"How do you know she's an important NPC in charge of the vegetable garden?"
"Because she's carrying a hoe."
"But she isn't tilling the soil."
"You actually expect NPCs to farm in a game?"
"Then why are you staring at her?"
"I'm wondering if this game will have a farming feature!"
"Oh!"
"Oh? I'm researching the game system. What are you researching?"
"I'm researching what to eat later."
RomanticDumpling and SM_Lover stood outside the vegetable garden, having a simple discussion about the conversation they just had.
The two were old friends. As two of the three unlucky players who got "lost" as soon as they entered the game, then got captured and sacrificed, they were relatively lucky. At least they were assigned to a fairly well-known newbie village.
Among the current three thousand closed beta testers, Star Dragon Outpost ranks in the top 5 in terms of purchasable equipment and resources. However, if you calculate long-term development, it's probably at the bottom. A total of 9 soldiers, more pathetic than many small settlements. Other territories must have NPC heroes level 10 or higher, like the leader Lind, so Star Dragon Outpost isn't very competitive.
It's only regarded as a special newbie village best suited for early game exploration, where you can get the best gear.
The two are casual players, the type Lind least wants.
Although having no ambition means they won't be attracted to other factions, and casual players are the most loyal, having no ambition also means they won't be competitive and won't work themselves to the bone to bring Lind more benefits.
Playing a game without spending money or grinding? That's too much.
SM_Lover walked toward the girl carrying a hoe in front of the vegetable garden.
If he were to rank his favorite games, it would probably be Summer Memories, Winter Memories, Rural Memories, and Stardew Valley. That's right, he's a player who loves farming and management simulation games.
So, when he saw that the other party was seemingly farming, he immediately went over.
"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"
The girl who was suddenly called out was startled.
She carefully remembered the work assigned to her by the Lord.
To live in Star Dragon Outpost, you must complete your work and be careful what you say and do.
Her job was to guard the vegetable garden.
Although the Lord also knew that potatoes couldn't ripen, and sprouting potatoes would only keep sprouting and sprouting, eventually rotting, that was her job. Especially after a large group of undead suddenly appeared today, her task became guarding this place from when she woke up during the day until night, except for eating, drinking, and using the restroom.
The main content of her work was to casually direct the undead to do something when they came to flirt with her. And the Lord had given her a lot of Land Gold coins for it.
That heavy thing would have been a treasure to her a few years ago. A single one could buy her whole family. But now, she just found it heavy, and uncomfortably cold to hold in the winter.
"..."
SM_Lover stared at her for a few moments. She was an ordinary-looking girl, sallow and thin, her lips moving slightly but hesitant to speak.
She was a truly pitiable girl.
After confirming that he had arrived at Star Dragon Outpost, SM_Lover immediately caught up on the relevant videos, especially the battle between SilkStockingLover and others against the wanderer camp. Many people had watched it right away. SM_Lover knew that this girl should be one of the women and children rescued by SilkStockingLover and the others.
"I..." The girl twisted her fingers in her clothes. She knew the power of the undead.
Although she hadn't witnessed the battle last night, she had heard the soldiers talk about the details. Of course, the Lord was the bravest, but the undead that kept dying and resurrecting were even more terrifying.
"Are you farming?" SM_Lover squatted down, feeling he should take the initiative to talk. "What are you growing?"
"Po...potatoes," the girl answered with difficulty.
She added in her mind: Although it's impossible to grow them.
"I remember that Star Dragon Outpost has a severe food shortage." SM_Lover wasn't keen on killing and arson, but that didn't mean he wasn't aware of the situation, especially Lind's high price of 2 Land Gold coins for 10 pounds of food, which was very memorable.
"The whole world is running out of food." The girl noticed that the two undead weren't hostile, and her attitude finally relaxed, like a cat arching its back then relaxing. "But this land has been abandoned by magic, cursed by disaster. It's no longer possible to grow crops."
"Can I take a look?" SM_Lover reached out directly.
Players don't care what NPCs think. He asked that question out of habit, subconsciously treating her as a living person.
SM_Lover himself was momentarily stunned after asking.
He thought to himself, "This game is so realistic."
Whether it was the expressions, the atmosphere, or the actions, if he didn't know that he could exit the game, he really would have believed that he had traveled to a magical apocalypse world.
He suddenly found it a bit interesting. If a real transmigrator came to this kind of world, how pitiful would that be? Haha.
Shaking off the random thoughts in his head, SM_Lover dug into the loose soil and found the "potato."
A sprouting, shriveled potato chunk.
In a state of both trying to grow and dying.
"It won't grow?" SM_Lover asked, holding the potato chunk. Coincidentally, he was an agriculture student.
"No," the girl nodded, repeating what she had heard from somewhere. "The land has been cursed by disaster."
SM_Lover didn't take it seriously. Repeating lines meant the NPC's AI level wasn't high.
"That doesn't make sense. If you can't grow anything, what do you eat?" He suddenly became interested in the game's logic. Land that couldn't grow crops and people who needed to eat – something had to be bugged.
"There's mutated food," the girl looked at SM_Lover strangely, not understanding why he didn't even know this common knowledge.
"Cough!" SM_Lover choked, while also seizing on the key point in his mind: "Mutated plants. Why don't you grow mutated food instead of growing this?"
He waved the limp, sprouting potato in his hand.
"Mutated food only grows around the Shadow of Calamity, and it's hard to digest. Eating too much will mutate your body." The girl said, adding in her mind, "Even mutated food isn't something you can just eat whenever you want."
"Debuff food, huh?" SM_Lover nodded knowingly, indicating he understood.
Guessing eating too much of it will give you extra boobs or two heads?
So, these people all looked normal because they normally ate normal food, or were they not even able to eat enough mutated food to mutate?
He turned his head and saw RomanticDumpling eager to try. "Hey, RomanticDumpling, you're not thinking of trying it, are you?"
"No!" RomanticDumpling shook his head. "I know. At least it has to be cooked."
"You better know!"
"So, normal food can't grow in the ground, and mutated seeds have to be planted in the Shadow Zones." SM_Lover suddenly raised his eyebrows. "Hey, didn't Lind mention something about a Carrion Eater's Nest earlier?"
He might have found a natural planting field.
"Lind didn't say we couldn't turn in debuff food!" SM_Lover's eyes grew brighter. He looked at the girl. "Where can I find those mutated seeds?"
"I don't know. You might have to ask someone else." The girl shook her head very decisively.
Mutation, disaster... now that she was living in Star Dragon Outpost, she hoped to stay as far away from those things as possible.
"I get it now. This is a chain quest."
He stood up and looked at RomanticDumpling. "Let's go investigate the mutated seed information!"