Chapter 54

"Thank you all for participating, players. I am Yoshino Kazuto, the head of the [OSO] development department."

At this announcement, all the players' murmurs ceased, and they listened intently to the announcement.

"This event is designed to be enjoyable for new players as well. This event is called the [Forest Camping Game]. When you think of summer, you think of outdoor activities. You will be camping in this forest for six nights and seven days."

From somewhere, voices rose up, saying things like, "Are you kidding me? Is this a death game!?" and "Let us log out." However, the announcement was not over yet.

"It seems you are misunderstanding. This is neither dangerous nor time-restrictive. The flow of time in this field is about eighty times faster than in the regular fields due to a special server. In other words, one week here is only about two hours in real life. This means you can level up intensively. I'm sure you understand what I mean."

In other words, those who participate in this can level up for a week in just two hours. What kind of training room is this?

"Of course, if you want to proceed with the game normally, you can fight monsters and respawn. In this case, there will be no death penalty."

After this, he paused. It seemed that other parties were already getting excited. This is an unknown forest, and the idea of leveling up here was appealing.

"Next, I will explain the rules. The six-night, seven-day camping event. The area where you are now is a safety zone. There are multiple safety zones in this forest, and you are free to move to other areas.

This forest is on a floating continent, and it contains ruins, lakes, and mountains. Of course, as it is an event, unique monsters and items are placed in various locations. Enjoy finding them using your senses."

Cheers rose from a distant location.

"Furthermore, there are non-active young monsters wandering around the forest. They are very friendly to you. If you can build a friendly relationship with them over this week, they can become summon stones and your personal pets. If you have the right training sense, they can even fight alongside you as familiars."

More voices rose from another location.

"Finally, those who survive this week will have their actions quantified, and the top five parties with the highest points will receive commemorative prizes. Additionally, all items obtained in this area can be taken back, so you can also enjoy searching for rare materials without aiming for the prizes."

At this moment, the excitement seemed to reach its peak. Everyone was eager to win, but I was thinking about something else.

I see, so they imposed item restrictions to make us camp. Or, if I can bring back rare materials from this area and cultivate them, that would be great. These thoughts were completely different from those of the average player.

In the midst of this rising excitement, Yoshino Kazuto poured cold water on the excited players.

"However, there are restrictions. All players can only acquire one new sense during this period."

That makes sense. It's clear that the intention is to have players choose one sense and level up with it, rather than acquiring new senses and leveling up multiple times during this week.

"Additionally, if players who do not have the [Survival] sense acquire it, they will receive a significant negative point adjustment on the final day. It's unlikely they will be able to win. Also, during this period, players who have not acquired 20 SP can still learn the [Survival] sense.

Finally, many items obtained in this forest are initially unidentified. You can identify them by experiencing their effects or having the corresponding sense. This identification information can be shared within the party.

The map of the field can also be shared within the party, so you won't get lost. Under these restrictions, I hope you all do your best.

The first group, don't rush too much, or you might trip. The second group, I recommend taking your time and proceeding steadily."

The announcement ended, and everyone was momentarily stunned. I opened the map of this field. It seemed we were in the center of the floating continent. The map showed a radius of 100 meters from the safety zone visible to my hawk eyes, with the rest of the area shaded in gray.

While everyone else rushed into the forest, we decided to sit down and set up a base camp.

"Alright, shall we set up a base camp? With the hunger system, securing food is a priority. What items did everyone bring?"

In response to Claude's question, we each revealed our items.

Magi had a high-grade portable furnace, which can handle higher-grade metals than a regular portable furnace, a mining pickaxe, twenty steel ingots, a hammer and an axe (I didn't know he could use weapons), ten pieces of armor and accessories, five food items, and some healing potions.

Claude had a sewing kit, fifty pieces of cloth, leather, and cotton production materials, fifteen pieces of weapons, armor, and accessories, five food items, and some healing potions.

Lilie had woodworking tools, thirty logs (equivalent to ninety pieces of wood), fifteen pieces of weapons, armor, and accessories, five food items, and some healing potions.

"Hey, why are you all here?"

"Hahaha... I understand what you mean, Yun. Why bring items unrelated to combat to an official event, right? But we are production classes. You are one too, aren't you?"

I couldn't argue with that. As a pharmacist, it's natural for me to carry potions. And it's true that I have more production tools than the others.

What do I want to do in this event? Alchemy, synthesis, potion-making, crafting, and cooking. What do I want to do?

"More importantly, Yun, as a pharmacist, you don't have any potion ingredients... That's disappointing for a production class."

"I didn't expect this to be a camping event! I thought I needed items I could use immediately!"

As I protested, Claude gave a mischievous smile and said it was a joke. It was confusing. By the way, he is usually a bit of a wimp around women.

