Jin-woo logged in at 7:15 AM. He opened his character sheet and checked his level: 13. His experience bar showed 1,847/4,500 to level 14.
He had run Goblin Cave eight times over the past few days. Each run gave 500 experience from the boss, plus smaller amounts from the dungeon monsters. But yesterday's run had felt different. The experience gains were smaller. The numbers didn't add up the way they used to.
Jin-woo opened the game menu and accessed the forums. He searched for "level 13 grinding zones" and found a thread with 247 replies.
The top post read: "Goblin Cave is a level 10-15 dungeon. If you're 13+, the experience penalty starts kicking in. You'll get reduced XP from all dungeon content. Move to level-appropriate zones for better gains."
Another reply listed recommended zones:
Level 15-20: Rotwood Forest (bandits and treants) Level 18-22: Ashen Mines (fire elementals) Level 20-25: Frozen Peaks (ice wolves and yetis)
Jin-woo clicked on the Rotwood Forest link. A detailed guide opened:
"Rotwood Forest is located northeast of Havencrest City. Travel time: 2 hours on foot, or use teleport stone for 10 silver. Forest contains Rotwood Bandits (level 16), Corrupted Treants (level 17-18), and rare spawn Forest Guardian (level 22 elite). Good copper-per-hour from bandit drops. Treants drop wood materials worth 15-20 silver each."
Jin-woo checked his inventory. He had 83 silver after keeping some from the glove sale. He could afford the teleport stone, but that was 10 silver gone. Two hours of walking would save that money.
He closed the menu and started walking.
The path led northeast out of Havencrest City, past the plains where he had first ground wolves and goblins. Those areas looked different now—smaller, less threatening. Level 6 wolves that had once been challenges were now gray-colored on his interface, meaning they gave no experience.
After forty minutes, the plains ended. The terrain changed to rolling hills with sparse trees. A few other players traveled the same direction, some on mounts, most walking like Jin-woo.
After another hour, the hills became thicker with trees. The grass turned darker. The tree bark looked wrong—black and twisted instead of brown. The leaves were purple and red instead of green.
A wooden sign appeared beside the path:
Rotwood Forest - Level 15-20 Zone
Warning: Hostile creatures ahead
Jin-woo kept walking. The path entered the forest proper. Sunlight barely penetrated the canopy. Everything was darker here, shadows everywhere. The trees were massive, their trunks thick and gnarled. Some trees had faces carved into them—or maybe the faces had grown naturally. Jin-woo couldn't tell.
After two hours and eight minutes total travel time, Jin-woo reached a small village at the forest's edge. A few NPCs stood near wooden buildings. A notice board showed available quests. Three other players were there, checking their equipment and inventories.
Jin-woo walked past the village into the forest. The path split into multiple directions. He took the left path, heading deeper into the trees.
After five minutes, he saw movement ahead. A figure stepped out from behind a tree—a Rotwood Bandit.
The bandit was human-shaped but corrupted. His skin was gray-green. His eyes glowed red. He wore leather armor that looked rotted and torn. He held a curved dagger in each hand.
Rotwood Bandit - Level 16
Health: 850/850
The bandit saw Jin-woo and snarled. He charged forward, both daggers raised.
Jin-woo drew his sword. He activated Power Strike immediately—no point saving it for later in the fight. He held the attack for two seconds. The red glow appeared around his sword. The bandit was five meters away. Three meters. One meter.
Jin-woo released Power Strike. His sword came down on the bandit's shoulder.
CRITICAL! -134 damage
The bandit's health: 716/850 HP.
The bandit didn't slow down. He reached Jin-woo and slashed with his right dagger. The blade hit Jin-woo's chest armor.
-35 damage
Jin-woo's health: 235/270 HP.
The bandit immediately slashed again with his left dagger. Another hit, same spot.
-33 damage
Jin-woo's health: 202/270 HP.
Jin-woo swung his sword. Normal attack—Power Strike was on cooldown. His blade hit the bandit's arm.
-31 damage
The bandit's health: 685/850 HP.
The bandit stabbed forward with both daggers at once. Jin-woo tried to block with his sword, but one dagger got through. It hit his leg.
-34 damage
Jin-woo's health: 168/270 HP.
Jin-woo swung again. His sword hit the bandit's chest.
-29 damage
The bandit's health: 656/850 HP.
They traded blows. Jin-woo's sword hit for 29-32 damage per swing. The bandit's daggers hit for 33-37 damage per attack. The bandit attacked faster than Jin-woo—two attacks for every one of Jin-woo's swings.
Jin-woo's health dropped: 168 HP, then 132 HP, then 97 HP.
Power Strike came off cooldown. Jin-woo activated it. He charged for two seconds while blocking the bandit's attacks with his sword. One dagger got through and hit his shoulder for 36 damage. His health: 61 HP.
