Chapter 10

Chapter 4: NPC Friend

Waking up from a nap, I checked the time and it was exactly midnight. After eating something and using the bathroom, I got ready and logged in. A flash of white light, and I appeared in the alley again. Strange, when did it get so noisy! Looking around, I couldn't believe my eyes!

You absolutely wouldn't believe what I saw! "A ghost!" In front of me was an elderly man with a kind face and white hair, but his body was semi-transparent, and he had no legs, floating in the air below his waist.

"Hmm? Child, how did you end up here?" The old man, or rather, the old ghost, floated over to me.

I shook my head and calmed down a bit. This is a game, so the appearance of a ghost should be normal. With this thought, I wasn't afraid anymore. "I got lost and ended up here. I came in the morning, but there was nothing here, so I logged off. I just logged back in."

The old man floated in front of me. "What a rare guest! We haven't had a living person here in a long time."

Feeling that the old man was quite kind, I felt more at ease. "Why doesn't anyone come here?"

"Ah!" The old man sighed deeply. "As you can see, I am a spirit. You should have guessed what kind of place this is."

"Is this a place where the souls of the dead rest?" I asked tentatively.

"Though not exactly, it's close enough!" The old man turned and led me out of the alley. The road outside was now filled with people... no, ghosts. It now looked like a bustling city. "This is indeed a gathering place for spirits, but not a place of rest. You should have seen the city name on the gate!"

"Is it called the Lost City?"

"Yes! This is where we, the spirits who have died but for various reasons do not wish to rest, gather. We are lost souls!" At this, the old man looked very sad.

I hurried to comfort him. "Don't be sad, this place isn't bad either!"

The old man's expression suddenly changed. "Forget it, let's not talk about these sad things! Follow me." The old man flew in a certain direction, and I had no choice but to follow. Despite his age, he flew quite fast, and I almost ran out of breath. The place where the old man stopped was a huge square. He climbed onto a platform and called me up. Once I climbed up, the old man shouted loudly to those below, "Everyone, come over! There's a living friend here!"

Dazed, I thought this old man was too excited! Even worse, a crowd of demons and ghosts soon gathered around me. A few identification spells later, I saw all sorts of things: 130-level spirits, 200-level demon souls, 320-level demon spirits, 210-level death knights, 150-level undead warriors, 350-level death mages, and all sorts of other creatures. It was like a demon amusement park! Even more terrifying, many dark creatures also gathered around. I saw hell hounds and a large number of evil spirits!

The old man shouted to those below, "Everyone, see? The person next to me is a living friend. We haven't had a living visitor in a long time, let's celebrate!"

"Great! Welcome! Welcome!" Dazed! These demons and ghosts were really enthusiastic! How different from what I had imagined! Watching the demons and ghosts celebrate, I didn't know what to do!

While I was standing there, a tall, black-armored warrior walked up to me. "Hello, I'm Clark, the owner of the weapon shop here. If you need any equipment, please give me your business first!"

"Aren't the shops here closed? I walked around the city this morning, and none of the shops were open."

The black warrior laughed heartily, a rough laugh. "Of course no one is around during the day! This is the Lost City. From 8 AM to 6 PM, there's no one except the guards!"

"Why didn't I think of that? You can't stand sunlight, right?"

"We can stand sunlight, but we just don't want to. Look at that tall tower over there." A tall, thin man in a black robe walked up behind me. This guy was really tall! Although I'm 170 cm, which is average, I shouldn't be so much shorter than him!

I followed his hand and saw a tall tower. It was a square tower, somewhat like an obelisk, not black but very dark. It was at least 300 meters tall, and the tallest building nearby was no more than 100 meters, making it stand out. At the top of the tower was a large diamond-shaped frame, and inside was a bright orange eye that gave a suffocating feeling of oppression. But now the eye was closed, a vertical slit. I wondered what would happen if it opened.

"That's the Dark Tower of the Lost City. The eye at the top is the Eye of Hell. When the city is under attack or planning to attack nearby cities, it will be awakened. Once the Eye of Hell opens, the dark creatures in the city will no longer follow the pattern of being active at night and resting during the day. Moreover, once the Eye of Hell opens, all dark creatures will gain a 50% increase in attack and defense."

"Really? That's so powerful! Wouldn't they be invincible?"

The man in the robe smiled sinisterly. "Not invincible, but indeed very powerful. I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm the owner of the city's pharmacy, you can call me the Medicine King!"

"Do the undead use medicine?"

The system is really strange, every race needs medicine!

"Why not! Let me tell you, my medicine is a special formula that you can't find anywhere else on the continent. Not only is it effective, but it's also high-quality and affordable! If you come to me, I'll give you a 20% discount!"

Before long, a crowd of NPCs gathered around me, almost all of them shop owners, and they all offered me a 20% discount to visit their shops. I had no choice but to say I would visit them one by one. Following the order, I was first taken to Clark's weapon shop. We walked down a few streets and quickly arrived at Clark's shop, which I had visited in the morning, but it was closed then.

"How about it, isn't my shop great!" Clark said proudly in the shop.

I looked around. It was a large weapon shop with wooden walls and floors. There were several NPCs buying and selling at the counter, giving it a grand feel. "Great! Very nice!"

Hearing my praise, Clark became even more pleased. "How about it! Is there anything you want to buy?"

"Definitely! My weapon broke yesterday, and the equipment I have now doesn't fit me, so I need to buy a suitable weapon!"

Clark saw my troubled expression and immediately said, "No problem, if you don't have enough money, you can owe me."

"How can I do that! Here!" I took everything out of my inventory. "Take these items, and I have three gold coins. If it's not enough, I'll owe you, and I'll pay you back!"

Clark looked at the equipment I took out and said, "These items are worth about 13 gold coins, plus the 3 you have, that's 16 in total. Come with me!"

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