Chapter 1: I Became a Druid in Another World

It was a surprisingly peaceful night.

The deep violet sky was clear without a single cloud in sight, and the stars scattered like salt were each shining beautifully. The gentle breeze blowing from a distance seemed to carry a strangely sweet smell.

Crackle, Crackle…

After gazing at the sky for a while, I finally turned my gaze to the vigorously burning campfire.

Come to think of it, there was something called "bulmeong" (staring into the crackling campfire) that was quite popular in my previous life.

People would light small campfires, fireplaces, or stoves and just stare at them for a while calling it "healing".

I remember thinking, "I should give it a try too," not too long ago…

And that was already three months ago.

Almost like a habit, I naturally found myself reminiscing once more about the happenings of three months ago.

Back then…

It was still chilly, so I would lie on the warm floor with my back against the pillow and browse the web on my phone.

I would catch up on missed broadcasts, read overdue webtoons, and check the news.

…those were good times.

Thinking and planning around simple keywords like "bulmeong" (staring into the crackling campfire), camping, and healing—back then, life really seemed to be good.

I was twenty-eight years old.

I got a decent job—nothing fancy, but nothing bad either! My only wish was to have an apartment in my name.

With that wish in mind, I did not date, met fewer friends, and worked hard to earn money.

I got a job right after graduation, worked like crazy, and within two years, I became a manager.

Oh, how many real estate cafes did I browse through in pursuit of my dream home?

I read books, kept myself updated with the news and studied until my head felt like it would explode…

But for some reason, even when I think of keywords like real estate, apartments, and investments right now, my heart doesn't race anymore.

And it was only natural.

Because right now, I was not on Earth in the 21st century anymore.

"Haah…"

As if by habit, I let out a deep sigh and then lifted a rustic wooden flask I had personally crafted to my lips.

The fragrant and sweet grape wine poured into my throat.

Gulp, gulp, gulp…

I emptied the entire flask.

Indeed, it was a good idea to bring this along. That damn old woman sure knows how to brew a good drink.

Thanks to the grape wine, even my breath carried the sweet scent of grapes.

It's fortunate that at least this level of sustenance is possible.

If not for that, I might not have endured this pseudo-medieval land and would have resorted to ending it all long ago.

"Hey, Theodore."

Theodore.

Now, that is my name.

Never mind traveling abroad; I've never even attended a basic English academy, and yet here I am with a name like this.

I looked up at the man who called me by the name "Theodore".

This one was Jamil, the captain of a mercenary band.

"It's time for the shift change."

It had already come to that time?

Looking up at the sky again, I noticed that the stars had moved.

More precisely, it might not be the stars that moved but this planet, whether it was Earth or not, that was rotating.

…Or was it?

Well, this was what they called a "different world", after all.

Right now, I might not be on a round planet like Earth but on a square-shaped one for all I know.

"You're here early."

"Haha, sorry. I'm just so tired."

"No need to apologize. It'll be 80 cooper then."

He was originally an hour late for the shift change.

I simply called the price according to the basic hourly rate.

When he heard the price I suggested, he jumped in surprise.

"80 cooper! I was just a little late!"

"You were an hour late."

"You know how tough today's battle was!"

"Didn't I participate in that tough battle too?"

He bit his lip at my words.

Yeah, he probably had nothing to say.

It was clear to anyone that I did the work of two mercenaries during the goblin attack.

"Hand it over."

"Ugh…"

"Hand it over before I tell your leader."

"30 cooper! I'll give you 30 cooper."

"80 cooper."

"40 cooper! 40 cooper!"

"80 cooper."

"50 cooper… I can't give you more than that!"

I pondered for a moment.

50 cooper would be around 5,000 won.

It's enough to cover a couple of meals.

Well, equating the fixed hourly wage in South Korea with the wage in this medieval land was a bit too much.

"60 cooper."

At the final price I called, he cursed under his breath and poured the coins onto my palm.

Considering a meal costs around 20 cooper, 60 cooper should cover a day's worth of food expenses.

"So, don't be late from now on."

After gathering the coins into my worn-out pouch, I patted Jamil on the shoulder and headed towards the tent.

"It's cramped…"

A tent where only my body could barely fit inside.

This was considered one of the better ones.

Lower-ranked mercenaries or servants belonging to the merchants had to sleep on the ground without even a cramped tent like this one.

Luckily, I chose the right class…

Even with a blanket laid out, I closed my eyes while lying on the hard ground.

I guess I had already become accustomed to this lifestyle.

I naturally reflected on the past three months.

Should I say it was a habit I developed after suddenly falling into another world?

From being a typical office worker in South Korea named Kang Tae-oh to becoming a druid named "Theodore" in another world…

People say you never know what lies ahead, but isn't this a bit too unexpected?

To be transported to another world due to a traffic accident, it's almost like a cliche….

That's right.

I, who thought I had died after being hit by a huge truck on my way home from work, soon woke up in the game I was playing.

I was hit by the so-called "Isekai truck-kun".

Was it a fortune among the misfortunes that it wasn't painful?

Did that contract end well?

Perhaps the identity of Kang Tae-oh, who was the marketing department manager of the game company, was still lingering within me.

I sighed deeply while worrying about a contract that no longer had anything to do with the current me.

It was quite the big contract, especially for a newly appointed manager…

It would be a lie if I said I didn't feel regret.

