I'll Be Gone Soon

It was a sleepless night. Most villagers went home, but their rooms were all lit by lamps.

Oil was rather expensive in this world. So, lamps were not lit unless there was something important.

Yet, half of the villagers had lit their lamps, which were reflected in the lake with the crescent moon, adding to the stillness of the night.

The occasional lakeside breeze was cool and comforting.

Betta lay on the rail of the bridge and gazed at the lake in the distance. There was no telling what was on his mind.

Roland dug a pit near the house and swept the ashes from the house inside.

Then, he set up a cross and a tombstone before the pit.

After that, he found the stunned young man on the bridge.

Roland stopped next to Betta and stared at the glistening lake exactly as Betta did.

Betta turned his head away and secretly wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

"What are you thinking?" Roland asked after a long time.

"Nothing."

The young man's voice was hoarse. Roland saw the tear tracks on his face.

Roland heaved a sigh when he recalled Falken's expression of disappointment when he left.

"Brother Roland, sorry. I screwed it up," said Betta in a low voice.

The young man was obviously regretful. Roland stared at him for a while. Then he smiled. "How much reputation have you lost?"

"Thirty." Betta pursed his lips.

He was not sad for the loss in his reputation; he only felt that he had done something wrong. He regarded the NPCs as data, but the old couple told him that they had their own souls and thoughts with their actions.

Everything was natural and real.

"Mine dropped by ten points. The villagers have their biases. I've lived here longer and they know me better, so they're more tolerant about me," Roland said. "It proves my theory that this is not a simple game."

Betta managed a smile and said, "But they're truly in a game. I know what you think. If life can be based on carbon or silicon, it can be based on data. However, is it really possible to develop a game that has actual lives?

"If those NPCs are really alive, why didn't the game producers specify it from the beginning?"

Betta spoke more and more loudly, until he was almost roaring.

Roland remarked, "Maybe even the game producers do not know what they have created."

"Do you think it's possible?" Betta sniffed.

Roland replied, "Who knows? Nobody can give a definite answer."

There was a long silence. Only the wind could be heard.

After a while, Roland asked again, "What's your plan?"

"Go to another city." Betta was apparently frustrated. "I'm not welcome here. It's pointless to stay any longer."

Roland stood straight and said casually while staring at the lamps in the distance, "You're fleeing just like that instead of trying to make up for what you did?"

Betta turned around and asked, "What do you suggest, Brother Roland?"

"There is a nest of giant spiders that are a major threat to this town," said Roland slowly. "I killed some before, but I was outnumbered. Also, you know that Mages are not capable of fighting yet. If you could cooperate with me…"

Betta asked with great interest, "Are they edible? Right, I remember that the fried spider legs I had were delicious."

Seeing that the young man was in a better mood, Roland smiled. "Are there such huge spiders in reality?"

Betta said in reminiscence, "They're coconut crabs."

"Aren't they crabs? Wait, maybe they're lobsters?" Roland was briefly stunned.

"They are all arthropods. I can regard them as spiders."

Roland smiled. "You do have a point if you put it that way."

Betta felt better when they talked about food. He said, "I'll practice sword arts for now."

"You're capable of sword arts?" Roland was stunned. "Did you learn it in a school?"

Betta shook his head. "No. There's a veteran in the village I was born in. I paid him three silver coins to study under him. It's only several simple moves, but I find them highly practical."

"Three silver coins…" Roland sighed. Having mined for more than a month, he had only saved around three silver coins.

Betta seemed richer than Roland even though he joined the game half a month later than Roland did.

Thinking about that, Roland asked, "How did you earn so much money?"

Betta said, "Divine Nobles have an innate ability named 'Fortune,' which enables us to pick up money! I've already picked almost three gold coins."

Shoot!

Roland felt sad. Both of those two cousins were rich in the game!

Schuck was a Saint Samurai who had a monthly income of twenty gold coins, which meant more than two hundred thousand bucks in reality.

His cousin could pick up money without working… Somehow, Roland was jealous of them.

If possible, he wished that he could play the game easily without toiling for money, but the reality was cruel.

He could only make ends meet by mining.

After Betta left to practice sword arts, Roland returned to his cottage.

He found Falken standing outside of the cottage.

Falken walked toward him when he saw him. In the moonlight, he looked particularly old wearing his long green robe.

"Why don't we talk?"

Roland nodded.

Looking at the town below the mountain, Falken said heavily, "We knew the James' grandson was dead a long time ago."

Roland smiled bitterly at first, before he shook his head helplessly.

"Actually, with the James' conditions, they couldn't have lived much longer, but it's always better to live than to die." Falken heaved a sigh. "However, now that they're dead, they are no longer tortured by disease and can forever stay with their offspring."

Roland did not know what to say. He heard sorrow in Falken's voice.

"I'm going to die soon, too!"

Roland did not understand at first, but then he gazed at Falken.

"Don't be surprised. As a reverend, I certainly know when I'll be summoned by the goddess I believe in," said Falken casually. "I'll go to paradise in three months… Don't be so sad. You should feel happy for me."

"Why? When you're dead, everything you have will be gone."

"No, the reverends will live in paradise as eternal souls as long as we do not make horrible mistakes."

Roland, however, did not really believe in things like heaven or hell, which were too ungrounded and unpredictable.