Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

A new adventure zone reached after crossing the rocky mountains of the forward base in the Rozelia Plains.

The first village in Silva Plains, Kirine Village.

As more people gradually completed the forward base farming and ventured into the next area, I started to touch on a few side quests rather than rushing for a fast level-up.

Having been focused too much on leveling up and gold, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to leisurely wander the Continent of Astria by doing minor quests.

There was also the intention of getting to know the current Continent of Astria little by little through side quests.

After all, this is the world I have to live in going forward. It wouldn’t hurt to deeply understand the lives and culture of the NPCs on the Continent of Astria in this era.

While there were side quests that directly related to leveling up like “hunting a few monsters,” there were also many simple quests that could be done within the village.

From trivial errand quests to letter delivery and ingredient farming quests, the variety was abundant.

Today, I was doing a side quest I could pick up in Kirine Village.

But then…

“I get why hardly anyone but story enthusiasts does this.”

[Kopopo’s Egg]

[Quest Item]

[It seems like I have to keep it warm.]

Thud thud.

I was carrying a bird egg the size of my head.

Just a simple egg delivery? The reward was shabby, and I had no idea what it meant.

But most side quests were just like this.

Anyway, since I decided to do it, I had to take responsibility.

This “Kopopo Egg Delivery” quest seemed simple at first glance, but it required extreme focus.

I had to warm the egg at the furnaces along the route from the Kopopo farm at the outskirts of the village to the cooking shop, delivering it while keeping it warm. If the egg got cold along the way, they wouldn’t accept it at the shop.

Why? Aren’t they just going to cook it anyway?

I wanted to poke holes in this logic, but since that’s what they told me to do, I had no choice but to go along with it.

A little further ahead was the first furnace. I just had to warm the egg for five seconds on it and then resume my journey.

Thud.

As I placed the egg on the first furnace and took a brief rest, suddenly…

Whoosh!

“Oh no.”

The Kopopo egg on the furnace suddenly vanished.

In my sight, a user was running away with the egg I’d been questing for.

I stared at the scene blankly.

Why did he take it? It was just a quest item.

The blue-haired male user, who looked like a human, was grinning while holding the egg far from my intended route.

“Please give it back. I can’t complete my quest without it.”

I wanted to say that, but being extremely averse to speaking with others, I couldn’t bring myself to ask for it back.

There was nothing I could do. I didn’t know what that user’s intention was, but having had my egg snatched, I had no choice but to head back to the Kopopo farm to get another one.

When I warmed up the second egg and was about to head out again…

Whoosh!

That same user ran off with the egg again.

“Ugh.”

Tears welled in my eyes.

It was clear now. That user just wanted to mess with those doing quests.

I glared at the user who had taken my egg with a pout in front of the furnace.

“Whoa.”

That bad user suddenly gasped, and avoiding my gaze, approached to place the egg back on the furnace.

“Oh.”

For some reason, the egg returned.

I smiled brightly as I held the egg and moved to the next furnace.

“Ah, so Kopopo is kind of like a chicken back on Earth.”

I had indeed gained some knowledge from doing these side quests.

On the Continent of Astria during my activities, food was in severe shortage. Due to the corruption of the land by magic, it was difficult to cultivate anything other than some crops with strong adaptability.

Kopopo grew to almost human size and was a flightless bird. Back on Earth, you could think of it as a tasty ostrich, right?

The people of the Continent of Astria in this era succeeded in domesticating Kopopo. The skewers I first tasted since coming to Astria were made of Kopopo meat.

While accepting a monster-hunting side quest in the village, I opened the messenger.

[Onmyoji ‘Chris’ (Online)]

– Hey, what are you doing?

– Hunting in the Rozelia Forest!

I smiled at Chris’s quick response.

Nowadays, I communicated with Chris every now and then.

Compared to my past self, who had always kept my messages blocked, I had made great strides in communication. Well, of course, I’d turn it off during solo dungeon runs.

The Rozelia Forest was a PVP field.

When she said she was hunting, it meant she was beating up the agents of the Betarion Empire.

