Chapter 11: The City That Sleeps
*DING DONG, DING DONG*
“All residents of Paxdom. Please seek shelter in the nearest designated protection center. Repeat, all residents of Paxdom. Please seek shelter in the nearest designated protection center.”
_
The monster attack alarm continues to sound through Paxdom, urging citizens to make their way to one of the ‘protection centers’ that Diegi’s so unfamiliar with. They didn’t show up in the original MYTH Infinite Fantasy game at all. Despite the constant distraction, however, Diegi manages to successfully navigate the city’s paved stone streets and move towards the city’s Guild Hall— the end of this annoying “Tutorial” he’s being put through. Though he’s seriously beginning to doubt if he’s actually going to be taught anything about how to survive in this game-world, especially since it seems he’s broken the whole system with that Human Tutorial Skip-Warp glitch.
> I mean, seriously, how long has it been since a guiding prompt screen showed up? Or even since Automod got off his malfunctioning Artificial bum and actually talked to me?? ‘Tutorial’ my ass, it’s more like a… ‘Snorial.’ Cause it’s boring. ‘Borial?’ No, that doesn’t sound right… Wait, why am I wasting time with shitty wordplay!?
Diegi sighs and shakes his head as he runs, trying to get himself back on track.
> Man, not being able to get rid of these tangential thoughts by shovin’ them on— I mean, talking to— a conversation partner like Gloria really sucks. I guess she’s evacuated by now, though. But whatever. The important thing right now is…
He briefly checks his surroundings with a quick swivel of his head. Compared to the current state of the Snorial… apologies, the Tutorial, his environment is far more interesting. First, there's the small groups of (slowly) evacuating townsfolk, talking amongst themselves as they meander along the streets. Diegi’s even pretty sure he hears one of them mention something about “waiting until the second bell.” But even past all of them, he can still see the layout of the buildings and small canals around him. By comparing what he sees with what he remembers of MYTH’s in-game Paxdom, he’s able to vaguely update his understanding of his current location.
“Let’s see here, I’m about halfway to the Guild Hall, right?”
If he remembers correctly, the fastest route from the northern gate to the city’s largest Guild Hall should take him through a fairly significant landmark around halfway through. One that’s absolutely essential to visit if he’s to reach the Guild Hall, register, and escape Paxdom all before the invading monsters make it inside.
“Though, the current evacuation might interfere with my plans. Oh hey, there it is!”
Diegi’s narrow view, somewhat confined by the buildings on his sides and the people around him, gradually opens up. The *slap* sounds Diegi’s feet make as he runs shift into a more solid *tmp* noise as the material beneath him becomes more smooth, more solid. In other words, Diegi’s arrived at the all-important halfway point. What could this mysterious landmark, the key to Diegi’s survival plan, possibly be? Surely a hidden passageway or a weapons shop, or perhaps even an alchemist’s—
“Here we go, it’s the Marketplace Square! Man, just when I was getting hungry!”
Right. Because food is clearly as important as escaping with his life. Of course, why wouldn’t it be? But let’s hear his own reasoning:
> After I register at the Guild and get that sweet end-of-tutorial level up, I’ve gotta escape this city. So, I’ll definitely have to keep some food on hand. I’m so weak, I doubt I could go hunting or gathering anything on my own… I’ve just gotta buy enough here to last me until the next city over.
Oh, that’s actually… surprisingly reasonable. Broken clocks are right twice a day, I suppose.
After mentally rehearsing his plan, Diegi begins to search the spacious Marketplace Square for long-lasting rations. The buyers in the Square are barely starting to clear out, which makes sense given that Paxdom essentially declared a state of emergency. But even with the (slowly?) thinning crowds of buyers, the smooth red-brick floor continues to brim with vendors hawking their wares. There’s a large assortment of stalls set up, each made of a slightly different material and holding different goods, though most had food of some kind.
Diegi, spotting someone selling what seems to be a kind of hardtack bread, jogs towards a rather unpopular-seeming nearby wooden stall. As he approaches, fighting his way through the many civilians who are (VERY SLOWLY!?) leaving the Square, he notices that the vendor, a thin middle aged man with a salt-pepper beard and an easy grin, doesn’t seem to be concerned in the slightest about the city’s current emergency. And he’s also pretty sure he hears a passing citizen nearby mention something about a “second bell” again, and then laugh without a care in the world. Seriously, what is wrong with these guys? Don’t they value their lives?? Wake up, people!!
