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Episode 3: The Constellation’s Game [Leica]
In fact, during the week it took to decide to enter the Gate, I did quite a bit of thinking. It wasn’t that the Gate itself was scary. I had no reason to feel aversion to a Gate I’d entered countless times.
However, unlike the beta version where you just started over upon death, death here meant actual death.
So… I didn’t want to die. If it were before reuniting with my family, I probably would have had little attachment to life, but human feelings are truly fickle.
“Just in case, son.”
“Yes, Dad.”
“I’d rather you not even go near the Gates.”
“……”
Nevertheless, the reason I chose the Gate in the end was money. I had overheard my parents’ conversation and realized our family’s financial situation was more dire than I thought.
“Honey. Now that Gunyul is back too… isn’t it time we moved?”
“I was just thinking the same. There’s no need to stay here paying these exorbitant interest rates.”
They seemed to be barely covering the monthly loan interest of several million won with their income. So, with a loan of at least 1 billion won, they were in a situation where their living expenses kept gnawing away at them. Selling the house wouldn’t even cover the full loan, and deciding to move was difficult because of my father’s convenience store. My parents said it was just a bit tough, but from my perspective, it wasn’t just ‘a bit.’ If I had returned any later, our family might have ended up on the streets. So, to atone for my unfilial, getting just any job wouldn’t cut it. I realized I needed more money than I’d thought.
‘Ultimately… the Gate is the answer.’
So, after deciding to enter the Gate, I made somewhat systematic plans.
My only weapon was the experience of over a thousand times that, something no one else had.
The only way for me to make serious money was to use that to earn as much Leica Points (LP) as possible.
‘Just don’t push too hard. Find a way to earn the maximum money within that limit.’
So, I entered the Gate purely to make money.
“Haha, new adventurers are always welcome. So, Dave, was it?”
My family’s well-being, reunited after ten thousand years, was more important to me than saving the world.
Ding-!
[Encountered ‘Mordini’, the village chief of ‘Bereshit’.]
[Conditions have been met.]
[Quest cleared.]
“Feel free to rest here in Bereshit until you’re ready to embark on your adventure.”
[Acquired ‘Apprentice Hero’s Equipment Box’ as quest completion reward.]
And no matter how much of a failure I was as a hero, things were a bit different as long as I was on the ‘Starter Island.’ There shouldn’t be anyone on the Earth server, an official server, who had raised characters over a thousand times like I had.
They say ordinary players on the Earth server do an enormous amount of preparation before entering this Gate. Since you have to risk your life to enter this place called a Gate… Not only do they set up gear with money, but they also train in all sorts of virtual simulation spaces before attempting to enter.
So, for those ‘ordinary’ aspiring hunters, something like an [Apprentice Hero’s Equipment Box] holds little meaning. Since most people come in with full sets of 2nd or 3rd-tier gear costing tens of millions of won… they have no reason to care about 1st-tier supply items.
But I obviously couldn’t do that. I had to enter the Gate truly penniless. For me, this Apprentice Hero’s Equipment Box… couldn’t be anything but precious seed money.
[Opened the ‘Apprentice Hero’s Equipment Box’.]
[You can choose one of three pieces of equipment.]
[A. Apprentice Adventurer’s Sword]
[B. Apprentice Mage’s Staff]
[C. Apprentice Hunter’s Bow]
Therefore, I needed to be careful from the start, down to which default equipment I’d choose. I had to earn the maximum money with the least upkeep.
“Hmm.”
Okay, in that context, let’s first pass on the ‘Apprentice Hunter’s Bow.’ This is a weapon I must not choose in this life.
‘Unless my ancestors are buying my arrows for me.’
While aspiring hunters do prefer it because it allows hunting from a distance with low risk… arrow costs in Lyca are never cheap. In fact, the higher your level, the more burdensome the cost becomes. Like other equipment, you need higher-tier arrows to deal proper damage. I heard a pack of 100 arrows of Tier 5 or above costs over 10 million won.
Okay.
So, the correct answer here is…?
Ding-!
[You have selected the ‘Apprentice Mage’s Staff’.]
It was the staff.
[Acquired the item.]
Aren’t mages a class that costs a lot of money?
Of course.
In some ways, they need even more money than archers.
So, you should absolutely not become a mage either.
Then why did I choose the staff, you ask…?
[Sold the ‘Apprentice Mage’s Staff’.]
Because it’s the most expensive.
[Acquired 15 LP.]
These 15 LP were the seed money that would become my growth capital.
‘Great. The prices are the same as the beta version.’
