The dense forest is my home. Silvan. Fly Agaric.

This place was very attractive and beautiful. The sun’s rays went through the crowns of the trees, plunging into the ground like light spears and scattering the shadow around.

The ground is covered with green grass and moss; I’m likely to find berries and mushrooms here. I mean, I wish I could find them. I guess I should improve my Observation skill.

Since the road was long, I examined my trophies along the way—the fangs, the tails, and any other stuff that could be useful for creating potions and improving my Alchemy skill. However, I was interested in the seeds and the coin most of all

Stone Lime’s Seeds

Description: Stone Lime fruit has very hard bark for better seed preservation

The seeds are a very valuable ingredient for a number of powerful elixirs.

The seeds shine with dim light; they are fragile and sensitive to sudden temperature fluctuations

Hellish Abyss’s emanations, the Bright Heaven, or Arag wasteland are necessary for growth

Quantity: 2

Effect: +10% to the level of Alchemy skill

Effect duration: 4 hours

Ancient coin

Description: Item is not identified

I wish I knew more about this coin! I hope I can find out something about it later.

The information about the seeds is very interesting. I think they could be sprouted. But why would I do that? It doesn’t matter, though. I wonder where I can get these emanations and whether the shape and properties of the trees would depend on the type of this emanation. I don’t want to use the forum; I’d better explore this world myself. Anyway, I better head to the Help section first.

Emanation is the concentrated energy of someone or something

Excellent wording, though very short. I’d like to know how to obtain or collect this emanation. Thinking of it, I approached the place where I thought there were fire and smoke.

A little while later, I came to a small clearing. I saw a burning campfire and a cabin covered with ground and moss. A crooked tree grew on the top of this small dwelling. One wall of the hut was replaced by two huge stones overgrown with moss. There was too much smoke—as if a whole square mile of the forest was on fire.

I had no time to think about it. The shabby door of the cabin opened, and someone came out. It was a humanoid creature, completely covered with dark gray wool and leaves. Several branches were sticking out from his back, and an ordinary red fly agaric with a pair of toadstools grew on his head.

His face was almost human: narrowed eyes, a long nose, and a beard brushing the ground. This strange elderly figure leaned on a twisted long stick, wrapped in swamp slime and moss.

He came up to me, and it turned out that this... creature was two heads taller than me. How did he manage to get through that little door? I looked over him and saw something interesting.

Silvan ??? eh ??? eh ??? level

What the hell? Why are there so many question marks in my quests and messages? Is there a problem with the game? I seem to be lucky for attracting such weird stuff.

“Hello, Stranger.” The silvan spoke confidently and quietly, not grunting. “I’ve been waiting for you for so long.”

Of course, I’m the one you’ve been waiting for. I’m probably the first player in Rainea’s history who walked here. Now he’ll talk about the ancient prophecy saying that the hero will come and save the world from evil. Blah-blah-blah.

“I’d like to show you where you’ll live until you are a bit stronger.”

“Oh.” I could hardly utter some sounds.

“The transition from one world to another must have been difficult for you if you still aren’t able to talk,” he muttered, patting his beard and looking at me. “I hope you'll recover soon.”

A dusty road suit covered with leaves and twigs, disheveled hair, and my dirty boots—I looked like a homeless tramp rather than a hero. According to the developers’ legend, all the players appearing in Rainea were strangers coming from distant worlds. They came here for money because the game gold could be exchanged for real money at a favorable rate.

However, it was as difficult to earn the game gold as to earn rubles or dollars in real life. To avoid using the game as an intermediary for fraud, the value of the game gold in each country corresponded to the exchange rate of the real-world currencies.

I didn’t understand how this was possible, but this information was posted on the official website of the ‘Corporation Creator’s Studio’, which developed the game.

Some players liked to kill monsters, others prefer killing people, and some gamers just enjoyed the game and wanted to explore the world. Each player had his own goals in this game, so it would be almost impossible to list everything.

I knew that more than fifty million people played ‘Rainea’, though I didn’t understand how they were distributed over the lands of the game universe.

“Good afternoon, sir,” I was finally able to speak. “How did you know I would come?”

“I believed that you would be able to talk.” The silvan nodded joyfully. “As for your question, Stranger. I had a vision that a very curious guy would appear in our world. I then needed to meet him and teach him.”

I squinted and copied the old silvan’s gesture, stroking my chin. “Who can send such a vision?”

“I don’t know, Stranger.” The silvan sighed. “Maybe one of the gods descended to the forest dweller, or maybe it was the universe itself. I see that you’ll be a very capable disciple.”

“Really?” I looked at the man incredulously and wanted to ask why he decided so, but he just removed something from my head quickly. There was a squeezed fly agaric in his hand, which was smaller than the mushroom on his head. The mushroom cap was dark purple, and I looked at it more closely.

Panther Fly Agaric

Description: This mushroom has an incredibly terrible poison that can kill an ordinary human in ten seconds, but it is therapeutic for many species of animals, and it is able to cure a number of their serious injuries and diseases

Valuable alchemical ingredient

You must obtain an Alchemy skill of at least level 100 to make potions from this mushroom

Note: Especially dangerous for orcs

Able to scare off spirits and downworlders

Class: rare

You’d better not to cook it for dinner

I put the mushroom in my bag just in case; it might be useful to me later.

“The mushrooms love you; they’re very sad that you haven’t noticed them since you came here, and this Arn-Olch even managed to climb you, but you were still blind to its presence. I had to take it out before you received a fatal dose of poison.” The silvan smiled and looked at me curiously. “I’ve never seen mushrooms pay attention to any of the other strangers before.

“Explore the forest carefully and gain some experience. I’ll come to you when the day changes into the night only once. I know that all strangers are immortal, but you be better not to die, otherwise, it would greatly slow down the pace of your training.” With that, the silvan turned into moss on a flat stone lying on the ground, and his staff turned into a low gnarled tree.

Having seen this, I fell and noticed that I was sitting in a dirty puddle. I was in the mud and twigs with the fly agaric in my hands.

You’ve learned the skill ‘Disguise’

Description: Passing through the forest you don’t notice, but you are covered with leaves, twigs, moss and even mushrooms, hiding you from animals and birds’ eyes that don’t even pay attention to a lone traveler

Skill Class: unusual

Skill level: 1

Note: Take a shower, Muddy!

Oh. Screw it! I got up, and the clods of dirt fell to the ground, just like snow falling from tree branches.

I’d better take that advice. Despite getting a new skill, I was upset.

I approached the cabin and saw a small pond or a swamp behind it. I washed off all the dirt quickly and immediately noticed the expansion of the interface, which now consisted of four parts.

Except for the standard mana and vitality, an additional function emerged, and it was responsible for my level of concealment from prying eyes.

Now, this indicator showed only twenty percent. I wonder whether I’ll turn into the same old man covered with moss if I live here for a month. Then no one will see me for sure.