"Vivi, return to the home screen."
– All-Devouring Breathing Technique: Level 1
– Voice of Tranquility: Level 1
– Pain Tolerance: Level 2"
"So these skills can be leveled up. They're pretty good, but I don't have any attack or defense skills to survive," I said, staring at the status window with a hand on my chin. A gentle shove came from behind.
"What happened, Ruru? Why are you pushing me?" I asked. But she kept urging me forward.
"Do you want to show me something?" I asked. She didn't reply.
"All right, all right. I'll follow you."
She led me to a nearby tree at the entry of the forest. She touched the tree with its antlers. The bark slowly faded away, revealing an entrance within the trunk.
"Wooww, this is awesome," I exclaimed in disbelief.
I stepped forward and entered the trunk. Inside was a wooden room. A white bedsheet lay in the left corner; numerous weapons were arranged on the right—a large metallic bow, a quiver full of arrows, a bundle of maces, spears, and greatswords.
And beside them, on a hook in the wooden wall, a black jacket and trousers were hanging.
But what stood out the most was the black-colored greatsword stuck in the wooden log at the center. There was something engraved on the sword in a language I couldn't understand.
The room was strangely clean, as if it had just been used recently. As I moved further inside, I noticed something tied with a thread to the hilt of the black-colored greatsword. It was a letter.
I opened the letter, and it read:
"If you are reading this letter, that means you have been acknowledged by Ruru and Vivi. So, everything in this room belongs to you now. Use these things wisely, successor."
"Vivi, do you know whom this letter belongs to?" I asked, spreading the paper.
Vivi didn't respond for a few seconds. Then a message popped up.
"The host doesn't have enough authority to access this information."
"Hah, I knew you would say that," I replied, folding the paper and moving to the armour section.
I took off my clothes and put on the ones hanging on the hook. Then I grabbed the mace and stepped outside the room.
When I came out and looked at the starry night, a thought came to me: it had been more than two days since I arrived in Vyonam, and I hadn't felt even a little bit of hunger. And also, I hadn't seen sunlight even once. It was always dark and gloomy.
Ruru walked toward me and knelt on her back legs.
"What? Do you want me to climb onto you?" I asked.
She nodded with a hint of a smile on her face. I grabbed the hair on her neck and lifted myself onto her back.
"So, are you going to take me out of this forest, Ruru?" I asked, leaning forward to her ears.
She started pawing her right leg against the ground. I immediately knew what she was about to do.
I grabbed her hair tightly and shouted, "Oy, oy, take it slo—"
But I was too late. She had already taken off , running like a Ferrari, as I clung to her hair—or to my dear life, I should say.
She was moving so fast that, with just a single jump, she passed a giant tree.
It was a roller-coaster ride for almost five minutes before she slowed down and came to a complete stop in front of a large bush.
"What happened, Ruru? Why did you stop? We aren't out of the forest yet," I asked, but she suddenly reared and made me fall to the ground.
"Ow! That was rude," I nagged, rubbing my butt.
I got up, but then I heard some noises beyond the bush. I carefully moved it aside to take a look. My eyes widened at the sight in front of me. We stood at the edge of the cliff, but the true sight to behold lay below.
There were tens of thousands of deer in front of me. All of their eyes glowed violet, each one hosting the same leech-like parasite clinging to its body—some on the head, others on the back or legs.
Some had more purple veins than others, while some had more hue in their eyes.
They were all breathing heavily, some were already lying on the ground, while some were barely standing.
Ruru pushed me towards them.
"Do-do you want me to cure all of them, Ruru? But-but there are too many. I can't do it?"
"You have discovered the Cursed Deer Clan"
"A new side quest has been triggered"
→ Free the Cursed Deer from Their Agony
Reward: Guide to Soulforce Manipulation – Level 0"
"Haha, you want me to fight an entire army of cursed deer just for a level 0 guide?" I laughed, placing my hand on my face.
"Vivi dear, I have a request."
"Vivi is here to help. Waiting for the request…"
"Take this Soulforce guide and shove it into your fucking ass, you bastard," I shouted, pointing a middle finger toward the window.
"The reward is given based on the user's current understanding of the subject. If you had even the tiniest level of comprehension regarding Soulforce, the reward would have been Level 1 or 2. But you lack even the most basic proficiency, resulting in a smaller reward."
"Woh-woh, does this Vivi have an ego or what? Whatever it is, I've never felt this insulted before," I muttered, clenching my fist.
Then I turned to Ruru and said, "Ruru, I'm going to save your kin—and don't you dare think I'm doing this for you. I'm only doing this to put that rude AI in its place."