Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Solitary Calculations
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My current level was 1, which meant I should now be able to open the community window.
I summoned the community window with just a thought.
A nickname, huh?
I came up with one that popped into my head on the spot.
'Transcendence'
This world was called the Transcendence World, so naming my nickname Transcendence definitely had a rare, unique vibe to it.
I wondered if the system even allowed duplicate nicknames...
Anyway, I set that thought aside for now.
I quickly accessed the community and checked for anything important.
Unfortunately, the community window was almost completely empty.
There was just a single post someone had uploaded.
The title read "1," and the body was blank.
This guy's got some real experimental spirit.
I had no idea how many people had come to the Transcendence World, but this was probably the historic first post.
Praising his courage, I looked around the community window a bit more.
Regrettably, there were no explanations for additional features, and meaningful conversations with others didn't seem possible right now.
I was about to close it when something unusual caught my eye.
A single post.
Author: Sword King [3]. A pretty ordinary nickname.
But the number after Sword King didn't seem like part of the nickname itself.
It's a bit odd for someone to name themselves that on purpose.
Maybe it's their level? Or the order they registered the nickname? I had no clue yet.
I decided to poke around the community functions just a little longer.
Upon closer inspection, the top right corner of the community window had my nickname along with something else written small.
Dimension - 64. Does that mean this is the 64th dimension I'm in?
Various guesses sprang to mind, but without solid evidence, I looked elsewhere.
I waited a bit, hoping another post might pop up, but nothing happened.
I had no choice but to close the window.
I checked the quest window again.
The basic quest telling me to hunt slimes was complete, but no new ones had appeared.
It seemed like a one-time thing, or maybe it needed certain conditions like time.
I quickly reviewed what I needed to do next. Even this time felt precious.
I remembered that at level 1, I could talk to the village NPCs, so I hurried toward the village.
This place—this medieval village—was massive,
and while I figured there were probably hidden things in this huge area, it was too early to search every nook and cranny.
So I went straight up to the nearest NPC and tried talking.
The village NPCs treated me with speech patterns that showed zero awareness of the situation. They really acted just like NPCs in a game.
They didn't feel like living beings at all.
The NPCs handled casual chit-chat smoothly, but when I tried to pry for info, they'd respond in some pre-programmed way.
Even with those limits, there was plenty I could do with the village NPCs.
Some sold miscellaneous items, others provided lodging, weapons, armor, or handled job changes.
Food was pretty cheap. The cheapest was just 10 gold.
Everything else, though, was pricey.
With my current 125 gold, there was almost nothing I could buy.
Plus, some NPCs still popped up a message saying I didn't meet the level requirement for conversation.
A bit disappointed, I happened to glance at the huge clock by the village entrance.
Already level 1, and a whole hour had passed?
I'd been too overly cautious up to now.
Had I wasted too much time exploring the village earlier?
I bolted back to Zone 1 to hunt more slimes.
Dozens of slimes in the meadow were dying easily at my hands.
Wary that their bodily fluids might be poisonous, I stayed cautious even as I killed them.
That's when it happened, as my level steadily rose.
'These guys... they're not respawning?'
The slime count had decreased exactly by the number I'd killed, and once dead, they never reappeared.
Are the monsters limited in number?
It hadn't even been a full day yet, so it might be too soon to judge,
but I considered the possibility that slimes might never come back at all.
Should I deliberately leave some for later? Maybe they'd breed or something?
After realizing this, my pace slowed dramatically. I no longer rushed to kill them.
Then, the moment I hit level 5, far greater changes swept through my body than before.
It went beyond just stronger strength and stamina—
suddenly, the world seemed to slow down.
I could see the wings of an insect perched on a distant blade of grass fluttering, and the faint whisper of wind brushing the leaves rang crystal clear in my ears.
I clenched my fist tight. The air compressed solidly in my grip.
Kicking off the ground lightly, my body soared at least five meters before landing silently.
The iron sword, which had felt so heavy at first, now moved like an extension of my arm—light and utterly free. It was on another level from level 0.
It hit me then. This was beyond the realm of a trained human.
I had already become a being that far surpassed human limits.
What meaning would ordinary modern people have against me now? Could they even track my movements with their eyes?
Gripping my sword, I broke into a full sprint.
The speed was ridiculous, effortlessly blowing past normal folk I could sense through the wind.
The scenery ahead blurred into streaks.
Mid-run, I swung my sword without hesitation at a man-sized boulder in my path.
A dull explosion rang out, and a deep crack split the surface where my sword struck.
Chunks broke off the once-solid rock.
