"This is a bit hard."
Grumbling under his breath, Dan glanced down at the map he had taken from the Demi-Humans, or whatever he was supposed to call them, and furrowed his brows.
Because he couldn’t understand a single thing written on it. The symbols scattered across the parchment looked vaguely familiar in structure, but that was about it. As far as Dan could tell, they were completely meaningless.
’So much for finding my way out.’
He scratched the side of his head with a thoughtful expression.
Perhaps he could figure it out through context.
There were several markings scattered across the parchment. Some appeared to represent rivers, others mountains or forests, while a few larger symbols had been circled in red ink.
The problem was that he had no idea where he currently was. Without knowing his starting point, even a perfectly accurate map would be useless.
Not to mention, there was the issue of a language barrier. He couldn’t read the map because the language used by the Demonic Tribe was completely foreign to him. It was like being handed a map written entirely in Japanese without knowing a single word of Japanese. You might recognize a few familiar shapes or symbols, but ultimately, you wouldn’t have the slightest idea what any of it meant.
And wasn’t the Interface System supposed to have some kind of automatic translation function?
Lingering for another moment, Dan shook his head before folding the parchment and tucking it away in his pocket.
He looked around and narrowed his eyes, studying his surroundings.
’Where the heck am I?’
The young wanderer had spent the better part of the last hour moving away from the battlefield, deliberately avoiding the trail left by the Jade Serpent.
Unfortunately, there was nothing around him that could used as a reference point. In fact, the more he walked, the more unfamiliar the forest seemed to become.
He had begun to suspect that he was lost. Not only that, but he was almost certain he had passed the exact same tree three times already.
Dan stared at the enormous tree in question for a long time as if trying to deduce an answer.
Suddenly, a distant noise captured his attention.
Upon hearing this, he immediately became alert and mentally prepared to activate [Darkness] but paused as a chain of words entered his ears:
"Tsk, tsk. It’s getting difficult to find low-level mobs these days."
"Can you be serious? This isn’t a game, you know."
"Relax. I’m just saying. Besides, it’s not like we’re the ones who named them that. No biggie."
Voices?
More importantly, he could understand what they were saying. They’re speaking the same language as him. English... or he thought.
This was the first time since arriving in this strange world, that Dan had encountered people he could actually communicate with. That alone was enough to make him feel a little relieved. But there was something else as well.
’Low-level mobs?’
What a peculiar choice of words. Who referred to monstrous creatures as lowly mobs?
And judging from the casual tone of the speakers, they didn’t seem particularly concerned about whatever they were hunting. Which meant that they were either confident in their abilities to hunt or experienced.
Even so, Dan cautiously remained in his position.
He wasn’t going to make the mistake of assuming that someone who sounded friendly was harmless.
The opposite could easily be true, too.
The footsteps grew louder and louder as they approached his position. Dan quietly moved behind a nearby tree and peered through the foliage.
Moments later, three figures emerged from the undergrowth.
The first was a young man nonchalantly carrying a long spear across his shoulder. He wore a set of light armor that looked quite well-maintained, and his carefree expression suggested he wasn’t particularly concerned about the dangers lurking within the forest.
Beside him walked a woman with short brown hair, a bow in her hands and a quiver filled with arrows strapped across her back.
Finally, the third member of the group was considerably larger than the other two. He carried what appeared to be a massive Great Hammer over one shoulder, his imposing physique and steady demeanor making him look like the leader of this little squad.
...Wait. Wasn’t this the standard MMORPG party composition? Dan stared at the three figures with an increasingly strange expression.
It was almost comical.
If someone had told him a few hours ago that he would somehow end up stranded in another world, he probably would’ve expected something far more complicated. Instead, he had stumbled across what looked suspiciously like a perfectly balanced adventuring party.
What’s next? A mage wearing a pointy hat?
He would probably fall over if something like that happened!
Dan shook off his distracting thoughts and refocused on the group, his eyes narrowing slightly.
From what he could see and gather from their conversation, the small cohort was searching for monsters to farm EXP from. But they weren’t looking for anything particularly strong.
Considering the size of their group, they seemed experienced enough to handle weaker monsters without much difficulty, yet not confident enough to challenge anything significantly stronger.
Basically, they were doing what gamers loved to call "grinding."
Grinding meant repeatedly defeating weaker enemies to accumulate experience, resources, or whatever other rewards the game — or, in this case, the world — had to offer.
’It’s really like a game. I wonder if there’s Players.’
Or perhaps they were inhabitants of this world who happened to live under the same game-like system?
Should he take the risk and approach them?
Dan remained hidden for a while, carefully weighing his options. In the end, he decided to observe them a little longer before making a decision.
There was no reason to rush.
For now, information was more valuable than anything else.
Quietly changing his position, Dan occasionally moving between trees whenever the group advanced. He made sure to remain far enough away that they wouldn’t notice him while keeping them within sight.
A few minutes later, the three travelers suddenly stopped as they encountered a pack of monsters.
Humanoid in shape, these disgusting monsters were considerably larger than ordinary humans, with coarse gray-brown fur covering their lean frames. Their jaws were lined with rows of sharp teeth, while their yellow eyes gleamed with predatory hunger.
Jackals.
Creatures known for their cunning and scavenging nature. They were among the few monsters Dan remembered reading about on the Grimm Wiki, a fan-created encyclopedia maintained by an enthusiastic community.
Soon, the beasts surrounded the three humans, and it didn’t take long before a fierce battle erupted.
All sorts of attacks flew through the air, accompanied by the sounds of bloodshed and pained groans.
Watching the scene from the relative safety of his hiding place, Dan’s expression gradually changed with each exchange of blows.
Initially, he had only wanted to watch because he was curious. After all, this was his first opportunity to observe people fighting monsters, and he also assumed they were experienced because of how casually they talked about hunting monsters.
But the longer he watched, the stranger his expression became.
’These guys...’
At this point, it was becoming increasingly difficult to deny the obvious.
’...These guys are absolute trash!’