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TL: ALT
Chapter 8 – Start Earning
“Wait, wait. How can it be so convenient? It’s not in line with my life so far…”
In this broken age when the world is filled with dungeons, it is no exaggeration to say that dungeon research is a top priority for mankind.
In such a situation, am I the only one?
…Is there such a convenient story?
But there is usually no way not to obtain only experience.
Even if there were, there is no reason to go to the trouble of doing so.
“…No, no. I don’t care if I’m the only one in the world or not. It’s not like I have to be on top of the world.”
I take a deep breath and cool my head.
“All that matters is that I might have a chance. And it’s extra-large…”
The competition for the higher levels is endless.
There are explorers all over the world.
Some of them may have skills that make it easier to gain experience.
They say that if you work hard, you will be rewarded, but that is a lie.
In this society, it is a common practice to encourage people to work hard and then discard them by saying, “I don’t want you because someone else is better than you.”
Only those with talent are rewarded for their efforts.
In the case of exploration, it is those who are blessed with good initial ability values and powerful unique skills.
I have a growth problem, and no matter how much I wear out my body and mind, it’s hard to beat those who are blessed with the ability to compete in the leveling race.
…But this way?
The idea is that explorers are supposed to aim for higher levels, and this is a counter-intuitive approach to conventional wisdom.
“This could be a maybe, just a maybe.”
I do some calculations in my notebook and check the wiki on my phone to organize the necessary information.
“All right! Let’s go.”
…However, what I have to do is the same as before.
Defeat one Slime.
Escape.
Recover.
Repeat the above.
One of the strange things about ‘escape’ is the situation after you escape.
The monster warps a little ahead from the point where you are running.
The monster is returned to its initial position at the start of the battle.
At that time, the monster that was supposed to be defeated was also resurrected.
This is a rather unpleasant phenomenon, but it is convenient for me.
It saves me the trouble of looking for another monster after escaping.
After 30 minutes, my SP reached 102.
‘You have acquired the skill “Magic Power Enhancement.”‘
Skill──────────────────
Magic Power Enhancement 1
Increase magic power by 120.
────────────────────
This skill itself has no direct effect on fighting.
However, even though it can be obtained with 100 SP, the bonus to the ability value is 120.
Normally, it would be more beneficial to take a magic-based skill to have more means of attack, but for me, at level 1, the increase in ability value is significant.
This brought my Magic Power to 185.
“Can I go with this? …Fire Arrow!”
The fire arrow, which had clearly gained momentum, buried the Slime with a single blow.
“Escape――I tried to get lost.
――If I can kill a Slime with a single blow, why not kill both of them?
No, that’s not it!”
I dashed back to shake off my hesitation.
It is true that with my current power, I can defeat two Slimes.
But if I did, I would get the experience.
…The expression “I can get it” is strange, though.
I defeated two Slimes and gained experience! That’s what a normal explorer would do.
Or rather, it’s what every explorer does, except me.
If I did the same thing, I would be giving up my unique advantage.
So, I ‘escape.’
I got hit three times because my lucky evasion was not working well, but I was able to escape as before.
‘You succeeded in escaping.’
‘No experience gained.’
‘Earned 420 yen.’
‘You have obtained Potion Gummy!’
‘Lost 214 yen!’
I throw the gummy that appeared in my hand into my mouth.
“…No, it’s great that I earned it, but this doesn’t help me move forward.”
If I want to move forward, I must annihilate the Slime.
If I annihilate the Slime, I will get the experience.
It’s a dilemma.
“If it’s just two Slimes, the experience will still not raise my level…”
Still, if I keep on defeating them, it will go up soon.
“Should I just make as much money as I can here and go to another dungeon? No…”
It is too inefficient to earn anything only at the entrance of the dungeon.
Besides, it would stand out if I did something suspicious like this near the entrance.
Even if it’s okay because this dungeon doesn’t get many visitors, doing something like this in a dungeon with that many people doesn’t guarantee that the secret won’t be exposed.
If I think about the future, I will have to move on eventually.
I thought about it for a while,
“Okay, let’s escape from the decision.”
Once I raise my level, there is no way to lower it later.