The shock to my wrist was negligible. If level 0 me had tried that, my wrist would've shattered before the sword did.
With this kind of power and speed... I closed my eyes for a moment.
Memories of life in my original world surfaced.
Then I thought of life in the Transcendence World.
The two overlapped in my mind, plunging me deep into thought.
When I snapped out of it, one realization hit me.
Here, without all the hypocrisy and rules that bound me,
I might be able to have everything through sheer power alone.
Setting those thoughts aside for now, I hunted slimes with renewed fervor.
Soon, not many remained.
Just in case, I left 10 slimes in the meadow and returned to the village.
I'd only killed a few after hitting level 5, so level 6 would probably take dozens more.
Each level-up made me exponentially stronger in every way, and instinctively, I knew no ordinary person could stand against me now.
To gather more info, I opened the community window.
The post titled "1" had already been buried at the bottom by others.
Dozens of posts had gone up already, and from them, I gleaned some truly shocking information.
What?
Everyone else besides me wasn't alone.
This was a real bombshell. I frantically scanned the other posts.
Discussions were already underway, with tons of comments.
From what people were guessing, roughly 2 to 10 people had been sent to each dimension.
With an estimated 100 dimensions total and an average of 5-6 per dimension, that put the overall headcount at around 500-600.
The people transported to the Transcendence World seemed randomly selected from around the globe, but thanks to some special system power, language barriers were no issue at all for communication.
The more I read, the more some questions cleared up—but others only grew more nagging.
Was the number of people really random? Or predetermined?
There were dimensions with just 2 people, so it was highly possible I'd ended up alone here purely by random chance.
I memorized the discussions for now, then approached various village NPCs to buy essentials.
I eyed the gold listed at the bottom of my inventory window and calculated item prices accordingly.
Food was no worry—the cheapest was 10 gold, and there were plenty of options. With enough gold, I could eat my fill.
All food had identical calories and nutrition, enough to satisfy a full meal.
Hygiene and water were covered by inns,
but even the cheapest lodging cost 20 gold.
There were tons of inns in the village, but anything pricier than 20 gold wasn't worth considering.
I carefully read the descriptions of gear sold in shops, but in my current situation of just slime-hunting, I didn't feel the need to buy any.
In the end, I bought nothing and returned to the village center.
Information was way too scarce.
Had I come here just a few hours ago? Was I expecting too much already?
Maybe I'd let my greed override caution in this situation.
Just focus on what needs doing.
With so little known, survival came first.
I spent tens of minutes devising the most realistic plan possible.
But it all felt like delusion without clues, so I opened the community window again. Thankfully, there was good news.
Someone had found a book packed with basic info on this world.
It wasn't just talk—the poster explained exactly how anyone could get it themselves.
On the second floor of the largest building in the village center, atop a desk.
The moment I saw that post, I rushed up to the second floor of the central building to verify it.
The book the guy mentioned sat naturally on a desk in a dim corner, easy to overlook.
I opened the slim volume and skimmed its contents.
After reading it, my thoughts finally started to organize.
It's all so straightforward and to the point.
The book explained that monsters respawned in each zone every 24 hours,
and the next zone would unlock automatically once certain conditions were met.
Those conditions were often tied to the total number of monsters killed in the dimension so far,
and new people would spawn at the spawn points simultaneously with monster respawns?
All crucial info.
I closed the book and began re-planning.
What if more people come here next?
According to community posts, people were either dividing slimes by headcount or letting first come, first served rule.
Each dimension was already developing its own system.
Some places had arguments, but thankfully no outright violence—news of that spread via the community too.
Of course, I didn't trust every post on the community.
With no restrictions on posting,
if someone started lying, no post could be trusted later.
So far, posts used polite language or honest tones, kindly sharing everything they'd learned.
Probably only friendly groups felt like sharing nicely.
Plenty of dimensions likely hadn't posted at all.
And there could be solo dimensions like mine, or winner-takes-all ones.
In those, the strong might've already threatened the weak not to post.
I sank into thought reading all these posts.
What approach should I take? Would people follow my lead?
Even killing all 100 slimes would cap me at level 5, so theoretically, I was already at max level for now.
Most people had probably split the slimes, putting them at levels 1-3.
New arrivals would definitely be level 0 weaklings.
So, should I really share this limited, precious gold and experience with them?
I descended from the second floor and walked to the village center.
My starting point. The glowing mark was still pristine on the ground.
I stared at that mark for a long while before
finally voicing the thought laced with the darkest intent.
The place was deserted, but it felt like words no human should utter.
In the tiniest whisper.