Chapter 4

Rio saw a dream in his drowsiness. It was a memory from his childhood.

"Do you want to become an adventurer? Like me? Ha, forget it. In the end, you'll just end up with an unbreakable curse, wasting away until you die."

A beautiful woman with long black hair tied back, Rio's mother, Leiva Nibelk, stood before him.

"But if there's a wish you really want to fulfill, you might as well try. At least make sure you have curse resistance, okay? If you don't want to end up like me."

She was once the strongest and most excellent magic swordsman, but she had received a powerful curse in a battle with a dungeon boss and was now emaciated.

Hearing her tales of bravery, Rio was inspired. But now, he fights to fulfill a single wish.

"Hmm? Then, this is it. 'Never give up.' The most important thing to conquer this island is not to give up. The stronger your desire, the more your dreams will come to you."

She never said those words, but in the dream, it felt like she was encouraging him. Rio slowly opened his eyes, renewed in his resolve.

It had been a week since he first strapped a sword to his waist and left town.

During this time, Rio had nearly died over a hundred times. He was beaten so badly that he almost died again right after fully recovering.

However, in this week, he managed to grasp the main characteristics of his unique skill, [Embrace of the Goddess].

One, the experience points gained from the skill increase the more seriously he fights. This was as expected.

If he lacks motivation or is too terrified to fight, the experience points decrease. Therefore, a strong will to defeat the opponent or to escape is necessary.

Two, the stronger the opponent, the more experience points he gains. It seems there is a level difference bonus.

This fact worked to his advantage. Strong opponents can be defeated quickly, leaving no time to feel fear.

Three, the skill activates even if he loses consciousness.

This is a significant achievement. He can faint without having to endure the pain.

However, there is a downside. The experience points gained while unconscious are drastically reduced. So, he tries to maintain consciousness.

Four, the experience points gained increase dramatically when the damage received is significant.

This was the most difficult to verify. There are many patterns, and it required many trials.

When he received a fatal blow while in perfect condition, he gained far more experience points than when he was beaten to a pulp.

Five, the experience points gained are relatively low when the skill activates while his HP is not at zero.

The skill activated even when his arm was severed or his legs were crushed. However, the experience points gained were much less than when he was nearly killed by the same opponent.

Six, the skill cannot be activated at will.

It is completely automatic. It seems he cannot activate it just because he is tired and wants to be in perfect condition.

This might cause problems in the future, but it is not an immediate concern.

In summary, he has grasped six main characteristics. He has meticulously recorded the finer details in his notebook.

Ultimately, Rio gains an extraordinary amount of experience points each time he faces death and revives.

(Why is there such a bug-like rule?)

He put his questions aside. The important thing now is how to use this fact.

To efficiently gain experience points, he needs to fight stronger monsters.

However, strong enemies are deep within the dungeon, and it will take a lot of time to reach them.

The most practical solution is to join a strong party and have them take him there.

However, at level 1, even with his stats maxed out, he is not a viable combatant. He doubted a strong party would take him out of pity.

Rio scrutinized his stats.

Fortunately, his strength and endurance values are (for a level 1) high. His evasion is also decent, so he might be able to avoid causing trouble in party battles by getting hit by stray attacks.

(But what can I do then?)

After much deliberation, Rio reached a solution.

(I see. If I become a porter...)

A porter is exactly that, a person who carries the party's equipment. They are not expected to fight.

With his ultimate skill to avoid death, the risk of abandoning the equipment is extremely low.

This will surely be valuable!

His plan was set.

First, he would max out all his stats.

Then, he would join a strong party as a porter.

One hundred million experience points.

He has no idea how many years it will take to clear this. It will be a long, patient journey—

A white house where no one visits.

The goddess Eldistia lay on a sofa, covering her beautiful face with her hands and kicking her feet.

"Oh, I can't watch anymore!"

In the floating image, a ragged boy was desperately swinging his sword.

This was not supposed to happen.

She thought he would reconsider becoming an adventurer when he realized the desperate amount of experience points needed to reach level 2.

But that was not the case.

"This kid isn't afraid of dying!?"

Her scream echoed in vain.

Indeed, indeed.

With the unique ultimate skill [Embrace of the Goddess] she granted him, Rio can revive from the brink of death and gain a lot of experience points.

On this island, all "experiences" are quantified and added as "experience points."

Ordinary experiences yield very little, but "special experiences" like defeating monsters yield much more.

Reviving from death is a special "experience" among specials.

Furthermore, who can cast the highest-level healing magic on a near-death person? No one has the power or mental composure to do so.

In other words, he is achieving what no one else can.

An extremely special "experience."

Moreover, his strong will to "accomplish it" and the bonus from being at the lowest level make the situation even more extreme.

Depending on the opponent, he might gain as much experience as defeating a dungeon boss at level 1.

All of this is due to the unique skill she gave him.

Of course, she was aware that giving him an ultimate skill would result in a large amount of experience points.

But she thought it would be fine because she set the required experience points to reach level 2 to a desperate number that even a top adventurer might not achieve in a lifetime.

"But now! That kid is already—!"

He is far too determined. He is only 12 years old.

Even with the skill, the pain of nearly dying and the fear of death should not be erased.

Yet, he is clearly using it to gain experience points.

"Why go that far..."

The reason is clear.

To reunite with his long-lost sister and live a peaceful life together—this is what Eldistia assumes.

However, Rio's actions are still out of the ordinary.

"Come to think of it, 'she' was also quite reckless..."

The only swordsman to have conquered all seven dungeons on this adventure island.

The woman who met the goddess and had her wish granted is—

"Blood is thicker than water, I guess."

Rio's mother, Leiva Nibelk.

"I should have considered this. Yes, I failed..."

The goddess Eldistia, despite being a deity, is filled with regret.

She erased the floating image and wallowed in her thoughts for a while—

—Two years later.

A rumor spread throughout the adventure island of Eldias.

There is a handy porter who never dies, despite being perpetually at level 1.

Finally, the moment Rio had been waiting for arrived.

The moment he would break through the level 2 barrier—

I will tell you what his mother wished for the goddess in the future.

That's all for the prologue-like story.

Next time, it's about Rio's efforts as a porter.

Look forward to Rio's growth, improving his stats, learning new skills, and becoming stronger.

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