WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Protagonist Doesn't Want to Leave the First Floor ◈
Chapter 32
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[Sangun]
[Level: 27]
“Was 30 too much?”
He had used up all the experience he had saved, so now it was time to start gathering it again. He looked over Juggernaut, sprawled out asleep in the warmth of the stone bed.
[Avatar Name: Juggernaut]
[Level: 40]
Ten levels higher than the others.
Which meant the other four were each level 30.
“You really worked hard.”
Ever since coming here, he had kept fighting without missing a single day. They took turns resting, but aside from the beginning of the Rainy Season, they had never spent an entire day doing nothing.
The results were right in front of him.
One level 40 Avatar and four level 30 Avatars.
Four level 30 pets and one level 27 pet.
“27 will hit 30 soon too... Then I’ll be stuck again.”
He did not have enough Keys.
He was effectively doing the work of five people alone, with a whole string of pets on top of that. Naturally, he needed far more than most.
“Keys should drop more often at Field Level 17.”
Comforting himself with that thought, he called Companion No. 1 over from where they had been working deeper in the Subspace, then added more firewood to the Mini Stove.
The inside of the Subspace was divided into several areas, but moving between them was not a problem.
“You’ve been working hard.”
“It is nothing.”
A slightly indifferent yet serious voice.
That was Companion No. 1’s voice.
‘They’re too respectful.’
The Wolves were especially like that compared to the other pets. The Nemesis effect, which had somehow already reached its maximum, likely had something to do with it.
-Current Record-
Wolves:
1. Impact increased by 5,000%
2. Damage received reduced by 5,000%
3. Critical-Hit Chance granted
4. Experience increased by 500%
5. Effect shared with Similar Species
Five hundred stages was probably the limit.
Once the Avatars had settled in, he had raised it by several stages a day. The experience increase effect had only accelerated that further.
‘The drop-rate display disappeared entirely.’
It simply gave him everything.
At least for basic Wolf byproducts, the drop rate had reached 100 percent. The very thing he had worried about before had become reality.
Yet he no longer worried about running out of space in the Subspace, thanks to the rather large machine occupying one side of it.
[Arc-Recycler Unit 09]
It was too large and heavy to have possibly come from that chest. It was another piece of technology beyond anything found on Earth.
Put something inside, and it extracted and stored the mana within it, then broke down the rest into powder.
It could also separately extract specific nutrients besides mana, making the process of producing shake powder quick and simple.
‘It can even make mana-infused shakes, but that’s useless to me.’
He still had not awakened mana.
It was not that he did not want to. Unfortunately, the Mana Awakening option had not appeared again since the one time he had seen it.
‘That’s a shame.’
Still, it was useful because he could secure mana to power the Laser Cutter and some of the equipment that had appeared since then.
He no longer had to drain his Avatars’ stamina.
“Handle that side.”
“Yes.”
Companion No. 1 used Companion No. 2, the fourth pet to join them, as an assistant. Together, they moved the byproducts piling up in the Subspace in real time, stacking them or feeding them into the “disassembler.”
The heaps of meat that had accumulated vanished in moments. Lower-grade or damaged hides and byproducts were broken down as well.
What remained were hides good enough to sell as merchandise, along with key byproducts. Small equipment items came in sometimes too, but they were not high quality.
‘The equipment items here are basically made from byproducts.’
It would have been nice if they came with options like stat enhancements, but those only appeared if he was lucky enough to get them from a Boss Chest.
So unless an equipment item was good enough to sell in the marketplace, he immediately ground it down as well.
The Subspace had become much more pleasant.
Of course, the incoming materials were no joke either. Unless the two Werewolves worked busily, a small mountain would form on one side in no time.
‘Calling it a mountain is a bit much. A hill, maybe.’
After sleeping soundly, Juggernaut stretched for a while and gathered his equipment. Stone opened the Subspace at the hunting ground, and Juggernaut switched places with Stone through it.
“If it gets a little bigger, I can move the bathroom over here too.”
