"Today, they're probably not here, huh?"

  Yesterday was really tough.

  After finishing lunch, they uood that I was at my limit today, and uhe first half of the day, I was bombarded with questions.

  The iions there were productive since I could firm things, but I didn't expect it to be non-stop until Nel's mother brought dinner.

  Thanks to that, by the time I got myself together, I couldn't help but g the back door.

  But no one was there, and I felt relieved.

  "Basket, check. Bracelet, check. Wallet, check. Bamboo spear, check!"

  Finally, I poi my equipment to firm everything, then knocked on the back door. A few seds ter, it opened.

  "Are you heading out today?""Yes, just to the hill beyond the south gate.""I see. That area is safe, but don't push yourself too hard."

  Nel's mother appeared, holding a package in one hand. No one was behind her.

  "If you're looking for her, she te st night writing something. She went to bed te, so she probably won't be up until around noon.""Is that so?"

  She noticed my gaze and smirked while handihe package, answering my unspokeion.

  "It's rare for her to get so attached to someone. She often cshes with other kids when she pys with them. She must be happy to have someone like you who handle her maturely.""Is that so?""Yes, it is. Please tio get along with her.""Okay."

  Well, if she's that hungry for knowledge, it's no wonder she doesn't get along with kids her own age.

  "I'm off.""Take care."

  I felt like there was another meaning mixed intet along with her" ent, but I decided it was just my imagination.

  I don't even know what tomorrow holds for me.I shouldn't think about weird things.

  I put the lunchbox in the basket and started walking toward the south gate.

  Si's the same time as the day before yesterday, I know there will be people around, but most of the carriages on this side are heading to the port.

  There aren't many kids walking around with bamboo spears on their backs, so only the guards of mert or noble carriages g me briefly.

  If I use the side streets where carriages don't pass and walk along the edge of the path, I don't have to worry about getting tangled up.

  And then.

  "Make sure you're back by evening. It'll cost teo get ba. If you don't have it, we'll accept medial herbs or other items as payment.""Thank you."

  I received permission to leave from the gatekeeper soldier and stepped outside.

  If I were an adventurer, I wouldn't o gh these procedures, but I have to think about the steps to bee an adventurer, or it'll be troublesome ter.

  At the very least, skipping these small steps to bee an adventurer casually isn't worth the effort.

  Besides, if things go well today, I won't o leave the town again, so this expense is a necessary cost!

  However.

  "I uimated a child's walking pace."

  My spirits sank a little after leaving the gate.In the game, it felt like I could get there in no time, but a child's walking pad speed 't mat adult's.

  Thanks to taking breaks to avoid getting tired, the sun was already high in the sky by the time I arrived.

  "Hmm, I made it, but I only stay here for two or three hours at most."

  It's farther than the bamboo forest, but I thought I could maill, it took much lohan I expected.

  "Should I take a carriage? No, no, I don't have that kind of money."

  In the game, there were various mounts, including horses, for traveling, but with my current funds, I 't afford that.

  There is a shared carriage heading to the port, and I could get off midway, but the fare is charged as if going all the way to the port, so the expense would far exceed what I earn here.

  "Sigh, I guess I'll just have to eat and head back early."

  If that's the case, I'll have to move effitly in a short time.Having decided that, I sat down under a nearby tree to rest.

  "Even in the game, I thought these things were strange creatures."

  Then, I took another look at the sery of my destination.

  This is a hill with a small spring.

  The area is open, with good visibility.There are only a few trees, making it a perfect spot to rest.

  However, it's quite off the beaten path, including the road to the port, so it's not very popur.

  Instead, white, round, and squishy creatures are hopping around everywhere.

  They have no eyes, mouth, nose, or ears.

  Just white, estic spheres.

  In FBO, they're the weakest monsters, and they even have a niche fahat's made merdise of them.

  Their name is Mochi.

  Yeah, there's definitely someone on the development team who loves moaybe they have a grudge against it.

  In FBO, slimes are set as vionsters, so these were created to be weaker than goblins and easy fio defeat, or so we pyers specute.

  In every dire, he town the protagonist chooses, there's always a habitat for these Mochi.

  They're non-aggressive mohat don't leave their habitat, just hopping around aing weeds to multiply.

  Ohey reach a certain hey stop multiplying. They're the epitome of harmless weakness, and the items they drop, with one exception, aren't valuable in terms of drop rate or selling price.

  Plus, the experience points they give aren't great either, so there's no reason not to leave them alone, which has led to this area beied.

  This phenomenon happened evehe game was first released.

  The only useful thing about them is that they provide a safe way to level up and gain csses.

  But you only o defeat two or three Mochi to do that, and iory, leveling up with Mochi earns you the bel of a coward.

  In fact, there's a title you get called "Weakling" for leveling up with Mochi, so that setting isirely wrong.

  "Not knowing this really puts you at a disadvantage."

  However, once a certain fact bees known, this pce turns into a bonus area that pyers absolutely visit.

  "Alright, I 't waste any more time resting."

  A child's body grows the more you nourish it, and if you get a good night's sleep, that growth accelerates.

  I don't o shout some old man's battle cry to stand up.

  "Having a young body is great."

  I was frustrated with the weakness of a child's body, but this part is nice.

  "If only I could do something about the ck of strength..."

  I gripped the bamboo spear I was carrying. Even though it's made of bamboo, it's still quite heavy.

  It's probably lighter than a regur one si's made for a child's body, but swinging it around will defiire me out.

