A Realistic Mount & Blade Game

#1 - Monster in the Dark

The setting sun gradually sank, its dim yellow light stretching the shadows of hundreds of tall buildings, creating countless clawing black figures across the city.

Night was approaching.

Shen Mu silently sat in his apartment, meticulously taking stock of the supplies he had prepared.

"Candles, matches, wood, old clothes, and various collected combustibles…"

Before Shen Mu, the space beside his bed was already piled high with the resources he had gathered, mostly splintered pieces of furniture, torn clothes and bedding, or flammable items like books that once held knowledge.

But now, they could all be categorized as light and fire to resist the undead creatures.

After all, at night, those beings resembling corpses and skeletons, even vengeful spirits, needed these things to be resisted.

"It's a pity, if I could obtain a Spirit Realm Mark, perhaps I could become a Spirit Realm Hero, and no longer fear these terrifying monsters that surge from the darkness."

There was a hint of regret on Shen Mu's face.

But since three years ago, when the terrifying Black Tide first descended, quite a few Spirit Realm Marks had been scattered.

Now, finding a Spirit Realm Mark, whether it was a Hero type, a Skill type, or even an Artifact type, was basically like winning the lottery.

"Also, I don't know what will happen when the countdown in my mind ends."

Shen Mu frowned slightly.

Because in his mind, there was a constantly decreasing countdown timer.

[Countdown: 00 hours 09 minutes 43 seconds.]

And it was gradually decreasing as time passed.

"What is this thing?" Shen Mu had no idea.

He only knew that this countdown timer had appeared naturally when he transmigrated here.

Shen Mu's transmigration had occurred this morning.

And since this morning, he had discovered this countdown timer in his mind.

Having endured until now, there were finally less than 10 minutes left until the countdown ended.

"Speechless."

Especially after he transmigrated and learned that this technological world, which was originally no different from Earth, had been facing various apocalyptic crises since it collided with a fantasy-based crystalline wall world called the Spirit Realm three years ago, his mood had worsened.

"Otherwise, the original owner of this body, who shared the same name as me, wouldn't have committed suicide by slitting his wrists."

Shen Mu glanced at his left wrist, where a smear of uncleaned bright red bloodstain remained.

This was why he had possessed this body.

However, the wound had miraculously disappeared due to Shen Mu's transmigration, completely returning to an uninjured state.

Shen Mu was naturally unclear about the specific principle.

But one thing he understood was that his countdown was about to enter the final stage, and he would finally know what would happen after the countdown ended.

'Swish, swish—' Wind swept past the apartment, carrying a certain whimper. If one listened carefully, they could detect faint, strange, minuscule crying sounds within.

Shen Mu's face remained unchanged.

He only glanced out the window; the setting sun was about to disappear, and the entire sky was almost completely occupied by darkness.

Only a small portion of the sun remained struggling on the western horizon, seemingly still trying to protect this world that had already been invaded by the dying Spirit Realm.

The sky was darkening.

"It's time to light the fire."

Shen Mu immediately dragged a huge iron bathtub from under the bed. It had been blackened from years of burning fires, and thick ashes remained.

However, this did not affect its effectiveness as a brazier.

'Whoosh!'

As Shen Mu lit a few newspapers and threw them in, then tossed in flammable synthetic fiber clothing, a pile of smelly, black smoke-emitting flames ignited inside the brazier.

Taking advantage of the burning flames, Shen Mu then threw in small pieces of furniture wood, completely stabilizing the fire within this small apartment, which was nominally forty-three square meters but only had a usable area of barely thirty square meters.

"Now, it can be considered safe."

Shen Mu looked at the burning fire in the brazier in front of him and nodded with satisfaction.

But he still thought of something and quickly went to the window, opening the tightly closed window.

Instantly, the smoke produced by the burning seemed to find an outlet, flowing out along the window.

"Almost got carbon monoxide poisoning."

Shen Mu thought of his predecessor's memories and couldn't help but purse his lips, feeling dumbfounded by his own stupidity.

Although now, firearms and many of the original physical rules had become ineffective due to the invasion of the Spirit Realm's rules.

The basic rules of life still applied.

Falling into water would still lead to drowning.

Untreated stab wounds would still bleed to death.

Of course, one could still be choked to death by smoke or die from carbon monoxide poisoning, it was all the same.

"Damn it."

