After a brief moment of excitement, the game started with a simple fight.
Since the difficulty was set to the second highest level, this fight against ghouls wasn't too hard.
Ben found it interesting that he could use two swords.
A silver sword and a steel sword, but when fighting ghouls, Ben didn't notice much difference in damage.
So, he just used the steel sword.
Even though the saying "silver for monsters, steel for men" sounds cool.
Ben noticed something important: the weapons and equipment in the game have durability.
And as everyone knows, weapons with durability can be repaired, which costs money.
He figured the steel sword would probably be cheaper to repair than the silver sword, right?
After dealing with the ghouls, following the most important part of RPG games: looting.
Ben looted all the monster corpses.
He gathered a bunch of random materials, unsure of their use, but it's always good to have them.
Next, following the game's guidance, Ben controlled Geralt to go with old man Vesemir to a nearby place called White Orchard to find clues about Yennefer.
On the way, Geralt and Vesemir also saved a merchant who was attacked by a griffin.
However, Ben paid attention to the game's portrayal of the background and society.
Geralt was in a place that used to be part of the Kingdom of Temeria, but it had been conquered by Nilfgaard.
The local people still missed Temeria.
Besides these political issues, there was also the common people's attitude towards witchers.
As soon as they opened the door to the White Orchard inn, the people inside started chattering.
'What... a witcher?'
'I don't want some mutant freak next to me when I'm drinking.'
Damn! Did witchers eat your rice?
As soon as he entered, before Ben could find the quest NPC, he heard complaints from some ungrateful people.
He didn't have a clear idea of how disliked witchers were, but now he understood.
If I could draw my sword, I'd cut you all down and show you how strong witchers are!
Listening to the NPCs whispering, Ben's mouth twitched.
Next, he controlled Geralt to go to the innkeeper. After talking to her, she learned that Geralt and Vesemir had saved her relative and offered free food and drink.
"Wait, isn't it free food and drink? Why do things still cost money?" Ben was speechless after talking to the innkeeper, expecting to be able to buy a lot of things.
Also, the materials he got from killing ghouls weren't worth much when sold.
However, Ben found something interesting: in the shop interface, besides the usual supplies, he saw some special cards of different types.
"What are these? Enchantment cards? The game's background says... but why are they so expensive? And they have special effects... a mini-game in the game?" Ben guessed.
Of course, he was just guessing, since he didn't have much money.
He briefly talked with the innkeeper but didn't get any useful information. Then, Geralt asked other people in the tavern about Yennefer.
Of course, it wasn't all pleasant. For example, when asking the locals for information, they didn't want to talk to him because he was a witcher.
Luckily, Geralt could use a sign to hypnotize and confuse people, getting some information from them, though it filled the other tavern patrons with fear and disgust.
Ben didn't care too much. After being insulted as soon as he walked in, he didn't bother with these ungrateful people.
He thought the Axii sign might be important later in the story.
For example, using this skill could help avoid fights, directly influence NPCs to do things for Geralt, or get information.
Besides that, Ben got some information from two other NPCs in the inn.
One was a bald man named Gaunter O'Dimm.
This NPC seemed very mysterious and almost all-knowing.
After Geralt described her appearance, he immediately said the name of the person the White Wolf was looking for.
'Yennefer of Vengerberg?'
Even though he claimed he only heard about her in Dandelion's songs and that he was just a wandering man called Master Mirror, Ben felt something was wrong.
Because the next moment, he accurately called out White Wolf Geralt's name.
However, Geralt got some important information from him: Yennefer might be near White Orchard, with the Nilfgaardian garrison.
After giving the clues, he finished his drink and left behind Geralt.
But when Geralt turned around, the man had disappeared without a trace.
"Damn! This guy is definitely suspicious!" Ben was sure.
He also had a feeling that this bald man wasn't a good person.
Because his voice and appearance reminded him of Micah from "Red Dead Redemption," definitely not a good guy!
Next, Ben focused on another NPC and went to talk to him.
To Ben's surprise, this NPC didn't seem to dislike Geralt for being a witcher.
He was a professor from a place called Novigrad and seemed very naive, wanting to record the battles of the Nilfgaardian Empire's invasion and write a book about it.
Geralt in the game kindly warned the NPC, who didn't dislike him, that it was dangerous to travel alone in these chaotic times and that someone could be killed just for their shoes.
When it was confirmed that this NPC didn't know about Yennefer, Ben prepared to control Geralt to leave and look for information about the Nilfgaardian garrison, but the other person spoke up.
'Witcher, wait, I think you're a man who's seen the world. Do you play Gwent?'
Seeing the UI pop up, Ben suddenly understood.
This wasn't a story NPC, but a tutorial NPC, or rather, a mini-game tutorial NPC.
And the thing he was teaching was the mini-game called Gwent.
But what is Gwent?
A mini-game created in the game?
Ben was a bit surprised.
(End of chapter)
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