Nodding to myself, I firmed that the small bottle in my hand was what I needed. I approached the ter, where the NPC clerk, with an expression as ral as the store's ly anized shelves, waited.

  Pg the bottles on the payment ter, I waited and watched the clerk's fingers moving swiftly over a holographiel, processing my request.

  "That will be 750 Gold."

  As I wao pay, I rompted to firm the dedu from my at through a short transaenu. The shopkeeper handed me the bottles. Staring at it for a moment, again, this time not to see its description but to have it entered into [Iory]. And the bottle in my hand dissolved into digital fragments.

  A notification s appeared before me afterward.

  Iory Updated!em added: Ented Water x5"Anything else you require?"

  "That will be all. Thank you." I walked out of the store.

  Opening the [Map], I discovered my destination was deep in the eastern part of the forest. It appeared that I still he minimap's assistan this situation because, let's be ho, there was a high risk of getting lost in the forest; there were no markers or anything like iy, right?

  With that, I set my [Map] onto the top left er, then pulled out the Heart Core to ride my Mount outside Vaughan.

  As the academy fell further behind, I found a high wall dividing this pce from the [Open World], with a door wide open. This reminded me of the fantasy setting this game used since, in the real world, it would be fully guarded by an army before the boundary of my city-state. Here, only two NPCs wore red armbands, standing on the side of the door, indig they were Disciplinarians.

  When I got out, I thought I o take a specific stage, maybe another [Side Quest], or answer a quiz from the guard NPC like the games I had pyed. But I could pass them freely as my hoverboard moved ahead and out of the massive gate.

  Outside, the greenery stretched everywhere with no one around. Nice! A little further away, the cool breeze stroked my skin, apanied by the rustling leaves of trees apart from the chirping birds. The harmony turned my head, sing the sery, every detail drawing me in. For a moment, it felt like the serey was a wele escape from the weight of reality, a temptation tet why I was here in the first pce. Then—Oh? Those trees! Could it be Luminaresce? Maybe...?!

  Curiosity tugged at me more than my determination to focus. It brought back memories of my time spent in the library when I was obsessed with getting to know everything, even the most minor information. I shook my head, but a part of me insisted: What was the harm in a quick check? My logical side fought, muttering cautions, but I disregarded it.

  'Time to find out!'

  I entered—Oh! Wait. My Heart Core was in Mount mode, so I switched it to on mode and walked into the wilderness. When I strolled among the trees with Floating Hss h steadily beside me, I felt small... so insignifit.

  How tall were these trees, approximately? Maybe 20 meters? No, no, 60 meters? Didn't know! Just ing my neck like this wasn't enough to estimate accurately. But judging from the bark that shimmered with a soft glow, these trees were indeed Luminaresce. They said the glow of these trees wasn't stant but fluctuated within the cycle of day and night.

  Chirrum...

  Those chimes could be heard in the distance, albeit faintly like whispers. Curious, I approached, and it turned out to be Glimmerstags!

  The sight sparked excitement, reminding me of how, as a child, I fantasized about disc such treasures beyond the city-state's walls... because I had no idea what y beyond that; I had never seen suimals face-to-face! Let alone see, even going into the forest was a big no-no with a death sentence!

  I quickly hid behind a tree and peeked out, as they were said to be timid despite being majestic. Majestic, with antlers like twisting vines and bright blossoms that lit up. Walking on all fours alone made its height reach around two meters! How about standing?! But looking at the structure of its legs, it seemed impossible for it to stand on two legs...

  'Then it won't run fast, will it?'

  Slowly, I crept closer... but its small ears twitched, and its bck eyes turned—Ah, it dashed away! Was it because of the rustling sound of my footsteps against the grass? I immediately ran after the Glimmerstags when realizing it was surprisingly fast! I couldn't afford to fall behind, could I?!

  Jumping over rocks. Maneuvering around trees. The longer I ran, my chase slowed down because... because...

  'WHAT WAS I DOING?!'

  I skidded to a stop, gasping for breath, a rush of embarrassment washing over me. Reckless. Not at all me. I'd e to find ao avoid getting caught up in useless pursuits. But why had it been so easy to divert me? Was it the familiarity of this game that had carried me away...?

  I meant, for example, RPG games were exaggerated wheing the forest, with some being short and filled with rodents. Or even having bizarre shapes altogether. But the forest in World: The in was like the ones I often saw online. Having grown up surrounded by the imperable walls of the city-state, I was always curious about jungle exploration... in any game. Could that also be what was affeg me now? Habit?

  Whatever it was, I o stay focused. No more detours. This time, I was looking for the clearing where the [Solvent Flower] would be. I was determio resist any more distras.

  But as I moved, the nagging thought remained: Why did I feel so ected to this pce?

  Never mind; I quied my pace.

  Having roamed fht minutes (and more), I eventually sa iall trees ahead as sunlight seeped through. When I walked forward, sure enough, I came to a clearing surrounded by trees, casting a spotlight like basking in the sun's golden glow.