"Alright, Claude, that's enough teasing Yun. Let's do some experiments."

Magi walked a short distance away and returned with a handful of grass.

"Can Claude and Lilie identify these?"

"No, I can't."

"Sorry, Magi. I can't either."

"Then, Yun, can you?"

The grass he showed me was of three types: medicinal herbs, poisonous plants, and herbs. Many items in this event are unidentified, and you can't see them without the corresponding sense. Indeed, Claude and Lilie couldn't identify them.

"Medicinal herbs, poisonous plants, and herbs."

"Ah, I see. So, Yun has the sense to identify plants?"

"That would be the [Potion-Making] sense. It uses medicinal herbs."

Magi proudly confirmed her theory. So, survival involves acquiring multiple types of knowledge, but there are also specific senses that are useful. That's what it means.

"Since we've figured out one of our theories, let's split up and act. We'll divide into two groups to gather food and set up the base camp. Magi and I will gather food around the area, while Claude and Lilie will set up the base camp."

"Got it. I'll prepare the best sleeping arrangements."

"Exciting! I'm looking forward to the overnight stay."

"Ha~. What should we have for dinner tonight?"

As I muttered, I looked up at the sky. The sun was almost directly overhead, so it would set in about six hours. We need to secure water and food at the very least.

"Then, let's go over the precautions. Don't eat items you've gathered randomly. First, have Yun identify the plants with his [Potion-Making] sense before eating them. If you need any materials, let us know via chat, and we'll gather them for you."

"Ah, darn!"

Suddenly, Claude exclaimed, and everyone looked at him in surprise.

"I didn't bring any dye items. I can't make Boy Scout costumes without them!"

"Ha~, you're still the same, Claude."

His unwavering nerves in such a situation are admirable in a way. But I wouldn't want to wear them even if I had them.

"Then, we'll explore the surrounding area and fill in the map while we're out. We'll be back before sunset."

"Okay, Magi and Yun, be careful."

With Lilie's cheerful send-off, we decided to start with the eastern side and move clockwise to fill in the map.

Using my hawk eyes and discovery skills, we found clusters of plant items and mapped their locations.

"Wow, it's a big help having Yun around. Look, more items."

"Magi! That's a paralyzing herb! And this area is a cluster of confusion herbs, so eating them will cause status abnormalities."

"Whoa!? That's dangerous. They look like spinach or komatsuna, but that's what they are."

"These ugly-looking herbs can be eaten as a side dish."

We steadily identified edible items and medicinal herbs. It was significant to confirm the presence of spirit herbs and magic spirit herbs, which are ingredients for high potions and MP potions.

Surprisingly, more than half of the items we found were inedible plants. One example was the Rinejuval fruit, which looked delicious but caused [Poison 4] and [Confusion 4] status abnormalities. As someone who couldn't refine the seeds through alchemy, I wanted to bring as many as possible to extract the poison and confusion components.

We also found regular fruits like apples and bananas.

However, with only plant and vegetable items, our diet would be a bit too healthy. While it's pointless to consider nutritional balance in a game, I still wanted some animal protein.

"We've gathered a lot of plants. Should we look for other ingredients?"

"Leave that to you, Yun. The map is filling up nicely."

It was around 3 PM, and the map was about 20% complete, showing a bit of the area radiating from the center.

We could see mountains to the north, but they weren't on the map yet. Two rivers flowed from east to west, curving southward, and there was a lake downstream.

Since our base camp was between the two rivers, it would be good to search for fish in one of them.

While filling in the map, we encountered other safety zones and players, but most were more focused on finding unique monsters than gathering food, leaving their campsites untouched.

"Then, let's go to the river and catch some fish."

"Right... Ah, wait. I'm getting hungry. Let's take a break first."

Agreeing with Magi's suggestion, I noticed my hunger level had also decreased. I wanted to eat a sandwich to recover.

We sat on a tree stump and took a break after confirming there were no monsters around.

"Magi, do you have any food?"

"Yes, here's a roll."

"How does it taste?"

"It's not delicious."

"Do you want my sandwich?"

I asked Magi, who smiled wryly. To avoid the hassle of taking out food items, I activated my [Cooking] skill and turned four food items into ten sandwiches.

I handed one to Magi.

"Wow, these sandwiches look delicious. They're rated 5. Your cooking sense is different."

"I just cut and sandwiched them. Anyone can do it."

As Magi looked at the sandwich I offered with a hungry gaze, I also took one.

At that moment, I felt multiple gazes. I stood up from the tree stump, ready to move, and looked around. Even with my [Hawk Eyes] in a forested area, there were many blind spots. However, with the combination of [Discovery], I could tell where the gazes were coming from.

"What's wrong?"

"There's something there."

With a tense expression, I stared at the source of the gazes, which turned out to be a patch of grass. Soon, three young monsters emerged.