Chapter 5

To be honest, Yuri didn't like thinking. People who enjoy thinking typically avoid enrolling in the music faculties of pedagogical universities. He, on the other hand, loved to drift away in dreams of an unattainable life, full of adventures and magic. Fortunately for Yuri, when his dreams came true and he had to use his brain more often, he discovered an unexpected talent for thinking.

And now, as Yuri was being shaken by the shoulders and begged for help, his head bobbing back and forth was working. That's precisely why he didn't try to escape by transforming into an ordinary fox at this critical moment—the word "Help!" instantly focused his attention on the brutal figure.

"— Help me! You're not locals, right? Players from 'Grind Hell'?" The demonologist was clearly desperate, and with his last words, he shook the kitsune even harder. "— Please, take me away from here!"

There it was! A new party member. Yuri still had a vague idea of his path to success, but he wouldn't refuse any help, no matter how questionable. Yes, he was the kind of player who confidently recruited a party for a dungeon raid by posting in the general chat.

The demonologist started to say something about cleaning stables when they were interrupted:

"— Stop right there, criminal scum!"

Those words sounded like thunder from somewhere behind the demonologist. Then there was a flash, and Yuri was momentarily enveloped in a silvery glow, making him feel suddenly very sick. In "Grind Hell," he would have lost health points at that moment. Here, it didn't happen, but it still felt like a strong electric shock. The demonologist let go of his shoulders and turned to face the speaker.

In the middle of the road, while the demonologist was distracting Yuri, a rider suddenly appeared—unexpectedly, like cops at a disco. On a white horse sat a knight in silvery armor, with a glowing image of rising wings floating above his head.

Race: Human 

Type: Noble 

Class: Paladin

"— Allow me to introduce myself, I am Sir Morgenstern, the Black Knight!" announced the knight in white, removing his helmet and adding, "— I am on a knightly quest."

Yuri, gradually recovering from the shock, tried to make sense of what was happening. The knight on horseback looked very much like an NPC from the Empire, except for the absence of its crest on his shield. They were paladins with corresponding skills, as evidenced by the glowing symbol of rising wings above the knight—an effect of the paladin buff "Blessing." This was a spell of Light Magic, which, among other things, dealt damage to creatures of darkness and the undead. Judging by the knight's face, he wasn't young anymore, with visible scars—and as far as Yuri remembered, such a model wasn't available to players. Yuri had most likely just met his first native who could use magic. And he didn't like the encounter.

First, Yuri was convinced of his own affiliation with the forces of darkness, having received a solid slap from the "Blessing." This hadn't happened in the game—there, being in a party with a paladin even allowed him to receive a buff. Reality was different from the game, and not in a good way, requiring further study.

Second, settlements in "Grind," like in all MMOs, were considered safe zones. Here, it was obviously not the case, and who knows—maybe the capital, where Yuri would eventually have to visit, was a place where paladins ran around the streets, casting "Blessing" like fools, or something worse.

Meanwhile, the knight continued speaking:

"— What are you up to in broad daylight, villain?! Are you not a creature of the Night preying upon the innocent?! Stand still, I shall put you to the test!"

Yuri tensed up internally, realizing what the knight was about to do—cast a spell. The knight dramatically waved his hand and, for a moment, turned into a white silhouette, flooding everything around with light. Then he waved his hand again, and again.

The kitsune stood stoically, trying not to show any signs of discomfort. She noted to herself that being prepared made enduring these "slaps" much easier.

Seeing that the "Blessing" had no effect on the demonologist, the cringe-worthy knight continued scolding Zina. Under different circumstances, Yuri would have been grateful for help in a difficult situation, but by now it was clear that the demonologist wasn't an enemy. Moreover, the speech of their unexpected "protector" was filled with words like: innocent, young lady, woman's honor, and had gathered a small crowd of onlookers.

Feeling himself blushing again, Yuri swore that if he died, in his next life, he'd only play as a brutal thug:

"— Honorable Sir!"

"— What now?" the knight reluctantly interrupted his latest tirade.

"— There's been a misunderstanding. We know each other. Zina caught up with me to show what wonderful vegetables he bought at the market…"

The knight was clearly not pleased with this turn of events, but he frowned and nodded, wagging his finger at the demonologist one last time:

"— With that, I must take my leave." Sir Morgenstern saluted Yuri.

