Act III: The Undead

"Charlotte, Charlotte?" Roman nudged Lin Fei's arm, but Lin Fei was absorbed in checking his stats. His strength was only at 1 level, and he couldn't help but curse the NPCs for their lack of rights. After all, even a skeleton had a strength level of 1.5.

All attributes are measured in 'z', an abbreviation of the ancient letter 'u', referred to as energy levels. A strength level of 1 is roughly equivalent to being able to lift about 50 kilograms, with a punch force of only about 150 kilograms, roughly equivalent to the strength of an average adult man.

In the game, players started with a base attribute of Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Constitution 2, and Intelligence, Willpower, and Perception all at 1.5, meaning they were approximately twice as strong as an average person. Absolute strength—combat power—was around 5, indicating that handling five average people simultaneously was manageable.

Charlotte was a militia member who had undergone several months of training, yet the attribute gap was still so vast. Although players started with hero attributes, this discrepancy seemed a bit excessive.

Lin Fei had always wanted to complain about players claiming hero status, only to have combat power comparable to two skeletons. Now, from Charlotte's perspective, he realized that players truly were heroes cloaked in protagonist aura.

The thought of potentially being unable to defeat even a single skeleton made him feel a deep sense of despair.

Lin Fei touched his arm, the pale green numbers persistently displayed in his vision. He realized that this world differed from what he knew; in the game, bandages should restore 1 health per minute, meaning a civilian's 6 health should recover in six minutes. However, here it took several days.

This was not a good omen.

Fortunately, the usage of skills was largely consistent. By recalling the 'basic knowledge' gained from his civilian role, he could remember some common knowledge about this world. The 'ilitary organization' knowledge from his militia role helped him recall the military structure of Eluin.

Though there were differences, this knowledge seemed to be directly embedded in his real memories. For example, swordsmanship felt like a skill accumulated bit by bit through months of training, ingrained into his muscle memory. He could feel the proper stances, weight distribution, footwork, and the positioning of his sword versus the enemy's sword. The game only provided a general attack path before your strike and assisted in correcting your moves during combat. Here, understanding was sufficient without knowing the 'why.'

Although some experienced players might have their own insights, they still relied on system assistance, so you wouldn't see game enthusiasts becoming swordsmanship or combat experts in reality.

Some things have no shortcuts.

Lin Fei couldn't help but grip his hand, the feeling of mastery was incredible. Unlike the rigidity in the game, the memory of skill here felt like a part of himself, allowing for fluid application.

Just then, as he was lost in thought, Roman poked his arm, making him quickly turn around. His ears twitched slightly, picking up faint noises from outside the room.

"Charlotte, did you hear that?" The merchant girl, moving to his side, whispered.

Lin Fei nodded. A series of crisp footsteps echoed outside, and the number seemed substantial. His heart skipped a beat as he immediately deduced that the vanguard of the Madara army had arrived. He made a quick hand gesture and immediately pulled Roman back.

The Madara vanguard arrived faster than expected. Meanwhile, the countryside of Elsen-Golan was still in deep slumber, and no one anticipated the impending catastrophe.

Except for him.

The urgency of the situation made Lin Fei frown deeply. He led the merchant girl into a room at the south end, then gently closed the door behind them. The room was filled with dust, causing both of them to cough quietly. It had been a long time since anyone had used this guest room, but he knew that from this window, they could safely monitor everything happening in the estate.

Lin Fei walked to the window, gently brushing off the dust and pulling up the curtain—

"Do you know where those things came from, Charlotte?" The girl, withdrawing her hand discreetly, asked with curiosity.

"They're from the Madara army. War has broken out," he replied, carefully peeking outside. Indeed, it was the Madara vanguard. Lin Fei couldn't help but take a deep breath as he saw a mass of skeleton soldiers standing in the estate's center. He counted three squads, totaling forty-five skeletons, their dark red lights flickering in the darkness. There were also three death knights controlling these low-level undead—their classic appearance was a skeleton in a robe, wielding a bone staff, with green phosphorescent eyes scanning the lower-ranked Madara soldiers.

Charlotte's grandfather's old home was situated on a hillside not far from Buchi, overlooking the village. It was more of a small estate on the outskirts of the village, originally home to five or six households, but now only Roman and her aunt remained.