I recalled the blue-haired male user who had taken my egg earlier.

Given his clothing, which looked like the uniform of the Betarion Empire, I was certain of his affiliation.

Normal users usually took off their faction attire outside of PVP fields, but if they were wearing it even in regular fields, they were definitely hardcore PVP users.

Chris, hunting people, would be busy right now.

I just left one necessary message and closed the messenger.

– Good luck, sis. And if you see that blue-haired user, make sure to give him a beating right away.

“Alright.”

Just like the Rozelia Plains, the Silva Plains area will also probably have its Elite Dungeon sealed off.

I could be sure of it since no news had come of discovery regarding the Elite Dungeon yet, and the game was gradually adjusting the pace of content consumption.

There was no urgent need for leveling up. I could enjoy my leisurely adventure while refining my damage cycle and doing side quests.

The monsters predominantly seen in the Silva Plains were large bipeds. The ogres and trolls boasted high attack power and HP.

However, the users who had come this far were all heroes who had completed the forward base farming. They weren’t around to be taken down by these monsters.

Having high HP meant they were the perfect target to test out my damage cycles.

I decided to test out the skills I had leveled up.

Tap tap tap!

Spotting an ogre in front of me as prey, I quickly approached it.

“Graaar!*

Whoom!

The ogre, having recognized me, swung its massive club at me.

[Counterattack (C)]

[You aim for the enemy’s rear (Cooldown 8 seconds)]

[(Invulnerable while casting)]

[(C-Rank) Converts to ‘Sword Drawing Technique’ on use]

[Block (A)]

– Blocks attacks in a 180-degree front arc.

– (A-Rank) Successfully blocking within 0.2 seconds of using the skill grants a ‘Vitality’ buff that increases all damage for 10 seconds.

Clang!

I timed it just right and blocked the club, feeling the vitality buff swirl around my body.

Using the counterattack, my body swiftly moved behind the ogre as I transitioned into Sword Drawing Technique.

Shwa shwa shwa!

“Graargh!”

Thud.

The ogre, sliced by the Starlight Slash in conjunction with the vitality buff, instantly depleted all its HP and collapsed. The attack’s delay was too long for it to counter.

“Eh.”

I stared down at the lifeless ogre in confusion.

The field monsters were insufficient as practice for my damage cycle. Even an ogre with high HP couldn’t withstand one full cycle.

Perhaps it was because I had worked hard to rotate my counterattack skill during fights against Galroban at the forward base, my skill levels had risen.

The C-Rank Counterattack skill no longer had the condition of being “usable in Sword Drawing Technique” and instead added “transitions to Sword Drawing Technique on use.”

If used in Sword Drawing Technique, the specs remained the same.

If used in a standard stance, it would transition to Sword Drawing Technique.

In other words, it now meant I could switch to Sword Drawing Technique every 8 seconds without relying on Moonlight Slash. The synergy with the vitality buff that lasts for 10 seconds was fantastic.

I could just trigger the 0.2-second just-guard time every 10 seconds to get the vitality buff and deal massive damage while maintaining the Sword Drawing technique.

The examiner was an easy and powerful class.

There’s no way they’re going to nerf this, right?

[Title]

Today’s harvest from the Kirine Village Kopopo Egg quest.jpg (+92)

[Content]

(Image file)

Isn’t this the one from before? The first ogre warrior costume owner, who was screenshot in the Orc Forest.

I swung by before heading to the quest in the Rozelia Forest, and it looked cute walking with the egg, so I snatched it.

But it had a teary expression, so I felt a huge wave of guilt and returned it;;;

[Comments]

– That’s definitely him ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Still, look how cute he is.

– Whoa… whoa… ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– Wow, that’s just evil. How could you snatch an egg from such a cute kid?

– Is he really underage? Or is it just a character model reduction? I want to take him around the dungeon.

– Yo, aren’t you with the Betarion Empire? Don’t go to the Rozelia Forest quest right now. Chris is going wild. All the magic stones will get taken.

– The poster is also a blue-haired character. The blue-haired ones are prime targets. Chris charges at any blue-haired character like a bull.

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