A Poet!?

After she finished adjusting the panel, it finally looked a little more pleasing to the eye.

Silver Wolf sat leaning against the tree trunk for a long time.

There was never any true silence in the rainforest.

Water dripped from the leaves, insects burrowed beneath the rotting foliage, and occasionally, the dull crack of a large beast snapping branches echoed in the distance. The canopy was thick, filtering the light through layers of leaves into a dark green haze that had already grown faint by the time it reached the ground.

She looked up. That massive thunder spider had not returned.

Scorch marks from the silver-blue beam still remained on the trunk. Tiny arcs of electricity lingered along their edges. Several glowing insects circled the traces before quickly scattering.

Silver Wolf lowered her gaze to her hand. There were no wounds on her palm, but a fine, persistent ache still pulsed deep within her arm.

She could not touch that Level 999 cartridge for the time being.

"I never thought I'd have anti-addiction limits too. I didn't even manage to log in..."

She clicked her tongue softly. The panel hovered quietly beside her without responding.

Silver Wolf waited a little longer. Only after confirming that her condition was not getting worse did she brace herself against the trunk and stand.

The soil beneath her feet was soft, and her boots sank half an inch into it. After taking two steps, her body still felt a little unsteady.

The panel's warning about excessive strain had not been decorative. The pain from the cartridge's backlash had lodged itself in the gaps between her bones, surfacing whenever she exerted even a little strength.

She pulled her goggles back down.

The world was immediately divided by a layer of pale blue lines.

Tree trunks, vines, wetlands, insect swarms, and spores floating in the air—fine fragments of information surfaced across her vision.

[Glimmer Spore Mushroom]

[Activity: Low]

[Toxicity: Unknown]

[Parasitic Vine]

[Predatory Tendency: Weak]

[Thunderstriate Spider Silk]

[Residual Energy: Faint]

Silver Wolf stopped before a severed strand of spider silk.

The silk hung between two enormous leaves, its surface still flickering with faint blue-violet electricity. She touched it with a branch, and the tip immediately charred black.

"Paralysis and electrical damage." She tossed the branch aside. "Looks like the starter zone isn't very friendly."

She headed in the direction opposite the one the giant spider had taken.

The rainforest was larger than it had first seemed.

One giant tree followed another, their roots arching up from the ground to form natural walls and slopes. Vines hung down all around her. Some were thick enough to walk across, while others gently contracted whenever she approached.

Silver Wolf did not rush to open fire.

She was only Level 50 right now, and her body had not yet recovered from the strain. There was no need to casually start a fight.

She skirted around a patch of flowers that were far too brightly colored.

Her goggles flashed.

[Lure-Scent Flower]

[Toxicity: Moderate]

[Status: Awaiting Prey]

Several small bones lay half-buried in the mud beneath the flowers.

Silver Wolf glanced at them.

"Fine, got it."

She jumped over a raised root. When she landed, the soles of her boots stepped onto a patch of flattened moss.

Silver Wolf stopped. The moss had not been pressed down naturally.

There were boot prints on it.

More than one pair.

She crouched and pointed at the mud through the air with her fingertips.

Her goggles magnified the traces.

Three sets of footprints.

One set landed lightly, with longer strides toward the front, and often stopped in places with a wide field of view.

Another left almost no complete prints, only faint depressions at the edges of the moss.

The last was steadier, paused more frequently, and had tiny crystal-like fragments scattered nearby.

Silver Wolf watched for a moment.

"People."

She followed the trail forward.

The farther she went, the more similar traces she found.

Grass pushed aside by a sword sheath, tiny arrows carved behind tree roots, a glowing mushroom snapped in half and stuffed back into the mud, and a conspicuously avoided patch of poisonous plants.

Silver Wolf paused atop a tree root. Fragmented voices drifted over from the distance.

Rather than approach at once, she climbed a nearby giant tree that had fallen at an angle and used its leaves to conceal herself.

On the other side of the curtain of rain, three people had stopped on a platform formed by raised roots.

At the front stood a black-haired female swordswoman.

She wore light leather armor, with a shortsword and tool pouch hanging from her waist. Her cloak was soaked by the rain, but it did nothing to dampen her interest in looking up at the canopy.

Pale words floated above her head.

[Windchaser]

[Level: 59]

[Class: Windscar Swordswoman]

[Status: Good]

Silver Wolf's gaze paused for a moment. People had levels too.

She looked at the second person.

The assassin in black stood off to the rear, one hand resting on his short blade. From his position, he could see ahead, the flanks, and the rear. He rarely looked up at the scenery. Most of the time, he watched the grass, mud, and shadows beneath the trees.

[Sunken Crow]

[Level: 60]

[Class: Shadowstrike Assassin]

[Status: Good]

The last one was a priest.

He wore white-and-gold priestly robes and held a crystal terminal hovering in his hand. He had a smile at the corner of his mouth and spoke in the most relaxed tone, yet he never moved from the middle-rear of the group.

[Vernacular Poet]

[Level: 60]

[Class: Holy Radiance Priest]

[Status: Good]

Silver Wolf looked at the three panels.

Trees had data. Insects had data. Spiders had data. People had data too.

But these people's names... They look like codenames?

On the platform, Windchaser was crouching in front of a patch of glowing moss.

"This moss is so pretty."

Without even looking up, Vernacular Poet said, "Don't touch it yet."

"I'm not touching it."

"Then pull your hand back."

Windchaser silently pulled her hand back.

Sunken Crow glanced at the grass behind the moss. "There are bloodsucking leeches underneath."

Windchaser immediately shifted half a step back. "I was just looking."

Vernacular Poet chuckled. "Every time you're 'just looking,' you end up with a pile of debuffs and drag them all over the place."

"What do you mean, drag them around? It's a necessary part of traveling." Windchaser sounded perfectly justified.

Sunken Crow said flatly, "Last time, it made us lose our way for forty minutes."

Windchaser shot back, "That was because none of you know how to appreciate the scenery."

Vernacular Poet finally looked up and stared at Windchaser speechlessly. "Sure, sure~ Appreciating it... while getting lost."

Windchaser snorted.

Silver Wolf sat high above them, listening to their conversation.

Windchaser stood and gazed deeper into the rainforest. "How much farther until the Moon-White Rune?"

Vernacular Poet lowered his head to check the terminal.

"Based on the coordinates the Ranger Patrol gave us last time, about another kilometer southeast. Of course, that's assuming those Elves haven't moved their perimeter."

Sunken Crow said, "My guess is that they've probably already spotted us."

Windchaser's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Then did I seem friendly enough just now?"

Vernacular Poet fell silent for a moment. "If your movements had been any bigger, it would've been hard not to mistake you for a scout."

Windchaser: "..."

Sunken Crow added, "You really did look like one."

Vernacular Poet closed the terminal.

"Anyway, don't make any sudden moves. We still need to trade Sunken Crow's Moonshade Vine Heart first."

At that, Silver Wolf's gaze settled on Sunken Crow.

Breakthrough materials, Elves, a trade... These three don't look like they're simply lost.

Their pace is loose, but their formation has never fallen apart. They're good at this.

Silver Wolf lightly swung her legs.

These outfits make this look like some medieval magical otherworld. Is this an isekai-type world?

I should see if I can get acquainted with them and learn more at the same time.