Chapter 36
“Hmm, looks like everyone’s more or less finished eating. Let’s begin the meeting.”
Adrian, who had only picked at his salad, finally spoke, and everyone—lost in their own thoughts—turned their attention to him.
This scene, too, was exactly like the one I had seen in the game’s cutscene.
“First, we need information about the current situation. I looked through the archives in the Hall of History, but since those materials are old, I suspect they don’t reflect the present state of the Sylva Grove Forest.”
I nodded in agreement. I had searched through those materials with him.
They say even rivers and mountains change in ten years, and the documents about Sylva Grove Forest stored in the Hall of Heroes were at least a hundred years old.
Which meant, the landscape had likely changed ten times over since those documents were first written.
“What info? Don’t we just need to charge into the darkness and defeat the leader? That’s it, right?”
Darren jumped in, sounding as aggressive as ever. Surprisingly, Rena, who usually clashed with him due to their different temperaments, sided with him this time.
“He’s right. Our goal is to drive away the darkness, isn’t it? If we beat the demon leader, it’ll all be resolved.”
I was reminded again that Rena had a surprisingly combative streak, despite her usual demeanor.
“That won’t do. Even without the darkness, Sylva Grove Forest is dense and treacherous. Rushing in without information would be foolish.”
Adrian countered their argument. Leo nodded in agreement beside him.
A stalemate—2 versus 2.
Everyone turned to me, the only one who hadn’t voiced an opinion yet.
In the game, this is where a choice appears.
Charge into the forest immediately, or proceed cautiously.
But no matter what I chose, the outcome was already set.
Even if the majority chose to charge ahead, Adrian would put his foot down, threatening to report it to Clemens, eventually convincing Darren.
Thanks to Darren’s “betrayal,” the majority would swing to the “gather information first” side—3 versus 2.
Of course, I chose the cautious option, and I already knew from my friend Sohyun what would happen if I picked the other one.
“Hmm, I think safety is the best choice. I agree with Adrian and Leo—we should gather information first.”
As I gave my opinion, briefly recalling the in-game choices, Darren let out a disappointed sigh.
“Ah, well. Guess we don’t have a choice… If we’re gonna gather info, the best way is to ask the locals directly.”
He immediately shifted gears and suggested a way to collect information.
Darren might seem like a simple brute sometimes, but he was the type to respect majority decisions, which made him unexpectedly reliable.
A fitting idea from Midisle’s number one socialite.
“But I heard the people of Sylva Grove City are very closed-off and territorial. Will they really give up any useful information?”
Leo asked with a worried expression. Darren just shrugged and replied coolly.
“So what, we just give up? Then we might as well go storm the place now. Oh wait, we’re not doing that, right? So let’s do what we can.”
“Yes, Darren’s right. We need to gather some intel. I heard the city hall has a small public library—I’ll go check it out. Why don’t the rest of you spread out and try speaking with the locals?”
Adrian nodded and made a reasonable suggestion.
Everyone agreed it made sense for the librarian to go to the library.
“Then I’ll take the north side of the city.”
Darren pointed to the north on the city map, while Leo and Rena chose west and south, respectively.
Which left me with the eastern part.
Exactly as the game’s storyline had laid out.
“Alright, let’s get going! Let’s do this!”
Darren pounded the table energetically.
It was time to head out into Sylva Grove City.
‘Honestly, I already know all the information…’
Having played through this part of the game, I already knew the future.
Wandering around the city like this was a waste of time.
The townsfolk here were so unfriendly to outsiders that getting any useful info out of them was nearly impossible.
Even Adrian, with his ID showing he was a librarian from the Hagion Hero Order, wouldn’t be allowed inside the library—because it was located in the eastern part of the city, same as where I was headed.
The others would also come back to the inn empty-handed.
Eventually, while we were running errands in the city to try and gain goodwill, a young herbalist would overhear that we were searching for information about the forest, and volunteer to guide us.
That’s how we’d finally gain access to Sylva Grove Forest.
‘…Even knowing the future doesn’t help much.’
