Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Active Skills
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[NPC, Ria's favorability towards you has been upgraded to stage 2.]
Ria's favorability, which had plummeted after a single "I love you," didn't recover until a full three days after he started talking to her again.
It had been two more days since his pork and vegetable stir-fry had been a massive success.
'Phew... I need to be more careful with my keywords from now on.'
He selected the [Talk] and [Chat] keywords to resume their conversation.
'But what should I ask her?'
One wrong move, and her favorability could drop again.
Yoon Young fell deep into thought.
'Start with a greeting?'
[Hi? Nice to meet you.]
Ria smiled brightly.
"Nice to meet you too, Adventurer."
It felt so much like talking to a real person that his heart raced a little.
[How are you feeling?]
"I'm feeling great today."
This could come in handy for those steamy moments too.
'Today would've been perfect without that "love" slip.'
[The mushrooms outside seem fiercer lately.]
"Yeah... I'm worried about that."
[What's worrying you?]
"My little brother went out to the Mushroom Field for an adventure, and he still hasn't come back. Hmm, I hope he's okay..."
Her brother again.
'Just what the hell is this Ria sibling of hers doing that he hasn't come back after all these days?'
That was his real-world brain talking.
Switching to game brain, he could predict there'd be an event later to rescue her sibling.
'Can I trigger a quest with [Chat]?'
[I could go check on your brother for you.]
"I'm not sure about that."
No contact point for the sibling yet, it seemed.
'This topic's a dead end for now...'
What else was there?
Keywords to chat with Ria about.
As he pondered, one popped into his head.
[That mushroom hotpot was amazing.]
Ria's reaction changed dramatically.
"Oh, really? I'm so happy! If you bring the ingredients, I can make it for you anytime."
She seemed thrilled by the cooking compliment.
A new [Quest] keyword appeared next to the delighted Ria.
'Whoa, you can generate quests through chatting too.'
Yoon Young selected the quest keyword in awe.
"Just gather five or more of each of three kinds of mushrooms. I'll make you delicious mushroom hotpot anytime for you, Adventurer."
<Ria's Mushroom Hotpot>
📍 Description: Ria is confident in her mushroom hotpot cooking. She'll make it anytime if you bring the ingredients.
⏰ Objectives:
1. Gather at least five of each of a minimum of three kinds of mushrooms.
2. Exclude any poisonous mushrooms.
3. Repeatable (once per day limit).
'So that's how you farm these.'
If he hadn't tanked her favorability and had complimented the hotpot first, he'd have known sooner.
Karma for blurting out "I love you" on a whim.
'More levels should unlock new quests.'
He had a feeling a level-up was coming soon.
Yoon Young decided to grind more levels.
2.
Slice!
A green onion monster tumbled away, sliced by Yoon Young's sword.
Level-up while farming ingredients for cooking proficiency grinding.
'Levels go up here too.'
Yoon Young hit level 4.
'Stats... put it in Stamina.'
Now his total Stamina stat display read level 3.
He felt even more solid.
'Swordsmanship proficiency should level soon too...'
It would when it was time.
With that in mind, he kept farming ingredients.
He planned to cook a ton today too, even if he wouldn't eat it.
All for cooking proficiency grinding.
'Selling it all could make some money. Since I put effort in, it'd be nice if it sold for more than raw ingredients.'
This cooking system had a pretty mysterious feature.
The plate issue.
Once you plated the dish to complete the cooking, the plate stuck around until you ate it.
So inventory showed the food on the plate.
But the plates he'd swiped from NPCs didn't become his property.
After eating, the plate vanished shortly after.
So Yoon Young had never washed a dish since arriving in this world.
He farmed a bit more ingredients and headed back to the village.
"Ria, I'm back."
"What do I do, what should I do..."
But Ria's vibe was off.
She fidgeted like a dog desperate to poop.
"Uh..."
A yellow exclamation mark hovered over her head.
'New quest right after leveling up, huh.'
Yoon Young talked to Ria and hit the quest keyword.
"Ah! Adventurer... sorry, but could I ask you a favor?"
[What's wrong?]
"One of the villagers went to the Mushroom Field, and near there, we found my little brother's shoe... I think he went deep into the Mushroom Field. There are scary Thorn Mushrooms there... I'm so worried about him."
If she was that worried, why hadn't she looked sooner?
He knew nitpicking would lose him favor, but he couldn't help it.
"Please, Adventurer. Save my little brother. I don't know if it'll help you, but if you save him, I'll give you the ring my mother left me."
<Please Save My Sibling>
📍 Description: Ria's little brother, Riel, seems to have wandered into a dangerous area.
⏰ Objectives:
1. Defeat the Thorn Mushrooms.
2. Quest fails if Riel dies during rescue.
Ria clasped her hands, eyes tearing up.
'A ring from her mother... gotta have stats on it, right?'
He'd have done it even without a reward.
