Witch Troupe and the Undead

Lying on a bed covered with thick, soft hay, Roach slowly drifted off to sleep. Perhaps it was the environment, or perhaps it was because he had experienced too many magical scenes that day, but he dreamed of a forest filled with silver mist. The trees were towering into the clouds, silent and still, and clumps of wild grass grew wildly beneath them. The emerald green leaves brushed against his skin, bringing a slight tingling sensation.

Roach wandered aimlessly through the woods, not knowing where he came from or where he was going. There was only the endless forest path and his tireless walking, until he stepped into an abyss and was instantly brought to his senses by the feeling of falling.

"..." With the blanket draped over his stomach and only his legs still on the bed, Roach should even be thankful he hadn't damaged his brain. "Is my sleeping posture really that bad? Hmm, it must be because of the unfamiliar bed."

The sun outside the window had completely sunk below the horizon, and fireflies danced among the trees. Darkness enveloped the cabin like a veil, with only the dim light of a candle that had appeared on the small square table at some unknown time dispelling this thin layer of darkness.

The rumbling of its stomach indicated that it hadn't received any work assignments for the day, reminding the all-encompassing mind that it was time to find some carbohydrates and protein.

"Squeak~" The wooden door hinges made a long, drawn-out sound. The corridor was pitch black, with only the candlelight in his hand illuminating a small area. Roach suddenly remembered that when he entered the house, he noticed that a very important facility was missing: the kitchen, if you don't count the fireplace and the pot on it.

On the door of Livia's room across the way, the horizontal pupils of the goat relief stared intently at Roach's movements until he walked down the stairs, at which point the gaze that had been following him gradually disappeared.

Inside the living room, the fireplace flames had gone out, and the pot contained only half a pot of lukewarm water. Roach placed a candle on the round table in front of the fireplace and looked around, trying to find where the food was stored, but he found nothing. When he came in, there were a few pieces of cheese-like stuff left on the plates on the small round table, but now even the plates were gone.

"Could the food here be magically created?" Roach wasn't sure what the consequences would be if he knocked on the little witch's door so late at night. Maybe the goat head on the door would eat him as a snack?

"Gurgle~" His stomach reminded him again that he needed to find something to eat, and as far as Roach knew, the only edible things besides these herbs with unknown pharmacology and toxicity were the old horse in the stable at the back door.

Given the intelligence of the old horse he had seen earlier that day, he wasn't even sure if rushing in empty-handed would result in a horse-headed demon lounging inside reading a magic book, and then conveniently sending him to hell.

"Going out?" Roach gripped the brass doorknob, and finally, the slowly rising flame in his abdomen gave him the courage to open the door, revealing the woodland at night.

The bright moonlight spilled into the flowerbed in front of the door, and fireflies danced among the flowers and grass. A herbal fragrance mixed with a faint floral scent was carried by the night breeze. Perhaps it was because of the little witch's ritual, but Roach felt that the whole woodland had become much more welcoming.

The cabin was located in a clearing in the woods, with fallen dead trees clearly marking the boundary between the forest and the clearing. Even if Roach had no idea, he could guess that he was barely safe in this clearing, but it was hard to say what the situation would be like outside this boundary.

You might step out and find the house behind you vanished the moment you turn around, leaving you lost in a completely unfamiliar forest, until one day you become some kind of wild animal droppings or a skeleton starving to death by the roadside.

Conversely, it is much safer in open areas. Even if you die for some reason, as long as your body is intact, Livia should be able to revive yourself. When you find that you may have more than one chance to start over, courage will spring up in your heart. In short: if I can revive, I will strike hard.

“If it’s not food conjured by magic, then it means there must be a place nearby where food is cultivated. Ah, I’ve got it!” Roach discovered a large clump of mushrooms. In the moonlight, these mushrooms were pale yellow with white edges and large caps shaped like livers.

First, look at the appearance. There are no spots, and it's not brightly colored. Okay, next step. There's no net-like skirt under the cap. Very good. Now look down. The stem has no boot. Hmm, based on preliminary judgment, this mushroom should be non-poisonous.

Roach fell into deep thought as he looked at the clusters of thriving mushrooms. By Earth's standards, these mushrooms should be large, non-toxic edible fungi. But considering he wasn't on Earth, he didn't know if local mushrooms followed such rules. So, was he going to risk his life to try it?

Roach suddenly realized that if Livia was very knowledgeable in herbalism, then even if these mushrooms were poisonous, as long as they didn't kill him on the spot, she should have a way to detoxify him. If all else failed... reviving him after he died from the poison shouldn't be too difficult, right?

