Chapter 25

7/16 Today is the first post.

"Ugh... My legs hurt... They feel so heavy..."

It was still early in the morning, and with an empty basket on my back, I ran towards the forest.

"I thought I walked around a lot during my sales job, but compared to the hunters in this world, it's laughable."

There's no convenient app to track how much I run in a day, so I have no idea.

The only thing I can feel is the fatigue in my legs, which is stronger than anything I've ever felt before. It feels like something is clinging to my feet, making every step heavy.

Still, I head towards the Palmeira Great Forest, jogging at a pace slightly faster than walking, which has become a daily routine.

(My status doesn't have a 'Stamina' or 'Endurance' attribute. That means either there's an invisible value, or I need to train myself.)

If I'm going to focus on solo play, I can't afford to collapse and become immobile. Since I don't have infinite stamina like in a game, I should consciously work on building my endurance. That's the idea behind my actions.

However, my enthusiasm is running ahead of my actions.

By the way, today is the third day of my jogging training.

Somehow, I've managed to create a cycle of working the morning and afternoon shifts, returning to Bezart once at noon to exchange my loot for money, and silently grinding for money and level-ups.

I've earned about 80,000 Bikes each of the past two days.

On the first day, I overdid it by making 50,000 Bikes in the afternoon, so I've slowed down my pace when searching for enemies and return with four Horn Rabbits to avoid carrying too much weight.

My legs don't move as well as I'd like, and I'm afraid of getting hit by a Furi Mole while focused on searching for enemies.

Instead, by slowing down, I have more leeway. I can take breaks to eat fruit and drink water, and if I find interesting plants or flowers, I can pick them and bring them back, expanding my style a bit like Jin-kun and the others.

This way, I'll probably learn the [Gathering] skill soon.

In the past two days, my level has reached 7.

[Earth Magic] and [Presence Sense] have both risen to level 2.

Here are the detailed explanations of the changes:

[Earth Magic] Lv2: Can cast Earth Magic that consumes less than 20 MP.

[Presence Sense] Lv2: More sensitive to moving objects around the user. Range: 10 meters. MP consumption: 0.

Since [Earth Magic] can't be cast, it only provides a stat bonus, but [Presence Sense] is a great ability as expected, with an increased effect range.

Yesterday, I tried it out and apparently, I could sense Furi Moles before they noticed me, allowing me to attack their nests.

At this point, it's almost like easy mode. The Palmeira Great Forest has no blind spots and has become a place for making money and gaining experience.

However, the experience required to level up from level 2 to 3 is about 3% per monster, meaning I need to defeat about 30 monsters to level up. So, for the main skills of this hunting ground, I'll probably stop at level 3 or 4.

If there's a higher-level hunting ground, it would be better to move there.

Perhaps because the enemy's set level is far from mine, even as a solo player, the rate of level-up has clearly slowed down. Moreover, I suspect that the skills and levels of enemies also have settings, especially since my detection range has expanded beyond that of Furi Moles.

If my guess is correct, if I defeat a monster with a level 2 [Presence Sense] skill in a higher-level hunting ground, my skill experience might double, so it would be better not to linger unnecessarily in a lower-level hunting ground, thinking "I'll level up to 10 and then move on!"

If I did that, I might not leave the Palmeira Great Forest for five years.

Goblin with a stick is a rare encounter, so I aim to level [Charge], [Earth Magic], and [Presence Sense] to level 3.

Then, I'll aim for a short sword and similar armor.

After completing my job selection, I'll challenge the next hunting ground, the Locker Plains.

Still... the Palmeira Great Forest, being a lower-level hunting ground, is full of all kinds of people.

Even though it's not very popular, I see about 4-5 parties a day. In front of me, a father and son, the father holding a short spear and the son about 10 years old, are holding hands and entering the forest.

This is relatively mild. Yesterday, I saw a couple, probably preparing for Furi Moles, with a pot on their heads and picking herbs, and a family of four, all holding farming tools, wandering through the forest.

On my way to the forest for the afternoon shift, a mother and son suddenly ran out of the forest. When I ran to help, the mother, gripping a wooden stick, beat the Goblin that followed them, creating a scene that would make the son feel conflicted.

Even when the mother, covered in red and black blood, turned back and said with a smile, "I'm fine," I was so shocked that I didn't feel fine at all. This kind of thing would give me nightmares.

There are almost no adventurers or hunters as people imagine. Instead, ordinary people from the town, in their regular clothes, are bustling in and out of the forest entrance.

Is it because their main income is low, or are they trying to earn merit through the goddess's prayers, or is it because the forest is only about 1 km from the town?

In Japan, if a forest had monsters that could kill you, it would be cordoned off with yellow and black tape and guarded by police. Here, it's accepted as normal, which feels fresh.

On the other hand, it means that death is very close.

When I talked to the Guild Master about the two missing hunters, he seemed to accept death very quickly.

Amanda and the other staff and hunters in the guild didn't seem depressed either. In this world, it's normal to risk death to earn money and live.

No, no, no.

If I accept this, I'll fall back into a game mindset.

I don't want to die. I'm afraid of dying, which is why I want to become stronger.

Even though it feels easy, I can't be careless.

