Gluttony (2): The Gloomy Girl Who Stopped Me
After a brief chat with the gloomy girl who'd flagged me down, I learned her name was Tristis (though I'd probably just keep calling her the gloomy girl anyway). That's when she laid out the details of her request.
Apparently, anyone who'd previously taken the same fly-hunting quest as me never picked up the same one again. And lately, no one was even taking her personal requests, which had her worried. I let her know I'd accept it.
The request itself was straightforward, nothing fancy. Hunt down ten flies in the village's East Hunting Ground and bring back their corpses. In return, she'd hand over some EXP and 500 gold. Flies were the researchers' favorite study material around here, but their numbers had exploded lately, threatening the forest's ecosystem or whatever. Anyway, she said she'd use them for her own research too.
Seemed like a solid early-game quest—level up, grab some gold. No reason to turn it down, so I nodded and accepted.
I'd just stepped out of the request office, heading for the hunting ground, when the gloomy girl came rushing out after me, panting.
"Huff... Th-that... For your job choice... go see Treib at the lab... hee hee."
She trembled a little as she said it, but I was too distracted by something else to notice.
Job choice! Finally, the moment I'd been waiting for was here to greet me!
First things first, I needed to check my stat window in front of the lab. No matter what the stats said, I was picking Swordsman anyway.
That said, I figured Treib was a total blackguard villain type, but nope—turns out he hands out jobs. Who'd have thunk it.
Thoughts and excitement buzzing, I walked and suddenly there I was, at the lab. (Not that surprising, since every spot in the village was under a minute away from the lab.)
Anyway, I opened my status window.
"Status window."
Nothing special, really. Except for that weird stat at the very end.
What the hell was that thing maxed at 100 for? Maybe it unlocks during the main quest or something. Modern players love their unique stuff, so it could be a custom stat based on how you clear the main quest. That's the trend these days.
"Eh, whatever. Gotta pick between Mage or Swordsman for now."
Standard, default, vanilla. That's me. Ever since I started fantasy games following my dad, I'd always gone Swordsman or Warrior like him.
Dad had this saying: "In a proper fantasy world, Swordsmen reign supreme. Forget all the other jobs."
And I agree. Swordsman is king. Mages? Thieves? Pfft. Holy Knights and Magic Swordsmen are where it's at. Sure, performance might be average, but in a game like this, chasing romance is worth it.
I'll say it again: min-maxing stats to hell and back isn't romantic—it's just dumb. Do that if you don't wanna actually enjoy the game.
As I stood before the lab's massive door, a voice crackled from the speaker above.
<Kzzt... This is Treib. State your business.>
"Uh, job... no, job selection."
<Hm... Would you place your hand on the device?>
A clunk echoed as a square steel plate with a palm-shaped indentation rose up. I did as Treib instructed and placed my hand on it.
Then...
Selecting job.
Please choose an option.
『Skip now and pick a Hidden Class at Level 10.』
『Skip now and pick a Hidden Class at Level 5.』
『Skip now and pick a Hidden Class at Level 3.』
『Skip now and pick a Hidden Class at Level 100.』
...Hold up. What the actual fuck are these options?
Where's the romance? The dignity? Even for a modern game, this is too much. All hidden classes? That's hidden? That's Common as dirt!
New games always push the envelope compared to the old ones I played. Brainrot trends, I guess.
"No Warriors or Swordsmen?"
Irritated, I muttered that, and the options scrolled down with a bunch more garbage.
Please choose an option.
『Pick the utterly pathetic romantic Swordsman job now and skip Hidden.』
『Pick the stupid Mage job now and skip Hidden.』
『Pick the thieving idiot job now and skip Hidden.』
『Pick the healbot now and skip Hidden.』
『Pick the spoon now and skip Hidden.』
...Hmph. This guy's lost it.
Mage treatment's passable, I guess. But getting lumped in and trashed with them? That scratches the pride even more.
"I could wax poetic about Swordsmen for 57,000 characters right now... but nah, I'll hold back."
