Environmental Stability

As the wooden wheels of the logging cart rolled over the last stretch of gravel road, Lance successfully arrived at Stump Camp on the edge of the forest.

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

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

The air was filled with the aroma of food.

Groups of three or five adventurers gathered around enormous dead stumps, exchanging information they had obtained or looking for temporary companions.

Most of those mingling here were low-level adventurers without class levels, like Lance.

As for true class-ranked adventurers, unless they had accepted special commissions from the guild, the rest had long since headed straight for the more lucrative and more dangerous dungeon.

Unclassed adventurers could also enter the dungeon, but there was one hard rule.

All newcomers had to complete a sufficient number of basic commissions in Copper Creek Forest and prove their ability to survive before they could apply to enter the dungeon.

It was like a threshold, ruthlessly yet effectively keeping out those reckless fools who overestimated themselves.

Lance rather approved of that.

Compared to the trash companies in his previous life that wanted to squeeze even the marrow from their employees' bones, the Adventurers' Guild in Grayrock Town clearly understood 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, big eyes, short blond hair, and the spirited air of a calf unafraid of tigers.

Even after being refused, he did not get angry. He simply 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 clad in a full set of reinforced leather armor, wearing a half-covering hood, with a shortsword at his waist and a round shield on his back. Standing there alone, he gave off a composed, unapproachable air.

The young man hurried over, his face brimming with an enthusiastic smile.

"Hello!"

The sudden booming voice startled Lance, who had been observing his surroundings. He instinctively stepped 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 from your equipment, did you accept a clearing commission? Are you alone?"

"My party plans to wipe out a small goblin nest today. We're short a capable veteran 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 bonus reward."

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

Lance looked in the direction Kyle pointed.

Under the shade of a tree nearby stood two men and one woman. The men were dressed like standard warriors, while the only girl carried a shortbow.

Sure enough, noble spellcasters were rarely seen in low-level 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 gather mushrooms. He absolutely was not going to provoke any living creature that could move.

Kyle looked disappointed at Lance's refusal, but he did not press the matter.

Before leaving, he still offered a kind reminder.

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

"When I came this morning, I heard there's been a gnoll scavenging party wandering around there lately. It's very dangerous."

With that, he flashed a broad smile, waved goodbye, and ran back to his party.

He was quite a cheerful adventurer.

Watching that young party gradually depart, Lance could not help sighing inwardly.

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

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

Lance did not linger long at the camp. He tightened the pack on his back and plunged into the dense Copper Creek Forest, following the commission map's directions.

According to the information, the plant known as the Coppercap Mushroom had more than twenty known growth sites in the forest.

However.

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

The system panel suddenly appeared before his eyes without warning.

[Map Affix System loading...]

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

[Environmental Stability: 97%]

[Current Commission: Gather Coppercap Mushrooms (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 lewd game from his previous life?

It had actually crossed over with him!

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

A detailed explanation immediately appeared.

[Tranquil (Green): Mana flow in this area is calm. While active on this map, Mental Abnormality Resistance +15%, Stamina Consumption Rate -5%]

Just as he thought!

That most iconic Map Affix System was still here.

Lance remembered that in that game, some absurdly difficult affixes could double resource yields, but their side effects were equally terrifying.

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

This Tranquil affix had not appeared in that game either. The real world had probably adapted it with some degree of rationalization.

There were no ridiculous affixes designed purely to disgust players for fun.

Still, what delighted Lance the most was the section below.

[Environmental Stability: 97%]

In the game's settings, when Environmental Stability dropped below 50%, it meant monsters were about to spawn nearby and trigger a forced encounter.

Translated into reality.

It was an incredibly sensitive danger radar.

As long as he kept an eye on that value, if he noticed the stability beginning to steadily decline, it meant a monster or danger was approaching.

When that happened, he could fully exploit the information advantage, slip away before danger struck, and make an emergency retreat.

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

The game had deliberately omitted a minimap system and used this design instead.

Its purpose had been to function like a compass, helping players locate high-risk areas to challenge rare monsters and, incidentally, collect some strange defeat CGs.

But in Lance's hands.

This thing was a life-saving talisman.

"Thank goodness you're still here!"

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

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

Seeing the fully armed Lance approach, those bent over and searching beneath the stumps all visibly froze for a moment.

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

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

Many low-level adventurers had to empty their families' savings just to barely scrape together enough money to learn one proficient-level combat skill.

As for equipment, let alone reinforced leather armor like Lance's with iron plates embedded in it.

They could not even bear to buy ordinary hardened leather gear.

Like the people before him, they wore nothing more than layered coarse linen clothes stuffed with thick cotton padding, merely to avoid being scratched by thorns while pushing through bushes.

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