Chapter 8
"Today, they're probably not here, huh?"
Yesterday was really tough.
After finishing lunch, they understood that I was at my limit today, and unlike the first half of the day, I was bombarded with questions.
The interactions there were productive since I could confirm things, but I didn't expect it to be non-stop until Nel's mother brought dinner.
Thanks to that, by the time I got myself together, I couldn't help but glance at the back door.
But no one was there, and I felt relieved.
"Basket, check. Bracelet, check. Wallet, check. Bamboo spear, check!"
Finally, I pointed at my equipment to confirm everything, then knocked on the back door. A few seconds later, it opened.
"Are you heading out today?""Yes, just to the hill beyond the south gate.""I see. That area is safe, but don't push yourself too hard."
Nel's mother appeared, holding a package in one hand. No one was behind her.
"If you're looking for her, she was up late last night writing something. She went to bed late, so she probably won't be up until around noon.""Is that so?"
She noticed my gaze and smirked while handing me the package, answering my unspoken question.
"It's rare for her to get so attached to someone. She often clashes with other kids when she plays with them. She must be happy to have someone like you who can handle her maturely.""Is that so?""Yes, it is. Please continue to get along with her.""Okay."
Well, if she's that hungry for knowledge, it's no wonder she doesn't get along with kids her own age.
"I'm off.""Take care."
I felt like there was another meaning mixed into her "get along with her" comment, but I decided it was just my imagination.
I don't even know what tomorrow holds for me.I shouldn't think about weird things.
I put the lunchbox in the basket and started walking toward the south gate.
Since it's the same time as the day before yesterday, I know there will be people around, but most of the carriages on this side are heading to the port.
There aren't many kids walking around with bamboo spears on their backs, so only the guards of merchant or noble carriages glance at me briefly.
If I use the side streets where carriages don't pass and walk along the edge of the path, I don't have to worry about getting tangled up.
And then.
"Make sure you're back by evening. It'll cost ten zeni to get back in. If you don't have it, we'll accept medicinal herbs or other items as payment.""Thank you."
I received permission to leave from the gatekeeper soldier and stepped outside.
If I were an adventurer, I wouldn't need to go through these procedures, but I have to think about the steps to become an adventurer, or it'll be troublesome later.
At the very least, skipping these small steps to become an adventurer casually isn't worth the effort.
Besides, if things go well today, I won't need to leave the town again, so this expense is a necessary cost!
However.
"I underestimated a child's walking pace."
My spirits sank a little after leaving the gate.In the game, it felt like I could get there in no time, but a child's walking pace and speed can't match an adult's.
Thanks to taking breaks to avoid getting tired, the sun was already high in the sky by the time I arrived.
"Hmm, I made it, but I can only stay here for two or three hours at most."
It's farther than the bamboo forest, but I thought I could manage. Still, it took much longer than I expected.
"Should I take a carriage? No, no, I don't have that kind of money."
In the game, there were various mounts, including horses, for traveling, but with my current funds, I can't afford that.
There is a shared carriage heading to the port, and I could get off midway, but the fare is charged as if going all the way to the port, so the expense would far exceed what I can earn here.
"Sigh, I guess I'll just have to eat and head back early."
If that's the case, I'll have to move efficiently in a short time.Having decided that, I sat down under a nearby tree to rest.
"Even in the game, I thought these things were strange creatures."
Then, I took another look at the scenery of my destination.
This is a hill with a small spring.
The area is open, with good visibility.There are only a few trees, making it a perfect spot to rest.
However, it's quite off the beaten path, including the road to the port, so it's not very popular.
Instead, white, round, and squishy creatures are hopping around everywhere.
They have no eyes, mouth, nose, or ears.
Just white, elastic spheres.
In FBO, they're the weakest monsters, and they even have a niche fanbase that's made merchandise of them.
Their name is Mochi.
Yeah, there's definitely someone on the development team who loves mochi.Or maybe they have a grudge against it.
In FBO, slimes are set as vicious monsters, so these were created to be weaker than goblins and easy for beginners to defeat, or so we players speculate.
In every direction, near the town the protagonist chooses, there's always a habitat for these Mochi.
They're non-aggressive monsters that don't leave their habitat, just hopping around and eating weeds to multiply.
Once they reach a certain number, they stop multiplying. They're the epitome of harmless weakness, and the items they drop, with one exception, aren't valuable in terms of drop rate or selling price.
Plus, the experience points they give aren't great either, so there's no reason not to leave them alone, which has led to this area becoming deserted.
This phenomenon happened even when the game was first released.
The only useful thing about them is that they provide a safe way to level up and gain classes.
But you only need to defeat two or three Mochi to do that, and in the story, leveling up with Mochi earns you the label of a coward.
In fact, there's a title you can get called "Weakling" for leveling up with Mochi, so that setting isn't entirely wrong.
"Not knowing this really puts you at a disadvantage."
However, once a certain fact becomes known, this place turns into a bonus area that players absolutely visit.
"Alright, I can't waste any more time resting."
A child's body grows the more you nourish it, and if you can get a good night's sleep, that growth accelerates.
I don't need to shout some old man's battle cry to stand up.
"Having a young body is great."
I was frustrated with the weakness of a child's body, but this part is nice.
"If only I could do something about the lack of strength..."
I gripped the bamboo spear I was carrying. Even though it's made of bamboo, it's still quite heavy.
