[Author's Note: I left out out a few parts in the last story, pls consider going back to the previous chapter and re-reading it. I am very sorry for my mistake. I've had a lot on my plate with sciences and calculus. Also sorry for the long wait.]
Brand new day! Brand new adventure! Not-so brand new me!
Let's go grind some EXP!
Grabbing the katanas by my bedside, I strap my weapons to my waist and grab my pouches and bags from the wardrobe. With my
I dash down the stairs and out of the inn and went to the guild.
Walking over to, Miranda, the clerk from yesterday, whose busy going through several stacks of documents. I cheerfully ask for a quest, "Good morning! I wish to take on a quest!"
"Sure, anything specific?"
"Monster-hunting and grants me lots of EXP. Preferably somewhere close to the city."
I assume they have some sort of EXP-based levelling system in this world. If not, everything I said would be viewed as nonsense and it'd be extremely awkward.
"Monster-hunting and lots of EXP? As well as close? I'm afraid there are very few quests fitting this description. Even less considering your rank. The most you can do is hunting Big Rats and Slimes."
Big Rats and Slimes? None of them are particularly strong, but I'd much rather fight Slimes. Can't stand those rodents and their nasty sewer habitats, "I'll take the Slime Hunt request."
"Excellent, you get ten coppers for every Slime Core you bring us."
"Ten coppers? Seems a little generous."
"There's been a surge in monsters the past year, unlike anything seen since the Demon Invasion ten years ago."
Demon Invasion? First time I've heard of a Demon Invasion in this game. Does it have something to do with the content update the Maze Master mentioned?
"What exactly is the Demon Invasion?"
She looks up with a glare, "Did you live under a mountain for the past two decades!? How can you not know what it is!?"
"I'm from a foreign country, remember?"
"Makes sense I suppose, but still. I'm surprised you never learned of this." With a huff annoyance, she gave me a brief summary, "There's not much to say as it's common knowledge. Fifteen years ago, Hell Gates opened all over the continent, Demons rushed out in droves. I heard it was especially bad here in the Frontier."
"I'm assuming the Demons were driven off in the end."
"For the most part yes. The a coalition led by the Seven Great Heroes of the continent managed to make the Demons retreat back to Hell."
After the fall of the original Demon King, don't ask me his name since records of it have been long lost, many of his generals turned on one another in a bid to seize power and become the new King of Hell.
Countless damned souls died in the layers of hell, all mere chess pieces in a game between the former
"We've talked enough, go finish your request. I have several documents in need of archiving."
"Just one last question."
"What is it?"
"Where do I find the Slimes?"
Miranda lightly smacks herself in the face, "Shoot! I almost forgot to tell you! Leave the city and turn right. Keep heading in that direction and you'll see a forest. You'll find the slimes there. They've been destroying too many crops, so the more dead, the better. Just bring their cores as proof they've been terminated."
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A green blob the size of a basketball slowly oozes from behind the rock, making its way to a flower.
Without a slightest care in the world, it swallows it whole. The poor plant dissolving within the body of the monster.
The slime wobbles a bit, feeling satisfied with the snack and moves on to find other things to eat.
Out of the blue, a bolt of fire strikes the creature, setting it ablaze. Letting out a dying 'EI!' before bursting like a water balloon, leaving behind only its core.
I walk over to the dead slime and reach down to pick up the stone it dropped.
It's a darker shade of green than its main body. Roughly the size of a tangerine. Why do people even bother buying these things anyway? Fantasy capitalism is weird. Either that or I don't pay enough attention to details.
First monster I killed is a slime.
...
This is the part where the lead would get excited and my friends congratulate my superb performance.
Go on. I'm waiting.
...
I feel neither enthusiastic or hear the sound of applause.
Ah, woe be me.
Whatever, I deserve this. I'm just going to distract myself by committing genocide on some jellies.
From morning to the afternoon, I relentlessly hunt down slimes. One by one, I slice them, burn them, freeze them, Eldritch Blast them until all that remains are nothing left but their core.
No matter how many Slimes I hunt, a dozen more pop out from a rock or tree. It's near endless.
"EI!"
"EI!"
"EI!"
"EI!"
