As an NPC, having a lot of skills is quite reasonable, right?

Moonlight bathed the city of Nohanville, while a cold wind carried a few flakes of snow onto the terrace of Blackberry Estate.

Several days have passed since the last Boss battle. During these days, Moen has been quite well-behaved, spending his days wandering around the city, collecting rare alchemy materials, or checking on Hansen's situation.

Hansen woke up a day after the war. It was thought he would be devastated, but on the contrary, he was in good spirits and even moved house by himself.

At this moment, Moen lay on a soft chair on the terrace, swirling a glass of aged red wine he had taken from the estate's cellar.

What was on his mind was why he didn't get the Life Stone after killing Cecio. Was it because Cecio was just an ordinary person, or was he going to be resurrected later?

After thinking for a long time, Moen concluded that it was due to his lack of understanding of the Life Stone drop mechanism. He took a sip of red wine and opened the forum.

With the end of the closed beta test, the game forums were now incredibly popular.

Players who participated in the closed beta flooded the forum, sharing their experiences during the beta. The homepage was filled with posts, almost all of which were highly praising Blood and Wine.

A realistic physics engine, highly intelligent NPCs, and a world that is so hardcore it's outrageous yet irresistible.

Moen placed his wine glass on the table beside him and clicked on the top-ranked post on the trending list.

That was a full-length video of the confrontation between Moen and Cecio, uploaded by Big Pineapple.

Title: "[First Release on the Entire Network] The Final Battle of the Closed Beta! One Sword Destroys the Server! Have You Ever Seen a Mentor Who Opened the Heavenly Gate with One Sword? (Includes High-Definition Battle Video)" Posted by: Big Pineapple

Contents:

Brothers, I, Pineapple, am back! Enough chit-chat, let's get straight to the video.

This is a follow-up to the hidden campaign mission "The Broken Shackles" that we triggered in Nohanville.

See for yourselves how monstrous that Roshan boss is, but our mentor is even more monstrous!

With a single sword strike, he cleaved the heavens and entered the realm of celestial beings on earth!

And that final move of using someone else to kill the judge was a complete crushing victory in both intelligence and force!

I bet Nohanville is absolutely the trigger point for the main storyline! The Ember faction is the answer to this version! No arguments allowed!

Video Attachment: [Click to Play: Ember Mentor's Final Sword]

The number of replies to the post is skyrocketing at a rate of dozens per second:

1st Floor [噫吁嚱]: Holy crap! Front row seat! This is so cool! The special effects are movie-level, right?

2nd floor [Air Fryer YYDS]: Wow, I thought I was already a pro at killing chickens in the newbie village, but after watching the video, I feel like a caveman.

3rd Floor [Radiant Holy City Celestial Dragon]: Hehe, the poster is exaggerating. It's just a hidden quest in a remote rural area, not part of the main storyline?

Let me tell you, the real main storyline is definitely in Paradis, the capital of the Judgment Ring, or Lucius, the holy city of the Radiant Court.

4th Floor [Big Pineapple] (OP): @3rd Floor, you city folks have a strong sense of superiority, huh? Did you learn any skills in Holy City? Is your skill bar lit up? We Embers average at least two skills each, what do you mean?

5th floor [Only by deleting the database can we escape]: Exactly, some people are sweeping the streets in big cities, while we are in the countryside killing lord-level BOSSes with our mentors and blowing up the courthouse. Can this game experience be the same?

Floor 6 [Holy Light Deceives You]: Stop arguing upstairs. Is it so hard to admit someone was lucky? But to be fair, this NPC is really a bit outrageous. He seems even more sophisticated than those archbishops. It's making me want to go to Nohanville too…

Looking at the players arguing fiercely about whether it was part of the main storyline, Moen rubbed his temples helplessly.

His original intention was to develop quietly and accumulate strength, but he didn't expect that Diablo's publicity would make him the main character in the game. This might affect the subsequent plot, which is not necessarily a good thing.

So, he skillfully typed out a reply.

108th Floor [Chen Jiangli]:

Let's have a rational discussion.

According to my analysis, Blood and Wine employs a multi-linear narrative structure.

