Second World Online

The morning sunlight filtering through the gaps in my bedroom curtains felt different today. Brighter, warmer or perhaps it was just my feelings that were currently at their peak. After the brief yet extraordinarily relieving night walk with Mira last night, I slept extremely soundly. No nightmares, no cold sweats, and no aching joint pain that usually forced me awake in the middle of the night.

I sat on the edge of the bed, wiping my face with a small damp towel that Mira had prepared on the nightstand. The warm water from the towel refreshed my pores. When my hand combed the strands of hair back behind my head, the straight black strands fell once again, covering my shoulders.

The door of my room slid open with a soft hissing sound. Doctor Karin entered in her oversized white coat, her gaze focused on the medical tablet screen filled with a series of my biometric data. Mira followed behind her, carrying a wooden tray containing breakfast two slices of toasted whole-wheat bread, a protein-calibrated boiled egg, and a glass of warm water.

"Morning, Rian," Doctor Karin greeted with her usual professional smile. However, this morning, when she shifted her gaze from the tablet screen to me, there was a slight wonder that could not be hidden behind her thin-framed glasses. "Slept well?"

"Extremely well, Doctor. Last night’s night wind seemed to be a more effective medicine than any medical prescription," I answered honestly. I accepted the tray from Mira while returning the soft smile of my lover. Her eyes reflected happiness at seeing me look fresher.

Doctor Karin nodded while continuing to tap her tablet screen. "The monitoring results from your medical capsule sensors showed a very stable surge in brainwave activity last night. And your blood pressure improved significantly, far above the critical threshold we were worried about last week. But... there is one thing that has left me and the laboratory team a little confused this morning."

She stopped tapping the tablet screen, then stepped closer to me. Her eagle-sharp eyes stared straight at my shoulder-length hair. Doctor Karin even extended her hand, silently asking for permission, then touched the tip of a strand of my hair with her fingers wrapped in thin rubber gloves.

"This isn’t a visual hallucination from eye fatigue, is it? Your hair... has grown nearly ten centimeters in less than a month," Doctor Karin said, her voice sounding amazed yet analytical. "For a patient with a history of intensive chemotherapy and aggressive treatment like yours, hair follicles should be in a dormant phase, or even experiencing mass shedding. Cellular growth this rapid is a pure anomaly."

I swallowed my chewed whole-wheat bread slowly, suddenly feeling a little nervous. "Is that a bad thing, Doctor? I mean... is this a sign that the cancer cells are mutating or triggering abnormal growth in other areas?"

Doctor Karin shook her head firmly, a movement that immediately crushed my fear. "Quite the opposite. Your white blood cells show no abnormal spikes, which means your body is not fighting a new infection or massively producing damaged cells. This anomaly seems purely regenerative. Whether because the nerve stimulation from the VR capsule intervention system is hyperactively stimulating your pituitary gland, or because of the recent improvements in your psychology and endorphin hormones. Medically, I don’t yet have a definite explanation based on existing literature. We will continue monitoring it with routine blood tests. But for now, just consider it a small positive miracle."

Hearing that medical confirmation, the large stone that had been weighing on my chest since last night seemed to be completely lifted. If this was a sign that my body was responding positively to the therapy and my activities in Second World Online, then I had an extra reason to keep surviving and to keep playing more diligently.

After Doctor Karin finished the routine examination of my pulse and gave several instructions on medication dosage adjustments to Mira, she excused herself and left the room. Mira helped me tidy up the remaining breakfast and prepared my comfortable clothes for today’s play session.

"Ready to return as the swamp-conquering Elf girl?" Mira teased while adjusting the position of the neck pillow inside the medical capsule.

I laughed softly, a laugh that felt free. "Of course."

Initially, being trapped in a female avatar because the scanning system had misread my hormone structure and the ratio of my frail body had been an embarrassing disaster. However, now I had begun to get used to it. The high Intelligence and Dexterity status, combined with the flexibility of that avatar’s body, had saved me many times.

With Mira’s help, I repositioned myself on the cold gel padding of the capsule. The glass door slowly slid shut. The humming sound of the machine was as soothing as a lullaby. I closed my eyes, allowing the micro-nerve needles to attach to my temples.

"Link In."