  "sidering I have to go back... hmm, managing my stamina is going to be tricky."

  For now, I took the stance I practiced in the game.

  FBO has a game assist system that helps even those who are bad at sports move their bodies to some extent.

  But people who know how to move their bodies still perform better.

  I even downloaded a VR spear training program to study how to use a spear.

  In real life, a spear is too heavy to use for long, but when I tried it o a dojo, I raised for my movements.

  I spread my legs, lowered my hips slightly, turned my left side fripped the end of the bamboo spear with my right hand, and held it a little wider than shoulder-width with my left hand.

  The spear was level.

  "Practice makes perfect. Here goes!"

  I took a deep breath and prepared for my first real battle in this world.

  Even though Mochi are non-aggressive monsters, they will retaliate if attacked.

  I'm level zero, and even though they're the weakest, they're still cssed monsters.

  Without base stats, I have to rely purely on the on's attack power.

  "Alright!"

  Other than that, my pyer skills are my on.The movements I repeated until they were ingrained in my memory and muscle memory are a bit rusty, but my body moves as I imagine.

  The sharp thrust pierear the ter of the Mochi's body.

  I quickly pulled bad thrust again.

  The strength of a spear lies in its reach.

  The Mochi, having been attacked, reized me as an enemy and tried to terattack, but being the weakest, its movements were slow. Ahrust stopped it in its tracks.

  In other words, if I keep hitting it, I attaiterally.

  Sihey're not link monsters, I don't have to worry about other Mochi attag me.

  One-on-one, and with the ability to attaiterally...

  "First one down."

  After about five thrusts, the Mochi stopped moving and turned into bck dust before disappearing.

  "This pce is the same too."

  Even the monster defeat animation is the same.That's why, for a moment, I almost thought this was the game world.

  "I didn't feel this tired in the game."

  Defeating monsters doesn't bother me.I know why monsters exist, so that's not an issue.

  But I felt physical fatigue, not mental.

  "No game assist either."

  And there was no feeling of beiricted by something like a forced cast.

  Even at level zero, the begiutorial assists your movements.You disable it ter itings, but there was no such assistan my current movements.

  Notig these differences one by one is fun.

  "Thanks to the Training Bracelet, I 't level up, so I defeat monsters without w about it!!"

  I held up the accessory that perfectly handles my desire not to level up yet, trying to cool down the excitement of my first victory in battle.

  I know, but I don't know.

  This subtle feeling is what makes it enjoyable.

  "Alright, let's go for the one! Aim for that 0.3% drop rate!!"

  Fighting isn't a problem. I just o be careful not to get too carried away and end up camping out. I'll titling like this.

  Fortunately, there are plenty of Mochi, so I don't o search around, which makes things very effit.

  After defeating one, I took a breath, the for the . Repeating this, my body gradually remembered how to move, and my movements improved.

  "Oh, first drop."

  Oenth Mochi, it finally dropped an item.

  A small purple stone, about the size of a bead, remained where the Mochi had been.

  "It's the lowest grade, so this is abht."

  This is a magic stone.

  All monsters drop this item, and its uses vary, but the magic stones dropped by Mochi are only worth about one zeni for ten.

  In other words, this single magic stone is only worth about ten yen.

  Plus, the drop rate is only ten pert.

  It takes about a mio defeat one, and with breaks, I defeat about fifty in an hour.

  Yeah, that's an hourly wage of about fifty yen.

  Mochi drop two other items, but one has a five pert drop rate, and the main one has a staggering 0.3 pert drop rate.

  If I get the five pert drop, my hourly wage goes up, but even theing two in that time is lucky.

  The other one is more of a "nice if it happens" thing.The main one has a drop rate where you'd o defeat three thousand to have a y pert ce of getting it.Since I'm doing other tasks alongside this, I'll just have to be patient.

  Or so I thought at first.

  "After three days, I've only earned four zeni..."

  Three days ter, I was slumped on the floor of the stable, feelied.

  Beside me ile of magic stones I'd worked so hard to collect over the past three days.

  Just magic stones.

  Forty-one of them.

  No other drops.

  "The desire sensor is w too well."

  For an MMO gamer like me, the desire sensor is the worst enemy.

  The moment you want something, even items with high drop rates fall below their usual probability.

  "Why, just why?"

  I should have gotten at least a few of the five pert drop items, and my daily earnings should have been at least ten zeni.

  But instead, this is the result. I lost thirty zeni ory fees, and now I only have forty ze.

  Not only did I not get the main drop, but the side tasks didn't bear fruit either. Three days of effort for this result is hard to take.

  "Curse you, desire sensor."

  This is just taking out my frustration.In the end, it's my fault for having bad real-life luck.

  "...This is the worst. Do I o ge my pns?"

  Nel's mother prepares my meals every day, and I don't have to pay for lodging. This ideal situation won't st forever.

  I o show some results soon, or I won't be able to face the innkeeper.

  Is this what it feels like to worry about beied for not payi?

  Should I foaking money, or stiy inal schedule?

  I never expected to be hit by su external obstacle.

  "I'll just sleep for now. W about it won't solve anything."

  I think of a few ways to get out of this tight spot using my game knowledge, but I'd rather not use them now.

  Some are dangerous, some are ineffit, and some take too much time.

  I could do them, but I'd rather not.

  With that in mind, I went to sleep to heal my tired body for tomorrow's pns with Nel.