With a heavy, rumbling sound, the massive stone doors slowly parted to the left and right.
Siloque quickly ran down the stairs and stood beside his younger sister.
As the doors gradually opened, the dazzling morning sun poured in, dyeing everything before Siloque’s eyes a pure, brilliant white.
He had to squint, but before his vision could even recover, a sound caught his attention.
It was a duet composed of undulating low notes and leaping high notes.
The sound of water.
Once Siloque’s eyes finally adjusted to the intense light, he saw a surging, azure stream.
Beyond the stream lay an endless, sprawling forest of giant trees that stretched as far as the eye could see.
“This is amazing… Just this view alone makes the trip feel worth it. It has such a total game atmosphere!”
Hill took off her Gas Mask, stored it back in her Storage Bracelet, and stepped into the sunlight.
She bathed in the sun’s rays and spun around, seemingly wanting to fully enjoy the panoramic view of this infinitely wide, Great Forest.
***
“It really was worth coming.”
Siloque also retracted his Gas Mask and took a long, deep stretch.
Whether it was just a trick of his senses or not, even the air felt sweet and moist.
“What gives? Based on what Brother said before, I thought this place would be like some kind of dark, sunless hell, but the scenery is quite beautiful,” Hill said.
“I didn’t make it sound that dire.”
The Third Floor, the Black Mist Forest.
Generally speaking, the true exploration began from the Third Floor onward.
The E-District of the Second Floor was the deepest level that ordinary Explorers looking to earn some extra side cash could reach.
To go any deeper, one either needed incredible Talent or a high enough Level.
Therefore, the most obvious change starting from the Third Floor was the lack of people.
“I’ve soaked up enough sun~ Brother, hurry up and do the quest. Lead the way!”
“Oh.”
The two of them stepped onto the damp moss and reached the shore.
They stopped and looked at the ceaseless flow of water.
Because the transparency was so high, the riverbed covered in white sand was visible at a glance.
The depth was not to be underestimated; it looked to be over three meters deep.
Naturally, it was impossible to simply walk across.
Most importantly, there was a monster lurking at the bottom of the riverbed called a “Thorny Fierce Clam.”
Don’t be fooled by the fact that it only extended a short, shallow cylindrical siphon.
If a foot were to step into the river, its two-meter body hidden beneath the riverbed would likely swallow a person whole in a single gulp.
In the game, it was a guaranteed instant kill for anyone below Level 15.
Hill wasn’t panicked at all.
Instead, she looked at Siloque with an expectant gaze.
“Go for it! Mr. Bridge Architect.”
Siloque gave a helpless smile and crouched low.
His five fingers spread slightly as Magic flowed through his body.
[Alchemy], activate—
The ground he touched began to deform, accompanied by a whoosh sound.
A small bridge three meters wide and twenty meters long appeared on the bank.
As long as one possessed the corresponding knowledge, they could create any imagined object.
Making weapons and armor was a piece of cake.
With an increase in Level and sufficient Magic, even hand-crafting a giant fortress would be easy.
‘Although my Magic and Level growth are slow right now, and I can only make inorganic objects… this skill has a very high growth ceiling. 9,000,000 (original price 10,000,000) is actually quite a bargain.’
The only problem was that Siloque’s Magic and Experience Point absorption constitution were both terrible.
He really didn’t have the confidence that he could ever fully utilize the final form of this skill.
Ordinary Explorers needed some kind of method to cross this area.
For example, using a rope, a lifebuoy, or if they were confident in their strength, simply swimming across.
Regardless, they would usually reach the other side soaking wet.
After all, construction workers had a high probability of not raising their Level very high just to come to the dangerous Third Floor for infrastructure work.
Now that Siloque had [Alchemy], they could save a lot of effort.
They wouldn’t get their bodies wet, nor would they have to risk entering the water.
“It’s as convenient as always. Let’s go, let’s go.”
“Wait, Hill. Let me test if the bridge is sturdy first…”
“Oh, come on. The quality of things Brother makes won’t be that bad. I believe it’s fine.”
“Uh… I can walk on my own.”
“I’m just making sure you don’t fall off, Brother.”
She took Siloque’s arm and stepped onto the bridge that had taken less than a second to build.
Their black and yellow hair fluttered in the wind; from behind, they looked like two best friends out for a spring outing.
Seeing Hill show such trust and affection toward him naturally made Siloque happy.
However, it was also true that there was a bit of bitterness in his smile.
‘I’ll have to introduce Beiren to Hill later, so it’s best to build up a good relationship while I can.’
The two reached the other side.
Siloque crouched down and reached out toward the bridge, but then lowered his hand.
He had originally thought about restoring the bridge to its original state, but decided to leave it.
Siloque had used the method of transforming the material of the soil on the ground rather than generating it out of thin air with Magic.
It was very easy to build, so leaving it for later use was a good idea.
At that moment, his ears caught the sound of heavy breathing in the distance.
