Everyone Wants Me Dead: The Villain Lord's Survival Diary-Chapter 10 – Ha, stupid X System

Round-faced Fat Hen strolled through Morninglight Town, taking in the exotic scenery and local customs.
The town's buildings had a sense of age, appearing somewhat old and mottled. The architectural style was reminiscent of Gothic, constructed mainly with red bricks. From a distance, the spires stood tall, resembling a sea of fiery red, giving off a warm feeling amidst the surrounding trees and forests.
The streets were not crowded, with occasional groups of three to five adventurers rushing by, dusty and hurried. Women with headscarves walked with their children, small vendors pushed carts laden with fruits and vegetables, calling out their wares, and in the dark alleys, drunkards who hadn't sobered up yet kept company with stray cats and dogs.
Everything here filled Round-faced Fat Hen with both novelty and excitement.
"Beat her! Beat her!"
"Beat the demi-human scum! Hahaha!"
"Call your brother, scum!"
***
The shouting of children caught Round-faced Fat Hen's attention.
In an inconspicuous alley, a group of kids surrounded a trembling, curled-up little girl, kicking and punching her. Some even picked up stones from the ground to throw at her.
"Hey, don't bully..."
"What are you doing! Stop it!"
Just as Round-faced Fat Hen was about to stop the children's violence, an angry shout erupted beside her.
She looked up to see a man with short golden hair, handsome and commanding respect without anger.
He was tall and imposing, exuding an overwhelming presence. He wore a set of luxurious armor, and the golden gemstone the size of a human head on his chest plate was blinding.
The man nodded slightly at Round-faced Fat Hen and then walked towards the little girl curled up in the corner.
The children, sensing danger, quickly scattered.
Round-faced Fat Hen instinctively cast an Appraisal.
[Name: Sylvie Goldlion]
[Identity: Lord of Eaglehold, Earl]
[Strength: ???]
[Skills: ???]
[Equipment: ???]
[Reputation: ???]
[Threat Level: Nightmare]
"!"
Round-faced Fat Hen was shocked!
Look at what she had discovered!
A lord of Eaglehold so imposing!
Seeing the threat level marked as "Nightmare" in dark red, Round-faced Fat Hen swore that if the name of the Eaglehold Lord hadn't shown as a neutral yellow, she would have turned and fled.
Nightmare! That must be the highest threat level, right? The town guards before were just ordinary.
Round-faced Fat Hen was lost in thought, and when she came to her senses, she realized the Eaglehold Lord had already left with the little girl.
"Damn, I forgot to take a screenshot!"
Round-faced Fat Hen slapped her forehead, filled with regret.
***
In the public channel, a group of players was sharing their experiences and potentially valuable information.
Suddenly, a message with a string of exclamations popped up.
"Guys! I ran into the Eaglehold Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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"Holy crap! Really?"
"Impossible, the Eaglehold Lord should be in Winterfell Keep, miles away from here."
"Is this a secret visit in a Western fantasy world?"
"Coordinates, coordinates, quickly share the coordinates! Based on our faction, the Eaglehold Lord should be an enemy, let's take him down!"
Round-faced Fat Hen pursed her lips at this message and typed:
"Do you really want to take him down? I couldn't even see his information, everything except his name was question marks, and his threat level is Nightmare."
"Holy crap, it's the real deal!"
"Fat Hen, do you have a screenshot?"
"No, by the time I realized, he was already gone."
"Ah, what a pity. I wanted to see the lord's face, probably as handsome as mine."
"Why do you think the Eaglehold Lord came to this remote town?"
"I feel like there's a hidden plot!"
"Surely he's not here to welcome us..."
***
Meanwhile, the central figure of the players' heated discussion had already returned to the Mayor's Estate.
Sylvie had been impatient and went out for a stroll, hoping to encounter some players. Unexpectedly, he had barely stepped out when he saw a group of kids bullying a demi-human girl.
As a modern young man with a normal worldview, Sylvie saved the girl and coincidentally met Round-faced Fat Hen.
Sylvie rested his chin in his hand, reminiscing.
