May regained her composure and cleared her throat.
“Then please come this way.”
Their two started walking down the hallway again.
They took the elevator, and May pressed the button for the top floor.
Sea King nestled his nose between Doah’s arm and side, and Doah patted Sea King’s neck and spoke.
“Um, and while talking with the masters, they suggested I could just say I’m from the Southern Continent. Is that okay?”
Doah was definitely a stranger lacking common knowledge. Although she learned some things by talking with the masters, it was clear her knowledge would be inconsistent.
“Wouldn’t that will make me seem too ignorant?”
May replied, “You can just say you’re from the Southern Continent.”
The Southern Continent had been cut off from contact with the Rencia Continent for over a thousand years.
Only rarely did people come from there.
Doah wanted to confirm this with May.
May nodded.
“Of course. You can set your background however you feel comfortable.”
Doah chuckled and nodded. The top floor was the rooftop.
The wind was blowing…
In the middle of the rooftop stood an archway made of intertwined branches.
It was an obvious gateway to another world.
“There’s one last thing I need to tell you,” May said seriously.
“Your body has a feature that can turn pain sensation on and off in case of emergencies. Please use it sparingly.”
“How do I use it?”
“Just say, ‘Turn pain sensation on’ or ‘Turn pain sensation off’ either in your mind or out loud.”
“Okay, I got it.”
Doah nodded.
Though she learned herbal medicine here, she thinks the treatment techniques for injuries like that were impressively advanced.
But after using the recovery medicine, despite the body healed quickly, recovery pain would follow.
‘That will be useful then.’
Doah nodded.
“I’ll use it well.”
“Is there anything else you need? Shall we open the door now?”
The question suddenly brought a rush of tension and excitement.
Doah nodded.
“Alright.”
“Please come this way.”
Doah approached the archway.
“Are you ready?”
May said, placing her hand on the arch.
The white wooden arch began to glow a bright golden color.
Doah’s eyes sparkled. She tightened her grip on Sea King’s reins.
“Yes, I’m ready.”
“Doah, thank you for your patience. Have a wonderful journey.”
May bowed deeply.
Doah swallowed hard and pulled Sea King’s reins.
Without hesitation, she stepped through the arch. In an instant, the air, scenery, and world changed.
“Wow!”
An exclamation of awe escaped her lips.
It was a beautiful coniferous forest. Gentle hills rolled on, with large, tall conifers standing at intervals.
The sweet smell of forest and earth filled the air.
Judging by the color and shape of the leaves, it was likely spring.
“It’s real, it’s really real.”
She felt like crying. Doah took a deep breath of fresh air.
Moved to tears, memories of her hardships flashed before her eyes.
There was a grand main quest to accomplish.
But still, it was undeniable that this was a journey.
‘It’s really an adventure in another world!’
Looking around, Doah couldn’t stop smiling.
She took out the map she had brought.
The map was large.
It was a world map.
‘Wait a minute.’
As she looked at the world map, a feeling of cold water being poured over her came over her.
‘Wait, wait.’
She looked around.
She was in the forest.
It was daytime, and there was no sign of people.
She looked back at the map.
“……..…”
She was speechless.
“Where am I…?”
Used to mobile GPS, she couldn’t figure out her current location.
There was a compass.
Okay, that’s north, and this is south.
She understood.
‘But where am I now???’
A hundred years of swordsmanship, a hundred years of cooking, a hundred years of herbal medicine.
Even mastering the mandolin¹, speaking three languages including the common tongue, and handling various weapons, poisons, traps, and basic magic.
‘I don’t know how to read a map. Where am I?’
Panicked, Doah looked around frantically.
“Oh, right.”
She said, looking around the empty air.
“Um… Guide mode on?”
No response.
“Guide?”
“Guide?”
“Guide?”
She called out to the empty air, but there was no answer.
“Guide, can I get a map?”
⭐⭐⭐
The guide does not provide maps.
⭐⭐⭐
Words floated in the air.
“What? If the guide doesn’t provide maps, what do I do!”
Panicking, Doah immediately took out the World Tree branch.
She pushed her power to the max and waved the branch around.
