It didnât take Ayra long to realize that the atmosphere in the village seemed solemn. Walking along the roads, he encountered a sobbing woman surrounded by people trying to comfort her. As he moved closer, the young lord saw several dazed people lying prone on the ground. His steps naturally acceleratedâsomething bad had definitely happened in this village.
Right at this moment, someone called out to Ayra. Two villagers approached the young lord, wary at the sudden appearance of an outsider. They had shovels in their hands, their faces were haggard, and appeared openly hostile. âWho are you? Why have you come here?â
Seizing this fortuitous chance, Ayra asked politely, âAh, Iâm someone dispatched from the Lordâs castle. Something seems off in this village, did something distressing happen?â
Their response was very enthusiastic and exuberant. The villagers, with all wariness wiped from their faces, looked pleased and dragged Ayra into the fold. âAh, really?! You were dispatched by the Lord? Aigoo, 1 what a relief. Letâs gather our village elders first. This way, please.â
Ayra was guided forward and followed the villagers; Pebble, which usually hid on Ayraâs body, traveled to the back of his hand and manifested a new system window.
[Letâs save the citizens in crisis.]
Reward: the Merchantâs return, Rising support
This quest window really reminded the young lord of a game. Though, if this reality were really a game, its ratings would definitely be at rock-bottomâŠ
First of all, the merchant, fortunately, seemed to be physically alright, since his return was a reward for this quest. After walking for about 10 minutes, they finally arrived at their destinationâthe village outskirts. Ayraâs face hardened as he took in his surroundings.
âJust as expected, the avalanche hit here too.â
Ayra could see villagers desperately calling out names as they shoveled futilely at the vast blanket of snow on the ground. It was clear that there were people buried underneath. The denizens that guided Ayra here shouted out and rushed to an old man. âRevered elder! Revered elder! Someone from the Lordâs castle came here!â
At that shout, the people that were shoveling so hard their faces turned dark red from the bite of the cold turned their gazes towards Ayra. When they heard that the young mage was a delegate, their faces brightened for a brief moment. However, their expressions soon darkened once more after they took in Ayraâs slender appearance.
The old man rushed to give his greetings, but Ayra cut him off, âWhat happened here?â
At first glance, it seemed like an emergencyâthere must be villagers buried alive by the snow. However, it would be better to hear a brief explanation before moving forward.
According to the elder, a huge avalanche had recently buried the village and killed many residents. In order to recover goods and materials alongside the bodies, the villagers had been trying to clear away snow and rubble whenever they had the chance.
And, three hours earlier, a deafening roar had sounded out. Everyone evacuated in a hurry, but nothing happened, so they went back to work, relieved. Unfortunately, what the roar heralded was a delayed avalanche, and many folks were swept away.
âSo, many people have already been crushed to death?â
Why was the return of the merchant reward for the quest? Ayraâs face froze as he checked the quest window again.
[Letâs save the citizens in crisis.]
Reward: the Merchantâs return, Rising support
He was sure the quest stated that there were 9 people to save earlier, but that number had dropped by one during the short walk here. Even now, the people were likely to be dying by the minute. Even though the residents were shoveling hard at the snow, the expanse was just too vast. They couldnât figure out exactly where the folks were buried.
âMy search magic cannot cover such a wide range, and itâll be hard to keep it activated for a long time⊠But Iâll try to save at least one person for now.â
With that thought, Ayra stepped forward and paused.
âWait, do I really need to use search magic?â Doesnât he have magic thatâs more efficient and versatile? He needed something that he could sustain for a long time⊠He had delayed his level up quest for this exact scenarioâhis choice of reward stats was clear.
Ayra immediately pulled up the elderâs stat window.
âHurry, hurryâplease contact the castle. We need more people to clear the snow.â The impatient elder stomped his feet and urged the young mage.
Ayra raised his hands to stop him. There were five seconds left now. âYes, of course. Please wait one moment.â
âAigoo, every minute and second countsâweâre short hours right now! 2 We canât afford to procrastinate here!â
As the frustrated village elder knocked on his chest impatiently, Ayra maintained the elderâs stat window for the necessary five seconds. A notification window popped up before his eyes.
