Chapter 10
How high would the growth potential of this new class be?
At the very least, Dojin was certain it would be far higher than growing as an ordinary Mage. That certainty immediately served as motivation for growth.
'One month from now. I’ll get to level 50 no matter what within a month.'
From the day LOST opened, top-ranked players had reduced everything, food, sleep, even bathroom breaks, to level up, and their levels hovered around the early to mid-50s.
The ranking system hadn’t been implemented yet, so it wasn’t possible to pinpoint the top-ranked player exactly, but the highest-level user shown on streams was only level 56. So reaching level 50 was no joke.
But Dojin was confident he could break level 50 within a month.
'Maybe not in 15 years, but right now, I can definitely do it.'
Fifteen years from now, the honey pots might have to be shared or might already be used up, but not now. At this point, the honey pots scattered all over could be monopolized entirely on his own.
With hunting grounds ahead not being rough terrain but practically paved in honey, an actual honey road, there was no reason he couldn’t hit level 50.
'From now on, I’m going to be the first at everything in LOST.'
With shining eyes, Dojin began preparing in earnest for the hunt.
* * *
Dojin casually sold the sword he got from the gate instructor and scraped together all his money to prepare for hunting.
The place he headed to was the Wild Kobold Cave located north of Jeron. There were plenty of places where wild kobolds gathered, but the kobold habitat in the north of Jeron was a little special.
Recently turning into a dungeon due to kobolds who had luckily taken over a mana-rich cave, it even had a designated subjugation quest posted by the Adventurers' Guild.
Monsters with such designated subjugation quests offered extra rewards in addition to basic ones.
『Quest』
『Unusually Numerous Kobolds
Grade: Normal (Party)
The kobolds that were left alone to help beginner adventurers grow have recently multiplied abnormally and formed a dungeon The Adventurers' Guild wishes to keep their population in check and is offering extra rewards for kobold hunting.
Objective: Defeat as many kobolds as possible
Reward: Bonus EXP and 1 gold per 10 kobolds』
However, as written in the quest window, for players of appropriate level, a party was essential, as the difficulty was quite high. A full 5-person party wasn’t necessary, but at the very least a balanced 3-person party with a tank, DPS, and healer was needed to avoid losses.
But Dojin was walking alone toward the cave entrance without a hint of hesitation.
'Normally, the entrance should be swarming with people.'
He leisurely passed through the cave entrance, comparing the current scene with what he remembered from 15 years in the future.
“Grrr!”
No sooner had he done so than savage growls from kobolds defending their home approached him.
Tap Tap Tap!
The sound of small feet, smaller than a human's, beating against the ground followed.
Three kobolds were approaching. For a lone Mage without any apparent weapon, this was practically a death sentence. However, while Dojin didn’t have a weapon, he wasn’t unarmed.
'This distance should be good enough.'
Just as the charging kobolds entered a suitable range, Dojin pulled a small leather pouch from his inventory and hurled it with telekinesis.
“Kehek?”
The smell of oil spread instantly. The leather pouch released a thick, sticky oil into the air as it burst open. The oil sprayed toward the kobolds with the same force it had been thrown.
The kobolds froze, startled by the unfamiliar stench. That was their final mistake.
Snap!
With a snap of Dojin’s fingers, an ignition spell flared to life.
Fwoosh!
“Kyaaaargh!”
That was all it took, nothing more was needed.
The flames spread through the oil, engulfing the three kobolds. They rolled on the ground trying to extinguish the flames, but the sticky oil wouldn’t go out so easily. The three living torches emitted wheezing sounds as their lungs cooked from the heat and they died.
“Effective as hell.”
All it took to kill three kobolds was a bit of mana to cast Telekinesis and Ignite and a single oil pouch. The mana used was less than 1/5 of that needed to cast a basic tier-1 elemental arrow spell. The oil pouch, compared to a mana potion of similar volume, was more than 30 times cheaper.
In that sense, what Dojin just did was an absurdly efficient act of slaughter.
'There's nothing weaker than a Mage who relies solely on magic.'
The Mage class had many weaknesses.
A few big spells would drain all your mana, spellbooks and mana potions were criminally expensive, and the body was frail and sluggish. These weaknesses were especially pronounced in the early stages, which gave Mages a reputation for being the weakest class. But these weaknesses could be overcome, as long as one stopped relying solely on magic.
