Chapter Four #4
This time, as the boss lunged at her with its open mouth ready to tear her apart, Rosie stood her ground rather than dodge.
She waited until it was just about to reach her before thrusting forward with her shield arm, bashing her shield right into its head to interrupt its attack and send it swinging toward me.
[Vulnerable]
The debuff for perfectly timing her skill showed up beneath the boss’s health bar. That meant the next attack would deal 50% more damage, so I activated Strong Slash and sliced my sickle straight through its neck, cutting to the bone.
27 popped up over the boss to show how much damage I dealt, and it was the single largest chunk of damage I dealt at once so far.
The boss was vulnerable to slashing damage and, thanks to martial skills combining the damage of the skill with the damage of the weapon, the attack did 18 damage on its own.
Then the additional 50% on top of that took it up to 27.
The boss’s health bar emptied out and it fell lifeless to the ground, causing a splash around where it fell, as the victory tune played in the background.
[Dungeon Cleared]
[Congratulations, you have leveled up!]
[Level 5 -> 6]
[Health: 90 -> 100]
[Mana: 18 -> 20]
[3 Attribute Points Gained]
Just as I thought, even if it was only the first boss of the game, clearing a dungeon really was the best feeling.
And I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
“We did it!” Rosie shouted, practically tackling me as she jumped to hug me. “I thought I’d only get to kill some weak monsters and level up once or twice, but I got to clear the dungeon on my first try!”
She was too cute. I couldn’t resist reaching up to pet the top of her head with one hand while my other hand rested against the small of her back.
And in response, she nuzzled her head up against my hand…
but I had to be careful not to let her horns poke me.
She was shorter than me, the top of her head only reaching up to my shoulders, so that meant the tips of her horns were at the perfect height to stab me in the jugular.
Unfortunately for Rosie… I loved choosing every teasing option in the game, and I wasn’t able to resist teasing her even now. That was why I said, “Easiest route.”
Rosie stopped hugging me and stepped away with an annoyed huff. “Are you trying to drop my affection level instead of raise it?!”
“Unfortunately for you, I know that a mix of heartfelt moments and teasing banter is what you love.”
“It’s kind of creepy if you admit you’re manipulating me to my face.”
“It’s better than manipulating you without you knowing about it, right?”
Rosie wasn’t a character who sighed a lot in the game, but I sure got her sighing frequently. “But seriously… thanks. I only made it this far today because of you. And if you hadn’t shown up when you did… I might not be making it out of here at all.”
“And thank you for helping me out this far.”
“We both know you could have done all this on your own. I didn’t help at all.”
“Hey, just because I could have done it myself doesn’t mean that you didn’t make it way easier and more fun. I’d rather clear a dungeon with you than on my own any day. And if that’s not a good enough reason to thank you, then thank you for trusting me.”
“I guess that was a pretty insane story of yours to trust.”
“See? All the more reason to be thankful for you.”
“Heh. Alright, time to see what we got! The tail’s loot is all yours since you severed it.”
“Sounds good. But if you ever need the drop from a broken part, I’ll let you have it.”
Rosie nodded before going to check the main body for loot. Meanwhile, I went over to the tail to loot it.
//Scarred Olm Tail Hide
//Type: Material (Rare)
//The hide of a Scarred Olm’s tail is extra durable and flexible, hence why the tail gets used as both an extra limb and a hammer to swing around.
I knew what to expect which was why I made sure to sever the tail.
It was an optional material for one of the best early-game armor sets, so that was one material to check off the list for that set.
“How’s it looking over there?” I asked.
“Umm… there’s a bunch of meat, some coins—I’ll take half of both and leave the rest for you, and a fang material. What’s the fang make?”
“Want the spoiler?”
“It’s probably not something I would use, plus it’s not really different if a smith tells me instead of you, so…”
“It can be used to craft a few different piercing weapons that negate resistances to piercing.”
