Matt looked at the quest list and found an entry titled "Help the Children." The children of the town were struggling to get enough water from the well. The reward was surprisingly high: 1000 experience points and 20 gold coins. Even though the reward was large, the task seemed simple, so Matt decided to make this his first mission.
He left the inn and arrived at the town well. There, he saw a young boy with messy brown hair.
"Do you need some help?" Matt asked him.
The boy looked up with a tired expression. "The rope is too heavy. I am just not strong enough to pull the water up," he explained.
Matt was ready to pull the rope himself, but then he noticed a carpenter shop across the street. He saw several wooden wheels and suddenly had an idea to improve the well. Instead of just pulling the water once, he wanted to upgrade the system. He went to the carpenter and asked him to build a pulley. The carpenter liked the idea and began working on it immediately. Matt paid 2 gold coins for the materials and the labor. Together, they installed the new pulley on the well. Now, even a child could get water without any struggle.
Matt received a notification as soon as they finished.
"You have solved the problem permanently and helped the town develop."
Total Reward: 2000 Experience Points and 40 Gold Coins.
[ STATUS SCREEN ]
Player: Matt
Level: 3
HP: 120
E: 120
UE: 12
Strength: 4
Resistance: 4
Speed: 4
Stamina: 4
Intelligence: 7
Sense: 12
Stat Points: 0
Skill: None
Talent: None
Title: None
Gold coin:137
"I jumped two levels at once. My UMP and HP went up, but my MP stayed the same," Matt whispered to himself. He analyzed the numbers carefully. He realized that a normal human usually starts with 5 points in each stat. Since his Intelligence was 7, his E was 120. This meant that every point in Intelligence increased his MP bar by 10 points.
"I need to reach human standards first," he thought. He used his 2 stat points to increase his Stamina and Resistance to 4. He felt a bit more balanced now. With his business in town finished, he walked toward the forest for his second task.
Active Quest: Collect 10 Red Mushrooms for the Potion Maker.
Progress: 0/10.
Matt reached the edge of the forest and paused. He saw the trees becoming much denser further ahead. He knew that the deep parts of the woods were likely filled with dangerous monsters. Fortunately, he did not need to go deep to find the red mushrooms. He quickly gathered ten of them near the entrance and left the forest.
He walked back to the town and entered the potion shop. After he delivered the mushrooms to the shopkeeper, a message appeared in front of him.
Reward:10 gold coin 1000 exp
"You have leveled up."
Before leaving the shop, Matt looked at the potions on the shelves.
Simple Speed Potion: Increases speed by 20% for 2 minutes.
Simple Strength Potion: Increases strength by 15% for 3 minutes.
Simple Regeneration Potion: Stops low and medium level bleeding and restores 10% Health.
Matt asked about the price of the regeneration potion.
"It is normally 8 gold," the potion maker said. "But since you brought the mushrooms, I will give you a 50% discount this time."
Matt decided to buy six of them. He paid 24 gold and walked out of the shop.
The sun was setting and the sky was getting dark. He went straight back to the inn. He sat in the dining area and ordered a potato meal. While he was eating, he overheard two men talking at a nearby table.
"A lot of people suddenly appeared in the city," one man said.
"I heard it is so crowded that the city cannot hold them all. They are starting to move toward the towns around here," the other man replied.
"They will probably arrive here soon," the first man added.
Hearing this made Matt feel uneasy. He knew he had to avoid other players as much as possible. With his current stats, he would be an easy target for a large group. He decided that he could not trust anyone. After finishing his meal, he went up to his room. He threw his jacket onto the chair and lay down on the bed, thinking about his next move.
When morning came, Matt got out of bed and went downstairs for breakfast. The food at the inn tasted like average food from the real world. Since Matt could not cook and did not want to waste his starter steaks, the inn meals were very helpful. After breakfast, he opened the quest list and looked for the highest rewards.
New Quest: Collect 10 Iron Pieces and deliver them to the Blacksmith. (Pickaxe required)
Reward: 40 Gold and 2000 Exp.
Matt went to the blacksmith and bought a pickaxe for 5 gold coins. Then he started walking toward the mine. Even though he was far from the main city, he was worried about meeting other players. He opened 'The Databook' and asked if there were any players in the mine. The System answered "No." He felt relieved and went into the mine to collect the iron. After he finished, he used the Databook again. He wanted to see if there were any valuable ores nearby.
[ ERROR: INSUFFICIENT UE ]
Required: 10
Current: 8
After seeing this warning, he immediately headed back to town. He went to the blacksmith first and delivered the iron.
Quest Completed.
You have leveled up twice.
His UE bar was fully restored after leveling up. Matt had 3 stat points now. He put one point into Strength, one into Stamina, and one into Resistance. Now, most of his stats reached the level of a normal human, except for his speed.
As he walked out of the blacksmith shop, he felt something strange. His Sense pointed him in a specific direction. When he looked that way, he saw two other players. He was currently in a safe zone, but he knew he could not trust anyone in this lawless world. He thought that they probably chose combat items and hunted monsters to level up faster than him.
He opened his map to find a place to hide. This town was already very far away, but then he saw a tiny village on the map. There was no direct road to the village. He thought no one would go there, so he started walking. When he arrived at the village, he saw a child fall down on the ground.
[ STATUS SCREEN ]
Player: Matt
Level: 6
HP: 150
E: 120
UE: 15
Strength: 5
Resistance: 5
Speed: 4
Stamina: 5
Intelligence: 7
Sense: 12
Stat Points: 0
Skill: None
Talent: None
Title: None
Gold coin:158