Adventurer's Handbook

Emerald Forest, Grayrock Town.

At dawn, the wind blowing from the forest awakened this gray frontier town.

"Jingle-jingle—"

The little wind chime hanging from the window frame swayed and struck against itself, producing a crisp ringing sound.

Gauss sat on the plank bed, reaching down to press the linen beneath him and feeling the rough cloth and the thick straw stuffed underneath it. He remained silent for a long time.

Fragments of past memories kept surging through his mind. The memories of a young hunter who had left home to make a living and those of a university graduate who had just started working became entangled, plunging him into a state of confusion.

Who am I? Where am I? Is this a dream?

As if to verify it, he stood up and walked to the window to look outside.

The morning mist had yet to disperse completely. Merchants' wagons rumbled over the sandstone road with creaking wheels, women carried clay jars in the crooks of their arms and placed goods on display racks outside their shops, and the blacksmith shop's apprentice pushed open the door and hung up the wooden sign announcing that they were open.

What rushed toward him was a street scene filled with the atmosphere of another world, utterly different from that of his previous life.

Everything was telling him plainly that he had crossed into another world and arrived in a brand-new one.

Gauss stood there in a daze.

If the memories in his mind were correct, this world seemed to be filled with all kinds of fantastical powers.

Whether it was goblins, kobolds, and slimes that even ordinary commoners could encounter, or dragons and devils capable of threatening the survival of kingdoms, they all truly existed. They were not merely fictional stories passed down by Bards.

Besides the countless varieties of monsters, there were also professionals who wielded magic and Combat Skills—Mages, Sorcerers, Warriors, Druids, Rangers, and more.

Thinking of this, Gauss's somewhat gloomy heart began beating faster despite himself.

Although it was not easy for ordinary people in this world to become professionals, he had not come empty-handed.

What had come to this world with him was also his cheat—a wondrous book that existed only in his mind: the Adventurer's Handbook.

[Attribute Panel] [Monster Codex] [Map]

The appearance of this book in his mind greatly increased Gauss's sense of security after suddenly crossing into another world.

Name: Gauss

Strength: 5 (kinetic output such as physical power, carrying capacity, and explosive force)

Agility: 5 (bodily flexibility and dynamic coordination)

Constitution: 5 (stamina, physical fitness, trauma recovery, and cardiopulmonary metabolism)

Intelligence: 6 (memory, thought, and mental power)

Perception: 5 (senses, intuition, and judgment)

Charisma: 5 (bearing, affinity, appearance, and physique)

Skills: None

The Attribute Panel recorded all kinds of values related to him. Other than his Intelligence of 6, everything else was 5.

His physical condition was utterly ordinary. Five was probably the average attribute level of the general populace.

Could his Intelligence of 6 be related to crossing worlds?

Gauss shook his head and continued looking at the Monster Codex.

The Monster Codex was divided by threat level into Ordinary, Elite, Commander, Lord, Legendary, and ??.

The only section he could view at present was the Ordinary monster codex. The pages afterward were stuck firmly together, and he could not open them.

Unfortunately, even the Ordinary interface was still hazy and gray.

When he randomly opened one dim icon, a prompt appeared: "You have not yet slain this target. You cannot illuminate the corresponding target entry in the codex for now."

"Notice: Codex points are divided into individual species and all monsters. Upon reaching the corresponding codex accumulation target, you can claim the reward for the corresponding stage."

It seemed that he first had to kill monsters before he could fully unlock the Monster Codex and obtain the various stage rewards.

Gauss nodded thoughtfully.

Then he looked at the final option, "Map."

He focused his mind on it, and a map soon appeared in his consciousness.

The image at the center should have been his own location.

His current location was represented by a simple icon of a stone building.

"This building can be named."

"Sophia's Hostel." He silently repeated the name in his heart, and the building he occupied was soon named.

Only a small area on the map had been lit up—the area around him.

Everywhere else was shrouded in fog. Judging by intuition, he felt that it was related to the extent of his exploration.

He had not even left his room yet, so naturally he could not gather information to complete the map.

As he explored his surroundings more deeply, the map should gradually light up as well.

After checking all the functions of his cheat, Gauss felt completely reassured.

After packing his belongings, he went downstairs.

"Sophia, one breakfast, please."

The first floor held the dining area and front desk. Several round wooden tables stood empty.

The building he had named Sophia's Hostel on the map actually resembled the youth hostels converted from private residences in his previous life, serving freelancers like him who had no fixed residence.

Rent could be paid either for a short stay or by the month.

A private room cost 2 copper coins per day, while the discounted monthly rate was 30 copper coins. It was very cheap compared with an inn.

For an additional fee, the owner, Sophia, could also provide meals.

