Players’ NPC daddy

Blaze nearly passed out. Although his health remained stable, he felt like he'd taken tons of damage. If he didn't leave quickly, he felt like he was going to piss off the Black Beast Knight.

"Don't blame me, kid." The old lion looked at Blaze's receding back and sighed softly, "You've worked so hard and accomplished so many incredible things..."

“It makes me feel like I don’t have to work so hard.”

"He's gone, are you still saying these irritating words?"

A person appeared behind the old lion. It was Hebi. Her condition was no different from usual, the only difference being that her eyes were covered with black bandages.

"I'm saying this just to get him out of here." The old lion shrugged, turned over lazily, and faced Herbie. "How do you feel today?"

"Everything was fine until I met Blaze." Herbie pulled down his eye mask, and flames danced in his big eyes.

She had appeared in the Goblin Village today simply to check on her health with the old lion, but she hadn't expected Blaze, who had disappeared for a few days, to suddenly reappear. If she hadn't immediately bandaged her eyes, who knows what would have happened to her.

This might be a trick of fate. Blaze wanted to avoid contact with her as much as possible, but he kept meeting her unconsciously.

"I've been waiting for so many years for this special ability, and all I get is a pair of flaming eyes?" Herbie took out a small mirror and looked at his own flaming eyes in the mirror and complained speechlessly.

"This thing can't even provide light. I thought it could at least save me the trouble of using an oil lamp when I go to the bathroom at night. Blaze's title of god is so cool and impressive, but for me, it's just an ugly eye and a bunch of trouble..."

The old lion listened to Herbie's endless complaints until Herbie's voice grew lower and his expression became more and more uneasy.

"what happens?"

"I was dreaming." Herbie pinched his left arm with his right hand, and there was a hint of trembling in his voice.

"I dreamed that I became Blaze's mother."

"...Ah, um, oh ah..." The old lion uttered a series of meaningless syllables. It felt that Herbie's powerful words made its jaw and tongue out of its control.

After a long time, the old lion spoke slowly.

"You're not the right size for that kind of play."

Chapter 444: Riddles Everyone is Suspicious

Lions are a kind of... no matter what they were like in the past, in Herbie's eyes, they are now a race with brains full of yellow garbage.

"This is a very serious matter. Can't you look at it from a more lofty and mysterious perspective, tracing back to the roots?" Herbie put her hands on her hips, not caring about the old lion's words that belittled her femininity.

A true big sister doesn’t care about the curves of her body, but her inner maturity.

"Isn't the origin of life just that?" The old lion glanced at Herbie's chest again and shook his head with great regret. Before Herbie really had an attack, it got down to business.

"It's normal for you to dream about something. The title 'Loki' will also grant you the memory of a god. All you need to do now is stabilize yourself and not let the memories tempt you into becoming Loki."

Herbie crossed her arms, her fingers rhythmically tapping her arms, her eyes slowly narrowing. Her memory returned to that dream: a fire, a fire that burned uncontrollably and wantonly, and a skinny man, charred like charcoal, laughing maniacally in the flames.

The flames seemed to ignite the man, and also seemed to burst out from the man's body.

The charcoal-like man opened his arms towards her, and his lively lips, with a disgustingly long tongue inside, whispered something seductive.

But Hebi had faced the second generation of one-eyed people, the absolute and unavoidable death, and the temptation of becoming a god could not shake her, let alone the memory of a dead god.

If that were all, Herbie wouldn't even bother looking for the old lion, but the nightmare fire dissipated in a flash of white light. That white light wasn't salvation, but real horror and nightmare.

Unlike the temptation of the charcoal man, the white light brought a vision. She felt like she had entered another person's body, doing something, watching something, and saying something.

The charcoal man brought her a crystal-clear illusion, a vision of the god named Loki attempting to possess her body. But the vision brought by the white light felt like a true dream, a perfectly ordinary one.

It was as if she had truly become someone, or perhaps someone had briefly replaced her, and these vague dreams were traces left by that person. If the charcoal man was a god trying to squeeze into her body from the outside, then the dream was like something else nonchalantly announcing its presence within her.

Hebie didn't remember much of that dream, save for a vague moment in which she watched a familiar figure. It was a moment in which she watched Blaze from the shadows. Even though she was only briefly the watcher, she could still sense the strange smile that emerged on his face and the words that twitched from his lips.

That was a mother's expectation for her son. That expectation contained many things, but the only thing missing was the son she was looking at, as if the so-called son was just a tool.

"Huh~" Herbie took a deep breath and rubbed her face vigorously. For the first time, she understood Blaze's attitude towards the old lion. This old guy was really useless. He just lay there doing nothing, really leaving everything to the young people.

She has to rely on herself for what's going on in her body.

Both the charcoal man and Blaze's so-called mother appeared after her resurrection. The charcoal man undoubtedly came with the title "Loki," and that "mother"...

Hebi remembered the stranger who appeared before him after he woke up.

Pink Bunny, the hero who defeated the Titans. Pink Bunny appeared before her and engaged her in a long conversation. At the time, she was preoccupied with her business. Now thinking about it, perhaps Pink Bunny's appearance at that time was due to Charcoal Man or [Mother].

