I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

The red house is the only building in this abandoned village that is still lit up.

The inside of the walls was also painted with a thick layer of paint, but over time, the paint surface cracked into pieces.

In a corner of the room stood three gargoyle sculptures.

One of the birds had a broken wing, while the remaining two tilted their heads and bared their teeth in different directions.

On the building, a white crow, or perhaps a pigeon, stands.

"call--"

Chen Xi used his shoulder to push open the heavy wooden door, and the wind and snow rushed in. The foreign players closest to the door shivered from the cold.

The center was originally supposed to be a large hall, but now it has been occupied by players in their own ways.

The group of people near the east wall dug a deep pit in the ground, more than half a person's height.

The entire group of five or six people huddled inside, their heads covered with two or three heavy cloaks, the edges of which were weighed down with stones, leaving only a small opening for ventilation.

The area on the west side, near the fireplace, was occupied by a group of well-equipped players.

They were wearing professional winter clothing with Velcro closures at the cuffs and collars, and each of them wore goggles and wool scarves around their necks.

Their captain was a bald, burly man with an Eastern European appearance, who was carefully holding a burning match in his hand.

The match was very short, shorter than a finger, but the flame was bright.

A warm glow emanated from the match, like a transparent dome, keeping the cold wind out.

A group of people sat in a circle around the match, each putting their hands into the circle of light to warm them.

Chen Xi glanced at the match and guessed that it was some kind of prop.

In the southern corner, someone had spread out a whole polar bear pelt, and five or six people were curled up under the pelt, sleeping neatly.

The weather was too cold, and the bear skin was covered with a layer of frost, or it could be that the white mist from people's breath had frozen into ice.

Someone was already asleep, snoring very softly.

The bearskin's owner was a tall, Nordic-style player who was sitting beside the bearskin, leaning against the wall, holding a short axe as a lookout.

On the steps directly opposite the door in the hall, the fireplace was burning brightly.

Cold air seeped in through the cracks in the stone wall, and a group of players without any items sat around the fireplace, constantly adding firewood inside.

Some people's hands were frozen purple and their extremities were black, so they hugged each other to keep warm.

A player wrapped in a tattered blanket approached shivering, but he got too close and a stray spark burned a hole in his trouser leg.

The player cursed, but refused to give up his spot for warmth.

The most outrageous thing was in the center of the hall.

A chubby foreign player was tending to a makeshift stone stove, cooking potatoes.

Next to her were several wooden bowls containing potatoes that looked malnourished and had been pulled up before they were ripe, as well as murky, cheap liquor with a layer of white foam on top.

Some people use points to buy, while others exchange items.

The potatoes were dry and the wine was sour it was pungent.

The players who bought it didn't mind at all; instead, they sat on the carpet and drank heartily.

……

……

"The lucky farmer found a basket of potatoes! Her skill happens to be accelerating potato growth! Hahaha, kudos to the farmer! We won't go hungry anymore!"

As the man spoke, half a potato peel still clung to the corner of his mouth. Next to him, someone banged his wooden bowl against it, spilling a considerable amount of cheap liquor.

"Thank goodness this abandoned village still has wine—oh, though the taste is truly unbearable, it's better than having to drink snow water!"

"I heard King Arthur's sword in the stone is in this instance! Why don't we try to save Great Britain ourselves before Arthur pulls it out? Hiccup! Hiccup!"

One player burped, his face clearly showing signs of drunkenness:

"This wine tastes like vomit—even the brewing techniques in the magical world are this bad!"

"Arthur hasn't become king yet! Historically, Vortigern should be one of Arthur's ancestors, but here he's become his uncle who uses dark magic to command an army of the dead! Ha! How strange!"

"We're going to fight the undead army? Look at the blizzard outside! We can't even withstand the bitter cold!"

"Hey! Why don't we go and seek refuge with Wotigan!"

A wise voice emerged from behind the crowd. The person, unsteady on their feet, held onto the wall with one hand and a bowl in the other:

"Let's say we're from another world summoned by him along with dark magic, and that we can help him kill Arthur! How about that?"

"You're insane!"

"I'm serious! The Vortigerns have dark magic, an undead army, corpse collectors, and the Black Death. What do we have? Potatoes and cheap liquor!"

"Then go! If King Arthur is killed and the instance appears, you'll be the sinner of all Great Britain! Players across Great Britain will hunt you down!"

"I must find King Arthur. My parents, my brothers—they were just ordinary people. If London becomes Tokyo, they certainly won't survive!"

