Entering the Orc Forest, I was once again moved.
"Wow."
It's been a while, Orc Forest!
Sunlight seeps through the dense leaves of the giant trees. The sunlight scattered inside the forest creates indescribably beautiful scenery, drawing lines of light in various ways.
A sight that's hard to see in South Korea, at least. The unique beauty that can only be seen in the forests of the Astria continent, a fantasy world.
It felt like experiencing again the emotion I felt when I returned to the Astria continent.
Most of the huge forests in 'Astria Online' that users go through are either hunting grounds or faction battlefields.
But enjoying scenery like this is also one way to savor the Astria continent.
Of course, until the previous expansion pack, I was active in the northern Elf Forest, but the scenery of this forest in the central part of the continent offered a different beauty from the northern forests. The types of trees are different, and the environment where plants grow is different.
In fact, I don't think I looked around properly at the time because I was so focused on leveling up.
Tap tap tap! Clang!
Screech!
"Oh."
A male user wearing beginner adventurer clothes caught my eye. What he's holding is a sword? The guy who looks like a swordsman was fighting an orc. He's tall, but his face looks a bit young. At best, he might be a high school student?
The Orc Forest, this beginner hunting ground, is incredibly vast. Not just the Orc Forest, but this continent as a whole uses wide areas as user activity zones. Dungeons are solved through instance fields generated for individuals or parties.
Astria Online, which divides servers for North America, Europe, Asia, etc., but doesn't divide channels, is in a way one open world. Hunting grounds can easily overlap. This game resolves that inconvenience with wide fields.
They said the game overwrites the continent's history as it progresses. What will be the real history of the continent? How is the history of other country servers unfolding?
Am I leading this continent towards a bright future?
Swoosh!
Screech!
After being lost in thought for a while, the swordsman friend who was bravely fighting an orc seems to have finally defeated it. The orc spewed milk and lay on the ground, and the swordsman friend wiped the sweat from his forehead and sheathed his sword.
And then he looked this way.
"Hah!"
I jumped slightly and calmed my startled heart.
Rain, what are you doing? Why are you flinching?
He's just a high school student, a little newbie.
I'm a proper adult woman and a veteran user.
With an awkward smile, I waved my hand gently towards him in greeting.
"Ah, hello?"
"Ah, the pretty girl from the advertisement!"
He pointed at me with a surprised expression.
Moreover, his face is a bit red. Why?
Tap tap.
He approached me quickly and avoided eye contact, tapping the nearby tree.
"...?"
"U-Um. Are you perhaps the girl from the advertisement?"
Why are you talking without making eye contact?
And, informal speech? Girl?
Barely holding back my cheeks from puffing up, I spoke sharply.
"Hmph, girl? This game was an adult game, wasn't it? If someone shot that advertisement then, wouldn't you think they'd naturally be an adult?"
"Woah... Are you a noona?"
He wore an extremely surprised expression. Seeing such a shocked expression, even though he's tall, he's definitely still a kid.
"Noona...? Yeah. I'm a noona."
It's the first time I've been called noona.
It's a word with a nice ring to it. Cute kid.
Looking up at him, I gave him a confident smile of an adult woman, a cool expression.
After shaking off the high school boy who kept trying to chat with me, asking for friend requests and personal information, I walked around the Orc Forest observing the newbies.
The purpose of my coming here today is not to help newbies level up or run bus services. With the safety filter on now, it's hard to hunt anyway, and I thought it would be nice to look back at the places I've been through on this occasion.
And I wanted to see this kind of sight too.
Clang, thud! Thwack!
"Yah! Ha!"
"Hey, hey! You pulled aggro from me! Hit a bit harder!"
"Shouldn't you control your own damage!?"
A girl who seems to be a Fighter, a boy who looks like an Elementalist. A small party of two kids was struggling against one elite orc.
My goodness, the girl is the tank and the boy is the ranged DPS?
I watched the cute newbies hunting from behind a tree, my eyes sparkling.
A laugh unconsciously escaped from my slightly parted lips.
"Hehe, so cute."
Are these kids in middle school?
Most of the underage newbies I met today were taller than me. But these children are about the same height as me. I haven't seen any children shorter than me yet.
