by Yoo Seong
He learnt the skill once he reached enlightenment.
‘A two star rated skill!’
He learnt that the stars attached to the skill would change according to the degree of difficulty or importance. Needless to say, a two star skill was more difficult to learn and important than a one star skill. His movements quickly changed after learning Swamp Walking. He hadn’t been able to do any evasive actions until now. It didn’t matter even if he grasped the timing of attacks. However, he now managed to sometimes succeed in an evasive action and the damage diminished. He finally started a full scale battle after days spent cleaning the pipes.
“Now, let’s see……”
The pipe cleaning quest also gave experience. But the experience was tiny and he only reached level 3 despite clearing it 300 times. His agility increased by 3 thanks to the Cleaning Foreman title bonus and his evasion also increased due to Swamp Walking. The Alloy Dagger had an attack of 3~4 while the Modified Alloy Dagger dealt 5~6 damage. The difference was only 1 damage but it couldn’t be ignored.
“This much should be sufficient to try it alone!”
The level of the space worms was 4~7. He was able to distinguish between the levels thanks to the size. The smallest were level 4 while the largest ones with black fur were level 7. It was different from the insufficient farm area and he could afford to choose his prey. And despite the monsters being everywhere, they weren’t aggressive so he could attack them first. This was a suitable advantage for the level 3 Ark.
‘Let’s start with the level 4 space bugs.’
Seokeok!
The space bug turned its round body after being pierced by the dagger. His stats were low. He also didn’t have any skills so he had no choice but to fight tediously. At first the monotony was extremely painful but he soon changed his mind.
‘I have to get used to this monotony.’
The users could exert more power in a virtual reality game than in reality. A person who was in a wheelchair in reality could run around and fly in the game. And even a child could fight against a large monster. This was the charm of a virtual reality game! But that power had to be supported by stats. If the user had low stats then that would actually be a penalty towards their actual physical abilities. It was the reason why Ark was lost in the earlier battles. Ark had misunderstood his power thanks to his previous character.
‘I have to reset myself.’
He wasn’t the strongest warrior but a level 3 character. That’s why he had recklessly ran forward when he first hunted in a party. Now he could accurately measure his power.
‘Hit, to the right, I have to carve every step into my body!’
Kuoooooh!
He finished killing the space bug and it collapsed. He had 15% health left so it was possible for him to hunt level 4 space bugs.
‘It has been 10 days since I’ve started Galaxian and I’ve finally caught a monster by myself.’
He felt a lot of emotions after catching the space bug. And there was something even more inspiring.
-Ohh! Ark finally defeated a space bug!
–There’s no time!
–Recovery! Recovery!
–We have to heal him quickly so that Ark can hunt faster!
The octopuses cheered and thronged towards him. Ark had 10 octopuses clinging to him, which was a lot more compared to the other users! Ark had finally killed something after dying so many times. Thanks to the desperate octopuses, his 100 health was restored in seconds.
–Fighting!
-We’re rooting for Ark-nim!
He even received sincere cheers.
“What is with that guy? He brought us to the paid hunting ground…..isn’t that VIP treatment?”
The users didn’t know the situation and just looked at Ark with confusion. But Ark didn’t care about the interest of the players. Ark’s only concern was fighting! Ark became immersed in battle with no breaks. Fighting, being restored by the octopuses, fighting, being restored……
-Your level has risen.
His level immediately increased after repeated battles. After 2~3 hours, Ark reached level 5 and added bonus stats to agility.
‘Now I can roughly sense it.’
Ark started moving more boldly.
Bam-!
He kicked the space bug right in the chest. Ark specialty of taekwondo kicks had finally started
In fact, kicking wasn’t a special skill in virtual reality games. Once Ark’s success was well known, the users started to imitate him. He had seen many users hunting with crude kicks in the 2nd sector. However, they couldn’t be compared to Ark’s kicks. They weren’t the original. Ark had training and his standards were different from other users. Well, he was still only level 5…..
‘Damn, my kick didn’t connect?’
It did 0 damage. That meant it wasn’t regarded as an attack. However, it wasn’t completely pointless. The space bug flinched and retreated a little bit at the kick. There might not be any damage but the laws of physics still applied.
‘I don’t know if my level is too low to learn the relevant skill or Galaxian might not acknowledge kicks. But there is a reaction so it wasn’t hopeless. Even if there is no damage, there are endless ways to utilize the secondary effects.’
It was a correct judgment. Fighting became much easier once he started mixing in kicks
The 10 octopuses recovered his health after each battle and his fighting speed accelerated. Therefore he reached level 6 in 2 hours! At the same time, the previous ‘Space Combat’ skill was regained and he learnt the basic combat skill ‘Dagger Mastery’ when he reached level 7.
-A new skill (Common Occupation ☆) has been learnt.
