Volume 1, Chapter 20: The Wretched Souls Who Lost Their Player Status!

This strike was immensely intimidating; few among those who had approached dared to remain, let alone stand their ground.

[A frail human female.]

The identification tag labeled her a human, but not a player? Li Chuan’s confusion deepened.

Thump, thump, thump...

Under Li Chuan’s astonished gaze, those who had retreated began to kneel one after another.

"Damn it, again?" the gaunt woman cried out with a sob.

"Big brother, do you have bread? Any food? Raw meat will do—please, spare me a bite," the thin, middle-aged man beside her pleaded.

"Yes, big brother—no, sir, I haven’t eaten in three days. I’m going to starve to death if I don’t eat. Have mercy, I have gear, I’ll trade my gear for food." The man stripped off his cloth armor, switching into his basic beginner’s tunic.

...

Soon, a dozen people were wailing in unison, leaving Li Chuan utterly bewildered. That cloth armor was of white quality and not particularly valuable, but it was still equipment. To trade it just for bread? What kind of strange situation was this?

Li Chuan pointed to the title floating above his head. "Listen up. If you're looking for a saint, you’ve come to the wrong place. The 'saints' are over there."

The beggars noticed Li Chuan’s title, and seven or eight of them immediately scrambled toward the gathering place of the other players. Li Chuan hadn’t expected his title to have a practical, positive effect.

However, seven or eight others remained.

"Big brother, big brother, I have gear, I have items, look—take whatever you want, I only need bread and water."

"I have some too, I have green-tier gear, I have green-tier gear!"

"Big brother, big brother, I can sleep with you, anything you want, I’ll do it, please."

"I can too, I have a great body."

Li Chuan’s bewilderment reached its peak.

"You! You tell me—what exactly have you people been through? Are you players? If you don’t explain clearly, I won’t give you charity, nor will I trade." Li Chuan pointed at the woman who was quite attractive and willing to sacrifice herself for food.

The others went silent, urging the woman with their eyes to explain quickly so they could get their food.

The woman licked her parched lips. "Yes, we were all players once. We all completed the novice quests and received the first main storyline quest. But the main quest was too difficult; we all failed, and our player status was stripped from us."

Li Chuan’s confusion did not dissipate. "What about your Spirit Plants? How long have you been here? Why are you starving to death like this?"

Desperate for food, the woman poured out everything she knew.

"Our Spirit Plants withered into mere seeds because of the lack of water and nutrients. I’ve been trapped here for ten days. Others have been here for five, ten, twenty days..."

The woman’s ability to communicate was decent, and she quickly answered all of Li Chuan’s questions.

***

From her description, Li Chuan’s impression of this Forbidden Land became increasingly eerie, dangerous, and terrifying.

"You mean there’s something strange in the Withered Wood Forest, something terrifying, which is why you don’t dare go inside to look for the key?"

The woman nodded in terror. "Yes, exactly. We’ve seen too many people go in and die inside for no reason. It’s horrible, so horrible! You haven’t seen it—you don’t know how bizarre it is."

Li Chuan hesitated for a moment before deciding. "You, and the one who said he had a green-tier item, stay. The rest of you, leave!"

The woman and a young man were overjoyed, while the others looked on with resentment.

"Big brother, have some mercy, I’m about to starve to death, please!"

"Yeah, just give me a little food, I’ll do anything!"

Li Chuan pointed straight into the depths of the Withered Forest. "Then go and scout what kind of danger lies in the forest for me. Didn't you say you'd do anything?"

The man froze, then stared at the depths of the woods with fear. Finally, he glared at Li Chuan with a twisted expression, on the verge of cursing.

Li Chuan pulled out his crossbow and leveled it at him. "You’d better think carefully before you speak."

Seeing that Li Chuan was truly heartless, the others turned and ran toward the other players, leaving only the man and the woman behind.

