SPINOFF P1/3 – Who I always want by my side

Choose the name of your character.

“Seasoned Crab.”

The player who would later become the greatest of all the assassins chose his nickname and logged into Royal Road.

It was the morning of the day when Royal Road first began service.

“Ah…”

Seasoned Crab was mesmerized.

The heavens were dressed in a deeply blue sky adorned with white clouds.

The warm sunlight shot through glistening drops of water shooting up from the fountain, refracting the light into a beautiful rainbow.

Seasoned Crab tried various games before but he never thought he could experience such beauty. It was truly a new world.

“Let’s see.”

All he had in his inventory were 10 bushels of wheat, some bread and a flask of water.

“I guess I can fill up my drinking water from the fountain.

Life was fun because there was hope.

Seasoned Crab marched livelily.

***

“You want to learn the sword? Hah. You’re a puny brat…”

“What do you need to think about when you have a weapon in hand? About how not to die.”

“When you feel that your opponent is too strong, your instincts are usually right. Just run.”

Seasoned Crab wanted to learn how to use a sword, but no one in the city taught it.

Even retired mercenaries and senior soldiers did not care to spend their time on a level 1 player with 0 reputation.

“Wow, the difficulty of this game is unreal.”

“This is too much. I can’t do anything.”

The other players who started Royal Road were panicking.

This world was hostile and did not offer any benefits to the players.

There were players who quickly found a job in restaurants or trading posts, but for Seasoned Crab, those jobs were completely uninteresting.

‘I want to get a job in the warrior job class.’

The warrior he dreamt of being was the one who charged with a two handed sword against an enormous monster, leaping in the blink of an eye and smashing down on the head of the monster; a spirited warrior.

No tips were available since Royal Road had just opened and so the players had to sell materials diligently. Meanwhile, Seasoned Crab found a sewer entrance in an abandoned back alley.

The tunnel of dirty water was connected to the underground network of the city.

‘Could this be…?’

Squeak!

Rats and insects crawled.

Blink!

< Dungeon. You are the first to discover the Dreary Insect Nest.

Benefit: Reputation increased by 50.

Experience gain and item drop rate are doubled for a week.

The first hunt will award the best item out of the drops of the particular monster.>

The discovery of the Insect Nest Dungeon!

He was the first. 50 Reputation wasn’t much, but the fact that he was passing other players made him happy.

“Hehehehe.”

Seasoned Crab grinned grotesquely and entered the nest.

When he came out the next morning, he had loads of insect carapace and rat tails and had advanced to level 4.

“Are you looking for this?”

“Oh, I was searching for Tultan’s Carapace as materials for my medicine. I will pay 6 Copper per carapace.”

Since there were no other suppliers, Seasoned Crab was able to sell the materials at a high price.

“Hey. Where did you get these?”

“Did you hunt them?”

The players who watched him strolled towards him and Seasoned Crab gladly shared his knowledge with them.

“I hunted in the sewers.”

***

Seasoned Crab leveled up constantly during the 4 weeks he had to stay in the city.

Level 14.

Royal Road had been viral since its inception and its news filled every channel in the news.

– The method of advancing into a Knight at Kallamore has been revealed…

– Working at the stable leads to acquiring horse riding skills. It is a good skill for job classes in the warrior and knight field…

– Castle Aren of the Haven Kingdom! Bard Ray has exceeded level 30.

“Level 20.”

The hunting grounds within the city were also exposed to the public via the broadcasting channels and the internet.

The sewers, abandoned houses, back alleys.

The hunting efficiency was poor compared to the hunting grounds outside the gates and a week into the game, the number of competitors grown.

Seasoned Crab managed to reach level 14 while Bard Ray exceeded level 30.

“Maybe I should have started out in one of the great cities.”

Seasoned Crab calmed his thoughts.

Once he could walk out the gates, the real world was waiting for him.

There was also the update that the dungeons within the city will disappear with increasing security and hygiene.

The vast continent was full of danger, excitement and upgrowth!

“Let’s go!”

“Wahhh. Start!”

“We should go too.”

“People in the back, don’t push. We will go.”

Exactly 4 weeks had gone by.

The players at each city were crowded against the gates and swarmed outside.

“Rabbits!”

“There’s squirrels on this side.”

“A hunting ground. Awesome.”

“The wild fox attacks!”

The gates were chaotic due to the players. Some wielded wooden swords, some wielded broken daggers and others used cooking utensils with low attack power.