Then, a brilliant golden light burst from the World Tree.
“Ugh.”
Doah gasped in surprise.
When the light disappeared, the leaves of the World Tree branch had turned completely white.
Then she began to hear music in her ears.
[Da-da-da-da-da~ Hello, valued customer. This is the World Tree Travel Agency, prioritizing your happiness. We apologize, but all our agents are currently busy. Please try again later.]
Click.
Beep—beep—beep—
“Ah, seriously!”
She almost threw away the World Tree branch she was holding.
“Phew… alright. It’s okay.”
Doah put the branch back into her pocket.
“It’s okay. The Earth is round.”
If she kept going in one direction, she was bound to meet someone eventually.
Doah patted Sea King’s neck.
At that moment, a large quest window appeared in front of her.
🍒🍒🍒
Main Quest
Plant the World Tree branch next to the ‘Shining Spring.’
Duration: 10 years
Rewards:
▸ Resurrection in your original world
▸ ?
▸ ?
🍒🍒🍒
“10 years?”
With a duration of ten years, it was definitely a grand main quest.
Moreover, there were additional rewards besides resurrection, but they were all marked with question marks.
Curiosity piqued her.
‘Ah, and suddenly saying ten years… somehow…’
She felt a sense of relaxation.
Then the quest window disappeared, and golden letters appeared.
⭐⭐⭐
‘Chapter 1’
― The Start of the Journey
The traveler from another world has fallen into a deep forest. First, let’s leave the forest and meet people in the village.
⭐⭐⭐
‘Aha.’
Main quests often proceeded with the story divided into smaller parts, and this quest seemed to follow that format.
‘Then I just need to follow the quest.’
Doah nodded.
⭐⭐⭐
You can always close and open the quest window by snapping your fingers twice.
⭐⭐⭐
Doah snapped her fingers twice at the words.
The quest window closed.
Doah stepped into the stirrup and mounted Sea King.
“Well, let’s head south for now? It’s warmer, so it’s better.”
Doah said in a relaxed voice.
Sea King began to walk slowly. Although she had never learned horseback riding, at this speed, there was no risk of falling off.
Leisurely, the two headed south.
❖ ❖ ❖
The sunlight shimmered softly.
Although it was called a forest, it seemed more like a mountain.
Doah repeatedly climbed and descended the hills.
She experienced firsthand how difficult it was to travel where there were no clear paths.
If it weren’t for Sea King, she wondered how much she would have been able to move.
Even with Sea King, moving through unpaved areas slowed them down.
‘It’s already been three days.’
The forest, which she thought would end quickly, showed no sign of ending.
She even began to worry that she might be venturing deeper into the forest.
“Should we have lunch first?”
At Doah’s words, Sea King perked up his ears and barked, “Woof!”
Ever since tasting Doah’s cooking, Sea King had certainly been looking forward to meal times.
Otherwise, there was no reason his tail would wag so vigorously.
Doah found a suitable spot and dismounted from Sea King.
As she cleared the fallen leaves and prepared to start a fire, thinking about what to cook, she heard a notification sound.
The same sound she heard during the main quest.
At the same time, a quest window appeared before her eyes.
🍒🍒🍒
Sub Quest Activated!
Save the Adventurer Who’s in Danger
An S-rank adventurer is critically poisoned! Let’s save him.
There are only 7 S-rank adventurers among all adventurers.
He might be of great help in finding the Adventurer’s Guild.
Duration:
30 minutes
Required Item:
Elixir
Rewards:
▸ House Elf
▸ 300 World Tree Points
🍒🍒🍒
“30 minutes?!”
That’s too short!
But he was someone she needed very much right now.
Doah remembered May’s words.
‘Connections are important.’
She thought it was fortunate that she hadn’t lit the fire for cooking yet and ran towards her baggage.
“Elixir, elixir.”
She found the elixir in her bag.
The elixir could cure all wounds, poisoning, and paralysis.
She had only five elixirs, combining the ones she made and the ones given by Rakshasha.
The process of making it was also complicated and took a long time, about a year.