If someone had seen me resorting to cheap tactics from the basic equipment, they would have shaken their head in disapproval. After all, without equipment you can’t hunt, and without hunting you can’t earn money… To buy similar-level equipment again, you’d have to pay an even higher price. So, selling this off, no matter how broke you are… From a conventional viewpoint, it’s foolish.
But who am I?
A veteran of the ‘Starter Island.’
I had a way to utilize this 15 LP capital to the extreme.
After selling the staff, I headed to the blacksmith on the outskirts of the village.
“An adventurer I’ve never seen before! What brings you here?”
But this isn’t the blacksmith ordinary players use.
“What? You came to buy what?”
This is a blacksmith that specializes in selling farming tools.
I planned to procure the best cost-effective weapon here.
“Hmm, it’s the first time an adventurer has come to buy a shovel… Well, I can’t say I won’t sell it.”
[Purchased a ‘Sturdy Iron Shovel’.]
“Yes! This is a very fine quality.”
This ‘Sturdy Iron Shovel’ is, of course, weaker in attack power than the Apprentice Adventurer’s Sword. But its durability is 3 times higher, it’s lighter… and its price is about 1/3 of the staff’s!
[Paid 5 LP.]
With something like this available, not selling the weapon from the box… Wouldn’t that mean starting out with a loss of over 10 LP from the very beginning? Of course, it hurts my dignity as a hero, but that doesn’t put food on the table.
‘Now what’s left…’
I already knew what I wanted to buy with the remaining money. Potions?
No way.
A budget hero doesn’t drink things like potions. Those who hunt while chugging potions aren’t in the right mindset to earn money in the first place.
So, what I spent my remaining money on was the minimum safety device for survival.
[Purchased a ‘Bereshit Return Scroll’.]
[Paid 10 LP.]
Since anything can happen inside the Gate, having one life insurance is essential.
‘Good. With this, I’m ready to hunt.’
Now it’s finally the beginning. I’m ready to start work.
‘First, the Bereshit front yard.’
And so, for the first time after returning… I headed to the hunting ground, no, the workplace.
During my time with the fairy, I had experienced countless classes. Among them, of course, was ‘Architect.’ And the first weapon the guild gave me when I class-changed to Architect was a ‘shovel.’
-You want me to… fight with this?
-Of course. A shovel is a surprisingly excellent weapon.
In fact, among the early combat skills for the Architect class, there was even a martial art utilizing the shovel. It felt like a mix of swordsmanship and shield technique…
puck-!
Especially when dealing with these brainless monsters that bare their fangs without thinking, it was an excellent skill.
Of course, there’s no way I have that skill now… But if I perfectly recreate the motions, I can bring out about 80% of the power of actually using the skill. Just like this.
Thump-
First, raise the shovel vertically, blocking with a poised stance.
[Perfectly defended against the Starve Dog’s attack.]
[Damage reduced by 99%.]
Then deliver proper education to the crown of the dazed creature who smashed its snout on the iron shovel…
Crack-!
[Inflicted critical damage to the Starve Dog!]
[The Starve Dog has been stunned.]
And you can neatly finish the fight by shoving the shovel right into the mouth of the stunned creature.
[Inflicted critical damage to the Starve Dog!]
[Successfully defeated the Starve Dog!]
This was a creature I wouldn’t have been able to handle so easily with any other weapon. This isn’t rationalization, it’s the truth. Among early equipment, there’s no weapon as free in switching between offense and defense as the shovel. If I had been holding a sword, I’d be on the verge of death after killing just one. If I got properly bitten even once, my HP would be halved instantly.
‘Could I have… killed it while dodging everything?’
But you ask, why are the monsters in the village front yard so strong? I went after the strongest guy in this neighborhood. The front yard newbie bully, the Starve Dog… was a whopping level 4 monster. Isn’t it common sense that getting bitten by a level 4 beast at level 1 would leave you on the verge of death?
[Successfully hunted a monster.]
[Gained experience.]
[Level increased.]
[Reached Level 2.]
But if you ask why I’m pushing myself from the start when I said I’d play it safe…
[Succeeded in a difficult challenge.]
[Conditions have been met.]
It’s to get a title.
[Acquired the title ‘Giant Slayer (Hero)’.]
Killing a Starve Dog at level 1 is the easiest way to get this title.
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Giant Slayer
Classification: Title
Tier: 5
Grade: Hero
-
Equip Effect
When facing an enemy of a higher level than yourself, all combat abilities increase by 30. -
Ownership Effect
Attack Power additionally increases by 15%.
