Everything at the end of the line of sight was very dim, as if you were in a narrow and cramped wall.

Or rather, a narrow passage wrapped in darkness and earth, twisted and skewed.

However, in this dim and narrow passage, there are a pair of eyes that seem to condense the essence of light, like soybeans, with a beard dotted underneath.

It was a palm-sized rat with dark gray hair, a bulging belly, a slender tail, and a greenish mushroom in its mouth.

Then, under Bernie's silent gaze, the rat staggered along the dirt passage into a relatively spacious burrow.

The cave was very small, the size of a flower pot, but there were many items piled up in it, including straw, wooden blocks, stones, and a small piece of iron that I didn't know where to go.

The most obvious of these are four small mice entangled with each other on the straw and a mother mouse, the female mouse looks a little weak, the little mouse has not yet grown hair, and when she sees the big mouse running in, she begins to chirp.

So the big dark gray rat leaned over, carefully placed the mushroom in his mouth on the straw where he was, and arched his head inward.

The mother mouse lying there was much more energetic, and she rolled over and got up and ran to the mushroom to nibble, dragging a few cubs behind her.

But a mushroom seemed to fill its stomach, so the big dark gray mouse, after shaking its forelimbs, magically conjured another slightly smaller one, then a third, and then a fourth......

One of the four little mice seemed to think that the mushroom was delicious, so he broke away from the mother mouse and came over, and the big mouse saw this skillfully "reprimanded", and the little one ran back reluctantly.

The order of the cave ** was thus maintained, and the dark gray rat half leaned against the wall of the exit, and conjured a mushroom and gnawed it.

So the subtle gnawing sound sounded rhythmically one after another, and five mice of all sizes gathered in this narrow hole** and ate happily for a while, and the overall atmosphere was also very harmonious.

If you don't take into account the line of nicknames that float on the head of the big mouse......

Bernie was lost in thought.

While some of the players' mentality can be understood, this seems to be one of the strange players?

Thoughtfully, he watched as the rat finished eating the mushrooms and ran to another spacious "barn" next to the cave, and then took out more than a dozen mushrooms one after another and put them in it, and then rushed out to pick the mushrooms......

Bernie withdrew from this voyeuristic perspective and sat in the cabin in the Black Mist World and groaned.

The presence of players is destined to bring chaos and impact on the worldview of these "NPCs".

But chaos is only relative, for the existing order, chaos is not beneficial, but for some people or forces who want to do things, chaos is an opportunity.

So even though there aren't many players yet, Bernie has decided to bolster a force of players to support his plans.

It's just that not every player seems to be suitable for helping......

Thinking so, he recalled what he had seen and heard during this time, and then raised his hand to open the black book on the table, and wrote a line on it—

[Apply to add "Little Donkey Baa" as a friend]

……

The name is a sow player that Bernie saw the other day when he was passing by the village called Maurier, and Bernie hadn't even thought about the player at the time.

Now that I have a mind, I naturally plan to get in touch with it.

It's a pity that after waiting for a long time, what I waited for was a refusal reply-

[Player "Little Donkey Baa" rejects your friend application and leaves a message: You sand sculptures!] Stop bothering me! Still laughing at me? There are times when you guys are unlucky!! ]

Bernie was stunned when he saw this, and felt as if he had encountered some trouble.

But he didn't bother to think about it, turned his wrist, and continued to write a sentence on the page with a quill - [Apply to add the player's "most dazzling ethnic style" as a friend]

This was the highest-ranking player in Bernie's memory, and in his mind, the player should have some level of professionalism.

Things went quite smoothly, and it didn't take long for the other party to agree to the application.

Then before Bernie could take action, the other party sent a message-

"Advertisers, please add the penguin account on the anchor's Kuaishou Douyin or Weibo profile to talk in detail, and apply to join, please deduct 1."

