Chapter 3

### Act 2: Sophie's World

The house, though old, was spotless, its former owner having kept it meticulously clean—

Sophie raised her head and saw the half-skeleton that she had knocked over, its bones scattered and lying quietly on the ground. Brando's final counterattack had caused this sole casualty among the undead scouts. Sophie knew that skeleton soldiers lacked intelligence, but it was different when they were controlled by a necromancer. The mistake in judgment was not the young man's fault, as Brando had no idea about any of this.

In times of peace, few people knew about such things.

The oil painting, cut in half, lay flat on the ground, and the skeleton soldier's cold, menacing sword lay not far away. This made Sophie's gaze retract slightly—Madara seemed determined to launch an attack immediately after the scouts withdrew, without even bothering to clean up the battlefield.

But this was consistent with his memory of history.

Hmm?

Sophie suddenly raised an eyebrow, his gaze fixed on the cut oil painting. He hadn't been mistaken; there was clearly a hidden compartment in the cut surface of the frame.

Wait, an ancestral oil painting? Sophie suddenly remembered—could this be the famous Bucci's oil painting?

He struggled to get up, holding onto the armrest, while remaining alert to any sounds around him. Sophie knew that the creature that killed Brando was a low-level necromancer—though low-level, it was more than enough to deal with ordinary people.

In the 'game,' low-level necromancers could cast some low-level dark magic and summon skeletons and zombies from nearby graveyards. They were cunning and prone to ambush, posing a significant threat to those unfamiliar with them.

But Sophie was different, as he probably knew more about them than they did themselves.

He bent down, pulling apart the frame of the oil painting. With a 'ding,' a ring rolled out. He couldn't help but take a deep breath; he was all too familiar with the design of this ring: a silver ring that glowed faintly in the dark, with a wind sage emblem on its surface.

Such a pattern was not common in the southern regions of Eruin.

This was the emblem of the Northern Holy Orso—

Sophie carefully wiped the ring with his thumb. This was the famous Wind Sage Ring, the reward for the 'Bucci's Oil Painting' quest, which had been removed in the next version of the game. Few people knew about and completed this quest.

Sophie was not one of them; he had only heard the story. According to legend, this ring was a counterfeit of one of the Four Saints, Dilute's, token. But how did Brando's grandfather come to possess it?

The Wind Sage Ring increased dexterity by +1 and could consume energy to launch wind projectiles at enemies. In the game, it absorbed one point of energy every ten minutes, but he didn't know if it worked the same way here.

He looked at the ring, his heart pounding, momentarily forgetting the danger around him. The appearance of the ring confirmed his suspicions: this was indeed the world he was familiar with.

Sophie couldn't help but exhale deeply. He felt a mix of excitement and anxiety, but after a moment's hesitation, he slowly slipped the ring onto his index finger—magic rings only worked when worn on the index or thumb. In Vaughn, the area between the index finger and thumb was known as the 'Mystic Zone' by the witches of Taran, who believed it to be the center of human magic, and most spell gestures originated from this point.

But for Sophie, this was just a subconscious behavior constrained by the game's rules, nothing more.

'Clang!'

He was about to see the ring's effects when a loud noise from downstairs suddenly made him turn his head.

Sophie was startled and immediately became alert. This could be the sound of the undead—or even if it wasn't, it could attract enemies outside. He quickly dropped the oil painting and instinctively backed up against the wall, then cautiously watched the hall below.

He immediately saw a furtive figure.

It was a girl in a simple leather dress, cautiously emerging from below. She looked around nervously, but didn't notice the ceiling above her. She clutched a stone mason's hammer in her hands, looking a bit strained, but she seemed to be searching for something.

Sophie couldn't help but sigh.

He coughed, a sound that, though not loud, echoed loudly in the empty house—

The girl was clearly startled, turning her head sharply, her face pale. But to be fair, she was quite a beauty, with chestnut hair tied up at the back, a dignified appearance, but with long, slender eyes that exuded a seductive charm. Her eyebrows were slightly arched, her eyes clear yet anxious, and her nose was straight and proud, indicating a strong and independent personality.

She had a unique aura, but she was far from being a lady. At least, seeing a girl with a stone mason's hammer and a leather purse like those of southern merchants, it was hard to imagine her as a well-born young lady.

The girl relaxed when she saw Sophie. She let out a breath and patted her chest, a beautiful smile spreading across her face: "It's you, Brando, you scared me."

"Miss Roman, how did you get in?" Sophie saw the girl and couldn't help but feel a headache.

This was the girl Brando had always admired, who lived with her aunt in the house opposite. She often had peculiar dreams, like wanting to become a merchant and travel the world.

Sophie found this idea absurd. In Eruin, being a merchant was not a highly respected profession, and they were often equated with cheats and thieves.

During the reign of Anson VI, these people often colluded with bandits, earning deep hatred and being called 'people with two mouths and three hands.'

