At night, the gang members still handed out shriveled Black Bread to them.
They couldn’t eat anymore, so they stored the bread away.
Because the Gang Leader was drunk, they didn’t have to hand over copper coins either—a small stroke of luck.
Mel Carlo lay on the hay, making up his mind.
He had to speed up his understanding of this world.
If any part of it overlapped with the game’s setting, then it would become his precious treasure.
“Lily, I saw a Knight today—shining armor, silver hair, so cool!”
Ark lay on the haystack, hands behind his head, talking about his day’s encounter.
He felt grateful toward the Knight, but there had been an explosion in the city at the time.
If possible, he really wanted to take these kids and escape the gang’s control, to do anything else, even if it was hard work.
“Really? Did the Knight give you that bread?”
Lily was interested too.
Knights were too distant from their social class; at most, they could only hear about them in stories.
Mel Carlo listened quietly.
He didn’t want to interrupt children’s talk.
He couldn’t possibly share how he stole a little girl’s mother’s keepsake, could he? That would be too heartless.
He didn’t have much of a conscience.
Everything was about ensuring his own safety.
If he’d obediently handed over the wallet at the time, who knew what would have happened.
“Explosion? I saw it too. Not far in front of me.”
The chubby boy beside them suddenly chimed in.
He’d been nearby when the explosion happened.
The Knight Order arrived quickly. It seemed the explosion was caused by Cultists.
Seeing that no one responded, the chubby boy added, “I heard the Knight Order is tracking the Cultists. We need to be careful. Cultists are really cruel!”
Hearing this, Mel Carlo sat up quickly from the haystack.
There are Cultists in this world too?
In the original game, Cultists were generally between level 30 and 70, but this world wasn’t a game—anything was possible.
Cults usually involved Undead Magic or Blood Sacrifice Rituals and other forbidden techniques.
If you were unlucky, you could end up as a sacrifice.
It seemed best not to walk down deserted alleys for the next few days; sticking to main roads was safer.
In the dark room, only moonlight came through the window.
Lily gazed at the grape hairpin in her hand under the faint light.
“Chubby, how much do you know about Cultists? Are they dangerous?”
Mel Carlo pressed.
If he could come into contact with magic, any kind of magic, it could become a trump card for him in the future—even taboo Black Magic.
At least in the game, Black Magic wasn’t terrifying; for many chuunis, it was a super cool class.
“I don’t know. It’s all rumors. They say Cultists sacrifice people to cultivate Black Magic.”
The chubby boy scratched his head awkwardly, not expecting Mel Carlo to be so interested.
Mel Carlo confirmed another key point: Black Magic.
This world could contain Black Magic, but without seeing it firsthand, he couldn’t be certain.
He wouldn’t naively treat this place as a game world.
Otherwise, he would pay the price eventually—reality brings true understanding.
In a medieval fantasy world like this, the worldview was messy.
If cross-era technology existed, it might even be mistaken for magic.
He looked at his young palm, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
The world was so big, and he was so small.
Even trying to understand it was difficult.
He swiped his finger across the system menu bar.
It was similar to a game menu, but there was nothing on it except for level, Health Bar, and Mana Bar—no specific values, no way to level up.
In games, you leveled up by defeating monsters, but he was so weak now that even dealing with a level 1 monster would be hard.
Low-level monsters in the Royal City were Rats in the Sewer.
Their levels were generally only 1, but there were many of them—good for new accounts to farm.
But there was a problem: Rats in games were poisonous, and in reality, being bitten by a Rat could be even more dangerous.
Rabies and Black Death were both possible infections, and since he didn’t have the Purification skill, the negative effects could really be fatal.
His restless heart was suppressed again by reason.
Coming to another world—who wouldn’t want to accomplish something?
His past life wasn’t exactly regretful, but it wasn’t the path he would have chosen.
The chubby boy watched Mel Carlo swipe his finger through the air, feeling a sense of eeriness, and quickly turned over to sleep.
If he couldn’t see it, it didn’t concern him.
Mel Carlo continued to study the system carefully for a while, then gave up completely.
Even the Lottery Panel didn’t show what you could draw.
Aside from being able to check your level, the most useful thing right now was the 100 Storage Slots.
“Did I reincarnate too early?”
In his previous life, Mel Carlo had read many web novels, where the protagonist usually achieved fame and fortune before the system appeared with a newbie gift pack.
“Or maybe you need something to activate the system, or the game plot hasn’t started yet.”
As Mel Carlo pondered various possibilities, he never imagined it was because the system’s annual performance targets had been met this year, and so he was left alone, with no system support.
Everything had to be figured out by himself.
No issued missions, no deliberate guidance—like being abandoned in this unfamiliar world, a true orphan.
Lost in thought, Mel Carlo fell asleep.
When he woke the next day, the others were already up.
He felt sticky and uncomfortable.
He hadn’t bathed since he was reincarnated, and it seemed this body hadn’t washed in a long time either.
But with his current status, even changing clothes was unlikely.
Though the weather wasn’t too cold, washing and drying clothes would take a whole day—which meant being naked all day.
Mel Carlo left the room and went to the water jar to clean himself.
If he could change clothes, that would be best.
The dirt on his hemp clothes had already hardened into clumps.
“Mel, you seem a bit unhappy?”
Lily followed behind Mel Carlo.
“A little uncomfortable. I really want a bath and a change of clothes.”
Mel Carlo answered honestly, continuing outside.
“But we don’t have spare clothes.”
Ark stood nearby, used to it.
“Let’s go outside.”
Mel Carlo left the courtyard with the two of them.
Although they still had some copper coins, it didn’t mean they could do nothing.
System currency could support offerings, but if you couldn’t explain its source, it would easily attract the gang’s attention.
So daily life continued as usual.
Begging or stealing as needed—until there was a chance to escape the gang’s control in the Royal City and live like a normal person.
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