Even if I raise my level, I can’t fight without earning SP, taking skills, and adding bonuses to my ability value since my basic ability value is low.
In any case, if I need to earn SP, I should earn it here first.
I can either continue to level up and go deeper, or I can move to another dungeon and continue earning at the entrance.
That is a decision I can make only after I have some strength.
…I said with pride, but this is an escape, “I’ll come up with a better idea in time.”
If I wanted to, I could stick with it until the S.Lv. of ‘Escape’ is raised.
Fortunately, in this thicket dungeon, I haven’t seen any explorers entering or leaving yesterday or today.
No one would pay attention to a D-rank dungeon that is difficult to access and only contains Slimes.
Once the decision is made, the task is simple:
“Earn SP…!”
It took me 20 minutes to get 102.
Skill──────────────────
HP Enhancement 1
Increase HP by 120.
────────────────────
First, this skill is to buy safety.
After another 20 minutes,
Skill──────────────────
MP Recovery Speed Up 1
Increases the natural recovery speed of MP by (S.LV x 10)%.
────────────────────
This will shorten the earning interval by 10%.
Now in 18 minutes,
Skill──────────────────
MP Enhancement 1
Increases MP by 120.
────────────────────
The natural recovery rate of MP also depends on the maximum MP.
Now I hardly need a break to recover MP for ‘Fire Arrow.’
15 minutes.
Skill──────────────────
Simple Appraisal
Allows the user to see the name and level of the subject.
────────────────────
I think this is necessary.
The SP required for the simple version is only 100, while the full ‘Appraisal’ skill requires 10000 SP.
However, this skill does not come with an ability bonus.
Then, it takes 15 minutes each,
Skill──────────────────
Defense Enhancement 1
Increases defense by 120.
────────────────────
Skill──────────────────
Physical Strength Enhancement 1
Increases Attack and Defense by 60 each.
────────────────────
Skill──────────────────
Mental Strength Enhancement 1
Increases Mental Strength by 120.
────────────────────
Skill──────────────────
Luck Enhancement 1
Increases Luck by 120.
────────────────────
Skill──────────────────
Evasion Up 1
Makes evasion more likely to occur.
────────────────────
Skill──────────────────
Agility Enhancement 1
Increases Agility by 120.
────────────────────
And reinforce the ability value with skills.
Other attribute magic and weapon skills can be done later.
There are only Slimes in this dungeon, anyway.
So what happened to my status…?
“Status Open.”
Status──────────────────
Yuto Kurashiki
Level 1
HP 103/103
MP 174/174
Attack Power 34
Defense 85
Magic Power 155
Mental Strength 184
Agility 609
Luck 865
・Unique Skill
Escape S.Lv1
・Acquired Skills
Fire Magic 1, MP Recovery Speed 1, MP Enhancement 1, Simple Appraisal, Defense Enhancement 1, Physical Strength Enhancement 1, Mental Strength Enhancement 1, Luck Enhancement 1, Evasion Enhancement 1, Agility Enhancement 1
・Equipment
Anti-Poison Earrings
Traveler’s Cloak
SP 7
────────────────────
“Yes, it looks different.”
Let’s put aside the low Attack Power because I fight with magic.
The Defense 85 is low compared to the others, but it is still equivalent to level 8 for an explorer with a base ability value of 10.
The sad part is that even if I go into the trouble of acquiring ‘Defense Enhancement,’ the negative correction (-60%) from ‘Escape’ will cut down on the increase.
On the other hand, the values of Agility and Luck, which are corrected by +200% and +400%, respectively, are already showing signs of increasing.
Thanks to the lucky evasion, Slime’s attacks have hardly hit me since a while ago.
There is also a surplus of the drop item, Potion Gummy.
The drop rate is also visibly high, probably thanks to my high Luck.
As for money, I can’t say that I’m accumulating much at all.
Of course, this is due to the fact that every time I ‘escape,’ I lose about 50% of my money.
I’ll have to sell my excess gummy for money…
“So that’s about it for today, huh?”
The problem of not being able to move on from the entrance is still unresolved, but I guess it was enough of an accomplishment.