With proper creativity, under the right conditions, a Mage could even outperform other classes in combat efficiency.
'Only a true Mage is allowed to rely purely on magic as a miracle.'
That statement was originally made by Mui Bondray to scorn those who tainted the purity of magic, ‘You’re not a real Mage,’ he said with disdain, but he wasn’t entirely wrong. Until you become a ‘true Mage’ who can bend all conditions to your will, you must use everything at your disposal.
“Looks like more are already coming.”
His introspection ended with the stench of beasts. A musky odor, like an unwashed dog.
And the following sounds, a cave overflowing with kobolds, just as expected.
If he simply waited at the entrance, they’d keep flooding out. But Dojin intended to go deeper inside.
The deeper he went, the higher the monster levels became. And since his strategy relied on igniting oil, even the strongest ones inside would be easy to deal with. There was no need to waste time squabbling with lower-level ones at the entrance.
Even a difference of just 1 or 2 levels added up and created large reward gaps over time.
“Guaaargh!”
A familiar-sounding growl echoed, followed shortly by, nothing but charred corpses and Dojin’s steady footsteps.
* * *
His inventory was almost overflowing, packed to the brim with oil.
The shopkeeper had looked at him like he was insane, naturally so.
All that oil turned into kobold blood, heavier by far.
After slaughtering a ton and claiming experience and loot in exchange, Dojin continued to head deeper. Eventually, when the monsters reached a high enough level, he found a suitable clearing to settle in. A place where kobolds about three levels higher than at the entrance roamed.
It was time to establish a proper hunting base.
“Phew, this oil stench is killing me.”
He let out a groan as he flopped down after securing the clearing. He felt bad for the burned kobolds, but the smell of cheap oil and charred flesh was outright violent. It stung his nose and even his eyes.
But the rewards were so sweet, it was worth enduring.
'Hunting solo is definitely faster.'
About three hours had passed since he started hunting kobolds.
In that time, Dojin had reached level 11. Reaching level 10 was quick, but getting to level 11 had taken nearly two hours. Considering most players found it lucky to gain 1–2 levels a day after level 10, this was an insane growth rate.
Since he didn’t have to share experience and was hunting faster than a party could, it made sense.
'At this pace, I can stay here today and move elsewhere tomorrow.'
Satisfied with his steady progress, Dojin opened his inventory and pulled out some cheap mana grass powder and paper. Like the oil, it was part of his preparation for hunting.
He rolled the mana grass into a cigarette shape. Then lit it with his finger and began to smoke it. He couldn’t afford the magic-use cigarettes sold in magic shops, so this was his frugal workaround.
“Phew…”
The spreading smoke and scent helped neutralize the nauseating oil stench.
Of course, he wasn’t smoking just to get rid of the smell. Even if it looked like nothing more than weeds, plants grown in mana-rich areas absorbed mana.
When smoked like this, the mana spread through the body, stabilizing magic circuits and helping mana recovery.
And one more thing—
“Yeah. It’s about time they started showing up.”
The smoke of mana grass was an excellent lure for creatures sensitive to scent and mana.
Sensing their approach, Dojin casually opened another oil pouch.
The next scenes played out the same way. The beast-men hybrids charged in simply, and Dojin burned them to death, it kept going on and on. Eventually, perhaps because he had cleared them so fast, no more monsters came to the clearing.
He’d caused a temporary monster drought in the area.
‘I should use this lull to rest properly.’
As soon as he had the chance, Dojin began resting.
He regulated his breathing and let his magic circuits rest as much as possible. He didn’t light another smoke. There was a risk that it would attract distant monsters before he was fully rested.
After a few minutes, just as drowsiness set in from accumulated fatigue—
“There aren’t many monsters here, huh?”
“Maybe it’s like a resting spot? With all these kobolds and winding paths, places like this should exist.”
“Hey, can’t we just hunt near the entrance now? Coming all the way here is a pain.”
“There are too many people at the entrance. You can’t enjoy this kind of freedom there.”
He heard voices chatting as they approached. Apparently, it was a party that had come deep into the cave looking for a place to rest.
'How annoying.'
Dojin turned his displeased gaze toward the direction of the voices that had disturbed his peaceful rest.
