Bell had set out at dawn, and by the time the sun was nearly down, he finally left the forest and stepped into the open plains and rolling hills.
"Phew… I really thought I'd end up spending the night in that forest."
To be honest, if he had been any later, Bell wouldn't have risked staying in the forest overnight.
Back in the civilized world he used to know, camping might have been normal—but only because those campsites were relatively safe. That kind of camping couldn't be compared to this world of swords and sorcery, where danger lurked behind every tree.
No one could say what kind of monsters were hiding in the forest.
Like acid-spitting ants.
Or camouflaged lizards skilled at ambush.
In short, without sufficient strength, stepping into the forest was a gamble. If you wandered into a monster's territory, they might treat you as an intruder and attack without hesitation.
That's why Bell would rather face whatever threats the plains held.
If the forest's danger came from monsters hiding in the shadows, then the plains' threat came from human nature.
This world was dangerous, and some people carried monsters within themselves.
Still, Bell wasn't afraid of those kinds of people. He didn't have anything worth stealing. Even if a bandit spotted him, they probably wouldn't even bat an eye.
Even counting the contents of his four-dimensional space, Bell's total assets didn't exceed 12,000 Valis. Of that, 10,000 had been left by his grandfather for living expenses. The remaining 2,000 Valis were tied up in clothing, camping tools, utensils, food, three short blades, and three whetstones.
He looked around and decided to set up camp by the side of the main road.
Both the depths of the plains and the hills carried unknown dangers. The road, on the other hand, was often traveled. While there was a risk of being spotted by passing adventurers, Bell was so poor he barely registered as a target. No adventurer would waste the effort on him.
And really—would adventurers camping on the roadside be wealthy or capable to begin with?
Every adventurer likely understood this truth: where there's no profit, there's no threat.
Besides, Bell was just a fourteen-year-old kid who had just come down from the mountains. He hadn't made any enemies. Camping by the roadside was the safest choice.
It also gave him a chance to observe how many people used this road.
Decision made, Bell scanned the area before carefully pulling a small, single-person tent from his four-dimensional space.
It wasn't big, but it looked decent once set up.
He had even stuffed the wooden bed from home into the four-dimensional space, but that was best left untouched. Without a means of transport, pulling out a full bed would only invite suspicion.
He struck a spark with a flint to start a fire, poured water from his supply into a pot, and while it heated, pulled out the prepped meat from the four-dimensional space and started slicing.
"Good thing the old man hunted a bear for me before he left."
Bell silently thanked the old man who had kept his identity hidden. A single bear yielded a lot of meat—enough to last him at least a month.
Since time didn't flow in the four-dimensional space, nothing stored inside ever spoiled.
He kept cutting the bear meat into chunks, cleaned the knife, and returned it to the space.
By then, the water had begun to boil. He carefully dropped the meat into the pot.
The bright red flesh quickly turned a pale white in the boiling water, and a layer of scum formed on the surface.
He scooped out the meat, dumped the water, wiped down the pot, and returned it to the four-dimensional space.
Then he pulled out a frying pan and added just a bit of oil.
Oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar—none of those were cheap, and Bell didn't have much to spare. He always used the smallest amounts possible.
He had no idea when he'd be able to restock again. Maybe not until he reached Orario. Best to conserve now.
Once the bear meat had browned on one side, he flipped it and let it cook through. When it was golden on both sides, he sprinkled a pinch of salt, flipped it again to melt the crystals, and finally took the pan off the fire.
By the time he finished cooking, dusk had faded into night. Darkness had swallowed the sky, and if not for the stars shining faintly, the world might have been pitch black.
Only at the border where forest met plain could one clearly see a single glow of firelight.
The thin trail of smoke curling upward was a clear sign that someone was here.
But the surroundings were unusually quiet—so quiet you could hear the buzzing of mosquitoes, which was actually a good sign out in the wild.
If even the insects went silent, that meant real danger was near.
Bell scanned the area, made sure nothing was amiss, then poured himself a cup of water. He pulled out a fork and began eating his dinner: pan-fried bear meat.
He took a bite.
"Hmm… this tastes a bit different from beef."
The moment his teeth sank into the meat, he noticed the difference—more tender, more springy than beef.
"It's ridiculously good. Just a bit of salt, and it still tastes amazing."
Who knew what was up with that bear, but the flavor was out of this world.
Without realizing it, Bell started eating faster.
Soon enough, the whole plate of meat was gone, safely tucked into his stomach.
Burp~
With a satisfied belch, he chugged the cup of water. The cool liquid made him feel even more content.
"Totally satisfied~"
Full and relaxed, Bell sat on the grass, feeling the tension melt away.
After a day of relentless travel, this time to eat and rest felt like the greatest luxury.
"Next, I need to speed things up… try to reach Orario within a month."
Bell understood that his real adventure would only begin once he arrived in Orario.
Out here, there wasn't anything like the Dungeon's monster respawn system. And for rookie adventurers, the upper levels of the Dungeon were far safer than the unpredictable wilderness.
The biggest advantage was that adventurers could choose which floor to tackle based on their own strength.
Out here, monsters still existed—but their levels were all over the place. Wander into an area beyond your capabilities, and that was it. Game over.
That's one of the downsides of a truly open world.
Newcomers could easily blunder into zones where low-level players had no way forward.