2. Sunflower Shop

Nightwood was the starting village of the game called Ancient Blades. It was your average, low-budget fantasy game that had a huge community of modders and content creators. And I mean huge.

The game was kept alive by all the passionate gamers who made extra content for their favorite game. You wished there were cats in the game? Someone made a mod for that. You wish you could become a warlord and besiege cities? There was already a mod for that. Did you wish to live out your dirtiest dreams in a medieval setting? Uh... for some reason, there were also many mods for that.

The thing is, I only ever played this game with mods. I never experienced the true vanilla experience of Ancient Blades' world, so I was pretty much lost at this point.

Thankfully, I managed to find my way to a road and go where I think was north. A few minutes later I saw a wooden wall in the distance and a wooden sign pointing toward it.

Nightwood.

My current attire, namely nothing, made me quite hesitant about approaching the gate. I saw two guards on either side with a round shield and a sheathed sword. Their armors were dark-blue, and grey helmets hid their face.

At any other time, I would have shamefully walked away, fearing being stabbed or ridiculed. But with all the zombies in the forest, I was not in that position.

I let out a long sigh, then approached the guards.

"H-Hi there! I know this might look weird, but I'm..."

The guards left their post and ran towards me. For a second, I thought they might kill me on sight. However, after they come awkwardly close...

"You! Yes, you," spoke one of them, "Did you see a little girl while traveling?"

They stared at me in silence. I was so taken aback by their close, very close approach that I forgot to give an answer.

I took a step back. "N-No! Sorry, I did not! But, listen, as you can see, I really need some cl––"

"She went out to gather flowers for her sick mom. Her ailment can only be cured by freshly cut dandelion."

"That's interesting, but I'm still nake––"

"If you want to help, visit the Sunflower Shop and talk to Frudel. She has everything you need to know."

For a moment, I wait in silence. Only after I am sure he was done talking, do I speak.

"So, do you know where could I get some clothing––"

"Safe travels!" He says, then walks back to his post.

~ ~ ~

The village looked just like in Ancient Blades. There were around a dozen wooden houses with thatched roofs, surrounded by a river and a mountain on either side. It was small, more so if you considered the houses' size. Most of them had just one room that functioned as the living room, kitchen, and bedroom.

The richer, who could afford two rooms, usually repurposed one to be a small shop. There were two such instances in this village, one a butchery and the other a general goods store. My destination was the latter.

On the way there, I found myself a few ragged clothes in the trash. A dirty, red shirt with a black apron. Some blue pants that had a hole where my right knee was. There were also a pair of black boots, however, one of them missed its front part, so my toes were dangling out.

While it was not the best, at least I was not naked anymore.

The so-called Sunflower Shop general goods store was in a two-story building. I made my way to the ground-floor door and entered the building.

The room was almost completely dark, illuminated only by the fire of a single fireplace. Close to it brewed a small pot. Chicken soup boiled within. Its scent was the only hint of people living inside this damp house.

"Sorry, we're closed," said a feminine voice. Close to the fireplace sat a red-haired girl in green clothes. She had pearl blue eyes and freckles, which would have made her look young and cute. Yet, her aura was dark. Her expression was glassy. I could see right through her, but there was only sorrow to be found.

"H-Hi!" I tried to speak but only managed to mumble those words.

She continued looking at the fireplace like I was not even there. If I wanted to grab her attention, I had to appear larger, even if that meant I had to act.

"Ahem!" I coughed to clear my throat, "Are you Frudel? I heard a little girl went missing."

She side-eyed me with the same glassy expression. "Yes. My little sister, Heidl. She went out to gather dandelions from the nearby field after our mother fell ill. I haven't heard from her since."

This was great! I mean, not that the girl went missing. But rather her disappearance was an easy way to get me on track.

I had zero ideas what to do with myself. Sure, I could search around to find the game's main questline, but I would die in the first dungeon, given I had no equipment or money for that. There was also the aspect of experience, because I remember the game had stats, classes, and different buffs... but at that time, I had no idea how to access them.

The best thing I could do was accept this quest, ask for some money upfront, then explore the village for gear.

Yes, this was a great plan! I was so proud of myself, I could not hide my grin.

"Don't worry!" I said, showing a peace sign with my hands, "I will find your sister and bring your mother the dandelions!"

Frudel looked at me with those sorrowful eyes. There was no change in them. Not even a glimmer of hope.

"Yes." She turned back to the fireplace. "That would be great."

Oof. If the game would show emotional damage like physical damage, I would have had a large [-999] flew straight out my chest.

I gathered what little confidence I had left, but at that point, I was too shy to ask for any of the quest prizes upfront. She clearly did not believe in me. This got me pretty angry, but I guess I could not blame her for being so rude. After all, her mother was dying, and her little sister probably got murdered by wildlife.

Lucky for her, I loved to prove people wrong. Even if she doubted my skills, that got me even more fired up.

I left the shop quietly, then looked around. "So, where do we go next?"

At that moment, as if it had heard my question, white text appeared before my eyes.

[ Quest Started: Dandelion Girl ]

[ Check your Journal for more information! ]

My eyes widened. Journal? I did not have any.

Then I realized, it was talking about the in-game journal, an important part of Ancient Blades. Opening it would reveal a description of the player's current quest and allow the player to have it indicated on their contact, thus always showing where the next objective could be found.

However, there was just one problem with that.

"How the hell do I open my Journal?!"