When Luo Liyue woke up, his head was pounding, as if someone were banging a gong right beside his ears.
He squinted at his surroundings: a ramshackle wooden house, drafty windows, and several bundles of moldy straw piled on the floor. Outside, people were shouting words like “newbie village,” “quests,” and “demonized chickens.” The noise was giving him a headache.
“Where the hell am I?” Luo Liyue muttered, trying to roll over and go back to sleep.
A line of text suddenly popped into his mind like a banner ad: [Welcome to The Great Wilderness. You have successfully been bound to an NPC identity. Current role: Qinghe Village Tutorial Guide. Duties: Give players the ‘Eliminate the Demonized Chickens’ quest.]
Luo Liyue froze and blinked a few times.
Another line appeared: [Host consciousness detected. Please perform your duties immediately. There are currently 37 players waiting at the village entrance to accept quests.]
“What the hell?” Luo Liyue sat up and banged his head on the low ceiling beam. He winced in pain. “Ow, my poor head!”
Then he remembered.