“？”

"I said brother, what do you mean by sending a question mark? Do you want to join or don't want to join? Or don't you know what buddies do? ”

“？”

"No, no, no? You don't even know what buddies do, so you add buddies as friends?? ”

“……”

"Well, what a chicken wasting time...... The brothers are now preparing a professional team to shoot short videos in this game, and the internal beta players can apply unconditionally, and after the review is passed, we can prepare the copywriting plot venue and so on, and then make money and discuss the points. ”

……

"Why didn't you reply brother? We are now filming a short video of the second senior brother series, full of explosive points, destined to be popular, if you want to get in the car, hurry up, after this village, you won't-"

……

Turn the pages of the black book, so that the player who is still nagging is "sealed" behind the pages.

Bernie was a little confused.

Did he think that the earth had developed too fast in the years he had "left"?

Why can't you keep up with these people's train of thought at all......

Isn't it popular to play the game by fighting monsters and leveling up to do quests anymore?

I guess the number of players I contacted is too small.

With this in mind, Bernie looked back at the first page of the Black Book, the page that represented the cute fairy of Ben.

I don't know more player nicknames for the time being, and with limited choices, it seems that this one is still the most reliable.

Besides, there is indeed one thing he needs in the other party's current environment.

So Bernie thought about it and sent a message to the other party with a game vest -

"I see you."

The phrase was written on parchment and paused for two seconds, then faded to show that it had been successfully sent to the other party.

However, it took about two minutes or so for the other party to reply.

"Huh? I thought you gave up. ”

"What?"

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm talking nonsense. Hey, I'm a little busy right now, I'll talk about it next time. ”

Is feeding rats that busy?

Bernie was a little speechless, and then wrote straight to the point: "I'm a mouse now, and then I saw you walking by with a mushroom in your mouth. ”

"Is it such a coincidence?" Now the other party can almost say in seconds, "Where are you?" ”

"I don't know where I'm going, it's complicated."

Bernie replied, "I've been around here since the game started, and it's been days, and I still haven't figured it out." ”

"Then you're really unlucky, but it's okay, we can always meet again."

After saying this, the other party was silent again.

Bernie rolled his eyes and didn't reply, but waited silently.

Sure enough, after a while, the other party suddenly took the initiative to send him a message.

"Hey, wait, little brother, have you been hanging around here for a few days?"

Bernie didn't reply, and began to wait quietly.

"Is the little brother there?"

It didn't take a few seconds for the other party to send another message, then the second sentence, the third sentence.

"Are you there?"

"Are you there?"

"Are you there, little brother?"

"Remember to come back to me when you see it!"

"You're going to dinner?"

“……”

This one is obviously an impatient, but it doesn't seem like she's ignoring the task.

With a slight wink, Bernie replied, "Yes, I've been here since the game started. Also, I'm 37 years old. ”

"Ah...... Hello uncle. The other side didn't seem to expect this at all, but the words that followed the reply were much smoother,

"Uncle, have you seen a black jar in this place? The jar wrapped in chains, black, should be special. ”

"I've seen it, but I've forgotten which direction I'm in."

Bernie replied, "But I remember it was a place with a lot of war murals, and there were fewer mushrooms around, but there were some vines growing and ......"

He said a lot of details that were common to the core of such ruins, and the other party excitedly said several words of thanks, and then went silent.

Apparently can't wait to find this place.

Bernie was relieved a little by this.

It seems that this person does not like to do tasks, but he has no clue about them......

After reflecting on his mistake in this matter, Bernie decided to be more detailed the next time he posted the mission.

Then let's also mention the quest rewards.

Writing down some of his experiences with the player on a nearby piece of scratch paper, Bernie then looked at the palm-sized gold-rimmed wooden box next to his desk.

The task he gave to the fairy involved the observation lens in the box, or rather, what he wanted was a special liquid that kept the lens alive.

Powerful observation capabilities do not come without a price, not only are they expensive to use, but the lenses themselves are also less "durable" with each use.

And the sequence in the player's body is a very complex thing, and it takes a lot of time for him to observe it every time.

As a result, lenses that were thought to last for a while are now a bit precarious......

Raising his hand to open the wooden box, Bernie looked inside, the round lens in the box was more cracked than the last time, but it looked like it would last a few observations.

Bernie then removes the monocle from the bridge of his nose and prepares to replace them with lenses and go to observe the player.

