The Survival Rules of NPCs

Chapter 1: The Corpse Collector!

"Bright, you've got work to do, come on over here!"

Bright, who was gathering firewood, put down his work and rushed to the front door. He was startled to see that the person in the lead was a woman wearing chainmail. He stepped forward and bowed in surprise, saying, "Sir Knight, Bright, the corpse collector, greets you with good afternoon."

The female knight in chainmail nodded slightly, a hint of disdain flashing deep in her eyes. Bright didn't dare to look directly at her, so he didn't see the disdain in her eyes. But even if he had, he wouldn't have had any objections. Even an ordinary farmer would look down on someone like him, let alone a knight who had entered the noble class.

He was just a little curious. Usually, ordinary soldiers would deliver corpses to the crematorium. What kind of corpse would be delivered by a regular knight this time?

"I remember he was an old man before?" The female knight frowned slightly as she looked at Bright's youthful appearance.

"You mean old John, sir? He passed away six months ago, and Bright has been in charge of the crematorium for the past six months," the middle-aged soldier next to him quickly replied.

"Is he capable?"

"Rest assured, sir. Old John is unwell, and actually, Bright has been in charge here for the past two years without a single mistake!"

"Hmm..." The knight nodded and fell silent. The soldier quickly said to Bright, "Dispose of this body urgently; it's best to burn it tonight!"

"Burn it tonight?" Bright hurriedly said, "The sun is blazing overhead. We just burned a batch of corpses the day before yesterday. If we burn this one today, there will only be this one corpse left."

The furnaces at crematoriums consume a lot of energy each time they are turned on, especially given the ever-increasing price of coal. In winter, when corpses are easier to preserve, they are usually turned on once a month. If a furnace is turned on just for a single corpse, it means either there is an epidemic or the corpse's origin is not simple.

"It's an assassin. We suspect he's involved with cult necromancers, so we need to expedite the process," the soldier explained.

"An assassin?" Bright looked at the female corpse behind them with some curiosity.

This world is peculiar. Under the laws of the gods, everyone's identity is restricted by the nobility. The seal of authority held by the lord of a region is authorized by the king and contains divine power. It can arbitrarily determine the professions of the people in the territory. There are restrictions on how many farmers, doctors, and soldiers there are. Under the control of the divine seal, the identity of ordinary people is under the control of the noble lord.

For example, if Bright's identity is a corpse collector, then learning the skills of a corpse collector will be much easier for him, and he will also receive some luck bonuses in doing this kind of work. Conversely, if he were to do other things, such as farming or learning blacksmithing, he would be as hard to get into the profession as a fool with low IQ.

In this context, it's impossible for assassins to emerge from the wild. Any profession that uses weapons consumes a lot of noble authority, and training an assassin often requires the noble lord to select from dozens of warriors, grant assassin authority, and then proceed with further training. The number of nobles in Holy Stone City with this capability can be counted on one hand, or they are just unorthodox individuals from outside cults.

If it is the latter, there is indeed a high possibility that it involves the methods of a necromancer.

"We have a complete corpse sealing process to prevent necromancers from raising corpses..." Bright still tried to minimize the losses.

"You corpse collectors' tricks are nothing compared to a true sorcerer." The knight interrupted Bright directly: "Burn it tonight. To avoid any sorcerers hiding nearby, I will stay here until you burn it."

"Yes, sir. I'll go light the stove first and then prepare dinner for you later." Since the knight had spoken, even if it was a losing proposition, he had to do it. Bright could only resign himself to his fate and prepare to get to work.

"No need..." the knight refused outright. "We'll leave after we've burned it all. There's no need to waste that time."

She had absolutely no interest in the food prepared by the corpse collector. Bright wasn't surprised that she would say that; there were very few people in the world willing to eat food prepared by corpse collectors. Although nobles guaranteed a stable income for this profession, the price was that they were even less respected than scavengers who carried manure.

