Chapter 2: Let's Roll the Dice, Young Man |
A random green-quality weapon from a beginner village in World of Warcraft could even add as much as 2 points of Strength.
Unlike the D&D system where the normal upper limit for attribute values is 20 points, attribute values in Warcraft are measured in the hundreds and thousands...
Speaking of which, what would happen if you stacked D&D system attribute values to 100?
A slap on the back from Wen Lei jolted Allen back to reality.
"What are you spacing out for? Get inside!"
With that, Wen Lei flashed a grateful smile and pushed the door open first.
Allen quickly followed, greeted by a wave of heat and the innkeeper's enthusiastic welcome.
"Oh! Come on in, friend, the downpour is about to hit! Grab a seat anywhere by the hearth!"
Feeling an inexplicable warmth and familiarity with the scene, Allen found himself sitting down by the fireplace almost without thinking.
The innkeeper rubbed his bald head and clicked his tongue. "Hey, this guest has quite a unique taste. Sunfire Vintage? That's the cheap swill those pointy-eared Quel'dorei from the north drink. We old Stormwind folks don't touch that stuff."
Wen Lei slapped his hand down heavily, leaving a single, dazzling, shimmering gold coin on the table. "Just tell me, do you have it or not?"
My God, one gold coin!
Allen watched, wide-eyed, as the innkeeper pocketed the coin with lightning speed, and he couldn't help but swallow hard.
"Hey! I've always said the customer is king! Just a moment, esteemed guest! Sunfire Vintage, coming right up!"
Before long, the obliging innkeeper had laid out a table full of fine food and drink. Allen didn't stand on ceremony. Ever since transmigrating, he felt like he'd been starving for ten thousand years, and he devoured most of the dishes like a whirlwind.
At that moment, a Stormwind soldier off-duty at the next table suspiciously addressed the suspicious-looking fellow dressed as a rustic hunter but spending lavishly. "You two don't look like locals. Where are you from?"
With the system's prompts and Wen Lei's full-of-holes disguise, Allen of course knew he wasn't an ordinary hunter.
But considering Wen Lei had saved him, was spending generously, and he himself wasn't exactly 'clean' either, Allen wasn't foolish enough to expose him.
So he helped cover for him. "Honorable warrior, greetings. I am Allen Prestor, from the Kingdom of Alterac. This is my attendant, Wen Lei."
「Deception Check: 20 points, Critical Success」
「The Prestor family, great nobles from the northern Kingdom of Alterac. Fortunately, with your modern, pampered upbringing, you naturally carry an air of nobility in your bearing. People readily accept your story.」
"Esteemed Mr. Prestor, I have heard of your family's renown. Honor to your ancestors."
"Stormwind welcomes your arrival. Also, I deeply sympathize with the betrayal of your kingdom's people by that 'Mad King'."
The patrons in the inn immediately accepted this setting, and their attitude toward Allen instantly became respectful.
It was just that Wen Lei's expression didn't look too good, but he didn't voice any objection either.
Allen guessed that Wen Lei's act of saving him might not have been purely altruistic either. He might have been trying to better infiltrate the area by rescuing a local. He just didn't expect that the person he saved was also a 'scheming' 'outsider'.
The reason Allen chose to fabricate the identity of a 'Prestor' noble was because Alterac was far away and hard to verify.
Moreover, in the World of Warcraft, people often pretended to be members of the Prestor family to swindle others everywhere. The ease of impersonating a Prestor family member was historically proven.
After eating and drinking his fill, Allen sat by the window watching the heavy rain outside. The excitement of truly being in a fantasy world refused to fade.
"It seems we'll have to stay here tonight."
Wen Lei had come up behind him at some point, also gazing at the rain outside. The innkeeper followed obsequiously. "Esteemed guests, warm rooms have long been prepared. The most luxurious suite for your rest."
Allen, who had been freeloading food and drink, felt a bit embarrassed. He scratched his head and leaned close to Uncle Wen Lei's ear. "Uh, let's not get two rooms. I can make do. I'll just crash in a chair in your room for the night."
Uncle Wen Lei's ear twitched. He shot Allen an annoyed glare but didn't explode. He just softly uttered a sentence the innkeeper couldn't hear. "Unnecessary."
With that, Wen Lei turned and headed straight for the guest rooms upstairs.
Allen watched Wen Lei's retreating back, lost in thought.
Mr. Wen Lei's peculiar taste... and that purple orb... Allen recalled that in the World of Warcraft game, there was an item shaped like a purple orb.
"The Orb of Deception," whose effect was to disguise the user as another race.
Considering all this, Allen couldn't help but suspect: Could the other party be a Quel'dorei high elf spy in disguise?
Also, his earlier suggestion wasn't genuinely to save Wen Lei money; he just wanted to test something else.
Thinking this, Allen followed the innkeeper's lead back to his own room.
Looking at the incredibly luxurious, comfortable, and warm high-class suite opened with Wen Lei's money, Allen quickly reached a conclusion in his heart.
Forget it, no matter who Uncle Wen Lei is, he's definitely a good person!
After enjoying the room for a while, the excitement faded, and Allen belatedly felt a sense of unease.
Azeroth was not a kind place. Dangers lurked everywhere. A single misstep, and the conflicts between powerful figures could grind him to dust.
At that moment, the rain outside intensified, more urgent. The wind howled through the woods like an invisible giant beast breathing heavily.
Every flash of lightning illuminated everything in the room with a ghastly white for an instant before plunging it back into dim, murky yellow.
Allen's heart skipped a beat. Just now, outside the window... was there something?
He strode quickly to the window, threw open the latch, and the wind immediately rushed in, giving him a jolt.
He leaned out, but the pitch-black curtain of rain had swallowed everything. In the distance, trees were only left as clawing, menacing silhouettes.
It was just an ordinary rainy night.
Then, Allen remembered the worn-out dagger he had picked up earlier in the grass.
He carefully took it out. In the dim firelight, he could see ancient patterns carved on the dagger's sheath. The wrapping on the hilt was tattered and exceptionally cold to the touch.
No matter what, a dagger that triggered a system Religion Check definitely wasn't a simple thing.
Allen tried to pull the dagger out, but it was as if the sheath had rusted shut. He exerted all his strength, but it didn't budge an inch.
"Could it be that my Strength value isn't high enough? Did I fail a Strength check?" Allen panted, letting go, looking somewhat helplessly at the mysterious dagger.
It seemed that to uncover its secrets, he first needed to become stronger.
Allen finished washing up and lay down on the soft, comfortable silk bedding, forcing himself to sleep.
His body was utterly exhausted, but his mind was unusually alert. With a thousand thoughts swirling, he tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
This went on until deep into the night. Allen drifted in a half-asleep, half-awake daze when suddenly, he heard a "creak."
Was the door opening?
Allen jolted awake from his stupor. He held his breath, lay perfectly still, and stared wide-eyed toward the door.
However, the room was pitch black. He couldn't see a thing.
Just as he was wondering if he'd stayed up so late he was hearing things, suddenly, a flash of lightning streaked across, accompanied by a clap of thunder.
The lightning briefly illuminated the room. Six children, faces pale, bodies drenched, stood silently in a row before the bed, slowly turning their heads to look at him.
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