-The house-
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You decide to go into the house. As you open the door, you are greeted by a rush of a strange feeling. It is humid and almost wet. Your skin feels instantly hot and all color disappears from your face. There is something unsettling about the dim atmosphere. Then you recognize the smell wafting through the room: it is the smell of a creature that has been struck by a disease and is now struggling with death. As you enter, your eyes first have to adjust to the darkness, but now that the light is behind you, you recognize an empty room with only a bed. Someone seems to be lying in it.
You hesitate for a moment, but as you are already in the building, there is no turning back. As you step closer, a woman sits up in bed. There seems to be no more blood in her face, only dark circles under her tired expression. Her hair is sticking out on all sides and she seems pathetic. Then she suddenly screams at you: "Stop! Stop right there! Don't come any closer!"
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
You recoil and look at her in irritation, but stay put. Exhausted, she sinks into the bed as you do as she says. Then she begins to explain her strange behavior: "My body is afflicted with a contagious disease. So stay away from me."
You nod understandingly, but now your curiosity has got the better of you. "Is there anything I can do for you?" you ask.
The woman is silent for a moment and then begins to tell you a story: "I once trusted a wanderer who, like you, happened to pass by my house. He introduced himself as a miner and at the time I thought he could free me from my suffering. I gave him the only plant whose fruit could save me and told him to come and see me as soon as it was ripe enough to bear flowers." She sighs deeply and closes her eyes. "But he never came back." You look at her in sorrow.
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- If you have the plant in question in your inventory, go to section 221.
- If you don't have the plant, continue to section 222.