REWCS 04

Chapter 4

The Constellation’s Game [Leica]

Actually, the ‘Starting Forest’ is quite a dangerous place.
Of course, that’s based on level 3 standards.

[You have taken damage from a ‘Wild Reindeer’.]
[Health decreases.]

However, if you’re Dave, the rice-earning warrior armed with an iron shovel, staking pudding-like on his neck…

[You have inflicted critical damage on the ‘Wild Reindeer’!]

The story was a bit different even at level 3.

[You have successfully defeated the ‘Wild Reindeer’!]

In his eyes, the violent reindeer was just a fine ATM that spat out a single cabbage leaf each time he caught it.

[Acquired the ‘Coarse Beast Hide’ item.]
[Acquired the ‘Broken Beast Horn’ item.]

Why a cabbage leaf?
Because the average value of items dropped by the ‘Wild Reindeer’ felt roughly equivalent to 1 LP.

‘Ugh, already caught them all?’

So it was quite regrettable.
The fact that Wild Reindeer weren’t monsters that appeared commonly.
Ordinary reindeer without modifiers were scattered everywhere, but Wild Reindeer were quite rare, about one in five.
Because they are rare, the market price for the junk items they drop might be a bit more established…
But what’s the harm in them dropping a bit better just for today?

‘Still, I earned a lot.’

Looking roughly at the items looted so far, it seemed selling them all would yield over 7 LP.
Money earned in two hours, which equates to an hourly wage of 35,000 won.

“Ugh…!”

If I burn through deer all day today, I could earn a daily wage exceeding 300,000 won.
Suddenly, dopamine surges up like a fountain.

‘Is this… the rice-earning warrior?’

Perhaps the reason I couldn’t ignite my talent before was due to lack of motivation?
If the fairy had given me a little pat on the head with each level up, I might have caught the Demon King and returned hundreds of years ago?

“……”

Enough with the delusion, back to reality.
Actually, I can’t keep earning money like that by continuously catching reindeer.
It’s not like monsters spawn infinitely as in a real game, and if I keep supplying reindeer by-products, the price will drop too.
So it’s time to stop the foolish thoughts and move towards the next plan I had originally devised.

‘Actually, searching for more violent reindeer here is a loss.’

Looking at the experience, I’m almost level 5.
And from level 5, there exists the ‘next step’ I predesigned for rice-earning.
So, first reach level 5…

Ding-!
[Experience gained.]
[Level has increased.]
[Reached Level 5.]
[‘Traits’ tab unlocked.]
[You can now acquire ‘Traits’ using ‘Trait Points’.]

I immediately opened the Traits tab.

[Opened ‘Traits’ tab.]
[Remaining ‘Trait Points’ is 1 point.]

Countless trait lists scrolled before my eyes, but there was no need to read them.
Why?
I memorized them all long ago.
What to choose was already decided even before entering the gate.
So I immediately invested the point.

Ding-!

[Acquired the ‘Expert Skinning’ trait.]
[You can now ‘Skin’ monster corpses.]

It seemed to be on the list of ‘Traits you should absolutely not choose’ on the Awakened wiki…

-Expert Skinning-
Trait Rank: F
Unless you plan to open a butcher shop in Leica, there is absolutely no reason to choose this trait.
Instead of choosing this…

Probably because it’s a trait with no spec-up elements at all, hence the harsh evaluation.

“Huhu.”

But it’s okay.
I’m a rice-earning warrior with no particular interest in saving the world.

‘Well, I’m not going to catch the Death Knight anyway, right?’

If I can triple my immediate hourly wage by selling future glory, isn’t that the true path of rice-earning?
Well, if really necessary, traits can be reset later anyway.
So for now, I’ll enjoy it.

[This is the corpse of a ‘Wild Reindeer’ after looting.]
[You can activate the trait ‘Expert Skinning’.]
[Proceed?]

Two loots from one corpse!
Money gets duplicated?

[Began ‘Skinning’ the ‘Wild Reindeer’ corpse.]
[The corpse is in good condition, increasing skinning success rate.]

