134 Outside of Illusion Forest
Thank you to FizzywigHoid for mentioning about the Golden Pickaxe.
I edited chapter 133. Instead of a Silver Pickaxe i change it to Silver Hammer.
Ren already got a Golden Pickaxe and Golden Knife. I thought it was a hammer.
Sorry for the confusion �
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After their successful raid in Vulcan’s Cave, Evie passed hours real time before he finally arrived just outside of Illusion Forest. The place lay in the little frequented northern part of the continent of the Sprites.
Evie did research beforehand, and much to her surprise, there was already information about the Forest, and some guilds and groups were already planning to enter it.
Rumors said that there was a Boss inside the Forest, and everyone was rearing to take dominion over the stretched tangle woods, fungus-encrusted glades, and directionless and intentionally disorienting paths.
Evie took in the smell of the trees. It wasn’t like wet moss, dump leaves, or rots. Not even the minty, fresh dew of leaves and foliage or cinnamon and the strong bitter smell of barks. It was more of a sickly sweet, vanilla scent. It was overpowering, and upon breathing, could cause fatigue and hallucinations.
Evie blinked.
She didn’t know why Ren recommended this place, but she felt that traversing this Forest solo was a bad idea.
Evie looked at the other players. She was not alone, and there were at least twenty people in the area. But all of them were huddled in groups, and she was the only one standing like a broken doll on the side.
She wasn’t from Zone A, and she came from a faraway country, so she didn’t have anyone here. No family. No relatives. No friends.
Evie didn’t know exactly what she was doing here. She only followed Ren’s suggestion of going to Illusion Forest, hoping to find something unique to her class and become a sought after mercenary just like him.
Evie sighed, and she clutched the black choker on her neck. An added plus LCK on her ATP at least gave her some confidence. Still, they said that the Boss couldn’t be defeated solo. At least five players in a party were needed.
The air was tense as the faces of many. They were competitors, and it was a race on who could kill the Boss first. But since Illusion Forrest was ever-changing, they could breathe easy that the others wouldn’t reach the Boss that quickly even if they went ahead.
All in all, it came down to their luck.
“Looking for members to enter the forest!”
Evie’s attention was drawn to the voice. It was a voice of a woman with white hair and dark skin. Her beauty was exotic, while her personality was strong. She sported an Orcish Race with lean muscles adoring her frame.
The man beside her was younger-looking and a bit meek. He also had a bead of white hair with dark skin. Based on his attire, he was an elven Hunter.
The two were like siblings, which showed in their facial features, especially their silver eyes.
Evie looked at their names over their head.
Roxy and Rox.
Yep, definitely siblings.
Evie went over to them since they were the only group who seemed friendly. The others simply looked at the others from head to toe, asks too many questions and had too many requirements.
And Evie didn’t like how the others looked at her like she was a piece of meat. With her alabaster skin and hair, she was a sight that attracted a lot of attention. As much as possible, she didn’t want to enter a group that had too many acquaintances in it. There was a high chance that they were secretly planning something against a player they had just met.
It was much safer to enter a party that was made up mostly of strangers at this point. In that way, less schemes and everyone couldn’t do anything bad with each other for the fear of being ganged up.
Evie’s attention was straight on her path toward the two siblings when her vision was blocked by a guy with beads of black hair and a happy-go-lucky face.
“Hi. My name’s Gilbert. Are you looking for a group? Why not join ours? We’re only one member away,” he said. His face stretching to its limits with how wide his smile was.
Evie’s stoic face remained impassive as she shifted her attention to the group that Gilbert pointed to.
There were two pretty women in the group. One with the name Emerald with straight black hair that cascaded like silk on her back. She had an angelic face, but his character seemed cold, as portrayed by how she batted her eyelids.
The other one was Lyka, who had curls of pink hair tied in a pigtail on each side of her head. She came off strong and unfriendly, especially from how she looked at Evie from head to toe.
Evie was no stranger to that stare. She got it whenever she went, especially from ladies in her age group. And as much as she didn’t want any trouble, trouble was always following her because of her appearance.
The only one who was looking at her with a smile on their face was Gilberts and the other guy between the two ladies named Michael. The one with a dimpled smile. His hair was brown, and his eyes were green. He was of mixed descent and handsome as hell. He was the type that ladies would swoon over with just a wink and sweet grin.