“Hill, hide.”
Siloque took Hill and hid in the corner of a large tree.
A few seconds later, a low groan came from the shadow of a moss-covered giant tree.
Siloque shifted his gaze and saw a dark head.
Multiple monsters.
Three monsters known as “Booze-loving Black Apes” appeared.
They were nearly five meters tall, and each carried a large wine barrel on its back, reeking of alcohol.
Siloque and Hill held their breath, waiting for the three monsters to stumble and sway into the distance.
A single one had the strength of Level 20.
They could restore health after drinking from the barrels on their backs.
If they weren’t killed within a certain amount of time when their health was low, they would enter a berserk mode.
Because of this, it was best to destroy the barrel first—except destroying the barrel would also trigger the berserk mode immediately…
They were troublesome monsters; it was best to avoid them if possible.
“Brother, they’re clearly monkeys, yet they aren’t swinging in the trees. They’re walking on the ground.”
‘And you aren’t going to mention why they have wine barrels on them?’
‘My sister’s focus is certainly strange. Unfortunately, only the game designers know the answer to that.’
Once the monsters were far away, the two resumed their journey.
They soon stepped onto a flagstone path.
As they continued forward, a faint mist began to appear in the forest.
“Brother, the important fog is here. It’s so thick, even thicker than car exhaust.”
“It’s definitely thick. If you leave this path and walk about six meters into the forest, it’s still easy to return. But if the fog rolls in, it’s very difficult to find your way back to this path connected to the Third Floor entrance from even ten meters away.”
Siloque stepped on the stones beneath his feet.
“Is this like one of those ‘Zoo Creepypastas’?”
“Those are from novels. Here, it’s real. Besides, it’s just easy to get lost in the forest; it doesn’t mean you’ll never get out.”
“Oh, I see…”
Hearing this, Hill wasn’t afraid at all; instead, she seemed quite excited.
The two walked for a while longer.
The angle of the golden light beams shining through the high branches overhead had become somewhat slanted.
It was likely approaching noon.
“Alright, it should be somewhere around here…”
As Siloque spoke, he led Hill to a cross-shaped flagstone path.
Hill looked around.
“Brother, I don’t see the NPC you mentioned.”
“The starting position for this NPC is random. We have to find them now. Hill, are you confident in your ears?”
Technically, that person couldn’t be considered an NPC in the traditional sense.
Siloque glanced at her casually as he spoke.
But for some reason, his younger sister covered her cute pink ears with her hands and took a step back.
“Brother, your tastes are so specific. Are you an ear-fetishist?”
“I am a bit interested, but when I asked about your confidence, I was obviously talking about your hearing, not the shape…”
A mischievous, successful smile appeared on Hill’s face.
“Brother really is a pervert.”
“I was just answering your question.”
“Hmph, I was just joking. Helping Brother find them is no problem at all, but what kind of sound is it? Don’t tell me it’s the sound of leaves falling on the ground.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not a natural sound. It’s a fist… Specifically, a dull thud, like meat hitting a cutting board.”
Hill was briefly confused, but she soon nodded to show she understood.
The two stood in the middle of the road, back to back.
Their combined four ears scouted for sounds in all directions.
The sound of the wind, the rustling of leaves, the footsteps of small animals, the chirping of birds…
Siloque filtered these sounds out of his consciousness one by one, searching for that hard, man-made noise.
“—!”
Siloque and Hill, pressed against each other, flinched at the same time.
Siloque turned his head to the left while Hill turned to the right.
They both pointed in the same direction—southwest.
“Let’s go.”
Siloque took a step forward but was grabbed by Hill.
“Won’t we get lost if we go into the forest?”
“It’s fine. Your brother has [Alchemy]. Besides, I have camping gear in my bag. Let’s move!”
In reality, Siloque wouldn’t get lost even if he went alone; he had the map memorized perfectly.
Siloque jogged toward the forest, catching a protest from behind: “Hill still has to go back tonight to claim her daily login rewards!”
It was an outcry that quickly turned into the sound of chasing footsteps.
***
The two dashed toward the source of the sound, weaving between the trunks of giant trees.
Fighting monsters was a hassle, so they took a slightly circuitous route.
In less than three minutes, they arrived at the source of the sound.
They only needed to round two more giant trees to reach their target.
However, Siloque didn’t rush forward.
Instead, he pulled Hill behind a massive tree to hide.
After putting an index finger to his lips in a “shhh” gesture, Siloque and Hill peered toward the clearing.
In a slightly broad clearing stood a tree much thicker than the others.
Someone was punching it.
The person was leaning their head against the tree, looking very dejected.
Their left hand gripped the bark while their right hand struck the tree repeatedly.
Every hit caused the five-meter-diameter tree to dent, the canopy to shake, and leaves to flutter down.
It was only a matter of time before they punched all the way through.
Hill narrowed her eyes.
After getting a clear look at the figure, her impressions slipped out:
“A Dragon Girl?”