I know <FoS> well.
At least where this game is concerned, I pride myself on having deeper knowledge and experience than anyone.
Even compared to Chris…… that guy whose completion rate was higher than mine, this thought doesn't change.
'The entrance of the <Forest of Eternity>.'
Where's most dangerous, or safest; where you can get the best rewards for the difficulty; the types and numbers of monsters that appear; even the field events that only occur when specific conditions are met…….
I have just about all of it down cold.
"Um, Mr. Kaindel……?"
Perhaps that's why.
Even in our current situation, I could make an accurate judgment.
"This looks like the place we passed earlier……?"
"……"
Looking at the tree, I saw an X-shaped mark.
Unmistakably the mark I'd carved with my scythe.
"Hmm. So this makes the fourth time, was it?"
"Fifth."
"Ah."
Kria, who had been listening to the conversation, opened her mouth.
"……Hey, Kaindel. Don't tell me we're—"
"Yes."
Nodding, I pronounced judgment on our current situation.
"We're lost."
***
In <FoS>, the <Minimap> is not a function unlocked from the start.
Which means it isn't an environment where you can wander comfortably while checking a map anytime, anywhere…….
The <Forest of Eternity> is such a vast and sprawling place that a player who sets foot in it for the first time has no choice but to get lost.
It's not for nothing that beginners who tried <FoS> deleted the game in disgust.
[You have wandered the same area for a long time without a guide.]
[You are lost.]
[You fall into the status ailment, <Wandering>.]
[The stress levels of you and your companions accumulate faster.]
The silver lining was that <FoS> had been a quarter-view game.
Since the viewpoint itself was fixed, if you resolved to push in one direction only, you could somehow get out of the map.
Then you'd naturally escape the <Wandering> status too.
'And now?'
Impossible.
Because the screen's viewpoint is no longer fixed…….
In game terms, the genre has changed to 3D open world.
Naturally, pathfinding is bound to become several times harder.
'Does that make a <Guide> essential right from the entrance?'
When the <Guide> trait blooms, the minimap opens immediately.
Of course, the map itself doesn't light up all at once—it's structured so that only regions you've already finished exploring open up sequentially, but…….
Anyone who's played games would know.
The difference between having and not having even that much of a function is enormous.
In other words, the deeper you go into the forest, the more a <Guide> is one of the companions you absolutely must secure.
'If I just had a map, I think I could manage, though.'
Of course, obtaining a map of the forest isn't easy.
Since the forest itself is, by lore, an unknown region, a map with recorded terrain information is naturally of enormous value.
There are a few tricks to get one, but they're impossible to execute in the current situation.
"Whew."
A map and a Guide. When I thought of the other companions and items I absolutely had to secure, my head ached on its own.
"Let's move for now."
"Ah, yes."
Being lost doesn't immediately cause big problems.
If anything, there are ways to use this situation.
Of course, if this state persists too long, my companions' stress levels will climb steeply.
'From 80, a set of assorted debuffs; at 90, stats cut in half.'
At 100, well, needless to say.
They take their own life.
Judging by the trend, Kria would hold up well.
Her stress level had been low to begin with, so her Mind Talent was probably high.
So the problem was ultimately the brother.
Name: Kazen(?)
Stress: 47
It's risen a lot already.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
When I stared at him like a time bomb about to go off, Kazen read my face too.
"Want some water?"
At my words, Kazen flinched and widened the distance.
"Wh-what's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
"What did I do?"
"No…… it's just, you spoke so kindly……."
"……"
I could roughly tell what image of me had formed in Kazen's head.
With a sour expression, I withdrew the canteen I'd held out.
Stress level 47.
In the game, it was a figure where surviving a week was difficult, but who knew how it would be now that this was reality.
"Kaindel."
At Kria's words, I stopped walking.
"Found them?"
"Yeah. Sylph says they're beyond that thicket."
I nodded, then walked slowly toward where Kria had said……
And beyond the thicket, we found them.
Skrrk, skrk…….
The first threat a player who's entered the forest faces.
By the entrance's standards, a mob you'll keep running into to the point of sickness.
Bipedal monsters shaped like trees—
<Woodmen>.
"……"
Kazen and Kria looked slightly tense.
It must feel different again from fighting Magic Beasts or Plunderers.
Curiously, for me, it was just whatever.
'Seven of them?'
They usually gather in groups of five to ten, so the headcount was reasonable.
I gave the two of them instructions.
"Kazen. Take out one with the crossbow first. When they notice us, I'll draw their attention. Kria, support with the Sylph."
Kazen's role for the time being is ranged damage dealer—crossbowman.
'If Crossbow Mastery manifests from this, that'd be shit, though.'
Of course, with "Mage" written in his class field, the odds are low.
Mastery skills have a greatly reduced chance of manifesting after a class change.
"Shoot……? Wh-where should I aim?"
"The head, obviously. Their movements are dead slow anyway. Just be careful—sometimes ones disguised as trees are hiding nearby."
"Ah……."
"Shoot when you're ready. That's the signal."
