"Huff... huff... There it is."
After running for a while until my stamina ran out, I panted heavily as I slowly made my way toward the village visible at the base of the hill.
A large sign reading <탈리아 마을> hung right at the entrance.
Talia Village was one of the starting villages for players in the East Asia region.
"Nice vibe."
Houses built from brick and wood lined both sides of the street.
The buildings blended in pretty shades of green, yellow, and orange, making it feel like I'd gone backpacking in Rothenburg, Germany again—the place where I'd spent such enchanting times before.
"How is it this pretty?"
Quaint medieval-style buildings.
A cool breeze blowing intermittently.
The emotions emanating from the people, and the cold texture of the stone walls under my hand.
The fact that all of this was rendered in a game was simply astonishing.
"Enough sightseeing."
I'd been wandering the streets, soaking in the romance, but I snapped myself out of it and headed into what looked like the Adventurer's Guild.
I wanted to stroll leisurely along the road, savoring the scenery, but I'd come to Silmaria to make money.
Creak.
The wooden door let out a squeak as I opened it.
"Hey, you there, newbie adventurer. First time here?"
The moment I stepped inside, a lanky NPC spoke up.
He had a fierce look about him.
"Yeah, it is."
"Then eat this bread. It's a failed batch anyway, so it'd just get tossed."
He shoved some bread at me without warning, and I accepted it in a daze.
[⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙]
[Acquired 1 Hard Bread.]
"You must be hungry after coming down from the training grounds. No need to thank me."
"Ah, sure."
Hearing that made me actually feel hungry.
Crunch!
I took a big bite out of the hard bread.
It was really tough.
Grind— nom nom smack.
"How's it taste?"
"Hmm, it's edible?"
It had no flavor at all.
"Heh heh, even my failed dishes are tasty."
"I see. Impressive."
The texture was the worst. It felt like chewing tough rubber.
"You know how to read people. Here, have a few more on the house."
"Oh, you shouldn't have."
[⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙]
[Acquired 3 Hard Breads.]
I carefully put the precious three hard breads into a bag and stowed them in my inventory.
'Saved some money.'
Thanks to the tip of praising NPCs whenever possible and sending them off happy, I could now cover my three meals for free.
Of course, they didn't taste great.
"Haven't gotten your weapon yet, have you? Go see Guard Captain Hans over there. He'll give you the basic weapon you want."
"Got it. Thanks for the bread!"
I bowed politely.
As I did, a faint smile crept onto the face of the gruff chef who'd been spitting casual remarks. His affinity for me seemed to have gone up a bit.
'Things are going smoothly.'
According to plan, I needed to stay in Talia Village until level 10.
Building rapport with this chef would let me get cheap meals during that time.
"Guard Captain!"
I approached Guard Captain Hans and greeted him.
I made sure to keep my tone as friendly as possible. You always want to get on good terms with NPCs first.
There was no downside to being friendly.
If you kept at it, you might even snag a hidden quest eventually.
"Looks like you're a newbie adventurer. You seem like a good kid."
"Thank you!"
"But Silmaria is a brutal world of competition. What matters is skill. Here, pick the weapon you like from these basics."
The Guard Captain recommended weapons in his deep, resonant voice.
This was a crucial moment.
'One-handed sword, two-handed sword, spear, bow, mace, staff... yeah, this is the one.'
From tests, I had a talent specialized for supporter roles.
To be more precise, healer, buffer, debuffer, or holder. Among the weapons on the table, the staff would be most suitable.
Most supporter classes prioritized Intelligence stats, so picking the staff and hunting with magic would let me raise Intelligence as my main stat from the start.
'But early growth is meh.'
Picking the staff came with the 'Magic Missile' skill.
Naturally, hunting meant spamming Magic Missile, but once mana ran dry, you'd have to wait for it to regen, making early hunts frustratingly slow.
If you were job-changing into a mage class, it was something you'd have to endure.
But my goal wasn't mage or any standard supporter class.
'Better to follow what draws me.'
My aim was to job-change into a hidden class.
That meant there was no one right answer.
It was all about playing the game according to your inclinations.
Silmaria's system accumulated data on all player actions, formed algorithms, and triggered events accordingly.
'I'll pioneer a new path that fits my style.'
That was the ideal way to approach a hidden class.
It was contradictory to chase 'hidden' paths while walking the ordinary ones.
"You seem deep in thought."
Hans must have noticed my hesitation, as he spoke like he was about to offer advice.
I decided to hear him out.
"Yeah, it's confusing."
"Heh, I've worked here for 20 years. I can read adventurers' worries just from their eyes."
The Guard Captain was talking about 20 years in a game that had been out for a year.
It felt off, but I let it slide.
"I want to go supporter route. What's the best pick?"
