Ryu looked at the broken wooden door with a furrowed brow and turned to the entrance.
"Hey, brat! I didn't expect you to still be alive! Since you're not dead, it's time to pay this month's protection fee!" A pirate swaggered in, carrying a large sword over his shoulder.
"It's you?" Ryu immediately recognized him. The original owner of this body had been killed by this very small-time enforcer collecting protection fees.
Yes, this guy wasn't even a real boss; he was just a small-time collector, as the real head of the gang wouldn't come personally for protection payments.
The reason he was called a small-time enforcer was that last time he had brought two lackeys with him, but this time he was alone.
"What? Don't tell me you're broke again? You won't get so lucky this time!" The small-time enforcer glared at Ryu, laughing mockingly.
Ryu quickly assessed his chances in a fight against the pirate and nervously forced a smile. "My lord, didn't I pay you last time? It hasn't even been a month!"
"Hmph~ Didn't you shortchange me last time? I know you've been selling fish lately, so you must have money! If I hadn't happened to pass by today, I might've been fooled by you." The enforcer sneered, resting his sword on the ground.
Ryu narrowed his eyes and said with a grin, "You're quite perceptive, my lord. I have indeed sold some fish recently, and I planned to bring the payment for you all next month. I didn't expect you to show up today!"
"Ha! At least you're smart. But who told you this was for next month? This is for what you owe me from last time! You still have to pay next month's fee, understand?" The small-time enforcer laughed heartily, then glared menacingly at Ryu.
Ryu was taken aback. This guy was trying to cheat him! He must have noticed that Ryu was selling fish and followed him secretly, hoping to score some easy cash. No wonder he didn't bring his two lackeys this time.
"Don't worry, my lord. This time, this is a little something from me to you. It won't count as part of the protection fee!" Ryu turned and pretended to pull a stack of berries from under the bed, flattering the small-time enforcer.
He usually kept his money in the system, and the earlier action was just to prevent the enforcer from catching on.
"Ha! Not bad, kid! You're clever! When our pirate crew is recruiting, I'll recommend you!" The small-time enforcer laughed loudly and snatched the money from Ryu's hands.
As for Ryu standing beside him, the enforcer naturally ignored him.
What he didn't realize was that Ryu was currently plotting how to take him down. Wiping the sweat from his palms on his pants, Ryu placed one hand on the back of the enforcer's neck while smiling and saying flattering words.
"Equip weapon!" Ryu silently chanted as he retrieved a wooden sword from the system.
"Crack!"
Ryu swung the wooden sword with his right hand, but as it struck the enforcer, it broke in half.
Both the small-time enforcer and Ryu stared at each other in shock. "Damn, the quality is terrible!"
Before they could comment further, Ryu quickly grabbed the large sword the enforcer had set down on the table and swung it directly at his neck.
"Damn brat, you've got some nerve…" The enforcer had just snapped out of his shock when he saw a flash of light, and before he could finish his sentence, he lost consciousness entirely.
The head was severed from the body, and blood poured out.
"Whew~~"
Ryu fell to the ground, feeling overwhelmed. It was his first time killing someone, and the bloody scene made his stomach churn.
"Congratulations, host."
The system seemed to say something after he killed the small-time enforcer, but he had no time to check it at that moment. He stood up and rushed outside the wooden hut to vomit.
After a while, Ryu gradually calmed down, but he hesitated to go back inside. However, thinking about the consequences if the pirates from the village found out what had happened, he steeled himself and returned to the hut to clean up.
First, he disposed of the enforcer's body by throwing it into the sea, then he washed the small hut, ensuring it looked almost the same as before. Only then did he have time to open the system and check the previous notifications.
"Congratulations, host. You have killed one pirate and earned 10 experience points."
"Accept side quest: Drive away the invading pirates. (Reward: 100 diamonds, 100 experience points, 1000 money, one random white weapon.)"
