The question about synchronization was soon resolved.
Ugh.
I frowned at the sensation that washed over my arm.
Here in what appeared to be the tutorial zone, numerous monsters, slimes, were gathered.
When I allowed one to attack, a small amount of HP was consumed, and a hot sensation struck my attacked arm.
This was just like being slightly burned by hot liquid, but if I received an attack that could lead to instant death in one hit, it wouldn’t just end with mild pain.
What was the problem? The capsule? The game?
Or perhaps…
[Drizzle Rain]
I stared at my nickname flashing on the status window.
Rain, the hero of the continent of Astria.
And Astria Online.
Could there be a connection?
I couldn’t entirely dismiss the possibility.
But…
Would it be a problem?
Not at all.
I clenched my tiny hands and chuckled.
In fact, it felt good.
Perhaps the intense sense of reality I felt was also linked to the synchronization rate.
If I hadn’t felt this much reality, I might have regretted buying the capsule.
For a moment, I thought about reporting a bug account to claim a reward, but I preferred this level of tension over a dull game.
If I didn’t want to be hurt, I could block, evade, and strike.
And this body, faintly following the thought processes and reaction speeds I had during my hero days.
The high synchronization rate allowed me to do this.
Right now, my level is low, and my stats are low too, but if I keep growing stronger, I could become the best even here.
Adventure and growth.
I wouldn’t need companions anymore.
If I didn’t make companions, I wouldn’t have to experience the pain of parting.
The story of the newly starting hero Rain on the continent of Astria.
This time, I’ll manage just fine on my own.
As I moved around, adapting to my virtual body and admiring the scenery of the tutorial zone, it suddenly struck me.
The advance team was leveling up quickly and probably already entered the first city and completed their job changes, while I was falling behind due to distractions.
I needed to level up.
Fortunately, it seemed the initial surge of players led to concerns about increased competition in the tutorial zone, so the tutorial zone leading to the first city was comprised entirely of a vast personal instance field.
In other words, there was no need to worry about losing hunting targets until I obtained a job.
However, this body was weaker than I expected.
It couldn’t compare to ‘Hero Rain,’ who was protected by immense mana and the holy sword.
Just ordinary legs, restricted by low stats of a common girl.
Of course, things would get better once I leveled up.
“Hee, hee.”
I was trying to perform mob hunting by poking slimes to level up quickly, but instead, I had no choice but to be chased by a swarm of slimes.
Basic mob hunting was difficult in this game.
The character’s basic HP wasn’t high, and without a job skill, I couldn’t completely block the attacks coming from slimes from all directions.
Hit by the acid slime’s attacks, I was startled and frantically waved my short legs to escape.
Thud!
A former hero being chased like prey in the tutorial zone.
How long would it take to regain even a semblance of my abilities from my hero days?
*
“Haah.”
After a life-or-death battle with the slimes, I reached the first city and exhaled deeply.
[City of Adventurers Erenburg]
I thought I had connected quickly right after the server opened and leveled up fairly fast, but the city was already crowded with many users.
I must have wasted time admiring the scenery while wandering around the tutorial field.
First, I needed to obtain a job.
I opened the internet in the game and launched an anonymous community site.
Since the game had just opened, there would be more quality information in this raw community than in organized information sites.
The first post that caught my eye was about job evaluations.
[Title]
Don’t choose the swordsman (+31)
[Content]
It was decent during the open beta, but it seems to have been nerfed since the live launch?
It’s good that blocking covers a 180-degree area and can deal with multiple attacks, but the damage itself is trash.
A friend went with the fighter class, and for quick leveling, offensive skills are better than defensive ones.
Getting hit by field mobs doesn’t do much damage, so it’s better to just chug cheap potions and wipe them out.
[Comments]
– I also chose swordsman and I’m regretting it. Thinking about re-rolling.
– LOL, you guys just want to suck the good stuff for yourselves.
– Isn’t a fighter’s counter only for single-target attacks? If it blocks all 180 degrees, isn’t that good? It might be okay in the field, but later in elite dungeons, damage will definitely get harsh.
– Even if you block, damage still comes in. It’s not 100% damage prevention. You’ll have to drink potions anyway.
– Then what’s the point of blocking? LOL
– But blocking does reduce about 90% of the damage, right?
– This game focuses on evasion. Each job has one, so later in elite dungeons, you’ll probably focus on using evasion.
“Hmm.”
So, swordsman isn’t good?
I had heard it was one of the better-rated classes during the open beta test.
It seemed the evaluations changed somewhat after the official service began, but as a former hero who wielded a sword on the continent of Astria, I couldn’t give up on my romance with swords.