There was a makeshift bathroom on one side of the Subspace.
They stored clean water there, along with a crude wooden shower booth connected to it.
The water that ran down onto the floor while they washed was collected separately and used on the vegetable garden. Various edible plants were growing there nicely.
‘More than half of them are poisonous herbs, though.’
They still tasted good.
They were good to add to shakes too.
“God, I’m exhausted.”
After washing up, Stone left the bathroom, which ate into his allotted stay time in the Subspace, and went to the Rest Area.
Like Juggernaut had done, Stone spent some time in front of the Mini Stove before lying down in bed for a deep sleep.
That was how the Avatars rotated.
Regardless of day or night, they entered the Subspace one at a time to wash, eat, and rest.
The waterfall cave had been a useful and welcome shelter for a long time, but as the Subspace Shelter became more established, they went there less and less.
“The waterfall’s getting thinner too.”
It might freeze once winter came.
The cave inside would not be exposed, but if he kept coming and going through that entrance, someone would surely notice.
‘It looks like they use Familiars.’
When he looked down from the sky now and then, he spotted birds that did not live in the Northern Forest.
Birds had always flown around here and there, but the way they moved seemed artificial. He suspected humans were involved.
Their purpose was obvious.
It was probably the same reason people lingered around the place where he hunted.
‘An Eagle would be nice too.’
Some people tamed Mountain Goats on the rocky mountain cliffs, but cases of people taming Eagles were nearly nonexistent.
Even when it happened, it was through magic rather than an item, so they probably could not be traded.
‘Pets tamed with items can be traded.’
He had learned that later.
The fact that being turned into an item meant that made him feel a little sorry for them.
Still, he had no intention of selling his own pets to anyone.
If anything, he was considering buying someone else’s.
‘But Rabbits... I hear they only eat.’
Mountain Goats would be useful.
They gave Mountain Goat Milk, after all.
‘No. They would need to get pregnant first... It would be easier to just buy the milk.’
These days, the marketplace was full of all sorts of things.
Things that made him wonder if someone had really made them.
“Are they insane?”
On a whim, he opened the marketplace and found an absurd listing.
[Gochujang st]
“If it has st. tacked on it, that means it’s an imitation.”
It did look like gochujang, but judging by the comments below, everyone seemed curious while hesitating to buy it.
-Come on, someone buy it and try it.
ㄴAnyone willing to go first?
ㄴOne hundred Points for this is too much.
ㄴIt’s pricey, though.
The container looked to hold around fifty grams.
The price was clearly high, but some people eventually gave in to their curiosity.
Seo Hajin was one of them.
“Hmm.”
It was imitation gochujang.
Stone dipped a little on a finger and tasted it, then furrowed his brow. The flavor was vague overall, but it was not completely unlike gochujang.
“It tastes like bad gochujang.”
He had no idea what it was made from. Probably plants that could be gathered in the Area.
-Tastes awful.
ㄴFor real?
-It still tastes enough like gochujang that I bought more.
ㄴSo which is it?
-Oh, actual gochujang? Can this get rid of the fishy smell?
ㄴDon’t we have anything like ginger or garlic?
ㄴExactly.
“Yeah. When was the last time I had garlic?”
Nodding at someone’s comment, he looked through the community to see if there were any new topics.
“Why do people keep calling for me?”
He also saw that more people than before were looking for him, or for his “companions.”
Their purpose was obvious.
Clan or party recruitment.
Raid invitations, and so on.
Those were their stated reasons, but quite a few of them seemed to have ulterior motives.
‘I am curious about other fields, but stopping the hunt means losing too much experience.’
Losing EXP was as terrifying as losing muscle.
But he had some room now. Could he not pull out one Avatar at least?
‘Multiple Viewpoints has room too... Still, I don’t want to belong anywhere.’
There were few places where the saying that people were the scariest thing fit as well as it did here. Plenty of villains had come after him over the last few months.
‘At least they helped me expand my inventory.’
After thinking it over, he decided that taking a quick trip to a nearby field might be nice.
