Chapter 4

■■■■■■■■■■

004 - Chain Score (CHSC) Analysis

■■■■■■■■■■

Big Mosquitoes are small and can be defeated even by children, provided there are not too many of them.

Due to their weakness, they provide almost no experience points, and even novice adventurers do not bother with them.

However, when they are in a group, they require caution, especially for solo adventurers who have no companions.

Jyun, holding a net, crept up to the Big Mosquitoes.

At about 10 meters away, the Big Mosquitoes noticed Jyun and started moving.

They emitted an unpleasant buzzing sound, which became a noise that resonated unpleasantly in Jyun's ears.

"Got it!"

The net opened cleanly, enveloping the swarm of Big Mosquitoes.

"Good!"

The Big Mosquitoes trapped in the net tried to escape, but Jyun was amazed at how smoothly it went.

However, three Big Mosquitoes that were not caught in the net came toward him.

"Whoa!"

He narrowly avoided the Big Mosquitoes that rushed at him.

But there were still two free Big Mosquitoes.

"Oh..."

One of them latched onto Jyun's arm and stung him.

—Snap. He smashed the one that stung him, but he had already been bitten.

The spot where he was stung turned red and swollen, and it itched terribly.

"Ugh... Damn it!"

Snap, snap.

He smashed the remaining two, but he was stung again, making a total of two stings.

"It itches!"

He scratched his arm vigorously. The itching was unbearable.

Being stung by a Big Mosquito is more itchy than being stung by a regular mosquito.

"Well, at least I smashed it the moment it stung me, so I didn't lose much blood."

That was the only consolation.

"But it itches!"

He wanted to scratch the two spots, but there were dozens of Big Mosquitoes in the net in front of him.

He couldn't just leave them there.

Jyun stepped on the Big Mosquitoes in the net, crushing them.

With so many of them, the unpleasant sensation of squishing them was transmitted through his shoes.

"Ugh..."

Big Mosquitoes are monsters. Even small monsters like Big Mosquitoes have magic stones inside their bodies.

Usually, one would use a dagger or a knife to extract the magic stone from a monster, but there was no need to do so with Big Mosquitoes.

"Guess I have no choice."

He picked up a Big Mosquito and snapped its head off.

The magic stone is in the body, so he could push it out with his fingers.

He performed this task, which could hardly be called dissection, one by one. It didn't take long, but the body fluids stuck to his hands.

He managed to collect 37 small magic stones in total.

Jyun washed the magic stones and his hands, which were covered in body fluids, in the river.

He put the magic stones in his backpack, sat on a rock, and called up his status board.

● Status

【Job】Efficiency Master

【Level】0

【Experience】3/10

【Health】10/10

【Mana】5/5

【Strength】9

【Stamina】8

【Intelligence】10

【Resistance】8

【Dexterity】10

【Agility】9

【Skill】Chain Score

【CHSC】67

【Status】Wanderer

【Rewards/Penalties】

After defeating 37 Big Mosquitoes, his experience only increased by 3 points. This small amount is why even novice adventurers do not bother with them.

Looking at the Chain Score, it was 67 points. Despite defeating 37 Big Mosquitoes, it was only 67 points.

He tried to understand the relationship between these numbers but couldn't figure it out.

He wondered if he had counted the magic stones wrong, but when he recounted them, it was still 37.

He checked if there were any Big Mosquitoes he hadn't extracted the magic stones from, but there were none.

"I don't understand how the Chain Score is calculated."

Even if he didn't understand, the Chain Score accumulated. Using this Chain Score, he could improve his abilities.

Deciding to improve his abilities, he touched the status board.

"I see, health and mana can be increased by 3 points by consuming 10 Chain Score points. Strength, stamina, intelligence, resistance, dexterity, and agility can be increased by 1 point by consuming 10 Chain Score points."

Since he planned to continue testing the Efficiency Master job with Big Mosquitoes for a while, he spent 60 Chain Score points to increase his agility by 6 points.

"Alright, let's move on to the next one!"