Roach carefully picked out the mushrooms, making sure not to damage the mycelium underneath, so that he wouldn't be left wondering where to find food for the next meal after eating them all.

After returning to the cabin with a large bag of collectibles, Roach relit the fireplace with a candle, washed the mushrooms in the sink next to the workbench, and then tore them into pieces by hand and threw them into the still-warm pot.

The thick iron pot didn't conduct heat very well, and after his stomach repeatedly warned him and started convulsing quite inconsiderately, a pot of mushroom soup was finally cooked, emitting a rich aroma.

“There are three things to know about eating mushrooms: the type, the cooking method, and the route to the hospital…” Roach, holding a wooden spoon he found on the rectangular table, pondered over a pot of fragrant mushroom soup. “I’m completely unfamiliar with the type, and I don’t even know if it’s cooked properly. As for the hospital… there’s no hospital here. Well, the only special thing is that I’m quite familiar with Death.”

After all, dying and returning to the starting point twice in such a short time, if there really were a Grim Reaper, he'd probably be curious and ask, "Why is it you again?"

With the mindset of exploring a new world, Roach took a big gulp of mushroom soup. "Hmm, not very flavorful. Looks like it's probably safe." According to Earth's basic law, the more poisonous the mushroom, the more delicious it is. So if this mushroom soup doesn't taste very good, then it probably isn't poisonous?

So, Roach started to gulp down the mushroom soup, and after finishing a whole pot, his complaining stomach finally stopped acting up.

“Satisfied~” Roach carried the candlestick back up the stairs. As he passed the door carved with a goat’s head, he glanced at the strange relief as usual. The latter’s eyes were also fixed on Roach. “Kid, what are you looking at?”

"Oh, I'm looking at... um?" Roach's expression immediately twisted. This goat head relief was indeed a magical item that could move, but he had never heard this guy speak before!

"Wait, you can talk!?" Before determining whether he had mushroom poisoning, Roach decided to rule out supernatural factors. After all, supernatural powers really exist in this world, and the movable relief in front of him was indeed a supernatural creation. What if it could actually talk?

“Speak, no, I can’t speak,” the goat-headed man said seriously. “You’re the one trying to talk to me.”

“…Okay, I understand.”

Having suffered mushroom poisoning, Roach placed the candlesticks back in place, entered the room, and lay peacefully on the floor, his hands clenched into fists and crossed in front of him, as serene as a pharaoh awaiting resurrection after death.

Chapter Two: So-called Achievements are Great Deeds

The second resurrection was probably because he had been poisoned, so he felt much better than the first time. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Livia's delicate and cute face. Although she had no expression, Roach could miraculously read the emotion of "anger" from her doll-like calm face.

"Don't die," Livia patted Roach's head with her small hand, then repeated as if instructing a pet, "Don't die, it's exhausting."

“So, the mushroom from yesterday was…” Roach got up. Beside him was a book as thick as a dictionary and several mushrooms, similar to the ones he had seen the night before, except that the yellow, oily part on the cap had shrunk and withered into a wailing human face.

Meanwhile, the shape of the mushroom was drawn in ink on the open book, but Roach didn't recognize a single word of the writing on it. It was some kind of alphabetic script, but not any language he knew.

"Literacy?"

"Can't read?" "Hmm." The girl hummed in response, picked up the book from the ground, jumped onto Luo Qi's bed, and sat down. Her emerald eyes stared at Luo Qi, who thought for a moment and felt that he roughly understood what she meant. He then obediently sat down cross-legged.

"Hmm," the girl nodded in satisfaction, then read it aloud in a completely flat tone.

"Dead Soul, a large fungus, classified as poisonous fungi, and subcategory of demonic fungi; with a large cap shaped like a human liver, its surface oozes a yellow, oily substance at night and withers during the day, its surface pattern resembling a wailing soul. Uses: potion making, honorable suicide, and execution of nobles. Consuming small amounts can stimulate soul activity and enhance spiritual perception, and is often used by diviners to concoct 'perception potions'."

"Usable potion recipes: Soul Sharpening Potion, Sharpening Perception, Polarizing Perception, etc., with moderate toxicity. Large doses can cause death in a short time and lead to an overactive soul that cannot sleep. Therefore, necromancers use them to artificially create ghosts, banshees, and other forbidden acts."

Livia finished reading the contents of the book and stared intently at Roach, who obediently lowered his head and apologized, "I'm sorry."

"Hmm!" The girl jumped down, placed her soft little hands on Roach's head, and patted it hard, seemingly very satisfied with his attitude.

"So, there's no food here?" Roach asked, seizing the opportunity. Livia thought for a moment, then took a medicine bottle from her skirt pocket and handed it to him.

