Kays Translations

Chapter 2: Old man, level up

The goblin leaps at me.

(Stay calm.)

I tell myself.

It's because the opponent is wielding a weapon.

I'm armed too.

It's a zero-sum game.

*Tack.*

As I sidestep, the goblin swings the club down where I was standing.

*Thud!*

The club embeds into the ground.

"Gi-gi."

The goblin tries to pull the club out of the ground.

It seems like an opening, but I don't approach recklessly just in case.

(Observing the opponent's actions is the basic of the game.)

"Gyiiiiii!"

*Thud!*

Finally, the goblin manages to retrieve the club from the ground.

It took about 3 seconds to get to this point.

(Should I try to counterattack next?)

If I were facing a human opponent, what just happened might have been a feint to lure me into attacking, but goblins aren't known for their high intelligence.

It probably just made a mistake.

"Gyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!"

The goblin launches the same attack again.

*Swish.*

I evade the attack with minimal movement.

*Thud!*

The club buries deeply into the ground.

"Slash!"

I swing my sword vertically and defeat the goblin.

"Gyiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

The goblin disappears into light right where it stood.

In its place, a treasure chest remained.

"Yeahhhhh!!!"

I rejoiced in the night forest.

Because this was my first solo defeat of a monster since coming to this world.

The first successful experience is very rewarding.

Since coming to this other world, I've been taught that monsters are dangerous and have always been careful to defeat them with my party.

But this time, I finally succeeded in soloing a monster!

"I can do it too if I try! Nice one, me!"

I got carried away and my excitement soared.

But now that I think about it, wasn't that risky for me?

Phew, I need to reflect on that.

And shouting in the night forest isn't really a good idea since I don't know who might be listening.

I need to control myself.

Even though I thought that, deep down I was thrilled.

"Well then,"

Despite my joy, there's still something else to do.

I need to check the contents of the treasure chest.

I crouch down and open it.

Inside, I find...

【500 gel】

Money.

"Lucky? Maybe?"

I'm not really sure.

Back when I was defeating monsters with my party, the leader used to take all the drops.

Hmm, I'm not sure.

But money is money.

I happily collect it.

Another new window pops up.

【You have gained experience points】

"Oh, experience points, huh?"

I used to receive them even when I was in the party, but I remember the share being something like 1/10?

It seems that in this world's system, the acquired experience points are divided by the number of members in the party by default.

"Old man, you're a newbie and you haven't been contributing much, so you don't really need that much experience points, right?"

Depending on the settings, it seems the leader could decide how to distribute the experience points, so hearing comments like this was common.

I wonder how much I actually gained?

【You have gained 200 EXP】

(So I got this much?)

Usually, I would only get about 10 to 20 EXP.

(Is the only reason to form a party in this world to make progressing through quests easier?)

I ponder over this thought.

Come to think of it, the leader said something like that.

"Freelancers are supposed to be strong."

Or something along those lines.

(Well, if you're strong enough to defeat monsters alone, it makes sense to become a freelancer...)

Well then...

Are you going to defeat the next goblin too?

As I walk for a while, I hear goblin voices.

They're coming from the bushes to the right.

"Gyiiiiiiii!!!"

"Gyiiiiiiii!!!!"

It seems like there are two of them.

In the forest, with poor visibility, I have to rely on their voices to judge.

"Gyiiiiiiii!!!"

(Hmm? Is this voice excited?)

I've been curious since earlier, but these goblins seem to be making excited noises for some reason.

(Maybe they're out hunting too.)

Goblins are creatures too.

To survive, they need to eat.

And their food source is typically animals.

Like rabbits.

If that's the case, then this is an opportunity.

(I'll hunt the goblins that are hunting rabbits. That's what they call taking advantage of a situation.)

With that decision made, I enter the bushes.

Carefully, so as not to make any noise, I approach.

And there, I see something white crouching down.

Two goblins surrounding that white thing.

"Gyiiiiiiii!!!"

*Thud!*

A goblin tries to strike the white thing with its club.

But its attack misses, hitting the ground instead.

The white thing... seems to be a rabbit, crouching there, trembling.

Seeing this, the goblin laughs.

"Geggeggege!"

"Gigigigi! Giiii-giggi!"

(Are they tormenting their prey? Filthy creatures.)

I quietly step out of the bushes.

"Slash."

I swiftly defeated one of the goblins.

It was a perfect surprise attack from their blind spot.

"Gie?!"

The other one is taken aback by the sudden turn of events.

Without hesitation, I immediately take down the other one with my sword as well.

*Thud!*

What remained were two treasure chests.

And the prey, which seemed to be a rabbit.

(With this, it should be safe and run away on it’s own.)

With that in mind, I began collecting the treasure chests.

Inside both were 500 gel each.

However, the noteworthy part wasn't there.

【You have gained experience points】

【You have gained 400 EXP】

【Your level has increased】

The display!

(My level has increased!)

I've leveled up!!!!

Until today, I hadn't leveled up since my last one a month ago.

But today, I managed to level up in just one day.

(Is this the benefit of solo activities?)

Honestly, I've found it easier to move around on my own since being alone.

For example, even against enemies that seemed unnecessary to fight with four people when I was in a party, we still went in as a group of four.

But now, it's just me.

If the enemy is manageable alone, it's faster to act alone.

(Hahaha, maybe leaving the party was the right decision after all.)

Good grief.

I should have left the party earlier.

With that thought, I turned my attention to the rabbit.

*Gaze*

But it wasn't the rabbit looking at me. 

It was a girl.

(Huh?)

She was a girl with white hair clad in white clothes.

"T-thank you."

She said, folding her hands in gratitude.

"You're the one who saved me from the goblins, aren't you?"

Bam!

She grabbed my hand and asked.

(Saying "attacked by goblins"... Couldn't that expression have been better? It sounds kind of suggestive.)

With that thought in mind, I nodded.

"Yeah, that was me. Sorry about that. I mistook you for a rabbit and didn't call out."

"A rabbit? Do you think I'm that petite? Um, thank you."

She blushed.

It seems she's happy to be called petite.

(But really, I don't have time for this kind of conversation right now.)

I hate to say it, but I have a policy of not getting involved in things that don't benefit me.

"Sorry, I'm in a hurry right now" 

I said, pointing in the direction of the town. 

"There's a town over there. I can't escort you, but sorry about that. See you."

I quickly ended the conversation.

Glancing back as I left, I saw the girl staring at me.

But soon, she started walking.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

(She seems fine.)

Just as I thought that, I heard the girl's voice one last time.

"I heard there's a boss up ahead. Please be careful!"

Saying that, she ran off.

It seems she gave me a warning.

I'll silently thank her in my heart.

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