Barbarossa was a wilderness camping enthusiast.
Wilderness camping and ordinary camping might have sounded much the same, but the distinction between them was a world of difference.
Barbarossa didn't like driving around in a state-of-the-art RV, nor did he care to visit campsites designated by the local government. To him, camping in places like that was no fun at all. Someone could interrupt him at any moment.
Of course, Barbarossa wasn't an idiot. He knew his hobby was dangerous. Even in the technologically advanced twenty-fifth century, news reports of people going missing after recklessly leaving safe zones to camp in uninhabited areas were common.
So Barbarossa never gambled with his life.
In this game, however, things were different. It felt real enough, and Barbarossa discovered that he could roam the wilderness to his heart's content. He could camp however he pleased, or try wilderness survival if he felt like it. Nobody would stop him.
Even accidentally dying was nothing to fear. It was a game, after all. He could respawn.
So while the other players were throwing themselves into production, hiring blacksmith retainers, hammering out armor by hand, developing their warbands, making steel, and training troops in a frenzy of activity...
Barbarossa quietly disappeared. Alone, with a tent and a survival pack he had put together himself on his back, he headed into the mountains.
A mountain road led out of Bichi Town. It was narrow and winding, and its tightest stretch ran through a ravine with room for only one person to pass. Steep cliffs rose on either side.
Barbarossa took a liking to this unusual terrain. On a bright, breezy morning, he shouldered his belongings and began climbing without any climbing equipment. The climb took him all day.
Before darkness fully fell, Barbarossa managed to find a perfect