"— Another good deed..." he muttered to himself and rode off in the direction of the market.

The street emptied. The kitsune watched the Don Quixote for a while to make sure he wasn't coming back, then turned to the dejected demonologist:

"— So..."

Well, an interesting conversation was ahead, even though the demonologist was insistently demanding guarantees from Yuri that he would take the demonologist with him. Emboldened, Yuri, periodically shaking off Zina's clingy hands from his shoulders, promised just that. In principle, the demonologist was a rather niche class, suited for those with specific tastes. It was more oriented towards PvP, meaning duels with other players (as Yuri had often experienced in "Grind Hell"), and in peaceful mob farming or other PvE content, it was just one of many acceptable options. But Yuri reasonably figured that in his situation, he couldn't afford to be picky, at least for now.

Zina's story was simple. But we need to start with something we all probably already suspected. On Earth, Zina was a girl. What prompted her to take such an unusual step as playing a male character was a mystery covered in darkness. Darkness so dense that a tiny spark of love for yaoi couldn't shine through it.

Summoned by the Tree of Wisdom, Zina didn't stand out from the crowd with her behavior—she panicked. And after the loud but brief instructions from the Tree, she was transported along with several other players to the village, where she remained until the yokai arrived.

She really didn't want to be alone, of course. But the company of players with whom she appeared late in the evening right in the local market was, to put it mildly, not suitable.

One of them was clearly an experienced player, but after a short conversation, Zina concluded that if this pro-gamer had a weapon, he wouldn't hesitate to test his skills and damage on everyone around. His behavior and the conversation seriously frightened Zina, who, for the first time, had interacted with a gaming autist in real life without the safe barrier of a monitor. Fortunately, that player made an arrangement with another in their group, after which both left in an unknown direction, apparently—to level up. The last one teleported along with Zina was not in a negotiable state.

Thus, the girl found herself completely alone in a barren wasteland, deprived of the basic things—TikTok, anime, and yaoi fanfics. She was taken in by a local do-gooder and patron, notable for his bow-legged stance, barrel chest, and head that resembled a cannonball. He sympathized with her predicament and gave her a roof over her head, putting her up in the attic above the chicken coop, and also gave her a job—healthy physical labor from dawn till dusk in the fresh village air.

Yuri was hoping to get at least some facts about local life to complete his understanding of the societal structure here. But in this regard, the demonologist was frankly "not great" and only very timely advised against eating anything in the tavern. In the end, Yuri decided to leave these questions for later. There were two things that needed immediate resolution.

The student was interested in the presence of another player in the village. After all, this was a potential party member. Zina, however, did not share his enthusiasm for some reason:

"— Where is he and who is he? I want to talk to him," Yuri was already trying on the role of a proper guildmaster.

"— Look, he's in the village, of course, but seriously, he's kind of..."

"— Doesn't matter! Who is he?"

"— Well... a beastman."

"— Great, we need a strong fighter. Maybe he's a tank?"

Zina's sour expression didn't bode well, but Yuri was already on the path of forming a cohesive ultra-party—the path of cringe and angst.

However, before searching for the promising beastman, they needed to find someone else who everyone had forgotten about—Gennady Alekseevich. There was a chance the bakeneko was already halfway to the Tree of Wisdom or somewhere else. Fortunately, this wasn't the case. The missing ally was found in the bushes nearby, where the brave soldier was covering Yuri's back and preparing to come to the rescue if the conversation went south, of course.

The search for the beastman led them to a shack on the edge of the village.

"— He lives here?"

"— Yeah, sort of," Zina's voice had an unmistakable tone of envy from someone who had been sleeping in straw under the clucking of chickens, "— the village elder put him here. He's freakishly strong—they convinced him to help the lumberjacks. But everyone agrees he's kind of... eh."

Zina sighed and shook her head, resigned to the inevitable, and shouted towards the shack:

"— Killer! Hey, Killer, you there?"

Something huge stirred inside.

Race: Beastman 

Type: Lion-headed 

Class: Alchemist

The shed door opened—the player known in "Grind Hell" as xXx_KILLER_xXx squeezed through the doorway with difficulty and stepped into the yard.