Breakfast cost 1 copper coin per serving, while full meals such as lunch and dinner cost 2 copper coins each.

The prices were low and the food could fill one's stomach, but no one should expect anything more from the dishes.

Meat was naturally out of the question. Black bread, homemade pickles, wild-vegetable soup, stewed beans, and oatmeal were the most common foods on ordinary days.

"All right." A plump, golden-haired woman in her late twenties emerged from beneath the front desk. She did not look old; instead, she had the charm of a mature woman. "Little Gauss, did you oversleep today?"

"Yes. I couldn't sleep last night, and the prey I can find has clearly become scarcer." Gauss casually chose an empty wooden table and sat down.

"Then make sure you get enough rest."

Before long, Sophia reheated the dishes she had prepared in advance and brought them over.

Breakfast that day was black bread with stewed vegetable soup.

The black bread on the plate had already been sliced, and it looked extremely hard.

Seeing that Sophia had already returned to the kitchen, Gauss picked up a slice and knocked it against the plate. The instant the black bread struck the wooden dish, it produced a crisp thumping sound.

Can this thing really be eaten?

He eyed the rock-like object suspiciously. Looking closely, he seemed to see tiny bits of wood mixed into it.

Forget it!

Following the method from his memories, he placed the black bread into the steaming vegetable soup.

After quite a while, the black bread finally soaked through and softened, absorbing the soup until it looked edible.

He used a wooden spoon to scoop up a piece, carried it to his mouth with some soup, and swallowed.

After chewing several times, he forced it down.

As the food passed through his throat, it left behind a sticky, nauseating sensation, along with a slight discomfort that seemed to scrape at his throat.

Huh? This flavor, this texture... It really is awful.

Even though Gauss had prepared himself mentally, the food was still worse than he had imagined once it actually reached his stomach.

There was nothing he could do. In his previous life, he had lived in a world of abundant supplies. Even as an ordinary wage earner, the food he ate for three meals a day had been far better than this survival ration for the lower classes of another world.

Gauss numbly finished his first meal in this otherworldly life.

With the hostel owner Sophia's concerned voice telling him to "take care on the way," he waved and officially set out on his journey through the other world.

The newly risen sun had already climbed to the pointed peaks of the distant mountains.

The early morning light spilled across Grayrock Town's gray stone rooftops. This frontier town beside the Emerald Forest was beginning to bustle as well.

People came and went along the streets. Besides merchants buying and selling goods, groups of people who appeared to be adventurers could occasionally be seen. Of course, the most numerous were freelancers like his predecessor.

His predecessor had been a mediocre hunter who made a living through hunting. Every day, he lingered around the outermost reaches of the Emerald Forest, setting up hunting traps.

A wild rabbit, pheasant, or other piece of prey could be sold for 20 copper coins, because meat was a relatively expensive resource for the commoners at the bottom of this world.

However, hunting results depended on luck. There were quite a few hunters active on the outermost edge of the Emerald Forest, and the hunting resources were not as abundant as one might imagine after being divided up among competitors.

When luck was on his side, Gauss could catch at most three wild rabbits in a day, earning a daily income of fifty or sixty copper coins.

When luck was against him, he might go four or five days—or even longer—without making a single sale.

Fortunately, after setting his traps, he could gather wild vegetables, fruits, and medicinal herbs along the way back through the forest's outskirts, allowing him not to return empty-handed.

Together with the occasional odd job, such as buying agricultural products from villages and setting up a stall to sell them in town, he could make ends meet through these small earnings. Life was not actually that difficult.

His predecessor had left home for a year. Relying on his inherited skill in making traps and his diligent, frugal habits, he had managed to save a small sum.

3 silver coins and 65 copper coins.

His goal in saving money was to buy a house in the town. But even the cheapest houses in town cost more than 90 silver coins. With the various housing taxes that would have to be paid continuously afterward, his savings were still far from enough. Without some fortuitous encounter, he would need to struggle for at least another thirty years before he could afford property.

Grayrock Town was located in a frontier region, but it was not a village. Moreover, it was adjacent to the Emerald Forest, so many adventurers and caravans passed through. Trade was prosperous and services were readily available. For an ordinary person, owning a house here was naturally no simple matter.

But precisely because of that, his predecessor—forced to leave home and make his own way—had wanted to purchase property here, establish a home and career, and prove to his family that he had made something of himself.

"Unfortunately, you worked hard and saved this money for more than a year, only for me to spend it today." Gauss shook his head, as though speaking to himself.

He was not planning to continue hunting today. Instead, he intended to subjugate a monster, thereby illuminating the Monster Codex and seeing what special rewards he would receive afterward.

He wanted to escape the identity of a low-level freelancer. For now, his hope seemed to rest on this Adventurer's Handbook.