Chapter 496: This Wasn't What I Expected! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

"The Fire Keeper is gone, and the wheelchair old man is gone too. Can't you level up in Bloodborne? This difficulty is too high, isn't it?" Song Ren, having returned to the Hunter's Dream via the lamp, looked around for a bit, feeling a little troubled.

He was full of confidence at first, but after experiencing the hospitality of Yharnam's enthusiastic residents, as well as the greetings from the Brick Wielder and the werewolves, he now truly felt nothing but malice.

First, there were the lamps. These were equivalent to Dark Souls' bonfires, and so far, he had only found two.

One was located at Iosefka's Clinic, and the other in Central Yharnam.

As for the Central Plaza area, he was, after all, an old player who had played many Souls-like games and clearly understood the importance of speedrunning.

So, initially, he died twice in that Central Plaza area, but later, after choosing to just run past, he found that as long as he kept running, it was fine.

Although the villagers in the Central Plaza area were enthusiastic, they weren't enough to kill him.

But when it came to the sewer area, it was different. The Giant Rats on the lower level, the mutated werewolves wielding spears and scythes on the second floor, and the Yharnam villagers shooting from a distance, all gave him a lot of trouble.

His Blood Vials were almost depleted, and if he died carelessly there, all the Blood Echoes he had accumulated would be lost.

Yet, in the game, he still hadn't found the Fire Keeper, and he couldn't level up at the lamp either.

The wheelchair old man who was there at the beginning had also disappeared.

Although his intuition told him that the silent, beautiful doll in the flowerbed should be Bloodborne's Fire Keeper.

He just had no idea how to activate her.

He used the mere five hundred Blood Echoes he had left to buy three Blood Vials from the shop.

Song Ren continued to explore. Of course, the residents he encountered along the way still offered their most sincere greetings.

For example: "Foul beast!" or simply curses.

In any case, their attitude was extremely unfriendly, and it was only because the game didn't have this function that he didn't retaliate.

Otherwise, Song Ren really would have wanted to smash the main gate open with an axe and show them what a Hunter was capable of.

Besides these unfriendly villagers, Song Ren also discovered some quest NPCs similar to Gilbert.

For example, in a room near a Dog Cage Passage, there was an old lady.

When he knocked on her door, she would ask the Hunter if there was any safe place to take refuge.

However, it was clear that Song Ren hadn't progressed to later areas yet, so he could only automatically reply that he didn't know, unable to trigger the quest.

After that, the old lady's words became as harsh as those of the other Yharnam villagers.

Then, following the ladder downwards, passing through a narrow Clock Tower, Song Ren also saw a Crow-attired Female NPC.

This was the second openly friendly NPC Song Ren had encountered in the game, besides the wheelchair old man in the Hunter's Dream.

She advised the Hunter to leave early, because everyone in Yharnam had succumbed to madness. She then gave Song Ren four Bold Hunter's Marks, which allowed him to return to the Hunter's Dream without losing Blood Echoes.

This was different from the regular Hunter's Mark, because the default one was simply frustrating.

Directly losing all Blood Echoes, Song Ren felt that no one would use that thing unless they hadn't bothered to read its description.

After all, if you died to a monster, you could still retrieve them. Using that item would truly send them down the drain.

The Bold Hunter's Mark, however, was clearly much more benevolent.

"Thank you, Sister Crow, though this thing isn't really useful to me right now," Song Ren said gratefully, looking at the Crow-attired NPC before him.

He had to admit, before this, Song Ren had actually been feeling a bit creeped out.

The main reason for this was Bloodborne's art style.

Unlike the previous Dark Souls, even though "Dark" was in its title,

except for areas like the Catacombs and Blighttown,

most of the environments weren't truly dark; they just had a rather bleak, hazy gray feel.

But Bloodborne was entirely different. The entire game's atmosphere felt incredibly oppressive.

For instance, after running past the Central Plaza area, at the fountain where a Brick Wielder was banging on a door, you could hear the screams of a crazed woman and the cries of a baby, which was absolutely unsettling. Coupled with the Gothic architecture and the pointed rooftops of every house in Yharnam, along with the mysterious "blood ministration" at the game's beginning, it created an extremely grim atmosphere.

One could say that at first glance, most players would even mistake it for a horror game, and it felt like you encountered almost no good people in it.