"……"
Kazen's breathing trembled.
Not for long.
When he slowly closed and opened his eyes, the wavering in them had almost vanished.
Kazen looked straight ahead and aimed the crossbow at the group of Woodmen.
THUNG.
And then, launch.
The moment a bolt lodged in one's head, the Woodman group immediately began swarming toward us.
Even more surprising was the individual with the bolt in its forehead.
Skrk, skrrrk!
Far from falling, it twisted its neck to stare straight at us and began running along with the rest.
"M-Mr. Kaindel! That one—"
"It's as good as dead! Ignore it and shoot the others first!"
"Y-yes!"
It might be running, but with its head already smashed, dying was only a matter of time.
THUNG, THUNG, THUNG!
Kazen kept up his rapid fire, but seemingly feeling the pressure of the Woodman group charging like mad, he missed the vitals every time.
In other words, it meant nothing at all.
Woodmen don't die unless you smash their skulls.
'Fuck.'
He should have gotten at least three from range.
Clicking my tongue, I raised the shield like a wall and charged toward the Woodman group.
THUUUD!
Shield Attack.
Of course, I was only mimicking the form—I don't actually have that skill.
CRACK—!
Still, I could feel the entire body of the Woodman that collided with the shield being crushed.
Ordinary Woodmen aren't mobs with particularly high defense to begin with.
Ah. For the record, I'd slung the scythe across my back, since it didn't seem like I'd be using it for a while.
Because for now, swinging the shield with both hands seemed the better choice.
GROOOOO!
A Woodman let out a howl and swung its hand.
Claws like peeled bark had sprouted from its fingertips, and the tips were quite sharp.
Depending on the individual, they might be venomous, so contact was out of the question.
SCREECH!
The Woodman scraped at the shield.
Monsters or not, at heart they're nothing but trees.
No need to worry about the shield being pierced.
But.
"Aaah……!"
Kazen's scream rang out.
Glancing back, I saw two Woodmen approaching him.
'Damn.'
This is why he should have killed at least three.
The aggro one person can hold is, fundamentally, limited to four.
With a tank-exclusive skill you can raise that number, but there's no way I, merely imitating a shield-bearer, would have such a skill.
'No help for it, I suppose.'
I shouted loudly.
"Weasel!"
At that moment, the Blade Weasel, which had been waiting up in the trees, burst into the battle.
CRRRRRACK!
Casting <Blade Whirlwind> the instant it appeared, it swept away two Woodmen like fallen leaves.
"Kazen!"
"Ah, yes!"
Only then coming to his senses, Kazen raised the crossbow again and calmly sniped them one at a time.
At first he kept missing, but when I waited patiently, his accuracy gradually rose.
Even with me and the Woodmen in close quarters, he hit the heads precisely.
This guy's skill at shooting to hit really is excellent.
'If only something could be done about that glass mentality of his.'
Before long, the Woodman group was wiped out.
Only then did Kazen straighten his back and let out the breath he'd been holding.
"Phewww……."
"……Good work."
Saying something I didn't mean felt like thorns sprouting in my mouth.
Truthfully, I had plenty of complaints.
Because I hadn't wanted to bring the weasel into the fight if I could help it.
I'd expected that against seven or so Woodmen, the three of us…… no, to put it extremely, Kazen and I alone could wipe them out.
"I'm sorry."
Kazen said in a dark voice.
He seemed to know his own mistake.
Forcing out comfort wasn't in my nature either, so I just nodded vaguely.
Kyu!
Meanwhile, the weasel bastard was striking a pose like a bodybuilder.
It looked ridiculous, but without this thing, it would have been quite a crisis.
Level-wise, stat-wise…… in the current situation, it's our party's ace in name and in fact.
"Is it over……?"
Kria, who'd been hiding in the meantime, showed herself too.
Kria the spirit summoner isn't of much use in combat.
Her role is detection using the spirit, scouting the surroundings, and buffs.
'That's plenty to pull her own weight, though.'
I headed to the Woodman corpses.
Should I call it as expected?
When I killed a monster inside the forest, it vanished immediately and dropped items.
Nothing special—seeds. Faintly tinged with purple.
"What's that……?"
"Seeds."
"Ah……! So those are Seeds."
What are Seeds?
Simply put, the currency in <FoS>. True to the word, they even look like small seeds.
When you kill a hostile entity encountered in the forest, they drop these Seeds guaranteed…… and depending on size, color, and condition, the value varies wildly.
"We need to collect those?"
"Right."
Kria, who'd crouched down to pick up Seeds with me, asked.
"How much would all the ones we just got add up to?"
"Who knows. Maybe around 3,000 to 4,000 Seeds."
"Aha. Then how much do we need to collect?"
"One million."
Kazen scratched behind his ear and asked again.
"Excuse me, but how much did you just say?"
"I said we need to collect at least one million Seeds."
"Which means……."
"What's hard about it? We just need to do what we just did another 300 or 400 times."
"……"
What. Why.
Did you think grinding in a game would be easy?