There was an ocean of players still inside the city having started Royal Road late.

“So that is how hunting is done.”

“Wow. That looks challenging.”

“I think nets will do a much better job.”

The players couldn’t hold back their curiosity and watched from inside the walls.

Shrrrng.

Seasoned Crab drew his sword.

He advanced into a job class from the Warrior guild and had acquired several skills.

“A sword!”

“Woah. That guy has a sword!”

Seasoned Crab who had just started to show traits of a warrior standed out among the novice players.

“Double Slash, Empowered Slash!”

He hunted a few rabbits and foxes but quickly lost interest.

They ran too fast and too many players disrupted the hunting.

His eyes looked further into the forest.

‘How about taking the dangerous route?’

He was prideful that he was advancing before everyone else.

***

Two months passed.

Seasoned Crab hunted near the City Olth.

Back when he first walked through the gates, he was overpowered compared to the other players but now, he was ordinary.

– The existence of the Basic Training Arena has been revealed!

It was released on the internet that striking dummies led to an increase in stats.

‘A stat increase… It is permanent once you acquire it. Then it’s essential.’

It was said that combat achievements and quest completions also rewarded stats on occasion. Even so, the permanent stats would lead to a difference in growth, so Seasoned Crab entered the Basic Training area.

‘This is inhumane grinding.’

He wanted to lash out and quit but he held it in, relieved from the dream-like fresh air of Versailles.

‘From now on, I will be spending a lot of time here. This is a one time training to become stronger… I have to hold on.’

Seasoned Crab took only 8 weeks to pass the Basic Training Arena.

He took the least amount of rest he could and the other players called him a tough cookie.

“Excuse me, would you like to hunt with us?”

“Let’s go hunting together. We are level 35 on average. I think you have the skills so we should get acquainted.”

Invitations came from parties comprised of Knights, Priests, Warrior and Mages.

Their impressions were kind and he did want to go to the hunting grounds, but he regretted his decisions.

‘I was out of my mind. Why did I name my character Seasoned Crab… I want to go back.’

Still, he couldn’t resist and participated in the hunt.

“Let’s go. Invite me.”

“Alright, I will do that.”

When he was accepted into the party, they were able to see his name.

“…”

“Mmm.”

Like sophisticated members of society, they did not laugh at him. However, when they got to the actual hunt, the natural turn of events were problematic.

“Crab-nim! Monsters are headed your way.”

“Seasoned Crab-nim. You fight well.”

“Wow. Crab-nim, your sword technique is top notch. Your skills are powerful too. You even have great stats.”

“…”

Just calling out his name was comedic.

Seasoned Crab hunted for a long time, but hunting alone starting the next day was much more comfortable.

Because he passed the Basic Training Arena, Seasoned Crab’s growth speed was very rapid. Due to his combat prowess, many players wanted to invite him to their parties, meaning he was never left alone.

***

Seasoned Crab didn’t rest until level 70.

He slept when he was tired and logged into Royal Road for hunting and quests while he was awake. When other players were at a stalemate with their levels, he was able to grow quickly thanks to his stats and senses.

‘This is fun. My body moves exactly as I imagine.’

Fighting, winning and collecting the loot awarded him with a sense of accomplishment.

The land cleared by humans was limited to cities and the nearby regions in Royal Road.

When one reached level 50, they could travel to other cities and regions, but that was only on the known roads. Unless it was an adjacent city with proper security with lots of citizens going back and forth, travelling was quite dangerous.

In fact, live-streaming adventurers set out to create maps in search of undiscovered cities, met monsters on the way and died often.

“Our children disappeared. Their tracks end at the mountains around the neighborhood. Dear warrior, could you please help me look for them?”

“I hear scary sounds at night. I think ghosts are roaming the plains. Only blessed weapons can defeat them.”

Seasoned Crab became more popular as he completed quests near City Olth.

“I hear Seasoned Crab-nim is the best warrior in our city.”

“Did you see him fight against Gohop? He’s awesome.”

“His skill management is insane. He’s probably on a similar level as the top players from other regions.”

“What’s his relationship with Marinated Blue Crab-nim? Are they friends?”

Then one day, a group of bandits settled near City Olth.

It was always unstable because of the steep mountains that connected to the Hinef Mountains and ultimately, it led to a bandit group of over 1,000 members.

The level of the bandits was 80 on average.

< To be continued… >