Transmigrated to Game World with SSS Wife

It didn't take long for the dangers of this new world to make their appearance. If there was one thing a game was good for, it was constant action.

Nick didn't mind though. These wolves were about as strong as a goblin, so they were easy to cut through–especially considering the aoe effect of [Emperor's Slash]. Besides, every ding he heard helped to keep his mind off of Juliana.

[5x Wolves killed: F-Rank Monsters]

[Experience gained: 5]

[Experience: 212/1500]

'This rate of growth is pitiful!' To have spent all morning killing wolves left and right and still not earn a single level...

Much to Nick's dismay, this world was one of those games. The ones that claim they want their players to feel a sense of 'pride and accomplishment.' That way, they can justify forcing the player to choose between grinding for hours or just spending 30 dollars.

Really, Nick would be very prideful and feel very accomplished if he could just max out everything this instant. Earn ultimate power, build a kingdom, and sit back and chill with some otherworldly beautiful wives. Yeah, that sounded nice.

'Well, I'm on my way there at least.' Nick thought as he watched Juliana–his first Valkyrie.

Even though the wolves really weren't a remotely relevant enemy, she still felt it necessary to show off. Her lightning coursed across the empty field, scorching the ground as it made its journey. Within a second, she had barbecued 10 different wolves, filling the area with a scent of well-done meat.

[Valkyrie Experience gained: 20]

[Experience until next rank: 450/10,000]

Nick grinned, knowing that was at least something to be happy about. For some reason, she already gained experience at double the rate of himself. Sure, she needed a lot more experience to rank up than he did, but this was good for farming. While he went out exploring dungeons, he could tell Juliana to stay at some field and just zap enemies all day.

'And she can't say no.' Nick thought as the dark shadow reared its ugly head again. Even if Juliana acted weird about it, he still wanted to find a way to unbind her. Something about it just gave him the icks–probably the fact he essentially became a slavemaster.

But at least he was benevolent!

[Wave completed! Monsters killed: 60 F-Rank Wolves!]

[5 minutes until the next wave!]

The system did its best to distract him. Looking at the message, he used quick maths to find out how many waves they still had to complete for him to level up even once.

'1,500 minus 212 is 1,288. Over 4 waves we've killed 437 wolves. That's an average of around 110 wolves if we round up. Meaning we will have to complete 12 more waves today if this rate keeps up. However, because of the obvious fluctuations in wolves per wave, it is to be expected that we might even have to complete up to 15 waves. It only takes around 20 minutes per wave due to both of our skills, but still. That's like 5 hours of hard work.'

Nick shook his head, knowing there had to be some better way to level up. They technically could waste all day doing this mundane routine, but he knew that killing weak enemies for minuscule experience was almost never the answer. Usually, the best rewards to work put in ratio would be achieved by defeating middle-of-the-road monsters.

It was a simple equation really: if you face a hard boss, you die. Hard to gain experience if you die.

If you face weak enemies, you kill hundreds of monsters quickly, but you also get very little experience, which was already evident.

However, monsters only slightly weaker than Nick would likely be the most efficient source of experience. This is because they give much more experience, but because they are still weaker than Nick he can easily kill them.

At that point, there was only one problem:

Where the heck are those monsters?!

Turning to Juliana, he raised his hand, beckoning her over. She skipped with a delightful smile, giddy with her current success on the battlefield.

'Well, I know how to make her happy at least. Just give her something to kill.'

"Hey, Nick! You wanted to tell me something?"

He did, but first he had to sigh. Ever since he offered her a chance at freedom, he regretted opening his mouth at all. She had turnwd into a completely docile, obedient Valkyrie, losing all the personality that made her Juliana.

It wasn't even that she was nicer now, like the Juliana he knew from the game. Everything about her felt off, completely different from the Julianas he knew–and this version was easily his least favorite.

He wasn't fit to be someone's master or have them dependent on him... not right now, anyway.

"Nick?" She repeated when he fell silent after his heavy sigh, lost in thought.

"Yeah. So, these monsters aren't really giving us any experience. Uh, do you know where we can find stronger monsters? Since this is your world and all."

She smiled as she nodded, eager to help. "Yes, I can do that! Though, I do need to warn you this isn't my world, Nick. Sorry, but I won't be as helpful as I should be there..."

Her expression suddenly turned sour, so despite his intrigue Nick quickly interjected, "That's ok! So, these stronger monsters, where are they?"

Fidgeting with her hair strand, like she always does when nervous, she continued, "O-ok. Sorry... Anyways, I don't know exactly where to find them either... I'm really useless aren't I... but uh, you should have a map in your system!"

'Map...' Nick thought as he slammed his hand to his face. Of course.

What RPG didn't have a map?

"Thanks!" Nick said with a smile before thinking 'Open Sesame!'

Of course, the magic words spawned a big map within a second. Of course, almost the entire map was completely dark. The only spots with light were the ones they had already traveled through–which was basically just a hill filled with wolves who spawned out of thin air because why not.

'Yep. This game would definitely be one of those hardcore explorer types. Hey, go explore this area for 12 fricken hours cuz it's character development!'

To be fair, it wasn't all bad. Looking closer at the map, he could see several important landmarks mapped out. A few cities, a few ruins, and...

The Tower of Eternity?

He remembered that from the first world in Aether Babes. The Tower of Eternity was introduced very quickly in the first world, and was a benchmark of progress for the entire rest of the game.

As far as lore went, it was one of the 8 pillars of society the Endwalkers were trying to destroy, plunging everything into chaos if they destroyed all 8. In gameplay, it was an endless array of missions with high tier rewards.

Once he got stronger, that would be a good place to level up. Though, if he met one of those Endwalkers... he'd simply die.

'I'd rather not die.' Nick thought as he was already looking through the icons, trying to find a place that screamed 'D-Rank monsters here! Come level up!'

Sadly, everything was just city this, city that. Or death traps.

Sighing, he turned to Juliana and said, "I hope you don't mind walking the next few hours."

If he was still in his old body, he knew he'd die in just 10 minutes. Luckily, he had gotten a lot stronger the second he entered the game, and then a lot stronger since. Once he found a new spot to farm... he'd gain even more strength.

...

For the next few hours, it felt like they had walked past nothing besides open fields and trees and even a stream. The sky was unnaturally clear without even a sliver of a cloud in sight.

Still, there was no damn monster! Not even another one of those wolf areas. Nothing, nada!

Then he heard a soft humming behind him, followed with a sudden jolt of electricity. Juliana was attacking a mon-

No. When he turned around, he saw a slit in reality, like a portal, with some kind of molten landscape on the other side.

Juliana threw her arm in front of Nick, looking at the portal with an intense gaze. She knew it from some memory that was hers but forgotten. This wasn't a place they should go to...

Before she could take his arm and scream to run, the portal pulled both of them into this new area.