In Dark Souls, when players returned to the Firelink Shrine, there were the Fire Keeper, the Crestfallen Warrior, Ludleth of Courland (who had his legs cut off), and the shop NPCs.

But in Bloodborne, it was truly a dead silence.

Even Gilbert, an NPC relatively friendly to the player, could only be spoken to through a window.

As for the wheelchair old man in the Hunter's Dream, he appeared briefly and then vanished.

So, seeing this Crow-attired Female NPC now truly made Song Ren breathe a sigh of relief.

Silently making a mental note of this Crow-attired Female NPC, Song Ren figured this must be a quest NPC, which was a characteristic of Souls-like games.

That is, there are no useless NPCs; every NPC has their own purpose or story.

Leaving Sister Crow, Song Ren traversed a stairway, taking down a flock of crows with a Whirlwind Attack. Here, he obtained an item: [Madman's Knowledge].

"Huh! Wasn't this item an easter egg from the Nebula World before?" Song Ren was surprised, looking at the glowing skull in his hand.

After a moment of thought, Song Ren crushed it.

Then he saw an eye icon appear on the UI, and the number next to it changed from 0 to 1.

"What is this?" Song Ren was a little confused.

But according to the previous speculation about this item in Nebula World, was this Insight?

When it was high, could he see things that were originally invisible, like NPCs or hidden paths?

Song Ren walked forward, guessing as he went. There was another lit room there, and he could also open a shortcut leading to the first Brick Wielder.

"Now traversing the map will be much more convenient." Looking at the small path, Song Ren breathed a sigh of relief; at least he wouldn't have to go through that eerie sewer anymore.

Next, Song Ren spoke to the NPC in the brightly lit room nearby. Inside was a little girl whose voice sounded very cute, and she wanted Song Ren to help her find her parents.

'Who are you?'

'I do not recognise your voice, but I know this scent...'

'Are you a hunter? Then, will you look for my mum?'

'My daddy went out to hunt and never came back, and my mum went to look for him, but now she hasn't come back either...'

'I'm all alone... and very scared...'

'Thank you. My mum wears a big, beautiful ruby brooch, you're sure to see it.'

'Oh, that's right! If you see my mum, please give her this music box. It plays daddy's favourite song. If daddy forgets us, we play it for him, and he remembers.'

'Mum is silly, she forgot to bring this music box when she left!'

"Don't worry, little sister, I'll help you find your dad." Looking at the music box in his hand, Song Ren accepted the quest.

"Next, I should go back and buy some Blood Vials. I had bad luck this round and didn't get many drops," Song Ren muttered, looking at his dwindling supply of Blood Vials. He thought about it and decided to use a Bold Hunter's Mark directly.

After all, he was currently carrying nearly three thousand Blood Echoes, and if he lost them, he'd be heartbroken for quite a while.

Switching to the Bold Hunter's Mark, Song Ren used it immediately.

However, upon returning to the Hunter's Dream, Song Ren was surprised to find that the abandoned doll, which had been lying in the flowerbed, was now alive.

"Huh? This doll is alive? I can level up now!" Song Ren exclaimed in surprise after initiating dialogue. At the same time, on the ground beside the doll, he found two items: [Beckoning Bell] and [Silencing Blank].

These were clearly items used to summon NPCs, similar to those in Dark Souls.

"So, I activated this by using the Madman's Knowledge? Oh, Old Zhang probably doesn't know yet, he's still suffering!" As a veteran Souls-like player, Song Ren quickly figured out the reason. Then, thinking of something, he chuckled and proactively connected to Old Zhang's voice chat.

"Old Zhang, Old Zhang, do you know how to level up, how to revive the doll?" Clearing his throat, Song Ren said in a very calm tone, while his heart swelled with glee.

Beg me! Beg me, and I'll tell you!

"Of course, I know. You just need to gain some Insight, right? Have you beaten that Cleric Beast BOSS yet? That BOSS is a bit tough. Even though it's weak to fire, the bridge is too narrow. I couldn't even beat it with Father Gascoigne! And that Father NPC is such a wimp! He seems to go wild like a mad dog attacking everyone, but his damage is ridiculously low!" Zhang Yi's voice came through the voice channel.

Song Ren, standing in front of the doll, froze.

This wasn't what he expected!

It seemed... Old Zhang knew more than he did!

(End of Chapter) <>