Valen was beaming.
"Anyway, this is something that I don't need anymore."
Minhyuk first decided to receive it. After all he was someone who does not refuse any gifts given to him.
"But Instructor… All I did was make a meal for you?"
"So you don't like it?"
When Valen slowly reached out his hands to take away the sword Minhyuk quickly hugged it.
"That's not it! He… I'll use it well!"
"That's right, boy are you leaving this area now?"
"I think so."
"Then bring enough of those hard bread."
"I'm truly grateful to you in so many ways."
Valen laughed silently.
"It was a delicious treat. Thank you, really."
Valen said that while he thought to himself.
'I'll probably never forget it in my life.'
"I'll go to the hunting grounds but I'll come back to play often."
"Sure. Oh yeah, you should check that out."
He turned around and laid himself down on his sofa.
The means of confirmation and checking is probably the same with the others.
"Item check."
(Sword of Rebellion)
Class: Rare
Restriction: None
Durability: 2,000/2,000
Attack Power: 211
Special Abilities:
> Increase in STR +4, AGI +3.
>Skill Dauntless Strike
Description: A well-maintained sword that Valen used in the past.
After checking the sword out, Minhyuk then mumbled 'Skills Window'.
(Dauntless Strike)
Artifact Skill
Level: None
Mana Required: 10
Cooldown: 1 minute
Effect: Additional 20% damage to your attack.
Description: A skill attached to the Sword of Rebellion. Perfect for striking when in battle.
The skill is also not that bad, huh.
Items are classified as normal, magic, rare, unique, epic, legendary and god.
Minhyuk, who was very pleased with the sword, examined it more carefully and saw a pattern of a dragon ascending the heavens [1].
Then… Minhyuk brought up the thing that he really came for.
"Uhh… Instructor."
Valen turned around from the sofa and looked at him.
"Can you lend me some tableware and cooking utensils?"
"…Why don't you go and pull out one of the pillars out there too?"
And of course, Valen started laughing again.
Minhyuk stood in front of the exit of the training grounds as he finally finished hitting the scarecrows.
"Hooo!"
He exhaled nervously. Was it because he was scared of hunting?
No. That wasn't it.
'I can eat chicken now….!'
Minhyuk's inventory was full of things he borrowed from Instructor Valen, in fact he was just borrowing them but after all the talking he somehow ended up with owning those things.
By things, he meant basic cooking utensils like frying pan, pot, portable burner and simple condiments.
When Minhyuk exited the scarecrow training grounds he could immediately see users who were hunting chickens.
"Hu— huaaaaaack… That chicken is flying!"
A chicken suddenly flew up and pecked at a user.
'Uhmm…'
It seemed like the user was being pecked to death by the chicken and not the other way around. And the chickens looked like it couldn't be killed in one strike.
Huh, the chickens usually die after three strikes.
'I was told to find the hunting instructor, Roina.'
Instructor Valen said that I could easily meet Roina, the hunting instructor, when I go to the hunting training site.
Soon enough, he saw a woman with jet-black hair tied up in a ponytail and wearing a leather jacket. She was guarding in front of an entrance with her arms completely crossed.
The spot where she was standing was the border between the novice zone and the village.
Tsk, I could only get chicken in the novice zone.
Minhyuk quickly moved to approach the woman while eating his bread.
When he arrived in front of her, he quickly chewed and swallowed his bread before saying…
"Hello, Instructor."
"I'm the hunting training grounds Instructor, Roina. Bring me five chickens and you will be rewarded."
Ding!
[Quest: Hunt Five Chickens]
Rank: Tutorial
Limit: None
Rewards: Bonus points +3 and 3,000 gold
Penalty for Failure: None
Description: It's time to learn how to hunt. Hunt five chickens. However, hunting these chickens won't give you an increase in experience. It's because these are tutorial monsters!
Compared to my time with Instructor Valen, there seems to be not much of a difference.
At the same time, Instructor Roina's eyes widened when she saw the sword hanging on Minhyuk's waist.
"B— by any chance is that the Sword of Rebellion?"
"Yes, you're right."
"H… How did you get that…"
Her eyes shook wildly, however Minhyuk has already received the quest and has turned away to start completing it.
I have to hurry and catch some chickens.
He didn't even notice the changes in Roina's expressions.
But.