The remaining memories of his predecessor reminded Shen Mu of the terrifying undead monsters that appeared every night, taking advantage of the darkness, and he couldn't help but grit his teeth, his mood becoming even more tense.

He subconsciously turned his head, looking out of the apartment.

The city streets, which should have been bustling, were now eerily silent, with no one in sight.

Using the only remaining light, Shen Mu pursed his lips, looking at the car wrecks abandoned on the street, which resembled graves due to the rules, and a hint of fear appeared in his eyes.

This was the fear brought about by his predecessor's remaining memories, which even he, who had transmigrated, was infected by!

Fear of the unknown was the greatest fear.

However.

When Shen Mu looked up at the lights that also appeared sporadically in the windows of the tall buildings and office buildings around the apartment, his original fear dissipated a lot.

"Although the Spirit Realm's undead monsters are terrifying, at least many people and families have survived."

Shen Mu comforted himself.

He turned his head to look west.

The sun, which had been struggling to protect this world, finally fell completely.

'Buzz!' Then, when the last bit of light disappeared, a certain fluctuation that seemed to flash across the world in an instant appeared.

"It's here!"

Shen Mu took two steps back.

He knew that this was the characteristic of the dying Spirit Realm, bringing all its rules and countless undead monsters.

Beginning to descend upon Earth!

At the same time, the characteristic that was also manifested was the gray mist that spread out invisibly.

From thin to thick, and then to the point where one couldn't see their fingers, it only took a short two or three minutes.

To the extent that Shen Mu, standing by the window and still looking out of the apartment, could no longer see the street below the seventh floor!

"Wailing—" A chorus of ghostly wails, mixed with faint, mournful screams, appeared in the streets or cities shrouded in darkness and gray mist.

Shen Mu took two steps back, away from the window, only letting the black smoke vent outwards.

He silently sat back on the bed next to the brazier.

The previous statement seemed incorrect.

Because Shen Mu clearly knew that after nightfall, as long as there was no light, it would turn into darkness occupied by the rules of the dying Spirit Realm, creating a gray mist land that could give birth to undead monsters.

Wherever there was darkness, gray mist would be generated.

The concentration of gray mist would gradually increase.

And undead monsters would appear in the gray mist!

It was that cruel.

Unless one lit a fire, allowing the light to fill the entire room, even the room next door, separated by a wall, or even the toilet blocked by a door, could potentially have gray mist and monsters appear due to the lack of light!

For example, now, as the black smoke inside the house vented out through the roof and window, the gray mist outside also wanted to surge in.

But as long as it approached a place with light, the gray mist would instantly evaporate and dissipate as if it had been erased.

This was why people in this world today would try their best to find a light source or light a bonfire at night!

As long as a bonfire was lit, the gray mist could be effectively avoided.

"Wait!"

Just at this moment, Shen Mu, who had been sitting on the bed and pondering, suddenly raised his head as if he had thought of something.

His gaze fell on a separate door inside the small, thirty-square-meter apartment, close to the entrance.

That was his apartment's toilet!

"Crap!"

Shen Mu remembered the memories left by his predecessor, that even in the toilet, a candle needed to be lit to drive away the darkness every night!

Now that a few minutes had passed since the beginning of the night, if he was unlucky, according to the rules of the dying Spirit Realm in the dark…

Perhaps…

Undead monsters had already appeared!

"A candle must also be lit in the toilet!"

Almost as soon as Shen Mu thought of this, he grabbed the matches and candles next to him, wanting to rush towards the toilet.

But before Shen Mu's butt left the bed, faint sounds actually appeared inside the frosted glass door of the toilet, in the flickering firelight of the brazier in front of him.

"Ugh… ah…"

It was like some kind of painful groan, also like the whisper of a demon.

"!!!"

But this sound was like an explosion in Shen Mu's mind.

Making his whole body freeze in place.

Because this sound was the sound made by the appearance of an undead monster!

[Countdown: 00 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds.]

[《Mount \u0026 Blade》Full series of DLC and MODs have been successfully loaded into the running folder, and the running code has been fused.]

[The main body is 《Mount \u0026 Blade: Warband》 and 《Mount \u0026 Blade II: Bannerlord》.]

[Are you ready to start the game?]

Just at this moment, the originally inexplicable countdown in Shen Mu's mind finally ended.

Then it turned into a dialogue box, appearing on the retina in front of Shen Mu's eyes, which only he could see.