The Daily Life of the Late Bloomer Tamer

Chapter 7: In the Western Forest

I talked to an old man at the farming guild, and he told me that there is a river deep in the western forest. Maybe there are some new items along the river. The old man told me that I could pick up a stone called Water Pumice stone. It's a useful item that can purify the water. There is also a mining point, but I don't have any items for mining, so I decided to skip it for now.

"All right, let's prepare the wound medicine for later use."

I set the shortcut setting for the wound medicine. Now, I can quickly get the item from my storage by thinking the keyword. It's really convenient. Though, I heard that the effect will be reduced.

"The keyword is...... 'Cure' should be fine."

I head towards the western forest. I just sneak in, grabs, and run away. I'm not going to fight. I'm just going to collect items.

"Let's go."

My destination is the river.

I started walking with great enthusiasm, and 20 minutes later.

"Cure!"

Yes, I suddenly used one of the 4 wound medicines I have. The pill suddenly appeared in my mouth, so I almost spit it out.

Even though it's the lowest level recovery method, my HP completely recovered, and that's kinda pathetic. But my current situation is really bad, damn it!

"Cuu!"

I'm being chased by a small squirrel. It's an adorable little squirrel with grey fur. However, it was so small and fast that I don't think I can hit it.

The grey squirrel is the second weakest monster. Though for me, it is a strong enemy!　I must run. I didn't look back, forget about collecting, and just kept running.

I couldn't use my wound medicine because of the cooldown time. My damage kept accumulating as I run. Damn it, I must get out of here!

Maybe I had been running for more than five minutes. My energy is running out, and I'm getting out of breath. And the grey squirrel that had been chasing me had disappeared. It looks like I managed to escape.

"Huff, huff. That's hard! If this isn't a game, I would be the one who is chasing for sure!"

Luckily or unluckily, I was able to gain quite a bit of distance by running blindly. Looking at the map, I am already halfway through the forest.

There should be a river.......

The river was easy to find. Well, it is more like a stream than a river.

When I found the river, the cooldown time for the wound medicine was over, so I decided to recover my HP for the time being.

I'll just walk along the river for now.

If I keep walking, I might be able to find some water pumice stone. But after starting to walk for a while, I regret it.

It's so hard to walk along the riverside.

Everything was realistically recreated. I saw a green marker in the middle of the stream. At first glance, it only looked like a piece of stone. But, when I appraised it, I found out that it is not an ordinary stone.

Name: Water Pumice Stone　

Rarity: 2 Quality: ★1

Effect: If placed inside water, it will purify the water.

The effect description is a bit vague. I guess it's meant to make an item called "Water Purifier". I need to experiment with it later.

"Okay, I wish there is something else. Maybe a new plant....... Oh, there's another green marker over there."

The next green marker I see is at the border between the stream and the forest. Something is there.

I approached it to check it out. But nothing there, only the ground. There is some kind of short grass, but it is just ordinary grass that grows everywhere.

"? What?"

I wonder if the grass is an item after all, so I try to appraise it by facing the ground.

Name: Humus　

Rarity: 1 Quality: ★1

Effect: If spread on a farm, it will increase the cultivation effect. The effect lasts for five days. It can be used with other fertilizers.

I see. So this ground itself is an item!　Besides, it is a perfect item for me.

I tried to gather it, but I could only gather it once. The effect is supposed to last for five days, so it's good for now. It was an unexpected catch.

"Next, it would be great if I could find some rare plants that I've never seen before."

So far, I've only collected medicinal plants. The sky is getting darker, and night is coming. I must hurry.

Gasa.

"I knew it. It's not going to work out that easy..."

A Fang Rat appeared. I don't know what the hell he wants, but the moment he sees me, he jumps at me.

"Gee!　Cu, cure!"

It seems that I got a critical hit, and my HP instantly plunged into the red zone with some cool light green effects.

"Damn it!"

I won't let it end like this. I am deep in the forest. I had to run as far as I could and grab something. After running as hard as I could again, I managed to get away from the Fang Rat. Before I knew it, he was out of my sight.

"That was close......"

I had less than 20% HP left. If I had taken one or two more hits, I would be back dead. Let's wait for the wound medicine's cooldown time to end and then resume the search.

"Cure."

I consume the last wound medicine to recover my HP. Now I have no way to recover anymore. I hope the monsters won't come out again.

Despite my prayers, I encountered 3 Fang Rats.

It's time for another escape dash. I just kept running away. But while I am running, those rats keep attacking me. Each time I get a jolt in my back, but if I fall, it's over. I am surprised at my own stamina and kept running forward.