What he was going to observe was a sequence involving the transmission of items, and if it worked, Bernie guessed that he wouldn't have to perform a ritual every time he collected an item from the Black Mist World.

And this may be a great help in engaging with the player-

Speaking of which, even though a quest has been released to the player, if the other party completes the quest, Bernie may not be able to reward her.

It's not about paying bills, it's about teleporting or collecting items over the air, which can only be done with rituals.

However, the player is now unable to speak, and it is clear that the ritual cannot be performed.

……

Bernie's plan didn't go smoothly, because he was in the middle of changing his lenses when there was a sudden knock behind him, as if someone was knocking on the door.

Bernie was stunned, then turned his head to see that it was one of the puppets in the bottom row of the shelves.

It was a little girl puppet, the size of a palm, wearing a garland on her head and wearing a skirt.

Now he was sitting there, his bony arm raised and tapping on the plank of the shelf next to him.

The meaning of this is actually very clear -

Someone was contacting him.

And he was not a stranger, but an apostle with whom he had made a covenant.

So after thinking about it, Bernie bent down and held it in his hand.

Then before he could make any other moves, the little puppet in his hand that looked like a diamond horn suddenly squirmed and opened its mouth-

"Good morning, my dear master."

It looks like a puppet, but the voice it makes is like a little girl with a crisp voice, and at the same time she calls the master, but her tone seems a little naughty.

"What's the matter?"

Bernie asked, placing it on the desk in front of him, and the girl puppet bent down on the table and bowed to him.

Then he said with a straight look: "I'm sorry to disturb you, master, but I need to make it clear that if you don't do anything else, your humble servant Catherine may be arrested and beheaded in a short time." ”

"You're exposed?" Bernie frowned.

"I'm embarrassed to say that."

The girl puppet crouched on the desk with her hands crossed over her chest, and replied with a pitiful look, "But...... Yes, they already sensed that something was wrong. ”

Her tender appearance made Bernie can't help but raise his eyebrows, but he didn't hesitate to reply in the affirmative.

"Wait patiently, you won't die."

"Really?"

Hearing this, the puppet crossed his hands, and his expression was instantly full of hope, "Thank you to the great Lun—no, thank you to the great Morning Star, thank you—"

Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by a brain collapse by Bernie, and with the crisp sound of tapping, the vivid puppet instantly lost its luster and collapsed weakly on the desk with inertia.

Obviously, the "person" in the puppet has been bounced away.

Bernie shook his head helplessly, then put it back in place, and looked at the other puppets in the area.

There are about twenty puppets in a row at the bottom of the item shelf, but most of them have fallen apart and broken.

The freshest of them all was a stocky monk with a round face and a square chin, the wooden shell of his chest already cracked.

……

At the same time, somewhere in a dark room extremely far away from Bernie's location, Catherine slowly opened her eyes.

Thinking back to the deep and dark eyes in the endless black mist, and then looking at the girl puppet with a wreath in her hand, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up, revealing a hint of a smile.

But the smile then retracted from her face, and when she stood up and pushed open the secret door to the outside world, Catherine's expression had returned to seriousness and dignity.

Beyond the secret door is a magnificent gallery made entirely of white jade, with rows of windows on the left side covered with precious velvet curtains and thin silver filigree veils, and on the other side hung pieces of exquisite brocade intertwined with black, red, white and gold.

Knights duel, command wars, participate in sacred scriptures, slay demons...... The sacred scenes woven on the tapestry are fascinating.

And if you look closely, you can find that the protagonists depicted in these tapestries are basically a red golden sun on their chests or on the flags.

This is obviously the exclusive coat of arms of a certain family.

In fact, the impact and deterrence of this coat of arms outside the building is very far-reaching, but at this time, the people in the corridor are too familiar to ignore it.

Catherine was walking through the corridor at the moment, her footsteps on the soft white velvet carpet, silent, but enough to attract the attention of the maids around her.

"Good morning, Your Majesty." One after another, people greeted her.

"You are so beautiful today, Your Majesty the Queen."

"Need morning tea for you?"

……