The frontier. Traveling through this mystical land meant that you were discovering new territories - you were stepping foot where no man had gone before!

"... At least, that's what it's supposed to be. Come on, I've already played Jungle Simulator."

Brooks Lacaia's disappointment was evident as he wandered aimlessly. His friend Dharr had pestered him nonstop about this game saying the places to explore were "awesome". And when Commander had told him to test out Synergy as well, Brookie's expectations shot up. However, other than its sensory realism, nothing about it seemed extraordinary.

The VR market already had realistic sensory input for small games such as "Jungle Simulator".

Other simulators such as "Mountain Simulator" and "Ocean Simulator" existed as well, and Brookie was a connoisseur of these titles. Sure, Synergy was more realistic, but only marginally; a layperson would be hard-pressed to discern the difference.

"I can't believe it. How can you play *those* games out of everything on the market? You really exaggerate how good they are - they're so boring. Everyone knows Space Station Sim is the only good one."

"Yes, for most people-"

"I don't want to hear another of your rants, man. Just follow me already."

Just like almost everyone else at the beginning, the two completed their tasks in their starter Hamlet and ventured into the wild.

"Just do your best to level up so we can evolve. Let's kill some monsters. I know you didn't play the beta, but hunting mobs is pretty interesting in this game," Dharr said.

"I hope so..."

"See, look. There's a Green Slime. I'll let you take it out by yourself."

Brookie looked at the round object bouncing towards him. It was too pathetic to be called a "monster".

"How did you see its name?"

Though it was obviously green and gelatinous, there had to be a way to see its name verbatim.

"Just think about appraising it in your mind as you look at it. You should automatically know its name and level like that."

"Is that all it takes?"

Brookie doubtfully did as he was told. As he thought of "appraisal" while looking at the slime, information directly transferred into his mind.

 

*>Name: Green Slime*

*>Level: 1*

 

"Whoa... Honestly, that's more impressive than anything else so far."

Brookie's apathy vanished. This was incredible technology - it was directly able to transfer information without the necessity of a HUD. No screen had popped up in front of him; after the appraisal, he just *knew* this information.

"You're really impressed by something so simple?" Dharr asked.

"Simple? How is this simple? Let me ask you something, Mr. Beta Tester. Does this work in other languages?"

"What? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just tell me."

"Well..."

Though everyone in the Northeast learned Etmos Common, not everyone remembered it. The Northeast was a fairly isolated continent, and it was common for inhabitants to never leave it in their entire lives. These people would not have much use for this language.

The most popular language here was Frost 7, and even then a lot of people preferred speaking their local tongue. Because of this, the answer to Brookie's question should have been obvious. But he wanted to hear the answer out loud.

"It... does, clearly."

"So you don't see the potential of an automatic translator here?"

"... Only you would think of that."

"Haah, I've never told you why I play all those simulator games, have I?"

"What's this all of a sudden? Why didn't you tell me the thousand times I actually asked?"

"Well... I just feel like the time is right. I've always wanted to travel, but due to... reasons, I can't. I've always wanted to go around the world and see, hear, and experience different things. I've always wanted to experience what's out there with my own five senses. So, what's the best option for someone like me?"

A childish side of him always wanted to be an "adventurer" as well, discovering unmarred lands. It was difficult to do that in modern times where almost every square metron of the surface of Etmos had been tread upon by humans. There was nowhere in real life you could easily explore that no one had been. Even if you were in an isolated area, it was likely someone had been there before. Whether it was the peak of the highest mountain or the bottom of the deepest valleys, they had been traversed upon and named.

It also helped that death didn't mark one's true end here, so the degree of risk was lesser. You could always go back and try again if you messed up.

"..."

"You get it now, right? But even then, it's not the same as experiencing the journey myself. When you said there's a lot of 'awesome' places to explore, you caught my attention. This game can maybe provide some sort of replacement for that desire."

"What does that have to do with languages?"