[Letâs open another stat category.]
*Accumulated Stat Window Use time (12/12 hours)
*Check two stat windows simultaneously (100/100)
*Check three stat windows simultaneously (30/30)
Reward: Open one stat category designated by the User.
[GM spirit is now level 3!]
[Please choose which stat to reveal as your quest reward.]
HP MP Physical Attack Magical Attack Update stat details (However, this requires you to be at level 5 or higher.)
Though a list of reward stat categories had appeared, Ayra made his selection without giving it a single glance.
First, he had to save the survivors who needed emergency careâand he could sort them in order of increasing health. For these means, the HP stat was the most useful category.
It took a long while to load the specified number of stat windowsâmade even more difficult by the fact that the area was larger than the young lordâs field of view. As the stat windows popped up in groups of 2 and 3, Ayraâs complexion became somewhat gray as an incomparable amount of mana had been sucked away from his reserves.
The people shoveling the snow gradually adopted fiercer expressions, for the supposed representative from the Lordâs castle seemed to be simply looking around. Ignoring their sharp gazes, Ayra silently waited with his arms folded across his chest.
As time passed, someone finally could not suppress his rage any further. The man threw away his shovel and stomped towards the young lord, right as the stat windows finished loading.
Eight stat windows popped up over the vast snow field.
âHey! Why are you just looking around? If youâre not going to help, get out of here!â The villager, charging up with a pointed finger, suddenly hesitated. He hadnât expected Ayra to suddenly move and pick up the shovel he had thrown away. The young mage walked towards the stat window only he could see.
While the other denizens at least had HP in the double digits, Sansaraâs had already fallen to the single digits. A clumsy maneuver with the shovel had dropped it further down to a meager 6. Ayra urgently beckoned at the villagers, âThereâs someone buried here! Come and dig them out!â
Surprised at those words, the villagers rushed in with their shovels. They moved very swiftlyâas befitting those whoâd lived in a snowy area all their lives. At approximately the 1-meter mark, someoneâs paleâalmost blueâface appeared.
A cacophony of cheers and sobs rang out, âSansara! Sansara, wake up!â
âWait a moment, weâll get you out right now!â
Fortunately, once the villagerâs face was exposed, their HP was able to recover a little as they were no longer deprived of oxygen. Therefore, it was possible to rescue them safely. However, seven more denizens were still buried. Ayra compared the rate at which the survivorâs HP fell and designated the next rescue target. This one was urgent as wellâtheir HP was at 16.
âWhoâs the best at shoveling?â The young lord shouted, âPlease, quickly get over here!â
The denizens, doubtful yet hopeful, dug at the spot Ayra pointed to and followed along without another word. A glimmer of hope appeared on the denizensâ frozen faces. Ayra clicked his tongue at the sight of their desperate shoveling.
âIf I hadnât dallied, would I have been able to save at least one more person?â
Ayra suddenly felt a pang of remorse over the death of that ninth villager, but he soon shook that thought off. Thereâs nothing he could do about those who had already died. They had to concentrate on those who were still living.
âBut, itâs strange. How are these people still so full of life?â
There were only three people left to rescue. However, those people somehow still had HP in the triple digits. Furthermore, unlike the others who could be reached without much shoveling, these people were buried deeply and required much more than a minute of digging.
Soon afterwards, Ayra realized something. âNo wayâŠthe people who were supposedly buried a while ago are still alive?â
It wasnât luck that the current surviving residentsâthose the villagers had already dug upâwere found after a little bit of shoveling. In fact, while digging deeper into the snow, they found the bodies of the deceased.
However, to think that the people, including the merchant, that were buried about a week ago were still aliveâŠ
TL: HP is our next stat opened! Honestly, I would have been impulsive and opened a stat as soon as I got the reward rather than waiting to see what stat would have been most useful. I guess thatâs why I should definitely not transmigrateâamong other things like no internet!!!
Korean exclamation expression similar to the English expressions âOh! â âOh Dear! â , âOh My! â, âOh My God! The original Korean is âWe donât have an hourââitâs the same saying as âevery minute and second counts. However, I decided to smoosh together both the localization and the original wording for clarityâŠand because itâs nice to see what the original sayings are like.