"EI!"
Gosh dangit! How many more of these stupid Slimes do I have to kill!?! At this rate, I would wipe out the entire population in this area and still not level up!
I wonder if there's a way to keep track of my kills.
A digital bell rings and I seen a familiar blue screen pop up in front of me displaying the following message.
[Slime Kill Count: 84]
Eighty-four? I thought I would've killed a lot more.. I wonder what other functions this strange gizmo has. It's certainly different from those Systems I see in online novels. Is this something everyone in this world has?
Hmm, I wonder what happens if I get to a hundred kills.
"EI!"
"Enough with the stupid 'EI's' you pathetic failure of a Jell-O!"
Eventually, fourteen EI's later, I finally killed the hundredth Slime.
The blue-
Gosh, it's annoying to call it a blue screen constantly. I can't call it System either, to cliche. Hmm, maybe Menu? Nah.
Hey, how about Profile. It keeps track of my stats, titles, skills and more.
Okay, Profile it is.
Where was I. Right, the Profile pops up and displays the following message.
[You've earned the title Slime Hunter.
Slimes are wary of you.
If actively searching for Slimes, you are more likely to encounter one.
You deal 10% extra damage against Slimes.]
Neat!
I don't expect to get anything good from just killing Slimes, but the encounter rate boost is a nice feature.
As much as I hate their annoying little screams, shall I test this new Title for a while longer?
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Wow! The title is more effective than I imagined. It took me the entire morning to kill a hundred or so slimes. In the afternoon, the kill count rocketed to several times that. Oh, I also managed to gain two levels and twenty Stat Points. A normal player would have become Level Ten roughly if they killed several hundred slimes. Unfortunately that blasted EXP restriction's holding me back.
I want to kill a couple hundred more to get myself to Level Five, but it's getting late. One should never stay in a monster-infested habitat at night.
After gathering the last of the Slime Cores, I make my way back to the city.
Within an hour or so, I return and head to the Guild to cash in the Cores.
I flip my bursting bag over the counter and shook out all the Slime Cores I've obtained.
'Clink!'
'Clink!'
'Clink!'
A small mountain forms on the desk, a few of the cores spill onto the ground. I pick up the fallen cores close to me and put
The straight-faced clerk stares "What!?! How many slimes did you kill!?!"
"More than a hundred. Let me check my Status. Ah, 459. I wanted to get a few more to bump it up to 500, but it got dark."
Miranda's eyes widen in disbelief, "That's nuts! Wait, do you have the Slime Hunter Title?"
"Yup, I got it after killing a hundred of them."
"No wonder, but still, to kill almost five hundred slimes on your first day as an adventurer? It's a feat no one's ever achieved. You can be immediately promoted to E-Rank!"
"Hmm, rather than collecting the reward and getting promoted to E-Rank, is it possible for me to get a Growth-Type Artifact that'll give me an EXP-boost?"
After realizing"Do you realize what you're asking!?!"
"Is it possible for you to tell me where to find one?"
I calm her down by saying it was a joke. Miranda gives me a stern warning not to mess around like that. After collecting my pay of 4590 coppers. I head over to the Explorer's Bounty to book another room for the night. Everybody glared daggers at me, but nobody got up to harass me like last night. They've all seen how I handled those drunks. Actually, it might be the innkeeper whose keeping them in check.
Speaking of the innkeeper, I walk up to him and ask for a room. He gives a gruff nod, "Yeah, we have rooms, it'll be ten silvers."
"How many coppers is that?"
"One thousand."
After I pay a thousand coppers, the innkeeper tosses me the keys, "It's the same one you used yesterday."
I give a nod of thanks and head upstairs.
Wrenching the door open, I throw my equipment off to the side, take off my boots and coat. Then jump onto the bed. Absorbed by the memory of today's events, I just lie on my bed staring at the ceiling with my plague mask on. Not bothering to open up my Status and allocate the twenty points I accumulated.
'Sigh!'
"Goddamnit! Had I known how much of a pain this EXP penalty is, I would've stuck to just one Class!"
As if the Gods have been listening to my prayers, my Profile appears before my eyes bearing
[Your Curseblade Patron offers you a deal.]