9 Chapter 8

"Argh!"

[Level Up!]

"Oh? Level 6 Already?"

6 hours(in game time) since the start of the game, Nex decided that leveling through normal questing is too bothersome and slow, so for the last two hours he begun to hunt monsters at the outskirts of the [Forbidden Forest], an area that no one wants to enter to hunt at this stage of the game since the minimal level of the monsters are level 6 and their major rank is Rare, and aside from Nex, the highest level player is just level 5.

But for Nex, since there is no one here and the monster quality here is better than the rest of the areas of Spring Village, this was the perfect area for him to hunt!

"But, man! I thought that at least being humanoid will let the monsters here have more battle capability! But oh well, maybe its because they are too low level."

Nex sighed while staring at the corpse of 2.3 meters tall level 7 [Hobgoblin(Rare)] that was lying on the ground with his throat sliced. And after staring at it for another moment, Nex began to kick it and turn it around.

After having it flipped, Nex bent over and picked up the loot that was hiding underneath it before.

"Damn this game… why the hell the monsters in this game doesn't disappear after they're dead!"

Yes, in order to increase the realism, not only do the monsters don't have HP bar and will only die when they are injured fatally enough, they also do not disappear and instead, their corpse remain unless their characteristics tell otherwise like with the slimes that for example has their body made of special liquid that made and sustained from their mana, so when their core has damaged their body can't survive and will melt and disappear leaving only the core(and the loot for the players). In addition, in order to not scare younger players, a different sight will be seen to them that will be less realistic and more kid-appropriate.

"Well, for now, let's continue leveling so that I can leave this place and finally learn a profession, I do not play this game to fight!"

Saying that Nex climbed to the tall trees and begun to jump between them like an agile cat.

"I don't understand why people call it forbidden zone, this place is perfect for ambushing and hunting monsters!" Nex spoke some anger-inducing words while scanning his surroundings for his next pray.

And soon enough he found a pair of Levels 6 and 7 [Hobgoblins(Rare)] walking in the forest with a meter distance between them carrying a large club and a blade respectively.

'Perfect'

Without making any sound, Nex arrived at the branch that is behind the level 6 one, once he positioned himself there, he crouched his legs in the direction of the monster and accumulated in them strength along with minute amounts of mana, making them have small-almost unnoticeable flickers of lights.

'[Partial Enchantment]'

And as he chanted in his mind these words, his sword blade part begun to shine as well and once again in a way that made it seem like a blazing metal.

Closing his eyes for a little, Nex kept them close until suddenly snapping them open.

'Now!'

*Crackle!* *Swish*

And at the next moment, and before the level 7 Hobgoblin processed what happened his comrade's head fell and only after it made a sound of *thud* when it fell to the ground did he managed to react and swing his weapon at the assailant.

"Light"(Unknown Language)

But that was too late, as he swung his blade a bright flash of light momentarily blinded him and at the next moment he lost the sensation of the hand that held his and immediately after an extreme pain from where it once was.

"Aargh!"

Covering his stump with his remaining hand while looking at the man in front of him in terror, The Hobgoblin knew that he didn't have any chance to win so he began to run back at the direction of his tribe in hope of reinforcements.

*Stab*

Only to be frozen in the middle of the run and see the blade he held before exit from his chest where his heart his.

"Argh…"

And with that final sound, the Hobgoblin fell, never to rise again.

Before he began to loot the corpse, Nex stared at the direction that the Hobgoblin tried to and pulled out a piece of paper and a rough pencil, and scribbled on it some things.

"So there is their settlement is, I sure hope that there are monsters more capable there," Nex sighed as he folded the paper and put it back in the inventory, afterward, he picked the coins that dropped from the corpses and used a hunting knife to dig out a core from the level 7 Hobgoblin head, "this game is too stingy, to have such a low chance of dropping cores from monsters at this rank, good thing at least that it can(for me at least) be sensed if a monster has it or not."

After Nex finished taking care of that, he picked up the weapons that the hobgoblins used.

[Hobgoblin Club(Normal)

Level:6

PHY.ATK:20

Durability:40/55]

"Although its attack is much better than the wooden sword, it only applies if high had higher strength. But it should still sell for quite a price," he said while putting it inside his inventory.