He was quite familiar with Round-faced Fat Hen; she was a well-known scenery enthusiast in the game from his previous life. Such players didn't like to participate in battles, finding joy mainly in exploring new maps and their historical and cultural backgrounds.
For Sylvie, these players were among the few who might not harbor much hostility towards him, provided he didn't abduct the Saintess.
Now that the players had entered the town, the plot had likely begun, so he no longer needed to wander aimlessly and could wait in peace.
"Mmm..."
A soft, tender whimper reached his ears.
Sylvie saw that the little girl he had placed on the velvet bed had woken up.
The girl looked about thirteen or fourteen, her entire body dirty, and her clothes tattered and unable to cover her properly. Her face and exposed skin were bruised and battered, yet her delicate and cute features were still evident.
She had long chestnut hair, slightly curled. Her ears were a pair of brown, fluffy triangular ears, shaped like apricot leaves, with a small tuft of fur at the tips, looking larger than cat ears. Behind her was a fluffy big tail, almost as large as she was.
This must be a squirrel, if he wasn't mistaken. That tail must feel amazing to touch, and those ears, they even twitched...
No wonder the vile lord in his past life captured demi-human girls everywhere; who wouldn't be enchanted by this sight?
"Life is becoming more and more promising," Sylvie couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
The awakened girl was still a bit dazed and confused, but she quickly realized her surroundings were unfamiliar. Her eyes were initially filled with surprise and confusion, soon replaced by helplessness and panic.
When she looked up and noticed Sylvie, her complex emotions were reduced to fear.
She stumbled off the bed, kneeling on the ground with a "thud."
"Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dirty your bed. I don't know how I ended up here, I'm sorry... please don't kill Loli."
Loli's small body trembled with fear, and as she spoke, large tears rolled down onto the floor.
She didn't know the noble-looking man before her, but her mother had told her that such people were nobles among humans, big figures.
When encountering these nobles, she should avoid them, and if she accidentally offended them, she should immediately kneel and beg for mercy.
Otherwise, she would die.
Her mother was dead, her father was dead, killed by a knight's spear.
Her brother had taken her to Morninglight Town, where they were taken in by a farmer. She helped the farmer with chores every day, and her brother worked as a groom at the Mayor's house. Though life was hard, at least they weren't wandering anymore.
She had thought life could continue like this, but just yesterday, her beloved brother had also died.
The cause was simply that the feed her brother gave the Mayor's horse wasn't fresh enough.
Loli vividly remembered the day her brother's body was brought back by the farmer, in a pitiful and broken state.
According to the farmer, her brother had been tied behind a galloping horse by the Mayor and dragged for miles until he died.
Loli feared death, but she feared humans even more. She was too weak, too weak to muster any courage to resist. Even when surrounded by children smaller than her, she could only curl up, protect her head, and silently endure the bullying.
***
Do I look that scary?
Sylvie looked at the trembling demi-human girl, falling into self-doubt. He had always been confident in his appearance.
He reached out to lift the girl.
However, as soon as his hand was about to touch her, she flinched violently, shrinking back as if trying to find some sense of safety.
Sylvie awkwardly withdrew his hand.
"Ahem, get up. I saved you, why would I kill you?"
Loli, hearing this, timidly glanced at Sylvie, her tear-filled eyes full of confusion.
"Think back carefully, you were being bullied by a group of kids, I scared them off and brought you back."
Loli recalled that there was indeed a man who stopped those children, and his voice was the same as this man's, but she didn't know what happened afterward because she had fainted.
However, Loli hadn't fainted from the beating; she had fainted from hunger.
"See, do you remember now? I saved you. If I wanted to kill you, what would be the point of saving you?"
Sylvie looked at the girl warmly, smiling, almost as if he had "I'm a good person" written on his face.
"Loli remembers, thank you, noble sir. Loli will repay your kindness."
The girl was less afraid now but still didn't dare to get up from the ground, let alone return to the soft bed.
"Grumble—"
Loli hurriedly covered her stomach, looking down at her toes.
Her face turned red at an observable speed, with the blush spreading across her body.
Sylvie glanced thoughtfully at Loli's little belly and grinned.
***
Ten minutes later.