And from the glint in his bright green eyes, Evie knew that he was interested in her. It showed. And she was no stranger to those looks of half-closed eyelids, sweet smile, and melting expression.
Evie sighed in silence before she looked at Gilbert. “I have another group in mind. Sorry,” she said and left.
Evie could only hope that the others wouldn’t make it harder for her. Luckily, Gilbert didn’t press anymore, and he went back to his friends and shrugged, saying that he had done his best.
At the corner of her eyes, Evie saw Michael frowned, and his smile dropped.
Evie quickened her pace and went to Roxy and Rox.
If she knew this would happen, she should have chosen an Orc as a race. Just like with that guy who arrived at the two siblings before her.
Evie’s eyes squinted a little, reading the name on top of that Orc’s head.
Ragnar . . .
He had a lean frame for an Orc. His blue hair was tied, purposely showing his broad forehead, while he even chose to put on two protruding tusks on his lower lips like he wanted to look ugly.
Evie safely arrived in Roxy’s group and even heard their conversation as she approached.
“Two Orcs in the team? Is that okay, sister?” Rox asked, a bit worried.
Roxy shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Two is better than one anyway.”
“But we need a healer and a mage.”
“I can be both,” Evie chimed in, and she introduced herself. “My name is Evie. Are you still looking for members?”
Evie really tried to sound enthusiastic so she could build a good impression, but it seemed that she would forever be that dead girl with an ethereal face.
Roxy and Rox’s faces lit up upon the sight of her, and Roxy even squatted a little since Evie was short. “Whoa! What a very pretty girl. You look like a doll.”
Rox readily nodded his head, and his half-closed eyes were wide awake.
Evie grumbled under her breath. Roxy seemed like she was in her early twenties while Rox was between her age. That explained the big sister vibe she was getting at Roxy. At least they weren’t antagonistic towards her.
“Are you still recruiting?” Evie changed the topic.
“Ah . . . Yes! Ahahaha.” Roxy pulled her hand and laughed to herself. She almost pinched Evie’s rosy cheeks without thought. She couldn’t resist. Evie was like a porcelain doll!
While Rox was just staring at Evie unblinking before muttering to himself, “G-goddess . . .”
Evie was starting to think that she had made the wrong decision to enter their group, but it was already too late to back out now.
After the brief introduction with the siblings and showing of stats and GS, Roxy and Rox went back to recruiting one more member.
At the side, both Evie and Ragnar were quiet.
Evie took a peek at Ragnar before she introduced herself. “Evie.
Ragnar just briefly looked at Evie and replied, “Ragnar.”
“. . .”
“. . .”
As they waited for a few more to party with them, Evie peeked at Ragnar from time to time. The guy’s height and lean frame reminded her of Ren. And even though Ragnar was intimidating and non-talkative like her, she felt comfortable with him.
It was probably because she didn’t sense any malice from him that she often felt from others.
In short, he was not interested in her, which put her in a comfortable mood.
At that moment, Evie’s notification popped into her view, saying that she had a new message from Ren.
At the name, her heart leaped twice over, and she even missed pressing the [READ] button a few times because her fingers were shaking.
[Ren: Evie, an in-game conversion is bound to happen. Be sure to save as much gil as you can]
A small smile blossomed on Evie’s lips, turning her face from beautiful to divine, and she immediately typed a reply and got conscious because it seemed like she was secretly asking Ren to come with her.
[Evie: Is that so? Thanks. I’m outside of Illusion Forrest right now and about to enter with a group. We are still in need of players]
Evie erased the message and composed anew.
[Evie: Thank you for informing me. I hope we can party again. By the way, I’m about to enter Illusion Forest, and we are still a member short]
Evie groaned and sighed. Why does anything she replies end up secretly asking Ren to join her?
It took her a good thirty minutes to think of a reply, and she had dozens of options before she finally made up her mind of asking if he was free to party with her at that moment.
She was in the middle of typing when she noticed that Roxy and Roz were returning together with four players and she was shocked to find that it was Michael’s group.
Evie didn’t have any chance to compose her message, and she immediately sent Ren a short [We’ll do] before closing her message box just in time for Roxy to introduce the newcomers.
When she was introduced to Michael, and he smiled sweetly at her, asking for her hand to shake, Evie knew that this exploration would turn for the worst.