Above all, the existence of ‘Blocking’ was significant.
The defensive skill of the swordsman that blocks attacks from a 180-degree area.
Because my synchronization rate was high, it was harder for me to hunt while taking all the attacks from mobs compared to others.
Not wanting to change the growth path I had already set, I checked the map of the city to locate the swordsman guild and headed there.
Thud thud.
Squish squish.
But as I boldly walked, my steps quickly became hesitant.
I felt the gazes of female users directed at me.
“Oh my, check out her character model. She’s really cute.”
“Should I ask her out?”
“Character model scores could be super detailed! A decent model could even be sold for money?”
I avoided their stares, pulled the hood of the adventurer robe given to beginners deep over my head, and hurried my steps.
Hurry!
After hastily walking for a few minutes, I stopped in my tracks at a scent wafting from somewhere.
At the end of my gaze was an NPC vendor.
I wondered what kind of bird meat it was?
Skewers of deliciously grilled meat and vegetables intertwined.
The scent was stimulating my stomach.
Gulp.
The sound of saliva going down my throat echoed clearly.
Could this be due to the high synchronization rate?
After living on instant noodles and triangles of rice for a while, the smell of fresh meat and vegetables was quite a temptation.
[Grilled Vegetable Skewers]
[5 copper]
I checked the price on the menu and opened my inventory.
My current funds were 30 copper.
This amount was earned from hunting around 30 slimes.
I had heard that nowadays there are jobs that involve making money in virtual reality’s multiverse, but I wondered what the cash exchange rate for this game was?
If I could earn money here, could it also help with my real-life expenses?
Since only a few hours had passed since the game opened, the market value of in-game currency for cash transactions had probably not yet stabilized.
However, since there were globally millions of users who pre-registered, I figured the rush at the opening would certainly yield significant earnings.
I absentmindedly rubbed my soft belly.
Food in virtual reality wouldn’t fill me up, but it could please my palate.
5 copper.
This much I could spare.
I took out my pocket money, trembling slightly, and handed it to the vendor.
“Yay! One skewer, thank you!”
Holding the grilled skewer that the NPC vendor handed me, I perched myself on a roadside table.
I smiled broadly at the skewer.
“Heh.”
Nom.
I opened my mouth wide and took a big bite of the meat.
“Ugh…!”
My body shivered.
It was delicious!
The juice from the meat flowed out, filling my small mouth.
Chomp.
Before the sensation of the meat had even faded, I took a vegetable off the skewer and popped it into my mouth.
Crunch crunch.
The crisp texture of the vegetables grilled to perfection was excellent.
Could it be green onion?
Anyway, it was incredibly tasty!
Wobble wobble.
Sitting on the vendor’s chair, my short legs that couldn’t reach the ground started shaking by themselves.
“Oh.”
I realized something new.
When I eat something delicious, my legs shake!
*
“Congratulations, from now on, you’re a swordsman. Make sure to strive and walk the path of the sword.”
The job change to swordsman happened as fast as lightning.
All I had to do was meet the condition of being a level 5 beginner adventurer. There was no annoying system that bothered you with job change quests.
I grasped the practice steel sword that the swordsman guild’s job change NPC handed me.
The basic practice wooden sword given to beginners had an attack power of 4. With my strength stat, it would take three swings to defeat a slime.
However, this practice steel sword had an attack power of 10.
It didn’t come with any special options, but using this sword, I could send slimes flying with one blow without needing to use skills.
“Hmm.”
So, what should I do with the practice wooden sword?
I stopped by a nearby general store to check the selling price of the wooden sword.
1 copper.
The price of one slime’s worth.
It wasn’t an exorbitant price, but in the early game when gold is scarce, it wasn’t something to ignore either.
After disposing of the wooden sword at the general store, I suddenly thought about the wooden swords stacked up at the entrance of the swordsman guild.
Had the job-changed swordsmen discarded them?
I hurriedly went back into the swordsman guild building.
Thump, thump.
Even as I did, two newly job-changed users tossed aside their wooden swords where the swords were stacked.
I felt an inexplicable anger.
Did these people not know the value of money!
Dropped wooden swords would naturally disappear if left alone.
But when I thought about it as money, the situation changed entirely.
If I gathered five, that would be enough for a skewer.
I tried hard to ignore the saliva gathering in my mouth as I quickly gathered the wooden swords and stuffed them into my inventory.
With my strength stat, I could carry all ten wooden swords at once into my inventory.
Two skewers!
“Heh.”
I beamed with delight as I filled my inventory with wooden swords and headed for the general store.
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