“Huh? A person?”
The chubby tank who entered the clearing first said something stupid. Yeah, I’m a person. Is this the first person you’ve seen?
Dojin almost laughed from disbelief but just gave a slight nod.
At the very least, fellow users working hard to level up in the same hunting ground should exchange greetings. Weren’t they all Regenians summoned to this world to fight monsters together?
“What? There’s already another party in here?”
As Dojin entertained such meaningless thoughts, a scrawny guy showed up behind Chubby.
“No, he’s alone?”
But something felt off about these guys. First, Chubby didn’t respond to his nod, that was weird. Then the attitude and gaze of Scrawny were definitely off.
And—
‘They relaxed the moment they confirmed I was alone?’
Now, they were even looking him over with greedy eyes.
'Wow…'
They were the picture-perfect example of the type.
Dojin sighed inwardly.
Guys who acted like this were usually the kind who enjoyed hunting humans.
* * *
Contrary to Dojin’s expectation that they’d rush in like bandits from a Chinese backwater shouting, “Hahaha! To be alone in such a deserted place! Let’s gut him and make a hot pot!”
Scrawny approached with a kind smile.
“Oh dear, did you get separated from your party and end up alone?”
His expression now oozed sympathy, with not a trace of the earlier menace.
'If you’re going to act, at least do it properly.'
Dojin didn’t even consider the possibility that Scrawny and his buddies were decent people.
Trust a guy whose expression changes that fast?
He’d rather believe a politician genuinely cares about the people. In Dojin’s view, getting stabbed because you trusted someone like that made you the real idiot, not the stabber.
'Two warriors, one rogue, one healer.'
Now counting the newcomers, four morons total, Dojin assessed their party makeup. Three melee DPS wasn’t a good balance, but the real problem was numbers. If it were just two, he would’ve gone preemptive.
In this case, rather than risking a low-probability fight, it was better to look for an escape route. But clearly, they weren’t fools either. The two warriors had casually taken positions blocking the exit.
‘If you’re going to act, do it right. Anyone can see the tension in your grip on the weapon.’
Realizing that a fight was unavoidable, Dojin began preparing.
“If you don’t mind, would you like to join us? Actually, our party lost an archer, so we don’t have a ranged dealer anymore. You seem to be a Mage, why not join us?”
It was a tempting offer for anyone truly stranded and alone. Step by step, Scrawny approached, trying not to trigger an alarm.
'What’s the point in moving your feet carefully if your right hand is as stiff as a board?'
His right shoulder and hand were visibly rigid.
Subtle, but to Dojin it was an obvious tell, a rookie killer’s mistake.
Dojin calculated how many steps Scrawny had left before striking range.
‘Three steps.’
Three steps was the prime range for Scrawny to attempt an ambush. If Dojin gave up that distance, it would be hard to respond to the rogue’s surprise attack.
So he decided to steal the initiative.
“Really? Wow, that’s such a relief. My whole party died, and I thought I was going to die too, unable to escape.”
He played the role of the naive victim. With a sigh of relief, he bowed his head and stroked his chest, exposing his neck. Could a rookie killer like Scrawny resist that fair and vulnerable neck?
Of course not.
Tuk!
As expected.
Smiling in the shadows of his bowed head—
Came the sound of a blade piercing flesh.
“Aaagh!”
But Scrawny’s breath wasn’t filled with triumph, but surprise. The dagger aimed at Dojin’s neck had been blocked by his left hand.
“Agh!”
And that wasn’t the end of Scrawny’s surprises. Before he could recover from the failed ambush, Dojin’s right hand grabbed his collar and yanked him forward.
Focused only on attacking, Scrawny hadn’t considered retaliation and was thrown straight to the ground. It happened so fast that his allies couldn’t even react.
Thwack!
While they stood dumbfounded, Scrawny’s head slammed into the ground and he was subdued.
“Ugh…!”
Dazed and unable to get up. How much HP could a low-level rogue have put into vitality?
No resistance to status effects meant a head slammed into the floor = instant stun.
“Y-You bastard—!”
His teammates weren’t stunned and managed to draw their weapons, but…
Glug glug!
Before they could act, Dojin poured oil into Scrawny’s head. And before any cliché lines could come out—
Snap!
He lit it.