In any case, Diegi finally makes it to the small wooden stall ladened with bread, then manages to sling his arm over the counter and put up his best charming smile.
> There we go, now I look like a hard-boiled local instead of some touristy outsider. Heh, I’ve got it on a reputable source that this type of behavior always gets you a lower price at the markets.
Despite feeling like he’s going to faint from all his recent running (the very long distance of… a few city blocks), Diegi does his best to exude an aura of confidence and asks what’s on his mind.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Excuse me sir, I’d like to buy some of this hardtack. How much does it cost?”
Diegi reaches into his pants and fidgets with his sack of gold as he talks, hoping against hope that it’s enough to cover a decent amount of food. Considering that the only money he’s received in this world so far was basically given to him for free from the Tutorial’s example chest, it’ll probably be the only wealth he sees anytime soon.
> Wait, now that I laid it out in my head, that last part sounded less strategic and way more pathetic. Damn, am I really that much of a jobless bum? Oi oi, this game-world isn’t supposed to mirror real life!
He’s saved from his dour thoughts by the store owner’s response.
“Hmm? What’s this ‘hardtack’ you’re speakin’ of? If ya mean my bread, it’s only 5 gold coins a piece. What a bargain, eh?”
> Oh, right. Should have been obvious. Of course these fantasy game-world NPCs wouldn’t be familiar with super specific concepts from Earth like hardtack.
“Ya know, if that’s all ya wanted to know, ya could have just have just read the sign. Yer not regular with this Market, aintcha? What are ya, new around here?”
At this second part of the shopkeeper's response, Diegi slides his field of view from the shopkeeper’s face to the sign hanging on the front of the stall. It reads:
[ The Free’s Depository: selling loaves of bread. 5 GP a piece. ]
> Welp, so much for seeming like a local. Maybe B-list movies and 2-star TV shows aren’t reputable sources, after all? Nah, there’s no way, movie knowledge never fails! I probably just didn’t try hard enough.
But even beyond his supposed screwup, something about the whole situation is slightly off, and Diegi can’t help but notice. Briefly frowning, he tilts his head slightly.
> ‘The Free’s Depository.’ Huh, wait… that store name’s nostalgic, somehow. I’m getting deja vu.
Nonetheless, Diegi proceeds to count a portion of his gold coins, and comes up with 50. It’s a third of all his money, but given that the shopkeeper had said the price was a good deal, he decides to just fork it over. The shopkeeper’s eyes briefly go wide as he sees Diegi push the coins over the counter, but he quickly recovers and nods his head up and down with a relaxed grin.
“Well, thanks sonny. And, as I promised, here’s 10 of my loaves o’… bread. Nice doing business witcha.”
The shopkeeper rummages under his stall counter and comes up with a burlap sack that he hands over to Diegi. Diegi tries to thank him and reach over the counter to take it, but he’s bumped by a passing curly-haired civilian and the sound of his voice is drowned out by a sudden repeating of the monster attack alarm:
*DING DONG, DING DONG*
> Damn it, not that stupid alarm again. Wait, that’s right— there’s a freakin’ monster attack going on just outside of Paxdom! It’s happening RIGHT NOW! The people around me are all so relaxed, I forgot. What’s up with that, anyways?
Diegi makes a second grab at the sack of bread and actually succeeds in acquiring it this time. Before he leaves the stand, however, he decides to ask the shopkeeper one last question.
“Hey, so, no offense or anything. But everyone here seems so relaxed, and you’re still selling your food all carefree. Shouldn’t you all be, like, evacuating? So you don’t die? And maybe heading to those shelters? So you don’t die? Just a suggestion from a guy who, y’know… doesn’t like to die.”
The shopkeeper, who had been eagerly staring at the pile of gold coins under his chin, confusedly looks up at Diegi and briefly pauses with his hand on his beard. Then, his wrinkled face breaks out in an understanding grin.
“Ah, that’s right, yer new around here. Don’t you worry sonny, that alarm goes off at least once a month. But that’s just causa the screwup guards, we never get attacked or anythin’. Monsters always steer clear of ol’ Paxdom!”
> Yeah, right. First Gloria, then you, all of you NPCs keep telling me that. Explain the panicking guards I just saw outside, then!
Oblivious to the unbelieving Diegi’s thoughts, the man nods and finishes his explanation with what appears to be some kind of local proverb.
“Just wait for the second bell, alright? That’s when ya know whatever’s goin’ on is serious. But it won’t come, it never does! Kakakakaka.”