Moreover, if I can later farm Wyvern nests, only players with this ‘Skinning’ trait can farm Dragon Bones.
I think there are hardly any players on the Earth server who know this yet.
If they knew, they could never have given this trait an F rank.
But aren’t wyvern stronger than Orcs or Ogres?
Of course.
Although they are on the lower tier among dragon, they are still dragon, can’t be compared to Orcs or Ogres…
Thinking about it, wyvern seems a bit far-fetched.
Failing to know my place just because I earned a bit of money.
Seems I need to be a bit more humble.

[Current progress: 0%……1%…15%……100%!]
[‘Skinning’ successful!]

Humming a tune while thinking such thoughts…
An unexpected problem arose.

[Used equipment unsuitable for ‘Skinning’, damaging the spoils.]
[Acquired the ‘Broken Young Antler’ item.]

Using a shovel for skinning…
The omakase was broken.

South Korea’s ordinary job seeker Lee Siyul spent each day fiercely.
Waking up early for a light jog, refreshing shower, then straight to the study room.
Listening to online lectures all morning, studying intensively, then after lunch, attending a job-seeking study group.
After the study group, attending two academies, then coming home exhausted—that was her daily routine.

“So let’s relax and enjoy today. Why do you look so down when we’re meeting after so long?”

But today was a rare day of deviation.
A deviation meaning eating mala-tang instead of kimbap for lunch.
Instead of going to the job-seeking study group, watching a movie with one of her few close friends,  Jeong Hyeon-woo…
Even that felt uncomfortable.
Now an adult, she knew well her family’s financial situation wasn’t easy.

“Phew. Does it look like I can enjoy? I have to be mindful of my parents.”

The only positive thing was that something good recently happened at home after a long time.
Her brother, who went missing ten years ago, miraculously returned, brightening her parents’ faces for the first time in ages.

“But the atmosphere at home has improved lately, right?”
“That’s… true.”

Though she once resented her brother for suddenly disappearing… his return was sincerely welcome and grateful.
It’s just that he seemed to be doing nonsense lately, which worried her a bit.

‘By the way, he seems to be searching about gates and stuff every day lately… He’s not planning to do something weird, is he?’

Well, he talked nonsense about using his warrior experience to earn money…
Even though someone who isn’t Awakened can’t possibly enter a gate, she couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
Not knowing how much to trust her brother, who seems fine on one hand but talks like he’s not in his right mind.
Thinking that, her friend starts talking nonsense.

“Hehe, don’t worry too much, Siru. Just wait a bit and this guy will take care of you.”
“What nonsense is that now?”
“This is a secret… Actually, I asked to meet today to talk about this.”
“What…?”

Thanks to that, she became even more troubled.

“I entered a gate last week?”
“What?”
“This guy will soon become a ranker and hire you as a manager, so just wait a bit, okay?”
“You crazy bastard?”

Hearing her friend’s subsequent story, Siyul was quite shocked.
She didn’t even know until today that Jung Hyun-woo, her closest friend, was an Awakened.

“Absolutely secret from my older sister? Got it?”
“What. I’m calling sister right now.”
“No! Please, really!”

Simultaneously, a foreboding预感 couldn’t help but surface.

‘What if this Lee Geon-yul guy… was serious about that warrior stuff?’

The moment the thought occurred that Mom’s son might also be an Awakened…

Drip—

Cold sweat trickled down Siyul’s spine.

Although there was a horrific(?) mishap of the young antler breaking, everything went smoothly after that.
After acquiring a pocket knife, such unfortunate incidents never happened again.
Thanks to that, the Skinning trait performed splendidly beyond my expectations, and thanks to this self-drop 2x event, my inventory quickly became heavy.
Thanks to that, I hunted without realizing time passing.
And thinking about the sessions in the beta version…
This was unbelievable.

‘Finding Starting Forest grinding fun. Does that make sense?’

