Chapter 885: Roasted Apples
Arriving at the mountainside to converse with the mysterious old man, Zhao Lei, through Link’s perspective, learned more details about this game.
Since Link’s current state was just waking up with complete amnesia, this situation was very consistent with a player entering the game with no knowledge at all. This kind of beginner guidance felt extremely thoughtful and natural.
The mysterious old man sat by a campfire under a cliff, waiting for Link to come over and talk to him.
Under the cliff, there was also a roasted apple and a torch. When Link picked them up, it triggered corresponding dialogue.
The place where Link was now was called the Great Plateau, the birthplace of the Kingdom of Hyrule. The temple not far away was the one used by the Hyrule Kingdom for worship, but after the kingdom fell 100 years ago, this temple had been abandoned.
The old man briefly explained to Link the uses of "fire." On one hand, it could roast apples, and roasted food restored more health. On the other hand, lighting a wooden weapon and swinging it near thick grass could set the grass on fire.
"Oh? So that means not just torches, but even tree branches can be lit on the campfire?"
Zhao Lei had just picked up a tree branch from the ground, held it in his hand, and lightly swung it over the campfire.
"Whoosh!"
Flames immediately shot up. Link held the branch in his hand, and it worked exactly like a torch.
"This is pretty interesting. In other games, you have to use a torch to light things or illuminate areas, but here, all wooden weapons can be lit... He just said you can roast apples. What if I use this branch to roast one?"
Zhao Lei raised the lit branch and walked over to another apple tree nearby, bringing the flame close to an apple on the tree.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."
The bright red apple started smoking under the flame's effect, its surface gradually changing from vibrant red to a darker color, and then it fell to the ground with a "thud."
"Whoa, it actually roasted? When an apple is cooked, it falls to the ground—Newton really wasn't lying to me."
Zhao Lei held the branch and walked over to another unlit campfire nearby. With a light swing, this campfire was also ignited.
"...Fun! Hmm, so am I 'passing the flame' here? 2333, feels like the store owner is paying homage to his own Dark Souls."
Zhao Lei suddenly got playful. He raised the torch and approached a thick bush. The flames "whooshed" up instantly and, carried by a gentle breeze, spread rapidly, extending all the way to the grass in the distance.
Because Link was too close to the bush, his body caught fire too. Zhao Lei quickly jumped and rolled on the spot to put out the flames.
"Even the grass can burn? And different materials burn differently? Awesome, this level of freedom is pretty high!"
Zhao Lei originally thought the flames would go out after burning the conspicuous bushes, but even the green grass on the ground was flammable. In other games, grass like this would definitely be part of the terrain texture and absolutely impossible to set on fire.
The fire finally stopped. Zhao Lei went closer to check, and the grass on the ground had been completely burned away, turning into gray-black ash. It couldn't be lit again.
"Interesting..."
Just as Zhao Lei was marveling, the branch in his hand snapped with a "crack" and burned out.
If you used a torch to light things, it could burn forever. But if you used a branch or other wooden weapon, the flame consumed its durability while burning. Once the durability ran out, it would automatically break.
There were no quest prompts, and Zhao Lei wasn't in a hurry. He just wandered aimlessly, coming to a lake on the right side. He noticed that on an island in the middle of the lake, there seemed to be a sword.
On the lake surface, green duckweed formed a ring. Link leaped gracefully, diving into the water and landing right in the center of the ring of duckweed.
"Wow, this is a bit like a Leap of Faith! But the movement, the splash, the falling acceleration—all done really well. This feels like a game that would make Newton smile in his grave..."
The moment Link hit the water, a small green creature appeared on the lake surface. This little guy looked like a leaf with a face, holding a propeller made of twigs in its left hand, hovering in the air.
"Yahaha! You found me!"
"Huh? I thought you were Hestu, you scared me! I'm a Korok, a forest spirit! If you see Hestu, please give this to him!"
"Oh, and there are lots of my friends in many places. If you find a suspicious spot, try looking for them, okay?"
[Korok Seed: A small seed given by a Korok. Collecting them will bring good things. Why does it smell a bit...]
"So, this ring of duckweed means there's a Korok here? This must be a collectible in the game, right? The name is a bit hard to say, so I'll just call them Yahaha..."
Zhao Lei muttered to himself as he continued swimming toward the island in the middle of the lake.
To his slight disappointment, the "sword in the stone" he saw from afar was just a rusty sword. Although its damage was indeed higher than weapons like branches, torches, or woodcutter's axes, the line "[Will break immediately upon use]" was still a bit frustrating.
"It's actually a 'true sword in the stone'—it really is stuck in the rock..."
After picking up the rusty sword, Zhao Lei moved on.
Along the way, there were a few minor monsters every now and then. These creatures, called Bokoblins, seemed to have low intelligence, like red-skinned pig-headed monsters that could walk upright.
As he fought, Zhao Lei discovered a very peculiar mechanic in The Legend of Zelda: weapons could actually break!
Yes, whether it was a rusty sword, an axe, or a branch, using them to attack enemies reduced their durability. Once the durability hit zero, they would explode.
To compensate for this, all monsters dropped their weapons when defeated, and different types of weapons had their own attributes. Not only did weapons drop when monsters died, but if a monster was knocked back or stunned by a heavy blow, its weapon would fall to the ground, and Link could pick it up and use it immediately.
As for monsters without weapons, they could only charge in bare-handed or simply pick up rocks from the ground and throw them at Link...
Although there were plenty of weapons, Zhao Lei still felt pained. The rusty sword, despite its unappealing name, was his highest-damage weapon at the moment. Watching it shatter as he fought was truly heartbreaking...
After taking out a few minor monsters, Zhao Lei was about to move on when he heard Princess Zelda's voice again.
"Link... Go to the place marked on the Sheikah Slate's map..."
Following the prompt, Zhao Lei took out the Sheikah Slate and opened the map on it.
The entire map was pitch black, with only blue boundary lines visible between different sections.
At this moment, Link's location was the Great Plateau. In the upper right corner, a small yellow dot was blinking.
"This map... is this big?! Is this really an open-world game?!"
Zhao Lei was stunned. He tried to check the map's dimensions...
And found that the entire map was almost comparable to Assassin's Creed: Origins...