Even now, my desire to return to my original world was stronger than the sense of relief from somehow still being alive.

It's been three months, and the apartment I had my eye on for a while is probably starting its presale soon…

It feels like the brochure for the apartment is flickering right in front of my eyes.

I tossed and turned in an attempt to erase those thoughts.

Right.

Now was not the time to be concerned about work, contracts, or real estate.

What matters now is surviving.

Unlike the democratic nation of South Korea which has a high level of public safety, this pseudo-medieval land was filled with various dangers.

Surviving for three months was fortunate enough.

Of course, it wasn't solely due to luck that I managed to survive.

I was able to survive until now thanks to having quite a bit of information about this harsh "other world".

<Age of Envis> 

Abbreviated as AOE.

It was the latest MMORPG that our team worked on marketing for.

I also played the game with my team members.

Memories from that time came to my mind.

While everyone was choosing classes like knight, warrior, and mage, I was the only one who chose the "druid" class.

"Manager Kang! Druid is not a recommended class, you know."

I could almost hear the worried voice of my junior who spoke with such concern to me.

"I think it might be better to go for a knight or warrior…"

"Woo Kyung-ssi, do you think I've only played games once or twice?"

"Huh?"

"I have more than 20 years of gaming experience, over 20 years I tell you."

"But why…"

"Healing."

"Healing?"

"I've enjoyed most games enough, so this time, I'm going for a healing concept. AOE has stunning dungeon landscapes, monster designs, and animal modeling. I can't travel because I'm too busy, so shouldn't I enjoy traveling and leisure inside the game?"

Healing.

There was a time when I used to talk about such things.

Well, choosing the druid class back then turned out to be a good decision in the end.

If I had chosen a knight or warrior, I would have died long ago in this world.

If I had chosen a mage, I probably would have gone broke.

Putting everything aside and judging "realistically" based on AOE…

A druid was not a bad class.

In fact, it was a pretty good one.

Firstly, you could tame "beasts" which would in trunk help keep you safe from lurking dangers.

On top of that, you can also use druidic magic and "shapeshift" to gain the power of the beast.

Of course, the most important aspect was the ability to "heal".

In this pseudo-medieval land, there were no proper hospitals, doctors, or even pharmacies.

There were only ridiculously expensive temples with healing services and potions crafted by wizards, not to mention absurd folk remedies.

In a world where every moment was a continuous struggle for survival, having the ability to "heal" was nothing short of a blessing.

Thanks to that, I've been able to survive until now…

Thanks to my various abilities, especially my precious healing ability, I've received quite favorable treatment from people.

However, it wasn't like I managed to just cruise through this life by relying solely on my healing ability.

This world was not such a rosy one.

The number of scum who coveted my abilities and tried to use me as a "healing slave" was too many to even count.

As a result, I had to kill quite a number of people.

The same goes for monsters, I've killed dozens.

As a result, whether I liked it or not, I had to adapt to this world.

Since the skills I initially had weren't particularly remarkable, I had to endure quite the difficult days.

As a Druid, the basic skill I had was [Affinity].

Thanks to this, I could be safe from attacks by beasts.

In this pseudo-medieval land where most people were dying from monster and beast attacks, having the [Affinity] skill was truly a blessing in disguise.

Other skills were also quite useful.

[Plant Manipulation], which allowed me to grow plants around me to create traps or corner enemies, and [Nature's Arrow], where I imbued handmade bows and arrows with the essence of the forest to attack enemies, were more than helpful in overcoming various hardships.

The same goes for [Beastly Strength].

Even though it was temporary, the power it granted was akin to that of a beast, and so it was quite useful.

It was even better because as your level goes up, the power and duration of the skill also increase.

However, no matter how you look at it, the most crucial skill was [Nature's Healing].

A skill that helped me a lot not only in survival but also in gaining more money.

Unlike the blessings from temples or potions, [Nature's Healing] was a skill that helped in recovery by improving the target's own inherent healing power.

Thanks to this, there were no side effects that might arise like those from blessings or potions.

That's the reason why the price of my skill has been increasing day by day.

This was all because the druid's starting skills were not "limited" but rather "versatile".

I have now reached level 12.

Thanks to the smooth rise in my level, I gained better skills and became stronger than in the beginning.

I became powerful enough to take on mid-level and upper-level escort missions.

Now that three months have passed, I think it's about time to start <that >.

I stood up and unfolded the old book I had in my arms.

To others, this palm-sized old book might seem like an old book filled with unreadable characters, seemingly useless and impossible to read, but it was a very important book to me.

Various game information, skills, quests, and so on—everything was written in this book. And all in Korean.

The same goes for <that >

Decorating the first page of the quest table of contents…

[Main Quest: Find the Temple of the Origin God.]

A quest to find the temple of the "Origin God".

It sounded simple enough in words.

The problem lay in the words "Origin God" and "temple". I had no clues or anything.

Even so, my only hope was that by resolving the main quest like in the game, I might be able to return to my original world.

In order to get clues about the origin God, I leveled up and even got a mercenary badge.

In the game, this would have been achievable in three weeks, or even three days, but…

It was different here.

It took a whopping three months.

If it took three months just to get this far, how much more time would it take in the future…

I couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.

Let's see, once I find out about this Origin God or whatever, I'll definitely go back home.

Just like I had vowed every night for the past three months, I went to sleep with this deep resolve once more.