I'm alone in the inn, having turned down an invitation from Shiraishi and Kojima to discuss countermeasures.

It doesn't matter how many level 1s are hanging out together, there's nothing we can do.

It's all about level.

Level is everything.

If you're in an RPG world, you need to raise your level.

Those who are confused about the other world or those who don't understand why a hero loses are just a drag.

Even if you're hero, it's probably the end for you if you die, so you can't be naive and think that you can help each other out.

You either do it or you get hit.

That's it.

How can we raise the level efficiently while keeping a safety margin?

When you think about it, a large group of low-level players is probably at a disadvantage.

It would be nice if everyone in the party received the same amount of experience for killing a single monster, but if that were the case, a system of leveling up large groups of players would be quickly established.

The fact that the king didn't bring it up and left it up to the individual players suggests that the experience points for killing monsters are distributed, and that the higher level players get more. Or maybe you have to get the last kill to get more.

If this is the case, it would be better to hunt solo against weak monsters until you reach a certain level. If it is a last-kill system, you can team up with someone of a higher level and ask them to give you the last kill, but you don't know for sure yet, and you don't have a lot of money.

You can see the attitude of the adventurers towards the heroes.

To be sure, I asked the innkeeper about it, but it seems that a novice adventurer would go about killing slimes and goblins in the vicinity, while collecting and doing miscellaneous quests around town.

The tricky part is that completing quests only raises your adventurer rank and money, but does not change your level.

Once you've equipped yourself a bit, you'll need to go out and kill monsters to get stronger and stay safe. There is no guarantee that you won't be killed if you live in the city.

"Damn, I wish I had go to a better different world."

I know I can't start complaining now, but I can't help but whine.

Well, I'm taking a few skills that I think will be useful.

I'm sure I'll get more skill points in the future, but I'll prioritize the experience skills and the combat skills if necessary.

The next day, I shoveled some bad bread and soup into my stomach and took a look at the armor shop.

The cheapest wooden shield cost 50 gold. It was a type of shield with a leather belt riveted to it that could be threaded through the arm, leaving the left hand reasonably free. I'm not sure if it will hold me in place, and I don't think the wood will protect from axe, but it's better than nothing.

I'm going to use my [Appraisal Lv3].

[Name] Wooden shield

[Type]? Shield

[Material] Wood

[Defensive power] 10

[Defensive range]? 7

[Weight]? 1

[Description]

A small wooden shield.

Narrow coverage, but safer than nothing.

Light enough for beginners to handle.

It is part of the spell you cast.

Some of the spells you cast will interfere with their effects and activation.

From the looks of it, I'll have to be careful about the type of armor I use or I'll be unable to use magic.

Well, looking at Erwin's fireball, I can't expect much from the spell.

He might have been holding back in that place, but I couldn't feel how powerful it was.

Either way, I haven't taken any spellcasting skills, so I'll think about it when I have a few skill points to spare.

I bought a wooden shield. That's enough for four days of living expenses.

My next piece of armor, a leather armor, costs 180 gold, so I'm short on gold. It covers the upper half of my body and has a 36% defense range, so I'd like to get it as soon as I save up enough money.

I headed to the Adventurer's Guild. There didn't seem to be any other heroes. It was early in the morning, so I thought there would be few adventurers to get involved with, but there were quite a few.

"Oh, you're the Hero brother. What happened to the rest of you?"

One of the adventurers who was there asked.

"I don't know."

I don't want to upset them by ignoring them, so I answer. But do it in a straightforward manner.

"Please don't tell me he's dead. I'm not sleeping well."

"He's still alive. I don't know anything more than that."

When I didn't make eye contact and gave off a full-blown "don't talk to me" aura, the adventurer who had been talking to me also left, as if he had sensed this.

Phew.

The front of the counter was empty, so I went there to talk to the guild staff.

"I'd like to do a beginner's quest to make some money."

"Well, here it is. Not that you'll make much money, but with your equipment, this is a safe bet."

The guild employee showed me a piece of parchment. This is a quest to collect medicinal herbs.

"Ten pieces of aloe grass for only five gold? Can't you do better than that?"

"It's posted on the board there, so if you don't like it, you can pick it yourself. However, your adventurer rank is F, the lowest. You can only take the first rank."

"I'll check it out."

I left the counter and went to look at the bulletin board.

......。

There were no good ones.

10 gold for 10 goblin kills.

The amount of money you can earn is similar for all of them.

I decide that it's best to avoid fighting as much as possible until I get the armor, so I give up and return to the counter.

"Can you show me that herb?"

"This is it"

Aloe grass

"All right. I'll get them."

"Try to stay as close to the city as possible. If you go to the forest, you'll find a lot of aloe, but you'll also find a lot of monsters. It's impossible for someone of your level. If you get surrounded, get out of there. It shouldn't be hard to escape."