He quickly transported the body to the morgue, turned on the furnace, and began processing the body.

Before any corpse is cremated, it must be treated. This is the rule of the corpse collectors. In this world, cults are everywhere, and the followers of evil gods who hide in the dark each have a bottle of corpse-raising powder. As a result, no one on the entire continent dares to bury their dead. If a corpse that has been treated with corpse-raising powder is thrown directly into the crematorium without being treated, the spirit of the dead carrying the toxins of the corpse-raising powder may form a plague gas.

Lifting the tattered cloth covering the corpse, Bright saw an extremely handsome face: exquisite and three-dimensional features, fair and smooth skin, emerald-green pupils, and a tuft of fiery red hair. He was even more beautiful than the stunning Lady of Holy Stone City. What insane nobleman would train someone with such looks as an assassin? Could it be someone from a cult?

Shaking his head, Bright unbuttoned his clothes, revealing a pale, fleshy body. Long legs, a perfectly proportioned figure, and smooth muscle lines—this body was almost unreal in its beauty. No wonder the female knight had to deliver it personally; if those veterans had to escort it themselves, it probably would have been used countless times along the way.

The key issue is that if someone has a disease, it can be spread through soldiers.

"Is it beautiful?" The female knight's voice appeared behind him, slightly cold.

Bright nodded: "This is the first time I've seen such a beautiful female corpse. It's hard to imagine that she was an assassin."

The female knight's expression turned slightly cold, but before she could say anything more, she saw Bright put on gloves, skillfully take out a scalpel, and directly pull the blade from her chest to her abdomen, turning out all her internal organs.

The soldiers behind him were shocked to find that this guy didn't even blink at such a beautiful corpse, and started working on it without batting an eye. He was even more efficient than the butchers who slaughtered pigs in the market. They felt a tightness in their chests, covered their mouths, and turned away.

The female knight was slightly taken aback. Before she could react, Bright had already calmly removed all of her intestines and internal organs.

"It's very fresh, with no particularly foul odor, and there's not even any food residue in the intestines. It must have been done on an empty stomach before the assassination. It's easy to tell that there were no drugs that could cause a special plague," Bright said casually as he sniffed the removed organs.

"Uh..." The female knight also felt a tightness in her chest, frowned and nodded. Now she agreed with what the veterans had said. This kid was indeed very qualified as a corpse collector.

Click!

Bright carefully pulled out the woman's teeth one by one, examined her mouth thoroughly, and then nodded, saying, "There's no medicine hidden in the esophagus, mouth, or teeth, so there shouldn't be any problem. What do you think, sir?"

"Hmm...you can judge for yourself!" The female knight's face twitched, and she turned her head away from the gruesome state of the female corpse, her last trace of jealousy towards the corpse vanishing completely.

"Since there are no problems, let's burn it as soon as possible and head back." The female knight didn't turn her head. It is said that the person collecting the body has to watch the whole process of burning the corpse from raw to cooked, and even flip it over like roasting meat. Having already witnessed the scene of this woman being dismembered, she really wasn't very interested in the scene of her being flipped over and roasted. After all, the Minister of Finance was hosting a banquet tonight, and the main dish was roasted whole lamb.

After the group left, Bright closed the room where the body had been cremated, then took out a notebook wrapped in gray parchment and opened it.

Upon opening it, I saw new text appearing on top.

Intelligence 1: Assassins have appeared in Holy Stone City, injuring several knights. The city's heir, Martin Luther, is injured and receiving emergency medical treatment. Prosecutor Lady Clare has issued an arrest warrant to find out the source of the assassins. If it is a cult invading Holy Stone City, it must be eradicated on a large scale. If it is the work of a nobleman within the city, his noble title will be revoked and he will be put on a public trial!

Intelligence 2: Martin Luther's condition will worsen overnight, and he may need more advanced doctors to stop the deterioration.

