Chapter 9

Ruan Chi really didn't want to waste time with these NPCs, because the more he played the game, the more he felt that the AI of these NPCs was problematic.

How could they not even understand what a player is?

A series of setbacks made Ruan Chi unwilling to stay in the game for a moment longer. He quickly pulled up the system menu and tried to log out again.

Ruan Chi decided that after leaving the game, the first thing he would do was to complain on the official forum of the game.

However, the result left Ruan Chi in despair.

System: The IP address you are using is incorrect, unable to read the connection, please check if your network is abnormal.

"What is Storm Company up to? It's almost been a day, why hasn't this bug been fixed yet?" Ruan Chi's face was full of disbelief.

He tried to contact customer service again, but the result was the same—only an AI response, with no staff online.

"Damn, this game is a scam." Realizing the situation was serious, Ruan Chi shouted on the spot, startling the elves in front of him.

"Sister Rachel, this guy is human!" One of the elves shouted, and a series of system prompts immediately appeared in front of Ruan Chi.

System: Vanessa's affection towards you has decreased by 25 points, now hatred.

System: Rachel's affection towards you has decreased by 25 points, now hatred.

System: Caban's affection towards you has decreased by 25 points, now hatred.

...

The sudden barrage of prompts startled Ruan Chi. Looking at the elves in front of him, their names turned bright red.

"Hey, what are you going to do?" Ruan Chi was a bit confused. He hadn't done anything, so why did the NPCs' affection suddenly drop?

"Seize him!"

Before Ruan Chi could ask what was happening, two male elves walked over and grabbed him, placing sharp, thin swords at his neck.

"Hey, big-boobed girl, what are you doing?" Ruan Chi shouted at the female elf who had given the order.

"What big-boobed girl?" Rachel was a bit confused, turning to look at Ruan Chi.

"I'm talking to you, the one with the biggest chest." Ruan Chi rolled his eyes at her.

Rachel looked around and realized that no one around her had a bigger chest. Elves valued slender figures, and her large chest had always been a sore spot. Ruan Chi had hit her right where it hurt.

Rachel's face turned ugly, and she glared at Ruan Chi.

System: Rachel's affection towards you has decreased by 10 points, now hatred.

Ruan Chi didn't care about the drop in affection anymore. Being caught by a bunch of NPCs for no reason would make anyone angry. "Let me go!"

Ruan Chi tried to break free, but the two male elves, who looked like pretty boys, were too strong. Clearly, their levels were not low, and with Ruan Chi only at level 1, he had no chance of escaping.

"Shameless human, don't resist, or don't blame us for being unfriendly." Rachel coldly snorted and ordered the elves to take Ruan Chi away.

After leaving the church, Ruan Chi realized he had indeed arrived in an elf village. The outside was filled with unique buildings, many of which were small houses formed by the intertwining roots of giant trees. Handsome elves frequently entered and exited these houses.

System: Nightlight Village discovered.

Seeing the prompt, Ruan Chi was speechless. If he had known this would happen, he should have bound the respawn point in the beginner village. Now, with the respawn point bound here, he couldn't even die to go back.

"Sigh, a bleak future!"

That night, Ruan Chi was locked in a wooden house, with wooden handcuffs on his wrists. Lying on a pile of hay, Ruan Chi looked at the red and blue moons outside with a pained expression.

System: The IP address you are using is incorrect, unable to read the connection, please check if your network is abnormal.

Ruan Chi had tried countless times, but the result was always the same.

"Damn, when I get out, I'll complain until I die. What a lousy game, no beginner quests, and a bunch of brain-damaged NPCs tormenting players..." Ruan Chi cursed more than once.

Although he couldn't log out normally, Ruan Chi wasn't too worried overall. As the game time progressed, someone in the real world would soon notice his situation.

The time ratio between the real world and the game world was 1 hour = 1 day. Ruan Chi started the game at noon, 12:00 PM, so by 6:00 PM, the person responsible for delivering food to the prison would notice his abnormality.

Ruan Chi had already spent 1 day in the game, which was 1 hour in the real world. There were still 5 hours until dinner time, and Ruan Chi believed he would be rescued in 5 hours.

"5 hours, which means I have to stay in the game for at least 5 more days. Just thinking about it is scary..." Looking at the handcuffs on his wrists, Ruan Chi felt heartbroken and tears streamed down his face. "I never thought that even in the game, I would still be in prison. Is my whole life going to be spent in a cell?"

He unconsciously pulled up the system menu and opened the built-in player, playing a popular song from the previous century, "Prison Life"...

The next day.

Ruan Chi was awakened by the bright sunlight. He didn't expect to actually fall asleep. The promotional materials for "Knight's Heart" didn't exaggerate in this aspect; players could have the same daily routine in the game as in real life.

Stretching, he turned off the player that had played all night and stood up to walk to the window. "Hey, is there any food?"

Although players in the game could use system settings to block the feeling of hunger, if a player went without food for more than 72 hours, they would trigger a debuff, reducing their attributes and losing health, and in severe cases, they could die.

Although Ruan Chi at level 1 had nothing to fear, dying would still respawn him in the church of the elf village, and he would be seized and tied up again, which was a very unpleasant feeling.

Ruan Chi called out twice, and the elves were quite reasonable, bringing him food. It was a purple fruit similar to grapes. Ruan Chi tried a bite, and it was sour and sweet, quite tasty.

After eating, Ruan Chi planned to return to the hay pile to continue sulking, but the door of the wooden house opened at that moment.

The person who entered was a group of elf guards, led by Rachel from the previous day. Wearing green leather, she looked very efficient, with her golden long hair tied in a ponytail. Her delicate face was cold, as if someone owed her a lot of money.

"Come out!"

Ruan Chi stared at her for two seconds, then turned his head and lazily said, "No."

...

A few minutes later, Ruan Chi was escorted out of the wooden house by several male elves with swords at his neck.

"Where are you taking me?" Ruan Chi asked Rachel irritably.

"To the temple." Rachel's words were very concise.