"Here it is."

In front of them was a shop named "Rai's Adventures". One glance at its universal logo would tell you what type of shop it was. With a sword and compass emblazoned on the sign, it was a no-brainer that this place provided all your essential exploration-related needs.

It was a "frontier" shop. Naturally, it was crowded.

*Well, crowded for a hamlet, anyway.*

There were 6 other players in the shop and one NPC clerk.

"Can I get this 'enforced' melee weapon?"

"Of course, that'll be 10 Copper."

"I'll take this light armor."

"That'll be 7 Copper."

"And this, too."

"6 more Copper."

It was clear that all of these players were spending their money on either weapons or armor. Most items in the shop were 10 Copper or less, which was perfect for a player who was just starting out. If this were an ordinary game, this wouldn't be a bad decision.

But were they playing an ordinary game?

Jisha led Abandoned Snow past the rows of weapons and armors to the back rows of the small wooden store. One or two players glanced at them strangely, and Abandoned Snow timidly sheltered herself behind her chaperone.

"Um... Don't we need protection from the monsters...?" she asked. She didn't want to object to Jisha's decision, but in reality, she was skeptical as well! In her mind, armor was the optimal purchase.

They finally stopped when they reached one of the rearmost aisles. There were no other customers here.

"Weapons and armor aren't good purchases right now. If you want to go outside, the first order of business is making sure you can find your way to safety."

Jisha gestured towards the items on these shelves.

 

*>Mini Local Map: Free (Max 1 per player)*

*>Small Local Map: 10 Copper*

*>Medium Local Map: 25 Copper*

...

 

"Maps?"

"Yes. I can guarantee you won't have any trouble dealing with the monsters in this area, so this is by far a more worthwhile purchase."

"Really?"

Jisha glanced at Abandoned Snow's icy but warm eyes. Right now, she looked like a clueless girl. But in the moment she had swung the axe... those icy eyes revealed their true colors!

Her hand-eye coordination was at an exemplary starting point.

"Yes. Trust me when I say you won't need armor against monsters below level 5. In fact, I'm confident enough to say that I'll quit playing Synergy forever if you die to one of those monsters."

"Ahhhhh whaaaaaat? Don't do that!" Abandoned Snow panicked as she waved her arms around.

"Haha... don't worry. You'll see soon enough. I'll buy a map and teach you how to use it. Without one, if you get lost... Well, in this area you won't die, but you'll be wandering around forever."

"Ohhh, okay..."

Jisha snagged a "Small Local Map" from the shelf and headed back towards the front of the shop to pay.

"That'll be 10 Copper.*

 

*>-10 Copper*

*>+1 Small Local Map*

 

"Thanks."

Jisha then handed Abandoned Snow the map, and the two girls left the shop.

"Alright, before we leave, there's one last thing we have to do."

"Hm?"

"It's our class evolution quest. The system will gift us new weapons and skills once we do it."

"Class evolu...shon? It sounds hard."

"Don't worry, the first one is very easy. Once you wish to take the quest, you should get a message. When it comes up, just hit 'yes'."

Other than full-resetting your account, class evolutions were the only way to change the class you played. Nobody was going to be swinging a useless stick around for hundreds of levels.

 

*>System message: Ranged -> Ranged+ class evolution prerequisites:*

*>Level 1: ✓* 

*>All prerequisites for class evolution Ranged -> Ranged+ fulfilled. Proceed?*

*>Yes/No*

 

Though the class evolution tree contained countless branches later, at level 1, only one evolution option existed. So, Jisha naturally accepted the system's offer.

*Yes!*

 

*>System message: Commencing class evolution.*

*>Evolution requirements: Don't move for 5 seconds.*

 

*>0%*

*>20%*

*>40%*

*>60%*

*>80%*

*>100%*

 

*>Minimum Tribulation threshold: 80%*

*>Tribulation score: 100%*

*>System message: Evolution successful!*

 

*>New Skill learned: Target Toss. >Expand for details.*

*>Dispensing quest reward items:*

*>Ranged+ Pellet: 50*

 

It was so simple that it couldn't even be called a quest. And since it gave free items, it was naturally worth it.

"I think I did it. I got something new!"

Even Abandoned Snow couldn't fail.

Both avatars exuded a warm glow of white light, and the process was complete.

"Good work. Ah, you're Melee, right? Your old weapon is useless now, so I'll throw it away for you."

"Okay."

*>+1 Melee Starter Stick*

"You also got a new skill, so make sure you learn what it does before we head out."

"Okay."

 

---

 

"Ready?"

"Yeah..."

The two girls stood at the edge of the settlement. In the center was the fountain and commercial establishments. Surrounding that was the residential housing. Beyond that were a couple private plots of land owned by these residents.

And even beyond that was the great wide open.

Wilderness.

Frontier.

These were the two most common names given to the vast majority of space in the world of Synergy. In this regard, it was similar to real life. In most countries, humans only lived in a small area compared to the amount of land that existed in total.