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The acquisition condition for this title is ‘defeating an enemy with all ability values at least twice your own’… Therefore, the acquisition difficulty increases exponentially as your level rises. It’s a Tier 5 Hero-grade title, it can’t be easy to get, right? This means if not now, a freebie is impossible.
“Hmm hmm.”
Making sure to get every possible stat boost without spending money is also… an important quality of a freebie hero. No, a budget hero, isn’t it?
‘Right, absolutely.’
Anyway, having smoothly achieved my first goal, my inferior equipment was somewhat compensated for.
[Entered combat with a high-level enemy.]
[Effect of the ‘Giant Slayer’ title activated.]
[Ability values increased.]
[Combat Power increased by 85.]
[Current Combat Power: 137]
Although conditional, the ‘all abilities +30’ from the equip effect was comparable to wearing a full set of Tier 2 gear.
[Inflicted critical damage to the Starve Dog!]
Seeing the mutt falter from one shovel strike, the performance is indeed clear. No matter how precisely my attack targeted its weak point, it’s quite difficult for a level 2 to one-shot a level 4.
[Successfully defeated the Starve Dog!]
Anyway, thanks to that, my hunting speed became considerably faster, and after killing about two more, loot dropped.
[Acquired loot from the ‘Starve Dog’.]
Of course, there’s no way this shabby creature would drop anything valuable, but…
[Acquired the ‘Tough Chunk of Meat’ item.]
As the saying goes, many a little makes a sell it; if I process and sell this well, I can earn about 0.1 LP. Since 1 LP exchanges for roughly 10,000 won, that’s a whole 1,000 won.
‘Huh, wait. This is 1,000 won?’
It was junk I wouldn’t even pick up when playing the beta version… Suddenly, this smelly chunk of meat starts to feel precious.
[Inflicted critical damage to the Starve Dog!]
[Successfully defeated the Starve Dog!]
Moreover, I hunted so excitedly that even an item with a drop rate under 20% fell.
[Acquired the ‘Small Beast’s Bone Shard’ item.]
This is junk that the general store uncle will buy for a whopping 0.3 LP as is.
“Hehe.”
It must have been at least seven thousand years since I last bent down to pick up something like this, but today it feels incredibly precious. I never thought this way in the beta version… It felt like finding a free american coupon on the street.
[Successfully defeated the Starve Dog!]
[Acquired the ‘Tough Chunk of Meat’ item.]
[Acquired the ‘Small Beast’s Torn Hide’ item.]
Who knew simple hunting grind could be this fun? Maybe my real talent was in budget gaming all along?
Thud-
Screech-!
While thinking that…
[Acquired the ‘Corroded Bone Ornament’ item.]
A creature I just killed dropped a chicken coupon I never expected.
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Corroded Bone Ornament
Classification: Equipment – Necklace
Level Restriction: 1
Grade: Common
Tier: 1T
Durability: 20 / 20
Main Stat
Attack Power +2
A worn ornament made from the bone shard of a starving beast.
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An exclamation popped out spontaneously…
‘Crazy.’
My pupils dilated unconsciously, and a thrill ran through my whole body. I could probably get about 2.3 LP for this. With this, I could even afford a full set of BBQ chicken? That farming a single Tier 1 accessory could trigger this much dopamine… It seems everything really depends on one’s mindset.
[Acquired the ‘Corroded Bone Ornament’ item.]
But for now, I have to equip it.
[Equipped the ‘Corroded Bone Ornament’ item.]
[Ability values increased.]
[Combat Power increased by 4.]
[Current Combat Power: 141]
Every single stat is precious at this level.
Crack-!
[Inflicted critical damage to the Starve Dog!]
Slaughtering those mutts so excitedly, my level went up again before I knew it.
[Gained experience.]
[Level increased.]
[Reached Level 3.]
Now, if I level up just one more time, I can’t hunt here anymore. If my level becomes equal to the highest-level monster in the front yard, the Starve Dog, I can no longer receive the ‘Giant Slayer’ effect. So, I should head to the ‘Starter Forest’ now. Thinking of the Rampaging Reindeer that inhabit there, I can’t help but salivate.
‘Wild Reindeer, was it. The one that dropped antler velvet.’
The Rampaging Reindeer drops an ingredient called ‘Antler Velvet’ at a very low probability. And this is worth… a whopping 13 LP. That means an omakase course.
“Wow.”
Hunting suddenly became so much fun. I guess I have to retract my statement about just earning lunch money and leaving. Before I knew it, my steps were heading towards the Starter Forest.
