#- Darkberries Location -#
Zhendra led the search for darkberries with Natasha following behind.
"Why suddenly disgusted with deer meat?" Zhendra asked, curious.
"I don't know either, but I'm not disgusted with deer meat, I'm disgusted when eating deer meat," replied Natasha, struggling a bit to walk through the rocks.
"Actually, I read a rumor on the internet that TAGAR also affects how your brain works when used."
"Neurology, it's the science of the brain, and it is indeed implemented in TAGAR. My dad said, Brune, his boss, uses the same neurological technology as ISA to simulate brain performance under certain conditions adapted to each planet's environment. So, it does affect the brain."
Zhendra stopped and looked at Natasha as she smoothly explained all that, "Absolutely amazing, you can memorize stuff like that."
Natasha continued her difficult steps on the rocks, saying, "And you can walk on these rocks so effortlessly."
"Yeah, shouldn't you be able to as well? You've been playing this for more than three years."
Natasha stopped in her tracks when a thought crossed her mind. She looked at Zhendra, as if transferring what she was thinking to him.
"What?" Zhendra asked.
With a smile, Natasha said, "Could the characters we choose really influence us entirely?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm a high elf who can't eat meat, so I feel disgusted at the thought of eating deer meat. High elves also struggle to walk on rocky terrain, just like me."
Zhendra smiled, "Maybe, if it's like that, it means we truly entered the gaming world. Wow, no wonder TAGAR is called a revolution, it's really cool."
While discussing the possibilities Natasha raised, they both continued their search.
###
In just seven minutes, they reached a small hill in the forest. There, Natasha found some darkberries, which she quickly picked.
While Natasha was busy picking the berries she wanted to eat, Zhendra looked around.
Zhendra saw a light source from where his friends gathered. However, when he looked further, Zhendra found another light source.
"It seems we're not alone in this forest," Zhendra said.
Natasha, still busy eating the darkberries and storing some, heard Zhendra's words and immediately went over to him.
"NPC? Player?" Natasha asked when she was next to Zhendra, looking in the same direction as Zhendra.
"I don't care about that, I just hope they're not stronger than us."
"But can you estimate the distance?"
"I don't know. But it looks far."
"Then we should quickly go back and tell the others."
Zhendra glanced at Natasha, "Are you done with your gardening?"
Natasha nodded, and the two of them then headed back to the camp.
#- Sun of Lion Knight Camp -#
Dens, Hexon, Crocils, Vector, and Gans were still chatting even though their food had run out. Crocils and Dens were still by the campfire, while the rest were already lying in their respective spots.
While they were engrossed in conversation, they were startled by Zhendra and Natasha half-running towards them.
"Are you guys okay?" Dens asked, reflexively approaching the two of them.
Zhendra didn't answer, but he quickly took water from a container made of skålawraq leaves, then poured it onto the campfire until it went out.
"We found another group quite far from here, but if they see a fire, we'll definitely be spotted," Natasha said after catching her breath.
"NPC? Player?" Dens asked.
Natasha shook her head, "Don't know, but we can't do anything that might expose our location."
"Alright, then everyone, get some sleep. Enough rest to recover," said Dens, who quickly prepared his sword and put on his iron armor, "Crocils, get dressed, we need to be ready for our shift."
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Crocils immediately went to his gear. Crocila held his level 3 staff and put on his armor, "Got it."
"I saw at least five shadows, but I might be wrong. Whatever it is, we need to be careful, they're coming from that direction," Zhendra said after putting out the fire and pointing towards the forest to inform them all about the direction of the other group he saw.
"Thanks, we'll take it from here. Rest well, all of you," said Crocils.
Dens and Crocils stood guard, keeping an eye on their surroundings while their friends slept soundly.
Only two and a half hours after Dens and Crocils took their shift, Natasha and Zhendra were awakened by Crocils to take turns on night watch duty.
The first and second shifts went smoothly, as did the following shifts.
Their first night could be considered safe. None of them were attacked. Each in their shift also didn't find anything suspicious, except for the noisy sounds of nocturnal animals in the middle of the forest.
###
In the morning, birds were flying in the clear sky, even though they couldn't see the clear sky.
There was only light warming the cold morning that passing through the dense and tall trees. At least, the light was able to show their surroundings.
They quickly tidied up their belongings and erased the traces of their camp, then they walked through the forest.
They didn't ride their horses, except for Vector and Crocils who rode theirs because they had to pull the forest bear they found.
Preta led the way, their first destination was the river he found at night. They needed water for their journey, so they would get it from the river.
Zhendra was in the second position, behind Preta on the right. He should lead the way according to his position in the group, but since he didn't know the location of the river, he stayed behind Preta. Besides, he would also be in charge of ranged attacks before the enemy could reach them.
