The Hero Turned Into A Potato And The World Fell To Ruin

The next day, everyone came together to help repair the city at Myza's request.

After all, Myza had provided them shelter in the desert, protected them when the Tyrant arrived, and even pointed them in the right direction should they leave. Even if it was just reciprocation, nobody felt that they could refuse his request.

Liu Ji, who couldn't contribute to repairs, sat on the side, pondering his own problem. But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't come to a reliable situation.

Save the world?

Who was he? He was just a potato with no special skills. How could he save the world?

Hide and survive?

No way. He had already been a potato for over a thousand years, and now that he might have a different kind of life with some good companions, how was he supposed to return to being a potato again…

Sigh…

He wouldn't mind coming back occasionally to keep Myza company, as it must be lonely living here by himself. But hiding here and relying on Myza for the rest of his life? Liu Ji wasn't willing. That would be a very boring lifetime.

Please, that guy was like a walking atomic bomb that even Myza couldn't defeat. In terms of magic, Liu Ji had just barely started learning incantation. As for physical combat, he had barely fought twice.

If he had to rely on something…

Perhaps if he could get his hands on an ancient dragon's prime rib or something, there might still be a sliver of hope…

With his chin propped on his hands, Liu Ji sighed deeply. The more he thought about it, the more distressed and unsure he felt.

He even felt a little angry thinking about it, blaming that damned Tyrant for putting him in such a difficult position. All he wanted was to live well and explore this world, but even that wasn't possible.

A single person causing unrest for an entire world was quite something. And from this perspective, Liu Ji did feel like trying to take the Tyrant down.

Too bad he couldn't, and it was frustrating.

"Haa…" Liu Ji sighed, resting his chin on his hands as he watched the others helping to repair the city.

Yaine was the main workforce, continuously chanting spells to create stone walls and square bricks.

Calidora assisted, helping to lay pavements according to Myza's construction details.

Mervant was helping to make objects. Being skilled in carpentry meant that he also had a certain degree of masonry skills.

Osar and Girunini were responsible for the heavy lifting, chatting and laughing as they moved an impressive amount of stone bricks.

Watching this scene, who would have imagined that every one of them probably had a past filled with loss and tragedy…

And compared to Liu Ji, their outlook was much worse.

Myza had once said an endless life would become nothing but torment if living in regret. Back then, Liu Ji thought that Myza was advising him to leave.

But later, he felt that wasn't quite so. If Myza really wanted to push Liu Ji to save the world, he wouldn't have brought up the second option.

Upon closer consideration, Liu Ji realized that Myza's words had two levels of meaning.

The first level was indeed encouraging him to leave because if Liu Ji stayed here and one day received news of these people's deaths, he might regret his decision.

The second level, though, was advising Liu Ji to stay. If Liu Ji could forget about these companions he'd only known for a short time or convince himself that it would be pointless to leave with them, then as long as he didn't regret the present decision, he could achieve an endless life.

At least, Liu Ji had a choice.

But did these unfortunate souls whose countries and homes had been ravaged have a choice?

Yes, some people in this world might choose to live by any means necessary, compromising on everything to survive.

But evidently, those who were willing to risk their lives to enter this desert in search of hope weren't such people.

If they stayed here to live out their days, their remaining lives would likely be filled with torment, just as Myza said.

The only path left for them was to keep moving forward.

Liu Ji reckoned that if he, too, had no choice like them, perhaps he wouldn't feel so troubled.

"Haa…"

Liu Ji sighed again, scratching his head, and turned to head underground.

When faced with difficulties, it was best to take a long nap.

He decided to bury himself in the earth for a while, and perhaps some inspiration might come to him.

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On the other side of the desert.

Beneath a primordial swamp laid a city in darkness.

This "city in darkness" wasn't a metaphor. The city was truly pitch black. There were no streetlights or even a hint of light from any household. The only sources of light were the neatly arranged, faintly glowing, unknown minerals lining the streets.

Perhaps these small stones, which couldn't even illuminate the area 10 centimeters around them, were considered the streetlights of this city.

On the streets, many leisurely passersby moved to and fro.

These people had tiny eyes, small ears, and long nasal passages. Their bodies were somewhat hunched, and the tips of their fingers were covered with thick calluses. Occasionally, when acquaintances met, they would first touch noses and then exchange a few words.

Amid this crowd of strange people, three figures walking among them stood out even more.

One was a tall female knight clad in mithril armor, carrying a shield and a sword.

Another was a cat-eared female archer with a long bow on her back who clung on to the knight's arm tightly.

The last was a male Miffy about a meter tall, who carried a massive book almost as large as himself.

As they walked, the Miffy kept looking around, his gaze frequently lingering on the small glowing stones along the road as if he was tempted to pry some of them loose.

"Nox, I know you are captivated by these things, but we can't just go around prying off other people's street lamps," the knight glanced at the Miffy, whose head barely reached her waist, and gave a stern reminder. "If you want, we can buy some from a store later."

"Huh? What are you saying? Am I that uncivilized?" Nox, the Miffy, shot a disdainful look at the knight. "I was just thinking that their placement of the stones is uneven. By rearranging them a little, we could save quite a bit."

"So, you still want to pry them off, huh…" The female knight's lips twitched.

"Alright, stop harping. Let's get down to business," Nox said. "As per usual, let's grab a free guide first."

"A fr-free guide again?" the female archer asked timidly. "Can't we hire a professional one for once?"

"Ah? Why spend money when we can get one for free?" Nox shot the archer a disdainful look. "That's why I say you are bad at managing money."

"Mm, besides, a professional guide might scam us, but a free one would be more genuine," the female knight chimed in and closed her eyes.

After standing with her eyes closed for a while, she reopened them and looked toward the right side of the street.

"Found an unlucky fella?" Nox asked.

"Yeah, a perfect candidate." The female knight nodded. "Let's hurry; otherwise, this guy might be beaten to death."