The road from the village to Staria, the major city of District 1.
–Clatter, clatter.
A single carriage moved along the long stretch of dirt road.
At a glance, it was not a fine carriage.
A shabby carriage with no separation between cargo and passenger compartments, its roof completely open to the elements.
“To think I’d end up riding a carriage.”
Of course, it was not a good carriage.
It was a shabby carriage with no separation between cargo and passenger compartments, and the roof was completely open.
But viewing a road I would normally walk with my own two legs from atop a carriage was a novel feeling.
The gently blowing mountain breeze.
The flowers and grasses dancing across the fields.
It was a sight I had been too preoccupied to notice before, but sitting quietly and watching it filled my chest with warmth.
‘Is this really a virtual world?’
The prevailing consensus was that even full-dive technology, which stimulated the brain directly, could not reproduce this level of realism.
That was because creating realistic scenery required an enormous amount of information.
This was also the reason full-dive VRMMORPGs had failed to appear until now.
Not only developers but also the existing equipment players possessed could not handle that much information.
Therefore, Arcadia Online could only be played using a dedicated device called a full-dive machine.
Of course, no one could have imagined that it would become a prison trapping the players.
‘Just who created this world, and for what purpose?’
The company officially known to have developed Arcadia Online was Logos Company.
It was a well-known enterprise that had successfully released several VR games.
But what could they possibly lack that made them choose to trap and kill two hundred thousand players?
Could there be a reason so important that they had to throw everything away?
Or was someone pulling the strings from behind?
Was it even possible to manipulate an entire company at will?
“Nuna, is something troubling you?”
“Huh? No, it’s nothing.”
At Rian’s voice, I escaped my thoughts and returned to reality.
Unable to ignore his bright, sparkling gaze, I wracked my sluggish brain and struck up a conversation with Rian.
“By the way, Rian, how old are you this year?”
“I’m ten.”
“I see.”
I thought he was young because of his short stature, but at ten, he was not that much of a brat.
He might be an immature kid in the real world, but in this world without a single proper school, it was the age when children began helping their parents with work.
So that was why Kate had trusted him with this.
But what should I talk about now?
There was still quite a lot of time before we reached Staria, but my head was already starting to hurt.
Honestly, wasn’t talking with Rian the hardest part of this quest?
Having been a man and a gaming addict, conversation was more difficult than combat.
–Hee-hing!
At that moment, the horse suddenly began to rampage.
Tied to the carriage, it could not flee, but the coachman broke into a sweat trying to calm the horse as it reared and thrashed about.
“W-why is this fellow suddenly…?”
It did not take long for us to learn the reason.
A pack of wolves had revealed itself from the fields on both sides of the road.
[Lv 4 Dire Wolf]
The cunning beasts had already surrounded the carriage.
“W-wolves?! W-why are they h-here….”
“U-unna. W-what do we do? A-are we going to die here?”
The coachman and Rian were terrified.
This was not within the dire wolves’ territory, so I was a bit bewildered as well.
“Right. There was no way this would be a free ride.”
I looked around.
The number of dire wolves surrounding us totaled six.
A sufficiently threatening number.
I had never faced this many at once before, so I could not guarantee there would be no injuries.
But.
“Rian, stick close to the carriage. If anything happens, shout.”
“W-what about you, nuna?”
“What else.”
I drew my sword from my waist.
“I have to fight.”
I had to ensure the dire wolf pack could not get to Rian and the horse.
And that was my role to fulfill.
I leaped from the carriage and landed in the midst of the dire wolf pack.
–Awooooo!
The dire wolf that appeared to be the alpha howled.
Fortunately, it seemed to recognize me as an enemy.
All of the wolves except for the three on the opposite side rushed at me.
Dodging was not difficult.
The dire wolves were level 4; I was level 7.
Not only was there a level gap, but with my experience hunting many dire wolves, I immediately seized the counter timing and swung my sword.
“Slash!”
–Shhhk!
The skill successfully landed.
Blood spurted from the wound, and the dire wolf, unable to withstand the blade, died instantly.
At their comrade’s death, the remaining wolves’ movements paused momentarily.
They probably had not expected to go down in one hit.
But I was just as surprised.
‘It dies in one hit?’
My way of hunting dire wolves had been to land a counter and finish them off while they were immobilized.
So when another wolf attacked, there were times I could not finish the job and had to swallow my regret.
But a single skill inflicting a fatal wound?
‘Is it thanks to changing weapons?’
[Staria Straight Sword]
A straight sword crafted by a Staria artisan. Its light weight makes it easy to carry.
Physical Attack +3
It was a weapon I had hastily purchased from the weapon shop in the village, but its attack power was 2 points higher than the beginner’s straight sword I had been using.
Taking that into account, I had spent 2 stat points on Agility before departing, and indeed, my movements were lighter than before.
There was only one conclusion to be drawn from combining all of these factors.
‘I’ve grown stronger.’
Arcadia Online did not provide exact numerical values, so I could not measure precisely how much stronger I had become, but I was definitely stronger than when I had been actively hunting wolves.
“That’s one.”
A smile formed at my lips.
I felt as if I could do anything right now.
The hesitating dire wolf charged.
