Hung up the phone with Zack, Ben walked forward in a daze.
He turned on a switch and watched the elevator come down. As Ben slowly climbed up, he saw a very noticeable lamp. He walked over in silence and looked at the message that appeared.
[This lamp can now send you back to the hunter's dream. After death, you will return to the hunter's dream]
Obviously, this was the bonfire from "Bloodborne."
He chose to teleport, and there was a brief moment of darkness.
For some reason, Ben's character was lying on the cold ground. He slowly got up and took in the scene before him.
Under the full moon, there was a European-style church building in front of him, with many trees and tombstones around it. It was a scene like a cemetery. There was also a delicate female doll in the flower bed.
And on the ground in the distance, the small skeleton messengers from before were holding up three different weapons.
As he got closer, the game's user interface appeared for Ben:
"Accept the gift from the messengers."
"Please choose one of the three weapons."
"Different weapons can switch between different forms, please use them wisely."
"Death is sometimes just the beginning..."
Ben's expression was very interesting as he looked at the three weapons in front of him.
Along with this message, and the fact that the lamp said he would return to the hunter's dream after death.
He didn't rush to choose a weapon.
At that moment, Ben felt really annoyed.
It was like when he was in school and he chose C for a multiple-choice question, but then he saw his classmate chose B. So he started to calculate carefully, and the more he calculated, the more he felt that B was the correct answer. So before handing in the test, he changed C to B, even feeling pleased with himself.
But when the test was returned, he found out that C was the correct answer.
Who would have thought that you could only get weapons in "Bloodborne" after dying once?
Old-timers who have played the "Dark Souls" prequel basically have an idea, which is that they think they have seen through Lucas's tricks and traps.
Most players won't be stupid enough to fight the werewolf in the clinic.
But after getting past the werewolf and picking up three items, all of them are blood vials and bullets. At this point, players will start to doubt themselves again.
Then the villagers appear. Unlike "Dark Souls," where you encounter two or three mobs right away, in "Bloodborne" you first encounter a single villager.
So new players die to the werewolf and get a weapon directly.
Do experienced players think too much, and it backfires?
And to prevent players from entering the hunter's dream early by lighting the lamp and discovering the weapons.
The first lamp that can be lit is placed upstairs, and you need to find a mechanism to lower the ladder.
There are so many tricks, it's impossible to guard against them all.
Ben sighed and then focused his attention on choosing a weapon.
Saw Cleaver, Hunter Axe, Threaded Cane.
There are three different types of weapons in total. Weapons in "Bloodborne" have a second form.
For example, the Hunter Axe can be transformed into a long-handled form, which greatly increases the attack range and also has different attack moves.
Looking at the three weapons in front of him, Ben thought for a while and chose the axe.
It's hard to say about the Saw Cleaver.
As for the Threaded Cane, although Zack said it was very cool and stylish, and its positioning was completely different from the awkward whip in "Dark Souls," he still didn't like playing with this type of weapon very much. It felt too soft.
A real man like him definitely needs to use a weapon that is a bit more tough.
So after careful consideration, Ben chose the Hunter Axe.
Although it's not really good enough in later playthroughs, it's still strong in the early game.
At the same time, the long attack range means higher safety.
After getting it, Ben tried to control it a couple of times.
There's not much to say about the normal attack.
It's just swinging back and forth.
The charged attack is like splitting a mountain, a single axe chop towards the enemy's head.
What surprised Ben the most was the two-handed, long-handled mode.
The normal attack in long-handled mode is a bit clumsy.
But the charged attack is a big spin in place, a 360-degree attack with no blind spots.
It's just too powerful.
After choosing his weapon, Ben explored the hunter's dream.
There wasn't anything to explore on the first floor.
At the stairs, Ben chose the shotgun over the pistol as his off-hand weapon.
In addition, he also got items such as notebooks. He picked up everything he could get and walked into the room with the open door at the top of the stairs.
Inside the room, an old man with white hair, looking weak and sick, was sitting in a wheelchair.
"Is the fire keeper girl turning into an old man in a wheelchair!? Or is this the new generation of crestfallen warrior?"
Ben was stunned when he saw the old man in the wheelchair inside.
How come there's an old man in a wheelchair here?
Or is the old man the Bloodborne version of Ludleth, who had his legs cut off because he refused to go hunting?
Seeing the old man with a cane in his hands and a prosthetic right calf sitting in the wheelchair, Ben was full of curiosity.
'Ah, you must be the new hunter.'
'Welcome to the hunter's dream. This will be your home, at least for now.'
'I am a friend to you hunters.'
'Go out and kill some beasts. It's for your own good.'
'You know, that's what hunters do. You'll get used to it...'
Seeing Ben walking up to him, the old man in the wheelchair smiled kindly and said.
According to the conversation, Ben understood a few things.
That is, this workshop can be understood as a blacksmith shop, a place for players to upgrade their weapons.
He opened the modification table and took a look, confirming that no weapons could be upgraded at this stage.
He searched the room and found a message from the messenger in the innermost part: To escape this terrible hunter's dream, stop the source of the spreading beast plague and make this night no longer continue.
It was confusing to read, but Ben didn't care. After all, fragmented stories are the essence of Soulslike games.
Besides that, there was nothing else in this hunter's dream.
"Wait, so where's the shield! Didn't they say there was a shield in the game!?"
After coming back to his senses and making sure he hadn't missed anything, Ben was a little confused.
Could it be that the shield isn't a starting weapon, but something you need to get from killing monsters later, or doing some quests? Of course, it might also be hidden by Boss Lucas somewhere?
(End of this chapter)
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