Gasping for breath, I pressed myself against the right side of the intersection, waiting for the Dire Rat that was chasing me.
The moment its snout appeared, I drove my Wooden Sword straight toward it—piercing its right eye.
The rat went berserk, its body writhing violently before it flung me aside. As I fell, it leapt at me. I raised my right arm to block, and its jaws clamped down hard on my forearm.
So it wasn’t just talk—the pain really did reach my real body. Even at only twenty percent, it felt like my arm was being crushed and stabbed at the same time. I grit my teeth and endured the bite as my HP bar slowly but steadily dropped.
I couldn’t hold out for long. The Wooden Sword was still lodged in its right eye. With my left hand, I pulled an Iron Dagger from my inventory and stabbed straight toward its heart.
Small text—“FATAL DAMAGE”—appeared at the point of impact, then vanished almost instantly.
Fatal damage? So this thing really could be killed.
With what little strength I had left, I shoved the Iron Dagger in deeper. The Dire Rat’s body finally went limp and collapsed on top of me.
I pushed the corpse aside. A notification appeared in front of me:
Congratulations
Level up 1 → 3
Stat Points +2
“Finally… I did it,” I said, wiping away tears of relief.
But then my gaze fell on the Dire Rat’s body, still lying there intact.
“Huh? Why didn’t it disappear? Shouldn’t monsters drop items when they die?”
I opened the Tips menu.
“Found it… So monsters in this game don’t automatically drop items. You have to carve them manually.”
I read further.
“Yellow parts can be collected with bare hands. Red parts require a tool—a Carving Knife.”
I followed the instructions. “Hold the monster with your left hand, knife in your right…”
I glanced at the Iron Dagger given to me earlier by the knight guarding the sewer entrance.
“This should work too, right?”
In an instant, red and yellow highlights appeared on three parts of the Dire Rat’s body: the eyes and tail glowed yellow, while its entire hide was marked in red.
“Wow, this system’s actually pretty cool. It’s really clear which parts can be carved.”
“I need five hides for Gerald, and three tails for the gate guard… but hides can only be taken with a Carving Knife.” I let out a sigh. “My Aether’s in the negatives… where am I supposed to buy one?”
I tried touching the dagger to the tail. A short loading bar appeared, followed by a notification:
You obtained Dire Rat Tail ×1
“So you just touch it and it auto-carves. Makes sense. The game’s clearly avoiding gore to stay all-ages friendly.”
“Now my inventory has one tail and one Dire Rat eyeball. Time to check my status after leveling up.”
“Status!”
A holographic screen opened in front of me.
----
Name: Yoruno
Level: 3
HP: 24/24
MP: 15/15
Origin Server: Aethelgard
Stats:
STR: 9 [+]
INT: 5 [+]
VIT: 8 [+]
DEX: 7 [+]
AGI: 10 [+]
LUK: 6 [+]
Bonus Stats: 2 pts
----
“So HP fully recovers on level up… just noticed that,” I said with a smile.
“The plus icons mean I can freely allocate stats… alright.”
“In classic games, you focus on your top three stats. Mine are AGI, ATK, and VIT.”
“In that case, I’ll pour everything into AGI. Faster means safer—better for running away. If it gets high enough, I can dash straight into the forest and finally avoid that damn sniper.” The memory of dying twenty times made me click my tongue in irritation.
-----
Four hours before logging in
At work, I let out sigh after sigh. My solid plan had completely fallen apart thanks to that sudden miniboss.
My thoughts were interrupted when a woman spoke up, asking for her total.
“Ah—sorry, let me calculate it…” I said, then froze when I saw the absurd number of energy drinks.
I glanced up and immediately recognized her—the woman who’d bought an excessive amount of energy drinks yesterday. This time, a white robot stood beside her.
“Drinking this much… isn’t it dangerous?” I asked while looking at the shopping list on the holographic screen.
She didn’t answer. Embarrassment rushed to my head. Being ignored like this actually stung…
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“Your total is eighty UniCred,” I said quickly, trying to stay cool.