Once again, I lightly dodged its claws and fangs and swung my sword.
The exact same sensation as before was transmitted to my hand.
As if to prove it was no fluke, the dire wolf once again suffered a fatal wound from a single slash.
“Yelp! Yelp! Yelp!”
The alpha watching the scene turned and fled.
Even as the alpha, its specs were identical to those of a normal dire wolf, so it was the correct decision.
But I had no intention of letting it go.
Even if there was a level difference, it was experience rolling in on its own.
As a player, I could not let that slide.
‘Come to think of it, didn’t I learn a new skill?’
A notification window had appeared when my Basic Swordsmanship exceeded 50, saying I had learned a new skill.
I had encountered a Wild Boar at the time, so I had not been able to check, but now was the perfect stage to test it.
I lowered my sword.
I extended my left foot forward and lowered my stance as if I would dash out at any moment.
Mana seeped into the blade.
The moment blue light bloomed, I stomped the ground forcefully.
Basic Swordsmanship Skill, Form 2.
One-Strike Charge.
“Sword Rush!”
My body shot forward in a straight line with lightning speed, catching up to the dire wolf in an instant.
–Shhhk!
An azure bell-shaped trajectory followed, drawn from bottom to top.
The wolf was split in half without even letting out a scream.
“Incredible.”
My excitement had not faded.
It was like the experience of flying.
In that moment of charging, I was the wind and the wind was me.
To think such a skill existed.
If not for its heavy mana consumption, it was quite an attractive skill.
“Nuna~! Help me!”
Rian’s voice, reaching me just then, snapped me out of my excitement.
Three still remained.
This was not the time to be reveling.
“I’ll be right there!”
I immediately ran toward the carriage.
My steps were incredibly light, unlike before.
***
After defeating the dire wolves, there were several more wolf attacks along the way, but none posed great difficulty.
As a result.
“I’m counting on you again this time.”
“Nuna, fighting!”
“Sigh, there’s no tension anymore.”
Unlike before, when they had been terrified at the appearance of beasts, Rian and the coachman began sending off cheers with composure.
It was not a bad feeling, though.
Even if they were NPCs, the feeling of someone trusting me was honestly nice.
And so, as my solo experience farming continued, around noon the walls of Staria began to come into view.
‘Has it been a week since I was last here?’
I gazed at Staria with complicated eyes.
I had stayed in Staria for two weeks after the death game began.
It was a short time, but looking back on those memories, they were all terrible things.
Honestly, if not for the quest, I would not have cast a single glance its way until the game ended.
But I did not know when I might receive another quest related to Staria.
That’s right, I could not avoid it forever.
I pulled the hood of my cloak down low to avoid standing out and spoke to Rian.
“Rian, inside the city, you must stick close to me.”
“O-okay.”
I did not think anything would happen, but Staria was where ninety percent of the players resided.
Even though NPC guards patrolled, it was a lawless zone without law or order.
I could not predict what might occur.
So it would be best not to let my guard down until we returned.
Before long, the carriage entered Staria.
Upon entering the city, well-maintained stone roads appeared in place of dirt paths.
Cream-colored stone buildings lined both sides, and the streets bustling with countless people evoked a medieval metropolis.
It was an exotic scenery, as if I had come to Europe.
But the city’s atmosphere was extremely gloomy.
People staring blankly at the sky with hollow eyes.
Those wailing to be let out of this place.
Even people laughing like madmen, having given up on life.
A sight where not a shred of hope could be found.
Seeing a scene no different from two weeks ago, I instinctively covered Rian’s eyes and ears.
“U-unna?”
“Kids shouldn’t see things like this.”
I well knew that it was nobody’s fault.
They were people who had lived ordinary lives.
Trapped in a death game overnight, it was the ones who had not gone mad who were strange.
I had been the same.
Trapped in a death game suddenly, turned into a woman, I had sought salvation in a cramped room, fleeing from unfamiliar sensations.
But.
“…….”
My gaze reached a dark alley.
I bit my lip tightly.
If I strained my ears, faint screams could be heard.
I did not know if it was my own voice or a signal from someone hoping for help.
But one thing was certain: I had not completely escaped from that place yet.
So I had to grow stronger.
To protect myself, so that I could remain myself.
Though it was a chaotic city, the further into Staria we went, the situation improved somewhat.
More people were carrying weapons than before, and the guards’ patrol frequency was high, so there was no major problem carrying out the quest.
Thanks to that, the carriage’s cargo compartment was soon filled with fresh ingredients.
“Did you buy everything we need?”
Rian nodded with a proud expression.
“Yes! Now we just need to go back.”
“You’re quite capable for your age.”
At that age, I had been too busy playing with other kids.
Proud of Rian, I gently ruffled his hair.
I checked the time.
It was a little past one in the afternoon.
If we left now, we could arrive at the village before five.
‘Then I can stop by the forest for a bit.’
With luck, combined with the quest reward, I might even reach level 7 today.
Having boarded the carriage, I called to the coachman.
“Let us depart now.”
It was at that moment.
“Everyone! Breaking news, breaking news!”
A man shouted as he ran down the street.
And at the man’s following words, everyone, including me, was left speechless.
“The Zone 1 Boss has appeared!”