Two mouths because they were smooth talkers and skilled at deception. Three hands because they were unclean, often engaging in petty theft. They were a significant threat to local security, and most of the quests Sophie had done as a beginner were about them.

"I climbed in through the kitchen window. By the way, your windows are so small! I almost tore my dress—" The girl complained while bending down to adjust her skirt.

"Nobody asked you to come in that way—!" Sophie, inheriting Brando's memories, had developed some immunity to the girl's personality, but he still couldn't help but grumble.

"I'm not asking you that," he shook his head. "I'm asking why you're here in the middle of the night?"

"I was worried about you, Brando," Roman answered, looking around curiously. "Did you see that skeleton?"

She had seen it too? Sophie noticed her gaze falling on his chest.

"Are you hurt?" The future young merchant tilted her head, blinking her eyes.

"Um..."

"Let me see," she ran up the stairs, grabbing the young man's hand that was covering the wound. "Move your hand, what are you hiding? It could get infected—!" She complained, looking at Sophie's wound.

She took a deep breath and looked up. "Such a serious injury!"

Sophie felt the girl's cool hand on his, his heart beating a bit faster. Though he knew these were Brando's feelings, he didn't deliberately stop her—

"It's fine..."

"Fine, my foot!" The merchant girl rolled her eyes and rummaged through her leather purse. "Wait, I think I have some bandages..."

Sophie watched her with interest.

He knew that Roman's purse was full of her treasures, most of which Brando had helped her buy. Things like seashells, colored glass beads, copper whistles, and ancient coins. They were mostly worthless but rare in the area.

The future young merchant's greatest hobby was scavenging for these treasures in old markets. Though they had no money, Roman always managed to find cheap and rare items she liked.

He held her hand and shook his head. "Let's go inside; it's too dangerous here."

"I'm not afraid of those skeletons," she looked at him, finally finding a first-aid kit. "Can you bandage it? I can't."

Sophie opened the kit, took out the bandages and gauze, and hesitated. He had always wanted to find first-aid supplies, as subconsciously he still treated this place like a game world, where bandages automatically stopped bleeding and healed. But now he realized that in reality, bandaging was a professional skill, not just wrapping a few turns around a wound.

"Brando, let me try?" Miss Roman looked eager.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Sophie quickly refused; he wasn't that reckless.

He suddenly thought that treating a dead horse as if it were alive might not be a bad idea. He would just do what he did in the game, and if he died, he'd blame fate. He bit the end of the bandage and undid his shirt, wrapping the bandage around the wound from the inside. He was an old hand at bandaging in the game, so his technique was fairly proficient, and he was careful not to wrap it too tightly.

But he suddenly froze.

He saw a pale green number, +1, slowly appear on his wound.

Sophie's mind buzzed as if hit by a heavy bomb, unsure of what to do next. But then he reacted, as if inspired, and mentally shouted: "Attributes, attributes, show me!"

He waited with a mix of anticipation and fear, and after about a second, a set of faint data appeared on his arm, thigh, joints, body, and heart.

Strength 1.0, Dexterity 2.0, Constitution 0.9.

Then another set of data floated in his vision:

Intelligence 1.1, Willpower 1.3, Perception 1.0.

Absolute Strength 1.0, Elements (Unrefined)—

Below this, a cascade of text and numbers flowed like a waterfall, forming a virtual panel:

Brando, Human Male, Level 1 (Strength System: Physical, Melee)

XP: 1 (Commoner Level 1: —, Militia Level 1, 0/3)

Health (Weak): 60% (Bandaged, recovers 1 point per day)

Occupation—

Commoner [Basic Knowledge (Level 1), Geography (Level 0), Local Knowledge (Level 1)]

Militia [Military Swordsmanship (Level 1), Combat Techniques (Level 1), Tactical Theory (Level 0), Military Organization (Level 0)]

Indeed, indeed!

Sophie couldn't help but think that if a regular person won five million, they would feel like he did now. Was this a dream? No, he knew that in dreams, one's logic wasn't so clear and tight, and few people suspected they were dreaming while in a dream.

But was he still in the game?

No, the game's history had already reached the 19th year of the Second Era.

The young man felt his head spinning, as if all his wild ideas had suddenly flooded in, making him dizzy. But Sophie shook his head; he knew it was all real! He had read so many穿越novels, and he wasn't the first or the last to be transported into a game world.

Lord Martha, do you really exist?

Sophie couldn't help but pray to the only supreme deity of this world. He stared at the virtual data projected onto his retina, and couldn't help but ask himself:

Isn't this your world, Sophie? What more do you want?

Yes, as a veteran warrior of over 130 levels, what more could he ask for? He had experience, and he had the ability to foresee and understand.

If he still couldn't control his fate, he could die of shame. But to be honest, feeling so confident was truly wonderful, really wonderful.