Next, he checked the Blade.

[Hobgoblin Blade(Normal-Higher)

Level:7

PHY.ATK:25

Durability:48/62]

"This is much better," he nodded in satisfaction while putting it in his inventory, he then looked at the full inventory and sighed, "looks like I need to go back to the village."

After about 15 minutes, Nex arrived at the village and entered the hunting shop where he bought his things like the hunting knife and the paper and pencil that he uses to draw a map of the forest.

"Hello there! Did you come back already? I thought that you going to the outskirts of Forbidden Forest? What happened? I told you that it will be too hard for someone your level to be there! Do you want me to tell you now about more suitable places for you?"

Facing the sudden bombardment of words coming from the young girl behind the counter, Nex just smiled.

"I came here to sell," and as he said that he placed all the loot he had gotten on the counter, "you do accept things from the Forbbiden Forest, right?"

Seeing the object that was placed in front of her, the girl eyes widened and she picked one of the items, "this is the magic stone of a Hobgoblin! And it was extracted just a short time ago!" she picked another item from the pile, a blade, "and this is the weapon that their warriors wield!" she turned back to Nex, "so you really did hunt there! How did you do that with your level!?"

Nex just smiled, "let's say that I am very good at fighting. Anyway, can I sell these things here?"

Waking up from the shock, the young girl nodded her head, "yes! Yes! Of course! Just let me call my boss!" after she said that, she ran upstairs to the second floor of the shop.

After a few minutes, she came back with a tall, burly, middle-aged man, the man looked at the pile of items on the counter and then stared deeply at Nex, "are you really the one that hunted all those monsters?"

Staring at the man deeply as well, Nex smirked, "what? You don't believe-"

*Swish*

Before Nex managed to finish his words, a giant fist appeared in front of him and was about to hit him in the face! But without getting excited he slightly ducked to the side while tilting his head and pulling his sword.

*Bang!* "Kyaa!"

And at the next moment, the following scene appeared, the store owner fist was stretched out above Nex shoulder and a centimeter away from his face. And on the opposite side, Nex's sword was on hit squarely on the store owner throat, but strangely enough, didn't leave even a mark. During this moment the pair looked at each other without breaking eye contact as if testing who will do the first move.

"No way… against Boss!?" the young girl became shocked, only to afterward shake her head and begin yelling, "Geez! Boss! I told not to do things like that to customers! People will stop coming here for good if you continue to do it!"

Ignoring his employee words, the middle-aged man straightened his pose and gave Nex another look before throwing him a small letter and walking back upstairs, "Bring this to the Adventures Guild," when the last words were heard he was already gone.

Nex caught the letter and stared at where the shop owner where before furrowing his brows and staring at the young girl, confused,"what just happened?"

Hearing his question the girl sighed, "that the owner character, he loves to test people and if he approves of them he gives them rewards like a weapon or skill," and then her face became strange as she looked at the letter in Nex hands, "but is the first time I saw him give something that precious."

Nex looks at the letter that looked a bit worn-out, "this is precious?"

"Yes! Very!" The young girl nodded frantically, "This is a recommendation letter for the Adventure Guild! It allows you to join the adventure guild and have a chance to go on legendary missions alongside the greatest heroes around the world!"

"Oh? And your Boss can give out a thing like that?"

The girl nodded once again, "Yes, Boss was once one of the top Adventurers in the kingdom which is by the way amazing that you managed to counter his attack! How did you do that?"

Nex just smiled and asked, "you should ask your boss for the answer," and ignoring the pouting girl he continued while pocketing the letter, "can I sell now the things I brought?"

"Oh right! Yes, of course! Here, I will calculate it for you."

•••

After selling all the loot he earned besides the [Slime King ring] that he finally remembered to wear and a single [Hobgoblin Blade] that surprisingly had full durability, Nex walked out of the store with a satisfied smile, he now had a grand total of over 14 Gold coins, most likely making him the richest man who plays solo at this stage of the game.

Now finished with his business, Nex began to walk back to the Forbidden Forest in order to continue his leveling.

"Hey did you see that? That dude has a ring!"

"And he wearing only beginners gear! Quickly tell Leader that we found some prey!"