Whoosh!
The Realm Portal hummed, and then a humanoid figure walked out of the orange spiral-like smoke.
After stepping out of the realm portal, Isaac opened his eyes and saw the Rainwell village shrouded in a thick layer of mist while raindrops fell down heavily from the dark gray sky.
"Damn!" He began running as his outfit was soon drenched. The wooden saloon was the closest building to him, which was again operational, with lights seeping out from the windows and illuminating the somewhat dark street.
Thump!
With a loud thump, Isaac stormed inside the saloon. His whole body was soaked and soggy.
The elderly men and women turned to look at the white-haired young man before continuing their drinks and discussions.
The bartender took out a towel and tossed it toward Isaac, who grabbed it with a wave of his hand and began drying up his wet hair.
Then, he got seated on a stool and asked, "How often is it raining here?"
"Daily." The bartender said while using a thin cloth to clean the glass cups.
"Haahhh…" Isaac massaged his temples. The rain felt weirder to him than the most. It was precisely back in Brightstar when he saw rain, and it was an important day for multiple reasons.
Now, he'd seen two heavy rainstorms in only two days.
"I have a question." A bartender said and put the glass cup back in its previous place, below the desk.
"Hmm?" Isaac stopped drying up his hair.
"What do Players actually do?" The bartender asked, "I know you guys hunt down the corrupted monsters and wild animals. But, what else?"
"Corrupted monsters and wild animals?" Isaac's brows furrowed into a questioning look.
"Yes, they are corrupted." The bartender said with a raised eyebrow. Seeing the white-haired young man's look, he understood what he didn't know it meant.
"They weren't always liked that." He said and continued, "They lived together, in harmony. The wild animals didn't attack humans, and monsters lived in their own villages."
"What happened?" Isaac asked.
"I don't know…" The bartender looked down and saw the clean wooden desk with water dribblets disappearing, "Everything changed ten years ago… They became evil… Vengeful."
Isaac rested his chin on his palm and thought about what he heard with a deep look. Then, the heavy rain pours stopped, and a shimmer of sunlight peeked through the dark clouds.
The dark gray sky cleared up, and the yellow sphere reappeared.
"Rain's over." The bartender said with slight relief, "The rain won't happen again tonight. It never does twice a day."
Isaac nodded and stood up from the stool, "Thanks."
"No problem." He said and continued doing his job, serving drinks, and cleaning the dirty tables.
Isaac left the saloon and saw the muddy ground. There was wetness airborne, and the air had gone cold.
Then, Isaac returned to the broken-down inn and rented a room for a week. The innkeeper was angry at the destruction his last stay caused, but gladly, the twins paid for the damages, and he could actually rent another room.
After paying the rent, he left the inn and continued walking in the streets. Soon, he saw the gate of the village and a dense and lush-filled forest.
The forest was enormous with beautiful greenery, and flower patches enjoyed the grace of the sunlight. The thick branches and leaves moved back and forth alongside the wind, and the chirping of birds echoed throughout the air.
Isaac left the village through the gates and noticed that there weren't guards like in other villages. It was doubtful whether this place even needed.
It was fairly abandoned. The population was around 100, and there were only a few players.
Isaac stopped in front of the forest, where the grass part begins. Below his feet was the muddy ground, and only a step away was the wet grassland.
He stepped forth and walked past the first trees. Then, a notification emerged out of thin air.
[You Entered Forest of Rainwell!]
He waited for the next row of notifications, but it never came. His brows scrunched up as he thought there would be a level limit. But there wasn't.
'Hmm… No level limit… That could mean danger.'
'I really hope that there aren't similar beings like the giant centipede… Now that I think about it, the level limit of the forest was 100, and it was definitely above that…'
'Well… The centipede wasn't actually within the forest… Instead, underground, in its own lair.'
Isaac stepped deeper into the forest and saw the water droplets landing on his shoulders before drying up. The trees and leaves were still drenched, and the ground was soft.
The deeper he walked, the denser the forest became. In the distance, he could see a slight uphill that raised above the tree line.
After reaching the top of the uphill, there was smoother ground with even more trees. There was a slight opening through the branches, where I could see a wide-area void of any woods.
Then, after reaching the vast area, the scene I expected to see happen. Three, wide, and fat-looking warthogs were using their horns to dig the ground.
Then, they heard the approaching footsteps and saw Isaac standing with his hand slowly approaching his back.
The warthogs' hooves began smashing the ground before running toward him. Their tusks were in an attacking position, slightly slanted upward.
"Khrrr!"
Isaac took out his weapon and fired immediately after the barrel pointed at the first warthog.
Bang!
The bullet pierced through the first warthogs' forehead, killing it swiftly. However, two remained, and they were already pushing their bodies forward.
"Shit!" Isaac put his gun in the way, but once the four tusks collided with it, his bones rattled as he was forced back with great strength.
After crashing to the ground, he quickly used the gun as a walking stick and stood up with his legs feeling the heaviness of the attack. Then, warthogs rushed forward, this time with the intent to kill.
Isaac grabbed several rocks from the ground and froze them over before throwing them at the warthogs. The bullets landed on their faces, but that barely did any damage.
But that gave enough time for Isaac to move into his firing position.
BANG!
BANG!