Li Chuan placed two loaves of bread and a bucket of water a short distance away. The two looked at the unusually tall and lush 'Little Green' (Li Chuan's plant) before gritting their teeth and walking over. They grabbed the bread and began to eat like starving ghosts who hadn't touched food in a decade.

Li Chuan pulled out a large skewer of meat, placed it over the fire to roast, and silently opened the chat channel.

[Forbidden Land Regional Chat Channel]
[Current Surviving Players: 214/1000]

Zhouzhou Buzhouzhou: "What do I do? So many people are begging me for food here."

High-Place-Cold: "They are the same as us—they were all players once, our compatriots from the same place. I suggest everyone keep one day's worth of rations and use the rest to help them."

The "saintly" aggression was beginning to show.

Willow-Waist: "The statues in temples are fake, you're the only living Bodhisattva here. Let me ask you, if we give them our food, what do we eat? If we keep one day's worth, what do we eat for the remaining two days?"

Rich-Boy: "Exactly. This damn place doesn't even have tree bark. Do you want us to end up like them?"

High-Place-Cold: "Daily quests refresh here every day. You can get food by doing them. They only lost the right to do quests; we still have it."

Liu Haizhu: "Exactly! How are you any different from that cold-blooded murderer over there? Do you even have any humanity left?"

...

The players in the channel were split into two factions: one side believed in helping their own to weather the storm, while the other insisted that survival was paramount and helping others was impossible.

Li Chuan knew clearly that he belonged to the selfish faction. As for humanity? Li Chuan silently shook his head. It must be said that at a time like this, anyone still worrying about "humanity" was someone who didn't deserve to survive.

***

He turned to the gaunt woman. "Have you seen anyone obtain the key and complete the quest?"

The woman nodded slightly. "I have, more than one. Some people walked into the Withered Wood Forest and came out a few hours later holding the key, then left this hellhole with their Spirit Plants."

"When everyone asked them why they weren't attacked, some said 'don't talk,' others said 'don't jump,' and some said 'don't make a sound.' Everyone said something different. People tried to follow their routes to replicate their success, but most of them still died bizarrely."

Li Chuan frowned. Was the quest that difficult? It sounded completely devoid of any logic.

"B-big brother, this is my green-tier item. Could you—could you see if you can give me a bit more food? I’m still really hungry." The young man had finished his bread but remained unsatisfied.

Li Chuan stepped forward and took the scroll the boy handed him. The boy stared at the roasted meat in Li Chuan's hand, swallowing his saliva uncontrollably.

[Ming-Tang Compound Bow Blueprint: Green]
[Use this blueprint to craft a purple-tier item: Ming-Tang Compound Bow.]
[Requirement: Level 7 Blacksmith]

A blueprint? A level 7 blacksmith?

"Heh, I was wondering why you couldn't trade a green-tier item for food. Turns out it's useless."

The boy’s face turned sorrowful. "I—I know this thing is useless in a place without a level 7 blacksmith, but it’s all I have."

Li Chuan silently put the blueprint away. "Consider yourself lucky, kid. I’ve taken a liking to this."

The boy looked up, pleasantly surprised. "Really? Really? Does that mean..."

Li Chuan tossed him two more loaves of bread and a bucket of water. "That’s all you’re getting. Take it and get far away from me!"

The main reason Li Chuan had kept them was to learn about this Forbidden Land. Now that he knew enough, he naturally wouldn't keep them around. It wasn't that Li Chuan was truly cold-blooded, but if he were seen as a "saint" by these refugees, he would be in for endless trouble.

Li Chuan understood the principle that "a spoonful of rice breeds gratitude, but a bucket of rice breeds resentment." Clearly, the player known as 'High-Place-Cold' did not. She had already given away most of her food and was now surrounded by countless 'refugees.'

The boy, knowing he had no room to negotiate, gritted his teeth, grabbed the bread and water, and walked away.

Zhao Laixi watched the boy’s retreating back, then turned her head, bit her lip, and began to undress.