How could he refuse Ria, who'd shouldered his loneliness and pleasure all this time, when she begged through tears?
"Leave it to me."
[Quest accepted.]
Ria looked relieved as she expressed her gratitude.
"Thank you so much! The 'Deep Mushroom Field' is accessible through a hidden path in the Mushroom Field."
Hidden path.
Yoon Young knew the spot.
'That path between the dense trees. No wonder there were two portals.'
With such a big event, that Thorn Mushroom had to be a tough foe.
Yoon Young hesitated.
'What to do... At least a mid-boss level. Go now, or grind to level 5 first?'
He chose the latter.
'No harm in being cautious! By level 5, swordsmanship should level too. Stats will be higher.'
The quest mentioned "Quest fails if Riel dies," so prep was key.
'Alright, time to grind like mad.'
His Stamina was much higher now than at the start.
Not just stats—constant hunting and training had boosted his base stamina too.
Food was sorted too, with three solid meals a day.
Plus daily Mushroom Hotpot from Ria for vitality recovery.
Nothing could stop Yoon Young's mushroom massacre now.
'I feel like I could go all day.'
Gripping his sword like a herald of spore-storm bloodshed, he set off.
Destination: Mushroom Field.
His steps brimmed with determination.
3.
Splat!
"Squeak!"
Day 1.
Yoon Young took down twelve mushrooms.
Normally he'd hunt four or five, tire out, return to rest, train, but today he rested in the village and hunted again.
He gritted his teeth and grinded.
To speed up leveling.
And it wasn't just hunting.
He cut rest time, trained more, and ground cooking proficiency.
More mushrooms meant more ingredients, more cooking.
Cooking proficiency would skyrocket.
Cooked dishes piled up neatly in inventory.
Day 2.
Hunted twelve mushrooms, trained.
Nothing special.
Day 3.
A mushroom dropped equipment.
[Mushroom Cap Helmet]
A helmet shaped like a mushroom cap.
Seems effective against mushrooms.
Additional Protection +2
Stamina stat +1 level
Attack power +5% vs. mushroom-type monsters
Defense +5% vs. mushroom-type monsters
It looked ridiculous, like wearing a mushroom on his head, but the stats were solid.
Day 4.
Thanks to gear effective against mushrooms, he bagged fifteen.
Individuals varied in strength, so difficulty fluctuated daily.
But +5% attack and defense made a huge difference when facing ten-plus daily.
One at a time? Meh. But stacked up, stamina drain was way less.
Mushroom Cap Helmet was top-tier for now, goofy looks aside.
Nothing else notable.
Day 5.
Overload starting to hit.
He farmed depleted ingredients, sliced fruits and veggies for light training and rest.
[Swordsmanship proficiency level up.]
[Destructive Power stat +1 level.]
[Power Slash Lv. 1]
Consumes Stamina to deal heavy damage to enemies.
Damage up to 1.5x based on swing power.
During rest, swordsmanship proficiency leveled, and an intriguing word caught his eye.
'Skill?'
Thinking "skill" opened the skill window.
There sat Power Slash, all by its lonesome.
[Power Slash Lv. 1]
Consumes Stamina to inflict heavy damage on foes.
Up to 1.5x damage based on swing force.
"Ooooh..."
He was blown away instantly.
A skill! A skill!
It was what he'd been waiting for most.
'Weapon proficiency unlocks skills!'
Yoon Young bolted from Ria's house to the village square, summoned his sword, and swung.
Nothing special.
Obviously—he hadn't used the skill.
'Uh... how do you activate it?'
He tried the obvious first.
'Swing the sword... while thinking of the skill...'
Swish.
[Insufficient power. Skill failed to activate.]
'Oh, swing harder to activate?'
He got into stance and swung hard.
'Power Slash.'
Thinking of the skill, power surged into his arm.
"Hup."
Slash!
The sword cleanly, powerfully cleaved the air.
"Whoa, damn..."
To onlookers, it looked the same, but to Yoon Young, it was a new world.
The moment he thought the skill name mid-swing, cosmic power infused his arm.
Like an omnipotent being lending strength for a split second!
'This is insane!'
Slash!
Slash!
Slash!
He kept firing it off.
Lost in the mystery of motion-corrected active skills.
"Hah, hah, hah..."
Only exhaustion after repeated swings stopped him.
'Worn out already. Stamina drain's real.'
Up to 1.5x damage.
Two swings equaled three normals.
But inefficient for just that.
Stamina cost was too high.
'Great for stamina-rich burst kills... but not for regular hunting autos.'
Plus "up to" bugged him.
How hard for max?
'That swing was maybe 1.3x or 1.4x.'
Skill was cool, but practicality lacking.
'Level 1, though.'
He recalled the Lv. 1 tag.
Grind training, skill would level.
Higher levels meant less stamina use, more power, probably.
'Gotta grind!'
One more path to strength—he was grinning ear to ear.