Chapter 4

I did it.

Name: Libera
Class: Bard

The status window clearly showing proof that I had successfully changed jobs.

Seeing it made a smile spill out on its own.

And that wasn’t all.

Money: 10 Gold

I even had money!

Seeing the final tutorial rewards made me feel proud without realizing it.

So proud, in fact, that I almost pulled out sheet music and a beginner guitar right then and there.

‘No, that won’t do.’

Pulling out a guitar with a spruce top and mahogany sides here would go against the dignity of someone who had become a “real gamer.”

I had to calm down until the right moment.

‘I got lucky.’

I rubbed my raised cheekbones and recalled the job change quest.

That moment had been bad in many ways.

Honestly speaking, luck had played a big role.

‘My fingers were stiff, and on top of that, the device performance made it worse.’

A situation where only minimal accompaniment was possible.

At that point, I had to make a choice.

‘Technique, or expression.’

Normally, the answer would be both.

But with barely any time to practice, I had to choose one.

The obvious choice was vocal technique, but I chose the latter instead.

‘The song itself was awkward.’

The pool of songs was awkward.

The range was awkward, and it was too simple to show off technique.

One wrong move, and it would either feel excessive or fall flat.

But expressing emotion, conveying feeling—that was something I was confident in.

‘I can still feel it now.’

The joy of being able to forget the past, if only for this moment, was still lingering.

“…It was good.”

An emotion so strong that just the afterglow made me smile.

If I could convey the feeling I had just experienced—

I thought there was nothing more compelling than that.

‘Of course, luck played a part…’

It was the result of my own strategy, but that didn’t mean I would deny the role of luck.

If there hadn’t been a suitable song, I would have failed.

‘It also felt like it passed way too easily…’

Part of that was the NPC surprisingly letting it slide.

Judging by his temperament, I had fully expected criticism.

That the song was too autobiographical, or too easy.

They wouldn’t have been wrong, so I was prepared to accept it.

But the fact that he passed me without complaint was strange.

“Well, works for me.”

In the end, it didn’t matter.

Thanks to that, I got everything I wanted and could fully enjoy this land of dreams and fantasy.

Above all else, I was happy that I could continue making music because of this.

‘Here… I can do it.’

The thought that I could sing again made my chest itch.

As long as I could do music, I could do anything.

Even combat, which I hated most.

‘…Let’s do this!’

Thinking about what came next, I walked forward with purpose.

To move on to the next town, I needed to reach level 10.

Normally, leveling up would take at least a full day.

But I was different.

[Wonderwood Field]

“So this is it.”

A hunting ground unpopular due to its distance from town and aggressive monsters.

‘The place with the hidden piece.’

I planned to use the hidden piece here.

Hidden pieces were commonly considered symbols of jackpot luck and easy gains.

These hidden pieces, obtainable only by fulfilling special conditions, were scattered all across Second World.

Even in Tiamo Village, meant for beginners.

How did I, a newbie, know about information not even online?

Simple.

‘Thanks, Wooyeon!’

Silently thanking my friend for telling me about a hidden piece known only to a handful of people, I opened my status window.

The first thing to do before hunting was stat allocation.

After finishing all tutorials, the final level was 3.

The rule was to invest all 3 points into Charm to reach at least 8—

But what if the requirement was already met?

=====

HP: 50 / MP: 100

Strength: 3

Agility: 3

Stamina: 3

Intelligence: 5

Wisdom: 3

Charm: 12

Dexterity: 6

My eyes wavered at the situation already being off from the start.

My wandering gaze soon found the cause in my inventory.

[(???) Sealed Relic]

: Currently sealed and cannot be identified. A strange presence can be felt.

◇ Passive Effect
Charm +5

‘This… must be why, right?’

Seeing the rusted-coin-looking item, my eyes narrowed.

An item Cain had given me as a perfect-clear reward.

I had asked both Cain and Ban what it was, but neither explained it.

