Chapter 3

Standing at the entrance of the classroom, Xiaoming took a deep breath and firmly held the secret letter from his mother.

Amidst the cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

Only those whose credibility had been thoroughly verified were entrusted with the mission from the mage tower, and they were the aces among the mercenaries in this region, so everyone was diligent. When Ivan arrived at the eastern city gate, two of them were already there, and the last one also appeared not long after.

'One is a ranger, one is a sword-and-shield warrior. The last one is a martial artist, right?' Among them, the one who caught Ivan's attention was the martial artist. She wore a leather armor over an old gi and metal gauntlets on both hands, and carried nothing else.

While it might seem foolish to fight without weapons when everyone else carried swords, spears, and bows, it wasn't entirely unreasonable in this world. Qi, inner strength, magic, mana, aura, chakra—regardless of what they were called, these transcendent powers existed, and they could be used to enhance the body or employ special abilities.

Still, wouldn't it be stronger to wield a weapon? In this place, martial artists were also ascetics who tested their limits and trained their bodies. Their philosophy was to seek their own development by facing enemies without weapons. Of course, Ivan didn't care about such complex background settings. This place was originally a game, and a martial artist was a common class in a fantasy game. He decided to think of it that way.

'Still, a martial artist must be skilled.' It goes without saying that if one couldn't skillfully use these abilities, fighting without weapons would be foolish. Martial artists' schools didn't let practitioners out until they reached a certain level, so a certified martial artist was reliable.

"The mercenaries are all here, it seems."

"The mage?"

"That guy is understandable. Isn't he a heavy sitter, the mage?"

The one who introduced himself first was the sword-and-shield warrior. A large, muscular man with a thick red beard.

"My name is Ralph. As you can see, I mainly use a sword and shield, and I'm used to taking attacks at the front. The archer here is Sven. He's a former ranger from the eastern front, so he's quite reliable in the forest."

"Ralph, I wanted to introduce myself."

"Hehe, the guy isn't much of a talker. Ah, and this martial artist lady is—"

"Julia Miller, a practitioner of the Thunder Wolf Fist."

She spoke stiffly, not seeming particularly friendly, but it wasn't too off-putting because she was quite beautiful.

"Thunder Wolf, it's been a while."

"Have you met any of our school's practitioners before?"

"Yes, once. Probably in Andorrel?"

Martial artists were rare, but the Thunder Wolf school was one of the more prominent ones. Given that Ivan had traveled and suffered over the past few years, it wasn't strange that he had seen a practitioner once.

"Can you tell me who you met?"

"Matthias."

"Senior Matthias, is he well?"

"Until two years ago. He was a very pleasant man. I received a lot of help from him in Andorrel."

"Good to hear."

They seemed to know each other well, having worked in the same region. Ivan was the only stranger here.

"Ivan Eshirson. I handle various things, but I'm most familiar with swords. I've only been here for a few days."

"So, I heard you caught a hydra in the west."

There it goes again.

How many years will they keep bringing up that snake? Ivan replied indifferently.

"It was nothing much. It might have been just a mutant snake, not a hydra."

Just as he finished speaking, the mage from the mage tower finally appeared.

He seemed to want to announce that he was a mage, holding a long robe and a large staff. A quick glance showed that his travel equipment was rather haphazard.

"Cough! I'm sorry for being late. There were many things to prepare—"

Jingle jangle.

Clunk clunk.

The young mage, who looked to be in his early twenties, bowed, and the noise from his backpack echoed. The items hanging from it weren't properly secured.

"Like this, we'll attract every monster in the forest."

The ranger Sven muttered under his breath. To a ranger who specialized in moving stealthily in the forest, the mage's appearance seemed like a disaster. The mage's ears turned slightly red, but he didn't say anything, indicating he was well aware of his poor preparation. Seeing this, Ivan felt a great sense of relief.

'A rare normal mage. Maybe he's still young and hasn't fully embraced the mage lifestyle?' Investigating strange phenomena in the forest was a dangerous and tedious task. The old, heavy-sitting mages from the tower had sent a young mage, which was better for Ivan. He might be clumsy, but at least he could understand human speech.

"Give me your backpack. We need to organize it a bit."

Sure enough, it was the backpack of a beginner who had never been outside.

It was inefficient, with unnecessary items and lacking essential ones.

"Glass flasks? Why do you need these? Are you planning to do alchemy in the forest? There won't be time for that. And you don't have enough food. You should pack more jerky and grain flour. You're also short on water."