He found another swarm of Big Mosquitoes. It was about the same size as the previous one.

Jyun threw the net and caught all the Big Mosquitoes.

—Squish.

It was unpleasant, but he crushed them. This was purely a task. He collected 33 magic stones.

Checking his status board, his CHSC had increased by 63 points to 70 points.

He increased his agility by 7 points, so his remaining CHSC was 0 points.

He then noticed that his experience was 7 points.

"Even though I don't understand CHSC, I think I have a vague idea about experience points. I defeated a total of 70 Big Mosquitoes, and my experience is 7 points. It seems to be 1 point for every 10 Big Mosquitoes."

If he defeated more, he would be able to confirm if this was correct.

The next swarm of Big Mosquitoes had two escape the net.

But this time, he crushed the two without being stung and quickly stepped on the Big Mosquitoes in the net.

"Thanks to the increased agility, I was able to handle them more easily than last time."

He collected 41 magic stones and checked his status board.

"Huh?"

His CHSC was 81 points.

"Hmm... That's a lot more than before?"

The number was higher than the previous 33, but with just an 8-mosquito difference, the CHSC was 18 points higher.

"What's going on?"

He would need to do more testing to understand CHSC.

If he still couldn't figure it out, he could consult Grandma Char.

His level had increased to 1, but none of his abilities had improved.

This meant that even if his level increased, his abilities would not improve unless he spent Chain Score points to do so.

Also, it was likely that Big Mosquitoes provided 1 experience point for every 10 defeated.

Jyun continued to hunt swarms of Big Mosquitoes.

With his increased agility, he could hunt them safely without being overwhelmed by their movements.

Summarizing his CHSC so far:

1st time) 37 Big Mosquitoes → CHSC 67 points

2nd time) 33 Big Mosquitoes → CHSC 63 points

3rd time) 41 Big Mosquitoes → CHSC 81 points

4th time) 36 Big Mosquitoes → CHSC 66 points

5th time) 33 Big Mosquitoes → CHSC 63 points

6th time) 30 Big Mosquitoes → CHSC 60 points

7th time) 42 Big Mosquitoes → CHSC 82 points

8th time) 36 Big Mosquitoes → CHSC 66 points

9th time) 34 Big Mosquitoes → CHSC 64 points

10th time) 38 Big Mosquitoes → CHSC 68 points

Total) 360 Big Mosquitoes → CHSC 680 points

"Ah... I think I'm starting to understand..."

Jyun's theory was as follows:

There is a correction value in the chain, and the formula 'Number of Defeats + Correction Value = CHSC' holds true.

The correction value is 0 points for 1 to 9 defeats, 10 points for 10 to 19 defeats, and increases by 10 points for every additional 10 defeats.

This theory explained the relationship between the number of defeats and CHSC.

・

・

・

The Kingdom of Rudio is a mid-sized country, but it has recently gained more influence due to being the birthplace of the hero Dominic.

Just because a hero, the highest job for humans, was born there, the kingdom has been exerting more pressure on other countries as if it had become a major power.

"Ah, Hero Dominic, you have returned."

"Hero Dominic has returned, Your Majesty."

This journey was to welcome a new companion. The new companion was standing behind the hero—Milia.

However, Milia's expression was not bright. She should have been happy to be a companion of the hero and looking forward to a bright future.

The king, knowing that Milia was a commoner, thought she was nervous out of respect.

"You are a mage, are you not? It is good that you have come."

"Yes... Thank you."

Milia answered in a barely audible voice. The king interpreted her small voice as a result of her nervousness.

"Speak up so that the king can hear you."

One of the ministers, looking down on the commoner Milia, gave her a warning.

"Very well. Mage, assist Hero Dominic well."

"...Yes."

Milia was not thinking about the king or the nobles. Her mind was filled with regret, remorse, and lingering feelings for Jyun.

Dominic's eyes, looking at such a Milia, were filled with desire. Given her mental state, he didn't even need to use his skill, Charm. He was confident that she would fall for him just because he was the hero.