Screech!
Clap!
"Yay~"
After dealing with one elite orc, the two did an adorable high-five. As I was smiling at them from behind the tree, I suddenly checked a field announcement that popped up.
[The Orc Forest field boss, 'Orc Warrior', has appeared!]
"Oh."
I killed this one too.
It's a field boss that gives cute outfits and the first rare equipment.
"Orc Warrior!?"
"It's a field boss! It seems to be nearby? Let's go quickly! If we're late, a ton of users will gather!"
As I watched the two friends running off, I also moved through the trees tracking them.
Roar-!
Clang clang clang!
"Ugh!?"
"Kyaa!"
With the roar of the Orc Warrior with its huge body, the large axe in its hand swept around. Some newbies fell, spilling milk after being cut by the axe. But most of them minimized damage through excellent responses like blocking and counterattacks.
The 'Orc Warrior', the first giant field boss encountered by users starting Astria Online, is a friendly sandbag that helps them learn accurate timing for response skills, evasion ability, and sustained dealing ability. When you can defeat this guy excellently, you're qualified to challenge the first elite dungeon 'Orc King's Cave'.
Clang clang! Clang!
Boom boom boom!
Ranged class users maintained distance while shooting magic, spirits, talismans, arrows, etc. from afar, while fighter and swordsman class users were getting used to the sense of blocking and counterattacking while responding to the Orc Warrior's axe.
As I watched them hiding in a nearby tree, my eyes found a small girl bravely fighting face to face with the Orc Warrior.
"Oh."
A child with light brown short hair and bright green eyes. The sword in the girl's tiny hands moves quickly.
Clang!
The girl blocked the giant Orc Warrior's axe coming down on her with perfect timing, then quickly pulled back her sword and used the thrust that activates immediately after blocking.
Thud thud thud!
I could tell for sure. The smallest girl among the many newbies was currently dealing the most damage and securing the Orc Warrior's aggro.
"She's good."
And she's exceptionally cute among the children gathered here.
Beads of sweat form on her forehead and flutter, her large green eyes are tinged with appropriate tension and determination. And the excellent reaction speed and skill use timing she shows in battle. She's an excellent girl swordsman. It feels like seeing myself in my newbie days.
Clang! Thud!
"Ha!"
A sharp battle cry bursts from the small lips of the girl swinging her sword powerfully.
My goodness, even her battle cry is cute.
I clasped my hands together, wishing for the brown-haired girl's struggle with eager eyes.
Come on, little one, you can do it!
"Ah!"
They probably couldn't see it because they were all busy dealing with the axe's area attacks. But I, who was focusing all my attention on the girl's movements, could see it.
The swordsman girl stumbled. It was because her feet got slightly tangled. I guess it's still difficult to adapt to this game's synchronization rate with just a few hours of playtime.
Swoosh!
The Orc Warrior's axe fell on the stumbling girl's body with a terrifying sound. If left like this, the girl would suffer a big wound and spill milk. Of course, even if she doesn't actually die, I couldn't just watch a cute little girl in pain.
Even while thinking that a veteran shouldn't interfere with newbies hunting, my body moved on its own.
Crack!
"Kweek?"
Before I knew it, I had reached the front of the Orc Warrior and lightly swung Astaroth. The Orc Warrior showed a puzzled expression holding its axe that had been cut from the handle.
"Chweeek!"
But that was only for a moment. The Orc Warrior, having lost its weapon, soon became enraged and started attacking by charging with its whole body.
I scratched my head while dodging the Orc Warrior's fist flying towards my front.
"Eh, sorry."
I felt very sorry to both the Orc Warrior and the newbies.
"Wow! You're incredibly strong!"
"You? That person is a veteran user! Isn't she the one who did the advertisement for this game? I heard she's a complete master!"
"Kyaa! Unnie? Can I call you unnie? My goodness, you're so cu... no, beautiful!"
Newbies crowded around me.
The young friends approached me with sparkling eyes or slightly reddened faces. There are friends about the same height as me, but I, being on the smaller side among them, was completely buried by them.
"Ah, haha."
I laughed awkwardly and stepped back.
A little distance away, I saw a small brown-haired girl bow her head slightly and disappear into the forest.