[Regional Channel 666 (Abandoned Forest) 9983 / 10000]
In just one morning, seventeen people had already died.
No one knew the exact cause of their deaths, but one thing was certain—this forest was far more dangerous than Arya had imagined when she was first thrown into this bizarre world. The Abandoned Forest deserved its name.
Still, the news served as a sharp reminder: she needed to be extremely cautious every time she stepped outside her Shelter.
The regional chat was already bustling.
"I'm starving. Has anyone found a supply chest? Please, I'll trade anything—just spare me some food."
"You can find one or two just by walking around. What, you haven't even stepped outside your Shelter yet? Useless beggar. Go die."
"Looks like the professional internet beggars have migrated to Karim too."
"Help! My Shelter spawned thirty meters up a tree. Someone save me!"
Someone responded dryly:
"Save yourself. Find vines nearby and climb down."
Another message popped up:
"There are wolves in the forest. Be careful when gathering."
Arya paused. Wolves?
So the glowing eyes watching her last night hadn't been monsters she couldn't identify—they were wolves. She had worried over nothing.
But the chat kept spiraling.
"Everyone, absolutely DO NOT drink the water from the creek. I took one sip and felt awful all over. I've had diarrhea for an hour!"
Arya blinked.
The creek water was undrinkable?
It looked clear… almost too clear. She hadn't planned to drink it yet, but she had considered using it to bathe and wash her clothes. If the water was contaminated, then her long-awaited bath and clean-clothes dream would be ruined.
She straightened, suddenly much more alert, and scrolled down.
"Diarrhea? Shelters have toilets?"
"I found a treasure chest."
Instant uproar.
"A treasure chest?! Boss, quick—what's inside?"
"A 500-gram loaf of bread, one bottle of water, and a box of tissues."
"You found water, so why did you drink creek water earlier?"
"Because I drank it before I found the chest."
"Are you selling the bread? I'll trade two basic units!"
"Get lost. You want me to trade you a treasure chest full of poop?"
Someone else chimed in:
"Why are you so sure it was the creek water? It looks clear and clean."
"Yeah, fear-mongering. I drank it too and I'm still fine."
The man who originally complained snapped back:
"I only realized something was wrong after I got back and checked my personal status. It says my internal Mana concentration is excessive!"
Silence for a second—then chaos again.
"Excessive Mana concentration? Are you saying the water has too much Mana for humans?"
"How should I know?! Leave me alone! I'm still stuck on the toilet!"
"Toilet? Or are you squatting on top of the treasure chest?"
Laughter filled the chat.
Arya raised an eyebrow. Excessive Mana concentration? That was a new one.
But thinking back to the announcement the world will made when they first arrived yesterday—"Even the air is saturated with Mana"—perhaps water with high Mana wasn't abnormal. In fact, it was a miracle that humans could breathe Mana-heavy air without being poisoned.
Maybe that was why the supply chests still contained Blue Star products—the world was giving them a buffer period.
Arya frowned thoughtfully as she read on.
Suddenly, a new message exploded into existence—a furious, profanity-filled rant from a user whose avatar showed a bearded man with a cloth wrapped around his head, unmistakably A-san in style.
After being questioned repeatedly, the man finally gave his reason.
"Damn it! Everyone beware! That bastard James Bellman is a scammer. He promised to trade me a pickaxe yesterday. After tricking me into handing over mine, he refused to give me the axe!"
Ah. Arya instantly understood.
She remembered the conversation in the chat last night—someone negotiating a tool trade. It turned out the man had been scammed.
New world. New dangers. Yet he still trusted strangers.
Arya could only think: Serves you right.
Before James could defend himself, another user suddenly jumped in.
"A scammer? Singh, look who's talking. Don't think we forgot you were jailed for fraud two years ago."
The argument spiraled rapidly.
"Yo, isn't that Nalin? Gave up on smuggling and became a justice warrior?"
"I heard barking. Wu Gang, weren't you nearly beaten to death for illegal logging?"
"Hahaha! I didn't notice last night, but there are some familiar faces here!"
"Shut up, Bihu! You still haven't paid me back! If I find your Shelter, I'll kill you."
"Oh please, Capone. You think you're the Godfather? Wake up, this is another world."
"What kind of Evilman Valley is this? So many criminals."
Another person chimed in:
"666 indeed. Did the Karim World's Will intentionally group all criminals together so they'd kill each other?"
"What karmic sin did I commit to be thrown into the same region as this bunch of animals?"
"This is going to be fun. Let's see what tricks the scum of the Abandoned Forest pull next."
"If you cowards dare come out, pray you don't meet me."
"Oh nooo, I'm sooo scared! Come find me using the Magic Desk's internet cable!"
"F***!"
"Damn KB elements! Blue Star's been unified for decades—why aren't you all extinct yet!"
The chat devolved completely.
Arya rubbed her temples.
Good heavens.
After reading through the participants, she estimated that at least half of the ten thousand people in District 666 were criminals.
Robbers, thieves, murderers, fraudsters, corrupt officials, poisoners, spies, arsonists, drunk drivers, smugglers, poachers, traffickers, extortionists, counterfeiters—you name it, someone here had done it.
District 666 wasn't an Abandoned Forest.
It was a real-life villain's den—an Evilman Valley even more wicked than the actual Evilman Valley.
Arya even recognized the avatars of the tall, sneaky man and the short, scarred man who had tried to break into her room last night.
She sighed.
Still, as long as she remained vigilant and lived far away from the crazier ones, she would be fine.
After finishing a coconut bun and an apple, Arya cleaned up her trash, stepped outside, and used her Gathering Art on the vines climbing her tree. More vines fell.
[Vines +20]
…Still twenty?
Frowning, Arya experimented. She flew out and used the Gathering Art on a massive tree. The technique barely scratched the bark, yet wooden blocks tumbled down.
She counted carefully.
[Wood +20]
Then she tried the same on a stone.
[Stone +20]
Always twenty.
Was twenty the fixed amount her Gathering Art could collect per use?
If so, that lined up perfectly with the Mana cost.
She had 80 Mana and recovered one per minute. In an hour and twenty minutes, she could use the skill four times, collecting 80 basic units.
To gather over three thousand basic units, she'd need around forty to fifty hours—two to three days. Using a weapon to gather might be faster, but she couldn't swing one when her Mana was depleted. She needed over an hour to recover fully.
This was why she had brought back the Alchemy Handbook.
Doing nothing while waiting for Mana recovery was agonizing.
Even with the Magic Desk to browse the chat, she couldn't stare at chaotic nonsense forever.
She didn't know what this world's Alchemy was like, but at least reading about it could distract her.
As for the E-grade monster core, it likely came from the creatures that had been watching her last night—the wolves.
Which meant fighting monsters would be necessary.
Arya exhaled slowly.
That was going to be troublesome.
She had almost no offensive ability.
But her Mana needed time to recover anyway. She could think about dangerous things later.
For now, she returned to her Shelter, lay back, and closed her eyes.
One step at a time.