At the Mayor's Estate dining table, Loli was holding a piece of white bread with both hands, nibbling on it. Her small mouth was stuffed full, bobbing up and down as she chewed, resembling a cute little squirrel.
Loli swore she had never tasted such soft and sweet bread, like eating clouds from the sky. In her memory, bread was always hard and dry, needing to be eaten with water.
And the beef, she hadn't had meat in a long, long time. The last time she had meat seemed like ages ago...
Indeed, the best way to dissolve awkwardness and distance is through delicious food.
Sylvie didn't know which great person said this, but he wholeheartedly agreed at this moment.
He sat elegantly across from the girl, resting his chin on his hand, watching her adorable eating manner. He estimated that she had mostly let down her guard.
"N-noble sir, Loli really doesn't know how to repay your kindness."
Loli blushed, trying hard to swallow the food in her mouth, and stammered.
"I'm not called noble sir, I'm the Earl of Eaglehold, full name Sylvie Goldlion. As for repaying me, I'm in need of a close maid. If you don't mind, you can start following me from today."
Sylvie smiled slightly, but that smile looked like a big bad wolf covering its mouth.
He was feeling quite pleased.
Currently, there wasn't a single maid in Winterfell Keep. It was just right to recruit one now, and in the future, recruit more, ideally forming an entire demi-human maid squad.
Beast-eared girls are so pleasing to the eye.
Even just looking at them without doing anything makes the mood better.
[Ding! Detected that the host's behavior does not conform to villain behavior patterns! Please stop immediately, or you will be punished.]
Finally, it came, Sylvie thought sarcastically.
If this system hadn't spoken up, he would have suspected it was dead.
[Hey, system bro, you can eat food recklessly, but you can't talk recklessly. Although I saved this demi-human girl, it's to cultivate her as my pawn, my death servant, for a critical backstab against players and the protagonist!]
Sylvie argued righteously, almost convincing himself.
[Ding! Analyzing the feasibility of the host's behavior... Analysis complete, deemed feasible. Updating the host's villain behavior patterns, similar situations will no longer trigger warnings.]
"Heh, stupid system."
Sylvie smiled slightly, indifferent.
He had long seen through this system's fatal flaw, and now he was the serf who had turned over and was singing.
[Ding! Daily Villain Quest updated.]
[Villain Quest 1: Leave a psychological shadow on more than ten players.]
[Villain Quest 2: Force Loli to massage shoulders and warm the bed.]
[Villain Quest 3: Humiliate the protagonist Ye Hao.]
[Completing daily quests will earn rewards, completing multiple quests may result in reward critical hits. New daily quests will be generated at irregular intervals after claiming rewards, please keep up the good work.]
What kind of quests are these?
Sylvie was stunned, exclaiming at the system's prowess!
***
Unlike Sylvie, who was busy recruiting a close maid, the players were engaged in a fierce battle with the town guards.
The cause was that the players discovered a slave master with seven or eight enslaved demi-humans.
Seeing the quest target, these lawless players didn't care if they alarmed the Morninglight Town guards. They charged in groups of three or five, quickly killing the slave master in his home, and then attempted to flee with the enslaved demi-humans.
Although the town guards usually did nothing, they weren't blind. Moreover, their top superior was currently in the Mayor's Estate, so each of them, as if injected with adrenaline, fought fearlessly against the players.
To be honest, nearly a hundred town guards were indeed a significant challenge for players who were generally still at level one, and they quickly found themselves in a tough battle.
"Push forward, push forward!"
"Protect the mage! Warriors, hold the front!"
"Hey? Where the hell are you throwing that fireball, it burned my ass!"
"Those who died, hurry and run back, don't just stand there watching!"
"Ugh... this game's graphics are so realistic, can't they tone it down a bit?"
***
Just as the players and town guards were locked in a fierce struggle, a loud, raspy voice suddenly shouted from the edge of the battlefield.
"I am Megil, the Mayor of Morninglight Town. You scum who dare to attack my town, kneel and surrender now!"
At the edge of the core battlefield, Megil shouted, leading two squads of over a dozen town guards into the fray.
This was simply adding insult to injury for the struggling players.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan