Meanwhile, Emily's party had arrived late in Zone 3.
"Sis, left!"
"Roger. Shield Charge!"
Just as Ian had done, they were fighting against the man-eating plants.
Emily blocked the reaching vines with her shield and shouted.
"Mugi, now!"
"It's ready. Dodge!"
Emily threw herself aside, and the staff held by Mugi, who was behind her, spat flames.
Basic Magic Skill: 2nd Circle Fire Magic.
Sustained Emission.
"Flame!"
An unending stream of fire surged forth, burning the plants.
"Naira!"
"I'm ready!"
Emily and Naira each dashed forward wielding their new weapons.
"Spear!"
"Slash!"
The intersecting trajectories of sword and spear.
The plant that met its end at the pair's strike crumbled into ash and vanished.
"Great teamwork, everyone."
"It's all thanks to Mugi. Burns things real clean."
"I-it's because you protected us so well, Sis."
And so, in that harmonious atmosphere, Emily's party resumed their trek.
"By the way, where did she go?"
"Miss Ian? I wonder. It seems like she went ahead, but…."
"Sh-she wouldn't have gone ahead to the village or something first, right?"
"Well, knowing her personality, I wouldn't put it past her."
Having arrived a step late in Zone 3, they wandered around the tropical rainforest but could not spot Ian.
Of course, they weren't worried.
It was a shame, but they figured Ian would have arrived safely even without their concern, so they headed straight for the settlement without hesitation.
Finding the way wasn't very difficult.
Thanks to the players who had reached Zone 3 first providing maps, the party was able to arrive safely at the Dark Elf outpost, their settlement.
Naira looked around with curious eyes.
"Wow, they're real elves. Now it really feels like we're inside a game."
Of course, most of them had their faces hidden beneath black hoods, so they couldn't be seen properly, but Naira was like a child visiting an amusement park at the exotic scenery that didn't exist in reality.
"Quite a lot of people have made it over too."
Moreover, there were even some familiar faces to be seen.
Truly feeling that the conquest of Zone 3 had begun in earnest, Emily's party wandered about the outpost.
However.
"I don't see Miss Ian."
"C-could she have gone out hunting first?"
No matter how much they looked around, Ian was nowhere to be seen.
Even when they asked other players or Dark Elf NPCs, not a single person had seen her.
"Don't tell me she got lost?"
This tropical rainforest had scenery that looked quite similar all around, making it easy to get lost.
If the players who arrived first hadn't provided maps, Emily's party might still be wandering the tropical rainforest.
Just when Emily was wondering if they should go out and search for her,
"Outsiders I haven't seen before."
A Dark Elf with a massive, bear-like physique blocked Emily's party.
They regarded the Dark Elf with wary eyes.
"I am Malakor, the commander of the defense forces at this outpost. Who might you be?"
"I'm Emily."
"I'm Naira."
"I-I'm M-Mugi…."
"Fine names indeed. Welcome to Rimba Hitam, humans."
A smile bloomed on his fierce face.
His hearty laugh was so ample that it made their earlier wariness seem pointless, and Emily's party finally relaxed, responding with smiles of their own.
In that pleasant atmosphere, Naira spoke.
"But, Commander… no, should I call you Commander, sir?"
"Just call me Malakor."
"Then… Commander Malakor, what is Rimba Hitam?"
"Hoho… you don't know?"
He stretched the corners of his mouth long like a villain for a moment, then spread his arms wide and said.
"Rimba Hitam is the name of this vast great forest. And this place where we stand is called Durigarda."
"Durigarda? So there are other places?"
"Indeed. Together with this cursed land, our elven settlement of Tedumaya, and the land of our ancestors, Akarsuma, the whole is called Rimba Hitam."
The fact that the tropical rainforest was divided into three zones in total was quite interesting.
Because if Malakor's words were true, it meant Zones 4 and 5 would also be tropical rainforests like the current one.
Emily decided to share this information with everyone.
However, at the moment, she had something she was more curious about than information on Rimba Hitam.
"Excuse me, Mr. Malakor. Do you always come out personally like this?"
Malakor nodded proudly.
"It is a natural duty as commander of the defense forces. Do not mind it."
"Then, by any chance, has a person named Ian been here? She's a woman with black hair, about this tall, and we're looking for her."
Having watched and listened to Emily's description, Malakor pondered briefly, then shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but I have not seen such a human woman. Are you certain she came here?"
"Sh-she arrived at Du, Durigarda? Anyway, she definitely arrived here before us. She's strong, so she wouldn't have died."
Emily dismissed the possibility that Ian had fallen to monsters.
Thanks to that, Malakor, considering other possibilities, stroked his chin.
"Then this could become quite troublesome."
"Huh… why?"
"There are a total of three units stationed here in Durigarda. The defense force under me, the supply corps near Tedumaya, and the reconnaissance unit operating in the west. If that woman named Ian went toward the supply corps, she would be fine, but if she went toward the reconnaissance unit…."
He let out a low grunt.
"She will likely die."
***
I, who had exited Kalinia's tent, immediately opened my map.
"If west from here… around here?"
Basically, Arcadia Online is an extremely unfriendly game.
Not only does it fail to provide proper quest information, but it doesn't even have those common markers.
If it weren't truly a death game, wouldn't it be receiving terror threats on a global scale by now?
To that extent, this game's convenience was at the worst possible level.
Anyway, I had to complete the quest Kalinia gave me within the given three days.
"Surely it's not a boss?"
No matter how much malice this game was brimming with, they wouldn't have made the condition to defeat a boss within the time limit.
At most, it would probably be a monster slightly more dangerous than normal ones.
If so, there was no reason to drag it out.
Resolving to take it down today and wipe that arrogant look off her face, I strolled around the outpost.
Perhaps because Kalinia had vouched for me, the Dark Elves no longer drew their weapons on me.
Of course, their hostility remained, so they didn't bother approaching or talking to me.
As expected, their personalities are truly something.
Anyway, it seemed impossible to get information out of them.
"By the way, why isn't there a single person here?"
Just in case, I wandered around for quite a while, but I couldn't see any players.
Hadn't they said a few people were at the settlement?
Besides, most of the people who had been resting were supposed to join today.
But how could there be not a single one?
Or had I gotten tangled up in something bad again?
Even so, the Dark Elves' piercing gazes were extremely grating.
In the end, without any gains and having only roughly finished my preparations, I left the outpost.
The moment I strayed slightly from the outpost, monster attacks began.
From the man-eating flowers I encountered at first, to roots surging from beneath the ground, mushrooms scattering paralysis spores, and even moving tree stumps.
It felt as if this entire tropical rainforest was alive and moving.
So was it dangerous? …Honestly, not really.
At first I was bewildered by them popping up suddenly, but once I got used to it, they were no different from experience points rolling in on their own.
Why?
Because my level was still higher than the monsters appearing here.
"Wow, they burn great."
Probably because they were plants, burning them with fire was highly effective.
Moreover, when staff mastery reached 100, I could use a support magic called Cure, and with this skill I could cure status ailments.
Having the solution to paralysis spores as well, I was invincible.
"Isn't this basically a VIP map for mages?"
Magic efficiency was so outstanding in this zone that I thought as much.
Therefore, I was using my staff far more than my sword in this zone.
I could just burn things indiscriminately and only draw my sword when damage was insufficient, so it was comfortable both physically and mentally.
So if only I could find the quest objective's location, it would be perfect.
"Where the hell is it?"
I roughly scanned the west from top to bottom, but nothing that looked like the objective was visible.
No, she said I'd know it when I saw it.
No matter where I looked, it was just the same trees and same monsters; just where the hell was it?
In the end, night fell without me pinpointing the enemy's location.
I thought maybe I'd at least level up, but having only defeated low-level enemies, a full quarter of the experience bar still remained empty, leaving me with no sense of accomplishment.
"Should I head back for now?"
I didn't think I'd be able to get a good night's sleep.
No, I wondered if I could even get inside the tent in the first place.
But camping without party members to stand watch was practically suicide.
Even if it meant sleeping outdoors inside the base, now was the time to return.
"At least I've fully explored the map."
I wouldn't get lost on the way back.
I moved my steps toward the outpost, my sweat-soaked clothes fluttering.
It was then.
—Thud, thud….
The sound of someone's footsteps from beyond the darkness.
"Isn't that guy from earlier today?"
That Dark Elf bastard who threw a snare at me and swung a gauntlet.
Unlike before, he had his hood off, so I recognized him immediately.
Why had such a guy appeared before me?
Considering Kalinia's personality, I didn't think she'd particularly care about me.
I decided to try talking to him.
"What brings you here…."
The moment I tried to approach him.
—Crack!
He stomped the ground fiercely and charged at me.
Caught off guard, I had to roll across the ground in a hurry to avoid his charge.
"What the hell?"
There was no time to panic.
Because while I was rolling on the dirt, he was already swinging his fist at me.
I rolled forward to dodge the punch and immediately drew my sword.
And I slashed diagonally at the charging Dark Elf.
"Slash."
Clashing sword and fist.
—Shhk!
The contest of strength that had been evenly matched for a moment ended in my victory.
My sword shattered his gauntlet and completely severed his arm.
But.
"Wh-what the hell is with this bastard. Why isn't he bleeding?"
Even though I had cleanly cut it, no blood flowed from the cross-section.
Moreover.
"Ugh! It's still moving?"
He swung his other fist without a change in expression, like a doll without self-awareness.
'There's no life in his eyes.'
Was he really being controlled?
Was he even alive in the first place?
To ascertain the situation in detail, I cut off his remaining arm.
I barely subdued the guy who kept struggling even after losing both arms, then scanned his entire body.
And near his neck, I discovered a thin tentacle.
"Is this the cause?"
Once I cut the tentacle, the violent thrashing of the guy at my feet stopped.
He had likely become a puppet at the hands of the tentacle's owner.
Even though he had been drained of all blood and become a corpse, seeing his freedom stolen wasn't a pleasant sight, even if he had once shown hostility.
"Wait. Then what about the other one who was with him…."
What happened?
The moment I harbored such doubt,
—Thud….
Another footstep sounded,
"R-run…."
There stood the Dark Elf who had shot an arrow at me.
He, who had been full of hostility, desperately gestured at me to flee.
But.
"Kuh!"
In the end, his eyes went dull, and he collapsed as a corpse.
「Aah… you're next.」
A voice echoing inside my head.
「Come here, my love.」
The culprit of this situation appeared from the darkness.
[Lv 20. Alraune]
A plant-type monster with the form of a human woman.
Alraune.
It spread its arms wide toward me.
「Let us share our love together.」
I knew instinctively.
That this was the target of the current quest.