‘The rocky mountain cliffs directly south, or the forest southeast of here, should be safe enough.’
The rocky mountain cliffs had Mountain Goats and Eagles.
The southeastern forest had Bears.
‘What was its official name again... Ah. Valley Basin. That was it.’
Besides Bears, he had heard there were Foxes and Raccoon Dogs there, but they were not Aggressive Mobs.
‘They say Beavers live in the valleys there too. I’m curious about those.’
Even while he browsed the community and thought over such things, the other four Avatars were slaughtering Wolves at the hunting ground.
And there were pets too.
Black, the Black Leopard, was out as usual gathering poisonous herbs and insects. The two Sanguns each patrolled their own territory and herded Wolves in one direction.
Like sheepdogs, perhaps.
Of course, the Wolves were being driven toward the four Avatars rampaging through the hunting ground.
‘They have a hard time hunting directly.’
The Wolves would not let Tigers get close. They ran away from a distance, making them difficult to hunt.
They were powerful in battle, but ordinary hunting was difficult for them. Without shared experience, it would have been hard to raise their levels.
[The Ancient Python, ruler of Misty Swamp in Area 3, has been defeated.]
[The region's level increases by 1.]
That was when another field received its first clear.
‘They said they were forming an Expedition Force. They actually succeeded.’
He had seen talk that the poisonous gas and stench had lessened as winter approached.
It was also too far from where he was, so he had lost interest. Still, it seemed they had managed to clear it.
“Wow...”
Photos and videos began appearing.
It was a giant snake, far larger than the Giant Stray Dog in Rabbit Field or the Tiger here.
It resembled the enormous anacondas from movies, but it moved more slowly than expected and seemed somewhat stiff overall.
“Ah. Because it’s cold?”
According to people who had been part of the Expedition Force, the mobs in that Area were vulnerable in winter. They usually burrowed underground, but when dragged out, they struggled like that.
“It’ll be better to clear it during winter.”
It seemed likely to get even colder, so the Field Level there would probably rise further.
‘Will the place be crawling with snakes later?’
He had heard there were plenty of venomous snakes there too.
Poison interested him a little, but he did not want to enter the place on purpose.
‘Someone will sell it.’
He shook his head, then did not resist as his eyes slowly closed. He fell into a deep sleep.
It was a place where he did not have to worry about outside noise or intruders. At least while resting there, he could fully release the tension in his body.
* * *
Winter was brutal.
Large and small camps across the Grassland Plains, the Rabbit Field, were noisy every day, whether they had wall-like fortifications or simple wooden fences.
It was cold enough that one could not endure without burning large amounts of wood. But there were few trees in the Grassland Plains, and the firewood listed on the marketplace was limited.
People getting caught trying to secretly steal other camps’ fences was common. Grabbing the collar of an officer from another Clan had become routine.
Users wore several layers of rabbit-fur coats, but even that was not enough to withstand the cold outside.
-I can’t feel my toes. Is this frostbite?
ㄴDrink a potion.
ㄴPotions won’t heel frostbite. You need frostbite medicine.
ㄴPeople still mixing up “heel” and “heal,” huh.
ㄴFrostbite medicine for 300 Points? Wouldn’t it be better to cut off my toes and heal them back?
ㄴTry it lol.
ㄴFrostbite spreads upward. It won’t stop at your toes. It’ll keep moving up.
ㄴI’m screwed.
Users demanded that the Loggers in the eastern forest sell more firewood, but the Loggers were cold too.
To collect wood, they had to work through the cold. They also had to add the cost of treating frostbite, various injuries, and illnesses to the price of firewood.
Since the work itself was difficult, it was only natural that lumber production fell. The Bears in that forest wandering around without hibernating were another problem.
-What? Why did firewood get even more expensive?
-Triple the price is too much, you bastards.
ㄴWe don’t even have enough to burn ourselves.
ㄴBe grateful we’re selling any.
ㄴFuck it, I’ll go cut wood myself.
