Episode 9: Dreams in the game become reality

3. Battlefield (3)

Isn't it essential to strengthen yourself for survival before going into battle?

Of course, the most effective strengthening method I can do right now is to play the Chronicle online game.

-Coooo!

The appearance of a troll striking down a huge wooden club with a harsh roar.

I narrowly avoided the attack and fired the 2-circle magic, Fire Arrow.

[Critical Hit!]

The fire arrow strengthened by the equipment pierced between the troll's eyes without error, and a critical hit was declared, pushing the creature back.

Normally, even if it were a troll, it would die instantly when its head was penetrated, but this is not reality, but a game.

No matter how much you attack a vital point, the monster will not die unless its HP drops to 0, and even if you stab it with a fork, you can kill it as long as its HP drops to 0.

Therefore, the troll with a lot of stamina left quickly corrected its posture and launched its body like a sprinter.

-Quaaaang!

Arsia, a support and tank, had to stop those trolls, but it was difficult for her to support them as she was currently holding down two trolls by herself.

So I had to fight alone, throwing my body around.

-Quaang!

Chronicle Online is a game.

No matter how much a wizard you are, you have a certain level of HP, so hunting will be easier if you attack while holding on at times.

But now I have a sense that is no different from reality, so I had no choice but to be careful with my every move.

If you get hit even once by that ignorant club, you won't be able to fight properly because of the unimaginable pain.

As a result, as the battle time became longer, leveling up was also delayed.

However, I did not think of this as just a drawback.

A sensation that is no different from reality.

This is because it leads to the accumulation of combat experience similar to actual combat.

Even if you learn magic, what's the use if you can't use it properly in real life?

In that respect, the intense battles in Chronicle Online were perfect for preparing for actual battles.

[Experience point 580 was obtained.]

"It's tough."

The battle continued for about ten minutes, rolling around on the floor like that.

After defeating all the trolls, I fell down on the floor.

Then Arcia came up to me and quietly stood next to me.

'Should I hire a master and get some fun?'

I shook my head and gave up on the idea.

It is natural that if a high level player provides support, the speed of leveling up will be faster, but I am currently in a position where I have no choice but to be cautious about contact with other users.

Isn't he the one who inherited the talent of Manuel Lucas?

There is no need to attract attention by advertising that you are different from other characters.

If you suddenly feel pain after being hit from the side or appear physically exhausted, you are bound to have questions.

That's why I'm trying to avoid getting involved with other people as much as possible and calmly, even if slowly, correcting the situation.

[Message has arrived.]

However, things in this world do not always go according to plan.

With the sudden and unplanned decision to enter the war, it seems necessary to slightly revise this policy.

Since there was no better way to increase survival rate in war than leveling up, I decided to prioritize the results even if it was a bit excessive.

'I can't help it.'

Of course, contact with other users will be avoided as much as possible.

Instead, I decided to think in a different direction.

[The production request has been completed. Please visit the workshop and pick up the requested item.]

After reading the message that came during my break, I got up and went back to the village with Arcia.

And the place I visited was the alchemy workshop.

"Mingi, you're here?"

As I entered the workshop, an NPC hurriedly ran towards me and bowed down.

"thank you. "Is that the item I requested?"

"Yes, that's right."

I approached the wooden boxes piled up on one side of the workshop.

When I opened the lid of the box, there was a potion bottle neatly inside.

[Salamander's Tears]

Class: Magic

Effect: Fixed damage 3,000

While playing games, there are things that make you wonder why such trash items exist with the worst cost-effectiveness.

This was the same for Chronicle Online, and the Salamander's Tears that I requested to make this time are exactly such an item.

Fixed damage 3,000.

In terms of power, it is at the level of 3-4 circles, but the core material is so expensive that the production cost of one potion, when converted into real money, amounts to 10,000 roots (root = won).

In other words, if you use this, 10,000 won will be lost per attack.

In the case of trolls, the HP is 5,000, so you need to use two, which means that you have to invest about 20,000 won in the game to catch one.

Isn't it really a cost-effective product that gets criticized?

'But it's perfect for me right now.'

But I am a person who has more money than time.

It wasn't a waste to invest hundreds of millions or billions as long as you could buy the level.

"I checked the item. Thanks for your efforts."

"It looks like we made all the supplies for one year this time. "I never expected that the day would come when we would receive such a large quantity of orders for an item known for its worst cost-effectiveness."

Reactions befitting a production NPC boasting high artificial intelligence.

I chuckled and put the items in my inventory.

A total of 10,000 Salamander tears were stored.

It was a quantity equivalent to a whopping 100 million routes.

"I'll come again."

I left the workshop in good spirits, and the alchemist politely bowed his head and saw me off.

The cost-effectiveness is hellish, but inflicting 3,000 fixed damage without casting is useful in many ways.

Moreover, doesn't 'fixed damage' mean that a certain amount of damage is inflicted no matter how high the defense is?

