ATIGIBTC Chapter 10

«Carry out the Creator’s orders to the end!»

Title: “Ruins Without Restart” Responsibility-Free Guide — Ten Radishes to Make the NPC Cry, Methods to Acquire Informational NPCs

He Fang’s video content primarily showcased how to encounter the Radish Thief and provided a preliminary introduction to the world of “Ruins Without Restart” after connecting to the server, based on the limited information obtained from the Radish Thief NPC. Before creating the video, He Fang searched the internet thoroughly and found no similar guides available.

However, what He Fang never expected was that in just one night, his video views skyrocketed to 200,000, accompanied by tens of thousands of comments and an overwhelming flood of bullet chats. He Fang had never experienced such a spectacle before. When he opened the comment section, he was astonished to see new comments continuously refreshing and a record-breaking 5,000+ viewers watching simultaneously on his channel.

The comments covered a wide range of topics, leaving He Fang only able to skim through a few:

“I didn’t let this radish into the city. It didn’t seem to provide much useful information, and it wasn’t even good-looking. But I guess I was too narrow-minded.”

“The streamer is really a kind-hearted person to give a chance to such a shady resident.”

“Thanks to the streamer for sharing the world-building info. I’m also trying to explore the Black Zone, but I’m stuck. Looking forward to your future guides!”

Skimming through more comments, He Fang noticed that most people didn’t seem to pay much attention to Min Zhizhou. In He Fang’s opinion, Min Zhizhou was just an average-looking man. However, years of accumulated experience gave Min Zhizhou a unique charm characteristic of a mature man, making him look decent overall. The current internet culture, however, seemed excessively harsh about appearances. Admittedly, in the context of a city, Min Zhizhou’s looks were quite underwhelming.

Strangely, though, there was almost no discussion about the game content of “Ruins Without Restart”. The few related comments were off-topic. He Fang’s sensory simulation pod had been gifted directly by the game developers, but the high price of such pods likely deterred most people from purchasing them. At the very least, He Fang expected comments like, “The graphics are so realistic,” “The world-building is incredibly detailed,” or “Every house interior is meticulously designed.”

Could it be that other players had already adjusted to the realism of the sensory simulation pod within such a short time? People these days adapt far too quickly.

He Fang noticed something unusual. He had uploaded this video across multiple platforms. Unexpectedly, the video had achieved outstanding results on every single one. He Fang was caught off guard by this sudden surge of success.

This single video even drove up the views on other content related to “Ruins Without Restart” on his channel. Watching his income from the platform steadily increase in the backend, He Fang felt so ecstatic he even considered ordering an extra serving of spicy hot pot to celebrate.

It seemed that there were still plenty of people eager to play “Ruins Without Restart”. This realization made He Fang give up on trying out the latest game from a major studio that had just been released. After eating and drinking to his heart’s content, he returned to the embrace of “Ruins Without Restart”.

If he didn’t seize the opportunity now and upload more videos in the same vein, he’d be a fool. The overnight surge in followers had completely surpassed the growth he had painstakingly achieved in an entire year.

When He Fang logged back into the game, he found himself in the same location where he had logged out. However, he was stunned by the sight before him. The area was now surrounded by several layers of people, all cheering and gesturing encouragement. At the center of their focus was an elderly man with a bald head, white beard, and trembling legs, dressed in a sweaty undershirt.

When the old man saw He Fang, his murky eyes lit up with a surprising sparkle of joy. He stared intently at He Fang, then raised a mysterious object high above his head and slammed it heavily onto the ground right in front of him.

The massive and weighty object hit the ground with a loud thud, stirring up a cloud of dust from the surrounding pile of trash. After throwing it down, the old man looked at He Fang expectantly, as if waiting for praise.

A completely baffled He Fang: “…”

A flash of anxiety crossed the old man’s excited eyes. Encouraged by the surrounding younger people, he lifted the strange object once again and slammed it even harder onto the ground.

The enormous object hit the ground for the second time, producing another loud crash, this time accompanied by the sound of something breaking into pieces. The crowd immediately turned their heads to look at He Fang.

He Fang: “???”

“City Lord, he’s asking if he has fulfilled the task you assigned him,” a familiar voice suddenly came from behind He Fang.

He Fang immediately turned around and saw Min Zhizhou tied up like a roast chicken to the tree where the old man had previously been resting. Kneeling beside Min Zhizhou was a young girl holding a bowl and chopsticks, seemingly feeding him breakfast.

He Fang: “…”

He Fang: “What’s going on?”

Min Zhizhou sighed helplessly. “Do you remember the order you gave this elderly man before you disappeared? You told him to lift my armor.”

“Oh… That does sound vaguely familiar.” He Fang scratched his head, recalling that he had given the instruction before logging off in a hurry to gather information, as his combat capabilities at the time were insufficient.

“The old man has been feeling dejected because he couldn’t fulfill your task. He’s been practicing tirelessly these past few days. Just now, he was likely showing you the results of his efforts,” Min Zhizhou explained.

He Fang inhaled sharply. “He’s been lifting it… all this time?”

Min Zhizhou nodded solemnly. “Except for when he’s sleeping or eating.”

He Fang was utterly dumbfounded. He had casually issued an order, and this NPC had been endlessly repeating this meaningless action just because the task completion command was never received?

Turning back, He Fang glanced at the object that was now utterly unrecognizable—it was clearly Min Zhizhou’s armor. The once-intact armor had been smashed to the point of no return, its original form completely destroyed.

With a stiff neck, He Fang turned back to look at Min Zhizhou. “And why are you tied up by them?”

Min Zhizhou sighed helplessly. “The elder’s practice completely overwhelmed my armor. I really wanted to stop him, but I’m sorry—I’m no match for them.”

He Fang took a sharp breath. Just then, he heard another loud thud from behind.

“That’s enough! That’s enough! You did a great job. Thank you,” He Fang quickly turned around and addressed the old man.

The old man, who had been preparing to lift the now-unrecognizable armor again, froze upon hearing He Fang’s words. After a brief silence, cheers erupted from the crowd. The old man’s son immediately rushed forward to embrace him. “Dad, you did it! You successfully completed the City Lord’s task. You did it!”

The old man beamed with delight, grinning broadly despite his almost toothless smile. His face, full of wrinkles, was unmistakably radiating pure happiness.

Meanwhile, He Fang was overwhelmed with guilt. He had never expected the NPC’s way of thinking to be so simplistic. Although they looked and acted like real people, they were ultimately not human—just a series of codes. The elder had worked so tirelessly because the command had never been terminated, causing him to endlessly repeat the task. How pitiful.

“I deeply apologize, City Lord. I failed to protect my armor,” Min Zhizhou said beside He Fang, his tone filled with guilt.

“No… this is my fault,” He Fang replied with a guilty expression. He should have issued a termination command. “Have they been keeping you tied up like this the whole time?”

“You don’t need to worry, City Lord. Although I’ve been bound and unable to move freely…” Min Zhizhou glanced at the girl kneeling beside him, feeding him, “The people here have treated me well. In fact, the meals I’ve had over the past few days have been the most delicious I’ve ever tasted in my life.”

He Fang silently glanced at the girl, whose beautiful face held a cold, indifferent expression as she attended to Min Zhizhou. “…” Is this guy actually enjoying himself?