Although there was no time to pack other luggage, since there were no people around, she could come back later to pack again.
“Sea King, I’m sorry. We’ll have to eat lunch later. I have somewhere to go right now.”
Sea King, who had shrunk to the size of a large dog at her feet, immediately returned to his original size.
There was no time to reattach the saddle that had been removed.
She clicked her tongue as she mounted Sea King, looking around.
“Seriously, shouldn’t it at least tell me the location? How am I supposed to find it in this deep forest?”
As if responding to her grumbling, the guide mode was immediately activated.
⭐⭐⭐
Creating guide line.
⭐⭐⭐
A glowing light appeared in front of her and started flying at high speed.
“As you should!”
Doah leaned forward to signal Sea King to run.
Sea King began to run according to her guidance.
“Sea King, can you see the guide line?”
“Woof…”
“You can’t see it. I got it. Then just follow my directions.”
“Woof!”
Doah clicked her tongue.
The forest was not flat.
The absence of a path was much more tiring than she had imagined.
There was nowhere suitable for a human to walk.
Sea King ran as if he was flying over such terrain.
However, there was hardly any shaking.
She had never learned horseback riding, so she was nervous, but it felt as comfortable as riding in a car.
Everything moved smoothly, like a wave.
But the wind was too strong for her to keep her eyes open properly.
‘I need to buy goggles later.’
How long had they been running?
The light ahead made a big turn as if it had reached its destination.
‘The smell of blood.’
Doah frowned.
“Sea King, stop.”
At Doah’s command, Sea King stopped immediately.
Doah patted Sea King and dismounted.
She didn’t want to move on Sea King in a situation where there could be enemies around.
She slowly approached the scene with her sword drawn in one hand.
‘Wow.’
The first thing Doah saw was a headless corpse.
‘I’m glad I trained for a hundred years.’
Now, she had become a modern person who didn’t even scream at the sight of a headless corpse.
The head, which must have rolled away somewhere, was not in her sight.
Instead, she looked at another man who had collapsed.
‘The only one alive is this man.’
Doah checked her surroundings again and approached the man.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Doah asked to see if he was conscious.
She still held her sword in one hand. She didn’t want to get slashed by the man’s sword if she got too close.
She didn’t want to push him into doing anything rash either.
It was hard to tell if he was conscious as he was lying face down on the ground.
The man’s body trembled.
Doah took a step closer.
“I’m here to help, so―”
“Stay away…”
The man tried to say something, so Doah took another step closer to him.
She still held her sword.
“I’m really just trying to check your condition.”
“Stay away!”
The man shouted, using his sword as a staff to raise his upper body.
At the same time, he coughed violently and started spitting out blood.
Not only from his mouth, but also from his nose and eyes.
‘Eek!’
Doah gulped and hastily knelt in front of him.
Judging by his condition, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to swing his sword effectively.
“No, don’t touch me, I…”
Even while spitting blood, he tried to say something.
Doah spoke quickly.
“It’s okay. I know you’re poisoned. I have a universal antidote. So please take this first.”
She hurriedly pulled out an elixir from her pocket and held it out, but something moved.
‘Huh?’
A dark energy, like a heat haze, started rising from the sword he was holding.
Instinctively, Doah grabbed the hilt of the sword from which the dark energy was emanating.
―Screech!
A scream echoed in her mind, and the dark energy vanished as if it had been torn apart.
‘Wow, that was surprising…’
Turning her head, Doah’s eyes met the man’s directly.
He was staring at her with wide-open eyes.
His bloodshot eyes, full of shock, were fixed on her.
They shook.
‘Oh.’
Even in this situation, Doah was impressed.
‘Like the night sea glimmering in the moonlight.’
His black eyes were like that.
“Ugh―”
He gritted his teeth.
“Why now…”
He tried to say something, then collapsed forward.
🍓 :
¹ Is a musical instrument in the lute family. It typically has eight strings in four courses of two, which are usually tuned in unison. The mandolin is used in a variety of musical genres, including classical, bluegrass, folk, and more. The instrument is played by plucking the strings with a plectrum (pick) and often features a bright, resonant sound.