Unfortunately, Pink Bunny wasn't the solution; the hero vanished after defeating the Titans. Even the intelligence network of Hermes's Traveling Hat could only detect Pink Bunny's presence when the world was undergoing significant changes.

Herbie couldn't help but smile bitterly. Once something involved a stranger, it would often end there and it would be difficult to move forward.

"Hmm? There are guests." The old lion slowly opened one eye, and a frivolous man appeared silently in the goblin village blessed by the light of Leo.

He seemed to have been there from the beginning, playing his lyre and telling the young goblins a fantastical story about a child who had the audacity to steal the sun's ox and had finally come out of it unharmed.

Noticing the gazes of the old lion and Herbie, the frivolous man waved at them with a playful smile, and then let the little goblin go home.

"Isn't this President Ku Shadan?"

The frivolous man couldn't hold his composure anymore after Hebie opened his mouth and said the first sentence.

"It's Kurene! It's okay if Blaze can't remember, but how could you not remember!" Kurene covered her face and sighed loudly, "I came all the way here to offer you a plan, and this is your attitude?"

Hebi raised his eyebrows slightly, walked slowly around Kulene, and looked carefully at every detail of Kulene with eyes burning with flames, while talking confidently.

"Curene, acting president of the Hermes' Traveling Hat, is also the true founder of the merchant group. His age, real name, and origin are unknown. All we know is that he hasn't aged in decades. Whenever something big happens, he'll sit at the end of the conference table, preening as he watches the inhuman senior partners bicker below while he observes the fun."

At first, Culene crossed his arms, taking Herbie's investigation of him as a compliment. The misty background and mysterious figure were like a laurel wreath on his head. But the more Herbie spoke, the more uncomfortable Culene became.

Because Herbie went from investigating to complaining and digging up old secrets.

"I'm sitting there, not moving, to make way for you young people, to give you a chance to perform. If something really big happens, I will make an elegant appearance."

"That's right! That's right!" The old lion stood behind Kullene without him noticing, waving his claws. "This is our care for the young people. When you reach our age, you will understand!"

Somehow, Cyrene felt that with the old lion's support, he seemed even more unreliable and suspicious.

Chapter 445: Suspicious People Must Have Something Reliable

The goblin village welcomed an important guest, Cyrene.

If there was anything noble about this ordinary man, aside from his appearance, it was undoubtedly his identity—acting president of the Hermes Traveling Hat. He was the acting president, but in reality, he was the mastermind behind the entire enormous guild, deciding who would become president.

Herbie didn't have much awe for this mysterious man, because this guy's favorite thing was to sit in the shadows and watch the people below busying themselves and snickering.

Of course, this does not mean that this man is just a symbol. On the contrary, this guy is just too lazy to come up with ideas. Rather than coming up with a perfect solution himself, he would rather hear a plan that is full of loopholes but imaginative.

The previous Teleportation Tower Project and the recent Vienna Project were both executed because this man found them interesting. The reason this man had always sat at the highest point of power was to be the sole voice pushing the massive [Hermes's Brigade] to execute the plans.

What really made Herbie realize the mystery of this man was that Blaze told her that a man who called himself Idiot had revealed the method to bring her back to life.

"Your appearance now cannot be because some conspiracy has succeeded and you are here to declare your victory." Herbie wanted to suspect that letting two guys fight for her body was a conspiracy of the man in front of her, but after thinking about it carefully, if he really had any malicious intentions, there would be no need to go to so much trouble.

"What conspiracy could I have? I just said what I wanted to say when I wanted to say it."

Kullene took a few steps to the side, away from the old lion so that her words would be more reliable.

"You are currently suffering from a nightmare, and this dream is a god's way of corrupting you. To resolve this matter, you naturally need to enter the dream."

Culene said nothing next, and Herbie knew what the next lines would be.

"Do you want me to collect some props, use them in a certain place, and finally enter the dream of something to defeat it?" Hebi sighed, she often asked for commissions and tasks for the evil stranger, so she was very familiar with this process.

But she never imagined that one day it would be her turn.

Kullene snapped her fingers and showed an expression that said, "You really know what I'm talking about."

"But it's not that simple. You need a deep sleep, like death itself. Not to mention the tools needed to enter this state, you also need someone who can wake you up. Ideally, someone who can hold your hand while you fall asleep."

"Well, then I should talk to Blaze or Audrey."

"Hoho~" Kulene winked at Hebi and made a meaningful strange sound, as if he appeared here just for the result of this answer.

But Hebi's next words made Kullene's face fall.

"How about having Blaze and Audrey each hold one of my hands? That way the success rate would be doubled. Thinking about it this way... my foot is still free, so if I find two more, the success rate would be doubled again."

This is what businessmen do; all they think about is success and how to become even more successful. But who knows if a businessman's appearance is just another disguise?

Kullene tilted his head as he watched the mumbling Herbi. He couldn't see through her, but he could see many people in her. Ever since that distant era when he chose to stay on this earth, he had transformed everything he was into notes, and in return, he had received countless musical scores.

"Alright, you naughty little brat, I don't need to teach you what to do next."