The sensation of virtual dimension teleportation once again enveloped me, pulling my consciousness through a neon light tunnel. The smell of disinfectant and lavender fragrance from the real world was immediately replaced by the aroma of dusty cobblestone streets, the yeast from warm wheat bread, and the characteristic sulfur and furnace smoke from StoneBrook City’s blacksmiths.

I opened my eyes, finding myself standing in the middle of my rented inn room. Warm virtual morning sunlight swept across my avatar’s face through the gaps in the wooden window. I stretched my body, feeling light and energetic joints.

As usual, the first thing I did before starting heavy activities was to look for a virtual breakfast. My Satiety indicator had already begun to drop. I walked along the city streets toward the always-busy Culinary District. Today, I was not looking for extreme spicy chicken wings. I needed something that supported focus, because my agenda today was not hunting swamp monsters.

At a classic-style food stall, I bought a portion of [Golden Honey Roast Boar] for 50 Copper Coins. The wild boar meat roasted with a coating of wild honey was extremely delicious. The moment I swallowed the last bite, a notification I had hoped for appeared.

[Active Buff: Craftsman’s Focus]

Crafting and Alchemy success rates increased by 10% for 2 Hours.

"Perfect," I muttered while wiping my lips.

After eating, I walked toward the Production District. My initial intention was to rent an alchemy table at the city apothecary to process the Epic-tier [Heart of the Bog] and various poisonous glands I had obtained yesterday. However, my steps halted when I saw dozens of players crowding the public facility area. Several players even appeared to be deliberately lingering in the corners of the room, openly spying on other players’ crafting processes to steal basic recipes.

In Second World Online, advanced Alchemy and Forging recipes were extremely valuable. The system would not prohibit players from imitating material compositions if they saw the process directly although even with the same recipe, the quality results of each player differed, just like cooking.

"There’s no way I’m taking out Epic materials in an open place like this," I thought while pulling up the hood of my cloak. "That would be the same as announcing to every major Guild in this city that I have rare goods ready to be robbed."

I opened my inventory panel. The gold coins glittering in the corner of the screen showed the number 20, plus dozens of Silver and Copper Coins. For a solo player in the early phase of the game, I was relatively very wealthy thanks to the efficiency of hunting high-class monsters.

The idea of renting a private shop or laboratory in StoneBrook crossed my mind, but when I checked the Real Estate announcement board in the city center, the prices were extremely choking. A shabby 3x3 square-meter shop house in a narrow alley of this city was rented at 5 Gold Coins per month. That was legal extortion by the system.

"I need a quiet place, far from the crowds, but strategic enough. A place that won’t attract the attention of high-level players," I muttered while thinking of other options.

My eyes focused on the Waypoint Crystal icon on the map. Silvergrass Village.

That Area 2.5 was very quiet right now because the majority of the first-wave players had already migrated to Area 3. The scenery was beautiful, the air was fresh, and most importantly, no players cared about a mid-tier village. It was the perfect location to build my secret laboratory.

I hurried toward the city square and touched the Waypoint Crystal.

[Teleportation Fee to Silvergrass Village: 5 Silver Coins. Proceed?]

"Proceed."

Blue light enveloped me. In just a matter of seconds, the hustle and smoke of StoneBrook City vanished, replaced by the fresh breeze from the Whispering Plains that carried the scent of grass and wildflowers.

Silvergrass Village looked calm. Only a handful of new players could be seen running after horned rabbits or trading with novice NPCs. I ignored them and began walking around the village, searching for buildings marked with a wooden key logo indicating that the property could be rented by players.

My search ended on the western outskirts of the village, right beside a clear river that cut through the grassland. There was a fairly spacious one-story wooden building with a small waterwheel that no longer turned. This place was somewhat isolated from the village center, surrounded by a short wooden fence and several shady oak trees.

I approached the wooden board planted in front of the building.

[Village Property: Former Grain Mill]

Status: Vacant

Rental Price: 10 Silver Coins / Month

Facilities: Front Room, Back Room (Separate Work Area), Clean Water Access.

"Ten silver a month? This is truly a windfall," I chuckled. This price was a hundred times cheaper than the cheapest rental in StoneBrook.

Without hesitation, I pressed the [Rent] option on the interface. My silver coins decreased, and the rusty iron padlock on the front door of the building immediately vanished, replaced by a virtual silver key that entered my inventory.