ㄴIf you come unprepared, you’ll get frostbite before a day is up. Prepare properly for the cold.
The Loggers were not exaggerating.
Users who went to gather firewood and got frostbite were appearing in droves.
-There are this many trees, so why is it colder? Shouldn’t they block the wind?
ㄴScience majors, explain this.
ㄴI think every field has a different temperature.
ㄴThat’s right. The air changes when you cross into another field.
ㄴFor real?
ㄴRabbit Field is actually less cold.
ㄴThis is less cold?
ㄴDo you not know Expedition Force members are freezing to death?
Quite a few Expedition Force members who had cleared Misty Swamp were buried in blizzards as well.
The wind was strong enough to make movement difficult, and snow fell heavily.
Those who made something like an igloo and endured inside were relatively fortunate. Those who had not prepared in time or pushed themselves to travel lost their lives one by one.
The problem was that if they restarted after dying, they lost all the items and equipment they had been carrying.
Starting again naked meant they obviously could not endure the cold properly.
They had to reunite with their companions quickly to avoid falling into a chain of deaths.
It was a true survival crisis.
-Are there lots of Personal Effects over there?
ㄴLol, the people who went out to loot corpses froze to death too.
ㄴDamn.
ㄴLooks like only fire mages can hold out long enough to loot.
ㄴWinter is easy mode for them.
ㄴBut once their mana runs out, they’re fucked.
Conditions varied somewhat between fields, but everyone found outside activity extremely difficult.
Most people could no longer imagine hunting like before. More and more people set a few traps, then came back later to check them.
Naturally, that led to constant arguments over who owned what. There were even jokes that the discomfort index was worse than in summer.
Even the villains had stopped hunting humans and were hiding somewhere.
-List more rabbit hides in the marketplace. All the fur’s falling out. This durability is seriously awful.
ㄴWe can’t hunt Rabbits.
ㄴWolf hides are still being listed.
ㄴWolf-fur hides are not great for warmth, but they are definitely durable.
-Is Juggernaut’s party still hunting?
ㄴNo idea. You’d probably freeze to death trying to watch.
ㄴDoes anyone have a Familiar?
ㄴThe Familiar would freeze to death too.
-Fuck, why is it so cold?
ㄴBecause it’s the cold season. (Nod.)
ㄴ(Nod.)
“Whew...”
White breath poured from his mouth.
Even in cold severe enough that he did not sweat no matter how much he moved, Seo Hajin’s hunting did not stop.
‘It’s cold, but not enough to freeze to death.’
His high level probably helped, but Soul Resonance seemed to affect this too.
The Wolves, Leopards, and Tigers.
Part of their ability to endure the cold was clearly being passed on to him.
‘It doesn’t seem like they ignore the cold entirely, but they’re still better off than humans.’
Of course, that did not mean the Avatars could walk around naked. They still had to prepare for the cold.
Their equipment naturally wore out quickly during battle, so spare clothes and equipment were always ready.
[Equipment Slot]
This function made changing clothes and equipment simple.
It did not provide extra slots. Instead, it allowed him to assign several spaces in his inventory as equipment slots.
He did not have to take off or put on clothing and equipment himself. As long as he placed them in the appropriate slots, they equipped automatically.
‘It’s definitely useful.’
He could keep fighting without stopping because of equipment damage and similar problems, increasing hunting efficiency accordingly.
“I’m glad I kept all of it instead of throwing it away.”
An enormous quantity of Wolf hides had piled up in the Subspace.
They had been a troublesome stockpile that barely sold for a while, but since winter began, they had gradually started selling well.
Rabbit-fur hides had become scarce on the marketplace lately, making Wolf hides popular as a replacement.
‘People say Mountain Goat hides are decent too, but there aren’t many of them.’
Overwhelming supply.
He did not need to raise the price because he had plenty, and more inventory kept piling up even now.
“Should I stop here for today?”
Despite that, he stopped hunting for once.
When other users could not conduct outside activities, that was precisely when he had an opportunity.
‘First, let’s go see some Bears.’
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