Cities and towns were densely populated while the rest of the world was void of humans. That's just how it was.

And in the world of Synergy that no human had stepped in before was a lot to explore!

"No need to be nervous. Come on, let's go."

Jisha took off jogging - if they moved at a walking pace, they would be spending unnecessary time doing nothing. However, she glanced behind her to see Abandoned Snow treading carefully over the grass...

"Hey, it's safe to run. There's nothing dangerous around right now."

"Hmm..."

Abandoned Snow intently stared at some "eccentric"-looking wildflowers as if they could jump up and attack her at any moment.

It took Jisha a moment to understand what she was doing, but...

*This is how I felt on my first day, too, wasn't it? Ah, the wonders of being a new player...*

An experienced veteran would subconsciously ignore anything they deemed useless. However, a new player would sometimes marvel at these "useless" details.

 

*>Name: Allunia*

*>Description: A bright red-and-purple phosphorescent wildflower.

 

This flower was one such example. It was an extremely common plant, and its only special property was that it glowed in the dark. If Abandoned Snow didn't stop to observe, Jisha might not even have noticed it was there.

There was no chance such a beautiful wildflower could grow in the harsh Northeastern climate of Etmos, so to Abandoned Snow, it was an awe-inspiring thing.

However, Jisha saw it as nothing more than a waste of time.

"Snow, come on. You can stare at the pretty flowers later. Or do you not want to find your sister?"

"Nn..."

Abandoned Snow briefly deliberated between her two options before rushing to Jisha's side.

"Good. Alright, follow me."

Jisha began jogging once again, but to her annoyance, Abandoned Snow seemed like she was struggling to keep up.

*I'm not even running at full speed.*

"You can run faster than that. Everyone has the same speed at level 1."

"Eh?"

Abandoned Snow attempted to pick up speed, but it didn't take long for her to trip over her own legs!

"Oof..."

And though she didn't take any damage, seeing a helpless girl lying face down in the grass was a bit distressing.

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" Jisha said as she pulled Abandoned Snow to her feet. "Can you keep up with me?"

"I don't know... I never ran before."

"Oh..."

*I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this.*

It was a given that Abandoned Snow was wasting Jisha's time. But the more time they spent together, the more attached she became.

The fact that Abandoned Snow ignored the earlier question regarding her parents and the fact that she'd "never ran" before were indicators that her life was... subpar.

Synergy was a game that was realistic; it gave you a realistic body. Because of this, it was the greatest blessing those with disabilities in the real world could possibly receive. If Abandoned Snow had "never ran" before, it was likely that she wasn't completely able-bodied.

Jisha didn't pry further.

"Okay, let's take it slow, then."

"Mm."

The two continued through the plains at a steady walking pace.

"Looks like you don't have any problems at this speed. Let's pick up the pace."

"..."

"I know you don't want to, but you have to try. The more you practice, the easier it'll get."

"..."

"Didn't I tell you already? I've got something to do. If you don't want to run, I'll just have to leave you here."

"..."

Abandoned Snow dejectedly looked at the ground, but with no other option, she sped up a bit to match Jisha's pace.

"I won't go too fast. This should be enough for you to handle. Just focus on putting one foot in front of the other."

It was a slow jog, a pace barely faster than speed walking. But it was much faster than earlier.

Jisha occasionally glanced over to her side to make sure Abandoned Snow was doing alright.

All of her attention seemed to be directed towards the ground, but she hadn't slipped up again.

*Good, this seems like the perfect pace.*

As they continued, the several small buildings of the hamlet they'd left behind continued to shrink, and the forest of sparse trees in front of them grew closer.

*She's getting the hang of it.*

Abandoned Snow's attention was still directed at the ground so she didn't notice, but Jisha was increasing her pace little by little. A few minutes ago, she'd tripped over her own feet trying to match this pace. Now, her agility was only a bit below average.

When it was put like that, it sounded like she was still incompetent. But if you looked at the progress she'd made in this short amount of time, it was nothing short of impressive. Jisha didn't know the precise state of Abandoned Snow's physical body, what was happening now wasn't far off from a cripple learning to run. How was this *not* impressive?

When Abandoned Snow finally looked up from the ground, the trees that were so far in the distance not long ago were now right next to them.

"I... did it?"

She never could have imagined reaching this place in such a short period of time, but here she was.

"Yeah, you did."

Abandoned Snow wistfully looked back at the settlement from which they came.

"I can tell Sister... I learned how to run..."

*Hey, what?*

Tears began forming in the young girl's eyes as she savored what she'd just accomplished. Jisha was once again flustered at this overly strong reaction. She quickly hugged Abandoned Snow to calm her down.

"Don't cry, don't cry," Jisha said as she patted the young girl's head. "You did it, so cheer up, hm?"

Jisha really wanted to keep moving and progress with her quest. She wanted to level up and progress through Synergy's world as quickly as possible. But when she stared at the teary-eyed smile of the young girl in her arms...

*... Maybe we can stay like this for a little while longer.*