"This is..." Roach examined the glass bottle in his hand, then unscrewed the cap and drank it all in one gulp. As for the taste, well... it tasted like an atomic bomb explosion. However, after drinking this bottle of viscous white liquid, he immediately felt completely hungry.

"Wait, do you usually eat this all the time?" Now he understood why there was no toilet in the house; if you were eating this kind of stuff to fill your stomach, you really wouldn't need a toilet.

"Hmm?" Livia tilted her head, not quite understanding what he was talking about. "What about the cheese from yesterday? I mean the cheese on the round table."

"Hmm..." Livia patted out of the room and returned a while later with a small cloth bag filled with the "cheese" she had seen yesterday. Roach discovered that it was actually some kind of solidified colloid that smelled of flowers and herbs. It was more like some kind of soap than cheese.

"Can I eat it?"

"Hmm," Luo Qi put a piece in his mouth, and the rich sweetness spread out, but for a short time, the excessive sweetness made him feel nauseous. At the same time, his stomach felt even fuller.

"..." Faced with the tiny expectation in the girl's emerald eyes, Roach gave a forced laugh. "The taste is alright, but... if possible... um, Livia, could you make me a fishing rod?"

After some difficult communication, with the little witch's magical help, Roach successfully obtained a fishing rod, a fishing line made of vine silk, and a wooden hook from a piece of firewood.

As they left the cabin, Livia hesitated for a moment, then had Roach bend down and hang a necklace, still warm from her body and faintly fragrant, around his neck. The necklace was made of some kind of unidentified metal wire, and the pendant was just a thin, diamond-shaped metal piece. But judging from Livia's actions, it seemed to be something very important to her.

"A talisman or a key to open the door?" Roach stepped out of the boundary formed by the fallen dead trees, and the hut and forest clearing behind him instantly turned into a blur. But when he looked back, the faint shadows floated in the forest. As long as he took a step forward, the clearing where the hut was located would unfold again.

"It seems to be some kind of key?" Roach carried his fishing rod and walked along the dilapidated path through the forest toward the beach. Clearly, at this time, only fishing could satisfy his desire for a living. In addition to fishing, there were also plenty of edible seaweed, shells, and crabs to be found on the beach.

The beach is located south of the witch's house, with the coastline extending to the east and west, until it reaches two eagle-beak-like headlands and cliffs. The entire terrain is like a bow, with the continuous rocks and cliffs as the bow arms and the golden sand as the bowstring that separates the sea from the dense forest.

Roach found a large enough rock near Eagle's Beak Cliff on the west side to fish. His bait came from an unidentified worm he found in the woods. He didn't know if it was because of the little witch's magic, but he didn't see many creatures or even insects in this woods.

No venomous snakes or mosquitoes were found, which is very rare and even abnormal for a forest located near a warm coastline with abundant moisture. However, in a world where supernatural forces exist, it's hard to say whether this is abnormal or not.

Fishing is a very interesting activity, provided you don't come back empty-handed. Roach didn't know if he was just lucky or if the stupid sea fish here had never seen such a vicious thing as a fishhook before. Soon, Roach successfully caught a flat sea fish the size of his palm.

A fish I didn't recognize at all. Its dark gray body was covered with black spots, and its back was covered with sharp, claw-like spines, making it look very fierce.

"Looks like I won't be empty-handed today." Roach tossed his catch into the bucket with satisfaction, then cast his line again. This reef might have been very rich in food, or it might just be his "lucky streak" today. In just two hours, the bucket was filled with all sorts of sea fish.

There were fish that looked like carp but were entirely pink, as well as crustaceans similar to lobsters, and something that he couldn't tell if it was a sea snake or a moray eel. In any case, they were all species he didn't recognize at all, but the little witch should know them. Hopefully, there weren't any poisonous creatures like pufferfish among them.

Luo Qi packed up his fishing gear. Today's catch was enough for him to eat for several days. He also picked up some seashells and wet seaweed on the beach. At least these two things were unlikely to be poisonous. Just as he was about to head back, his vision blurred for a moment, and all his strength disappeared in an instant. Fortunately, this process only lasted for a few seconds.

"This is..." A blank interface appeared in his vision, with pale white characters floating in the light gray background, but Roach could clearly recognize its meaning.

At the top of the interface are four tabs, from left to right: "Talent," "Training," "Skill," and "Great Achievement." The "Talent" and "Training" tabs are completely black, while only the "Skill" and "Great Achievement" tabs glow slightly as Roach concentrates his attention.

