The Survival Rules of NPCs

Chapter 2: Advanced Intelligence

"The gods guided you to me, so I naturally know you." Bright straightened his back. Unable to figure out the other party's background, he could only try to test the waters by pretending to be a charlatan.

"Divine guidance?" Wang Gou Dan was stunned. Wasn't it a mistake on my part that I was hit by the Demon Hunter Knight's roar at close range, was controlled for a second, and then killed?

If I had reacted faster and slid away, I would have escaped successfully. Damn it, who would have thought that there would be two extraordinary professions in such a remote and godforsaken place!

"Please sit down, you chosen by the gods. Should I call you... um... Ms. Dog Egg?" Bright sat down without paying attention, glancing at the red dagger the other woman was playing with. That thing was clearly not an ordinary weapon. The intelligence said that the city lord's heir's condition had worsened, most likely because of this dagger. Most importantly, he confirmed that this thing was not there when he examined the body earlier. Now it had appeared out of nowhere, which was very much in line with the characteristics of that type of person.

"Could there be some hidden quest in this godforsaken place?" The other person sat down lazily, muttering, "But the system didn't give any quest prompts..."

The sound was faint, but Bright heard it clearly and immediately tensed up. This time, it was definitely him!

"I have three mission reports here. Take a look and see if you're interested?" Bright smiled, pretending not to hear the system the other party mentioned.

"Tell me about it." Gou Dan asked casually, twirling the dagger in his hand. If the other party wasn't of much use, he would just take care of him later. How could they have made his corpse look like that? This game is really twisted!

"Because of your assassination, a series of reactions have occurred in the city, affecting the nerves of all major powers. First, the chief prosecutor, Claire, took the opportunity to try a well-known old nobleman in the city in order to establish the authority of the prosecutor. During this time, he has been secretly keeping a close eye on the movements of other nobles in the city. The Minister of the Interior, Allen, originally wanted to send a letter out during the banquet, but now he is in an even more passive position. If you can help send this letter, you will receive a considerable reward."

"Oh?" Wang Gou Dan's eyes lit up as he carefully examined the other party. It seemed that the other party was not simple. If he was just an ordinary corpse collector, he would not have such information. In addition, he could call him by name. Could he really be an NPC with a hidden quest?

"The second piece of information is that there is a member of the Blood Cult in the Holy Stone City Knights. Finding him might yield unexpected results," Bright said ambiguously.

"The Blood Cult?" Wang Gou Dan stroked his chin and nodded. Those that did not become mainstream cults were more extreme. The Blood Cult was an extremely extreme type. Once discovered, they would be executed. However, because the Blood Cult was often very tempting, there were always people who could not resist being bewitched into joining the cult. It was also one of the places in the game data where there was the best chance to obtain extraordinary clues.

This intelligence is valuable!

Seeing the other party's satisfied expression, Bright nodded slightly, looking calm. The bishop of Holy Stone City was a member of the Sun Cult, which was extremely xenophobic. Once it was discovered that the people of the territory had any connection with a foreign religion, they would all be burned at the stake in front of the public, regardless of the reason!

As an ordinary person, I certainly wouldn't dare to easily violate religious laws, but I wouldn't dare to do that. These players who can resurrect from their corpses would. If I could sneak around and get some extraordinary clues, it might be a chance to turn my life around.

"Anything else?" Wang Gou Dan asked quickly.

"The reward you receive next in the Heart of the Forest is a trap!"

"What??"

Wang Gou Dan couldn't stay calm for a moment and stood up excitedly!

"Don't get agitated, Ms. Dog Egg." Bright regained control of the situation, calmly tapping the worn-out tabletop. "The Heart of the Forest is just an unknown, backwater cult. Such secretive organizations are inherently risky. Didn't you have any doubts when you accepted the mission?"

Wang Gou Dan stared intently at Bright, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty!

The reward for the Heart of the Forest is a clue about the Shadowsong Assassin's extraordinary abilities, which is why I came to this godforsaken place from Mirandil. Currently, only two players have successfully changed to extraordinary classes in the player channel, and if you include the hidden ones, you can probably count them on one hand.

He had traveled thousands of miles for this extraordinary clue and spent a lot of money to buy equipment and intelligence. He never expected that he would be told that there was a problem with the extraordinary clue when the mission was about to be completed.

Are you messing with me?

"Whether it's true or not, you can test me then. My information is guaranteed to be true!"

"Really?" Wang Gou Dan calmed himself down, sat down again, and after thinking for a moment, asked, "Regarding the task you mentioned earlier concerning the Minister of the Interior, what will be the reward you give upon completion?"

Bright was immediately embarrassed. What kind of thinking did these players have? He then said very seriously, "You've got it backwards!"

"Forehead?"

"As payment for providing intelligence, you must give me twenty percent of any reward after the mission is completed!"

"Huh?" Wang Gou Dan's beautiful cat eyes widened. This NPC was really interesting. It was the first time she had ever heard of receiving a reward from an NPC after accepting a quest.

"You can try not to give it," Bright said calmly, "but without credibility, you will no longer be eligible to be selected, and I will no longer provide any useful information..."

Wang Gou Dan stared blankly at the other person for a long time before finally getting up and leaving the incinerator without saying yes or no.

Brett finally breathed a long sigh of relief long after the other person had left.

This world is incredibly despairing. Under the constraints of social status, it's impossible for ordinary people to rise above their circumstances, and even improving their lives is difficult. Upper-class professions such as doctors, lawyers, and scholars are monopolized by nobles and controlled by divine power, making it even harder to rise above their status than the Nine-Rank System in ancient China.