Each region has its own unique ecology and storyline. While the story of Nohanville is compelling, it may not be the only main plot.

The political struggles in Aurellia, the resurrection of the undead in Mordra, and the defense of the Far North War Temple against the monsters should all be considered equally important chapters.

The players in Nohanville were just lucky to have encountered a mentor with a rather radical approach.

Once this reply was posted, the heated atmosphere in the thread immediately dissipated due to the author's aura of being a meticulous researcher, and the discussion turned into a discussion of worldviews.

Moen casually clicked on a few more help requests, selected some interesting questions to reply to, and incidentally reinforced his persona as a strategy guide.

Post: "Help! Why can't I cast spells when I wear plate armor?" Posted by: Mage Wants to Wear Armor

7th Floor [Chen Jiangli]:

This involves the underlying magical logic of Blood and Wine—[etheric interference].

Metals, especially unenchanted heavy metals, can interfere with the resonance between the human body and the etheric elements in the outside world.

This is why orthodox mages wear cloth robes, while paladins need to undergo a special baptism to cast divine spells under their armor.

If you want to become a mage tank, I suggest you look for a material called mithril, but gathering materials requires a very high mining level, so you don't need to think about that for now.

Post: "What's hidden in the mist near the Requiem Hall? I died like crazy as soon as I went in!" Posted by: Believer of the Ancient Gods

12th Floor [Chen Jiangli]:

That is the overlapping area between the spirit world and the mortal world. When you gaze into the mist, something indescribable is also gazing back at you.

Players there are advised to carry a requiem lamp with them, or keep their spirit attribute above 20, otherwise the system will judge that their spirit value is too low and send them away directly.

After replying to a few posts, Moen stretched and felt much better; that's the joy of popularizing science.

"It's late." Moen turned off the system panel and was just about to get up and go back to his room to sleep.

Suddenly, he stopped moving.

The snow below the courtyard made a very faint cracking sound.

"Who?" Moen instinctively peeked out and looked down from the terrace.

The moment he peeked out, a gray afterimage dramatically bounced up from the courtyard ground!

The speed was ridiculously fast; Moen only had time to catch a glimpse of a fluttering gray cloak.

Immediately afterwards, a large foot wearing an ordinary leather boot came ruthlessly kicking him in the chest!

"Damn it!" Moen cursed inwardly, retreating at lightning speed and making an extremely tight dodge to narrowly avoid the kick.

But he lost his balance and tumbled off the terrace.

The wind whistled past his ears as Moen quickly adjusted his posture in mid-air, using his core strength to execute a beautiful backflip, his feet landing firmly on the thick snow in the courtyard.

"Not bad." A deep, resonant voice came from the terrace.

Moen looked up.

The uninvited guest was standing on the edge of the terrace, casually taking off his hood.

It was none other than the Holy Knight Gray who had suppressed the entire scene during the day.

"It's so late, does Your Excellency the Holy Knight have a penchant for trespassing?"

Moen patted the snow off his body, his tone not showing much panic, but rather a hint of teasing.

He knew that if Gray really wanted to kill him, he wouldn't have held back in that kick, and he wouldn't have had a chance to dodge it.

"The door is locked, and knocking is too much trouble."

Gray leaped off the terrace, his massive body landing with only a small cloud of snow dust.

He walked up to Moen and scrutinized him with his sharp eyes:

"I've been observing you for several days now; you seem to be living a very leisurely life."

Hearing Gray say this, Moen couldn't figure out the purpose of his nighttime visit, but he still skillfully used the tactic of taking the opportunity to back down:

"We ordinary folks just drift through our days like this."

Gray was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed and said, "You're quite cautious, kid."

"You don't need to be so wary of me. We might have a lot of contact in the future."

Then, he pulled a black letter from his pocket and casually tossed it to Moen.

"I've come to give you a gift."

Moen accepted the letter. On the envelope was a symbol he recognized all too well from his past life—the emblem of the highest judicial body of the Inquisition—[Special Summons from the Inquisition].

"Looks like my good days are over?" Moen handed it back, his hand outstretched in mid-air, but Gray didn't take it.