“You’ll find out what it is later.”
“This is…! Libera, you’re amazing!”

They praised me, but honestly, that wasn’t helpful.

‘At least explain it.’

Seriously, what is it?

A souvenir?

“Hm.”

After briefly wondering what it could be, I closed my inventory.

Thinking about it, this wasn’t the important part.

“So… what do I do?”

With no clear knowledge, I hesitated, wondering if it was okay to just wing it.

Then a notification popped up.

Mag: Dana
Mag: Is that true???

A familiar name appeared in the chat window.

Wooyeon’s in-game name.

‘It’s Wooyeon!’

Perfect timing.

My face brightened, and I quickly replied.

Me: yeah
Me: just logged in

Mag: Where are you right now?? Wonderwood?

Me: yep
Me: gonna use hidden piece

Mag: haha
Mag: You can type short
Mag: Anything confusing?

The interface was unfamiliar, so there were some typos, but communication was fine.

Me: yeah
Mag: lol what is it
Me: stat points
Me: charm already over 8

Mag: Charm’s already over 8 and you’re wondering where to put the leftover points?
Mag: Then just put them into any stat that stands out

Me: thx
Mag: You don’t have to reply haha
Mag: I’ll be there soon!

All my worries were resolved.

Following her instructions, I allocated 2 points into Dexterity and 1 into Intelligence, then entered the field.

All that was left was hunting.

[Lv.3 Wild Field Rat]

—Screech?

I carefully searched and found a wild field rat in the distance.

That was my target.

I needed to kill at least ten of those corgi-sized rats to unlock the hidden piece.

‘…It’s kind of scary.’

The massive size startled me, but I had to do it.

Taking a deep breath, I raised the bard’s weapon—my guitar—in front of the confused rat.

—…Squeak!

The air instantly changed.

A tense, knife-edge atmosphere.

But unlike real wild animals, the Lv.3 rat didn’t hide.

—Screeeeech!

It charged instead!

The plump body launched itself at me.

—SQUEEEEAL!

A piercing screech that didn’t match its round body.

In real life, I would have run immediately.

But I had something to rely on.

‘Auto skill activation…!’

When combat starts, skills are automatically activated.

With that, even someone like me who barely understood job explanations had nothing to fear.

So I smiled, even as the rat got closer—

—Smack!

“Huh?”

If the skill still wasn’t activating even as the monster leaped, that was a problem.

The rat’s thick body flew straight toward my face.

It was terrifying enough to want to yell “time out.”

“W-wait—!”

I instinctively realized something had gone very wrong.

My face went pale as I wildly swung the guitar.

—Thud!

[Critical Hit!]
[Remaining HP: 30/50]

It was useless.

The heavy weight pressing against my face felt like proof that it was nothing more than flailing.

“Ugh!”

I missed the notification as the impact sent me flying backward.

[Critical Hit!]

“Ghk!”

A sharp pain exploded in the back of my head.

I think I hit a rock, but I wasn’t sure.

[Remaining HP: 0/50]

The moment I collided, a strange alert popped up and my vision darkened.

My consciousness faded.

—Squeak.

The only thing I remembered was the rat wagging its tail leisurely as it left my fading field of view.

At that moment, I thought—

‘You said it was easy.’

No.

I was furious.

‘This isn’t easy at all…!’

“Ghk.”

My head burned with betrayal and anger before everything suddenly cut off.

[You have fainted!]

My first death.

I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

‘Don’t tell me—?!’

“Libera, are you feeling okay?”

Thankfully, no.

“Where is this…?”
“This is the temple infirmary. Fainted travelers are brought here.”

Ban smiled and explained that I had simply been transported, not reincarnated or possessed.

What a relief.

‘Yeah, it was a rat, not a truck.’

“We’ve finished treating you, but do you feel any discomfort?”
“No.”
“That’s good.”

Even to someone who died and came back in thirty minutes, Ban smiled as usual.

