana that regenerated on its own was being eaten by the trait the instant it came back.
This is broken.
Twelve remaining stat points. She didn't even hesitate. She dumped every last one into mana.
Mana 52 (+12)
MP0 / 5,700
Her maximum mana jumped all at once.
Level up, put the points into mana. More mana meant a bigger pool. A bigger pool meant faster regeneration. Faster regeneration meant more experience from Mana Resonance. Which meant she would level even faster.
Her stomach growled. She looked down at it.
"Ah."
She was hungry.
When she came down the stairs, the inn was busier than it had been during the day. A handful of guests sat at the tables, already eating. Behind the counter, the innkeeper looked up from the glass he was wiping and spotted her.
"You're awake?"
"Yeah."
Min glanced around at the tables.
"Can I get a meal here?"
"Of course. Dinner is three coppers."
She handed over three copper coins. A moment later, bread and a soup of meat and vegetables were set down in front of her. She picked up her spoon.
It wasn't bad. Hunger did most of the work, and she emptied the bowl in no time, then finished off the bread as well. She was full.
And now there was nothing to do. Experience would tick up on its own whether she lifted a finger or not. She sat with that thought for a moment, then looked out the window.
The sun hadn't quite gone down. The street outside lay under a settling dusk, buildings washed in gold. It occurred to her that she had never actually looked around the village properly. She stood up.
The bell over the door chimed as she stepped outside. The wind was cooler than it had been during the day. She didn't pick a direction. She just walked.
The buildings along the street glowed yellow in the last of the light. Merchants who had finished for the day were packing their wares away. Min slowed her steps a little.
It was a scene she had seen countless times in the game. A village. Shops. A guild. When all of it had been on the other side of a screen, she had never thought much about it. But now she could hear people talking. She could smell food. A passerby's shoulder brushed hers as they went by, and the wind moved against her skin.
So I really did end up inside.
Only now was it starting to feel real.
A man walking past caught sight of her and turned his head. Ahead, two people mid-conversation let their voices drop. A woman coming the other way looked at Min's face, then her gaze slid to Min's ears, then to her hair.
Min walked on. She had been collecting looks like that since she first entered the village. By now, she had more or less made her peace with it.
A little farther on, stalls began to line both sides of the street. A market, by the look of it, and plenty of them were still open. Fruit and vegetables sat piled in heaps; somewhere, strips of dried meat hung from a rack. Most of it was new to her. She strolled along, taking it in at an easy pace, until she stopped in front of one stall.
Red fruit was mounded high on the table. It looked like an apple, only smaller.
"What's this?"
"Hm?"
The stallkeeper startled and looked up.
"This."
"Ah — yes. Those are called Lag Fruit."
"How much?"
"Two for a copper."
Min handed over a coin. The stallkeeper picked out two of the fruits and passed them over.
"Here you are."
Min turned and walked away. The stallkeeper watched her go until she had put some distance between them. From the stall next door, another merchant leaned over.
"That's an elf, right?"
"Looks like it."
"Do elves even have hair that white?"
"Come to think of it, I feel like I've heard of that somewhere."
"Heard of what?"
"White-haired elves."
Min bit into the fruit. It crunched. Sweet — close to an apple, but not quite the same. Not bad. She kept walking as she ate.
The farther she went toward the edge of the market, the thinner the stalls became. In their place, a single building stood out, people streaming in and out of it in a steady flow. Every time the door swung open, the noise from inside spilled into the street — laughter, raised voices, the clink of glasses knocking together. Min looked up. A drinking mug was painted on the sign.
"A tavern, huh."
The laughter and the chatter from inside never let up, the occasional ring of glass on glass threading through it. A few drunks staggered out the door, talking over each other as they weaved away down the street.
A little farther on, the street widened. Between the buildings, a plaza of some size opened up. A stone fountain stood at the center, and several roads branched away from it in different directions. The guild hall she had seen during the day sat off to one side.
Min stopped and looked around. Across the plaza rose a large building of cut stone, an unfamiliar crest carved above the entrance. Someone happened to be coming down the steps. She walked over.
"What's that building for?"
The man looked at her — and froze.
"Hello?"
"Ah. Yes."
He came back to himself a beat late.
"That building. What is it?"
He followed where she was pointing.
"That's the town hall."
"Ah."
Min glanced at the building once more.
"Thanks."
"Not at all..."
She turned away. The man stood there for a moment, watching her go, then shook his head and went on his way.
Past the plaza, the character of the street changed again. The shops gave way to smaller workshops. Through an open doorway, someone was carving wood. A little farther on, another was working leather, and a shop nearby had small ornaments laid out on display. Min slowed down. Most of it was new to her, and some of it she couldn't even guess the purpose of. She looked over a few of the pieces, then walked on.
A hammer rang out from somewhere nearby. Then again. Then again. Min turned toward the sound.
Red firelight was leaking from a building a short distance down the street. As she drew closer, a wave of heat rolled out to meet her. A smithy. Beyond the entrance, a shirtless man was hammering a lump of glowing metal, sparks scattering with every blow. Min stopped and watched for a while. Swords and pieces of armor hung along the walls.
Once she left the craftsmen's street behind, the people thinned out noticeably. Houses stood where shops had been. The sunset was all but gone, and one by one the windows began to fill with warm yellow light. Somewhere, the smell of dinner being prepared drifted into the street. Children were running through an alley.
"Theo, dinner!"
A voice called from somewhere out of sight. One of the children, still in the thick of the game, turned and ran for home. The others began to scatter, one after another. Min walked past the mouth of the alley. Compared to the streets that had been so busy only a little while ago, it was quiet here. Voices carried faintly through the windows.
She walked on slowly. During the day, all she had been able to think was that she was inside a game. But walking through it now... it was just a place where people lived.
Min lifted her head and looked at the sky. The last edge of sunset was slipping away beyond the horizon. It had gotten quite dark without her noticing.
"Time to head back."
She turned and started the way she had come.