I’m Not A Psychopath

Noah got to the job.

According to the pamphlet he bought from the butcher, the beak of the knife-billed duck was useful. The meat was edible and wouldn't rot until a week.

He used his sword and removed the beak carefully. He then hung the monster upside down to drain the blood.

With a sufficient amount of blood drained, he moved to the next step: Gutting.

Gutting was a necessary procedure to prevent bacteria from growing on the surface of the carcass. If not done properly, it could spoil the meat.

By the end, the caress was clean and Noah a bloody mess.

Throughout the time, he heard multiple notifications, which he ended up ignoring due to being focused on the task at hand.

"Huff, this was hard."

Noah stood up while wiping the sweat.

He held the loot and checked the notifications.

[ You have successfully pillaged 'Knife-Beak'(Raw material) ]

[ You have successfully pillaged 'Knife-billed Duck Meat' x 2 ]

[ Skill Pillage learned ]

[ Skill Gutting learned ]

[ +2 free Skill Points ]

"I learned two skills. The loot is good too. I can use the beaks as throwing knives."

—

[Pillage] (Active-type)

Tier: 0

Proficiency: 1/100

Cost: 50 SP Duration: 5 minutes Cooldown: None

Requirement: None

Skill Effect: Increases the chances of looting valuable materials from monsters without damaging the materials by 5%.

—

[Gutting] (Passive)

Tier: 0

Proficiency: 1/100

Requirement: None

Skill Effect: Increases the chances of successfully gutting a monster hunted by you without damaging it by 10%.

—

It took Noah 15 minutes to gut the monster. He wrapped the meat in a clean cloth before storing it in his satchel.

The butcher had told him the monsters' meat was safe to store in this way as long as it was gutted properly and consumed in under a week.

Noah continued to move deeper into the forest.

He realized the sun was about to set. Almost 2 hours have passed since the launch.

"Where is it?"

Noah's plan for leveling was simple. It was a gamble based on his deduction, however Noah was fairly confident.

He would set the forest on fire.

It should be possible to start a wildfire and farm tons of Exp in one go.

Was it an unrealistic plan?

To most, yes.

However, Noah had reasons to believe his plan was feasible.

Coniferous Forests were a region prone to wildfires.

Before entering the game, Noah had found more starter towns where similar strategies could be implemented.

Maybe this was why the names and a brief explanation of beginner towns were officially leaked. To give a headfirst to the players who research the game.

With those thoughts, Noah had entered this town.

Here, he found players with mage class weren't being sent to this town. And mages have Firebolt in their beginning skillset.

Firebolt could start a fire.

Putting two and two together, one could tell the game developers wanted the player to realize the wildfire cheat to earn Exp.

"Of course, two molotovs aren't enough to start a wildfire. Even a dozen mages might not be enough."

Noah was positive there would be a way to start a wildfire present in the forest.

Quack! Quack!

A monster found Noah and attacked him.

"I want to focus on scouring the forest, but I guess I'll hunt the monsters I stumble upon on the way."

Noah dashed toward the duck monster.

The monster retaliated in kind.

Noah had gained experience from his earlier battle which made the current battle easier. He inflicted small injuries to pile the damage before finishing with a critical hit.

[ Critical Hit! ]

[ -23 HP ]

[ Level 0 Knife-billed Duck slayed ]

[ +5 Exp ]

Noah ended the battle in a little over 4 minutes with ease.

And retrieved the loot without delay.

[ You have successfully pillaged 'Knife-Beak'(Raw material) ]

[ You have successfully obtained 'Knife-billed Duck Meat' x 2 ]

[ Pillage Proficiency +3 ]

[ Gutting Proficiency +1 ]

"'Pillage' proficiency went up? But I didn't use the skill."

Noah was a bit puzzled.

The proficiency gain was more than the proficiency increase of Gutting. He wanted to try a few more times to understand the proficiency mechanics.

"I'll try it later."

Storing the items in the satchel, Noah continued moving forward.

On his way, he encountered two more level 0 Knife-billed monsters. His Exp reached 20/100 by the end.

His satchel was full with another two Knife-beaks and he had to discard the meat. He also gained +5 proficiency with Pillage and + 2 with Gutting.

Noah didn't find any monsters above level 0, fortunately or unfortunately.

"I wanted to see how strong level 1 monsters were for comparison. Wait, don't tell me I'm still at the beginning of the forest… I didn't get lost, right?"

Just as Noah had such thoughts he reached a clearing.

A massive haystack was piled in the middle of the clearing. It was almost as tall as the trees themselves.

The trees around were shriveled and a pungent odor wafted in the air.

Noah scratched the back of his head.

"Is it just me or is the haystack asking to be burned down?"

It was certainly weird to find haystacks stored together. Noah decided to use one molotov to light it up.

He would be stupid if he didn't burn something so conspicuous while he was searching for a way to set the forest on fire.

"The problem is the massive bear sleeping next to the mountain of haystacks." muttered Noah.

A 'small' mountain was lying on the ground. Its chest periodically rose and sank.

No matter how he looked at it, the monster was a boss. A high-level one at that.

Noah could see its status if he went closer, but that was putting the cart before the horse.

He retreated to a safe distance before starting. He would rather not fight the high level monster without any preparation.

Clang!

A spark flashed when Noah struck his sword at a stone and lit the molotov with it.

He pulled his arm back to throw the molotov, but abruptly stiffened.

The bear was staring at him. It was wide awake.

ROARRRR!!!!

The air trembled and the bear ran on all four, making a mad dash for Noah.

[ You have entered the combat against Field Boss 'Ground Bear' ]

[ Level Suppression will occur due to the large level difference ]

[ Your stats, item, and skills effects will be reduced by 5% ]

The boar sped up like a truck trying to crush Noah.

Noah made the decision in a split second.

He threw the Molotov high in the air and dashed into the forest. The bear was following him, so there was no one to stop the molotov.

The bear ran over the trees. Yet, Noah was smiling. The molotov was falling toward the haystack!

Suddenly, the bear hit the ground and a wall of swirling air materialized around the haystack.

The wall of air rose into the air when the bear struck the ground again.

In those conditions, the molotov couldn't reach its destination.

Boom!

A muffled explosion occurred and the molotov bounced off the air wall.

"Of course, there was no way it would be so easy!"

ROARRR!!!

Noah could feel his eardrums crying in pain as he ran. His speed was disgustingly slower than the monster's.

If not for the trees, he would've been crushed alive already.

He weaved between the trees, running in a zig-zag while repeatedly changing his direction.

Unfortunately for Noah, the monster was about to catch up to him.