While still chopping wood for over an hour, I’ve once again arrived at the realization that will probably haunt me for the rest of my life.

This game is super amazing, isn’t it?

It’s almost unreal to think that a world like this is completely full of detail at every corner. This village is no different than some of the documentaries I’ve watched about real life people living in various places around the world, like in rural villages. There are so many types of objects and items everywhere, and they’re almost all interactive. But, most insane of all is how this is just one little area of a massive world.

I know that for the people who are operating this game on their PC, the requirements for running it well are high. But even then, even with modern technology, how is something like my specialized console or another PC able to run this game so well in such high performance alongside picturesque graphical settings turned on…especially when there is constant real time movement and actions being performed by a huge amount of AI and player characters all over the Overworld! I should have expressed this earlier, but this is pretty much the closest simulation of reality that I can think of. Even if the developers aren’t intending to provide a very realistic experience.

Chopping wood, chopping wood, chopping wood…

Renes still hasn’t come back. And it’s already been over an hour. Is it because it’s difficult to find anyone that can help? Anyways, I should expect seeing some new enemy AI characters appearing anytime soon. Come to think of it, I haven’t ever fought anything in this game before, except a training dummy. I wonder how I’ll fair against the Marauders.

*A while later*

Still chopping wood! I keep checking my character’s attribute level, and it’s certainly risen pretty high! I’ve also noticed my level increasing to level 2 on my status screen, but there wasn’t any sound which indicating it when that had happened. Amulet doesn’t seem any different than before after leveling.

*Another while later*

What is this. What is this game even... I’ve been playing for around 3 hours by now, but all I’ve done so far was walk from the starting town to this village. Then I’ve basically been chopping wood ever since, well it’s my fault for choosing to grind.

It truly is a somewhat boring experience, but it has been also a weirdly sublime experience so far. Indeed this is peaceful and simple moment i'm having, watching my strength attribute level increase slowly. At least I get to occasionally see other players pass by this village, usually jumping or speeding through it. They didn’t even stop by to check for any quests! Don’t you know this village is going to get robbed in broad daylight? They didn’t even bother to observe an idiot like me grinding wood… I guess who would. I look like an NPC.

Maybe this is one of the least exciting activities this game has to offer. At least I’m gaining something from it. Hey Fate-Fan, you don’t achieve something "great" overnight y’know!

A shout can be heard from the other side of the village.

“Everyone, I see the band of Marauders approaching!”

“Quickly, hide the kids.”

“Did you make sure to hide some of your grain under the floor?”

“…will Renes come back in time?”

Well, I guess it’s happening.

Ah, the lady called Allee is approaching me.

Allee: “What are you doing? Are you prepared? The Marauders are arriving you know…and Renes isn’t back yet!”

Let’s pick the tough-guy response option!

MC: “Let them come, we’re the ones waiting for them, so there’s no need to rush.”

Allee: “What are you on about?! Whatever…I better hurry and make sure the elders are fine…”

When a player picks a response from the dialogue window, it’s always said in written text format. There isn’t much voice acting done for a player’s character, but the NPCs are often voice acted. Not all the time and not all of them, but I believe 50% to 70% of the time there is voice acting done. When there isn't done, then it's written in text format just like the player's. Just now, I chose a tough-guy response to Allee’s question. Of course, my character doesn’t have a voice to say their response themselves…but I do! Reading that response out loud has honestly made me feel pretty cool just now. But...i'm not.

However, the main reason to why I picked that choice was because I of course want to keep chopping wood! I just need to chop more wood, increase my strength and stamina attribute levels as much as possible. Before I start facing off the Marauders with this same woodcutting axe.

*Everyone is shuffling around in the village center*

Looks like the adult villagers, who are mostly old people and young to middle-aged women, are currently standing in the center inharmoniously greeting the Marauders who’ve just arrived. At least the villagers have their tools next to them just in case they need to fight.

Let’s see who these Marauders are…

There are…10 men who are all lightly armored. Some of them don’t even have shirts on. But they have long clubs and hammers in their hands or attached to their sides. Scary men…hmm, what’s this? They also have a prisoner behind their group. This person seems to look like a Snowmel. They're in chains being pulled by one of the Marauders. I can’t see their face very well because they’re wearing some sort of unique robe with a hood attached which is covering part of their head.

Ah, clearly the largest man, a dark-skinned Lumen with a fine long moustache, is the boss of this band. He’s stepped up to the center of the village and is inspecting the supplies with only his eyes. He grins. All the villagers are silently observing.

Marauder Boss: “Haha! This is a great amount of booty we got here lads. Mr. and Ms. Villagers! You should be proud to have harvested and collected all this good food and supplies, for us, your dear friends. A worthy tribute from a bountiful village such as this. Fit for a king! Lads, grab them carts.”

A few Marauder goons head to the backside of the village, which is the direction where they first arrived from.

Is this a good time to strike? Maybe it’s for the best if I just let them take the goods. I said I would protect this village, but I could have simply meant that I will protect the villagers in case the Marauders try anything violent. Not protect all these resources.

