Chapter 120: Cutting Vegetables Like Melons

In the entire Firelink Shrine, Zhang Yi had only seen three people so far.

A mysterious blindfolded girl beside a dead bonfire in the shrine.

A little old man sitting on a throne, and a man crouched on the stone steps beside him, carrying a sword and shield.

Naturally, Zhang Yi went straight to the girl in the middle to talk first.

Not because she was a female NPC, and certainly not because of her figure—though even with a blindfold, one could still imagine the beauty hidden beneath.

It was simply because this NPC appeared in the promotional trailer. That was all!

‘Welcome to the bonfire. Ashen One, I am the Fire Keeper, specifically tasked with maintaining the bonfire and serving you. If you seek help in retrieving the Lords who abandoned their thrones, please give your orders freely.’

The words were quite enticing, but after seeing the interface that appeared upon finishing the dialogue, Zhang Yi understood the situation.

This NPC was nothing more than a Tool-man that allowed players to level up and allocate skill points.

After a brief conversation, Zhang Yi recalled that defeating Gundyr the Ash had given him 3,000 souls, plus additional souls from killing mobs along the way.

This was enough to level up three times. After some thought, he invested all points into health.

Although stamina was also crucial, he felt that in the early game, health was still extremely important—at least it increased room for error.

After wandering around Firelink Shrine a bit, the person who caught Zhang Yi’s attention was the old man sitting on the throne.

After speaking with him, he learned the old man’s name was Ludleth of Courland—and he was actually a Lord of Cinder.

The empty thrones beside him were the former seats of other Lords of Cinder.

Moreover, from the conversation, he also discovered a crucial clue: to keep the flames burning, the Lords of Cinder had to burn themselves.

“No wonder the other four thrones are empty. So being a Lord of Cinder really means becoming firewood!” Zhang Yi sighed with emotion.

At the same time, he now had a rough understanding of the game’s main quest.

According to the keywords from the promotional trailer, the protagonist was classified as unburnable trash—no, wait, Ashen One!

The world was nearing extinction, plunging into darkness. To sustain the flame, the Lords of Cinder had to serve as fuel—that was their fate.

But clearly, no one wanted to be firewood, so the Lords fled. Only Ludleth, this little old man, remained here, willingly burning himself.

The protagonist’s mission was to hunt down the remaining four Lords and bring them back to be burned once more.

This was the extent of Zhang Yi’s understanding of the Dark Souls story for now. As for whether there would be any twists later, he had no idea.

Next, when he reached a stairway corner, he spoke to the man sitting there with a sword and armor, his head hung low.

‘…Oh, you’re another one who can’t die, huh?’

‘We’re the same kind, Ashen One—accomplishing nothing, and not even capable of dying properly.’

‘…How ridiculous. A bunch of undead failures trying to hunt down Lords of Cinder and drag them back to their moldy thrones?’

‘Those people were esteemed heroes who Link the Fire! How can trash like us possibly do that?’

‘You think the same, don’t you?’

【Gesture: Dejection】

After the dialogue, Zhang Yi learned a new gesture: Dejection.

But what was with all this negativity?

Was this NPC’s sole purpose to spread despair and negativity?

After wandering around the shrine a few more times, he found a blacksmith who could upgrade weapons and distribute Estus Flasks, and an old lady who sold items.

At the blacksmith, he exchanged the pulse for focus—which increased FP bar—for Fruit Pulp Orange Juice that restored health, turning his original three bottles into four.

As for weapon upgrades, he needed two Titanite Shards, but he only had one, so he couldn’t upgrade yet.

There seemed to be a path on the roof, but unfortunately, the door was locked, and he had no key.

However, outside the shrine, besides the Hollows sitting motionless on the ground, Zhang Yi discovered a small path.

But at the entrance stood an NPC in tattered clothes, wielding a uchigatana.

“Wow, that uchigatana is so cool! I wonder if killing this guy will drop that weapon? Is this a gift NPC? There’s no way this game expects us to fight through everything with just this Knight’s Sword, right?” Wang Han remarked beside him.

Although earlier on the shrine’s path, he had picked up a broken straight sword, its stats were worse than the chicken drumstick club the Deprived started with.

“You know, that’s actually quite possible!” Zhang Yi didn’t just feel tempted—he took action immediately.

In typical ARPG games, the initial equipment the player starts with is usually replaced after leaving the newbie village by defeating a boss.

Earlier, defeating Gundyr the Ash had rewarded him with the Coiled Sword, but that was just a tool—an item functioning as a teleportation marker.

This Uchigatana Guy, standing in the corner, was clearly a potential source of new gear.

Or perhaps inside the small room he guarded, there was new equipment waiting for the player.

Facing the Uchigatana Guy, Zhang Yi bravely charged forward.

‘Ugh—!’

A pained cry from his character ‘aaa’ echoed through the headphones. Under the Iai three-hit combo, his health bar crumbled like tofu.

Instantly killed!

“How is this guy even stronger than Gundyr the Ash!” Zhang Yi was stunned.

After all, he was currently playing as a Knight!

He was even wearing armor!

Granted, Gundyr could take him down in three or four hits, but Gundyr’s movements were relatively slow.

Even if he kept rolling, he’d only get hit once at most.

But this Uchigatana Guy? His Iai combo slash was so fast Zhang Yi didn’t even react before his health bar was completely emptied.

Watching his character respawn at the freshly lit bonfire in Firelink Shrine, Zhang Yi remained silent.

After a brief silence, Wang Han said, ‘Let’s just push the story. This enemy might be an elite monster like the Crystal Lizard—super hard to beat. The main quest later might be as easy as cutting vegetables.’

Was that really the case?

If Zhang Yi hadn’t been taught a harsh lesson by the Crystal Lizard and now the Uchigatana Guy, he would have believed it confidently.

But now?

He was filled with doubt.

Using the bonfire in Firelink Shrine, Zhang Yi teleported to the next stage of the story: High Wall of Lothric.

He pushed open the gate. The sight of Lothric that greeted him made Zhang Yi and Wang Han, sitting beside him, sigh with emotion.

They had already seen the concept art and promotional event previews.

But actually controlling the character and experiencing it firsthand was entirely different.

In the distant, hazy gray mist, the magnificent capital city loomed faintly.

Truly grand.

But after a brief moment of awe, a slight unease crept into Zhang Yi’s heart.

Because up to this point, he still hadn’t found any kind of map.

Could it be… this game doesn’t have a map system at all?

With some apprehension, he lit the bonfire at the gate and began his Search & Destroy across the High Wall of Lothric.

(One more chapter to come later today… Daily request for recommendation votes and Monthly Pass)

<>