"Wha- I really have to spell it out for you? What if I meet someone? People speak different languages in different places, dummy."

"Oh..."

Brookie wanted to elaborate further, but Dharr was losing interest. Brookie shook his head - why couldn't this guy see it?

When the information transferred into his mind, he didn't have to read it. Reading took time, and language was essentially a "middleman" when it came to conveying information from one person to another.

The words "sad", "mad", "glad"... They all had slightly different meanings for every person. It was 100% certain that Brookie's "sad" wasn't identical to Dharr's. Even what I'm conveying here... everyone sees something different.

In a hyperbolic sense, simply talking to someone was akin to a game of telephone. By removing this middleman, one's raw intentions could be conveyed to someone else.

Not only that, but complex information could be communicated immediately. If you received a command or even a briefing from a superior, the delivery of this information would take time. At the end of this delivery, you would walk away with an understanding of the concept.

But what if there was a way to instantly deliver this "understanding"?

"Brooks, stop dawdling and attack the slime. Let's see if you can hit it from here."

Brooks shook his head and returned to the present.

The Green Slime was roughly 10 metron away from the two, and it was slowly bouncing closer. Brookie carefully lined up a shot and precisely threw a pellet. In his mind, it would go straight through the slime, vaporizing it... but reality was different.

The pellet slung in a random direction and struck an unrelated tree.

"Hahaha...! I knew something like that would happen!" Dharr ridiculed.

"What the hell?"

In the real world, Brookie was a skilled darts player. Though throwing a ball was slightly different from throwing a dart, the experience of seeing projectiles flying from your hand was shared across both activities. Naturally, he was surprised when something he threw did something completely unexpected.

"You don't play VMA, right? Obviously you're confused."

"... I've got enough martial arts in the real world."

"Well, Mr. Tough Guy, watch the skill master!"

Dharr confidently walked up to the slime, and his body moved in a slightly unnatural manner. Brooks was a skilled martial artist in the real world, so he could tell that something was... off about that movement.

"So that's what skills do, huh. They can even make a wimp like you worth watching."

"Wha- Says you!"

As the two bantered, Brookie's inbox popped up with an unread message. When he saw the sender's identity, he made sure to thoroughly read it. His countenance immediately turned serious. Along with the message was some battle footage, and he immediately recognized its location. Though he'd never seen it before, he could infer that it was roughly the location of First Son.

He watched the whole thing, but he couldn't help replaying the end several times.

"This strength..."

"What's up, Brooks?"

What the heck was going on here? Were his eyes playing tricks on him? The girl in the video - or rather, the female avatar - executed her martial arts moves flawlessly. As the head of the "War Dogs", Brookie's martial arts were in the elite echelon. There weren't many better than him, and even after playing *their* replays back, he could still find a few minor errors.

However, here, there were none. But how was he going to explain this to Dharr, who had no real martial arts experience?

"Oh... It's nothing. Us 'war dogs' gotta sniff out a trail."

"Huh. Yeah?" Dharr narrowed his eyes.

"You *still* don't believe me," Brookie sighed.

"Yeah? No, I totally believe that you have a boss that gives you and your elite group of 'war dogs' a bunch of secret missions."

"..."

"It's really easy to prove yourself. 1v1 me in VMA."

"No."

"Because you know you can't win, ha!" Dharr laughed as he smugly crossed his arms.

The two continued to banter as they killed mobs, and before long, they reached the next settlement.

*>System message: Welcome to Covan Village.*

...

"How'd your class evolution quest go?"

"Easy. You?"

"Ha, you expect the beta tester to fail the first class evolution quest?"

"Isn't this the second one? Plus, you actually did fail the first one."

"..."

At this point, most players in the Village had breached level 5 and had completed their first major class evolution quest, and these two were no exception. But out of all the people around, the one he was looking for wasn't here. 

 

*>Name: Silver Soul*

*>Level: 5*

*>Name: Chutzpasta*

*>Level: 6*

*>Name: CDominica*

*>Level: 6*

... 