“I need these drinks to stay focused when it matters,” she replied as she sent the payment.
She… replied? Did she just not hear me earlier? Or did she feel sorry for me? I had no idea.
“Why doesn’t this store use an automatic payment system? You grab items, leave, and the UniCred deducts itself,” she asked, looking around.
“The owner’s an old guy who’s bad with tech. He likes old-fashioned methods, and says it’s cheaper,” I replied as I packed her items into a bag.
“But it’s good for me. At least it gives me a job to get by day to day,” I added with a smile.
The woman handed the bag to the robot beside her, which immediately helped carry it.
“Sometimes not keeping up with the times is necessary. It can still provide jobs,” she said.
“See you again,” she added with a small wave before leaving.
I stood there, watching her walk away. Even with her face hidden behind a mask, glasses, and a hat… her aura was still captivating.
Working here isn’t so bad… She said “see you again,” which means we’ll probably meet again, right? I thought with a smile.
“Maybe my spring is blooming again…” I murmured softly.
-----
“Iris, I’m back,” I said cheerfully.
“Welcome back, Nate,” Iris replied. “It seems something good happened today.”
“Hehehe… of course it did.”
“Is it because your bowel movement was smooth today?” Iris asked innocently, smiling as if she were proud of her guess.
…Damn it. Why does my AI always fail to read the room and instantly kill the mood? I cursed inwardly, my face going blank.
“I’m logging in. Please order the same food as yesterday,” I said while preparing my gear.
“Understood, but wouldn’t it be better to shower firs—”
Iris didn’t finish her sentence. The screen went dark, then filled with login light.
I had already logged in.
-----
After leaving the graveyard that served as my permanent spawn point, I spotted Gerald and Berthard pushing their horse-drawn cart toward the tavern to sell their wine barrels.
“Sir Gerald, Sir Berthard, thank you for your help yesterday,” I greeted them.
“Are you alright, Yoruno? We heard you were killed again while fleeing from the forest monsters,” Gerald said worriedly.
“I never expected a Furious Ape to appear. If we’d known, we would’ve stopped you and waited for other adventurers to defeat it first,” Berthard added, clearly feeling guilty.
“No, no. It’s not your fault. I’m just too weak,” I replied.
Gerald stroked his chin. “In that case, how about helping us collect five Dire Rat hides? It’ll help you level up without leaving the city.”
“Dire Rats? Those anomalous rats again?” I thought irritably, memories of my previous tragedy resurfacing.
A bright blue hologram opened in front of my face.
----
Quest: Collect 5× Dire Rat Hides
Level: ☆
Location: Sewers
Reward: Midnight Ember Dew
[O] Accept?[X] Decline
----
“Midnight Ember Dew? What’s that?” I asked.
“Our highest-quality wine. And of course, very expensive,” Berthard replied proudly.
Pointless… My curse won’t let me sell anything anyway… I thought gloomily.
“Then what are Dire Rat hides used for?” I asked.
“Many things. Blankets, clothing, and most mind-blowing of all—at least to me—wine residue filters,” Berthard whispered.
My eyes widened. “So… filters?!”
Berthard hurriedly covered my mouth. “Ssh! Don’t say it so loud. Our competitors might hear.”
“Th-thaaat…” I shuddered, unable to finish my sentence.
In the end, I clasped my hands together as if praying for souls. “May those who drink the wine rest in peace…”
“How rude. We’re not making poison,” Berthard protested.
Gerald returned from inside the tavern. “Berthard, let’s get going. Yoruno, will you help us?”
Only then did I realize I hadn’t pressed Accept yet. I hurriedly did so.
“Thank you. Once you’ve collected them, find us in the city between 7:00 and 9:00 PM,” Gerald said.
“We have to deliver all the wine before midnight,” he added.
“Don’t leak our secret, Yoruno. See you later!” Berthard called out as he climbed onto the cart.
After they left, I headed toward the sewers—the place filled with embarrassing memories of being chased by mutant rats.
The gate knight was still standing there. The one who had laughed at me before. I instinctively looked away.
“Are you Yoruno?” he called out.