Actually, among all sections of ‘playing’ this Leica world…
Originally, the most boring section was precisely this Starting Forest grinding section.
From the 4-5 level range where experience requirements increase exponentially, up to the maximum level achievable before class change, level 20.
This section where you have to grind repetitively without any special quests was definitely among the hardest memories in the infinitely repeating life of a warrior.
So I couldn’t understand this current situation at all.

Ding-!
[Opening inventory.]

Beating down the forest’s prey, diligently farming with the Skinning trait.
And this routine of neatly organizing the spoils obtained into the inventory…
I never imagined I’d feel such unbelievable fun in it.

‘Wow, this much might be close to 50 LP?’

The results were too good even from the first day.
Earning 50 LP in a single day starting from zero was a level far exceeding my target…

Ding-!
[Experience gained.]
[Level has increased.]
[Reached Level 9.]

The speed of leveling up was also unbelievable.

〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓
<Player Information>

[Info]
Name: Dave
(Dave#GARQW)
Race: Human
Age: 26
Level: 9
Class: None
Title: Giant Slayer
〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓

Even though I invested considerable time skinning each time.

“Already, level 9?”

I really had no idea I could do this well.
Why did I underestimate myself?
Because I actually didn’t do this well when playing the beta version.

‘Level 9 on the first day… I’ve never been this fast in any session.’

Even in the most recent session that had reached its peak, I usually reached levels 9-10 on the second day.
When with the fairy, I only grew while sleeping 6 hours a day…
The level I reached after almost 30 hours was level 10, which is my current level now.
So it’s about 3 times faster.
Is this the difference in mindset?

‘But it seems too big a difference for that.’

Honestly, I don’t know how this is possible.
The official server can’t be easier than the beta version.
Seems like some unknown talent blossomed after returning to Earth.

‘Good things are good, whatever.’

Then, can I now catch not just wyverns but the Demon King?
No way.
If an F-rank warrior gained enlightenment… wouldn’t that now be about E-rank?
So I think it just became a bit easier to earn money.
Yeah, that seems just about right.

“Hmm.”

Thinking that, I returned to the village, organized all my inventory, and exactly 53 LP gathered in my possession.

[Current LP held: 53 LP]

With a satisfied expression, I write a work log.
To earn money diligently without wasting it, keeping a ledger is essential.

〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓
<Day 1 Work Log>
Total Revenue: 71 LP
Expenses: 18 LP

• Expense Details –
  Bereshit Return Scroll: 10 LP
  Sturdy Iron Shovel: 5 LP
  Sharp Pocket Knife: 3 LP

Operating Profit: 53 LP
〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓

Especially where the money was spent is more important than how it was earned.
I absolutely couldn’t tolerate money leaking out wastefully.
In that sense, today’s work log is perfect.
Although expenses increased by 3 LP to buy a skinning dagger, I think it was a sufficiently justified investment.
Anyway, about 10 hours after connecting…

Ding-!
[Logout location: Starting Village – Bereshit]

I finally decided to log off.

[The connection of ‘Dave’ has ended.]

Coming outside, the sun had already set.
I didn’t originally plan to stay this long.
But what can I do, it was fun.

““Hehehe.”.”

But logging off doesn’t mean the workday is over.
One task remains.
Having left the gate, I was already on the subway, already heading to Seoul Station.
You ask where I’m going after sunset…
To exchange the money I earned today.
I like KRW more than LP.

Tiring- tiring-
-This station is, Dongdaemun History & Culture Park. Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station.
-Please prepare to exit…

It’s still about 8 o’clock, not yet time for my parents to worry.
If I exchange LP and order chicken, wouldn’t Dad be happy?
If they ask where the money came from, I’ll just say I did a day’s part-time at a friend’s company or something.
I plan to honestly tell them about earning money in the gate only after earning at least hundreds of millions.
When I’ve earned so much money that they’d find it hard to tell me not to enter the gate.
Thinking that, I soon arrived at Seoul Station, and finding the destination wasn’t difficult.

[Constellation’s Tower – Gate Management Bureau]

The giant pillar of white light towering over Seoul Station plaza was not easy to miss.