As the crafting page unfolds, blurry images resembling stained glass windows appear on the screen. Almost all of them are blurry and dim, except for one picture with clear colors and imagery. It is an image of a fisherman pieced together from countless brightly colored, irregular geometric fragments. He wears a felt hat, has a fish basket at his feet, and calmly faces the storm and waves ahead with his hands holding a fishing rod.

[Fishing Master: Remain unmoved even as storms rage. Master this skill, and you can fish safely amidst storms and high waves. Achieve Greatness: Fish continuously for over 2 hours in high-risk environments and catch more than 20 fish.]

"Huh... wait a minute, a high-risk environment!?" Roach looked around but didn't find any dangerous creatures or weather. How was this high-risk?

Putting that aside for now, he turned his attention to the tree diagram that appeared on the side as the image was lit up.

A short, thick line extends upwards from the bottom, constantly branching out and then merging back together, eventually reuniting at the top to form a beautiful rhombus, while at the very bottom, a small point of light has been lit.

[Fishing Luck: 3% influence modifier on aquatic life when fishing]

Meanwhile, the scale on the side of the tree diagram is marked with the number 10/300K. "Some kind of experience value? Or proficiency? In other words, this is some kind of... supernatural cheat for me? But it doesn't look very powerful."

It's not the kind of skill that you can master just by picking up a skill point; it seems that you really have to rely on your own hard work and practice to accumulate proficiency. Moreover, it seems that to unlock this talent tree-like thing, you have to achieve some kind of high-difficulty behavior as a threshold, which is apparently called a "great achievement".

Roach shifted his attention to “Great Achievements,” and the interface switched to a list-like format, marking all the Great Achievements he was currently working on.

[Fishing Master on the Waves: Fished for 2 hours in a high-risk environment and caught more than 20 fish; 20/20; Completed.]

[Mocking the dead: 10 unnatural deaths, 2 out of 10]

[Eight-boat jump: Maintaining intimate relationships with two or more women; 1/8.]

[Poor teeth: Enjoys being supported by a member of the opposite sex whose strength far surpasses their own. 1/1000]

[Mushroom Warrior: Bravely tries completely unfamiliar fungi and gets poisoned; 1/30]

[Anxious Starvation: Food poisoning due to extreme hunger. 1/50]

[Risking danger: Surviving in high-risk areas ("dangerous" or above); 1 in 365]

"I feel like this thing is encouraging me to do something stupid..." Luo Qi silently closed the interface of Great Achievement. As his attention shifted, the entire page faded and disappeared. But as long as he had this thought, the page would appear in front of him, whether his eyes were closed or open.

In a sense, the term "great achievement" is actually quite accurate. Putting aside everything else, just considering the one who mocked the dead, he felt that even in the supernatural world, it wouldn't be so easy to accomplish. After all, to die and be resurrected ten times, life isn't that cheap.

As for other things, like the eight-ship jump, Roach felt that if he really wanted to accomplish this great feat, he could probably max out the number of Taunt Deaths on the way, since he had been hit by the machete at least eight times, plus the two he already had.

Oh, and maybe I can even brush my bad teeth while I'm at it. Hmm, so Livia's strength far surpasses mine!?

And what does this "offering" mean?! Are you accusing me, Lord Roach, of living off a little girl? Hmm... I think I actually did eat some before, and it was quite delicious, just a bit too sweet.

As for the remaining mushroom warriors, the starving corpses, and those who risked their lives, Roach felt that without the ability to resurrect infinitely, they would probably have to meet their demise before achieving their great deeds.

After finishing his research on this strange cheat, Roach embarked on his return journey. As the pendant on his chest warmed slightly, the witch's hut once again abruptly appeared in the middle of the woods.

Livia said nothing about the fish Roach caught; she merely glanced at it with her emerald eyes before returning to her book.

Luo Qi drained the blood from the fish and discarded the internal organs, which are prone to retaining toxins. Even if the pufferfish is poisonous, after draining the blood and removing the internal organs, the pure fish meat is non-toxic or only slightly toxic.

The chopped fish, shrimp, and shellfish were placed in a pot, water was added, along with salt and kelp, and cooking began. Because the thick pot didn't conduct heat very well, the fish soup wasn't fully cooked until noon, and the aroma of steaming fish soup filled the small house.

Roach added some herbs to remove the fishy smell, and his skillful technique made him wonder if he had worked as a cook before he was blown up.

"Livia, dinner's ready." Roach called the little witch by her name. She looked up at him and stared blankly for a few seconds, as if confirming something or observing something. In the end, she slowly walked to the table and watched Roach divide the fish soup into two large wooden bowls with a blank expression.