Sure, I remembered the young herbalist’s name and appearance—but if I skipped everything and just ran up to him asking for guidance, he’d probably just be suspicious, thinking, “Who the hell is this?”
Even if he wasn’t suspicious and led us straight away, my teammates would definitely wonder, “How did you know he had information?”
That might lead them to question whether I was hiding something—or even suspect I came from outside this world.
Too many unpredictable consequences.
That’s why I decided to follow the story as it played out in the game, wasting time and all.
‘I need the XP and other rewards, too.’
Now that my level was fairly high, it wasn’t as easy to gain XP as before. I couldn’t pass up the small rewards and experience from helping townsfolk.
“This way to the library.”
Adrian pointed down one of the forked paths.
“Ah, yes. Take care, Adrian.”
It would be a wasted trip, but… I swallowed the rest of that thought.
I parted ways with Adrian and headed eastward through the city.
‘In the game, the protagonist didn’t even accompany him this far.’
In the cutscene, Adrian had already vanished by this point, and the protagonist character wandered toward the east side of town alone.
I’d be meeting up with him again soon enough anyway.
And that’s when a small incident would occur.
I pulled the weapon at my hip and spun it once.
It was in excellent condition, thanks to the repair tools I had used at the magic workshop.
The first battle in Sylva Grove Forest was coming up soon, so checking my gear was a must.
‘Ah, there he is.’
I spotted the NPC I had spoken to in the game and rushed over with a sense of relief.
In the game, it was easy because a quest marker floated over his head. Now, I had to rely purely on memory—definitely not as easy.
“Um, excuse me. May I ask you something?”
I cautiously approached the man, who was slouched on the steps in front of his house, drinking in broad daylight.
He shot me a sharp glare.
“What is it? You’re not from around here, are you?”
A cold response, just as expected from a town known for its hostility to outsiders.
What was I supposed to say?
In the game, I could just click to move the dialogue forward—no need to think about what to say myself.
Here, I had to actually respond.
“Uh, I’m from the Hagion Hero Order…! I, uh, I’ve come to defeat the darkness in the forest!”
Awkwardly, I held up my ID badge that hung around my neck and showed it to him.
Thank goodness I had changed my name before coming here.
“Hagion Hero Order? Tch. You mean those useless leeches feeding off the scraps that fat pigs in the cathedral drop?”
…Wow.
In the game, the dialogue had essentially the same meaning—disdain for the Hero Order and the church—but it was a lot more polished than this.
Hearing it raw was a bit jarring.
“Haha… ha…”
I had no idea how to respond. All I could do was give an awkward laugh and scratch my cheek.
“If you value your life, turn back. No one who’s gone into that forest has ever come back alive.”
Ah, now this was familiar.
A line directly from the game.
“Until a few days ago, only a small area was covered in darkness. But it’s been spreading—now there’s hardly any safe ground left. That’s why I haven’t gone out to work in days, just drowning myself in booze.”
He chuckled dryly and waved me off.
“I’ve got nothing to say to outsiders. Get lost. Damn, what a lousy morning.”
And just like that, the conversation was over.
I talked to a few more people after that, but they didn’t give me anything useful beyond what the drunk guy had already said.
‘Ugh, I miss Midisle.’
Back then, it had felt awkward and embarrassing to have everyone recognize me and say hello.
But looking back… those people were warm.
Even Dioscorides—the grumpy outsider of Midisle Island—was kinder than this.
It hadn’t bothered me in the game, but after meeting all these standoffish townsfolk face-to-face, it kind of hurt.
‘…And yet, after I fix the whole forest problem, they’ll act like I’m some kind of hero.’
People really are fickle.
Anyway, I’d done my part.
I’d wandered around the east side of the city, talked to every NPC I was supposed to.
How did I know I was done?
A quest completion window popped up.
‘Alright. Time to move on.’
It was finally time for battle.
On the way back to the inn, the protagonist is ambushed.
A surprise attack by followers of the dark god Phoneros, who had tried to assassinate the hero.
They’d blown up the airship the hero was on, but failed to kill the target.
Now, they’d waited for the hero to leave Midisle and made their move.
And that moment… is now.