Looking at the text on the system, Ryu stroked his chin. Killing one pirate granted him ten experience points, which was surprising considering he had already leveled up. He realized that now he could no longer earn experience from catching small fish; only larger ones would yield a bit.
Moreover, he unexpectedly received a side quest. Completing this quest would not only earn him experience and money, but also the more valuable diamonds. As for the white weapon, he felt no excitement about that.
Weapons were ranked by color: rainbow, gold, purple, blue, green, and white. The lowest tier, white weapons, were just slightly better than a wooden sword.
Earlier, he had almost been killed by the system's wooden sword; if he hadn't spent some time training and gained several attribute points, he would have definitely been taken out by the reacting pirate.
Even now, Ryu realized that his attributes were probably not worse than that of the small pirate. However, fighting awareness was something that attributes couldn't compensate for. If he hadn't caught the enforcer off guard, the outcome could have been very different.
Days later, the pirate gang that had taken over the village realized they were missing a member. They conducted searches and intimidation throughout the village but found no clues. Eventually, they decided to let the matter go, making Ryu feel that this was just an insignificant little pirate gang.
At this point, Ryu, aware of his shortcomings, had used the money he took from the enforcer to pay the second month's protection fee. He then joined the village's fishing crew to go out to sea.
Fishing alone was simply too slow, so when he learned there was a fishing boat that frequently went out, he quickly mixed in and gained the responsibility of processing the catch.
To put it bluntly, nobody wanted to deal with killing fish, and since Ryu was willing to take it on, everyone on the boat was more than happy.
After a month of effort, Ryu's experience had reached level 4, 96%, and his basic body training had also progressed to level 2 with over two thousand proficiency points.
As for skill points, he had one remaining. He initially had two, but after leveling up his basic body training, he gained a thousand proficiency points instead of another level, which was why he now had over two thousand proficiency points in that skill. Regarding his attributes, each level-up granted him five points, so he now had fifteen free points.
After training, not only did his skill proficiency increase, but his character attributes did as well, albeit slowly. Ryu allocated seven points to health, significantly boosting his stamina.
He allocated two points each to strength and speed, and from the remaining four points, he spent one on energy attributes. However, aside from feeling a warmth in his stomach, he noticed no other effects, which left him somewhat speechless. He realized he probably hadn't yet mastered how to use energy, explaining the lack of sensation.
After finishing with the fish, Ryu returned to the wooden hut, exhausted. His experience points were now at 99%, just one short of leveling up. After taking a bath, he closed the wooden door and headed to the village bar.
That place was a favorite haunt for pirates, and Ryu planned to find a lone pirate to help him level up. He felt completely different from before; he now knew he had decent strength.
Each time he leveled up, Ryu would test his physical abilities. To exaggerate a bit, if he were on Earth, he could be considered a small superhero now; after all, he had never heard of anyone being able to break a tree with one punch back on Earth.
But now, he was entirely capable of doing just that.
Upon arriving at the bar, he found several pirates sitting in groups.
"Hey, Little Ryu! You're here? So, are you treating us to drinks today?" One pirate, looking a bit tipsy with a flushed face, called out to Ryu.
"No problem! What do you all want to drink? It's on me!" Ryu grinned.
The reason the pirates were familiar with Ryu was that he had used most of the money he earned to treat them to drinks, which also allowed him to gather information from this group of pirates.
Contrary to Ryu's expectations, they weren't nameless pirates; they were members of the famous Krieg Pirate Crew from the East Sea. However, they were all failures—wounded in battle or hiding out of fear and subsequently abandoned by the Krieg crew.
So, this group of about thirty deserters had come together and found this small village, where they established their dominance.
The bar owner brought the drinks Ryu ordered, and the pirates wasted no time, grabbing their drinks and starting to drink. Ryu smiled at them, raised a glass of beer, and took a big gulp.
After the pirates had a fair amount to drink, they leaned on each other and headed outside. Their base of operations was on their pirate ship, so after getting tired, they would usually return to the ship to rest.
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Started editing the chapters now ^^
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