Similarly, on the left side assigned to Gans to guard and attack the enemy from a distance.
Behind Zhendra, there was Hexon as the close combatant to defend the group from melee attacks, his main task, of course, was to protect Natasha, who was on his left side.
To the left of Natasha, there's Dens acting as the defense for their group and, of course, for Natasha.
Natasha is right in the middle of the group formation. As the medic, she's crucial for the team, so she gets the highest protection.
Behind Natasha, from left to right, there are Vector and Crocils pulling a forest bear using their horses.
"Looks like there are some feature changes, and we might have to explore them ourselves because there's no tutorial," Zhendra says after checking out his self-UI and trying to figure it out.
Preta is still facing forward, keeping an eye on the road and scanning the surroundings to anticipate any surprise attacks from enemies, if any.
The other members of the Sun of Lion Knight are the same, focusing on their respective tasks. Defense is the key for them to survive in the early game.
Zhendra continues, "For instance, there's an unnamed game attack. HCU that doesn't provide weapons. Moreover, during character creation, the species and races offered are way fewer than they should be."
"You're right. But, I have another hunch about this," Natasha replies.
Without turning his gaze away, Zhendra responds to Natasha, "You mean about us being influenced by the game?"
Zhendra's words catch the attention of the other members of the Sun of Lion Knight, but they still have to focus on their roles, so they just glance briefly.
"What did you find, Nat?" Preta asks while keeping a close eye on the surroundings.
"Our personalities and selves are influenced by the personalities of our characters. For example, I can't eat deer meat because a high elf would never eat the flesh of a living creature," Natasha explains.
"Do you mean we're really playing our characters according to the game lore?" Crocils asked.
"More or less, but how much are we bound by the lore and how much freedom do we get as players, I can't be sure."
"So, the rumors from MTF are true. I read on FWC that we would experience the character as if it were us."
"If there are a lot of changes, then we need to make sure of them first before we start acting again," Preta replied.
"Well then, let's introduce ourselves at the river. That way, each of us can consider our abilities much better. How about that?" suggested Dens.
"Good idea. But for efficiency, let's only mention species and race. I know it's already visible, but there might be differences or changes, so this is just to make sure. Besides, we should also mention our attacks, especially the game attacks," replied Preta.
"What about stats and weapons?" Gans asked, his eyes scanning all the trees he could see to make sure no enemies were coming from above.
"Yes, including attributes. As for weapons, it seems unnecessary. Let's just focus on the results of the weapons, let each one think about the weapon attributes."
"I agree. By the way, how far are we?" Gans replied.
"A few minutes. By the way, I'm also curious, how long have we been playing? Because if I look at the sun, it might be more than half day in the game world," Preta replied.
"About 18 hours. And if the MTF rumors are true for the time after the update, it means we've been playing for less than an hour," Zhendra replied.
"Wow... you can estimate game time? It seems Natasha's words are really true," Hexon replied.
Zhendra smiled while glancing at Hexon, "Fsake is a creature that relies on nature and astronomy, so I can understand things related to nature and astronomy much easier."
"But, what about the MTF rumor you mentioned? I haven't read about it."
"According to MTF, after the update, time will pass faster, about five times."
"So, if-"
Natasha cut off Hexon's words, "Not quite five times. Before the update, the time ratio was 1 to 5, but after the update, if neurology technology is really implemented, it will become 1 to 24."
"Can you explain in simpler terms?" Hexon asked.
"The point is the current time ratio is 1 to 24. So, for every 24 hours on Buarth, it's the same as one hour in reality," replied Preta. "This may be because neurology technology has manipulated our brain's performance."
"You're right. If indeed neurology technology has manipulated our brains, it means our personalities will be adjusted to the characters we choose, and we can't resist it," Natasha replied.
"In other words, are we truly bound by the rules of the game world? Like high elves not being able to eat meat forever," Dens remarked.
Natasha took a deep breath, imagining the taste of meat that would be lost forever because she wouldn't be able to eat it again as a high elf, "If I knew this, I would choose a wood elf."
Natasha's words made some members of the Sun of Lion Knight laugh. They laughed at Natasha's suffering because she couldn't eat meat, even though Natasha liked it.
"Poor you. But, I also have other issues if all this is indeed true," Preta said.
"Norigon needs moisture to survive. So, you won't make it in a desert," Zhendra remarked.
Preta sighed, "And maybe your characters have their downsides too."
Throughout the rest of the journey, they tried to recall the lore of each character they had chosen to identify their weaknesses.
After finding each character's weaknesses, they just sighed, and some regretted choosing their species, while the rest just accepted their fate.