NOVEL WEB Chapter 4
A few hours after I left my hometown.
I was almost at my destination—a town called Elia, when I stopped in my tracks. There was a monster just ahead of me.
「…Uh, oh. It noticed me.」
A Novice’s ability to scout enemies is weak. By the time a Novice spotted a monster, the monster would have already spotted him too. In that regard, it was the same as BBO. The monster stared at me with hostility.
「…I should be grateful I’m against this thing.」
The monster blocking my way was a Wolf. As the name implied, its appearance was that of a canine and the weakest class of monster in BBO.
It was fortunate that my first enemy was a Wolf. Even a level one Novice could win against it if they just fought properly. Still, I couldn’t let my guard down. After all, this would be my first real combat in this world.
Since BBO was a virtual reality game, I still remembered the sensation of swinging a sword. But it was unknown how much of that mattered in this world.
…I should’ve at least done a few practice swings before leaving home to get a feel for it.
The next moment, the Wolf came charging straight at me. The way it ran was almost the same as in BBO.
I brandished my sword, paying sharp attention to the Wolf. Observe the enemy’s movements closely, then deal with it appropriately—the basics of combat in BBO.
Long ago, in a lot of games, a battle was mostly decided by the equipment you had. But in VRMMOs like BBO, a player’s skills were extremely crucial. Even a level one Novice could defeat a mid-level monster if he knew how to fight it.
With the observational skills I’ve developed in BBO, I read the Wolf’s movements and took half a step to my right then swung my weapon. It leapt past by my side, following the trajectory I predicted it would. What waited for him was my sword, swung perfectly at the right direction, slicing through the air with powerful momentum. By the time I’ve completed the swinging motion, the Wolf’s body was cut in half.
『Critical Hit』
It’s a feature that activates when the blade hits its target with the perfect momentum and perfect angle, multiplying a sword’s power several times.
Apparently this world had the same system as well. The Wolf might be a low-level mob, but it wasn’t as weak that a single normal blow would be enough to take it down.
「I can move a lot better than expected.」
It looks like the combat techniques I’ve developed in BBO can be applied to this world as well. My body moved so naturally, it surprised even me. It still remembered the sensation of playing in BBO.
A critical hit isn’t something that can be executed easily. In BBO, if you could score a critical hit more than 70% of the time, you were considered an advanced player. I think I did well to be able to land one on my first try.
I then used my sword to cut off the Wolf’s fangs. In BBO, they’re utilized as materials for weapons, so you can sell it for money.
「I guess this part’s the same as the game, too.」
I scavenged the corpse for its usable parts. “Scavenging” was the most ill-received feature in BBO, criticized for being gross and bothersome. People would complain “why can’t they just drop the items?” But you get used to it after a while. Though after the flood of negative feedback, a new skill that every class could use was implemented: 『Auto Scavenge』, which basically made harvesting materials automatic.
I should try it.
「Auto Scavenge.」 I muttered.
Alas, nothing happened. If such a feature was implemented here, the Wolf’s corpse would’ve been completely dissected by now.
It appears that while this world was identical to BBO, they weren’t exactly the same. I’m glad I learned how to scavenge for materials.
I managed to tear off two fangs without any problems. Now, for the finishing touch.
「Cleanse.」
I recited the skill, removing the blood and pieces of flesh from the fangs. I then placed them in my bag and resumed my hike toward the town.
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After several minutes of walking, the town of Elia was now within sight.