MMORPG: I was BUGGED-Chapter 251: Poppy and the Hideout

[CONGRATULATIONS! Your Relationship Level with Poppy increased to INTIMATE!]

Xin was startled, and he couldn’t react at first. This was the first time he had encountered an NPC with a Relationship Level to players.

"You . . ." Xin didn’t know where to start with his question.

Poppy tilted her head to the side. "Hmm? Do you want to go to our hideout?"

"Hideout?"

Before Xin could react, Poppy grabbed his arm and briskly led him inside the abandon storage building.

Upon entering, Xin was greeted by an assortment of seemingly random items strewn about, creating an eclectic atmosphere.

Piles of discarded gadgets, makeshift forts, and haphazardly arranged furniture hinted at the creativity and resourcefulness of the children who had claimed this space.

What captured Xin’s attention, however, were the children who seemed to materialize from various corners of the room.

They represented different races –– dwarves, elves, halflings, beastmen, and the likes –– all adorned in clothes worn and stained with dirt.

Much like Poppy, they sported smudges of soil on their faces, like they were playing in the dirt all day. The camaraderie among them was palpable, forming a makeshift family in the heart of the Castle of Doom.

"Hoi, Poppy! You’re late. Who’s that with you?"

"Who’s that?"

"Is he an adventurer?"

"An adventurer?"

The children emerged from the piles of junk, hopping over to where Xin and Poppy stood.

"Everyone, this is John. He’s my friend and an adventurer. He’s here to save our town."

"Oh!"

The children clapped in glee, their excitement evident.

"Hello," Xin greeted, and the children immediately bombarded him with a flurry of questions.

Patiently, he answered each one, appreciating their boundless curiosity.

To his astonishment, there was no Relationship Level displayed with these children. Only Poppy possessed that unique status in this castle.

Xin wondered why, pondering the significance of this discrepancy.

"Anyway, guys, John is one of us now! So let’s show John our hideout!"

"Our hideout!"

"Let’s go to our hideout!"

"Let’s go!"

The children chorused in unison, their enthusiasm infectious.

The children’s energy levels were off the charts, their hyperactivity reaching a point where Xin found himself exhausted just from watching them hop and run around.

"Let’s go, Mister John. Let’s go," Poppy said, tugging Xin to the center of the room.

There, seemingly out of nowhere, Poppy snapped her fingers, revealing a hidden ladder beneath the ground.

"What’s that?" Xin asked, peering into its depths. Illumination emanated from below, but he couldn’t decipher what lay beneath.

"Come on, let’s go." Without waiting for a response, the children enthusiastically hopped and jumped into the ladder, giggling and laughing as they ran downstairs.

"Let’s go, Mister."

Following Poppy down the hidden passage, Xin marveled as he realized it was like entering an underworld cavern.

Houses were carved into the rocks, and the soft glow of lights emanated from crystals and bioluminescent plants. The gentle sound of flowing water added to the surreal ambiance, sourced from an underground aquifer.

The hidden sanctuary beneath the Castle of Doom unfolded before Xin’s eyes, a testament to the ingenuity and resilience of the children who had made this place their refuge.

The hidden cavern beneath the Castle of Doom was expansive, wide enough to probably accommodate the entire town folks.

"You . . . did you kids make this?" Xin asked in wonderment. This must be the reason why there were shovels in their hands. He thought that they were just playing with them.

The children beamed with pride, nodding in unison.

"That’s right!"

"We built this place!"

"This place is our hideout!"

"But I built it the most!"

"What did you say? I was building the most!"

"Nah! Me!"

"No, me!"

As the children playfully argued over who had contributed the most, Xin turned to address Poppy, who appeared to be the leader of the group.

"Do you live here?" he asked, noticing clothes hanging outside of the carved houses, evidence that someone resided there.

Poppy nodded. "That’s right. We made this our home now."

"But . . . what about your parents?"

Poppy’s expression dropped, and her tone lowered a few octaves, "We don’t have parents. The monsters killed them."

"What?" Xin’s heart thudded as if it were being squeezed. The revelation hit close to home, reminding him of the fact that he, too, was fatherless.

"We’re orphans," Poppy said, her voice carrying the weight of loss and resilience.

"But . . . did no one adopt you?"

Poppy shook her head. "No one wanted children that aren’t their own."

". . ." Xin didn’t know how to proceed.

Despite her youth, she had already experienced so much. Yet, there wasn’t a trace of anger or self-pity in her expression.

Instead, she exuded warmth and happiness.

Poppy’s little hand reached out to Xin’s face. "Don’t be sad, mister. Living here is not that bad, and we have each other. Look . . . I have so many family now!"

She pointed at the children playing and running around, while some older ones worked on the tunnel.

"Hoi, no slacking!" one of them called out.

"Mister John has joined us. He is one of us now, so we have to ready his house."

Xin didn’t know what to say to that. They were so excited and happy to have another addition to their family that he didn’t have the heart to refuse them.

"Does the mayor know about this?" Xin asked Poppy instead.

Poppy nodded her head. "Yeah. But I doubt that they know the extent of our houses underground. Eheeheehee. Most of the villagers think that we’re only playing house, and since we’re not creating any trouble for the town, they let us be."

"Is that so . . ." Xin noticed there were a lot of vacant houses as well. "Are you expecting more?"

Poppy nodded in determination. "We’re building this place nonstop for orphaned children like us, so they would have a home.

"I know that wishing for more orphaned children isn’t right, but . . . with the continuous attacks by monsters, it’s inevitable. I’ve decided to build this place because I don’t want other children to experience what I have experienced in the past."

She then smiled at Xin that didn’t reach her ears. "Being thrown away from one house to another, with no one wanting you and no roof over your head, feeling like you’re all alone . . . I don’t want them to experience that."