Magic Squirrel Egg and the Instant Job Quest
Ding.
Unlock activates.
Appraising the treasure chest's grade.
Appraisal complete. It's a Legendary chest. 100% success rate for unlocking.
Unlock successful!
The moment it succeeded, cracks spiderwebbed across the lock. In an instant, it crumbled to dust and vanished into the air.
So refreshingly easy it made his earlier tension feel pointless.
"As expected! RaSe is a god game!"
-...This is ridiculous. Thief jobs need at least an 8-star skill, Hermes's Key, to open Legendary chests! And even that only has a 50% chance!
100%?
100% in probability-shit game RaSe!
-Balance is broken. Total trash game level.
"Hey now. It's a 10-star skill. 10-star. Don't go shoving some 8-star in my face."
Carpe said that as he dragged over the Rare chest too. He cracked the Rare one open first.
"Oh?"
-Armor. Not bad.
Out came a leather armor first from the Rare chest.
Perfect for Carpe, who didn't have any proper armor yet.
[Unappraised Leather Armor]
[Requires appraisal to equip.]
-Oh, and items from dungeon chests all come unappraised. So even if you open the chest, without a high-grade appraisal scroll, you usually can't use them in the dungeon...
"The protagonist isn't 'usual.'"
Carpe grinned. At this point, it felt like the universe itself was conspiring to help him.
"Unlock!"
-Yeah, just Unlock everything. Later you'll Unlock the game system itself and remake it to your taste. Living in your own world, huh?
But Cheonma's sarcasm got buried by the next alert.
The 10-star skill Unlock's functionality has been expanded, updating its information.
Consume mana to appraise the unappraised item?
"...Huh?"
-Info update? Hey, open your status window quick!
Caught off guard by the unexpected alert, they hurriedly opened the status window.
Distributable Bonus Stats: 35
Level: 8 | HP: 390/390 | MP: 70/70
Titles (7):
- First 10-Star Skill
- First 0-Star Patron Spirit
- Two Firsts
- Tutorial Total Conquest
- Leveled Up in Tutorial!
- Legendary Dungeon Total Conquest (New!)
- One-Shot to the Lord's Side! (New!)
Patron Spirit
0-Star - Cheonma Jijon (Irregular)
Skills
10-Star - Unlock Lv. 8 (New!)
Distributable Bonus Skill Points: 14
"Oh?"
A 'New!' mark was boldly attached next to Unlock, which he'd never seen before.
Without hesitation, Carpe tapped the 'New!' part.
Unlock - 10-Star
Active
1. Appraise unappraised items.
2. Disarm traps.
3. Unlock treasure chest locks.
* MP cost varies by target's grade.
Normal: 5 | Magic: 10 | Rare: 20
Hero: 120 | Unique: 250
Legendary: 500
Passive
1. Clears status ailments.
2. Low chance to disarm traps when triggered.
* First daily use of each Active function costs no MP.
* Effects may increase with skill level.
* May activate freely if conditions met.
"...Huh?"
-Hm. Just reorganized what we knew for clarity. No big deal...
"No, no. That's not it! Don't you see? It costs MP now."
-So what? Skills cost MP, obviously.
"The numbers are insane."
Even for a freebie incarnate like Carpe, he hadn't expected to use Unlock's cheat powers forever without cost.
But his MP was only 70.
Can't even touch Hero grade, let alone Legendary.
-Don't worry too much. It's 'cause you have no job yet. Get one, and you'll have decent MP.
Not jumping straight to 500, but farming MP-boosting items would cover it.
-Until then, make good use of that daily freebie. Appraise it already.
"Phew. Got it."
Hey, a free daily is still free.
Without it, he couldn't have opened even this Legendary chest.
Carpe used Unlock on the armor again.
Consume MP to appraise the unappraised item?
"Do it!"
Appraisal of unappraised item successful.
Fwaah.
A brief flash, and the armor gleamed. When it faded, a sleek leather armor sat in Carpe's hands.
◈ Equip Req: Lv. 5+
◈ Phys. Def: 25
◈ Mag. Def: 15
◈ Agility +4
◈ Dexterity +1
◈ Attack Speed +3%
◈ Move Speed +4%
"Rare!"
-No way, it actually rolled Rare? Only 10% chance?
Best possible from a Rare chest!
Status showed MP down exactly 20.
"10% is basically guaranteed for me."
-It's bullshit, but it worked, so I'm pissed. Options are solid too—double pissed.
Great options for close-range specialist Carpe.
Useful until better gear.
After swapping armor, Carpe stood before the Legendary chest.
"Now, the main event. But thinking about it, maybe the Rare being 'trash' was good luck?"
-...Ever hear of independent trials?
"Classic government conspiracy."
-Yeah. Whatever. Open the chest.
"Anything but armor or weapon!"
Carpe flung open the Legendary chest vigorously.
"Huh?"
-Eh?
Their expressions turned subtle. Not weapon or armor as hoped, but...
-Another egg.
Sure enough, a single pure white egg lay inside.
A bit smaller than a man's fist.
