WTYTIAAN Chapter 23
by Volare“Died? Why did they all die? What is the curse? Why haven’t I heard the old village chief mention it?”
Rosen’s expression was complicated. He frowned and struggled for a long time before letting out a long sigh, “Forget it, I’ll tell you.”
“After the attack six years ago, some young people in the village proposed to move out of the village with their families. If a level 30+ monster can appear near here, there is a high possibility that a second one will appear. No one dares to gamble that they will be lucky enough to survive the next time.”
“The village chief also considered moving the entire village, but after reporting this matter to the city lord of Seta City, it was rejected by the higher-ups.”
Sunset Village is under the jurisdiction of Seta City. It is located between Seta City and the capital, and it is a place where passing merchant caravans and travelers often stop to rest and replenish supplies. Before six years ago, it was once as prosperous as the most bustling town in Seta City.
Rosen’s younger sister, Karenna, was the only child in the village in nearly thirty years to have her magical talent tested. Coincidentally, her brother Rosen was also a well-known hunting expert in the surrounding area. Even though the siblings depended on each other, they were never short of money.
After Karenna’s talent was tested, Rosen immediately decided to send his sister to the magic academy in Seta City to study magic. This decision was also supported by many villagers in the village.
The simple villagers did not understand how huge the amount of money it would cost to send a commoner’s child to a magic academy. They only knew that sending Karenna to study magic would allow those children in the village who had a little magical talent but were not qualified to go to the magic academy to follow Karenna’s lead after she returned from her studies.
Perhaps their own children would also have the opportunity to become magicians and directly cross the class barrier to become superiors.
Rosen sold all the valuable prey in his home and worked hard to hunt for two months, barely saving up most of the tuition fee. The remaining small portion was collected with the help of other villagers.
Even the poorest families helped with a few copper coins.
Karenna also lived up to expectations, skipping grades one after another in the Seta City Magic Academy. At the age of seventeen, she passed the test of the Magic Association and obtained the title of junior magician.
It should have been an infinitely bright future, but six years ago, not long after Karenna became a junior magician, she suddenly returned home in a panic, telling her brother Rosen that there was a monster over level 30 in Sunset Forest, which would soon attack the village.
Rosen was just a capable hunter, not even a swordsman. He was dumbfounded when he heard about the monster.
Karenna was a very courageous young girl. After panicking, she immediately made a decision, asking her brother Rosen to take the fast runners in the village and divide into two groups. One group would go to Seta City, which was closer, to ask the city lord for help, and the other group would go to the capital to ask for help from her magic tutor.
And she herself stayed to deal with the monster, holding it back and waiting for rescue.
What happened later was the version that Yan Yunqing knew. Seta City, which was closer, did not send rescue for a long time.
Karenna was just a seventeen-year-old girl who had just become a junior magician. It was already difficult to face a monster that was more than ten levels higher than her, and she happened to encounter the Frostfire Wolf, a monster with a strong physique among monsters.
Karenna was seriously injured in the process of dealing with the Frostfire Wolf and was forced to retreat again and again.
At this time, the Frostfire Wolf was already very close to the village. Seeing Karenna gradually being defeated, the guards of the patrol team in the village also stood up one by one, using their lives to interfere with the monster’s attention, giving Karenna a chance to use magic.
This cruel battle, piled up with human lives, lasted for a day and a night.
It was not until Rosen found Karenna’s magic tutor in the capital and informed him of what happened in the village as Karenna’s brother that the tutor contacted the royal army of the capital and finally sent out a rescue squad.
But by the time the rescue arrived, Karenna had already died of serious injuries, and seven or eight out of ten of the village guards had also died.
Returning to see his sister die under the claws of the Frostfire Wolf, Rosen was temporarily overwhelmed with anger and rushed up to fight the Frostfire Wolf, but was blinded in one eye and broke a leg.
In the end, the Frostfire Wolf was still killed by Karenna’s tutor.
The honorable magician wanted to seek justice from Seta City for his student, asking why even the army of the capital had arrived, but the rescue from Seta City, which was closer, was delayed for so long.
Rosen was also waiting for an explanation, but unfortunately, this matter was like a stone sinking into the sea, without splashing any waves, and was lightly skipped over.
Even the capital did not have any news. Rosen tried to find the magician, but ultimately failed to see her again.
At that time, the entire Sunset Village was immersed in grief. Not only did Rosen lose his sister, but many families also lost their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers…
In the midst of grief, people were panic-stricken. Some people proposed that since a monster had appeared in Sunset Village, there was a possibility that a second one would appear. However, their village no longer had a second Karenna who could stand at the forefront, nor did it have so many young and middle-aged people willing to give their lives.
The fearful villagers wanted to move away from Sunset Village, where they had lived for generations. The village chief, on behalf of the village, sent a request to Seta City, hoping that Seta City could find a safe place for them to live, but it was rejected by the city lord of Seta City.
The radical villagers directly packed their luggage and left Sunset Village with their families, but without exception, these people were attacked on the way and all died.
These attacks included robbers, wild animals that appeared out of nowhere, and the monsters they feared the most.
The remaining people in the village were frightened out of their wits, and no one dared to say that they wanted to move away from Sunset Village.
The rumor that Sunset Village was cursed, and that people born here could never leave Sunset Village, also quietly spread.
