-237- Secret Medicine of the Forest

As time passed, the sun gradually set, casting a dim hue over the forest in the distance.

"Wu!"

Rainbow Butterfly scattered phosphorescent powder while flying rapidly towards the direction of the forest amidst sparkling light effects.

Of course, Rozen was ahead as it's owner.

Rozen and Kirito were running at the fastest speed across the grassland, heading towards the forest.

Along the way, an indescribable silence hung between them.

They didn't exchange a single word; they simply focused on running forward.

Since the goal was to improve their strength, the natural first step in this game world was clear.

Leveling up.

Only by leveling up could characters gain enhancements, increase attributes, acquire skill slots, and raise their HP limit for greater safety.

Rozen and Kirito intended to level up.

However, the training areas around the main street zones were filled with relatively safe zones and low-level monsters. While this ensured more players' safety, preventing them from being killed by low-level monsters instantly, risk and reward were directly proportional in the game. Not hunting higher-level monsters risked lower efficiency in experience gain.

Moreover, once players realized the reality of the death game, many would likely have the same intention as Rozen and Kirito and head here, the area around starting town's vicinity, first.

After all, although the efficiency of experience gain was lower, it was relatively safe. Players would surely start exploring the surroundings of the starting town, gradually improving themselves.

However, in Sword Art Online, monster respawns were fixed in quantity and time. This meant that the number of monsters was set for a certain duration. They wouldn't respawn unless it was the time for them to do so, or the conditions for respawn were met.

In such a scenario, the training areas around the starting town would likely be heavily occupied by many players. Monster kill rights would lead to various conflicts between players.

Furthermore, the number of wilderness treasure chests was limited, and certain rare tasks had limited acceptance counts. These resources would all become targets of players' competition.

Whoever could secure more resources could become stronger.

This was why Kirito said, "We have to monopolize all the resources that can help us grow stronger."

This is what he meant.

Of course, this path was full of obstacles.

Because of their experience from the closed beta, most closed beta players were likely planning the same thing, creating a gap between them and regular players, positioning themselves at the top of this world.

And naturally, regular players would feel anger, envy, and even resentment about this situation.

Simply because they didn't have the luck to participate in the closed beta, the chance to become stronger was taken away by closed beta players, along with the right to access more resources. In the future, regular players would undoubtedly feel great exclusion and even hatred toward closed beta players.

Kirito couldn't possibly be unaware of this fact.

Yet, he still chose this path.

Because...

"I don't want to die."

Kirito's muttered words reached Rozen's ears clearly.

To this, Rozen didn't say anything; he just kept his head down and continued running forward.

Although Rozen's starting point was different from Kirito's, he also had no intention of giving up the valuable experience from the closed beta.

Rozen wasn't magnanimous enough to share the closed beta experience selflessly and share resources with all players, becoming stronger together. Therefore, he and Kirito were heading to a specific place together.

That place was a small village to the northwest of the starting town, called Horunka.

Compared to the sprawling starting town at the southern tip of Floor 1, Horunka was a small village. However, it not only had an inn, a weapon shop, and an item store, but it was also part of the safe zone, making it a decent hub for activities.

Of course, that wasn't the most important aspect.

The most important thing was that the forest around it didn't have overly strong monsters. The efficiency of experience gain was also higher than the training areas around the starting town. Plus, other players probably hadn't reached this area yet. Rozen and Kirito could easily monopolize the monsters around them, gain a large amount of experience, level up, and also have a chance to obtain better drop items and materials. There was no reason not to choose it.

In Floor 1, there were a few such villages.

However, Rozen and Kirito chose this village for a specific reason: they could accept a popular quest from the closed beta test there.

The quest's objective was to obtain the ovule of a species of carnivorous plants from the forest for an NPC women in Horunka. She needed it to brew a remedy that could cure her daughter's illness.

Completing this quest would offer a substantial reward.

For Kirito, that reward was something worth pursuing wholeheartedly, while for Rozen, it was an effective enhancement method in the early stages.

As a result, Rozen and Kirito continued their journey in silence, heading into the forest as quickly as possible, avoiding all monsters and following a small path.

Before long, they reached the village of Horunka.

Just like during the closed beta, Horuka's land area was extremely small. Even if you counted the number of shops and inns, there were only a dozen or so buildings. The NPCs living here didn't react obviously to the sudden intrusion of the two teenagers; they were going about their activities according to their programmed routines.

Rozen and Kirito stood at the entrance of the village.

Immediately after,

"Ao...Rozen," Kirito finally spoke, intending to say something to Rozen.

However, Rozen had already guessed what Kirito was about to say.

So, Rozen preemptively responded, "Let's go to the weapon shop first." He said bluntly, "Don't worry, I'm not so unprepared that I don't even have a weapon. I've been using my low-HP familiar and my blade throwing skill, which has already used up all my throwing items, to grind monsters here."

With that said, Rozen headed in the direction of the weapon shop.

"Wait... wait up!"

Kirito quickly caught up.

About ten minutes later, Rozen and Kirito reappeared, but both of them had changed.

Kirito now wore a brown leather open-collared top, swapping out his previous cloth outfit for leather armor. Clearly, he had purchased new armor to increase his defense.

As for Rozen, his attire hadn't changed, but he now had a new addition at his waist.

It was a single-handed bronze sword.

Additionally, both Rozen and Kirito had added quite a few potion bottles to their pouches. Rozen's pouch also contained a fair number of throwing items.

Evidently, both of them had effectively utilized their money to achieve the best possible enhancements at the moment.