Chapter 50

Hiro had decided to start grinding at his regular plot area. The first monster that became his opponent this time was a baby wolf type that, according to the manual book, had a rather balanced base EXP and job class EXP that would allow him to level both of them up at once.

In LSO, basic job classes could be changed to the next stage when the player reached level 35 job class. Because level caps no longer existed for the time being, Hiro decided to strive to balance his base level and job class level.

He only had his Basic Sword Combo Skill, so by being able to change his job class to the next stage, he would have more and varying job class default skills.

There were two levels on the progressive stats of LSO players: base level and job class level. Base level was crucial as a quest, event, and equipment requirement, while job classes affected quests and skills related to job classes.

Hiro had purchased several HP Potions and Energy Potions as capital for his non-stop grind.

And he was also planning to use the reward weapon from the previous main story quest.

[Beginner Metal Two-Handed Greatsword (Level 5) – Tier A]

[Damage 101; Accuracy 25; Crit 9]

For his plan’s success.

The hunting spots for the baby wolves filled one slot of Hiro’s regular plot. In that one slot was an area of over 20 meters with a total of 17 baby wolves roaming. The monster was no taller than Hiro’s knee and its slim body was covered in rough and untidy orange fur.

Apart from having balanced EXP, there was also a chance of the monster dropping a [Defensive Damage Bonus +1%] armor card. Grinding there was not a bad idea at all.

[Baby Wolf (Level 7)]

[Race: Beast]

“Come on, little monsters!”

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Hiro pulled out his greatsword and dashed forward. In front of him were seven baby wolves playing on a field of grass.

SPLAT!

Woorf!

SPLAT! [2x Critical Hit Combo]

SPLAT! [3x Critical Hit Combo]

Oowah!

With two slashes, three baby wolves became specks of pixels and disappeared with the wind.

The size of Hiro’s current blade was enough to slash three baby wolves at once with a surprise attack. However, after his act of disturbing the monsters, 10 baby wolves around simultaneously began to approach him.

Hiro was expecting and even hoping for it. He didn’t want to have to approach the monsters one by one, so brutal-type monsters like these baby wolves were his favorite.

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

The time he had to stop swinging his greatsword for a moment was almost nonexistent as the baby wolves he killed would immediately respawn and continue to attack him.

SPLAT!

Hiro didn’t let down his guard one bit. He was extremely careful not to let the baby wolves bite him from every direction. The moment they got too close to his position, his greatsword would slash them away or dead.

After he began slashing his greatsword, he enjoyed it so much that he forgot all his problems for a bit.

Ding!

[Base level up 1x]

[Job class level up 1x]

Despite having leveled up, the EXP he received from the baby wolves was still the same. However, the amount of EXP required to advance to the next level increased. Still, he decided to stay longer as he hadn’t gotten the card he was after.

However…

Ding!

[Base level up 1x]

[Job class level up 1x]

Even after an hour of grinding and another level up, no signs of the drop card he was aiming for appeared.

Ding!

[You obtained Rusty Greatsword (Level 5) Tier E]

“…Ha.”

‘Are you messing with me?’

Hiro gave up. Even though he hadn’t gotten the drop card he was aiming for, he decided to change his target monster. The EXP required to level up was increasing even more, so it was time to leave the baby wolves and their impossible drop card.

Still, he couldn’t help but be a little annoyed thinking about it.

‘How much is the drop rate anyway? 1%? 0.00001%??’

Hiro headed to the spot where the main choice for his grind in the CBT version, Garden Golems, was.

“We meet again, old pals! Are you going to give me a card?”

Hiro’s eyes met the Garden Golem walking back and forth, but the monster ignored him and continued doing its own thing. Garden Golems were indeed non-brutal.

The reason he came here again was that he wasn’t sure if the [ASPD +30%] weapon card was included in the items that would be transferred from the CBT version. Just in case, he decided to grind while hoping to get the weapon card again.

He wouldn’t be troubled if the item wasn’t transferable from the CBT version, and he could put it up for auction if it was as he knew the card would attract a lot of players’ interest.

Apart from that, his main goal for the time being was to level up as fast as he could. Garden Golems had a higher amount of base EXP than job class EXP with a 2:1 ratio, so his other goal of reaching level 20 to continue the main quest would be reached faster.

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

Hiro stood in the middle of five Garden Golems walking back and forth and attacked them with a long horizontal slash. His goal was to provoke the monsters into approaching him so he would be able to damage four of them at once.

SPLAT! [5x Critical Hit Combo] [HP -1,000]

Ding!

[Garden Golem Weapon Card has dropped in front of you]

“Ahhh, we really are meant to be!” Hiro exclaimed with joy and immediately checked the item details.

However…

‘Only 5%?’

It seems that there was a change he missed. The system had considerably nerfed his favorite card from +30% ASPD to +5% ASPD for one card type.

“Tch.” He felt tricked.

Even so, he still hoped to get his old card. A used card would be bound and subsequently become untradable, so he didn’t immediately use the new card.

He wasn’t in a rush anyway.

Hiro continued to beat the golems up without fatigue until the sun fully rose in the blue sky of LSO.

…

Ding!

[Base level up 1x]

Four hours had passed, yet Hiro only leveled up twice since he started with the Garden Golems.

From today’s grinding session, he noticed two important differences between the CBT version and the official version. One, the EXP gained from monsters of the same kind had been reduced by 10%, and two, if he calculated right, the LSC gained from monsters had been reduced by about 15%.

Even though the system nerfs were quite significant, Hiro didn’t feel that it was a loss for him. On the contrary, he realized that the developers were very careful in keeping the balance in the game. In less than a day, they managed to change all those things without a bug?!

Ding!

[You have a new message]

[Dear Player NightFall, thank you for participating in the Closed Beta Test of Last Shelter Online.]

[Here is your reward.]

Ding!

[You obtained a special package from Game Master John]