"So this is The Oneness," Nawa muttered to himself.
He found himself no longer in the dome of The One Society, but standing in the middle of a dense forest. The vegetation looked somewhat unfamiliar, but otherwise, it wasn't much different from the human world.
The feel of the wind, the color of the sky, even the sun—it all seemed similar to Earth.
On the ground where Nawa stood was a circular metal plate, about ten meters in diameter, its surface engraved with patterns resembling ancient runes. Nawa bent down and touched the patterns with his hand.
"These are magical runes, aren't they?" Nawa said.
Magical runes were another valuable treasure humans had obtained from The Oneness. They could be used in a variety of ways, like magic in fantasy novels. One of the main reasons for the rapid advancements in modern technology was the use of these runes.
The metal plate Nawa stood on was constructed using a blend of magical runes and modern technology. The One Society used it in conjunction with teleportation gates and player equipment.
Its primary function was to act as a coordinate lock point for teleportation and to connect player equipment within The Oneness, similar to a cell phone tower on Earth.
But that was only what The One Society told the outside world. There might be more to the story than meets the eye. Everything related to The Oneness remains a mystery. Many questions surround The Oneness, but the most pressing is: what exactly is The Oneness?
Some say The Oneness is a star in another galaxy, or perhaps an alternate dimension. Some even suggest it's a virtual world created using VR technology by The One Society itself. But no matter the theory, none can be confirmed.
Nawa himself has no definitive answer, but he's fairly certain The Oneness is the same world he stumbled into five years ago. Unfortunately, information about The Oneness circulating on social media is extremely limited.
Because information about The Oneness is so valuable, it's rarely shared for free. Not to mention, there are still many areas within The Oneness yet to be revealed, making it impossible for Nawa to confirm anything until he sees the place himself.
But deep down, he secretly hopes so. In the Himmapan Forest, there's someone he promised to return to.
"Wait for me, Ren,"
Nawa murmured to himself as he gazed up at the sky. His eyes seemed to gaze back to the past, to the time he spent with her.
She was the granddaughter of the wizard Alfor, the only mermaid in the Himmapan forest. Alfor had adopted her when she was very young. If it weren't for her, he might never have returned to his family like he does today.
While Nawa was lost in thought, a gray wolf, its fangs bared and saliva dripping, charged directly towards him. It was more than twice the size of a wolf from his world.
"Damn it! I underestimated you," Nawa cursed, his face showing panic.
He forgot that he was no longer in the human world, but in The Oneness, a world full of dangers that could take his life at any moment.
At this close range, the wolf would reach Nawa before he could even create his fireball. All Nawa could do was raise the arm with the gauntlet to defend himself.
"Bang!"A loud impact echoed.
The wolf, leaping forward, seemed to collide with a transparent wall, sending it flying back. Black smoke billowed from its body. It was as if he'd been electrocuted, yet the wolf didn't die. It propped itself up before running quickly into the forest.
"This is a protective barrier," Nava said, watching the cracks on the transparent wall slowly return to their normal state.
A protective barrier is an area covered by an energy wall. It conceals those outside and prevents anything from entering. Nava knew about it because he possessed an item capable of doing something like this.
A sacred thread, one of the items he brought with him from the Himmapan forest. It's a white thread that, when stretched in a circle around an area, creates a protective barrier.
The resulting barrier was similar to what Nava was seeing now, but it seemed far more powerful.
Not only could a wolf this size not be affected, but even a fully grown elephant charging into it wouldn't leave a scratch. Furthermore, its concealment effectiveness was incomparably superior.
Nawa decided to wait inside the protective barrier for a while longer, to see if the wolf would return, or if there might be something more dangerous nearby.
He planned to wait for someone to teleport in like he did. If he was lucky, he might find a companion, or at least... He needed to ask for directions because, right now, he didn't know where he was or which direction to go.
But after a while, there was still no sign of any player teleporting in after him. Logically, this wasn't surprising, because even though thousands of players teleported in every day, most logged in at the last point they logged out from.
Those who teleported to the save point were either new players randomly sent in like him, or high-ranked players who intentionally chose to teleport to this spot, which were very few. So, he decided not to wait any longer.
Although not 100%, there was a high chance that his current location wasn't too far from a human city. Most save points are located near safe cities or communities.
Before starting to hunt monsters, Nawa needed to gather information and understand the surrounding area. Having information versus not having it would make a huge difference in the outcome of the hunt.
The moment Nawa stepped out of the circular area, he stopped abruptly because a voice rang out.
( Welcome to The Oneness. As this is your first visit, The Oneness Association would like to introduce you to various assistance functions that will make your hunting as safe and efficient as possible. )
"That's right, player equipment has player assistance functions too," Nava muttered to himself before looking at the system window with interest.