 

Fae Sol's avatar was extremely aesthetic and wild-looking, so it was impossible to miss even in a packed crowd. Unfortunately, there weren't many custom avatars in this village, so the horde was rather drab.

"Hey, let's go. What are you looking for?"

"A player named Fae Sol. Her avatar's got maroon hair and green eyes, and it's extremely noticeable. Let me know if you see her."

"Ohhhh! I get it," Dharr said as he winked. "Don't worry, I'm a trusty wingman."

"No, that's not... Sure, yeah," Brookie relented. There was no point in arguing with this idiot.

After several minutes, she didn't turn up. However... 

 

*>Name: ???*

*>Level: ???* 

 

"What?" Brookie exclaimed.

"What is it?"

"Look over there, what's that player's name?"

The names and levels of all the players so far could be appraised; an exception to the rule appeared!

"Uh... That's weird, it's not showing up for me, either. Wait, unless... Nah, that's not..."

"What are you mumbling about?"

"In the beta, a bunch of the top-level players found anti-appraisal items. But that was only towards the end. Something like that this early... There's no way, right?"

"Hm..."

Brookie rubbed his chin as he rewatched the martial arts footage one more time. In front of him were two outlandish anomalies. What were the odds they were linked?

"Why don't we follow them?" he asked.

"Wha- and just ghost your date?"

"It's not a date, it's the secret mission."

"... You really are hopeless. But I can't lie... I'm curious as well."

"Oh, they're leaving. Let's tail them," Brookie said as he attempted to take the lead. But Dharr stopped him.

"Check your inventory, we're not gonna get stranded out there, right?"

"Uh... Map, regen items... that's it right?"

"Well, for now. I've got a compass, so we should be good to go."

"Great. Let's explore - they'll lead us to unknown lands..."

"You're daydreaming. There's nothing special around here for now. Wait just a couple of days, and we'll see some cool stuff."

"Right..."

Brookie was slightly disappointed, but he had a job to do. And something told him he was on the right track.

 

---

 

*Alright, just one more.*

Jisha's hectic porter trip was coming to a close. She expected there to be just over 70 slots' worth of materials. However, she searched the rest of the cemetery just in case, and in the end, there turned out to be almost double that.

*How many people did they kill in there? Jeez... Can't complain, though.*

"Thanks for your business once again," Sidio said.

"No, thank you for purchasing all of this." 

 

*>Coin Pouch*

*>Bronzium: 5*

*>Copper: 968* 

 

Her net worth after the final trip would be more than double what it was beforehand. Without Breeze, this trip would have been a nightmare.

*It's taken me almost half an hour even *with* Breeze...*

But it was finally almost over. She passed through the twin trees, and the atmosphere tinted purple once more. But before she approached the black metal gates, her instincts screamed danger.

*Ah...*

She peeked out from behind a tree and looked up, and perched on top was a black phoenix - the same one that had been a mere sculpture a little bit ago. Compared to ordinary phoenixes, it was tiny - it was a bit smaller than even Jisha's avatar. However, size was the most misleading thing when it came to appraising a monster's strength.

Just as players could slay monsters many times larger than them, monsters many times smaller could do precisely the same to a player. And Jisha knew that if this phoenix had malicious intentions, she would have died before she knew what hit her.

The fact that she wasn't dead meant it wasn't hostile. In other words, it was safe to approach. But this was like walking into a lion's den after being told they were harmless. One wrong move, and she would die.

She didn't even bother attempting to appraise it - even something as small as this could potentially offend it.

She slowly walked into the clearing where the mystical bird displayed itself in its full glory.

After what she considered was an appropriate distance, Jisha quickly prostrated and awaited its words.

The wind howled through the forest.

Her heartbeat shook her eardrums.

The cold grass beneath numbed her hands.

But she continued to wait.

...

...

"*Sigh*, get up."