I pushed the wooden door that creaked loudly. Dust flew up to greet me, revealing a completely empty front room. I paid no attention to the front display, because my intention was not to sell at the moment. I immediately stepped toward the back room.

The room was quite spacious, facing directly toward the river through an open wooden window. The sound of flowing water was extremely soothing. In the middle of the room, I placed a basic Portable Alchemy Table that I had bought in StoneBrook, then arranged empty glass bottles, a mortar, and a pestle on top of it.

"Alright, let’s begin today’s crazy experiment," I said while stretching my fingers.

I opened my inventory and began transferring the exotic materials I had collected. [Swamp Mud Gland], [Toxic Frog Sac], and several sheets of [Troll’s Thick Bark]. However, the main materials for today’s experiment were not those organic poisons.

I took out two thick cloth bags. The first bag contained pale yellow powder [Sulfur] that I had bought cheaply from a miner NPC in the city. The second bag contained dull white crystals [Saltpeter] that I had found in a bat cave area a few days ago.

In the real world, mixing explosive materials was an illegal and dangerous act. However, in a world governed by code and numbers, everything related to basic physics and chemistry often still applied if the game mechanics supported it. Second World Online was known for its highly realistic Physics Engine. If I combined Saltpeter, Sulfur, and Charcoal in the right composition, I should be able to create Black Powder.

As a carbon source, I took the leftovers of [Crimson Pine] from my previous arrow-making process, briefly burned them using a basic fire-starting skill until they became charcoal, then ground them into fine black powder.

With full caution, I began measuring those materials on the alchemy table. Thanks to my Intelligence value that reached 37, my mind was extremely clear. The game system helped translate my concentration into visual stability; I could see thin guide lines indicating the safe mixing limits.

I mixed 75% Saltpeter, 15% Charcoal, and 10% Sulfur into a ceramic container. Using a wooden pestle, I stirred it slowly, ensuring there was no hard friction that could trigger a spark. Virtual sweat began dripping from my temples.

Ding!

[System: You have discovered a New Recipe!]

[Item Created: Crude Black Powder (Uncommon)]

Description: A highly flammable and explosive chemical mixture. Extremely unstable.

"Success," I whispered excitedly.

However, this crude gunpowder could not simply be thrown. I needed a casing and a trigger mechanism. This was where my Alchemy side took over.

I took a [Swamp Mud Gland] from a swamp crocodile. That gland contained thick mud that was extremely sticky and temporarily fire-resistant. I split the gland, discarded part of its contents, and left its natural rubber layer as a wrapping container.

I put one handful of Crude Black Powder into the gland casing. To increase its damage effect, I added several drops of poison from a [Toxic Frog Sac] to the inner mud layer of the gland, hoping that the later explosion would not only deal fire and physical damage, but also spread AoE poison.

The final step was making the fuse. I twisted fibers of [Troll’s Thick Bark] into a small rope, coated it with leftover gunpowder, then stuck it into the top of the mud gland, tying it tightly with linen thread to make it airtight.

The object in front of me now looked like a greenish mud ball the size of an adult’s fist, with a brown fuse protruding from the top. I stepped back and used the Identify skill.

[Toxic Mud Bomb – Rarity: Rare]

A first handmade bomb using a sticky organic casing. Requires fire to light the fuse.

Effects:

- When exploding within a 3-Meter radius, deals 300 Fire/Physical Damage.

- The explosion spreads a poisonous mist that deals 50 Toxic Damage per second for 5 seconds.

- If it sticks directly to the target (Sticky), the target receives a 20% Slow effect.

Crafted by: Syl.

A series of level-up notifications immediately bombarded my screen.

[Your Alchemy Profession Level has increased! Current: Alchemy Level 12]

[Your Alchemy Profession Level has increased! Current: Alchemy Level 13]

[You have obtained a Hidden Title: ’Pioneer of Explosives’]

(Grants a +5% efficiency bonus when processing gunpowder).

I smirked widely, staring at the row of toxic mud bombs that I began crafting one by one on the table. The Whispering Ash bow and the Piercing Gale wind combo were indeed my mainstays for long range, but now, anyone or any monster that dared to approach me at close range would taste the chemical explosion of my own making.

The peaceful Silvergrass Village today became the witness to the birth of the most dangerous experimental class on the entire continent. The Archer had now evolved into a blaster.