After reading the system messages for a while, Nava was surprised. Although he knew that player equipment had functions to facilitate player hunting, he didn't expect it to be this advanced.
Player equipment can appraise items and artifacts, provide information about monsters players encounter, or even be used for long-distance communication between players. While not able to talk like in the real world, it allows players to send messages to each other.
In addition, there is a party system, a map system, and a variety of other things. With all these systems, players will be able to hunt monsters more efficiently and safely. The only problem is that these functions aren't free.
Nawa saw the price charged by the system and had to hold his head in his hands. Even with the discount from his title, it was still incredibly expensive.
"This is what they mean when they say, if you want to be a strong player…"
"I can't afford to be without funds," Nava muttered to himself.
This was an undeniable truth. Not only did he need money to purchase assistance from the system, but even finding good monster meat to strengthen himself required money. Skills, combat techniques, weapons, and artifacts all demanded money.
Without funds, no matter how talented someone was, it was difficult to improve. It's no wonder that players from ordinary or impoverished families would soon give up on self-improvement and turn to manual labor within The Oneness instead.
After much deliberation, Nava decided to use his last remaining sum of money to activate a system function.
(The service fee for the lowest-level map function is 15 copper coins.)
(Do you wish to activate it?)
(Yes) (No)
Just as he thought this, a void opened in the air, and several copper-colored energy crystals from Nava's dimensional storage appeared before disappearing into his player equipment.
The system window began displaying a map, much like the navigation apps humans use on Earth, except the field of view was limited to 30 meters around Nava. Details increased as the player moved.
In fact, the player could open a larger map or specify a destination, such as a city, village, or dungeon.
The system could even provide information about the surrounding area, including the number and types of monsters inhabiting the area, and the minerals or herbs found there. Of course, these additional functions weren't free.
But even the basic map function was very useful. Nava didn't have to worry about getting lost anymore, like he did five years ago when he first wandered into the Himmapan Forest.
As he walked through the edge of the forest, he encountered many strange creatures: large rabbits with sharp horns, winged squirrels with teeth like swords.
However, they didn't seem as ferocious as the wolf he'd seen; they simply glanced at Nava and then ran away.
After walking for almost another hour, Nava found his way out of the forest. He came across a road—or rather, a road, but in reality, it was just tire tracks from travel.
Far away, at one end, lay a path. Nawa's eyes spotted a cluster of buildings resembling a city, so he immediately headed towards it.
As he approached, Nawa realized the city was surrounded by stone walls and vast grasslands. Looking beyond the city into the distance, he could see a towering mountain. Nawa had never seen anything like it on Earth before.
It pierced the clouds; from where he was, he couldn't estimate its distance. This landscape was strikingly similar to the medieval European cities he'd seen in games as a child.
"Ding!"A system sound automatically rang in Nawa's head, and a message window appeared.
(This city is Matthehorn, located on the edge of the Jotandia Kingdom.) Do you need more information?
(Basic city information, cost 15 copper coins)
(Information on goods and services within the city, cost 25 copper coins)
(History and locations of important NPCs within the city, cost 5 silver coins)
(No) (Okay)
Nawa immediately refused without thinking, as he had less than 10 copper coins left. He walked along the wall for a while longer and found a large city gate. The entrance was crowded with people.
What made it seem strange was the glowing white text appearing above some people's heads.
(RANK D Warrior Class, Accepting new players to the team, all classes)
(RANK C Guard service, 10 silver coins per day)
Because Nawa had studied the system's additional functions beforehand, he knew that these letters were system display functions. They could show rank, profession, and titles to other players. Players cannot lie.
The main purpose is to allow others to evaluate the player for consideration in joining a party or hiring them for missions. Although this function is free, players will be charged per character if they add text.
From what Nawa observed, most players were Rank D or Rank E, with only one or two Rank C players using their reveal function near the city gate.
However, he couldn't confirm that there were no high-ranked players in the area, as some might not have activated their reveal function.
Nawa activated his reveal function and began searching for a party. Although he thought he was strong enough to hunt alone, it was still too risky as he had no information about the monsters in the area.
Hunting in a party would be safer, even if it meant sharing the meat within the team. Plus, he might even get useful information from his teammates.
Nawa walked around asking to join parties for hours, but no group or team accepted him. The main reason was his attire and the "Rank E" text above his head; everyone rejected him before he even spoke.
It was a stark contrast to the group of players wearing high-level artifacts who had just emerged from the city gate. Everyone was eager to join their parties without even revealing their rank.
Nawa looked at the crowd and his eyes widened. He realized he recognized that group of players. That group of players was…