If I want to change my identity as a corpse collector, only a noble's seal can do it, but why would they help me? The power of each noble's seal is limited, and the higher the profession, the more divine power it consumes. I have heard that the Viscount Hall family in the South District once sold a doctor's identity when they were down on their luck. A group of merchants rushed to bid for it, and the identity of just a doctor was driven up to a thousand gold nars!

Of course, this is understandable. A professional identity can be passed down to future generations. Buying it is a matter of benefiting one's descendants for generations to come. When a businessman spends a lot of money to buy it, it is not for his own career change, but to ensure that his descendants can also inherit this respectable profession. Having more options is something that only the rich can afford to consider. For ordinary people like myself, unless something unexpected happens, our descendants will all be destined to be corpse collectors.

When he first transmigrated, he did try to resist, but the old man let him out to starve and freeze for a few days, and he immediately became obedient.

Even now, after encountering such an unexpected event as Wang Gou Dan, he doesn't have much ambition. He only hopes to earn some brokerage fees through this special person so that he can have enough money to exchange for a relatively respectable identity in the future, and he will be satisfied with that.

I just hope the other party is capable enough...

-------------------------------------------

The next day, at the crack of dawn, Bright got up and retrieved a set of ashes from the cellar, intending to use it to get by. But before he could even leave the house, he heard the old soldier Duke's voice again: "Get up, Bright! There's new work to do!"

Bright opened the outer door and immediately saw several soldiers carrying in several corpses, including an old man, a woman, and a teenage girl who looked to be only ten years old.

Veteran Duke was in charge of the area in Holy Stone City that housed undocumented refugees. Bright wouldn't be surprised how many people died in that area during the dead of winter, but this time was a little different...

Bright glanced at the corpses and immediately noticed the wounds on their necks. These people... hadn't frozen or starved to death; they had been killed.

"The body is very fresh; is an autopsy unnecessary to find the murderer?"

"I don't have time for that!" Duke waved his hand impatiently. "Looking for a murderer in such a chaotic place as the refugee camp? What's the point of finding one? Besides, someone is willing to pay for cremation. This is your reward." He then took out ten copper nars.

Bright took the money, weighed it, and sighed slightly. This was the value of four lives... or rather, the price of four undocumented refugees.

As long as someone pays for cremation, the soldiers in charge of maintaining order don't even bother to look for the murderer. Refugees without status have no productive capacity and are only taken in by the city to prepare for potential job vacancies. In the eyes of nobles, they are expendable, and in the eyes of ordinary people, they are of low status. No one cares how many die, since there are always many new refugees coming every year.

"Do a better job. The higher-ups are really focused on security lately, and I don't want any information leaking out of you!" the veteran Duke threatened confidently.

"I don't have that much to say," Brett said casually.

"Hehe, that's true..." The other party laughed and then led a few soldiers to take the incineration fee they had just received and planned to have some fun. The generous refugee had given them three times the usual amount. Even if they gave some extra to that gloomy guy Bright to keep quiet, the rest would be enough for the brothers to have a good time a few times.

Seeing the other person leave, Bright shook his head and carried the body to the morgue.

He had become accustomed to these poor dead, which was why he had accepted the job of collecting corpses. Even such a lowly position was something these refugees, who could only find food in garbage, longed for.

Wearing gloves, Bright prepared to conduct a simple examination of some corpses, even refugee corpses, to prevent them from being treated with resurrection powder by cultists.

But as soon as he opened the burlap sack, Brett was stunned. He saw that the corpses were covered with signs of sprouting. He had only ever heard of potatoes sprouting, and this was the first time he had ever seen corpses sprouting in all his years in this business.

He immediately stopped moving and quickly stepped back. He was about to go and ask the old soldiers who hadn't gone far when he suddenly remembered something and took out his notebook to look at it.

The intelligence has been updated...

Intelligence 1: Many sprouting corpses have appeared in the city. Do not dissect or burn them lightly, as they are very easy to get infected with the Thousand-Faced Flower poison!

Wow, thank goodness I took a look!

Brett gasped and continued reading.

Intelligence 2: The Forest Heart's infiltration of Holy Stone City is not simply for missionary work; they have a more sinister plot and have successfully won over a key figure in Holy Stone City. Do not easily report the matter of the sprouting corpse; the important figure is trying to cover it up.

Intelligence 3: Player Wang Gou Dan, following your tip, has been tracking the people of the Heart of the Forest and has discovered a terrible secret. He will come to you around this afternoon to discuss it.

Intelligence 4: Because the player has discovered the secret, a series of chain reactions will occur. Among them, the Blood Cult follower who was originally not to be exposed until the day after tomorrow will be exposed tonight. She has extraordinary clues about the [Blood Knight].

Intelligence 5: The city lord's heir has been poisoned by the flower. The terrible virus will infect everyone in the family, including the city lord's wife. She needs a reliable ally to help her protect the fragile power of the Holy Stone City Lord.

Intelligence 6: The secret of the flower poison and its antidote are...

"Wow..." Bright was stunned when he saw the new intelligence. This was the first time he had ever seen a sixth piece of intelligence. In the past, there were only five pieces of intelligence. Moreover, this sixth piece of intelligence was not like the previous hints. Instead, it was the kind of... important intelligence that could obviously change the situation!

Why did this change occur?

Could it be that by warning players of the risks, the original plot direction was indirectly changed?

If that's the case, then the existence of the player and their cheat code are quite a good match.

The question is... should we continue to participate?

Putting aside the fact that participating in this matter is extremely risky and the benefits are unknown, the key question is whether a corpse collector, whose status is even lower than that of a latrine worker, and an assassin player who is not even a transcendent, are qualified to participate.