Intelligence 3: Four noble families in the city are under surveillance and the Minister of the Interior, Allen, is trying to send out an important letter at a banquet, but the prosecutor has already taken notice.

Intelligence 4: The assassin comes from the mysterious cult "Heart of the Forest". The reward is to provide the assassin with some extraordinary clues after the mission is completed. However, the assassin does not know that the extraordinary clues from Heart of the Forest are a trap.

Intelligence 5: A member of the Blood Cult within the Knights will be exposed the day after tomorrow!

After reading these messages, Bright was certain that he wouldn't be implicated. He breathed a sigh of relief and slowly put the laptop back in his bag. Another day of barely surviving.

The notebook appeared on the first day he came into this world, and it was updated with different information every day. However, in this world where social classes can be solidified by mysterious forces, having this information could not change his status. At least in the year since he transmigrated, Bright had not found a single piece of information that could help him turn his life around.

For example, what use are these few items to me? The one I have the best chance of participating in is when Home Secretary Allen wants to send a letter out in Intelligence 3, but this task seems simple but is actually harder than climbing to heaven for me.

First of all, as a corpse collector, he was not qualified to attend a noble banquet. Even if he managed to sneak in, contact the Minister of the Interior, and gain his trust, sending the letter out would still be a problem.

As the only corpse collector in Holy Stone City, I have an identity mark on my body. To leave the city, I need the sheriff's signature and a reliable reason. As a corpse crematoriar with no relatives or friends outside the city, it would be strange if I didn't arouse suspicion if I left the city at this critical juncture.

The most crucial point is that after you successfully send the letter, you still have to worry about being silenced. This kind of mission is extremely risky and the rewards are unknown. Why would you give up your secure job to risk this?

It's better to be honest and do your job well. Although burning corpses is a bit disgusting, at least the income is stable, and you can afford soft croissants and fresh milk every day. In this world with such a huge class gap, this quality of life is already considered pretty good.

Moreover, the laptop occasionally picks up some slightly useful information, such as the news that coal prices would rise last month, so I stocked up on a lot in advance. Although I'm not a merchant and can't buy or sell, I avoided a lot of unnecessary expenses. Also, the house in the west of the city will be sold at a low price in three months, which is barely enough for my savings. Thanks to the information advantage, I was able to contact the owner of the house in advance and even save on the agent fee.

Sigh, if I were a businessman, I could make a lot of money with this notebook. Unfortunately, in this world, you can't do business if you're not a businessman. If you do, you'll get ripped off. I don't know what the point of having this kind of cheat code is.

With a sigh of regret, Bright got up to get to work, but when he turned around, he felt a chill run down his spine and took two steps back.

The body on the autopsy table... has disappeared!

Damn it, they've pulled out all the organs, and even severed the ligaments in the limbs. Are they sure there's no sorcerer's mark on it, or did it rise from the dead? No way.

Turning his head, he saw an assassin dressed as a dancer in red stark red staring at him with her beautiful, cat-eye-like eyes.

Brett was stiff all over, while the other woman's limbs were intact. Underneath the sexy dancer's clothes, her beautiful, slender waist was fair and flawless, showing no signs of dissection. Even her clothes were perfectly intact.

This isn't a corpse resurrection, it's just a respawn in place!

"You dissected me, kid?" The other person's handsome eyes curved into crescents, and his approach, with a half-smile, was clearly malicious.

Bright instantly recalled the intelligence: this assassin was able to seriously injure the city lord's heir despite heavy defenses, and also wound several knights. He was definitely not someone that a mere corpse burner like himself could fight against; resistance was pointless.

"Wang...Dog Egg?"

"Huh?" The other person was clearly taken aback. "How do you know my name?"

Bright glanced at the other person's head. It was a strange situation. Did this guy not know her name... and there was a health bar right above her head?

The name "Wang Gou Dan" is clearly a username with health and mana bars, and it even refreshes after death... In my understanding, there's only one explanation for this!

Is this world...?