For a time, people were panic-stricken, until later the villagers discovered that as long as they did not move away from the village, there would be no danger in leaving temporarily, and this rumor stopped.
As time passed, the figure of the monster was no longer found around the village, and finally people from other villages were willing to marry or marry people from Sunset Village. Coupled with the special geographical location, some people were willing to risk moving into the village to run businesses.
After six years of this, the number of people in the village barely reached two-thirds of what it was six years ago.
Coming out of Uncle Rosen’s house, Yan Yunqing looked at this piece of land, which was darker in color than other places, and fell into deep thought.
“Lillian, is a seventeen-year-old junior magician considered a genius?” Yan Yunqing asked Lillian, who was following beside him.
The level in “Demon King” does not have much reference value now, after all, there is a gap of two thousand years, and the level of NPCs is not comparable to that of players. It is more convenient to ask the natives about this kind of question.
“Hmm? This depends on what the person’s identity is.” Lillian shrugged, “In our elf race, becoming a junior magician at seventeen is not considered a genius, it can even be said to be mediocre. In the human race… hmm…”
She thought for a moment and replied: “If it is a noble, it cannot be considered a genius, but for a commoner, it is indeed a genius among geniuses.”
The human race may be the race with the biggest gap in the level hierarchy among all races. As nobles, they are born with more resources than commoners to accumulate their own strength. It is possible to create a ten-year-old magician with countless natural treasures, not to mention a seventeen-year-old junior magician.
But for Karenna, a commoner, even the money for school was pieced together little by little by relatives and friends in the village. It is indeed a genius among geniuses that she can become a junior magician at the age of seventeen.
What’s more, the time it took her to go from entering the magic academy to becoming a junior magician was also very short.
Genius, without a doubt.
“She is a genius. Perhaps we should go to that Seta City to find out the reason why they did not send rescue after receiving the request for help from Sunset Village six years ago.”
Yan Yunqing looked at the content he had recorded on the parchment, “Perhaps, we can find out why a level 30+ monster suddenly appeared around Sunset Village, which has no record of gods falling.”
Lillian was stunned and reacted: “You think it is very likely that it was man-made?”
Yan Yunqing sighed softly, “Maybe I’m not the only one who thinks so. People in the village who experienced the incident six years ago more or less have such speculation.”
Perhaps they didn’t react at first, but when the old village chief repeatedly proposed to move the entire village and live in another place, they were repeatedly rejected, and no explanation was ever given for the failure of rescue to arrive.
Even the magician who initially said that she would seek justice for her student remained silent and disappeared. People who wanted to move away from the village died on the road one by one.
These things are enough to show that the monster’s attack on the village was very deep.
Perhaps, people in the village are guessing: The monster was very likely attracted by Karenna.
Otherwise, why was it so coincidental, coincidental that Karenna had just become a junior magician, coincidental that Karenna asked for leave to go home and share this joy with Rosen, coincidental…
Karenna was the first to discover the monster.
This can also explain clearly why old Jason, who lost his son, and Yuli, who lost her parents, received the care of most people in the village, but Rosen, who lost his sister, lived alone, blind and limping, in this area far away from the village and closer to the edge of the forest.
Perhaps one of the reasons is that Rosen wants to live closer to his sister, but it is undeniable that with Rosen’s current living condition, he is indeed subtly ostracized by the villagers of Sunset Village.
No matter what, Karenna was the one who always stood at the forefront six years ago, and also paid the price of her life to protect the village. As her family member, Rosen should not be treated like this.
Unless, everyone suspects that Karenna is the culprit of this tragedy, and then they vent their anger on the still living Rosen.
“Then do you think there really is a curse in this village?” Lillian asked curiously, “Those who left the village died on the road, but those who stayed in the village are living well, it does sound like a curse.”
Yan Yunqing looked at his quest panel [Guard Sunset Village: Inquire about what happened six years ago (completed)].
The quest updated.
[Guard Sunset Village: Explore the truth about the monster attacking the village six years ago (in progress)]
You learned about what happened six years ago from the hunter Rosen. You extracted a lot of information from it. You feel that the events of six years ago were not that simple. You decided to explore the truth behind this matter.
[Side Quest: The Curse of Sunset (in progress)]
All the villagers who left Sunset Village, their lives were like the sun setting, silently buried by the night, death followed them like a shadow, only by staying in the village can they be free from the threat of the curse, all the villagers are forced to continue to take root on this land soaked in blood. Are the villagers relying on this crimson land to survive, or is the cursed land constantly drawing the blood of the villagers as nourishment to grow a denser forest? What exactly is the curse of Sunset?
You are curious about this and decide to conduct an in-depth investigation into the curse.
“Curse?” Yan Yunqing said thoughtfully, “Perhaps there is indeed a curse in this village.”
“Eh?” Lillian was surprised, “I thought you would say that this curse was actually made up by someone?”
“Didn’t you just think that the monster attack six years ago was man-made?”
“Yes, there is a high probability that the incident six years ago was man-made, but the curse does exist.”
Yan Yunqing lowered his eyes, his voice was very low, as if he was afraid of disturbing the spirits sleeping in this crimson land, even Lillian, who was flying beside him, could not hear his voice clearly.
He said:
“Poverty is the most vicious curse.”