It’s the start of the month, asking for votes!
Votes are my motivation!
—— Looking around, not a single part of the scenery was familiar.
Where were the distant Stormveil, the Church of Elleh, or the Tree Sentinel?
None of them were there; they didn’t exist.
There was only the natural scenery of forests, meadows, cliffs, and roads pieced together.
And in the distance, the Erdtree, which looked a size smaller than in the game.
This world was clearly much, much larger than in the game.
The game seemed to have an incredibly compact map; if you didn’t consider fighting monsters, it only took five minutes to walk from the Stranded Graveyard to Stormveil Castle.
But in this world, those five minutes had become…
“How long did you say we have to walk?” “Five days,” Wilden replied.
“…” Better just look at the hills in the distance, folks.
“That place is…” “Stormhill,” Wilden responded.
“It doesn’t look far, but it will take a long time to reach.” The mountain looks close, but it’s a long way off.
Mia understood this principle.
“…Whew.” The girl sighed in resignation.
“I’m in no hurry, let’s just walk slowly.” First, let’s make Stormveil our goal!
The journey to become a king begins here.
She was about to leave the high ground where the Stranded Graveyard was located, but after just a few steps, Mia saw it.
There was another grace not far away.
From a distance, Mia saw a man in white clothes wearing a White Mask standing by that grace.
He was rubbing his hands together suspiciously.
For such a vast world, the three graces Mia had seen so far seemed a bit too close together.
Obviously, when Mia saw the White Mask, the White Mask saw her too, along with…
Wilden by her side.
The man in the White Mask was startled, and then, under Mia’s gaze…
He turned and jumped off the cliff of the high ground.
“?” Mia hurriedly ran over and looked down from the edge; the White Mask only left her with a departing figure disappearing into the bushes.
The girl became even more confused.
What’s going on?
Mia tilted her head, not knowing what was happening for a moment, and looked blankly at Wilden, who was running toward her.
Wilden also looked at her, blinking innocently.
“Who is he?” Wilden asked.
The White Mask had long since run far away, and neither of them could see him anymore.
“…I don’t know…” Mia played dumb.
She of course knew who that guy was—White Mask Varré, the first NPC a player should encounter who can be communicated with.
But this White Mask wasn’t exactly a good Soldier; Varré, who served the Lord of Blood, would lure players into killing other Tarnished, even Finger Maidens.
Plus, he’d talk trash to the game’s protagonist upon their first meeting.
Wilden, indeed, did not know the identity of the White Mask.
He didn’t suspect Mia was hiding anything either.
But Mia was still a bit puzzled.
“Why did he run?” “Maybe he saw me,” Wilden replied.
“King Godrick is likely still hunting powerful Tarnished.” “Hmm…
that makes some sense.” Mia reached out and touched the grace before her.
The two didn’t linger there for long.
They had just walked down from the high ground.
Mia saw the meadow ahead, which was very suitable for riding a horse.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to her.
“Maybe we…
shouldn’t take the main road.” Wilden asked, “Why?” Does this Tarnished really know the way?
“Well…” At the memory of her suffering in the game, Mia looked conflicted.
“Do you know about the Tree Sentinel?” The glittering giant cavalryman, the rookie killer, the Miyazaki’s malice, the Captain of The Lands Between—the Tree Sentinel!
When a newcomer just starting the game steps out of the Stranded Graveyard with full confidence, the first things they see, besides the White Mask and the Erdtree, is the Tree Sentinel.
He wanders aimlessly along a fixed route like a fool.
However, if you think that someone placed just outside the starting area is merely a common mob or a practice boss, you are dead wrong!
Once you step into his aggro range, you’ll learn the meaning of—Hidetaka Miyazaki!
Clad in golden armor and wielding a giant shield and halberd, the Tree Sentinel’s attacks are the kind that can reach through the computer screen to deal real damage to the player.
In a world where rolling has no invincibility frames.
Mia had absolutely no desire to encounter the Tree Sentinel.
There was simply no chance of winning!
Better take a detour if possible.
Mia was planning accordingly.
After hearing Mia’s question, Wilden pondered for a few seconds.
“I know,” the Soldier nodded.
“Right?
So let’s quickly detour from the other direction…” Mia said as she started turning back, intending to bypass that terrifying rookie killer from the other side of the high ground.
Then she heard Wilden say, “If it’s that Tree Sentinel who assists King Godrick, I don’t think we need to detour.” “Huh?” Mia turned back, looking at him blankly.
—— “If you die, I won’t be able to retrieve your body…” “Trust me.
I promised I would take you to Stormveil.” The two of them walked forward, one after the other.
Mia walked in front; by now, she had put away all her weapons.
Her hands were bound behind her back with coarse, sturdy hemp rope.
Wilden walked slowly behind Mia, as if escorting a prisoner.
Although the young girl’s hands were bound, for a Tarnished with a personal storage space, the rope could be discarded at any time.
In other words, Mia appearing this way was entirely voluntary.
In the end, she didn’t choose to take a detour.
As a shut-in who could get lost in a city center even with GPS in her past life, Mia still possessed some self-awareness.
Asking her to bypass the main road and forge her own path through woodlands and shrubs was clearly asking too much.
Please, a city kid hadn’t even set foot in a field before.
How could she possibly find the right path in the wilderness?
After some agonizing, she chose the plan Wilden had proposed.
“Bluffing through.” Although the biggest lie Mia had ever told in her life was claiming her income as a content creator was stable just so her family wouldn’t worry…
…she felt that following Wilden to bluff past the Tree Sentinel would be easier than finding a way through the wilderness.
Walking ahead, Mia could already see the giant’s armor shimmering under the “sunlight” of the Erdtree in the distance.
“If a fight breaks out…” Mia whispered back, “you should run first.
My way of reviving is different from yours.” “If it really happens, we’ll worry about it then.” Wilden didn’t offer any further guarantees.
“…From the sound of it, there’s no way to bluff through with a hundred percent certainty?” “Lower your head.” “Oh.”