Currently, I have 10,000 Salamander Tears, so simple calculation means that I can inflict 30 million fixed damage.

If you use your brain well, it is possible to earn experience points that are no different from expedient methods.

"Okay, let's go!"

In response to my energetic shouts, Arcia silently followed me as always.

* * *

The day Adrian purchased a large quantity of Salamander's Tears from an alchemist.

A strange article was posted on the Chronicle online bulletin board.

[Do meteors fall in this game?]

hi. I am a user who is having fun raising scouts these days, and I am posting this because I just went hydra hunting and witnessed a strange scene.

First of all, the location is Eint Basin, a famous place for farming unique Hydra weapons.

It was time for the field boss Hydra Verkus to appear, so I went to the swamp with my party, and something strange happened.

A ray of light flashed in the sky, and Verkus, the field boss with 28 million HP, evaporated in an instant.

The area was devastated and turned into a no-entry area, and it took 30 minutes for the system to be restored.

How should we accept the fact that our prey has disappeared before our eyes?

-User (1): Don't lie.

-Author: Attach a screenshot. Look, you bastard.

-User (2): Isn't it just meteor magic?

-Writer: No matter how Meteor is, it is impossible to inflict 28 million damage against Vercus, which has high magic defense. And it wasn't a magic effect in the first place.

-User (3): Is there any video?

-Writer: ㅇㅇ It happened so quickly.

-User (4): Isn't it a bug?

The post, which received as many as 1,000 comments, became a minor issue among users.

However, because Chronicle Online was so full of all sorts of incidents, interest soon waned, and users dismissed it as just a bug and put an end to it.

However, someone who saw this post must have been very embarrassed, because they never expected that the incident would become this big.

"Was it too noticeable? "I'll have to be more careful next time."

He was none other than Adrian, the owner of the character nickname 'Mingi' who succeeded in earning a large amount of experience points.

* * *

Two days later, on the day of the dispatch of the Viscounty Lawrence military force.

"Have a nice trip."

My mother approached me, dressed in the uniform of the commander of the territory that Cedric loved so much, held my hand and prayed for my safe return.

"Do not worry. "I will never overdo it."

My father patted my shoulder without saying a word, and the disgusting Anna waved a handkerchief as she pretended to wipe away tears.

"If you don't do something worthy of the family, don't think about coming back."

And Cedric was, of course, Cedric.

I smiled and said that I would try my best, and boarded the train as the people of the territory cheered me on, regardless of my family's circumstances.

The floating train, which can travel at a maximum speed of 900 km/h and transport 800 troops, looks more like a giant fighter jet than a train.

As if to prove that its appearance was not a bluff, it could fly if it wanted to, but the reason it was made in a form that sticks closely to the road was to prepare for interception.

There are a total of three floating trains departing from Viscounty Lawrence.

The number of troops was a little over 1,000, but three trains were mobilized, including servants and support materials to take care of me and the knights.

"Master, what about that young lady?"

As if it was a given, I sat down at the widest seat, but Sir Haman, an experienced staff member who would actually command the army from now on, reacted in bewilderment when he saw Arcia sitting next to me.

"Don't you know about Arcia?"

Didn't you think I would ask this so honestly?

Sir Harman was visibly perplexed.

"I heard about your relationship. But from now on, I'm heading to a place that could become a battlefield, and the fact that I'm taking my lover along is a little... … ."

"I will not accept any discussion about her. "Just think of me as my assistant."

"Well, if you say so, Master. All right."

No one took my actions kindly.

However, I couldn't leave Arcia out because she was someone who would sacrifice her body to protect me.

Moreover, this time, he gained the ability level of a regular knight through heavy upgrades, so he was my most reliable ally.

I raised my level from level 35 to level 78 in two days.

This is thanks to the indiscriminate use of Salamander's Tears, which is the worst cost-effective game, and a huge sum of 200 million won was exchanged for the game by ordering it three additional times.

At first, I took a massive boost by killing high-level named monsters by gathering Salamander Tears and exploding them all at once.

[This is abnormal growth. The settlement of the problem may not be normal.]

However, because the system applied the brakes as above, I had to use the Salamander's Tears one by one.

Still, the speed of leveling up was much faster than leveling up through normal hunting, and I surpassed level 3 of the original quest in two days and was about to reach level 4.

Normally, the higher the level, the more difficult it is to raise it, but this was growth that ignored this rule.

In addition to creating the 3rd circle, there are two rewards I got from completing the 3rd stage of the Giyeon quest.

One is the cash asset '100 billion' route.

The other is '3 bottles of elixir', an all-purpose cure that often appears in legends.

The elixir, which is considered to be on the same level as the saint's miracle, can perfectly heal even mortal injuries as long as either the brain or the heart is alive.

'Isn't this compensation as if it takes my current situation into consideration?'

Of course, the elixir was not a game item, but an item that could be used in real life, and is currently stored in a corner of my subspace.

Thanks to this, my mind heading to the battlefield could not help but feel more relaxed.