"Uh…that…"
Hades looked at the man in front of him, shirtless, with solid muscles, staring at him warily, as if he was about to stab him with a steel fork the next moment.
If this were an NPC, its expression would be too rich. There was also a 'uncanny valley' effect in games, and to avoid this, YGGDRASIL would not make NPC expressions too rich.
But this man in front of him, in Hades's sight, from his hair to the subtle muscle twitches, was lifelike, which made him feel a chill.
"I want to ask, where is this?" Hades asked the man. If it were in a game, these NPCs would only respond to player inquiries with pre-set lines and actions.
So, after just two exchanges, Hades could roughly know the current situation, whether he was in a virtual world or had arrived in reality.
"Who are you!?" Emmot asked again, his tone involuntarily heavier. His eyes furtively glanced around. Although it was night, the surrounding terrain was flat with no places to hide, so he judged that the young man was alone.
However, this did not allow him to relax his guard. He needed to judge whether the other party was a thief based on the young man's answer.
"Tsk~, so it's a virtual world after all." Hades couldn't help but spit when he heard the man say the same thing. He had already decided to sue the manufacturer of the nano-device he was using.
YGGDRASIL clearly could not disregard the explicit legal provisions and arbitrarily access the real experience function, which was for medical purposes. So, it was highly probable that the device he was currently using had malfunctioned, and it happened to coincide with the game's delayed shutdown, or perhaps it was a prank for the second part's internal beta. These still required further observation.
"What are you talking about?" Emmot was startled, then pushed the steel fork forward and said, "Answer me, who are you? Where are you from?"
"Yes, yes, yes, I'm from 'Midgard,' so, is this 'Helheim'? How do I leave the game now?" Hades said, his tone slightly impatient.
He had things to do tomorrow, and he didn't want to waste any more time here. Saying the keyword "leave the game" would probably trigger the NPC's pre-set dialogue options.
NPCs had fixed templates, and players, in dialogue, could trigger pre-designed dialogue options from NPCs as long as they said the keywords.
Presumably, the operators of YGGDRASIL could not openly trap players in a virtual world; that would be counterproductive to their promotion.
Damn it, how unlucky. He just wanted to log in to bid farewell to his childish but hardworking youth, only to encounter equipment failure and a new game experience event organized by the operator.
But the man's next words made Hades freeze.
"Game? What is that? I don't know what you're talking about, but can you leave? You're not welcome here. If you don't leave now, I'll have to be impolite!"
Emmot didn't know the meaning of the other party's words. In his eyes, this young man was like a fool, babbling words he didn't understand, but that didn't matter; he just needed to drive him away.
"Eh?" Hades stared blankly at the man, a bad feeling suddenly welling up in his heart. The NPC's reaction was somewhat beyond his expectation.
"If you don't want to suffer, then leave here, otherwise I'll show you how powerful my steel fork is!" Emmot gestured twice with the steel fork in his hand.
Judging by his physique, the other party was frail and no match for him. Although the other party didn't seem like a thief, being pestered by a fool was quite a headache.
"Who's outside?"
Just then, a female voice suddenly came from behind Emmot. Then Hades saw a young girl, dressed in thin clothing, peeking out from behind the man.
She had golden hair and brown pupils. In the faint light, her tanned skin was visible. From her appearance, she was not very old.
At this moment, she was curiously looking at Hades, her eyes blinking, appearing very lively.
"Why did you come out, Enri? Get back inside quickly. This guy might be a lunatic." Emmot kept his eyes on Hades while lowering his voice to his daughter, Enri.
Although Emmot deliberately lowered his voice, in the quiet night, even the smallest sound would be heard. Perhaps Emmot didn't care if the other party heard him at all.
"Eh?" Enri looked at Hades in surprise when she heard her father's words, timidly pulling her head back.
Hades stared blankly at the two people in front of him, then suddenly slapped himself hard. The crisp sound of the slap made Emmot and Enri look at each other in dismay.
"Not an NPC?" Hades rubbed his cheek and murmured. He had used almost all his strength in that slap, nearly bringing tears to his eyes. This pain definitely exceeded the 30% real sensation limit of the nano-device.
"Hey, kid, let's be clear, I don't want trouble, and I hope you don't cause any. As long as you leave here, I won't bother you." Emmot nudged his daughter further into the house with his body, his words conveying a warning.
Carne Village had no defensive measures, nor any patrol personnel. Although it was far from the city, it was close to the Tob Forest. Because the village's location was on the edge of the Forest Wise King's sphere of influence, no monsters would come to attack the village.
As for bandits and thieves, there were even fewer, the reason being that there was no profit here, and bandits and thieves also had to consider their costs.
So Emmot, who had almost never encountered such a situation, was far less calm than he appeared on the surface. If he had been experienced, he would not have gone out to check at all.
Seeing that the other party seemed to be retreating back into the house, Hades quickly shouted, "Please wait a moment, I am a traveler who came here from a very distant place."
"Traveler?" Emmot's steps, which were slowly moving towards the house, stopped. He asked, "Do you have anything to prove it?"
"Prove?" Hades thought for a moment and said, "Aren't those gibberish words you thought I was speaking enough proof? Those are greetings from my hometown."
"Hmm? Does that include slapping yourself?" Emmot asked, eyeing Hades suspiciously.
"Uh…that…please don't mind that. That's just my…personal habit." Hades awkwardly rubbed his nose. If even that behavior had to be called a greeting from his hometown, it would be a bit too strange.
But no sooner had Hades finished speaking than Emmot and his daughter Enri simultaneously took a step back, their eyes filled with fear and pity.
"Wait, I mean, this isn't…isn't…uh…it's not my regular behavior…so…please don't misunderstand, I'm a normal person." Hades quickly explained.
Although it was hard to believe, even magical, that slap made Hades certain that even his top-tier nano-virtual device couldn't simulate that kind of pain.
Not to mention Emmot and his daughter's reactions, which showed almost no flaws, completely lacking the stiffness of NPCs. Their expressions, demeanor, and actions were indistinguishable from real people.
And YGGDRASIL absolutely could not have such NPCs.
So…he really came to reality…but…where is this? It doesn't seem like YGGDRASIL, and it's certainly not Earth. If there were still such places on Earth, they would have long been encroached upon and developed by capitalists.