What level are they anyways? I can’t see their character descriptions from this distance; I’ll just have to get closer. A bit closer… Am I being too suspicious right now? They aren’t looking at me yet, maybe I’ll make a distraction to give myself an opportunity to come closer without angering them. I’ll grab some of this firewood I’ve been chopping and present it as more tribute to them.

The Marauder Boss is glancing at me.

I should say something out loud, so he doesn’t get concerned.

MC: “Oh no! I dropped the firewood.”

Good…I’ve managed to drop some of the firewood which rolled closer to the Marauders, I’m now closer to them than when I was near the crowd of villagers who are bundled up together currently. Strength in unity!

Marauder Boss: “Hmm?”

Out of the corner of my eye I see Allee’s face full of so much concern that it looks like she’s heating up.

Oh- a dialogue window appeared with the Marauder Boss!

[Stop this at once!]

[Leave now and you won’t die]

[Who are you? What do you want?]

[I have also brought some more tribute to you!]

[Have you heard of a Divine Spirit before? Well, you’re looking at one right now]

[*Immediately attack the Marauders*]

I just realized something. If I could facepalm myself right now, I would, but I can’t because I have the headset on.

Since the AI in this game is so advanced, I assumed saying “Oh no! I dropped the firewood” out loud in voice chat using my microphone would’ve had an effect on the AI. But of course, it didn’t! I’m pretty sure the AI can’t understand or even use the information whenever a player speaks in voice chat. If they could, then there wouldn’t have been a need for dialogue options! This dialogue window appeared simply because I got close to the Marauder Boss.

But I’m so thankful that one of the dialogue responses is exactly what I wanted to do anyways.

MC: “I have also brought some more tribute to you!”

He’s look at what I’m holding.

Marauder Boss: “Firewood? Kale, do we have extra space?”

Kale: “Nah boss.”

Marauder Boss: “You heard him; we don’t need that junk. There’s plenty of firewood around everywhere. “

Hee… hee… hee…you see, that was never my intention! You’ve fallen into my trap, kinda.

This was all done so I could double tap you and see what your character information is!

Hmm, it tells me he’s part of the “Criminal/Rebel” faction, well I guess in his case it’s his lifestyle.

Let’s see… It doesn’t tell me how much HP you have or if you could use magic or not. I assume you cannot.

It does tell me you are level 3. However, according to what WiseMaster667 said, it sounds like levels aren’t necessarily a good display/indicator of power.

Just to be sure, I’m checking the character descriptions of all the other Marauders near me. Yup, they are all part of the “Criminal/Rebel” faction, and all of these men are level 1 instead of level 3.

So, as expected the Marauder Boss is likely the strongest character. What do I do? I have the advantage of a surprise attack since I can just instantly take out my newly acquired woodcutting axe out of my inventory and immediately strike at him. He doesn’t seem to be on his guard, but who knows, he could actually react quickly because he might be something like a professional duelist. And if I fail to put him down, then all these Marauders might start attacking the rest of the village. Huh…what should I do?

I don’t have much time to decide. I’ve already picked up all the firewood that I dropped earlier on the ground. And the few marauders who left to grab their wagons must be already pulling them back here.

I’m actually fairly confident that I can beat the Marauder Boss since he's only level 3. But I don’t know how good these AI characters are at reacting to attacks and fighting in general. In reality, I'd get beaten up by them easily since they all seem to live this kind of dangerous life every day. Unlike me, who is currently spending all day geeking over this game. I also don't think I’ll be able to fight them all at once if they immediately start attacking me back, unlike the fight scenes in those martial arts movies I’ve seen!

But, if I do launch a surprise attack, maybe the villagers will help? Can I really rely on these old people and women villagers? I mean, most of them are farmers from this Overworld! They also live much harder lives than I do in the real world. Plus, they already have some metal tools equipped. So, maybe these villagers are capable, and are already prepared to fight back at any needed moment.

Perhaps all these Marauders aren’t directly raiding this village right away because they know that they do not have enough numbers to attempt a full-scale battle against the villagers. So, they are instead resolving to intimidation tactics instead. Maybe there more of these Marauders lurking elsewhere. But if this big guy is definitely their boss, then if I manage to take down their boss quick enough, it might instantly weaken the confidence of their entire group. Which will surely turn the tide of the battle into my favor. Besides having observed the Marauder Boss, now that I'm looking more closely at some of these Marauders, I see that they’re all wearing loose armor and clothing. More importantly, many of these men are skinny and have weakened looking bodies.

If my detective skills are right... then I should be able to win this fight! My chances don't seem so low now, it might be worth the risk.

Hey! Hold on. Isn’t this exactly what video games are ALL ABOUT?

Doing something amazingly brave and exciting… things which I wouldn’t ever be able to do in the real world, is now instead possible for me to do in this fantasy game!

I’ve made up my mind! I’m very sorry if some of you villagers do die. Hopefully, you don’t feel any actual pain or are sentient or anything like that. I’m simply playing a game after all…the concept of “You Only Live Once” doesn’t apply to me here!

At this moment, it’s risk for reward!