The human empire of Orwen. Soma Town.

The town had only a handful of basic buildings: a potion shop, an equipment shop, an appraisal shop, a personal bank, and the like.

At a glance, it looked no different from any other town in the Orwen Empire—or at least, it used to.

Once most players discovered that the grinding areas around Soma Town covered levels 1 to 10 with a smooth progression, and that the town’s NPCs offered plenty of quests—including hidden ones—Soma Town became one of the most popular towns in the Orwen Empire.

Players appeared in the teleportation hall’s magic circle every few moments. After spending what little money they had on supplies, they hurried out of town to the various grinding spots and set about killing monsters.

Others browsed the players’ stalls in town, picking out gear they liked to strengthen themselves.

The streets and squares were packed with people coming and going, making the town feel wonderfully lively.

“Top-quality level 3 plain plate armor! Defense 12, and a bargain at just ten copper coins!”

“Buying basic herbs in bulk! Just what potion-makers need—come get them while they’re still available!”

“Arcane Missile, Fireball! Any mage brothers out there, come take a look and see if I’ve got what you need!”

“Freshly made bronze-grade staff! Adds 10% ice-element damage! Make me an offer!”

The bronze-grade gear immediately caught the attention of most of the players. More than a dozen stopped in front of the warrior who’d called out, crowding around his stall, while plenty more tried to push their way in.

Compared with other online games, gear drops in Era were rare. Equipment with stats usually only dropped from elite monsters or stronger.

So, with the game having just launched, bronze-grade gear was an especially rare find.

On top of that, it was a weapon for mages, one of the most popular classes right now, and it came with bonus elemental damage. It was no wonder so many players were interested.

Ye Yuan passed by and couldn’t help glancing over, but she quickly looked away.

In the past, she might’ve been just like those curious players crowding around to watch.

Now, though, she was only a little interested. After all, the weapon in her hand was just as good.

Assassin’s Dagger (Bronze)

Level Requirement: 3

Type: Main-Hand Weapon

Stats: Attack 15, Agility +3. Attacks have a 5% chance to inflict increased damage taken.

Attack Speed: 2.1

Class Restriction: Rogue

She’d gone to great lengths to claim this trophy from a hidden chest—and had nearly paid for it with her life.

But the fact that her leveling speed had improved so much afterward proved it had all been worth it.

After leaving Soma Town, Ye Yuan hurried toward a level 3 grinding area nearby.

She’d entered the game about three days late and had struggled to reach level 3.

That level was nothing special compared with other players, but for a solo Rogue, it was already pretty good. The highest-level Rogue right now was only level 4, with 30% of the experience needed for level 5.

“I need to level up fast and catch up with Sister Youyou and the others.”

Ye Yuan tightened her grip on the bronze dagger and quickened her pace.

But just as she reached the area where she planned to head for yesterday’s Roving Bandit Camp, she happened to spot a narrow path leading deep into the forest.

When did this appear?

She’d spent at least three days near the Roving Bandit Camp and passed through this part of the forest dozens of times. Ye Yuan had always thought she had a pretty good memory, but she couldn’t recall ever seeing this path.

Ye Yuan couldn’t help edging closer. Her reason told her it was a waste of time, but she had a strange feeling about it.

Maybe there was some kind of special encounter waiting inside.

Ye Yuan fell silent for a moment and unconsciously tightened her grip on her dagger. The odds of anything like that happening were slim, but how would she know if she didn’t try?

After all, she’d gotten her bronze dagger thanks to a lucky break: she’d found a chest hidden in a cave’s corner.

With that, Ye Yuan made up her mind. But at the end of the forest path, she found no special encounter—just a sprawling ruin.

And all through the ruins, countless bat-like monsters were roaming.

Dark Bat, Level 3.

The monster’s name and level appeared above its head. There was nothing unusual about them; at the very least, level 3 monsters were common around Soma Town.

But to Ye Yuan, they looked like something else entirely.

Because in an instant, she understood what this meant—

A new grinding spot. And one nobody else knew about.

It was true that the monsters around Soma Town were spread out across a smooth range of levels, and there were plenty of places for monsters of each level to gather. But even that wasn’t enough to handle the flood of players now that Era had just launched.

Almost every grinding spot below level 5 around Soma Town was packed. Take the Roving Bandit Camp where Ye Yuan had been leveling: most of the bandits had high defense and gave little experience, so few players wanted to go there.

Even so, in the days after launch, the various guilds had divided up the area. The unaffiliated players were left happily fighting over monsters among themselves.

At first, Ye Yuan hadn’t wanted to compete with those players for Roving Bandits. She’d even considered moving to another town.

But she later found that the other towns were no different. Every popular grinding spot was too crowded for her. Then she happened to get a good dagger that could pierce their defenses, so she made the Roving Bandit Camp her grinding spot.

Otherwise, she might’ve reached level 4 long ago.

That was why she was so pleased to find this new grinding area.

But just as Ye Yuan was about to move forward, she suddenly heard a strange sound nearby and instinctively turned to look.

“Someone’s here?”

Ye Yuan spotted a few figures in the distance and wasn’t surprised. Just because she’d found this place didn’t mean nobody else could. But her attention was drawn entirely to the Paladin leading the group.

“A Gladiator Set?”

Ye Yuan was surprised when she saw the gear he was wearing. It was one of the best heavy armor sets available at this stage, and only Fallen Gladiators in the underground arena could drop it.

The drop rate was 0.15%. On average, you’d have to kill more than six hundred Fallen Gladiators to get one piece.

And it was a level 5 set. Since this Paladin was only level 3, he must’ve spent quite a bit on sockets and gems that lowered the level requirement.

Ye Yuan glanced at the young women behind him, curled her lip, and wrote him off as a spoiled rich kid.

Perhaps confident in his gear, the Paladin pulled ten Dark Bats at once, planning to kill them all together.

Others might’ve thought he was biting off more than he could chew, but Ye Yuan didn’t. Someone who could spend that much to put together a Gladiator Set probably had both of the Paladin’s early-game signature skills, Defensive Stance and Holy Shield.

With the defense bonuses from passive skills and the set’s own defense added in, Ye Yuan estimated his defense was around 50 and his health was 150. Monsters at this stage could hardly put a dent in him.

With that in mind, Ye Yuan decided to draw a few Dark Bats herself. If he could handle ten, surely she could manage one or two.

The girls behind the Paladin clearly felt the same way. The Priest girl chatted with the others, looking completely relaxed.

The Paladin was just as confident. After activating Holy Shield and Defensive Stance, he charged forward with his shield raised.

Then the ten Dark Bats attacked once.

The Paladin was down.

The girls fell silent.

Ye Yuan pulled back the foot she’d just stepped forward.