No need to look further—I smashed the Swordsman option.
Trends be damned—Hidden classes, player individuality, blah blah. The glory of the past doesn't fade.
You have selected the utterly pathetic romantic Swordsman job.
Job selection cannot be reset after confirmation. Proceed?
『YES』
『NO』
Yes, obviously.
Job fixed as Swordsman.
With that message, gray smoke billowed up and fully absorbed into my body.
Usually, job picks come with golden glows or some fancy effect, right? Discriminating down to the details like this. No clue how much the devs hate basic jobs like Swordsman or Mage.
"Whatever, might be a blessing in disguise."
Free rider theory, y'know? If everyone's wearing masks, skipping one is basically the same. Everyone's going Hidden? Then picking basic is like having Hidden benefits on the cheap.
"Job balance must've been a headache. Especially for a dev-hated class."
Not that they'd go that far, probably.
Job selection done, Treib's voice shifted instantly—like he was eyeing some worthless insect.
<...Surprising, Paura. To think you'd pick such a worthless job.>
that wouldn't get it anyway.>
<Last words: Good luck, I guess. Bye.>
Noise crackled, and the lab door shoved me out.
"The fuck."
Treatment like this? Main story hits, this guy's first on the chopping block. You're Target #1 now, pal.
Basic skill set obtained.
9 levels until next skill unlock.
『Active』 Horizontal Slash (Cooldown: 5s) Power: 10.
『Active』 Vertical Slash (Cooldown: 5s) Power: 10.
『Active』 Diagonal Slash (Cooldown: 5s) Power: 10.
TIP: Skills can be linked!
Ah, starter skills too. No MP cost? Most games make you burn mana just to swing a sword—thank fuck for that.
And linkable? That's backswing cancel, baby. No clue if they even have backswings since I haven't tested, but still.
These devs aren't total lost causes.
"Time to hunt. Gotta do the quest."
East Hunting Ground. Just like gloomy girl said, I headed east.
"Flies here? Hunt flies?"
Hunting flies. Hand-catchable IRL, so job shouldn't matter much... but fantasy world, so probably not normal flies. Gotta be gross as hell, right?
That's when a creepy wing-flap buzzed from behind. Bzzzz. Along with a fan-breeze gust.
"Eugh, shit."
Up close, the fly encounter was nightmare fuel.
"Level 15?!"
15 levels higher than me aside, the looks—red bug eyes, creepy body hairs, long proboscis, bloated gut. Grotesque, utterly repulsive.
No wonder no one took the quest. Totally get it now.
I drew my sword at the fly and activated Vertical Slash.
Vertical Slash
"Hup!"
The Giant Fly dodged my skill with aerial agility, true to its flying mob nature. And at level 15, no real expectation of killing it anyway.
Just getting a feel for the skills.
That said, I wasn't half-assing it. I spun around and triggered another skill—
Power increased.
Vertical → Diagonal Slash
Shraaack!—Power boost too?!
"Nice!"
The fly's bloated belly to its gross eyes got diagonally sliced, spewing blue blood. It thudded weakly to the ground.
"Urghkk."
Splattered with fly blood by accident, I grimaced and dry-heaved nonstop.
"Way grosser than expected...?"
I approached the corpse and necked it for the kill. For a level 15 mob early-game, way too easy.
But ten of these? No way. Not difficulty—it's a sanity check.
Grabbed the corpse anyway.
"Use item."
The item from Tristis with the quest: corpse-collection beaker. Makes even big monster bodies inventory-friendly for research, she said.
Whatever.
"...Why isn't this working?"
Item use failed. Not like she described.
She said any monster corpse works.
As I pondered that—
"Whoa... fucking hell."
Out poured thousands of finger-sized maggots alongside a white lab coat from the corpse.
■■ Quest: Gluttony
Automatically progresses.
Quest Complete Reward: Legendary skill fitting your job.
What the—? Legendary skill? Is this good?