Environmental Stability

As the lumber cart's wooden wheels rolled over the last stretch of gravel road, Lance arrived safely at Stump Camp on the edge of the forest.

Though it was called a camp, it was more like a spontaneously formed temporary marketplace.

Several covered wagons from Grayrock Town were parked by the roadside, and early-rising townsfolk were hawking steaming meat stew and cheap black bread to passing adventurers.

The air was filled with the scent of food.

Adventurers gathered in small groups around enormous dead stumps, exchanging information they had acquired or looking for temporary companions.

Most of those mixed in here were bottom-tier adventurers without a class level, like Lance.

As for true professional-level adventurers, unless they had accepted a special commission from the guild, they had long since headed straight for that more profitable and dangerous dungeon.

Non-professional adventurers could also enter the dungeon, but there was one hard rule.

All newcomers had to complete enough basic commissions in Copper Creek Forest and prove their ability to survive before they were qualified to apply for entry into the dungeon.

It was like a threshold, ruthless yet effective at shutting out reckless fools who overestimated themselves.

Lance rather approved of it.

Compared to the trash companies from his previous life that wanted to squeeze every last drop of marrow from their employees, Grayrock Town's Adventurers' Guild clearly knew better how to value its resources.

After all, dead people could not keep generating value.

"Excuse me, are you looking for a party?"

A young voice came from nearby.

Following the sound, Lance saw a young adventurer carrying a two-handed sword on his back inviting people to join him.

The young man had thick brows, large eyes, short blond hair, and the spirited air of a calf that feared no tiger.

Even after being refused, he did not get angry. He smiled politely and continued looking for someone else.

His gaze swept through the crowd before quickly landing on Lance, and his eyes immediately lit up.

Lance was currently wearing a full set of reinforced leather armor, a half-covering hood, a shortsword at his waist, and a round shield on his back. Standing alone, he gave off a calm, unapproachable air.

The young man hurried over, his face full of enthusiasm.

"Hello!"

The sudden loud greeting startled Lance, who had been observing his surroundings. He instinctively took a step back and placed a hand on his sword hilt.

Seeing how wary Lance was, the young man scratched his head and looked embarrassed.

"Sorry, sorry. I startled you."

"My name is Kyle. Judging by your equipment, did you accept a clearing commission? Are you alone?"

"My team plans to wipe out a small Goblin nest today, and we're short one capable fighter to hold the line. Would you be interested?"

"If your clearing commission isn't for Goblins, that's fine too. I can give you half of my extra reward."

"There's a newcomer in my team, so I need an experienced adventurer to keep things under control."

Lance looked in the direction Kyle pointed.

Under the shade of a tree not far away stood two men and a woman. The men were both dressed like standard warriors, while the only girl carried a short bow.

Sure enough, it was hard to find noble spellcasters in bottom-tier parties.

"We all came from nearby towns because of the Special Subsidy Order. We make our living clearing Goblins for rewards, so we have plenty of experience dealing with them."

Kyle's attitude was extremely sincere.

But Lance still decisively shook his head.

What a joke. His goal today was to pick mushrooms. He absolutely was not going to provoke anything alive.

Seeing Lance refuse, Kyle looked regretful, but he did not press the matter.

Before leaving, he still offered a kind reminder.

"Sorry for the disturbance, but if you're carrying out a gathering commission, please make sure to avoid the stream area to the west."

"When I arrived this morning, I heard that a Gnoll scavenging party has been wandering around there lately. It's dangerous."

After saying that, he flashed a wide smile, waved goodbye, and ran back to his team.

He was quite a cheerful adventurer.

Watching the young party gradually move away, Lance could not help sighing inwardly.

It seemed adventurers were not all murderous scoundrels. There were still good people among them.

That friendly piece of information slightly improved his impression of the group.

Lance did not linger at the camp. He tightened the pack on his back and plunged into the dense Copper Creek Forest following the guidance of the commission map.

According to the information, there were more than twenty known growth sites for a plant called Coppercap Mushroom in the forest.

However.

The instant his feet stepped onto the forest's soft humus.

The system panel abruptly popped up before his eyes without warning.

[Map Affix System loading...]

[Current Area: Calm (Green) Copper Creek Forest Outer Region]

[Environmental Stability: 97%]

[Current Commission: Gather Coppercap Mushroom (0/30), Reward: Skill Experience 10, Knowledge Experience 10]

Looking at that string of familiar yet unfamiliar characters, Lance froze on the spot.

Wasn't this from that adult game in his previous life?

It had actually crossed over with him!

Lance tried focusing his consciousness on the green "Calm" affix.

A detailed explanation immediately appeared.

[Calm (Green): Mana flows gently within this area. While active on this map, resistance to mental abnormalities +15%, stamina consumption rate reduced by 5%.]

Just as expected!

That most classic Map Affix System was still here.

Lance remembered that in that game, some absurd high-difficulty affixes could double resource yields, but their side effects were terrifying as well.

For example, there were inhumane settings like "a small-scale explosion occurs upon successful gathering."

This Calm affix had never appeared in that game either. The real world had probably adapted it with a certain degree of rationalization.

There were no affixes created purely to disgust players for the fun of it.

Still, what made Lance most ecstatic was the section below.

[Environmental Stability: 97%]

In the game's setting, once Environmental Stability fell below 50%, it meant monsters were about to spawn nearby and a forced encounter was about to begin.

Translated into reality.

It was an incredibly sensitive danger radar.

As long as he kept an eye on that value, if the stability began to drop continuously, it meant monsters or danger were approaching.

When that happened, he could fully exploit the information advantage and make a run for it before danger arrived, withdrawing in an emergency.

With this thing, as long as he did not court death, getting ambushed would basically be impossible.

The game had not included a minimap system; this design had been used instead.

Its purpose was to function like a compass, helping players find high-risk locations to challenge rare monsters while incidentally collecting some strange defeat CGs.

But in Lance's hands.

This thing was a life-saving talisman.

"Thank goodness you're still here!"

Looking at that green 97% value representing absolute safety, Lance could not help loudly praising that improper game in his heart.

When Lance reached the first gathering point marked on the map, quite a few adventurers had already gathered there.

Seeing the fully armed Lance approach, the people bending beneath the stumps and searching around were all visibly taken aback.

Quite a few of them were newcomer adventurers who had only recently migrated from nearby villages and towns.

Looking at their shabby gear, Lance truly realized how fortunate he had been to have a stable job at the guild and save up that starting capital.

Many bottom-tier adventurers had to empty their families' savings just to barely scrape together enough money to learn a Proficient Level combat skill.

As for equipment, forget reinforced leather armor with iron plate inserts like Lance's.

They were not even willing to buy ordinary hardened leather gear.

Like these people before him, they wore nothing but multilayered coarse linen clothing stuffed with thick cotton padding, merely to prevent thorns from scratching them when they pushed through bushes.

As Lance approached, a trace of wariness clearly appeared in their eyes.