Jin-woo released Power Strike. The charged attack hit the bandit's neck.
CRITICAL! -141 damage
The bandit's health: 515/850 HP.
Jin-woo drank a health potion. Red liquid appeared in his hand and he drank it in one motion. His health restored: 61 HP → 161 HP.
The fight continued. Normal attacks. Block. Swing. Block. Swing. The bandit's health dropped slowly: 515 HP, then 482 HP, then 449 HP.
Jin-woo's health dropped again: 161 HP, then 124 HP, then 89 HP.
Power Strike came off cooldown again. Jin-woo charged the attack and released. Critical hit, 138 damage. The bandit's health: 311 HP.
More trading blows. Jin-woo swung his sword. The bandit slashed with his daggers. Health bars decreased on both sides.
Jin-woo drank another potion. His health: 54 HP → 154 HP.
The bandit's health: 278 HP.
More attacks. More blocks. More swings. Jin-woo's arms were getting tired—not in real life, but the game registered fatigue through stamina drain. His stamina bar showed 87/210 stamina remaining.
Power Strike cooldown finished. Jin-woo used it again. Critical hit, 143 damage. The bandit's health: 135 HP.
The bandit's attacks were getting slower. His health was in the red zone—below 20%. Jin-woo pressed the advantage. Normal attack, 30 damage. The bandit's health: 105 HP. Normal attack, 31 damage. The bandit's health: 74 HP. Normal attack, 28 damage. The bandit's health: 46 HP.
The bandit slashed desperately with both daggers. One hit Jin-woo's arm, 34 damage. Jin-woo's health: 120 HP.
Jin-woo swung his sword one more time. The blade hit the bandit's chest.
-32 damage
The bandit's health: 14 HP.
Power Strike was ready again. Jin-woo didn't need the full damage, but he used it anyway. He charged for two seconds and released. His sword hit the bandit's head.
CRITICAL! -139 damage
The bandit's health: 0/850 HP.
The bandit collapsed forward and dissolved into light particles.
+94 Experience
Loot appeared on the ground: 8 copper coins and a bandit dagger (vendor trash worth 3 copper).
Jin-woo stood there, breathing hard even though he was just sitting in his apartment wearing a VR headset. The fight had lasted almost three minutes. He had used two health potions worth 8 copper each. Net profit: 8 copper from drops + 3 copper from dagger - 16 copper for potions = -5 copper loss.
Jin-woo picked up the loot and checked his health. 120/270 HP. He sat down against a tree and waited. His health regenerated slowly: 1 HP every 5 seconds while resting.
"Slower kills but better drops," Jin-woo said. Though he hadn't actually seen better drops yet—just 8 copper and vendor trash.
After two minutes of resting, his health reached 240 HP. Good enough.
Jin-woo stood up and looked around the forest. More bandits wandered nearby. He could see three of them within thirty meters.
He walked toward the nearest bandit and started the fight again.
The second bandit fight went similarly. Three minutes of combat. Two health potions used. The bandit dropped 7 copper and a piece of leather armor (vendor trash worth 5 copper).
Third bandit: three and a half minutes, two potions, drops of 9 copper and another dagger.
Fourth bandit: two minutes forty seconds, one potion, drops of 8 copper and leather boots (vendor trash worth 6 copper).
Jin-woo continued grinding bandits for the next eight hours. Kill bandit. Rest. Loot. Kill next bandit. Rest. Loot. The pattern repeated over and over.
His inventory slowly filled with copper coins and vendor trash. His experience bar climbed gradually. Each bandit gave 90-95 experience. He needed about 45 bandits to level up.
By 4:30 PM, Jin-woo had killed 31 bandits. His inventory had 2 silver and 47 copper in raw drops, plus vendor trash worth maybe another 80 copper. His potion costs had been about 1 silver and 30 copper.
Net profit so far: about 2 silver for eight hours of work.
The math wasn't good. Grinding bandits was worse money than running Goblin Cave dungeons, even with the experience penalty.
But Jin-woo kept grinding. He needed to reach level 15 to access better zones. He needed to reach level 18 to try the next dungeon, Crimson Halls. The bandits were just a stepping stone.
Jin-woo killed five more bandits before 6:00 PM. Then he walked back to the village at the forest edge. He sold all his vendor trash to an NPC merchant. Total earnings: 3 silver and 12 copper for the day.
He logged out. The time was 6:17 PM. He had been playing for eleven hours.
Jin-woo removed his VR headset and checked his phone. His bank account still showed $387.23. He hadn't earned enough in-game to bother converting today.
Tomorrow he would grind more bandits. Tomorrow he would reach level 14. The day after, maybe level 15. Then he could access treants, which supposedly dropped valuable wood materials.
Jin-woo ate rice and eggs. Then he went to sleep.