Show Me Your Stats!

It didn’t take long for Ayra to realize that the atmosphere in the village had grown tense. As she walked along the path, she encountered a woman sobbing and people comforting her. A little further, she noticed several people sitting on the ground, looking lost. Something definitely bad had happened in the village, and her steps quickened instinctively.
It was then that someone called out, "Hey!"

At the sudden appearance of an outsider, two villagers approached Ayra with wary expressions. Both of them held shovels, their eyes haggard, and their stance was quite hostile.
"What is it? What brings you to this village?"
Taking advantage of the situation, Ayra asked politely, "Ah, I’m someone dispatched from the lord’s estate. The mood in the village seems grim—has something bad happened?"

The reaction she got was immediately energetic and intense. The villagers’ expressions shifted, and they quickly grabbed Ayra.
"Ah, really! Did the lord send you? Oh, what should we do about this? Come, let’s take you to our elder. This way."
Hurrying to keep up with the villager, Ayra noticed a stone inside her body once again appearing on her palm, triggering a new notification.

[Let’s save the village residents in danger.]
*Villagers Saved (0/9)

Reward: Merchant’s return, increased popularity*
Every time she saw a quest notification like this, it truly felt like a game. But if this were a real game, it’d definitely be a bad one...
Looking at the reward—Merchant’s return—it seemed that there wasn’t any direct issue with the merchant after all. After walking for about ten minutes, they finally reached the outskirts of the village. Ayra’s face stiffened as she looked around. Just as she had expected.

‘The avalanche hit here too, huh?’
People were digging through the snow with shovels, calling out someone’s name as they desperately tried to find them in the vast snowy field. The villager who had guided Ayra shouted loudly as he ran toward an old man.
"Elder! Elder! Someone from the lord’s estate has come!"

Upon hearing this, the villagers, who had been frantically shoveling snow, turned their eyes toward Ayra. Their faces lit up momentarily when they heard that someone from the lord’s estate had arrived, but then quickly darkened when they saw it was just a slender man.
The elder rushed over, his face a mix of urgency, but Ayra quickly cut him off.
"What happened?"

Though it was obvious that the villagers were in a dire situation, Ayra thought it was best to get a brief explanation before moving forward.
According to the elder, a huge avalanche had recently buried the merchant caravan that was on its way to the village, and they had been clearing the debris to recover the goods and bodies. Three hours ago, a loud noise had occurred, causing everyone to rush to evacuate, but nothing had happened. However, when they returned, another avalanche hit, trapping the villagers.
‘But the merchant is already dead?’
Then why was the quest offering the merchant’s return as a reward? Ayra quickly checked the quest window again, and her face stiffened.

[Let’s save the village residents in danger.]
*Villagers Saved (0/8)

Reward: Merchant’s return, increased popularity*

The number had dropped by one—there was now one fewer villager to save. Even as she stood there, villagers were dying one by one. It seemed they were struggling to identify exactly where people were buried due to the vastness of the snow.
‘My search magic isn’t wide-ranging, and it’s hard to cast for a long time... But I have to save at least one person.’

With that thought, Ayra stepped forward, but then she hesitated.
‘Is it necessary to use search magic?’
Instead of search magic, she could perform a broader and more effective spell in real-time. Fortunately, she still had a quest with an unchosen reward stat, just in case. The choice was clear now.

Ayra immediately opened the elder’s stat window.

HP: ???

MP: ???
Physical ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Attack: ???
Magical Attack: ???

Favorability: 17♡
"Quickly, please contact the lord’s estate. We need more people to clear the snow!"
The elder, his urgency evident as he paced back and forth, urged Ayra, but she raised her hand to stop him. Only five seconds left.

"Yes, I understand. Please wait just a moment."
"Oh, this is urgent! We don’t have time for delays!"
While the elder pounded his chest in frustration, Ayra kept her focus on the elder’s stat window, and as the last five seconds passed, a notification window appeared in front of her.

[Let's unlock another stat category.]
Accumulated Stat Window Active Time (12/12 hours)

Check Two Stat Windows Simultaneously (100/100)
Check Three Stat Windows Simultaneously (30/30)
Reward: Unlock one stat of the user’s choice

[The Spirit GM's level has increased to 3!]
[Please choose a stat to unlock as your quest reward.]
HP

MP
Physical Attack
Magic Attack

Detailed Stat View Update (Requires level 5 or higher)
 
The reward stat selection window appeared, but Ayra didn’t even look at it as she made her choice.

‘HP!’
First, she needed to save the most urgent people. In that regard, the HP stat was the most fitting choice for the current situation.
There was a brief loading time as Ayra summoned the stat windows of multiple people at once, far more than when she had checked two or three at a time. Her magic power drained quickly, and Ayra's complexion slightly paled.

[Loading... ]
As people continued to dig through the snow, the villagers’ expressions grew increasingly harsh, as it looked like Ayra was standing idly by, doing nothing while people were buried alive. Ignoring this, Ayra crossed her arms and silently waited.
Finally, when one villager couldn’t hold back any longer, throwing down his shovel and walking toward her, the stat window loading completed.

Eight stat windows appeared over the vast snowfield.
"Hey! What’s going on? If you’re not going to help, get out of here!"
The villager, who had been approaching while pointing at Ayra, hesitated as she suddenly moved forward confidently. As she walked, the stat window of one of the villagers appeared, visible only to her.

HP: 7
MP: ???

Physical Attack: ???
Magic Attack: ???
Favorability: 21♡

Unlike the other villagers, whose HP was at least in the double digits, Sansalla’s HP had already dropped into the single digits. In fact, as he made an awkward attempt to dig with his shovel, his HP dropped further to 6. Panicked, Ayra quickly waved her hand and shouted.
"There’s someone buried here! Come quickly and dig them out!"
"…!"

Startled by her words, the villagers rushed over and began digging furiously. These villagers, accustomed to living in snowy areas, moved swiftly. After digging about a meter, a pale, almost bluish face emerged from the snow, causing the villagers to cheer in relief.
"Sansalla! Sansalla, stay with us!"
"Just hang on, we’ll get you out right away!"

Fortunately, the cause seemed to be a lack of oxygen, and as Sansalla’s face emerged, his HP began to recover slightly, allowing him to be saved. However, there were still seven more villagers buried beneath the snow. Ayra compared the speed at which HP was dropping and the remaining amounts, then selected the next person to save. This person was also in a dire state, with only about 16 HP left.
"The best shoveler, come over here quickly!"
Hesitant at first, the villagers who had been digging followed Ayra’s instructions without protest once they saw a survivor emerge. The faces that had been frozen with despair now showed a glimmer of hope. Ayra inwardly clicked her tongue at the villagers' frantic digging.

‘If they had come immediately, could we have saved one more?’
The loss of one villager who had just passed away weighed heavily on her heart, but she quickly shook the thought away. The dead were gone; there was nothing to be done. She could only focus on saving the living.
‘But this is strange. Why are these people still so full of energy?’

Now, only three villagers remained to be saved, but their HP was still over a hundred. Furthermore, unlike the other villagers who were buried shallowly and could be easily saved with a few more shovels, these three were buried much deeper, and they were still not visible after considerable digging.
After a moment, Ayra realized the truth.
"Could it be... that the merchant caravan that was buried just recently is still alive?"

The surviving villagers hadn’t been saved because they were lucky—it was simply because they had been buried shallowly. Even after an hour, they had managed to survive. In contrast, the bodies of the villagers who were buried deeply had already been found as they dug deeper.
But if the merchant caravan that had been buried a week ago was still alive...