**Day 4: Cave**
Time to wake up, eat, and explore. With that, I moved upstream through the forest. It was not that my tension had risen. In fact it had dropped. I wanted something to eat besides mushrooms. I was not talking about luxuries like rice or ramen. Just anything that was not a mushroom.
I started exploring. Going deep right away was scary, so I advanced from the open riverside where I had good visibility.
Mushrooms were still everywhere as usual. Everything except mushrooms was still extinct as usual. There they were. Sure enough there were more of them upstream, though they were weak.
I detected goblins with Presence Detection. Two of them at Lv 12 and 11. I used Movement Lv1 and Mana Cloak for a quick attack. I charged Goblin A and took it down in one hit, but Movement Lv1 was too fast. I slammed right into it while hitting. It was exactly "Fugyuuu!"
While tangled with Goblin A and rolling, I closed in on Goblin B. It looked surprised. So was I. I strengthened the wooden stick with Mana Cloak, slipped through its attack, and struck. I did not know if it was working, but I took it down in two hits.
It might have been effective, or it might have been placebo. Well, even a sardine head can be faith. There were only mushrooms, but before long I would probably be fully converted to the Mushroom Religion.
I explored deeper. Food was plenty. It was all mushrooms. More goblins. This time three of them at Lv 14, 11, and 10. I used Movement and Mana Cloak for another quick attack and took Goblin A down in one hit. I staggered a bit and went in the wrong direction, but it was okay. The distance opened up so I rushed Goblin B… Oh no… Guh. I took a counter. When I used Movement I really could not dodge. I just charged straight in.
In that moment Goblin C flanked me. Dodge, Movement, dodge again. It turned into a chaotic melee. In the end I won through persistence. If Movement worked it gave me an instant advantage, but if it stumbled it instantly put me at a disadvantage. It was a double-edged sword. Though it was a wooden stick.
After that I kept practicing Movement consciously. Whenever I found enemies I tested it in real combat. I no longer needed to consciously activate Mana Cloak anymore. The dangerous one was Movement. The two times I tripped are a secret. I did not cry.
I had taken more damage than expected so I returned to the cave early. The damage came from charging into my own stick, slamming into the goblin, and the damage from tripping. Yeah, self-destruct. Not a self-destruct attack. A true self-destruct. Special attack pummeling clumsy girl. I did not check the level, but the last one gave me trouble. It had been wearing a bracelet so I stripped it and got it. I was completely a villain now. Thief? Robber? Unemployed? I did not know which was better.
I had a late lunch in the cave. Do not ask what it was. I would appraise my status.
NAME Haruka Human
AGE 16
Lv 03
Job --
HP 8/35 (12 UP)
MP 10/32 (11 UP)
ViT 37 (15 UP)
PoW 35 (14 UP)
SpE 38 (13 UP)
DeX 38 (13 UP)
MiN 36 (15 UP)
InT 40 (15 UP)
LuK Max (Limit Break)
SP 13
Martial Arts Staff Technique Lv2, Evasion Lv2 (Up), Perception Lv2 (Up), Mana Cloak Lv1
Magic Temperature Lv2, Movement Lv1, Weight Lv1, Packing Lv1, Fire Magic Lv1
Skills Health Lv2 (Up), Sensitivity Lv2, Gymnastics Lv2, Walking Lv2, Servitude Lv1, Appraisal Lv2, Clairvoyance Lv1, Presence Detection Lv2, Enemy Search Lv2, Mana Manipulation Lv1
Titles Shut-in Lv1, NEET Lv1, Loner Lv1
Unknown Report-Communicate-Consult Lv1, Jack of All Trades Lv1, Wooden Puppet Lv1
Equipment Wooden Stick?, Cloth Clothes?, Leather Gloves?, Leather Boots?, Cape?, Contacts?, Ring of Struggling Soul, Item Bag
Yes! My level had gone up. InT had finally reached the 40s, and the others had risen to the mid-to-late 30s. Stat-wise I was probably quite a bit stronger than the goblins now. Even so, the fact that I struggled so much in the final one-on-one did not make sense. Come to think of it, it had been wearing a bracelet. I took it out and appraised it.
Bracelet: PoW +1%, Monster Bracelet.
Yeah, it seemed to raise strength. Only +1%, but better than nothing. I would use it. Even though I was not a monster.
It was evening and my stamina had recovered, so I went for a walk upstream along the river. On this route there should be fewer goblins and only weak ones.
I sensed a presence quite far upstream. Not a goblin? I entered the forest and advanced while hiding. I moved slowly and quietly, keeping my actions calm but fast.
I stared for a while with Clairvoyance. They were humans. Three men. As I got closer I saw they were classmates. Troublesome ones. The delinquents of the school, the bad guys of the class, at least in their own minds. At best they gathered in a group, made noise, and bullied the relatively quiet otaku types.