  Right in the ter, there was a cluster of white flowers.

  ing closer, I k down near it and checked that it was another flower that existed in the real world. But, of course, the name wasn't [Solvet Flower] but a type of Tulipa. Because of its white color, these were Tulipa Soris. I started pig this flower. Meticulously, I parted eaeasure its stem against the mental image of Cecil's hand.

  Just as I found a flower that matched the desired length, the tranquility tly shattered when I noticed something glimmer in the distance—

  'A dagger!'

  I dodged—Couldn't! My speed was inferior to that on's speed; curse this low-level avatar! But...

  g!

  ...it bounced ht in front of my face as if a thin barrier had been pced around me.

  Immortal Object Activated!My assaint finally emerged from the shadows of the trees.

  Dressed in Vaughan's academy uniform, he wore a bck half-body cloak that focused on c his upper body—shoulders, head, hair, forehead, nose, until only his mouth was visible. And his mouth gaping wide as he hurriedly approached. The closer he got, the clearer it became that he was iing me from head to toe based on the movement of his head.

  "Wha—You... a newbie?!"

  A reasonable response; entering one when VR:Ser wasn't produced anymore was surprising.

  Fortunately, the system has protected me. But, all of a sudden, an attack appeared: a beam of light faster than the dagger! The light shot straight beside my head, aiming at the would-be Pyer Killer (PKer), who had already dodged by leaping sideways.

  He nded gracefully a few meters away. Quickly turned his head toward the source of the light. Me as well... gnced back. Another pyer was walking closer with a Twin Gun in each hand. Just seeing her figure made the PKer click his tongue. He jumped from tree to tree.

  But this Gunner seemed rexed as she watched him zoom further. I could hardly see where he was going with that speed and camoufge ability. She just walked. Then, k down and aimed her on straight ahead. A massive magic circle appeared before her. When she fired an energy bullet, it was absorbed in it, transf into light that spread before being shot straight to one point, which I cluded was where the PKer was.

  A thunderous explosion was bsted strong enough in the distao the point where heat was felt. I stretched my arms forward to bloy face from the scattered dust.

  'Like a homing missile...'

  After unleashing that incredible attack, instead of feeling relieved, the Gunner narrowed her eyes. She stood up, ging her on to bee a Mount. Digital fragments crept up to her back, f meical wings stretched wide. She flew towards where PKer went.

  As her form disappeared from my view, I could seher extraordinary attacks from the distahe etal. The discharge of ons. The roar of bative spells painted a vivid picture of the chaos unfolding beyond my sight as I only caught glimpses of light and shadow dashed betweerees. But wasn't her Heart Core used as a Mount? Or has she tur into a on again? Or... did she use [Additional on] now? Because it felt so intense!

  At one point, the forest fell silent as if it had lost its owh before an explosioed, shaking the ground and sending birds flying from the treetops in panic.

  And I, still kneeling amidst the cluster of white flowers with a stem in hand, could only mutter, "Well, that was crazy."

  Shrugging, I stood up and walked back to Vaughan.

  It had been pointed out that I got some "Newbie Prote" where I couldn't be attacked. This was on in MMs to prevent harassment from other pyers for those still learning the meics, trols, and universe; the prote was most likely the same as in most games, existing until at least level 15.

  There was o—Oh! Perhaps a newbie would panic with surprises like this? Not to mention with such a high level of realism.

  But PKs were expected. Especially in this game where killing one pyer could earn EXP equivalent to pleting a mission, with the added gaining of Gold and materials carried by the victim. Of course, the drop rate depended oem's rarity, and killing fellow pyers would get a penalty that impacted the game's society—affeg reputation, alliances, and access to certais or areas.

  So, as I said before, I was in a favorable position... for now; without help from the system, I would be dead.

  'This means I should have a high level pyer in my grasp.'

  Leveling up, mastering skills, and so on might be beneficial. But realistically, those weren't enough, especially with me already behind. I least one pyer who could be a medium for prote, e, and learning if I wao survive while gathering answers regarding my VR:Ser in this game.

  When I was busy wrestling with my thoughts as I kept walking like this, a rustling sound was heard ahead; I lifted my head—

  "Hello, we meet again."

  My footsteps jolted to stop as the previous Gunner was already in front of me! I didn't even feel any signs of her arrival; maybe this was the effect of her [Passive Skill]? Were there humans who had no presence like this in real life?! Unless she was trained enough, but still...

  As for her words, I quickly responded by raising an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

  She appeared to be smiling quite friendly, with her hands behind her back. "We have met before, haven't we? At Vaughan main courtyard."

  Of course, I remembered that. This Gunner was one of the pyers—that girl with silver hair and golden eyes—in the Raid group who g me. So that time, she was really fog on me, which meant she had high attentiveo new faces.

  Knowing this, I unsciously smiled.

  A smile friendly enough to make me y eyes.

  D.N.A.