“Ooh, since the olm probably eats the other monsters in here, so it’d need fangs that can pierce through their shells and stuff.”
“Exactly.”
“I like blunt weapons, so I’ll pass. You want it?”
“I’m good. Take it and sell it.”
“Alright, and I’ll split the money I get from selling it with you.”
“Don’t worry about it. Keep the money and buy yourself some upgrades or more potions.”
“Are—are you sure?”
“There’s nothing stopping me from coming here and killing it ten more times on my own if I feel like earning some money by selling it, so yeah, I’m sure.”
“You really are from another world.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Most people treat dungeon diving as a job, yeah, but they definitely don’t farm bosses, and they only really spend a few hours in a dungeon at a time. And most of the time, they’re doing it after accepting quests for specific materials.”
“Isn’t there anyone who dives full-time for the love of the game and to see how far they can go?”
“Those people are usually considered crazy or suicidal. And they don’t live long.”
“And which group would you say you belong to?”
“Well…maybe the crazy group, aha…”
“Then let’s get along as members of the crazy club.”
“I feel like I’m signing myself up for an insane future, but I might as well commit to it at this point.”
“Glad to hear it.”
With the looting done, we looked at the far end of the room where a glowing, circular portal appeared.
It was the same portal that showed up at the end of every dungeon after defeating the boss. It took players to the Victory Plaza of the main city where everyone gathered to see who victoriously returned from dungeons, especially merchants ready to buy fresh goods before anyone else could.
“Ready to leave?” Rosie asked me.
“I’d say so,” I answered.
“Alright! See you on the other side, Mister Isekai Protagonist.”
“See you over there.”
Rosie walked up the portal, looked back at me with a smile, and then stepped through.
I was about to follow her through when I stopped and looked at the wall behind it.
Curiosity got the best of me.
Going around the portal instead, I walked up to the wall and placed my hand against it. Surely enough, the wall disappeared and revealed a room packed full of gold, treasure chests, and loot.
It was the trove that players on new game plus had access to. It carried over all their items and money.
If I wanted to, all I had to do was accept the loot and I would instantly become the richest, most powerful man in the world. All the game-breaking items I had, the legendary drops, the mountain of coins I had no use for—all of it could be mine.
[Do you accept the treasures of your ancestors?]
[Yes] [No]
Some of those items were even just cosmetic rewards I earned from community events. They had no impact on the game and were only good for decorating with.
But still.
I tapped my finger against the “No” option.
I already had an unfair advantage when it came to my knowledge. I didn’t want anything else that made it unfair.
Success was to be earned, not given.
The mountain of loot in front of me disappeared and was replaced by a piece of paper that floated into my hands.
‘Hey there, bro.
If you’re reading this, then I know I made the right choice, and I know that you’re going to read this.
I’m sure you’ve still got a lot of questions, and I wish I could talk with you more, but my girlfriends found out about each other, so now I’ve got to deal with that. Must be nice to live in a world where girls don’t mind that sort of thing.
I mean, come on. Girls are great. How’s a man supposed to choose just one?
Anyways, treat this world right and show everyone how to have fun exploring dungeons. That’s all I’ll ask of you.
I want my creations to love this world as much as you do.
That’s all I wanted to say. Good luck, bro.
Oh, one last thing.
It wasn’t part of character creation, but I gave you a buff as thanks for loving my game.
Consider it a gift from god. I know the ladies will think of it as one.’
The letter vanished as soon as I was done reading it.
There was only one thing that Seth could have been talking about in regard to that “gift from god.”
I looked down and pulled my pants away enough to see underneath them.
I returned my pants to normal, looked up at the ceiling, and clapped my hands together in prayer. “Thank you, God.”
It wasn’t like I was disappointed with my original size down there, I just never got to use it due to the whole bedridden thing. Still, from all my time playing RPGs, I knew how to recognize a legendary-rarity staff, so he deserved my thanks.
That was the one unfair advantage I was happy to selfishly accept.