“Dude, is it true that Kaizen killed all these Goblins?” The drops expert that Klank knew asked wide-eyed.

“For sure was. Although I couldn’t see him hunting, there was no one else in the Valley of the Goblins at the time and the Goblins had just died. Who else could it be?” Klank replied.

“I think it must have been a group of people who killed those Goblins, and the others must have left him to collect the drops. I can’t believe that one person could kill so many Goblins in a place as favorable for them as that valley. He must have been bragging.”

Another man who was also in the store stood up from behind the counter. “He was definitely bragging.”

None of Klank’s acquaintances believed that Kaizen single-handedly killed all the Goblins, as he claimed.

In any case, that didn’t matter to the rich boy, as he had experienced Kaizen’s imposing aura in person.

‘I wonder what level he is… 60? Maybe 70?’

*

[Statistics Screen

Nickname: Kaizen | Class: Psych

Current Title: The descendant of the Ironstones; Talented

Profession: Blacksmith Apprentice.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral | Fame: 90].

[Attributes

Level: 10

HP: 165 | Vitality: 13

Intelligence: 17 | Luck:

7

Attack: 30 | Agility: 18

Charisma: 5

Defense: 11 (+50)

Magic Resistance: 3 | MP: 75

PR: 120.]

“I couldn’t check yesterday because it was getting late, but I went up two levels by killing those Goblins. That’s good.”

Kaizen checked the attribute screen as soon as he logged back into Rise Online. The day before, he logged out right after leaving the valley.

“Um… I got so excited yesterday that I killed a few dozen Goblins, so in the end, I wasn’t gaining as much XP as before. Still, no need to be disappointed, my Attack attribute reached 30 pretty quickly thanks to this. Maybe I should find a way to increase my defense, that’s all I’m concerned about in my composition for now. What’s the point of continuing to gain more HP and my defense being weak without that armor?”

He didn’t know it, but his Defense was naturally low compared to his Attack and Agility attributes because he chose the Human race to start.

“Well, today I won’t have as much time to play as I had yesterday. I must leave for the Silver Mountains immediately. If I’m lucky, I’ll reach my goal today.”

Since Kaizen was anxious to get to the Howling Cliffs and the journey was long, he didn’t want to waste a single minute.

Once he arrived in the Silver Mountains area, he felt like he was watching the Empire State Building from his sidewalk. All the mountains were huge, and their peaks were snowy. The terrain was very steep and full of gravel deposits, yet it was still possible to walk in the area if you avoid stepping on it. Kaizen kept walking and was not bothered by any monsters or players, but he soon realized that he was lost. In every direction he looked, all he saw were mountains.

“Shit…” Kaizen uttered.

He opened the game interface and clicked on MAP, but when he looked at the map, he realized that he had another problem. The entire area around him on the map was black, which meant that the map was not updating as he walked.

“I probably need to get to a safe area for the map to update… Okay, I’m not lost. I’m good at finding directions, I can find my way back on my own.”

Kaizen kept calm in this situation and took a good look around him. His eyes were calm and experienced, and he had seen many things in his life.

In other exploration games, standard features in the level design usually told the players what the paths were without pointing them in the direction with an arrow. Rise Online was a game that was considered difficult, just not to the level of leaving a player lost forever or leaving them frustrated and stuck in a region.

Patiently contemplating the mountains, Kaizen noticed a darker stretch to the northeast, indicating that the terrain in this part was gradually sloping downward. This was the level design detail he was looking for, so he headed northeast.

At the mouth of this downward section, Kaizen looked ahead and saw a natural route forming in the shape of a ravine. The stretch narrowed and receded as far as Kaizen’s eyes could not see. Clearly, this path was too long, and at any moment, he could be surprised by some monster spawning or jumping on his head.

However, he was lost, so he had no choice but to start down the ravine.

Kaizen walked for twenty meters, and, as he had expected, he heard a squeak coming from his back.

He quickly turned around and saw a dark green scorpion the size of a fist. This monster moved its stinger slowly to one side and to the other as if imitating a pendulum. Fortunately, Kaizen’s feet were protected by perfect steel boots, so the scorpion’s tail probably couldn’t hurt him.

Kaizen stepped on the scorpion and crushed it, but he didn’t get the kill message. So, he kept stomping on the monster repeatedly, so fast that the insect had no chance to react. After more than a dozen stomps, the novice finally heard:

[You killed a Moss Scorpion and gained +500 XP.]

𝒪𝔳𝑙xt.𝑐𝑂𝔪

“500 XP? Ow! What level was this piece of shit?”

As Kaizen looked at the disgusting remains of the monster stuck in the bottom of his boot, he heard more sounds coming from his back. When he turned around, he saw a few more Moss Scorpions coming out of a small dense black cloud.

“Ha! So, this is how you spawn… Well, I guess now is the perfect time to find out why your brother didn’t die easily…”

With the <Analyzing Eye>, Kaizen checked the attributes of one of the Moss Scorpions.

[Creature: Moss Scorpion

Level: 1 | Attribute: Insect | Nature: Mutant

HP: 200 | MP: 0

Attack: 55 | Defense: 50 | Speed: 0

Strength: 20 | Wisdom: 1 | Resistance: 50

Resistance to Spells of Poison]

Kaizen’s eyes went wide. How could a level 1 creature have such incredible amounts of attributes? The only monster Kaizen knew that had a similar level of strength to the Moss Scorpions was the optional Boss of the Misty Woods, the Shadow Cat.

‘What’s happening here!?’

…

Edited by: DrHitsuji

If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com/NandoFalske

More character images in:

https:///bpqq9u4gS8

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