Chapter 36: The Wooden Building

In just this one night, the information Xia Nan gathered from the half-elf Haian and the rogue Wood surpassed everything he had learned over the previous days combined.

Being out in the wilderness, neither the time nor the space allowed him to truly begin training and studying new combat techniques. However, he now had a tangible goal to strive for: learn two more combat techniques and attain a “Professional” rank. Even if he eventually left the adventuring life, the status of a “Professional” would function like a technical certification from his previous life, allowing him to live comfortably in this world.

Haian had already promised to help Xia Nan find a suitable mentor to assist with his training once the mission concluded and they returned to Neum. From a cold, calculating perspective, a single favor had secured Xia Nan—a man who had just arrived in this world—access to channels and high-level training that he otherwise would have completely lacked. While Xia Nan hadn’t framed it that way, there was no doubt this was a favorable exchange.

Driven by a desire to absorb as much relevant knowledge as possible, Xia Nan sat by the campfire and questioned them about “Professionals,” “Combat Techniques,” and “Adventurers”—everything concerning the supernatural forces of this world—until the moon deepened and the mist grew thick.

This was no cozy, safe tavern. They remained in the perilous Mist Forest, and there was a long journey ahead the next day. They set a guard rotation and settled in for a quick rest.

…

The party reached the vicinity where the wooden token had been discovered. As dawn broke, they packed their gear and marched deeper into the forest, shrouded in mist.

Unexpectedly, despite venturing deeper into the outer reaches of the Mist Forest—where the frequency of dangerous encounters should have logically increased—they didn’t encounter a single monster throughout the entire morning. The only “thrill” was a black leopard with golden eyes, the size of a young bull, that crossed their path. It was pitch black with a sleek, oily coat, its paws making no sound as it stepped on the meadow. It didn’t attack; it simply watched the squad from afar, determined they weren’t suitable prey, and retreated into the shadows of the dense forest. If not for Wood’s warning, the group wouldn’t even have noticed the encounter.

Wood later explained that it was likely because of the four Rust Monsters from the day before, which had scared off the weaker monsters in the area, allowing the group to travel so smoothly.

“Hiss!”

A long snake with pale yellow spots on its scales was driven out of the grass by a battered one-handed hammer. Its slender body undulated, vanishing into the depths of the bushes.

“Another one! Did we walk into a snake nest or something?” Larry wiped the dense sweat from his forehead, muttering. Because his one-handed hammer had been contaminated with the corrosive toxins of the Rust Monsters, it was no longer functional as a weapon, so he used it as a probe to drive away snakes and insects. However, the weight of the metal hammer seemed to be draining his stamina, and he was panting heavily. Yet, he didn’t suggest a rest.

Compared to before, the squad’s pace had slowed down significantly. Much like sandy soil becoming more moist and fertile as it nears an oasis, or the air growing heavy with moisture near a lake, the proximity to their destination was marked by the increasing appearance of peculiar objects—not unlike the carriage they had found earlier.

Xia Nan saw half a thatched hut, a collapsed tile-roofed house, and even a five-story wooden building. Although they were all crumbling ruins, the details remaining in the debris clearly identified them as having the same origin as the token and the carriage—an intensely distinct Eastern architectural style.

Following Wood’s lead, they had carefully checked the ruins. While they found many traces of life left by sentient beings, they found no corpses. Furthermore, these severely damaged structures, which looked like lost ancient ruins, were built with surprisingly new materials, showing almost no signs of erosion from time.

“Crack.”

Twigs snapped. As he walked through the mist in the dense forest, Xia Nan looked straight ahead, his mind focused, wary of the dense bushes and long grass. His left hand, hanging naturally at his side, gripped a smooth, cold object—a shard of porcelain he had picked up in the ruins.

It was hard to imagine that, having traveled to this fantasy world, he would encounter such a traditional, thin-bodied, and warm-glazed object. He had felt quite surprised at the time and reflexively picked it up from the debris.

Feeling the gentle texture against his fingertips, his mind flashed back to the judgment Wood had given earlier regarding the ten-meter-tall, half-collapsed wooden building:

“Based on the level of damage the mist has inflicted on these wooden materials, this structure has likely only stood in the Mist Forest for a month or two. Of course, considering the resources, manpower required, and the dangerous environment, I don’t believe anyone is actually living here.”

The statement was immediately countered by Haian and the others. After all, the building was right there; if no one lived there, what was the point of building it?

Xia Nan had his own thoughts on the matter. Unlike the others in the squad, who were born and raised in this world, the soul in Xia Nan’s body came from another. The knowledge and memories of his past life’s modern society, combined with the countless familiar details in the ruins, allowed him to identify the purpose of that towering wooden structure with a single glance—

It was a restaurant.

The situation became increasingly bizarre. A restaurant built deep in a forest filled with dangerous monsters—who would patronize it? Looking at the building density along the way, even if those ruined huts and houses were full, the population couldn’t possibly support a food and lodging establishment of that scale.

Moreover, to Xia Nan, who had at least a basic concept of urban planning, this was madness. It wasn’t like a planned city; he saw a dilapidated shack from a slum, and two steps later, an exquisite house for dignitaries. It was building after building, with no rhyme or reason.

It didn’t feel like someone had gone to the trouble of building these in the deep forest to settle down. It felt more like an invisible hand had reached across space and time, snatched a few buildings from a town in a different reality—a world with an entirely different aesthetic—and tossed them carelessly into the Mist Forest.

(End of Chapter)