Dagger Mastery (User, Passive): This is the skill that most pioneers learn first in Galaxian. The dagger is the most traditional and the most utilized from a wide range of weapons. Dagger Master will be the foundation of a large number of weapon techniques you will learn from now on.
As expected from the early stages of the game! Once he made up his mind then his level and skills rose quickly. The growth of the character depended on the user’s will! After learning Dagger Mastery and Space Combat, Ark started hunting the strongest monsters in the area which were the level 7 space bugs. Thanks to the various bonus stats and skills, fighting higher levelled monsters normally wasn’t a problem for him. But catching monsters in the early stages were more difficult. Ark was the same as well. Even if he learnt Space Combat and Dagger Mastery, they were still common skills that other users learnt. If the other users learnt such basic skills then there was no reason why they couldn’t face the space bugs. However, Ark had one skill that the other users couldn’t easily learn.
‘Swamp Walking!’
It increased evasion by 10%! It was a huge bonus for someone with 100 health.
“Take this you stupid slugs!”
It was an explosion of kicks followed by the dagger attack!
Kuoooooh!
At the end of a 10 minute struggle, even the strongest level 7 space bug collapsed. It was only difficult the first time. He grew used to hunting the space bugs so they didn’t feel that difficult afterwards. Moreover, Ark always started the battle with 100% health thanks to the octopuses. It was indeed the best hunting environment. However, Ark wasn’t in a position where he could just hunt. If a user reached level 10 then their deposit would be returned to them and they would move onto the next area. And Ark had to gather new users from the farm area. That consumed quite a bit of Ark’s time but he didn’t regret it. Making money was just as important as levelling up.
‘I should reduce the time needed for sleep!’
His previous mindset had been revived. So he spent 3 days hunting and acquiring customers.
-Your level has risen.
‘Finally……!’
Ark’s body was fille
d with excitement as he saw the message window. He finally reached level 10! He could leave R-14. The octopuses were even more excited than Ark.
-Oh! You finally have the qualifications to become a pioneer!
-Halo! It’s like a halo is shining around you!
The octopuses gathered and clamoured away. The paid hunting ground had opened for 4 days so they were thrilled they could get custody of it back. However, Ark immediately betrayed the expectations of the octopuses.
Seokeok! Seokeok!
He just closed the information window without talking and became immersed in hunting again. The octopuses were at a loss from Ark’s action and murmured.
–W-what is that friend doing?
–Does he not know that he can leave R-14 now?
-No, that is impossible. Every pioneer should know about it.
–Then why is he still hunting?
–Perhaps…..he intends to stay here and get all our income?
–W-what? T-then? What about us?
The octopuses started panicking. So the octopuses gathered around Ark and incited him to leave.
–Don’t you think you’ve become strong enough?
–Yes, you’ll be able to chew any monsters on the frontier.
–Of course you have to give up the income from the hunting ground to discover the unexplored regions.
–But the frontier is a land of gold and opportunity for pioneers. Someone smart, strong and filled with desire like you…..no, a pioneer with strong desire can earn money that can’t even be compared with the income from this hunting ground. We guarantee it.
The octopuses didn’t want to give the impression that they weren’t grateful. But Ark also had the same idea as the octopuses. The average daily income for the paid hunting ground was 7~8 gold. When considering that the average income of level 10 users who left R-14 was 2 gold, that was a huge amount. But this was because it was the beginner area. Once he entered the frontier and the game earnestly started then that amount would be nothing. Common sense indicated that reaching higher levels meant more income. 7~8 gold would be nothing once he raised his level. His previous character Ark had earned thousands of gold in one day. Furthermore, he didn’t gain that much experience once he reached level 10. He was only hunting level 7 monsters. There was a difference of 3 levels so a penalty was applied on how much experience he could earn. And the monsters weren’t a sufficient opponent to practice his fighting skills anymore. He would be wasting time if he stayed in this hunting ground.
‘I know that but……’
He had ignored the octopuses and continued killing the space bugs. Ark’s target was to regain his mindset. So another three days passed. He suddenly heard Bhurad’s voice from the Nymphe.
-Ark, come and see me.
‘That’s it!’
Ark quickly ran towards the central plaza.
“Did you call?”
“Ark, that is…..”
Bhurad looked at him with significantly different eyes before continuing.
“In fact, I really thought you were a hopeless person the first time I saw you. You broke your dagger and you also couldn’t report your work. Yet I can see that you have a bright future ahead. You continued receiving a small salary and eventually obtained a dagger again. Now I can’t help but feel admiration.”
“You’re overpraising me.”
“No, no. I’m not the type of person to say empty words.”
Bhurad examined his Nymphe and said.