"Okay."

I gratefully took the staff's advice and headed for the entrance of the city. A soldier with a spear was standing guard at the gate.

"I haven't seen you around before. Are you a new adventurer?"

"Yes."

"Then gather some herbs in the vicinity. Don't go into the woods by mistake, okay? A surprise attack will make a beginner out of you in no time."

"I know."

"Now, let me see your adventurer's card."

"Why?"

"Well, if you don't come back, we'll have to send out a search party."

Then you might as well get along with the gatekeeper.

"Hmm. It's Alec."

"All right, well, be back by sundown."

"Yeah."

First, we walked along the street. There is no aloe growing.

Well, it wouldn't be a quest if it grew right there.

I was also looking around for monsters, but I couldn't find any.

The encounter rate was low. I was a little relieved.

"Hmm, slime, huh..."

I found a transparent jelly-like object on the side of the road. It was about fifty centimeters in size. It was moving slowly, but it was moving.

That's it. I hadn't gathered any information on the monster since this was a gathering quest.

But then again, I do have a skill.

"Appraisal Lv3".

[Name]? Slime

[Lv]? 1

[HP]? 4

[Description]

A jelly-like monster.

Each color has a different strength.

Transparent monsters are the weakest and move slowly.

Occasionally, they release digestive juices.

It stinks.

They're level 1. It's a good match.

If I can't beat it, I'll have to form a party or think about my equipment, but whatever, let's give it a shot.

"*breathe in*...."

I unify my mind and watch the slime's movements closely. It's either oblivious to me, uninterested, or unable to detect me, but it's just slowly moving towards the other side.

"Let's go!"

I was nervous, so I roused myself with a cry of enthusiasm and swung my copper sword down at the slime.

Water splashed onto my face.

"Ugh! It stinks!"

It smells like a ditch. I hurriedly wiped my face and moved away from the slime.

It's called digestive juices, but it's not melting my skin.

It seemed to be okay.

This time, I poked the slime with the tip of my copper sword.

The slime was cut and flattened, pouring out liquid.

Mmm, that was quick.

That's the end.

There's no victory fanfare, and I guess it's too annoying to hear that every time.

I observe the slime, but a puff of white smoke rises up and the liquid disappears cleanly.

There's nothing there but a patch of grass.

Monsters turn to smoke when defeated, huh? That's what the king told me.

After confirming that there were no enemies around, I checked my status.

I don't need to chant "Status open" to open it.

【Exp】　　　 １

【Next】　　　９

One experience. That's not much. Well, I guess that's what you get for attacking that weak monster. It didn't even fight back.

My HP wasn't diminishing, so I might as well hunt them down and raise my level by one.

I decided to leave the aloe grass for later and try to find the slime.

"Okay, there they are."

I found a slime of the same color, and this time I didn't swing at it, but just stabbed it with the tip of my sword.

I was able to defeat it in a flash.

"Hey, hey, that was easy."

I think I'll just kill 10,000 slimes and raise my level. I might not be able to get any experience once my level reaches a certain level, but no risk is a big deal.。

I didn't get any drops, but I would like to level up.

I searched for more slimes and came to the long-awaited point where I could level up with only one slime left.

"Okay, now I'm ready to level up. Whoa!"

I thought I could defeat it with no damage, so I approached it carelessly, but the slime suddenly sent liquid flying at my face.

And it got in my eyes.

"Whoa! My eyes! My eyes!"

It's bleeding. Oh no, and I can' t see. Where's the slime!?

"Calm down! I'm coming to help you."

I heard a man's voice, and my panic subsided. Phew.

"Okay, I've killed the slime. Wash your eyes with this."

"Errr..."

"Look up."

Water was splashed on my face, I blinked, and finally, I could open my eyes properly.

A grimacing adventurer was in front of me, holding up a water bottle.

"You're a beginner?"

"Yes, I just became an adventurer yesterday."

"I see. Well then, I guess you learned a good lesson. If you're not careful and go in front of the slime, you'll end up in the same situation as before. You should at least hide your face with your shield. It's a basic rule, not just for slimes."

"Yes, thank you for the advice."

"Yes. So, I saved your life, didn't I?"

"Yeah."

You mean you want me to pay for it.

"By the way, how much would you say the price is...?"

"Yeah, well, that's just a feeling, so if you owe me your life, I'll give you half of what I have, or something like that, but only ten percent."

"Well, that's four gold, so I'll take ten."

"Tch, it's only that much. Oh well, it's only life that counts. Be careful at first. It's better to be too careful."

"Okay. Thank you very much."

Oh dear.

I checked my level, but it hadn't gone up yet. Last kill seems to be a must. Or maybe it's a monster with only 1 experience, so it couldn't be distributed.

So, what should I do now?