Unlike in a game, a bad hit can kill me, so I need to stay alert and defeat the monsters.

Well, let's do our best today too!

---

Time is 4:00 PM by my watch.

I finished my quota early today, so I'm heading back to Bezart, munching on a fruit from my pocket.

Muscle pain is a sign of growth, but as some wise person said, resting is important too!

When I entered the disassembly area through the back door, Rody, who was dissecting Horn Rabbits at the back workbench, came to the counter.

"Hey, you're early today. Are you tired?"

"I am a bit tired, but I've completed my quota, so I'm returning early."

I handed over the basket, which contained the usual four Horn Rabbits, other monster parts, and magic stones.

"You're still hunting steadily... The reception staff are saying you're a promising candidate."

"Yeah, I guess... I don't want to stand out too much, but I can't afford to lose more income."

"Is there something you want to buy?"

"I'm planning to go to the Locker Plains. I'm saving money for weapons, armor, and job selection."

"I see. So your goal is 100... no, 800,000 Bikes?"

"Actually, I'm aiming for 1.5 million Bikes. The cheap weapons in barrels are too big for me at my height."

"Weapons are meant for adults. But 1.5 million at your age... no wonder they call you a promising candidate."

"Hehe... I'm just working hard because I have a goal. By the way! What about this herb!?"

I took out some unfamiliar herbs and flowers from my pocket.

"Hmm... This is Linghuan Grass. It's a raw material for magic potions, so I can buy it for 1,200 Bikes. But that flower is no good. The roots of Furei Flowers are valuable to alchemists, but there's no demand for the flowers or stems."

"Ugh... It was the roots... Oh well, at least I got one right! I'll remember this herb."

Hmm, gathering herbs is difficult...

Unlike monsters, they all look similar, and the parts in demand are different for flowers, leaves, stems, and roots. I've been picking them up whenever I can and studying, but it's inefficient.

I think once I get the [Gathering] skill, I'll gain some ability to identify them, but until then, I'll just pick up anything that looks like it might be useful and consider it a bonus if it's worth money.

Still, thanks to this herb, I saved money for dinner today, and I earned some skill experience, so it's a win-win.

"By the way, does selling gathered items and materials to the guild help with hunter rank?"

I forgot to ask about this before, so I decided to ask now.

"Yeah, it does. If you sell to the guild, they can track how many and what kind of monsters you've defeated or what activities you've been doing. If you sell elsewhere, they can't track that."

"For example, if I give you the parts of a Goblin I defeated, and also the magic stone, it would count towards my record, right?"

"Right. If you're only looking at money, you can sell Horn Rabbit meat to the guild, but for herbs, you can sell to alchemists, and for skins, you can sell to tailors or armor makers, who might pay a bit more. Magic stones are usually more valuable at magic stone shops. But selling to the guild is better for your reputation and makes it easier to cash out."

"I see! Thank you!"

That makes sense.

If I sell parts elsewhere, the guild can't tell if I've only been stripping parts from monsters.

Rody is honest about the slight price difference, so it's better to trust him and sell everything to the guild.

It's easier too! And then I just need to go to Amanda to get my money!

"By the way... you can deposit money with the guild, right? It's dangerous to carry a lot of gold coins at your age."

"...Huh? I didn't know that."

"Didn't think you would. If you say you want to deposit your reward at the disassembly area, I'll process it for you. You can withdraw it from the reception later. As long as it's not an outrageous amount."

Why didn't Amanda tell me this important information?

It's like a bank, a wonderful system.

There's probably no interest, but my coins have been getting heavy lately.

Indeed, when I finally save 1.5 million Bikes!

If I get attacked at that moment, it would be a disaster.

So, I have no choice!

"I'll deposit it!"

"Got it. Here's the wooden board for today's earnings. Check it and if it's okay, I'll pass it to Amanda later, so you don't need to go to the reception today."

"Four Horn Rabbits, five Goblins, four Furi Moles... Yes, it's fine! ...Oh!"

"What is it?"

I had one more thing to confirm.

"Today, one of the Goblins was holding a wooden stick. I've seen them occasionally... Are they special variants?"

"It's a tricky one... They are special, but not upper-level variants. You should have noticed that the one you defeated today was the same size and speed as a regular Goblin, right?"

"Right. It just had a stick."

"So, the magic stone is the same size, and the reward is the same as a regular Goblin. If it were an upper-level variant, like a Goblin Warrior or Goblin Mage, it would be larger and use magic, making it much stronger. Then it would be treated as a different species."

"I see... So for regular hunters, Goblins with sticks or the one with a sword I saw the other day are just nuisances."

"Exactly. They just pick up whatever they find, so there's not much you can do about it. They don't have the brains to use them properly, just to swing them around."

Actually, they always have the corresponding skills, but I can't say that here.

If you're just after money, there's no benefit, but in terms of skill levels, they're good targets.

"Thank you for everything! See you tomorrow!"

"Get some rest!"

I left through the back door of the disassembly area. It's my first time using the back door.

Checking the time in the shade, it's still before 5:00 PM... There's more than an hour before the evening bell.

So, I have one thing to do: my first town exploration!

I've been meaning to do this, so even though my legs are heavy, I'll scout out the magic stone shop and restaurants mentioned earlier!

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