“Your recovery is startling but the amount of mileage you ended up recording is even more astonishing. You reserved 56 mileage from hunting the space bugs. You also recorded 144 mileage from bringing in meat and leather from the space bugs. This is the best record among all the pioneers on R-14. No, it is the highest recorded among all the pioneers scattered on the space station around Earth. How on earth did you accumulate that much mileage?”
It was hard work. There was a chance that the user could die when recording mileage for the space bug hunting. The amount of quests the users normally completed by the time they reached level 10 was 25~30. However, Ark had reserved 56 mileage through the paid hunting ground. His leather and meat was also approximately three times that mileage. It was incredible when thinking about the low drop rate from the space bugs. However, Ark actually found getting the leather and meat to be easy. The guests of the hunting ground paid for the octopuses’ recover service through leather and meat. That also went into Ark’s pocket. If the customers also gave all the meat and leather they found then Ark would lower the fee to 30 silver. All of this was for one goal.
“No, it doesn’t matter how you gained that much mileage. The result says it all. Anyway, I admire your will. I honestly didn’t expect much from the novices entering the universe but you are different. So I prepared a present for you.”
Bhurad handed him something for his wrist.
-Bhurad’s Shield (Magic)
Item Type: Energy Shield Wearer Restriction: Level 10
Defense: 25 Durability: 30/30
Shield Quantity: 1,000/1,000
A special reward given by Bhurad, the manager of R-14’s training centre to the pioneer who raised the most mileage. The energy shield is a common defense item in the space pioneering age that helps protect the body from various dangers. The shield will be destroyed after several attacks from the enemy but the equipped battery will automatically repair the shield after a certain period of time.
“This is a shield that I took care of for a long time. It is quite old but it should be sufficient for a beginner pioneer to use. And I’ve also written you a letter of recommendation for the galactic federation. The galactic federation is always looking for talent like you. If you would like to work for the federation then show them this letter of recommendation. I’ll tell you beforehand but this isn’t given to everyone. I won’t explain it now but this is a considerable privilege that you will soon understand.”
Then an information window appeared from the Nymphe.
You’ve should incredible talent compared to most pioneers that pass through R-14. The training centre manager Bhurad appreciated your patience and qualities and wrote you a letter of recommendation to the federal government. If you make someone from the federal government a sponsor then it is possible to receive considerable benefits.
Difficulty: –
-You have received the quest item ‘Bhurad’s Letter of Recommendation.’
‘I did it!’
At first he thought that Bhurad’s quest would be infinitely repeated. However, the repeatable quest
‘I will get an achievement if I reach the end!’
Cheksun gave him items once he reached the end of the quest. If the same thing was applied then Bhurad might also give him an item. Ark’s guess was correct. Bhurad’s Shield! It was rare to receive a magic item in the beginner areas. Furthermore, he also received a recommendation related quest!
‘Well, I have to find out a bit more information about it…..’
But that wasn’t the end. Ark took the item and organized his bags. Now he could relax and leave R-14. Ark paid one last visit to the paid hunting ground to finish up the business.
–A-Ark!
The octopuses who had been gathered tightly together stared at him with surprise. They exchanged looks and Burum slowly approached him.
–Ark, we’ve been thinking and we realized that we were too short-sighted.
“Huh? Too short-sighted?”
–You really were a big help to us. You helped us establish an independent business after we tried to kill you. We’re embarrassed about how we treated you when you’re going to be leaving soon. So we made up out mind after a meeting. We
decided that we should show out sincerity.
Burum extended something that looked like a small octopus.
-Charenjok’s Token (Special)
Item type: Recovery
A mascot loved by the Charenjok. If you attach this mascot then you will recover from poison and your health will recover for 10 minutes.
This was why the octopuses were consulting each other. It was to decide what they should give Ark as thanks.
‘Aha!’
An ‘!’ appeared in his head. He remembered something that he forgot thanks to the behaviour of the octopuses. Once something broken then everything would come out. Ark realized that while playing the previous game. He had polished the pipes with the octopuses and their sincerity towards Ark increased due to the business plan.
–This might be useless for humans. Isn’t it beautiful? It will be able to sooth you if you feel upset. But this is all we have right now. Please think of us and take it. And…..this isn’t a demand. You’ll be heading to the frontier so can you give us our dream now?
“I understand.”
–Ohh! Really? You’ll really give it to us?
The octopuses danced with joy as they received the answer they were waiting for. Ark taught the octopuses how to acquire customers and the knowledge to make the business successful.
–Phew, he should go now. That terrible guy.
The octopuses muttered after they were handed the business documents. Ark heard it through the pipes but he didn’t question it. The NPCs had given Ark an item so he couldn’t afford to be generous
Anyway, Ark meticulously checked that everything in R-14 was finished and headed towards the exit
It was a place filled with users who reached level 10. Ark was already familiar with the procedure and entered an elevator in the centre of R-14.
-Ark, the body scan has begun.
There was a mechanical sound and the information window appeared from the Nymphe.