Luo Qi tried it himself first and felt it was okay, but there was still a fishy smell. However, the patchouli and ginger slices added in it suppressed the fishy smell to some extent, and it tasted alright. It might just be the effect of hunger.

Livia watched Roach drink the soup, and after a while, she carefully took a sip with a wooden spoon. Her emerald green eyes visibly brightened, and although her face remained expressionless, her movements unexpectedly became faster.

The hot soup caused a slight sweat to seep from her forehead, and her small face became rosy, giving her a more vibrant look than her usual doll-like appearance. This also ignited a new chapter in Roach's great undertaking.

[The King of Dark Cuisine: He uses high-quality ingredients to create "inferior" culinary products and tricks others into eating them. 1/24]

"..." What the hell is this culinary monstrosity! However, Roach also indirectly confirmed that the fish he caught were indeed of good quality, and reaffirmed that the little witch Livia's usual diet was definitely not something fit for human consumption.

After all, she was enjoying this fish soup, which was identified as "dark cuisine" by the "Great Achievement" page, and she looked at Roach with expectant eyes, as if she hoped that he would be in charge of catering in the future.

"Sigh~ From now on, I'll take charge of cooking. Drinking potions and eating those soap-like things isn't sustainable."

"Hmm~" The witch nodded slightly, seemingly agreeing with Roach's opinion. Besides cooking, Roach soon discovered that he had quite a few chores to do.

For example, the old horse in the stable, it seems to go out to forage on its own, but it still needs to be brushed from time to time. Roach was very curious about who was in charge of this job before him.

The mystery was solved only after it was discovered that Livia could manipulate water and brushes to clean potion stains off her dress.

For some reason, Luo Qi felt that many of the items in the room seemed to have their own souls, and the way the old horse looked at him was also very strange, like a school gatekeeper looking at a freshman.

In addition to these tasks, Roach also needs to help Livia repair the house, mainly by carrying materials. As for the actual construction, he just needs to watch the self-moving hammers do the work.

There were quite a few of these chores, but none of them were very strenuous, at least not with the help of magic. However, the witch rarely used such magic frequently. According to Rhodes' observation, it didn't seem like a problem of running out of magic power. Rather, it seemed that using magic to handle these chores was even more troublesome than doing them by hand.

And so, Roach stayed in the witch's hut for over a month, successfully raising his "Poor Teeth" skill to 45, and incidentally raising his "Fishing Master" proficiency to 220, unlocking the second node, "[Stability: Increases the stability of the hand holding the fishing rod by 2%]", and also unlocking a new achievement, "[Perfect and Elegant Servant: Engage in domestic service work and receive 1/2000 positive reviews]".

Chapter Three: Days of Chopping Wood, Cooking Soup, and Feeding the Horses

Sunlight streamed through the thin wooden windowpanes and shone on his face. The wind rustled through the treetops. "Ah~" Roach stretched and caught a leaf that drifted in through the window.

"A message brought by fallen leaves..." For some reason, this sentence suddenly popped into his mind. Roach exhaled a breath of stale air, sat up, and changed into a rough coat. This coat was made by Livia using magic to extract wood fibers, which was only slightly better than going shirtless.

After going down the stairs, I first checked the number of fish in the bucket by the fireplace, then went around to the back of the house. There were only a few lonely logs left where firewood was piled up, so it seemed that I needed to prepare new firewood.

He hung the coiled rope around his body, picked up the axe placed behind the door, and walked to the edge of the clearing. Most of the trees here were rich in moisture, and even if they were cut down, they would need to be dried for a long time before they could be used as firewood. Therefore, Roach had to go to the northern edge of the woodland, where there were a lot of dead trees.

This woodland is surrounded by an arc-shaped cliff, leaving only a narrow valley leading to the outside world. The vegetation changes significantly from the valley to the coast. At the edge of the valley, most of the trees are completely dead, and the charred and withered ancient trees are like the claws of the dead reaching towards the sky. Further in, there are thickets of thorns and bushes, as well as swamps churning with green mud that looks ominous.

Considering that even the Little Witch wouldn't be able to pull him out if he sank into the swamp, Roach stopped here and didn't venture any deeper into the valley.

As you walk towards the cabin, the dead trees gradually decrease, replaced by towering ancient trees that resemble wooden city walls. Only around the cabin are the large ancient trees replaced by ordinary broad-leaved trees. As you move towards the coast, the trees gradually become sparser and smaller.

Aside from the obvious presence of some unknown creature lurking in the swamp, Roach encountered no threats along the way. The forest was eerily quiet, or rather, eerily safe. He hadn't seen any wild beasts, or even ordinary rabbits, which made the word "dangerous" describing the current environment on the "Great Achievements" panel even more unsettling.