"Do you see it?"
Claire looked at Hannah, hoping her friend was having better luck than she was.
Staring at the ground, Hannah shook her head. "I don't think there are any tracks, not because we're new at this. Maybe we should go deeper?"
They had been trying to locate any signs of the horned rabbits. Though there was no way for them to be told exactly where the horned rabbits were located, the Guild had provided a rough area where the animal frequented.
"The Guild had mentioned that the horned rabbit wouldn't go too deep into the forest, so we should try moving along the edge," Claire pointed out the information they had received.
Standing up straight, from bending down to look at the ground closer, Hannah stretched. She sighed at the progress they made. "Though I didn't think it was going to be a cakewalk, I figured it'd be easier than this," Hannah complained, though her expression wasn't reflecting the mood.
Claire felt the same as Hannah. She sensed that Hannah was enjoying the process more than feeling frustrated about it. "It's definitely different from what we're used to doing," She chuckled. "If we were back home, we'd be focusing on studying for a science class or something. Instead, we're trying to find a fantasy creature on the edge of the forest."
As they both laughed, though trying to keep the sound low as to not scare any animals, they moved along the edge of the forest while trying to see any signs of animals.
Pulling out her handgun, Claire checked the setting, making sure that the power of the weapon wouldn't incinerate the animal. "It's a good thing that the worker had reminded them about the importance of not setting the power high, even walking us through the process. Even though it's not real, if the Guild was an actual company, I could see it becoming quickly popular due to the friendly customer service." Claire thought to herself, remembering how the woman had placed so much care when explaining how to use the weapon. The woman had even directed them to someone that could walk them through more training if they needed it.
As though sensing Claire's thoughts, Hannah said, "I'm still surprised how the Guild provided all that training for free. I would've thought we'd have needed to pay a decent amount of Guild Points."
Claire nodded, feeling equally surprised. She thought back to what the woman had said to them.
"The Guild is here to support the adventurers. Feel free to take advantage of the resources we provide since the better you develop your talents, you'll both bring in more benefits to the Guild and provide a positive promotion for the Guild." The woman smiled as she sensed their hesitation in getting more training.
Though her parents never complained about their working environment in the hospital, Claire knew that not everyone had such a great environment when working for someone else. It was the reason why she was surprised to learn how the Guild inside of simulation treated adventurers.
Walking, Claire's eyes scanned the ground, in hopes of finding any signs of tracks belonging to horned rabbits. Though they had already invested several hours into looking for the monsters, Claire felt the time wasn't wasted. "The fact that we have to discover where horned rabbits are located, it feels as though we're actually developing a useful skill that'll translate to the real world outside of the simulation." She cheered herself inside her mind. "We also learned how to cook the rabbit with ingredients found in our surroundings, meaning that we should be able to do the same when hunting game outside of the Fort. Though we'll need to check with Darlina whether the plants taught to us are the same as in the real world." Though there was a sliver of doubt in Claire's mind, she had a strong feeling that the plant-life they had been taught to look out for when cooking is the same as what's outside of the simulation.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
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End of Part 1
"There!" Hannah pointed ahead of them.
Claire's eyes rushed to look at where Hannah was indicating, excited to see any progress on the job they took. Her heart beat stronger as she noticed the slight indentation in the ground.
Approaching the prints, Claire was better able to see the tracks, though there were only two prints on the ground. "Do horned rabbits walk on two legs?" She wondered. As she looked around the tracks to see in what direction the rabbit had gone, she remembered what the Guild had taught them. They had been shown an example and the orientation as the rabbit moved.
Just a little bit away, she noticed another set of prints that were slightly smaller than the first two. It was at that moment that it clicked in her mind.
"It looks like the rabbit was quickly moving," Hannah reached the same conclusion as Claire.
"That must be the reason why the two sets are separated. The rabbit having quickly moved." Claire agreed with her friend.
Though it was only discovering tracks of an animal, Claire felt excited as though she had received a positive grade on an exam. The only difference between the two is finding animal tracks could lead them to be able to survive, several times better than being able to get a good job. "I think I understand why guys seem to enjoy hunting so much," Claire thought back to some classmates who went on hunting trips with their dads.
"Let's hurry!" Hannah carefully followed the tracks.
Sticking a finger in her mouth, Claire held it in front of her to test out the air. "The wind is blowing towards us, good." She quickly ran through all the suggestions they had received for hunting animals.
"Claire, I think we should switch to our rifles," Hannah suggested. "I'm worried that if we get too close, then it'll be able to hear our movements."
"Agreed," Claire switched over to her rifle. "Double check the setting," She reminded her friend.
"Checked," Hannah answered with the rifle in her hands. The butt of the rifle slightly tucked under her right shoulder with the barrel pointing to the ground.
Claire followed the same motion, preparing her rifle.
As they cautiously moved forward, while following the tracks, Claire focused ahead of them as Hannah made sure to keep an eye on the prints of the monster.
Wanting to prevent herself from getting overexcited, Claire breathed slowly out. "Stay calm, Claire," She warned herself. "We put in so much effort to finally find signs of this thing. You don't want to mess up in the end, right?"
Every now and then, the two sets were close to one another. Clarie recognized that it was a sign that the horned rabbit had stopped to eat some of the vegetation before continuing on. There were small patches of some type of plant that looked to be a preference of the monster. "I'll have to keep that in mind," Claire thought to herself.
She used the barrel of the rifle to move some of the vegetation, seeing the signs of the monster had eaten some kind of berry. "I don't think this is something humans can eat."
Being careful, Claire reached down to snag part of the plant so they could ask the Guild worker whether the fruit was something adventurers could eat or if it was exclusive for monsters. She put the plant into a pouch on her waist. The armor had come with several pouches to help them gather food in the wild or for supplies purchased in the Guild.
Straightening, she checked their surroundings. She was startled when Hannah had gently touched her arm.
Looking at her friend, Hannah had a finger to her lips to indicate for Claire to be quiet. Slowly, Hannah moved the finger to point ahead of them.
Following Hannah's finger, Claire didn't know what she was looking for immediately. It took a moment before she saw a horn stick above the grass before dipping down. With the gentle blowing of the wind, she could make out the body of the horned rabbit, which appeared to be eating something in front of it.
Since Hannah had been the first to spot the monster, Claire gave her friend a thumbs up to indicate that Hannah should take the shot.
Claire got her rifle ready as she waited for Hannah to pull the trigger.
"In case Hannah misses, I'll need to be ready to shoot the monster as it runs." Claire raised the barrel, keeping her body loose in preparation to quickly aim if Hannah failed. "It'll either run away or try to charge us," Claire reminded herself.
Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Hannah getting ready to take the shot.
Claire could feel herself beginning to sweat, waiting to see the result of their first encounter with a monster in the simulation.