"Then go ahead! With such a huge blizzard, I won't be there to collect your corpse—"

"The corpse collectors won't take you; they only take corpses of the Black Death."

Then came a burst of laughter.

Laughter echoed between the stone walls, mingling with the sound of the wind outside, creating a surprisingly harmonious sound.

……

……

Chen Xi quietly walked through the group of drunkards, several gazes falling on her at the same time.

There aren't many Asian faces in this instance to begin with.

Moreover, her face—now anyone looking at her features would think she's a complete stranger.

No matter how many times you watch it, no one will remember it.

Outside, a blizzard raged, the Black Death was rampant, and crow-faced corpse collectors dragged eyeless rhinos around collecting corpses and attacking players.

But inside the red house, it looks like a tavern that was taken straight out of an adventure game.

Campfire, cheap liquor, half-cooked potatoes, and boastful adventurers.

Some were afraid, while others were excited.

……

Chen Xi walked to the back of the hall, near the window, where a player was sitting behind a low table.

Several sheets of parchment were spread out in front of the man, a charcoal pencil was beside him, and there was a small wooden box on the table.

Clearly, he had just seen off a group of players who had bought maps.

The players huddled together, unfolded the parchment, glanced at it, and finally left, grumbling.

Obviously, the price is not cheap.

"Are you a map seller?"

Chen Xi walked to the low table, slowly sat down, and got straight to the point. The man looked up at her; he appeared to be a red-haired player in his thirties.

He stared at Chen Xi's face for two seconds, clearly stunned for a moment, before quickly looking away:

"Maps, 5,000 points each, no bargaining, and I don't care who you sell them to."

Chen Xi placed both hands on the table and slowly negotiated the price in English: "This price is a bit expensive, for just one map."

"You don't have to buy it."

"I can buy second-hand ones from other players."

The seller chuckled:

"Secondhand? Look around this room, who has a map?"

Would someone who bought the map show it to you? They'd practically sew it into their flesh; everyone wants to find Merlin and become a legendary knight following King Arthur.

The man paused, then lowered his voice: "We are now on the edge of the Brosleyan Forest. Resources are scarce here, and black thorns grow everywhere. Without a map, you will never be able to get out of this forest."

Chen Xi noticed a detail in his words. It wasn't "we," but "you all," so she subtly probed, "You don't seem to be planning to leave?"

"There is wine, food, and shelter here."

The seller did not deny it:

"We have a crafter in our team whose skill is to accelerate potato growth. Damn, it's this seemingly useless ability that saved us."

I plan to designate a safe zone here, providing players with food, drinks, and shelter, and then allowing them to earn points.

He shrugged: "Outside there's the Black Death, corpse collectors, Blackthorn, and we're also facing pursuers. We're from South America, we just want to live, we don't want to get involved in any war to defend the throne."

"Two thousand five hundred." Chen Xi did not give up bargaining at all because of the other party's show of weakness:

"That group of players shouldn't have gone far. I believe they'd be happy to sell me the map they've been looking at, to recoup some of their losses."

"Deal made, you cunning buyer."

The seller was silent for a few seconds, then finally gave in and pushed the map over: "Two thousand five hundred points."

Chen Xi took the map, unfolded it, and glanced at it:

The parchment was old and the edges were rough, but the lines on it were exceptionally clear, and the cursive script looked as if it had been printed on.

—But there was no printing in this era, so it could only be player skills or items.

Chen Xi's gaze swept across the place names marked on the map. The Brosleyan Forest, where they were located, was in the center, surrounded by landmarks pointing in four directions.

Around these landmarks are images representing trolls, sirens, thorn bushes, and fairies.

The script is difficult to decipher; it doesn't resemble English but rather some variant of Latin.

……

……

Chen Xi memorized every detail, then rolled up the map and put it in his backpack before paying the points.

As she turned around, her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of the doorway.

Tan Moli, whom I had just met, walked in.

The other person's face was as white as paper, their lips were purple, and the hem of their clothes was soaked.

Tan Moli had a small badge pinned to her chest with a blurry team logo on it. Someone recognized the badge and silently took a step back.

Some people were also staring at her, their eyes gleaming with greed.

Tan Moli stood at the door and looked around, as if she was looking for someone or confirming something. Hesitantly, she quickly left with a blond man.

Immediately afterwards, a few more people stood up from the corner of the red house and slowly followed them out.

Chen Xi pulled her cloak tighter and left the red house.

……

……

……