Chapter 7: Chapter 7 – Foraging in the woods for delicious treats

The best feeling in the world was waking up before dawn in a comfortable bed. There’s something magical about the peace and quiet of the early morning hours that I loved, and it was the perfect time to reflect on the day ahead. I always felt like I could conquer anything when I started my day with a good night’s sleep. Not only that, but I even had a pleasant dream of a pet dragon.

Outside, the first light of dawn was slowly creeping over the horizon, casting a gentle pink and orange glow over the sky and forest. The air was cool and fresh, and the fresh, springtime smell of the trees and earth was intoxicating.

This was all a far cry from the urban landscape of Singapore that used to greet me when I woke up. Less than a month ago, I was stressing out over exams and feeling hopeless about my future prospects as an orphan with very little money left. Not to mention, I had a very spotty academic record due to changing schools pretty often because I traveled all over the world with my parents.

This world, on the other hand, offered me boundless opportunities and a relaxing life in the countryside.

I don’t know exactly when it happened, but I had pretty much decided that I wouldn’t bother to look for a way to return to Earth.

“Isn’t life grand?” I said out loud to myself as I tended to my crops.

I checked each potato plant, making sure that they were all healthy and strong. Then I pulled up a few weeds that had sprung up overnight before I watered the plants.

Upon checking the calendar, I noticed it was now halfway through the growing season. The potato plants were knee-high now, with lots of fresh green leaves and thick brown stalks. The faint glow around them was a silvery color that seemed very mystical to me.

Although weeding and watering the plants only gave a little farming experience, two weeks’ worth of effort had resulted in a few more levels.

[Player Name: Violet

Farming Skills:

Farming Level 7, Fishing Level 7, Woodcutting Level 7, Cooking Level 1, Herblaw (locked), Foraging (locked), Hunting (locked), Mining (locked)]

I had done enough fishing and woodcutting to max out those two skills that were capped by my farming level. My next step would be to either start doing some quests or unlock my foraging skill and other skills. Neither one filled me with anticipation.

Even in the game, I always hated quests. The rewards were mostly useless, and the quests were mostly combat-related or simple “fetch X item for me.”

As for foraging, it was really fun when I was playing Adventure Incarnate, but in real life it involved a lot of tramping about in the woods. Things that would’ve taken only a few seconds or minutes in the game would take me hours in real life, all for a few measly flowers, berries, eggs, etc. It just wasn’t worth it when I already had all the items I needed.

Quests? Or foraging?

Eventually, of course, I would have to do both since they were required to progress some skills. Foraging, in particular, was vital to unlock the herblaw skill. In the game, making potions required a lot of unusual items that one could only find in the wild. Of course, because of my crazy inventory, I wouldn’t actually need to scour the forest for herblaw ingredients, but foraging was still needed to unlock the skill.

After much deliberation, I decided that going foraging would be preferable. All I would have to do was to visit some likely spots in the forest where wild berries, herbs, and mushrooms could be found. In the game, of course, I knew all the places that were good for finding food and herbs, but I was doubtful whether it would be that easy in real life. For one thing, in the game moving from one hearing to another only took a few clicks of the mouse, but here it would take a considerable amount of walking until I got level 20 farming, which was when mounts could be used.

Still, what is life without adventure and exploration?

I put on some good brown leather boots and sturdy cotton pants and shirt that were suitable for tramping around in the woods. There was no need for a basket, since I could just place everything in my inventory. The System tool belt had a variety of knives and scissors that I could use.

Yesterday it had rained in the late afternoon, so it was likely that there would be a few mushrooms that had sprouted overnight. I picked a direction at random and started walking, keeping my eyes peeled for berry bushes and fallen logs. It didn’t take long before I found some small brown mushrooms at the base of an oak tree.

[Spring Porcini Mushrooms:

A large, fleshy mushroom prized for its earthy flavor and meaty texture.]

Hmmm? That was strange. Surely porcini mushrooms grew in Europe? I mean, I wasn’t on Earth, but the place I was in was more Asian than European. Then again, this was a spirit mushroom. Maybe those simply grew wherever they wanted to grow?

If I didn’t have the System guiding me, I would never have tried to go foraging for mushrooms, since there were quite a few poisonous ones that were hard to identify.

Using the System, I plucked half a dozen of the porcinis and went on my way, making sure not to take all of them. Over-foraging a spot could result in these wild mushrooms disappearing for years.

Glancing at the System status screen, I saw I had gotten a tiny amount of foraging experience. Wow, this was going to take a while to level.

I walked on, feeling quite cheerful at the thought of finding some good things to eat, when I chanced upon a honeyberry bush.

Jackpot!

[Honeyberries:

A small, round berry with a golden skin. The flesh is sweet, with a delicate flavor that is a cross between honey and citrus. The berries are often used in desserts and baking, or can be eaten on their own as a sweet snack.]

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There was a large bush with green and blue leaves the height of my waist that had around two dozen tiny berries growing on it. This time, I didn’t bother to place the berries in my inventory.

I carefully selected the biggest, juiciest-looking berry from the bush, making sure to avoid the ones that looked withered or moldy, and put it in my mouth. The honeyberry was still warm from the sun, and its sweetness exploded on my tongue when I bit into it. I closed my eyes to savor the flavor. It was like a burst of sweet sunshine. The delicious taste of the berry was even better than I had expected, and I quickly picked more of them until I had my fill of the delicious berries, loving every moment.

This was the life I’d dreamed of when I was playing the game!

I couldn’t believe that I had finished off all the berries that looked good enough to eat. I was quite full and debating whether I should head home when I heard a rustling sound on my right side. The System map showed a red dot, meaning an enemy was nearby. I quickly took my teddy bear, who I had named Mr. Bear, from my pocket and threw him in the direction of the noise.

Mr. Bear grew to two feet high and assumed an extremely cute attack position as I drew an iron shield and sword from my inventory. During my frequent fishing trips, I had seen a few red dots, probably dangerous wildlife, on my map, but never one that was this close.

In a few moments, the enemy revealed itself. It was a Horned Rabbit.

[Horned Rabbit:

An aggressive monster commonly found in the forests of the Westerlands, easily recognizable by their large horns and floppy ears. Horned rabbits are fast and agile, making them hard to catch. Their diet consists of leaves, grass, and other vegetation.]

Now that the enemy had revealed itself, a transparent heads-up display or HUD superimposed itself over my field of vision.

I could see Mr. Bear’s stats on the right side.

[Mr. Bear

Level 1

HP: 10/10]

The enemy’s stats were visible on the left side.

[Horned Rabbit

Level 2

HP: 15/15]

At the bottom of the HUD was Mr. Bear’s action bar.

[Skills:

Punch

Kick

Fireball]

Since my magical puppet was the mage type, I immediately sent him a mental order to attack with a fireball.

The Horned Rabbit was no slouch either. It rushed towards me, but was stopped by a fireball in the face. Screeching horribly, it ran off.

I waited for a few tense seconds to see if there were any more threats, but there were no more red dots on the map.

“You did great, Mr. Bear,” I said to my teddy bear. I picked him up, and the magical puppet automatically shrank to fit in my hand. “Good job.”

I put him back in my pocket.

My heart was pounding wildly in the aftermath of my victory. While I had been fighting, there had been no time to think, but now that it was over, I felt a bit shaken. I’d never been in a fight on Earth.

“What to do?” Though I was unscathed, I was nervous about walking further now that I knew that there were Horned Rabbits in this area of the woods. Discretion being the better part of valor, I decided to head back home.

Foraging was harder than I thought!