"Damn it, it's a cliff!"

I'd just shaken off two of them!　I'm desperate. I just want to get away from them all. I saw a few green markers along the way, but I ignored them all.

My HP is slowly decreasing, and it's making me impatient. They're going to kill me soon. But I'm not giving up!

"I'm going to get there!"

There is a tree in front of me. It stood alone at the top of a cliff with a view of the river below. The tree looked very different from the other trees.

"Uryaaa!"

I squeezed my energy and climb up the cliff In front of me.

"Huff huff......, peach tree?"

There is only one fruit on the tree. Guided by the green marker, I plucked the fruit from the tree.

Name: Green Peach Fruit　

Rarity: 2 Quality: ★1

Effect: Restores the user's fullness by 10%.

"I made it......!"

"Your gathering skill has been raised to Lv.2.

And my gathering skill is raised!　It's a peach! The rarity is 2, too. Isn't this my lucky day? I hurriedly put the peach into my storage.

"The rat... Gee!"

"Jujuu!"

Before I knew it, a Fang Rat is behind me. I couldn't hear his footsteps because of the river sound.

The Fang Rat's body slammed into my back. Then my body is pushed forward.

"Holy shit!"

Of course, I fall into the cliff ahead.

"Hiii!"

I was super scared. Because it's a bungee jump without any rope. The water surface is getting closer and closer.

"Gyaaa!"

I scream out in fear. I am as scared as I was when Wild Dog killed me.

A few seconds later, I was slammed into the water from more than ten meters high. It didn't hurt, but it was quite a shock. Then, my body feels like floating up, and I see the scenery of the familiar square.

"So I'm revived."

I'm already used to it. With all the players staring at me, I walked home.

"I'm back!"

"Muumuu!"

Orto runs up to me.

"Muumuu, Muumu."

Is he trying to say something?

"What's up?"

"Mumu."

In the direction that Orto was pointing, I see some young leaves that have grown quite a bit. They are not sprouts anymore.

"So fast! They've already grown this much?"

"Mu."

"Amazing. Orto, you're amazing."

"Mumummu."

"Oh, yeah. This your souvenirs?"

"Muu."

For the time being, I gave him the humus. Orto was so happy that he jumped up and down. He immediately spread it on the farm.

"Also, what can we do with this?

"Mu?"

I showed the green peach to Orto. I thought it might be possible to grow them if we have the fruit. If it's not possible, I'll sell it off somewhere.......

"Mmm. Mmm.

Orto tried to remember, and the peaches turned into a seedling. It seems that grasses turn into seeds, and trees turn into seedlings. However, unlike the grass seed, which can multiply into two, the tree seedling is only one. Maybe it's because they can be harvested multiple times when they grow.

Name: Green Peach Tree Seedling.　

Rarity: 2 Quality: ★1

Effect: A seedling that will grow into a green peach tree. It is impossible for a beginner to grow it.

Hmm, I guess it's still not possible to grow this seed. I'm glad Orto has the Plants Growing skill.

"Your enlist skill has been raised to Lv2."

Oh, after the gathering, the enlist skill was also raised. I'll raise my level little by little like this.

"However, there's nothing left for me to do today. I think I'll just log out for now. It's already night."

It's dangerous to go out at night.

No, wait. Is this really okay?　My start is stumbling. Maybe I should find something I can do to gain experience, even if it's just a little?

In the meantime, I'll check the Adventurers' Guild forums. If there's a request that I can handle, I'll take the quest. If not, I'll give up. Fortunately, I found it.

Handyman Quest

Description: Wash dishes

Reward: 50G, medicinal herbs x2

Deadline: Today

It's a straightforward quest, washing dishes at an inn. The reward is the lowest level, but I'm grateful that I can do it safely. I'll take it.

Four hours later.

I am walking to the guild to report the quest completion. I never thought I'd be washing dishes in a game, even if it was a quest I chose myself.

"I'm so tired......."

The Adventurer's Guild is always open, even at night. Moreover, the NPCs are different from the daytime. As expected of LJO, every detail is realistic. The quest report was instantly done. I got my reward without any problem.

"Now, what should I do? It's already night."

I'm mentally exhausted. I think I'll log out once. Better to let my character get some sleep and start moving right at dawn. I'll leave the farm to Orto.

"Ah, let's try the water pumice stone."

I fill a bucket with water from the well and put water pumice stone inside it. There is no change. Apparently, I need to leave it there for a while.

"See you tomorrow."

"Mummu."