Chapter 35
And a moment later.
My vision brightened again, revealing a completely different landscape from before.
The fountain plaza, where I could see the horizon stretching out to the sea, had vanished. In its place, an endless expanse of deep forest and woodland began to spread before my eyes.
The air no longer carried that slightly salty sea scent—instead, it was filled with the crisp fragrance of trees.
‘Oh, so this is the Silvagrove Forest.’
In the game, this area was usually introduced with a cinematic.
But in real life, there was no such thing as an area introduction video.
The continent of Edaphocia was divided into the East and West continents.
Between them lay the Plickit Sea, and at the center of that sea was Midisle Island.
I never really understood why it was still considered a single continent despite being separated, but… well, I just accepted it in the same way we consider North and South America as one landmass.
East Edaphocia and West Edaphocia.
Silvagrove Forest was located in the southern part of East Edaphocia.
It was a region where forestry flourished thanks to the dense woods, but recently, the forest had been shrouded in darkness, threatening the livelihood of its residents.
‘At least, that’s what the area intro video said in the game.’
As I recalled the game’s background, I looked around.
The teleportation portal for this area was located in the village’s central plaza, where an enormous hackberry tree—likely centuries old—stood tall.
I wasn’t knowledgeable enough about plants to identify it just by looking, but since the game called it “Hackberry Plaza,” I simply knew it as such.
‘Wow, it’s even bigger in real life.’
The tree was so massive that even if everyone who teleported with me held hands and surrounded it, we probably couldn’t fully encircle it.
“Ugh… huff…”
As I was admiring the tree’s grandeur, I heard the sound of labored breathing nearby.
I turned to see the twins, dizzy and clinging to the tree, panting heavily.
Even the usually energetic Darren was squatting and groaning in discomfort.
And Adrian, too, was leaning against the tree with a frown on his face.
‘Ah. Right—teleportation sickness.’
In the game, the NPCs of the Hero’s Party remained in Silvagrove Forest until the story arc there concluded. They never returned to Midisle Island during that time.
Meanwhile, the protagonist would complete quests in the forest, teleport to Midisle for training quests when leveled up enough, and then teleport back to the forest.
The reason NPCs never moved was because of teleportation sickness. But my character, blessed by the goddess, was immune to it.
At first, I had thought, “Wow, being able to teleport long distances without any side effects? Total win.”
But apparently, those without the goddess’s blessing suffered excruciating nausea with every teleport.
Watching the people around me look like they were dying gave me a real sense of just how terrible it was.
That’s why the very first quest in Silvagrove Forest fell to me—the only one not affected. I had to secure an inn to serve as our base camp and rest area.
“Um… is everyone okay?”
As I asked in a concerned tone, Darren looked at me with pure envy on his face.
“Hah… must be nice… the goddess’s blessing…”
This guy never once showed jealousy even when I picked up all my skills at the training grounds in one go—but now he was throwing me a look full of resentment just because I didn’t get motion sick…
It made me seriously wonder just how bad teleportation sickness was. Not that I ever wanted to experience it for myself.
“Urgh… Lady Elaine… could I trouble you to find the base camp for us? I want to help, but I just can’t…”
“Uh, yeah, sure. Just rest. Don’t force yourself to move.”
Leo groaned as he asked me to take care of it, and I nodded vigorously before heading into the village.
Having visited this place many times in the game, I knew exactly where the inn was, so the quest wasn’t difficult.
I headed straight there and presented the silver badge engraved with the symbol of the Hagion Hero’s Party—the one Belinda had given me—and rented out the entire third floor.
It had a large dining area we could use for meals and meetings, plus three bedrooms.
The silver badge was essentially like a credit card—the Hero’s Party would cover the costs later.
The innkeeper didn’t seem particularly thrilled to host us, but thankfully, they still gave us the rooms.
Once I secured our base, I returned to Hackberry Plaza to inform the others.
“Phew… guess it’s time to move…”
Darren let out a sigh and hoisted his huge travel bag.
That’s right—everyone except me was carrying a mountain of luggage.
‘This is where an inventory comes in handy.’
I had packed pretty thoroughly for this trip.
Actually, “pretty thoroughly” was an understatement. I had meticulously prepared.
The gear I was wearing was the best shooter gear I could currently craft—and the most stylish (that part was important).
I had especially stocked up on potions.