Of course, as a high-level professional, a mage usually didn't carry heavy loads. But in case of separation, even a mage should have enough food to survive.

It took almost two hours for the mercenaries to organize the backpack, including buying necessary items and returning unnecessary ones to the mage's quarters. Magic items with dimensional storage spells were ridiculously expensive, and only high-level mages could use such spells.

Thus, efficiently carrying loads was a skill for mercenaries. 'Still, this is a pretty good party, isn't it?' A sturdy sword-and-shield warrior who could serve as a tank, a martial artist who could quickly strike and retreat, a ranger who could guide and cover the rear, and a mage who could provide firepower from the back.

Ivan could support the party's weak points, making it a quite stable combination. 'Since they were recommended by the mercenary guild, their skills should be above average.' That alone was enough.

Sometimes, forming a party for a mission would result in encountering people who were beyond imagination.

The golden rule that in a group of five, there's always one idiot.

In the game, they would ask about each other's parents and part amicably, but in reality, it could get so serious that they might even come to blows.

Ivan wasn't skilled in various things for no reason.

He became a jack-of-all-trades, wasting skill points, because he often couldn't trust his companions. He had to be able to do everything himself to feel at ease. 'Compared to that, bringing a mage who only studied magic in the tower is like heaven.' The party's atmosphere wasn't bad, despite the late start, thanks to the young mage, Emin, who read the situation well and was diligent.

Mages, being high-level professionals, were often arrogant and eccentric. Experienced mercenaries would have worked with mages a few times and found it quite frustrating.

So, a polite mage like Emin made no one frown at the delayed start.

"I come from a commoner background. I entered the mage tower with my master when I was young, and this is my first time outside."

Emin, scratching his head in embarrassment, started talking about his boring life in the tower.

"Sometimes, experiments explode, right? But in the tower, such sounds happen all the time, so it's hard to sleep—"

Everyone listened with interest. The mage tower was so closed off that ordinary people didn't know what went on inside.

It wasn't a great secret, but it was a good topic for a beer later.

Of course, that didn't last long. Once they entered the forest deeply enough that the city gate was no longer visible, everyone fell silent.

Rustle! Crack! The sound of branches swaying in the wind, leaves rubbing against each other, insects chirping, birds singing.

The forest, which seemed quiet, was actually quite noisy.

Finding subtle clues amidst the noise was quite difficult.

"According to what I heard, the place where the magic reaction was felt is near a lake deep in the forest. We'll have to pass through dangerous areas, so please follow my instructions."

Sven, the ranger, took the lead.

As a former eastern front ranger, he moved silently in the forest, keeping a proper distance for scouting without straying out of sight. The others followed his signals, advancing slowly.

Halt! A signal came from the front.

—Monsters detected.

Two in number. After a moment's thought, Ivan signaled to ask what kind of monsters they were. Sven looked surprised.

Ivan had used complex signals known only to rangers.

Sven, with a curious look, replied. —Easy targets, blade-horned boars, I'll handle them alone. Ivan nodded, and Sven drew his bow, shot quickly, and moved forward.

There was no need to check the result. When Ivan passed by later, he recovered the arrows and confirmed that Sven's skill was indeed good.

'One shot per boar.

Killed by piercing the forehead.' Ivan gave a thumbs up, and Sven smiled.

At that moment, a system message appeared.

Ding! [Linked Quest: The Secret of the Eastern Forest - 1] [Recently, the eastern forest of Andorrel has become strange. Uncover its secret.] [Reward: Large amount of experience, Skill Point +1, ?]

'Linked quest?'

There had been many urgent and side quests, but no linked quests. Suddenly, one appeared here? The reward was also unusual.

The question mark meant it was undetermined, but a large amount of experience and a skill point were unprecedented rewards. Ivan's expression hardened as he realized something.

'It's connected to the main story!'

This damn world was once a game. Whether it became reality or had just pretended to be a game, it was once a game.

Naturally, there was a main story. A typical world-destroying scenario, with the continent burning and the world splitting.

Ivan had dismissed the differences between the game and reality, thinking it was just that. But it turned out he had landed at a point before the main story began. This meant the already crazy world would become even more hellish.

"Hehe, 1 gold. Damn. That was the ox soup."

Why couldn't he eat the ox soup he bought? Why couldn't he eat it! Strangely, his luck was good today.