White stockings Lover felt no embarrassment. After all, walking down the street wearing only a pair of shorts, he probably didn't understand what embarrassment even was.
Before long, he had adjusted; although his hand was already emitting a burnt smell, he showed no expression.
"I can't believe it, my hand really doesn't work anymore!" White stockings Lover exclaimed, staring at his burned hand as though it didn't belong to him.
Anyone reaching out to grab a piece of burning coal would be unable to use their hand, right?
Linde keenly noticed the change in White stockings Lover. He couldn't have suddenly become an unyielding man who feared no pain. He must have done something to numb his sense of pain.
"Ahem," Linde felt he needed to get to the point to prevent this guy from doing anything foolish again.
"Is your indestructibility a gift from the gods?" Linde asked, recalling how he had seen White stockings Lover eagerly eyeing the pot. It didn't matter if he got hurt, but that pot of hot soup couldn't be wasted.
White stockings Lover sat up straight, his face taking on a serious demeanor, but his bright green hair and distorted features made the seriousness look bizarre. "That's right! The gods have guided us to this world. The flame of life in this world is about to extinguish, and someone must become kindling to ignite the flame! Until our mission is complete, we are all immortal!"
Old Peter's expression changed, uncertain whether he was moved by the words or if they only solidified his belief that this person was out of their mind.
Linde, however, ignored the nonsensical remarks and continued to play the role of a curious and generous lord perfectly.
"The Star Dragon Outpost welcomes the immortals who harbor great ideals and wish to save the world," Linde said. "With the Shattered Ring of Magic, we also want to do our part to save the world. If there's anything we can assist you with, don't hesitate to ask!"
White stockings Lover's eyes lit up. "Can you provide me with some equipment? Weapons and armor, anything like that. Those wolves are too difficult to handle."
"Of course!" Linde nodded enthusiastically. "Please, follow me!"
"Yes!" White stockings Lover exclaimed, pumping his fist in excitement. "I'm going to get equipped faster than anyone! Let's go out and explore!"
Linde led White stockings Lover to an adjacent room. Inside was a pile of worn-out weapons, alongside a mess of armor spread across the floor, ranging from cloth armor to heavy armor—everything one could need.
Over the years, the Star Dragon Outpost had taken down quite a few thieves and bandits, accumulating many unsellable old clothes, which piled up here since they held no repair value.
Although Linde and his group were currently struggling with food and drink, they were the elite regular infantry of the Rand Kingdom. Their armor and weapons were all of high quality. With the equipment and strength of ten men, they could easily crush the armed forces of 30 to 40 bandits. If they defended the walls of the Star Dragon Outpost with bows and crossbows, taking out 100 to 200 reckless attackers would be no problem at all.
"So much equipment!" White stockings Lover exclaimed.
He quickly became interested in a set of dark green armor, gazing at it for quite a while. Linde remembered that it had been stripped from a mercenary; there had been a dispute over spoils among comrades, leading one to drug the other, then silently assassinate him, leaving both dead by the roadside.
Linde pointed to the weapons on the ground and said, "You can choose one weapon. If you can kill a wolf and bring back its corpse, I can grant you the privilege to purchase weapons and armor here."
The soldiers standing by were taken aback. Privilege? My lord, what are you talking about? Didn't you just say you were offering help for free? Giving only a shabby weapon and sending someone off to face danger seems rather stingy.
To force someone to kill wolves and then not give them a weapon afterward, only allowing them to buy? It's too much, even for an immortal.
What surprised them even more was that White stockings Lover, with his head of green hair, excitedly responded, "Thank you for your generosity, my lord! I will definitely complete the task!"
Generosity? Where do you see generosity in that?!
Linde said nothing more, leaving the soldiers questioning countless times whether it was the lord or the immortal who had a problem, or if it was themselves—why did their conversation feel so exhausting?
To this, Linde thought that this was exactly what players enjoyed: making them spend money to buy shabby equipment. Isn't that a necessary experience in games? Players don't appreciate equipment given away for free without cost.
Starting with just a dog, all equipment relies on scavenging—now, that's what we call player romance!
If you give players high-end gear right from the start, they'll complain about it being trash, lacking gameplay. And if you throw in some pay-to-win elements, it's just pure game garbage.
According to the game's logic, this counts as "granting players the privilege to purchase."
Linde didn't really need that little benefit. As the world crumbled, the currency system had already collapsed, so the word "buy" wouldn't appear frequently in this land. However, as an NPC who couldn't issue quests, Linde needed a sufficient reward system. He was just trying to experiment initially by engaging in continuous dialogue, probing, and determining what players could do and what they couldn't in this world.
Now he was pretty sure about one thing: White stockings Lover probably had a game interface. When evaluating the weapons earlier, he noticed White stockings Lover stare blankly at a certain spot for a while before moving on to the next.
But how much information he could actually extract from that, Linde wasn't so certain.
"Maybe he can see health bars; so how much health do I have?" Linde was curious, but unfortunately, he had no way of knowing.
As for whether players would get angry later when they discovered that all this equipment was junk no one wanted—it wasn't something he needed to worry about. Isn't that completely normal? In games, the pricing of equipment is purely at the NPC's discretion. Players can't even haggle; if they don't have enough money, they just need to farm materials and grind!
White stockings Lover spent a good while selecting, ultimately choosing a one-handed sword before marching off confidently to slay some wolves.
That sword was among the best in this batch of "junk." With years of experience using weapons, Linde could easily identify it without needing to study it like a player would, comparing stats. Nonetheless, he envied the players' ability; stats made things feel more reassuring and reduced the risk of missing key information.
"My lord..." A soldier looked very puzzled, but he had too many questions and didn't know where to begin.
"Confused?" Linde asked, noticing the soldier's hesitance. He continued, "The immortals think differently than us. What they seek isn't just these weapons and armor, nor wolves and gold. What they desire is a sense of achievement, is glory."
Linde turned and stood at the doorway, watching the figure in nothing but shorts making their way toward the gates of the Star Dragon Outpost. "Heroes who are going to save the world need fulfillment and recognition, so what I'm doing isn't selling them something; it's helping them find their sense of achievement and their glory!"
The soldiers nodded. If the immortals truly were knights of the gods, it was understandable that their way of thinking differed from theirs; after all, that green-haired guy had been acting quite strange since he started speaking.
It was said that those who listened to the divine voice were generally unhinged, often muttering incoherently.
They accepted Linde's explanation and made a concerted effort to equate the half-clothed eccentric with the knights of the gods, though that was quite difficult… extremely difficult!
Then Linde continued, "Increase the number of people in the warehouse, and alternate guards at night and during the day to prevent the immortals from stealing weapons and armor. We can reduce some of the defenses at the outpost; the main focus should be on securing this place."
Since the players had arrived, the surrounding area was bound to be stripped clean, so there was no need to worry about monster ambushes. What he should be concerned about was whether he would be robbed by the players.
"Yes, um?" The soldier nodded, then suddenly looked up in confusion.
My lord, weren't you just talking about glory? Why would an immortal come to steal things?
Knights of the gods wouldn't stoop so low, would they?
If Linde knew their thoughts, he would only laugh. Not so low? Back in the day, when he played garbage scavenging games, he had stolen so much that he could barely walk under the weight. Plates, goblets—he didn't leave a thing for the NPCs. Some people are just like hamsters; the joy of stealing and hoarding is unimaginable.
"If an immortal comes to steal, just kill them on the spot," Linde reminded again. "As for the prices of these weapons... let me write up a price list, and we'll strictly adhere to the exchange rates."