"Of course. By the way, what can I get if I solve this problem?" Herbie pinched his chin and couldn't help but imagine what he would look like in the future.

"Of course, that means I've escaped the corruption of God and become my pure self again."

"...So I worked so hard for a long time but got nothing in the end?" Hebie's expression froze. Apart from losing money, what she feared most was undoubtedly that her work was in vain.

"Damn it! When I enter the dreamland, I will definitely make them suffer!"

"They?" Kullene was stunned. He stopped when he was about to leave. He couldn't treat these two words as an illusion.

……

"Hehe~Hehe~Hehe~"

The woman hummed a tune, her fingers tapping out a matching melody on the keyboard. Even without seeing her expression, anyone could hear the joy in her voice.

The female store manager looked at the electric drill in her hand and fell into deep thought. Perhaps she should use the electric drill to drill a hole in the woman's head for the sake of justice. Unfortunately, she didn't want to go to jail because of this woman. It was too much of a loss.

But out of conscience, the female store manager quietly walked behind the woman, wanting to see what she was doing. Unexpectedly, the woman was not writing any evil programs, but simply spamming various communication forums and typing garbage content at an astonishing speed.

"You... found a job as a water soldier?"

"Common sense would suggest that I'm plotting something." The woman stared intently at the screen, replying to the female manager with only 1% of her attention.

"Your so-called conspiracy seems to me more like an annoying prank. Except for the last kidnapping incident, which turned out to be a good thing."

The woman's fingers paused at the female manager's words, but soon returned to normal.

"I'm taking this very seriously...Okay!"

The woman hit enter and her voice suddenly rose. She stood up gracefully like a terrorist who had pressed the start button of a time bomb, and there seemed to be a fierce wave of explosions behind her.

"What did you do?" The female store manager looked at the screen curiously. Nothing was happening, just countless messages flashing frantically. She didn't play games, so she only knew that everyone seemed to know the location of a certain monster.

But if that were all, this woman wouldn't have done it. She first announced the location of a monster, then played dozens of people saying they were going to take its head, and then played a few more people making moral attacks on it.

It was a moral attack because the woman used the phrase "A member of this guild died, and defeating this monster was that person's last wish." This topic easily sparked an argument, with some expressing suspicion, others offering help, and the woman also pulled away at that moment.

"You are such a horrible person! Scum! You deserve to eat on the ground!"

The female store manager slammed the table angrily, but the woman shrugged indifferently, even sat on the ground, and started talking about something irrelevant.

"Do you believe that a capitalist would be a pure game enthusiast and would walk away from the temptation of making a fortune?"

"I don't believe it. How can there be such a person?"

"Yeah, I don't believe it either." The woman turned her eyes away. The trademark of the linked virtual stealth cabin was particularly eye-catching.

Chapter 446 For Freedom

Deep in the Cilicia region, near Gaia's pelvis.

Dali Feizhuan, who was marching, suddenly cursed fiercely, and then this reaction spread, and anxiety was heard in the originally steady footsteps.

"What's wrong?" asked Blaze, who was listening to Greenland's private lesson with his head down.

"Someone's heard about Typhon, and they're planning to come and take our lives," Dali Feizhuan replied with a sullen face. He then shouted to the surrounding strangers, "Prepare to build camp! Everyone, change roles based on the situation!"

"Does anyone know?" Blaze knew that there would be a behavior of "stealing heads" among strangers, which means going up to harvest monsters when others are about to defeat them.

In a team, no matter who defeats the enemy, everyone will share the experience points and drops. However, if one person goes up to kill the enemy alone, all the experience points and drops will fall into the hands of one person.

This behavior is considered extremely immoral by outsiders, but there is nothing they can do about it. Even if they chase and kill the person afterward, they will be considered murderers if they try to get the things back.

It is said that there is a group among the strangers who make their fortune by stealing people's hair. Therefore, when strangers are attacking a very important monster, they will hide the information in order to guard against such people.

[Typhon] is a monster that the [Fairy Kingdom] has fought against many times, spending countless resources and energy. If someone takes its life at this critical juncture, they will collapse.

The severity of the situation is not just that. The person who disclosed the information about Typhon knows Typhon very well. He not only talked about the situation in three stages, but also disclosed the information about the copper coins.

Now, those who originally just wanted to grab heads will target those who may have copper coins in the [Fairy Kingdom], trying to kill them to get the copper coins so that they can get the opportunity to challenge.

"Those people don't think they are stronger than you and can defeat Typhon, right?!" Blaze's eyes twitched. Sometimes strangers are silly and cute, but sometimes they really make people clench their fists.

"Of course they don't think they can win, but they think you can win!" Greenland's expression changed drastically, and he tried to describe the thoughts of those who wanted to steal the kill in a way that Blaze could understand.

"They know you'll definitely go and defeat the King of Evil. It's inevitable, so they want to be your scapegoats. They want to cross the River of Death with you, watch you fight the King of Evil from the sidelines, and finally get a piece of the action."

Greenland could understand what these guys were thinking. They simply thought that this was just another cutscene and they just had to get a kill. NPCs had no way of getting rewards anyway, so all the benefits of their hard work would go to the players.