Carpe spoke with a dubious look.
"This isn't another trap item, right?"
The tutorial betrayal made eggs give him chills now.
-Appraise it and see.
"Phew. But success would suck too."
With his MP, success meant Rare or lower.
"Hoping it fails, huh."
With faint hope, Carpe used Unlock on the egg.
Appraisal successful.
"Ah, no!"
Glad not trap, but success!
Panicked, Carpe checked MP—down 20 again.
Rare grade.
Ding.
The squirrels' nation 'Tamias' is a strict caste society. Magic power is ironclad proof of upper class.
*Tip: Hatch with attribute acorn.
"Huh?"
A question mark popped over Carpe's head as he read.
"Wavy line after Rare—does that mean...?"
-Yeah, minimum Rare. Pets often get grade on hatch.
"Phew. Lucky."
He'd thought Rare for sure, but one free chance left.
Carpe sighed in relief.
-Anyway, magic squirrel... Nice.
"Oh, good one?"
-RaSe pets are hard to get, so any pet rocks. Magic squirrels are cute, decent performance—top popularity.
Always high in community pet polls.
-Even if you swap for hidden pet or divine beast later, solid starter. Good synergy—you melee shred, pet blasts range. Perfect.
"Hm. Yeah."
He could do range, but melee was comfy.
"Gotta farm attribute acorns now."
-Normal squirrels drop rarely, but you're stupid lucky.
"Why?"
-Dungeon boss drops high chance. Can't believe it rolls this good.
Cheonma muttered in disbelief.
Not 100%, and maybe wrong attribute, but available now was win.
"Let's go!"
-Yeah. Clear quick and bounce. Long road ahead.
After that, dungeon progress was a rampage.
Stab!
"!?!?!!$#"
Carpe's sword mercilessly pierced squirrel weak points.
"Sorry. Sorry. Human sorry."
-Stop, man! You're scary!
Mouth and actions mismatched, Carpe mechanically massacred squirrels.
Boss was no different.
Splurch.
Perfect handfeel with alerts!
You defeated Dungeon Boss 'Great King Squirrel'!
Cleared dungeon with 0 hits taken. Title 'No-Hit Squirrel!' granted.
Level up! Reached Lv. 10.
Congratulations. You can now receive job quests from your Patron Spirit.
Carpe's first dungeon clear ended.
Dungeon clear complete. Re-entering fixes dungeon grade at 'Hero'.
"Ah, so grade isn't reset per entry."
-Or people would grind for Legendary forever.
"True."
Carpe smacked his lips. He'd been thinking that himself.
"But this is awkward."
-Yeah. Unexpected.
Carpe stared at his palm.
Eight small acorns sat there.
"Didn't expect full drop."
-First entry boosted boss drop rate. Still, all drop is lucky.
Flame-shaped to heart-shaped acorns.
All attribute acorns, obviously.
Rare mana-infused acorn with flame attribute. Grants minor flame resistance on consumption.
"Normally resistance items, huh."
-Yeah, but substitutes abound—no one uses acorns for that.
"Eat extras later. But which to pick..."
Magic squirrel attributes: 8 types.
Flame, Water, Ice, Lightning, Wood, Light, Dark, Mind.
He had all, but squirrel takes one only.
"Argh, wish just one dropped. No dilemma."
Carpe hated choices.
Jjajang vs. jjambbong, dog vs. cat, Iron Man vs. Cap, Eevee evos, Gentwi, etc.
Paralyzed by picks.
-Every attribute has pros/cons. Job first, then decide?
"Job?"
-Yeah. Might get attribute-specialized job.
Like RaSe's Fire Fist Fighter—flame-clad brawler, famous burst DPS attribute job.
-No need flame pet if you get flame job. Narrows options.
"Got it."
Carpe breathed deep, then out.
The moment arrived.
RPG's alpha and omega: job selection!
"Jobs from Patron Spirit, right?"
-Exactly. They give quest, clear it, pick from 3 fitting jobs.
"But mine's you. Irregular, not normal."
-Yep.
"...Know how to give jobs?"
Carpe eyed Cheonma suspiciously.
Irregular—can it even? Worst case, jobless forever?
But Cheonma chuckled, worries unfounded.
-Heh. Was worried too, but hit Lv. 10 and feeling came.
"Feeling?"
-Hard to explain. Chest tingles—like popping it gives quest. Strong vibe.
"...NPC now. Congrats."
Cheonma dehumanizing weirded him out, but job seemed fine.
-Ready?
"Yep."
-Here goes!
Cheonma shouted—and alert appeared.
Ding.
Job Quest from Patron Spirit
📍 View quest details?
-Yes!
"Whoa, it worked... Huh?"
But alerts continued.
Patron Spirit and player relation at max.
Patron Spirit quest auto-cleared. Reward granted!
-Huh? Hey, hey! What? We're not that close!
"Tsundere every time. Max relation, it says."
-Shut up. Argh, infuriating. Freebie bugs need suffering!
Fwaah!
Quest auto-cleared—three choices appeared before Carpe.