The man scratches his graying beard, nods to himself, and chortles, as if he’s just told the funniest joke in the world. In response, Diegi simply sighs and turns around with his newly acquired hardtack in hand.
“Whatever, old man. See ya!”
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After spending around a quarter of an hour and half his money in Paxdom’s Marketplace Square, and also having his eardrums frequently assaulted by Paxdom’s citywide alarm, Diegi’s confident that he’s got enough food to last him a couple of days outside the city.
Once he buys the last of his rations and shoves them into a bulging sack, he lifts his head and looks around. And sure enough, while some people are leaving and seemingly heading to those ‘protection centers’ or whatever, the Square still has plenty of casual-acting buyers and vendors performing business as usual.
“Wow, these guys are really eager to die, huh. They’d rather wait for some ‘second bell’ that’ll probably never come than listen to the announcement that’s ripping their damn ears off to tell them to evacuate. Now I understand why the city has to play it so many times…”
At least he’s managed to get a decent break from running. Even with a Stamina stat as low as his, Diegi’s feeling fully recovered from his previous exertion. So, he quickly gets into a running position, and starts to take off— when he notices a familiar head of curly hair in his peripheral vision. In fact, he notices more than that— brown and blonde hair, seemingly perpetually upturned eyebrows, and anxious body language.
“There’s no freakin’ way— hey, Gloria!”
He lifts his voice for the last part, and the young woman turns slightly to the side in order to spot whoever’s calling her. Her eyes widen when she sees Diegi waving his hands, and even through the groups of people that separate them and the sound of ringing bells, Diegi can still hear her response:
“...sir?”
She looks confused, like even she’s not exactly sure why she’s here, in the Marketplace Square. Diegi, for his part, is confused as well— he’d have expected Gloria, deathly frightened of monsters as she is, to be the first one to get to one of those ‘protection centers’ the alarm keeps talking about.
> I can’t believe it. Does she have something she needs to do outside, that’s stopping her from immediately evacuating? No, if she did, she wouldn’t just be standing in the middle of the Square like that. So, why’s she here? Was she too focused on running away in a daze and just ended up here subconsciously, or something? She is a farmer— it’s not unlikely that she’s used to selling food here.
Diegi had agreed that they would go their separate ways once they entered the city, but he’s too curious to resist. However, just as he takes a breath and prepares to just ask her his questions, he overhears a nearby snippet of conversation. A vendor, trying to convince a nervous potential buyer to stay in the Square, uses a phrase that Diegi’s starting to find quite irritating.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry, just stay long enough to make a purchase. Remember, you’ve gotta wait for the second bell—”
**DING DING, DONG DONG**
“All sanctioned Adventurer’s Guild members, please report to the Guild Hall. Your assistance has been requested. Repeat, all sanctioned Adventurer’s Guild members, please report to the Guild Hall. Your assistance has been requested. If you cannot access your gear, weaponry and support items will be provided free of cost at the Guild Hall.”
—But just as the vendor finishes his sentence, the cadence and volume of the city’s alarm increases, and the content of the message changes as well. Yes, following the seemingly universal law of “jinx”, the fabled ‘second bell’ finally rings.
The nearby buyer whips their head around in a panic, ignoring the warning pleas of the vendor beside them, and then hollers:
“IT— IT— IT’S A REAL MONSTER ATTACK? THEY COULD EVEN BE INSIDE THE WALLS… AGH, EVERYBODY RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!”
Ah, making dubious statements and screaming your head off, the absolute peak of reasonable thinking and problem solving. The buyer’s actions are like screaming “fire” in a crowded theater. What could go wrong?
Everything. Of course, just in time to interrupt Diegi’s budding conversation, absolutely everything goes wrong.
People begin to rush around in a panic, and the stunned Gloria is swept along with them. Stalls are overturned, store items are spilled all over the floor and trampled upon, and it’s just generally a huge mess. From where he’s standing, near the edge of Square, Diegi can even see some poor folks being pushed and run over as the previously apathetic civilians all presumably dash towards the nearest ‘protection center.’
“...welp. Thank God I’m already on my way out.”
The brief interaction with Gloria’s left him with more questions than answers, but he’ll have to get those figured out another time. If this city decided to up the intensity of its alarm, then there’s a real chance that whatever mysterious monsters were attacking really would soon be inside the walls. And Diegi wants to be far, far away when that occurs. Turning his back on Paxdom’s Marketplace Square for good and keeping a tight grip on his bag of food, Diegi dashes away to resume his search for the Guild Hall.