I stayed hidden and appraised them. I could only see levels and jobs, but the jobs were Great Sword User, Dual Sword User, and Flame Mage at Lv 11, 3, and 2. There was a huge difference.
I decided to stay hidden and observe. They sat by the riverside and started talking, so I crept closer to listen. Most of it was pointless chatter. They were happily talking about dirty stories about girls.
It seemed that out of the 43 transferred classmates, 20 were girls. The otaku types were apparently doing well, and these three were complaining unpleasantly. Well, those otaku would know the most about skills and isekai transfers. Besides that, it sounded like the group of five selfish bitchy girls was clashing with the other girls.
These three were the bullying group. They would not do anything decent, and right now they were in the middle of scheming. What were they planning to do to the girls? Were they thinking of attacking them? Well, that would probably fail. The class president was with the girls. She would see through their thoughts and crush them. From first grade to second year of high school, she was the ultimate class president who had kept even problem children and delinquents in line.
Hm? What was that? The three fake delinquents were talking nonstop and showed no sign of noticing me, but… someone was there? It would be troublesome if I was noticed. I quietly left the area. After pulling back I kept watch, but I could not see anyone besides those three. No presence either? I did not understand, but there was no need to get involved. Time to go back.
For now I learned that all my classmates were upstream, but there was no need to go meet them. It seemed troublesome and their human relationships looked messy. I hoped they would not flow downstream. That would be environmental pollution. Would my shut-in environment get polluted!? Or my loner environment? My NEET environment? It already seemed polluted. As a human being.
I returned to the cave before it got dark. Along the way I hunted two goblins. I could not tell if the bracelet's +1% effect was working. Maybe I had gotten better at erasing my presence because I easily got behind them. This was usable. It was practice.
After that I kept erasing my presence and moving stealthily. I found a rabbit. It seemed they would not notice me unless I erased my presence. It was the first animal I had seen. Meat. While hunting the rabbit I also got something like shimeji mushrooms. A proper dinner after so long.
Thank you for the meal. It was delicious. How many days had it been since I had meat? It came with mushrooms, but that was fine. Mushrooms were supposed to be a side dish. No, the mushrooms were taking the lead role too much. And it was a solo performance!
What was I supposed to do with the rabbit's tiny fur? Sell it? Would I need to hunt 100 of them? That was too much.
Then I leisurely practiced magic. Or rather, Sunday carpentry? I experimented with ways to improve the cave a little. I tried packing the ground, pulling it, stretching it, hardening it, denting it, raising it, shaping it. Huh? This was surprisingly fun.
I lost track of time. Yeah, it was the middle of the night.
NAME Haruka Human
AGE 16
Lv 03
Job --
HP 35
MP 32
ViT 37
PoW 35
SpE 38
DeX 38
MiN 36
InT 40
LuK Max (Limit Break)
SP 16
Martial Arts Staff Technique Lv2, Evasion Lv2, Perception Lv2, Mana Cloak Lv2 (Up)
Magic Temperature Lv2, Movement Lv2, Weight Lv1, Packing Lv2, Fire Magic Lv2, Earth Magic Lv1 (New)
Skills Health Lv2, Sensitivity Lv2, Gymnastics Lv2, Walking Lv2, Servitude Lv1, Appraisal Lv3 (Up), Clairvoyance Lv1, Presence Detection Lv2, Enemy Search Lv2, Mana Manipulation Lv1, Presence Blocking Lv1 (New), Stealth Lv1 (New)
Titles Shut-in Lv2 (Up), NEET Lv1, Loner Lv2 (Up)
Unknown Report-Communicate-Consult Lv1, Jack of All Trades Lv1, Wooden Puppet Lv1
Equipment Wooden Stick?, Cloth Clothes?, Leather Gloves?, Leather Boots?, Cape?, Contacts?, Ring of Struggling Soul, Item Bag, Bracelet PoW +1% (New)
Shut-in and Loner had gone up. Was it because I had not called out to my classmates? Or because I had been happily playing alone in my room? If NEET had gone up after working this much I would have cried. These titles really stabbed at the heart.
Earth Magic? Ah, messing around with the cave must have been recognized as Earth Magic. Roasting mushrooms gave me Fire Magic, kneading the cave gave me Earth Magic. Was this other world really okay with this? Wasn't it too full of everyday life?
Stealthily moving around seemed to have helped too. Presence Blocking and Stealth were good. Goblin assassination. I was an assassin. Tomorrow I would keep sneaking around and raise my level.
What was this other world life? There was no glamorous light-novel feeling. At least the protagonist would not say "Tomorrow I'm gonna keep sneaking around too."
Well, I am going to keep sneaking around. Of course I am.
I'm not the protag. Just an NPC.