CH 4

Right now, after going out of the town, I was currently walking through the forest trying to find the ruins.

In the game, from the moment you leave the town till you get to the ruins, there’s a battle part. So although I know the general direction of where I need to go, I quickly found out that moving my character from an aerial view and actually navigating through the forest myself, were completely different experiences.

This area was supposed to be the tutorial for the battle part and I cleared it by mindlessly following the game’s instructions but reality was way different from the game.

By now, it should have been around two hours of me searching the area, but I just can’t find the ruins. Thankfully, 【Concealment】had been working the whole time so although I saw a few demons here and there, none of them came and attacked me.

The most common demonic species here was a type of horned rabbit. To put it simply, it was just a rabbit with horns that was more aggressive than normal. It would have been a piece of cake for adults to deal with but I was still an 8-year-old boy so I would have been in trouble if they attacked me.

Though, after searching for a bit more, it was starting to get late and I still had to do work for the guild, so I thought to end the search for today.

******

A few days later, I finally had an idea of where to look. By now, this was my fifth time coming here to look for the ruins, so I had more or less found out the general geography of the area.

Today, I was going to go deeper into the forest than usual, and that’s because I remembered a key area from the game.

In the game, the ruins were located around the upper right of the map but there was also a certain tree diagonal to it at the lower left. In other words, if we can find that tree and go directly north east of it, we can find the ruins.

I continue sneaking around the forest with 【Concealment】activated.

I combed the forest for around half an hour when I found it. A slight opening to the greenery and…

""

‘There we go!’ Here’s the tree I was looking for.

It was a tall and sturdy tree that stood at the middle of the clearing, but what was interesting about it was that it had another tree snaking around it. This was what was called the ‘strangling tree’ in the game. Now all I had to do was go directly northeast from here.

In the game, this forest was the home of the horned rabbits and the inside of the ruins was the home of the Blue Slimes. Neither of them were particularly strong demons, but they were more than enough to kill me if they found me.

Relying on my memory of the game, I proceeded cautiously so as not to make any noise. And after 10 minutes of walking, I arrived at the entrance to the ruins.

I’m sure that that was the same entrance to the ruins I saw in the game’s background during the dialogue part of the game.

That was definitely it… but something unexpected was standing guard in front of it.

A bipedal demon with green skin and a hideous face was patrolling the area.

Instead of the blue slimes that were supposed to be there, there was a goblin.

Because I walked straight towards the entrance of the ruins I walked right in front of the goblin but thankfully there were still no signs I was noticed. If it wasn’t for 【Concealment】I would have been dead by now.

‘Wh-what should I do? Should I just give up and go back?’

No. I can’t do that. Goblins were known to be a race that multiplied rapidly. There doesn’t seem to be as many right now, but if I waited longer, entering the ruins would become impossible. It would become even worse when they started attacking people because then an extermination party would be sent out. Worst case scenario, someone from that party would find the scroll.

Why did the setting change? No, that doesn’t matter. They still couldn’t see through the 【Concealment】skill and so I still had a shot at breaking in.

‘Don’t worry, it’ll be fine’ I tell myself.

I’ll believe in the overpowered skill meant for the heroine of the game

******

The insides of the ruins were damp, but strangely enough, the ceiling and walls were glowing faintly.

If I remember correctly, the game explained that this was because of a special type of glowing moss that grew in ruins and caves.

I knew this, so I didn’t bring a torch with me, but that was definitely the right decision because no matter how good the 【Concealment】skill was, even a fool would notice torchlight in a dimly lit cave.

I slowly crept deeper, making sure not to make a sound.

The『Scroll of Appraisal』was supposed to be found on the first level at the end of the corridor I was currently walking down.

Whenever I see the occasional goblin pass by, I pressed myself against the wall and held my breath. Even when they’d passed, I still walked as quietly as I could.

My heart was beating so hard I thought it would leap out of my chest. I was extremely nervous until I finally reached the end of the hall. There was a small room to the left and a passage to the right that led even deeper.

Without hesitation, I entered the small room to the left. The『Scroll of Appraisal』should be around the back right corner of this room, covered in dirt. But when I entered, there was a pile of random stuff piled up on the floor.

There were copper and silver coins, rusty daggers, bags containing random things, and even a stack of wooden boxes.

‘So that’s what this was!’

This must have been the room where the goblins hoarded their treasures. I tried opening a box to check inside but—

*Creeak*

My blood ran cold when I heard footsteps rushing towards the room. I tried to hide in the corner as fast as I could, just as a group of goblins entered the room.

‘Oh no! did they see me?’

“Giu giu giu.”

The goblin game into the room making some sort of weird, disgusting sound. It sniffed and rummaged around the room as if it were looking for something.

‘Please don’t notice me!’ I prayed as my heart beat wildly in my chest.

I tried to calm myself and held my breath so I wouldn’t make any noise.

The goblin passed just by where I was and I was hit with a strong urge to vomit as its animalistic smell entered my nose, but I did my best to hold it in. It’s okay. It’s really bad but it’s still a lot better than the sewers.

・

・

・

How much time had passed? It felt like an eternity, but the goblins finally left.

‘Thank goodness.’ We seemed to have gotten through unscathed.

I try to look around for the scroll again. I slowly open each box and checked inside but there was nothing. I couldn’t find it!

‘Where was it?’

I checked inside the scattered bags, but I couldn’t find anything resembling a scroll. I tried moving the boxes as quietly as I could but there still wasn’t anything behind them.

‘Did the setting change because I got the『Scroll of Concealment』?’

No, it was still too early to give up. I know the scroll was supposed to be covered in dirt, so maybe it was somewhere in the ground.

I moved the box above where I thought the scroll should have been and checked underneath it.

‘There it is!’ Below it was something that looked like a scroll buried in the dirt. When I dusted the dirt off and checked the scroll’s contents, sure enough, the symbol for “Appraisal” was written on it.

I hastily tucked the scroll into my bag and turned towards the entrance. I’m tempted to just run out of the room and to the entrance, but I can’t do that. I need to be cautious until the end.

I did what I did before. When goblins passed by, I hugged the wall and held my breath. My entire life was depending on【Concealment】to work.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay, calm down.’

I mustered up the courage in my heart to push down my fears and continue out of the ruins.

‘Was this corridor always this long?’ I thought creeping through, until I finally managed to escape the ruins.

I checked my surroundings to make sure there weren’t any goblins nearby then I retraced my steps back to town. I was about to just break into a sprint but I couldn’t let my guard down. It would really suck if I was found by demons now.

Yeah, it’s an adventure through and through until you get back home.

Just as I thought that, the trees finally give way to open fields and the walls of the town comes into view.

‘I can’t believe I made it out alive!’

After making sure I was reasonably safe, I immediately open the 『Scroll of Appraisal』and placed it on the ground and put my right hand on it.

There was a bright flash, then the scroll suddenly disappeared just like the 『Scroll of Concealment』.

I checked my status card.

──────

Name: Allen.

Rank: G

Age: 8

Blessings:

Skills: [Concealment] [Appraisal]

Place of residence: Lurden

Money: 3,911

──────

“Hell yeah!”

I couldn’t help but say that aloud. I was kind of embarrassed, but there wasn’t anyone around to hear me, anyway.

I’m was pretty sure I was safe, but you never know, so I hurriedly went back into town. Anyway, I still had to work for the guild. I can’t skip out on that.

And that was the story of how I got 【Appraisal】.