It's probably lighter than a regular one since it's made for a child's body, but swinging it around will definitely tire me out.
"Considering I have to go back... hmm, managing my stamina is going to be tricky."
For now, I took the stance I practiced in the game.
FBO has a game assist system that helps even those who are bad at sports move their bodies to some extent.
But people who know how to move their bodies still perform better.
I even downloaded a VR spear training program to study how to use a spear.
In real life, a spear is too heavy to use for long, but when I tried it once at a dojo, I was praised for my clean movements.
I spread my legs, lowered my hips slightly, turned my left side forward, gripped the end of the bamboo spear with my right hand, and held it a little wider than shoulder-width with my left hand.
The spear was level.
"Practice makes perfect. Here goes!"
I took a deep breath and prepared for my first real battle in this world.
Even though Mochi are non-aggressive monsters, they will retaliate if attacked.
I'm level zero, and even though they're the weakest, they're still classed monsters.
Without base stats, I have to rely purely on the weapon's attack power.
"Alright!"
Other than that, my player skills are my weapon.The movements I repeated until they were ingrained in my memory and muscle memory are a bit rusty, but my body moves as I imagine.
The sharp thrust pierced near the center of the Mochi's body.
I quickly pulled back and thrust again.
The strength of a spear lies in its reach.
The Mochi, having been attacked, recognized me as an enemy and tried to counterattack, but being the weakest, its movements were slow. Another thrust stopped it in its tracks.
In other words, if I keep hitting it, I can attack unilaterally.
Since they're not link monsters, I don't have to worry about other Mochi attacking me.
One-on-one, and with the ability to attack unilaterally...
"First one down."
After about five thrusts, the Mochi stopped moving and turned into black dust before disappearing.
"This place is the same too."
Even the monster defeat animation is the same.That's why, for a moment, I almost thought this was the game world.
"I didn't feel this tired in the game."
Defeating monsters doesn't bother me.I know why monsters exist, so that's not an issue.
But I felt physical fatigue, not mental.
"No game assist either."
And there was no feeling of being restricted by something like a forced cast.
Even at level zero, the beginner tutorial assists your movements.You can disable it later in the settings, but there was no such assistance in my current movements.
Noticing these differences one by one is fun.
"Thanks to the Training Bracelet, I can't level up, so I can defeat monsters without worrying about it!!"
I held up the accessory that perfectly handles my desire not to level up yet, trying to cool down the excitement of my first victory in battle.
I know, but I don't know.
This subtle feeling is what makes it enjoyable.
"Alright, let's go for the next one! Aim for that 0.3% drop rate!!"
Fighting isn't a problem. I just need to be careful not to get too carried away and end up camping out. I'll continue battling like this.
Fortunately, there are plenty of Mochi, so I don't need to search around, which makes things very efficient.
After defeating one, I took a breath, then went for the next. Repeating this, my body gradually remembered how to move, and my movements improved.
"Oh, first drop."
On the tenth Mochi, it finally dropped an item.
A small purple stone, about the size of a bead, remained where the Mochi had been.
"It's the lowest grade, so this is about right."
This is a magic stone.
All monsters drop this item, and its uses vary, but the magic stones dropped by Mochi are only worth about one zeni for ten.
In other words, this single magic stone is only worth about ten yen.
Plus, the drop rate is only ten percent.
It takes about a minute to defeat one, and with breaks, I can defeat about fifty in an hour.
Yeah, that's an hourly wage of about fifty yen.
Mochi drop two other items, but one has a five percent drop rate, and the main one has a staggering 0.3 percent drop rate.
If I get the five percent drop, my hourly wage goes up, but even then, getting two in that time is lucky.
The other one is more of a "nice if it happens" thing.The main one has a drop rate where you'd need to defeat three thousand to have a ninety percent chance of getting it.Since I'm doing other tasks alongside this, I'll just have to be patient.
Or so I thought at first.
"After three days, I've only earned four zeni..."
Three days later, I was slumped on the floor of the stable, feeling defeated.
Beside me was a pile of magic stones I'd worked so hard to collect over the past three days.
Just magic stones.
Forty-one of them.
No other drops.
"The desire sensor is working too well."
For an MMO gamer like me, the desire sensor is the worst enemy.
The moment you want something, even items with high drop rates fall below their usual probability.
"Why, just why?"
I should have gotten at least a few of the five percent drop items, and my daily earnings should have been at least ten zeni.
But instead, this is the result. I lost thirty zeni on entry fees, and now I only have forty zeni left.
Not only did I not get the main drop, but the side tasks didn't bear fruit either. Three days of effort for this result is hard to take.
"Curse you, desire sensor."
This is just taking out my frustration.In the end, it's my fault for having bad real-life luck.
"...This is the worst. Do I need to change my plans?"
Nel's mother prepares my meals every day, and I don't have to pay for lodging. This ideal situation won't last forever.
I need to show some results soon, or I won't be able to face the innkeeper.
Is this what it feels like to worry about being evicted for not paying rent?
Should I focus on making money, or stick to my original schedule?
I never expected to be hit by such an external obstacle.
"I'll just sleep for now. Worrying about it won't solve anything."
I can think of a few ways to get out of this tight spot using my game knowledge, but I'd rather not use them now.
Some are dangerous, some are inefficient, and some take too much time.
I could do them, but I'd rather not.
With that in mind, I went to sleep to heal my tired body for tomorrow's plans with Nel.