Red HP recovery potions tasted like the strawberry syrup cold medicine I used to take as a kid.
Blue MP recovery potions weren’t artificially colored—they got their blue hue from natural berries that resembled Earth’s blueberries. They even tasted similar.
I also had antidotes to cure poison and debuffs like movement slow.
I made large quantities of each type.
Honestly, I might have made enough for one person to handle everything in the Silvagrove Forest arc by themselves.
‘Dioscorides freaked out about how many I was making.’
I chuckled as I remembered the perpetually sleepy man widening his eyes in shock.
I brought a lot more than just potions.
Extra clothes, of course—and anticipating that the inn’s bedding might be worse than the dorm’s, I stuffed my dorm pillow and blanket into my inventory.
And, of course, I brought my cherished body pillow, made with sewing techniques I learned from Taylor.
Yet here I was, looking like I was traveling empty-handed—thanks to the greatness of the inventory system.
“Here, let me carry that for you.”
I approached my roommate, Rena, and offered to carry her travel bag.
Her response?
“…No need. I can carry it myself.”
Cold and blunt as always.
“You’re clearly struggling from the teleport. I’m fine—just give it to me.”
It’s not like I’m so heartless that I’d ignore a suffering roommate when I’ve got both hands free.
I took the bag right from her hand.
‘Oof, this is heavy.’
Well, it made sense—who knew how long this field assignment would last?
Rena’s face looked slightly more relaxed now that her burden was lifted, though only for a moment.
She quickly returned to her usual haughty expression and turned her head with a “hmph.”
‘Consistent as ever. Gotta respect that.’
I smirked and took the lead toward the inn.
But Leo, standing beside Rena, was staring at me intensely.
“What? You want me to carry yours too?”
“N-no, Lady Elaine! I’m strong. I can carry this myself.”
Leo blushed furiously at my words.
Guess he didn’t want to look weak—had to protect his pride as a man or something.
“Hey, carry mine instead. I’m dying here.”
Darren, having overheard us, came over and nudged me.
Rena gave him a look of almost disgust, but he seemed unfazed.
“Nope. Carry your own. Those arm muscles would be wasted otherwise.”
Seriously, the guy had biceps the size of an adult’s head. And he’s whining?
Adrian let out a soft chuckle as I turned him down.
In the game, once I secured the inn, everyone just magically showed up there—as if they teleported or fast-traveled. We never had these kinds of conversations.
It really felt like we were living in a sitcom.
* * *
A night passed in this unfamiliar place.
‘I miss my room…’
Surprisingly, the room I missed wasn’t my room back on Earth.
It was my dorm room in the Hagion Hero’s Party HQ, where I’d only lived for about a month.
Just as I feared, the inn’s beds were terribly uncomfortable.
The mattress cushioning was subpar—and thank goodness I brought my own pillow, blanket, and body pillow.
The worst part? Sharing a room with Rena.
In the dorm, we had our own bedrooms even if we shared a bathroom and living area.
But here, nope. It was like a standard hotel twin room setup.
At least the beds were singles, so we had one each.
The bathroom, too, was much better in the dorm.
Though this room had its own toilet and basic plumbing, there was no bathtub—just a cramped shower booth.
If you wanted a real bath, you had to use the public bath on the inn’s first floor.
I didn’t mind—being from Korea, I was used to public baths. But our noble lady companion clearly wasn’t.
She grumbled constantly but refused to use the public bath, insisting on using the tiny shower stall.
And so now, we were all sitting in the small dining room on the inn’s third floor, having breakfast and conducting a strategy meeting.
Everyone seemed to have recovered from the teleportation sickness, but their dark circles told me it hadn’t been a restful night.
Leo looked the worst.
When I asked him if he was okay, he pointed at Darren in a stuffy, nasally voice.
“Darren snores too much… I barely slept.”
Because we only had three rooms, Darren and Leo shared one, Rena and I shared another, and Adrian had a room to himself.
Rena had wanted a room to herself, but due to the gender balance, it wasn’t possible.
“Aren’t you being a little sensitive, young master? How could you not sleep just from a bit of snoring?”
Darren grumbled, poking at his French toast with a fork.
I guess he was used to Beth’s delicious cooking—he didn’t have much of an appetite.
I couldn’t blame him. The food here was okay, but it wasn’t nearly as good as Beth’s.
‘Sigh… I miss Auntie Beth so much…’