'The Sword of Rebellion can only be given to the person acknowledged by Instructor Valen.'
Instructor Roina knew Valen very well this was because before they became protectors she was Valen's subordinate. That's why it came to her as a surprise.
This user was walking while eating bread.
Roina unconsciously paid attention to him.
Minhyuk was finally in front of a chicken.
"cluck cluck!"
This chicken looks a bit strange, no… It's very strange.
It was staring at Minhyuk. When he looked around, he saw that the other chickens were also doing the same thing.
Shiiing—
The Sword of Rebellion was unsheathed. And right immediately…
Flap flap flap!
Minhyuk saw one flying towards him. He was calmer than what he thought. He was, after all, a user who wasn't really afraid of any chicken or pigeon. Besides he did kendo for a long time.
He swung the Sword of Rebellion at the flying chicken.
Come on.
"bok bok!"
Slash!
The chicken fell down in one strike.
Instructor Roina, who was watching from afar, opened her eyes wide.
'In… In one strike…?'
Most of the novices need three strikes to kill one chicken. But this user only used one strike.
'Was it because of the Sword of Rebellion? No, it does not look like it was just because of the sword.'
The weight of his strike before was definitely not due to the Sword of Rebellion.
'Did he increase his abilities by hitting the scarecrows? If you hit it for a long time then you'll definitely be good at swinging your sword.'
Roina nodded her head however she was still puzzled on why Instructor Valen gave the Sword of Rebellion to him.
Right then…
She suddenly saw the man sit on the floor. He took out a burner, a pot, a water bottle, a small knife and a cutting board.
He opened his eyes wide and aimed his knife towards the chicken's neck.
Snap!
Then he started to clean it. He was a bit sloppy but the man continued to work diligently. After he plucked the feathers off of the chicken, he rinsed it, poured water in the pot, and proceeded to place the chicken inside.
Once he was done with it, he started to let the water boil the chicken.
"Wha— what the hell is he doing…?"
Roina couldn't understand what was happening.
And Minhyuk, who finally stood up in front of his work, was smiling with satisfaction.
'Chicken is delicious!'
"Hey, look at that user."
"Omg. Is he really making baeksuk [2] right now?"
"…So it's true [3]. The more you play Athenae the more types of people you'll see, just like in the army."
The other users kept on whispering while the others were giggling.
But Minhyuk didn't even care one bit. He was humming while he put down his water and started hunting the chickens near him.
Slash!
"…Did, did you see that?! He… He killed it in one strike!"
"Gasp!"
"What the… Why is that user so strong?!"
"Hey, hey did you see his sword? It wasn't a wooden sword, right?"
"Omg… How is he still in the novice zone…"
Cries of surprise could be heard from the other users.
Without any other reactions, Minhyuk pulled out his item and dealt with the second chicken the same way he did with the first one.
[You acquired 52 gold.]
[You have acquired Chicken Feather.]
Athenae's gold was different from the other virtual reality game's bronze, silver and gold coins. They only have one standard currency and that is gold and the price would be adjusted to reflect the same currency in reality.
For example, hard bread was 500 gold per piece and with the quality of hard bread it would be 500 won per piece in real life. But the conversion rate of gold to cash was 20 times. [4]
Tsk, 100 gold means I would get 5 won in cash.
The rate would be considered to be extremely low, but given that once a player leveled up more their hunting grounds would be larger and they would get higher gold and item drops. Then the number they could collect would not be low.
When hunting, the monster's body would disappear in about 15 minutes but if you put it in your inventory or reach out and touch it then the time will continue to increase by 15 minutes.
Minhyuk once again started to clean up the chicken he hunted.
Footnotes
[1] Dragon ascending the heavens… you could probably imagine a dragon flying up through the clouds or smth like that. Google can probably give you a visual of this.
[2] baeksuk : basically any dish made by boiling meat or fish without any seasonings. Usually made with chicken.
[3] they used (lit. Real) it's a slang for is it real? Or for real or really
[4] 500 won = 0.5 usd, we should also remember that 1 gold = 1 won (since we're using won here) basically the price of the items would be the same with the outside world. HOWEVER there is an exchange rate so… 1 won can give you 20 gold so your 500 gold bread is like 25 won if you buy it in cash so it's about 0.025 usd. Lol. I'm assuming that they can exchange gold for money then…