Chapter 4

"Ugh..."

Lifting my throbbing head from the pain of a hangover, I survey the room.

I overdid it last night. Under the pretext of celebrating my reincarnation into another world, I guzzled down unfamiliar alcohol, which didn't end well. This is reality, not a game, so of course I ended up with a hangover.

It's probably around 10 a.m. now, judging by the sunlight streaming through the window.

"Oh, right."

I suddenly remember and take out the detox potion I have stored in my inventory. It's a small vial, about the size of my thumb. I down it in one gulp.

"Wow, wow, wow!"

Feeling refreshed and invigorated! Alcohol is treated as a poison, it seems...

I need to investigate these kinds of detailed elements that differ from online games. You never know what might come up. Why do I need to go through such a hassle? Because from today, I aim to be the best in the world.

"Well, let's have breakfast and solidify my strategy for the future."

Muttering to myself, a habit from years of solo play, I head down to the first-floor tavern.

"Oh, good morning, Second-san. Are you here for lunch?"

It was already lunchtime.

"Yes, that's right. I'll have curry rice, please."

"Coming right up!"

I place my order with the unusually cheerful waitress and sit at the counter, lost in thought.

The first and foremost challenge is, of course, mastering the "essential skills."

These are the skills called essential in this world of Mevion. Without them, you can't even call yourself a beginner, let alone advance.

Therefore, the top priority is "gaining experience points."

The game mechanics of Mevion are primarily based on the experience point system. You need experience points to learn skills and to improve your stats. Stats increase when you gain experience points and when you learn or level up skills. The method of gaining experience points is simple: either defeat monsters or complete quests.

Skills range from close combat, ranged combat, magic, and production, with each skill having 16 to 1 ranks, and above that, 1st to 9th dan. There is also a special rank called "title," but thinking about it now is pointless. Of course, you need a lot of experience points to level up your skills.

"Hmm, by the way."

While eating my curry, I open the status screen.

Ah, as expected. This "Second" has the same growth type as "Seven," which is "All-Rounder."

The All-Rounder type has balanced stat growth when gaining experience points. It's good for aiming to be the best in the world, but it can also be seen as being jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. However, since I aim to raise all skills to the max and become the best in the world, the All-Rounder, which can perfectly raise all stats, is overwhelmingly better than the specialized types that focus on specific stats. The downside is that the early stages are tough...

—Given that.

There's no choice but to use that method.

I return the empty curry plate to the counter, say "Thank you," and pay for the meal, which was charged separately because I missed breakfast time, then leave the tavern.

My destination is the largest potion shop in the capital.

"I want as many of these 'Detox, Dispel, and High Recovery Potions++' as you have."

"H-Huh!?"

The shop clerk looks bewildered, as if they don't understand what I'm saying.

"Excuse me, but including inventory, it's an enormous amount of money..."

"How many do you have?"

"Um... we currently have about 630."

"Then I'll take all of them."

"Y-Yes, sir..."

The clerk nods and disappears into the back of the store, probably to fetch the inventory. The two-stage enhanced potion with detox, dispel, and recovery effects costs 120,000 CL per bottle.

120,000 CL × 630 = 75,600,000 CL

Not a small amount, but manageable.

630 is a bit insufficient, but there's no other choice.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry for the wait."

I thank the clerk, who has brought the 630 potions, sweating profusely. I check the items, find no issues, pay in cash, and store all the potions in my inventory before leaving the shop.

Now.

What will I do with these high-grade potions?

It's a method for gaining experience points in the early stages, known as the "Dyquest Strategy" in the past.

This strategy was inspired by a trick in the old 8-bit game "Dinosaur Quest," where you throw a fixed-damage item at an enemy with a high evasion rate to defeat it.

I don't know who discovered it, but it turns out that potions with detox, dispel, and recovery effects deal fixed damage to undead monsters.

The "Detox, Dispel, and High Recovery Potions++" I bought today deal 1200 fixed damage to undead. This is just enough to kill a "Viper Zombie," a mid-level undead monster that provides a good amount of experience points.

In other words, by throwing this potion at a Viper Zombie, even a beginner can kill it easily.

It's an incredibly easy, simple, and efficient method for gaining experience points, but it's only used by a few hardcore players for their sub-characters.

This is because it's extremely expensive.

To gain enough experience points to reach the level of a mid-level player, you need at least 10,000 of these potions, totaling 1.2 billion CL. Only those with main characters can afford such an amount.

Additionally, the experience points gained from defeating monsters decrease as your cumulative experience points increase. In other words, once you become strong enough to make Viper Zombies easy to defeat, this strategy becomes useless.

Therefore, the Dyquest Strategy is (if you don't mind the cost) an excellent method for early-stage experience points, but it only works in the early stages and not beyond.

However, it's the best shortcut to becoming strong as quickly as possible.

"Who would have thought I'd be doing this..."

Deep in a large cave behind a mine, about two hours by horse from the capital. It's a famous hunting ground, but there's not a soul in sight.

Perhaps this strategy hasn't been discovered in this world yet, or the potions are too expensive, or there are too few beginners. It's a mystery, but the absence of people means I can hunt to my heart's content. Lucky, lucky.

As I proceed, I realize the cave is much darker than in the game. I take out a lantern I bought from a general store and hold it in my left hand to continue. The high-quality lantern I bought makes the cave much brighter.

"Wow..."

There they are. I've found them. The writhing Viper Zombies. These snake-like, eel-like monsters are over a meter long and are truly disgusting. Just looking at them is terrifying, and the sound of their slime and the stench are a nightmare for all five senses.

I want to finish quickly, so I sneak up without being detected and throw the potions one by one.

With a "plop, plop" sound, the Viper Zombies vanish instantly, one after another.

Hmm... this feels kind of good.

Once I clear an area, I move to the next hunting ground and repeat the process. When I return to the original area, more Viper Zombies have respawned, so I clear them again.

I continue throwing potions without a break, and finally, I've used all 630.

The amount of experience points is decent. At this rate, I should be able to master most of the essential skills and level up some skills soon.

"Damn, it's already dark."

When I exit the cave, it's already dark.

It's much darker than I expected, and my new horse is nowhere to be seen. I'm worried because it was quite expensive.

"Neigh..."

Then I see it. It's just that the black fur makes it hard to see in the dark. Oh, good, good, Seven Stay Oh. You're hard to see with your black fur. We need to do something about that.

"Oh, right, right."

I remember that I can now learn the riding skill because I've gained enough experience points. The requirement is to ride a horse for more than five minutes, which I've already done. I immediately level it up from 16 to 9.

The riding skill at level 9 significantly boosts acceleration, precision, and stability. Since the required experience points are low, it's the most cost-effective to stop at level 9 in the early stages.

"Let's go home, Seven Stay Oh."

I mount Seven Stay Oh and head back. I've traveled this route between the mine and the capital many times during the beta, so I can do it with my eyes closed.

After a while, I see the streetlights. Finally, the capital. I'll eat, drink, take a bath, and go to bed!

"Stop! Who are you!"

...Oh no. I have a bad feeling...

Thank you for reading.