Volume 2, Chapter 5 – Why Do the NPCs Here All Look the Same?

Zhou Jieyu rode a jolting tractor out of Ruins Town, heading all the way toward the distant Twinmoon City.

Because the store manager’s daughter really could not make it back in time, there was nothing he could do in the end. The manager could only issue the quest to Zhou Jieyu, an “outsider.”

Since she could go to a big city, Zhou Jieyu naturally approved with both hands raised.

At the current stage, even if the number of players who could reach a big city could not be counted on one hand, counting on both feet as well would still be more than enough.

The tractor kept puttering nonstop, but its speed was much faster than Zhou Jieyu had imagined. For a journey of several hundred kilometers, setting out at noon meant they could absolutely enter the city before the sun went down.

At this point, Zhou Jieyu started showing off. Hearing that they were about to arrive at Twinmoon City, she leaned against the railing of the vehicle and immediately tapped open Leading the Charge’s avatar.

“Bro, I’m about to enter the city!”

“???” Leading the Charge sent three question marks in a row.

“I said I’m about to enter the city!”

“Huh?” For a moment, Leading the Charge failed to keep up with his own biological little sister’s train of thought.

“Twinmoon City! ヽ(＃`Д?)?┌┛〃”

After sending that, Zhou Jieyu angrily closed the chat window.

She was mad. For now, she did not want to pay attention to that foolish creature who happened to be her brother.

“Twinmoon City?” Leading the Charge froze for a moment, then suddenly remembered that this was a major city on No. 1886.

And his little sister said she was going to Twinmoon City.

“Hey, hey, hey, Zhou Jieyu, how are you getting to Twinmoon City? Hey, hey, hey…”

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Leading the Charge called out for a long while, but did not receive Zhou Jieyu’s reply.

Because at that moment, Zhou Jieyu had already seen the outline of Twinmoon City.

“We’re almost there,” Driver Wang said.

Zhou Jieyu stood up. The rolling green mountains before her finally vanished, replaced by hazy high-rises of varying heights, arranged in a pleasing, staggered pattern.

A flood of emotion rose in Zhou Jieyu’s heart. After three miserable days of country life, was she finally about to reach the peak of her life?

She had already made her decision. After completing this quest, she would stay in Twinmoon City and not go back.

If one asked which side had more opportunities, the answer was undoubtedly Twinmoon City.

As a newbie village, Ruins Town did not even offer profession advancement quests. But according to the early promotional material for the game, the main city of a region could take players all the way up to an intermediate profession.

I, Zhou Jieyu, will lead the charge in the regional main city!

…

Zhou Jieyu’s quest was to deliver goods to a certain organization in the old district. Needless to say, the things being delivered were sharp tools for armed clashes. The old man who sold weapons wanted to expand his sales channels, and the old district of Twinmoon City, which was in turmoil all year round, was naturally his first-choice target.

After getting off the tractor, Zhou Jieyu followed the map’s directions toward the old district.

The place where she got off was very close to the old district. Before long, she had passed through the forest of high-rises and entered an area of low, squat bungalows.

Like a [country gal] who had just entered the city, Zhou Jieyu excitedly looked left and right. Even the old, low houses were much more impressive than Ruins Town, full of the old-era atmosphere of the real world from forty or fifty years ago.

Zhou Jieyu had seen urban buildings like these before in a city construction museum.

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[Night of the Stars] really was a meticulously designed game. Zhou Jieyu was filled with anticipation for the future.

“Splash.”

The sound of water being poured suddenly rang beside her ears. Zhou Jieyu, who was dragging her suitcase, turned to look and discovered that at the entrance of a shabby one-story little bungalow, a short girl was holding a basin and pouring water.

The girl wore plain overalls with a white inner shirt, and a wrinkled apron was tied around her body. Even though her outfit was very ordinary, Zhou Jieyu’s eyes still lit up. What an exquisite character model. She was kind of cute.

Even an ordinary background NPC like this could be made to this level. As expected of the super online game known as humanity’s [Second World].

As she thought this, Zhou Jieyu inadvertently met the eyes of the NPC girl pouring water.

…

“…”

Anran, who was making dinner, came out carrying a basin of water to pour it away. She casually raised her head, but when she saw everything in front of her clearly, Anran suddenly froze.

Before her eyes, a young woman in a gray suit was dragging a large piece of luggage and had stopped to look in her direction.

“Leading the Escape!”

Anran clearly saw those four words floating above the young woman’s head.

This was…

Wasn’t this a player’s ID?

The moment Anran realized this, she froze.

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A player had appeared in Twinmoon City!

This was a little beyond Anran’s expectations.

For the nearby newbie villages, even Ruins Town, the closest one to Twinmoon City, would cost 100 Bilu for a ride over. According to Anran’s estimates, it should have taken at least another three or four days before players arrived.

But now, a living, breathing player was standing right in front of her. Could anything be more real than this?

Although she could not understand how this young woman with the ridiculous name “Leading the Escape” had gotten to Twinmoon City, Anran immediately grew excited.

When the open beta started, a huge pile of functions had been unlocked. She had long wanted a player to come along so she could run experiments.

Zhou Jieyu had absolutely no idea that she had already been targeted. She believed Anran was just some useless background NPC used to fill space. After sighing inwardly, she dragged her suitcase toward the quest location.

After completing the quest early and coordinating with Driver Wang, Zhou Jieyu did not plan to go back.

This was a little unfair, but it was not a big deal.

Playing games meant staying one step ahead. Since she had arrived at the main city early, she naturally could not foolishly go back.

“Roll, roll, roll… roll, roll…”

The wheels made sounds against the concrete ground. Zhou Jieyu’s figure gradually moved farther away. Anran tossed the basin into the house, then quietly followed after her.

She wanted to figure out “Leading the Escape’s” movements.

Young lady, I have already set my sights on you!

Zhou Jieyu had no idea someone was following behind her. She moved through the old district’s streets and alleys. Fortunately, she was not directionally challenged, or her mentality would have exploded just from doing one quest.

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Soon, Zhou Jieyu arrived at the entrance of a restaurant.

The signboard hung off to the side, and in front of the deserted restaurant, she was the only person standing there.

Zhou Jieyu hesitated for a while, but still walked inside.

Anran stood not far away and watched. She did not wait long before she saw Zhou Jieyu come back out, but the suitcase in her hand was already gone.

“Hoo.”

Zhou Jieyu let out a long breath. Having to make a deal with gang members, to be honest, made her a little nervous. In those retro movies, scenes like this were often super serious, and one careless step would send bullets flying everywhere.

Fortunately, although this transaction was silent, no complications arose. Zhou Jieyu handed the suitcase over, and after the other party inspected it, they transferred the money into the account designated by the old man.

Next, as long as she explained things to Driver Wang, she could welcome a brand-new gaming career.

The excited Zhou Jieyu swept her gaze to the side and immediately saw Anran again.

Her expression instantly turned strange. Zhou Jieyu did not suspect that an NPC was following her. Instead, a thought suddenly appeared in her mind.

Holy crap, could there be a lot of background NPCs who look like this?

Did the game developers build a template, then copy a bunch of them and throw them onto the streets to fill space?

This, this is way too perfunctory!

Bad review!