He stood up.

“Since you’re awake, I’ll excuse myself.”
“Thanks…”
“You can stay as long as you like. Please rest comfortably.”

After bowing, Ban left the room.

I was left alone in the infirmary.

‘…What just happened?’

I replayed the fight in my head.

It was completely different from what I’d been told.

“…Didn’t they say the beginning was easy?”

It really wasn’t.

‘Getting smacked and completely destroyed is easy?’

The monster even dodged my attack.

Totally different from the “hit once and it dies” story.

Either I remembered wrong, or something was seriously off.

“My skill didn’t even activate.”

No matter what, I needed to ask Wooyeon.

I couldn’t ask Ban.

Again, we’d parted beautifully only thirty minutes ago—including ten seconds of combat.

‘Let’s go out first.’

Just as I decided that and stepped toward the door—

I ran straight into Ban.

“You’re leaving already?”
“Ban.”
“Oh, sorry to stop you on your way out.”

He held a clipboard that hadn’t been there before and smiled awkwardly.

“But there’s something you really need to check… please understand.”
“It’s fine. What is it?”
“It’s nothing major, just…”

Blushing slightly, Ban held out the clipboard.

“A bill.”

There was a receipt attached.

“…Huh?”
“Since you’re still under level 10, you received a large discount. But the dispatch fee, treatment cost, and potions used…”

Regardless of my dumb expression, Ban explained everything in detail.

But that wasn’t what I cared about.

“All together, it comes to 10 gold.”

He finished listing everything.

“……”
“Of course, there are other ways to pay.”

Seeing me stare with dead eyes, he offered an alternative.

There was no need to get my hopes up.

“To help improve your skills as well—”

I followed where Ban pointed.

A rotating wall.

Beyond it was a hell of iron and fire.

I looked back at Ban in disbelief.

He nodded.

“You can complete our special training course.”

“…….”

I didn’t know how to react.

“So what will you do?”

Ban smiled, saying either option was fine.

But it wasn’t fine for me.

Faced with an extreme choice, I shut my eyes tightly.

It wasn’t too late.

Reincarnation. Regression. Possession.

Any of the three.

‘Please.’

Nothing happened.

Money: 0

“…….”

Back to zero.

Unable to keep this experience to myself, I returned to Tiamo Village.

I sat on a bench in the plaza, staring at my pure, empty balance.

“Haa…”

Maybe because of that, it wasn’t fun anymore.

‘How did it end up like this?’

Burnout… no, doubt.

Even Wooyeon’s incoming message didn’t help.

‘This isn’t what I wanted.’

The gap between expectation and reality only made me more depressed.

The fantasy life I imagined didn’t include sitting alone on a bench as a broke nobody.

“Hey, what’s with that crowd over there?”
“You don’t know?”

That was what I wanted.

I lifted my head with longing and followed the voices.

In the wide clock tower plaza, one area was especially crowded.

“Obviously a ranker.”

There stood a white-clad holy knight.

Taller than everyone else, the knight looked around as if searching for something.

Every movement made the shining white armor glint.

Clearly someone enjoying this world to the fullest.

Completely different from a user like me who couldn’t even fight.

“So what if a ranker showed up?”
“Are you stupid? This game has over a hundred million concurrent players. And that’s not just any ranker—it’s a famous one.”
“So what!”
“They’re all over the official boards. Makes insane money, insanely good at the game. Got it?”

‘We really are different.’

No matter how I looked at it, I didn’t measure up to even an average player.

More accurately, it felt like something was fundamentally wrong with me.

‘Wait…’

Just as I was about to realize something, a shadow fell over me.

“Why aren’t you checking your messages?”

A familiar voice cut through the gasps around us.

“…?”
“You said you were hunting… wait, don’t you recognize me?”

I slowly looked up.

The massive white armor stood before me.

The holy knight from earlier.

‘Wait.’