“…How do you know?” I asked reluctantly, turning back.
“All the knights have heard about the adventurer who never gives up, even after dying countless times trying to reach the outside world.”
“Eh…”
“I heard your story from the eastern gate guard. I was deeply moved—so moved I nearly cried imagining the despair you must’ve felt.”
I froze. Damn it… NPCs can be snitches and drama queens. This is humiliating…
“As a knight, I wish to help you. Collect three Dire Rat tails. As a reward, I’ll give you 50× Aether Salve S and 50× Aether Tonic S. Not bad, right?” He patted my shoulder with excessively dramatic goodwill.
A white hologram appeared.
----
Quest: Collect 3× Dire Rat Tails
Level: ☆
Location: Sewers
Reward:
50× Aether Salve S
50× Aether Tonic S
[O] Accept?[X] Decline
----
White this time? Gerald’s quest was bright blue. Both were item-collection quests… The color system is confusing, I thought.
Still, it was worth it. Since I couldn’t buy those items from the shop, getting them for free was clearly better. Without hesitation, I pressed [O].
“I know your potential. One day, you’ll become a renowned adventurer. That’s why I’ll give you my beloved dagger for free. It may aid you in the future,” the knight said, handing it to me.
----
Name: Iron Dagger
Rank: 1
ATK: 20
Durability: 100/100
----
Wow… Its ATK is even higher than the Wooden Sword I bought from the shop. And it has a level, too.
Can I Rank this thing up to make it stronger? I wondered in awe as I examined its stats.
“Your eyes truly are sharp. Remember my words—one day, the name Yoruno will be known as The Strongest Monster Slayer in this world.” I pointed confidently at the star-filled night sky.
The gate knight immediately applauded my declaration. Chest puffed out, I stepped into the sewer entrance.
“When I come back out, I’ll be far stronger. Etch my words into your memory, my friend,” I declared arrogantly before my body vanished into the darkness of the tunnel.
Minutes after navigating the turns, a familiar sound echoed—Dire Rats. With foolish confidence, I charged forward, shouting, “Time for revenge for that embarrassing incident!”
Two Dire Rats (Level 3) turned toward me at the same time.
Cold sweat poured down my back. I immediately turned tail and ran.
“No way I can fight two! One alone nearly killed me!” I muttered as I sprinted desperately.
When I reached the entrance, the knight looked at me in awe. “That was fast. Don’t tell me you’ve already collected three Dire Rats?”
Breathing heavily but pretending to be relaxed as I leaned against the wall, I said, “Not yet. I just forgot to thank you for the dagger.”
“There’s no need for thanks. It’s only natural to help a future great adventurer,” he replied.
“Tch… My parents always taught me to say thank you. So I came out just for that. Now I’ll continue hunting,” I said, trying to sound cool as I walked back inside.
As soon as I turned my back on him, I covered my face with both hands. Hot. Embarrassing. Don’t let him realize I ran away from Dire Rats again.
After sneaking around and avoiding the two rats from earlier, I finally found a lone Dire Rat.
I rushed in, trying to stab it while it was off guard. Unfortunately, my footsteps were too loud. It turned just in time and dodged my wooden sword.
In an instant, it leapt at me. I dodged to the side, but the rat anticipated my movement—its tail whipped around, striking me the moment it landed.
My body was sent flying. My HP bar dropped.
Dangerous. Even its tail can be used as a weapon.
I can’t fight it head-on. I need a trick, I thought quickly.
Ahead, I spotted an intersection with two turns. I sprinted toward it, planning to lure the rat into an ambush.
-----
Back to the present.
After successfully defeating one Dire Rat and carving it, the excitement I’d long felt missing from RPGs finally surged back. My adrenaline spiked.
To prove my words to the knight earlier, I would first collect three Dire Rat tails. After that, I’d find a way to buy a Carving Knife so I could carve the hides next.
“Yosh… Yoruno, time to hunt two more and finish the gate guard’s mini quest. This is the adventure I’ve always dreamed of!” I shouted enthusiastically as I moved off in search of my next prey.