Only several seconds had passed, yet it felt like eons. Jisha slowly stood up and remained in a respectful position.

"When I say get up, I mean it. How can someone like you bow to me?"

"What?"

The implications of her words froze Jisha's thoughts in place.

The phoenix sighed again.

"Ah, you don't remember. Anyway, I didn't expect it would be you, of all people. I wish I could help, but... she won't let me. Not after what happened last time. The only thing I can say... is I̸̧̥̬͐̽̈́̉̀́̏͘͠͝Ŗ̸̘̩̰͓̣͚̼͍͇̈́̀X̶̡̨͙͎̞̥̿̆̾͜͠W̷͍̫̾̀̉́̋͊͘͝4̷̤̘̋̽͂̆̿͝͠͠J̶̲͉̫̱́̉̋̅͂͂̍̋̄ͅ3̴͓̥̺̓̆́̀̕U̴̱̙̱͆̽̄̎͊̏̓̚͝Ę̵̡̪̩͓̯̠͉͇͑̀B̶̺̬̈́͂̓́͊̚͘W̸̨̳̝͖̯͕̥͒̀͘͠͝G̷̱̥̱̽̈́̅͘͝͠6̷̧̧̥͍̰̝̙͚̆̐4̸̢̙͚̲͉̻̩̩̠̈͗̉̉̆͋̐̂͒̽3̴̨̨͍͍̬̟̙͛͜͜ͅF̴̗̗͂͛̐̿̈́̾̕É̷̹̖̦̪̑̈́̏̊̕͘͜͝ͅB̵̢̠̰͙͔̻͕̮͔͋̈́͑͐͐͜4̶̨̧͉͖̼̩̝̜̗̓̅͌͝W̷̖̯̜͋̓̈̏̃6̷̨̲͚̼̥̬͓͛͜͠ͅͅ5̷̨̲̞̣̘̻͇̩̾͋̄͗́̀Ḷ̷̢̨̟͙͈͎̺̋̀̈̓̔̀̉́̉S̵̨͕͙̗̤̍̌̂͆͠͝O̵͍̪͐̓̀̌͗͠N̵̰̭̼̱̳͔̦̗̓͜S̵̻̲̥̘͗̈́̀͑̎̿̾͝ͅW̸̛̱͕̪̝͂͆̔Y̷̹̜̩͎̙̟̬̼̫͓̊̒͛̒̓̂̀̂Ẑ̴͖͉͍͕̞͔̖̼͋͂̑̒̏̆̕͠ͅR̶̡̼̪̳͖̀͌́̏͐̎̚Ȍ̵̖̤̼͇̂̃͛̇̀̕͝ͅ"

*What?*

With these words, the phoenix took off towards the crescent moon in the sky leaving Jisha as dumbfounded as she'd ever been.

The phoenix's words repeated in her head over and over.

*"How can someone like you bow to me?"*

As much as she wanted to know what this meant, overthinking about it right now wouldn't yield any results.

*But there is something I want to check out.*

The phoenix was truly gone, so Jisha quickly snagged the final items and sold them back at Covan.

Now, the black gates were in front of her once more. This time, she didn't go inside.

*There shouldn't be anything over here, but...*

She skirted the stone wall perimeter and headed in the same direction the phoenix had. Ordinarily, this would only lead her back to the normal world - Synergy' mainland. Instead, in its place was...

*Traveling Corrupted Land???*

It was something that didn't show up in the beginning of the game. 

Traveling Corrupted Land - a rare biome. A phenomenon that was aptly named - it was a mobile biome that poisoned and "corrupted" land as it randomly traveled. 

Half of the grass in the clearing was reduced to a dark green, almost blackened hue. In the distance, the grass had even turned a shade of purple. 

It was a dangerous area, yet it felt like the phoenix led her here. There had to be something inside.

Jisha grit her teeth and took a deep breath. After a brief moment's focus, she sprinted directly into the Corrupted Land.