The girl took a deep breath in the dark.

"What about Aunt Jenny?"

"She's gone to a nearby town and won't be back for a week."

Lin Fei glanced back at her, seeing only her bright, curious eyes in the darkness.

"Aren't you scared?" he asked.

"I don't know," the merchant girl answered softly, looking up, "but my heart is racing. It seems quite thrilling."

Lin Fei was speechless. This young lady's mindset was indeed different from that of ordinary people. Some people are born for adventure; perhaps Roman was one of them.

He pretended not to hear and turned his gaze back to the window. The death knights hadn't yet turned their gaze in their direction, so Lin Fei continued to observe cautiously. In the distance, a shadowy forest suggested that there were likely more enemies in that direction.

Estimating the size of Madara's advance force at over a hundred, it was a significant number. Such a large force would surely have a necromancer apprentice controlling them, which was dreadful news.

In the game, a Madara necromancer apprentice was equivalent to a level 10 player. Even alone, they could easily handle seven or eight trained adult men (soldiers or militia), let alone when Lin Fei and Roman were alone against such a large army.

Lin Fei couldn't help but tap his fingers on the window sill.

It would take at least five minutes for Buchi's guards to arrive, meaning if they encountered the enemy, they would have to hold out for at least five minutes before reinforcements arrived.

That is, if Buchi even realized they were under attack.

But how to alert them?

He felt a pang of frustration. The best way would be to set a fire; bright flames and smoke could be seen from far away in the dark, and fire was a clear warning for both people and animals. But whether to start a fire and how to start it was still a problem.

"Charlotte? Are we going to die?"

"Hard to say."

The room fell silent.

In the deep darkness, only a sliver of cold moonlight from the window cast a silver path in the dim room.

Lin Fei contemplated, planning to pull down the curtain and think of an escape plan. Just then, a conversation came from outside:

"Where is that poor soul's corpse? Bring him out for me to see. The intelligence said this estate only had two women residing here, didn't it?"

The first voice was a young man's, cold and sharp.

The next voice was dry and aged, like a broken, withered tree crackling: "Just an unfortunate wretch, Master."

The dialogue made Lin Fei's heart tighten. He looked outside again and quickly found the source of the two voices under the shadow of a large tree: there, a figure in a large black robe was questioning his subordinate death knights.

Lin Fei's gaze fell on the figure's sleeve, faintly seeing a pattern of grayish-white bones, confirming that this person was indeed a necromancer apprentice.

He hadn't been mistaken.

"… Remember, I don't need your opinions. Just follow orders," the necromancer, cloaked in black, suddenly stopped, lifting his head towards Lin Fei's direction.

Lin Fei's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly pulled down the curtain. Disaster! He momentarily thought he was a seasoned level 130 warrior and completely forgot that the enemy's perception and stealth level were far superior to his own.

Although he wasn't immediately spotted, it was likely to raise suspicion.

Sure enough, he heard the necromancer outside say, "Alright, hurry up. I sense that there might be living people in that house. Be thorough; I've had a suspicion that they might have discovered our plan—"

It's over. Once the enemy notices Charlotte's 'corpse' is missing, they will immediately take action. Lin Fei's mind raced. He thought of the door behind the kitchen, but Elsen-Golan was a natural pasture, and there were no hiding places nearby.

There was a small forest at the bottom of the hill, but it was separated by a hundred-meter stretch of open ground. What to do?

"Charlotte?" The merchant girl looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"Follow me," Lin Fei said, gritting his teeth. He decided to take things one step at a time.

He opened the door and saw a death knight and two skeleton soldiers entering the hall from outside. The necromancer immediately spotted him and Roman. The necromancer raised his bone staff, but Lin Fei reacted faster—he quickly raised his right hand, aiming his ring at the necromancer, muttering the spell.

"Light!"

In an instant, a blinding white light erupted, illuminating the room.

Lin Fei clenched his teeth and pushed Roman toward the window. "Go!"

Charlotte hurriedly climbed out, and Lin Fei followed, feeling a tingling sensation in his chest. He needed to make it to the forest.

"Come on!" Lin Fei urged, sprinting toward the edge of the estate. But he knew he had only a brief time to get to safety before the enemy's reinforcements arrived.