"Supporter, eh... The mace gives you either Strike or a recovery skill. It's the safest for growing into a holy knight or priest later. How about the mace?"
"Mace?"
The mace wasn't bad.
I compared it to the weapon I'd decided on.
'Still, no thanks.'
The mace killed by smashing foes.
I wasn't drawn to a weapon that crushed with brute force over targeting weaknesses.
"Can't make up your mind, huh? But you're just starting out, right? Weapons can be changed anytime, and picking a spear or sword now won't lock you into lancer or swordsman paths. Why not think lighter?"
Hans must have seen me waffling because he gave sincere advice from his eyes.
'Nice guy.'
His words lightened my heart.
I guess I'd been unconsciously obsessed with succeeding in Silmaria, weighing on my chest.
"Then I'll take the spear."
I picked up the Iron Spear I'd set my mind on from the start.
'With a death spear, it's one-shot for you, one-shot for me.'
Half-joking, of course, but spears outperformed swords in real combat, and I'd killed orcs with one before.
Above all, I liked that it let me target enemy weak points from long range.
"Haha, wise choice."
[⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙]
[Acquired 'Iron Spear'.]
[Acquired skill 'Focused Thrust'.]
Whoosh!
A red light emanated from my body along with the messages.
Learning the skill made me feel a bit stronger.
"Now that you have a weapon, do me a favor."
"Sure, what is it?"
"You'll see hordes of rabbits on the back mountain. They're invading the fields and causing damage. Their breeding rate is insane, so we need to cull them. Just catch 10 and bring 'em here. Can you handle it?"
Honestly, I hesitated a little.
Unlike goblins or orcs, rabbits were super cute.
'If he asks, I gotta do it.'
But I couldn't refuse my first official quest just because rabbits were cute. Completing this would unlock the follow-up.
'This is a game.'
I bit my lower lip lightly and steeled myself.
Damaging crops? They were bad rabbits, really.
"Yes. I can do it."
[📜 NEW QUEST 📜]
[Rabbit Hunt]
[▷ Rank: Common]
[▷ Description: Hunt 10 rabbits and bring their corpses to the Guard Captain.]
[▷ Reward: 30 Copper / 100 EXP]
He handed me a sack.
Big enough for 10 rabbits.
"I'll be back."
I bowed politely.
Hans was the Guard Captain of Talia Village, so it paid to stay on his good side.
"Hahaha, what a polite adventurer. Alright, off you go."
I hurried out of Talia Village toward the back mountain.
And there, countless players who'd taken the same quest were swinging their weapons furiously.
"Hya!"
Thud!
"Die!"
Thud!
"Oof..."
Rabbits dropped every time players swung.
As the Guard Captain said, there were tons of them. Half the green field looked white.
If those rabbits hit the fields, they could ruin Talia Village's entire harvest.
Crack.
I cracked my neck side to side, stretching.
Rabbits were cute, but I was here to make money in Silmaria. Sending them off painlessly in one hit was the extent of my mercy.
"Alright, let's hunt."
After loosening up, I approached a rabbit hopping in circles in place.
Our eyes met.
"Kkwi?"
"...Whoa."
So cute.
Its plump butt was adorably lovable.
Unlike real rabbits with degenerated vocal cords, this one had a cute bark.
"Look at those eyes?"
Those pure, curiosity-filled eyes made it impossible to stab right away.
You could slaughter rabbits in other online games no problem, but Silmaria's felt wrong.
"...Why are you so dumb?"
These rabbits lacked survival instincts too—they just grazed while players massacred around them.
"Dummy. At least run."
"Kkwi?"
Rub. Rub.
Whether I called it dumb or not, it approached and rubbed its face on my leg.
As if asking if I could really kill something this cute.
"...Some survival strategy, huh."
Before I knew it, I was squatting and stroking its plump butt.
No matter how hard I tried to toughen up...
Cute was cute.
'So soft...!'
Squishy and just as tactile as expected.
"Kkwi. Kkwi."
Hop!
The rabbit seemed to like it too—it wiped its face with its paws a few times, then hopped onto my knee.
"This little guy's a charmer."
I instinctively fiddled with its face and butt.
The rabbit twitched its nose up and down.
"Kkwiii."
Stroke.
Now it flopped right over on my knee.
A rabbit lying on its side meant it was super content.
If we kept bonding, my resolve would weaken more, so I set it down.
[⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙]
[Gained 10 EXP from bonding with the rabbit.]
"...Huh?"
"Kkwi, kkwi."
The rabbit acted like it saw me as its owner, cutely chirping as it circled me.
I gently stroked its head again.
Now it started licking my palm eagerly.
"You can do it this way too?"
This was the moment my vague goal of pioneering my own path to a hidden class gained solid footing.
The EXP message sparked the idea shift.
'Not killing rabbits might be more profitable.'
Spare them here, and I'd form a unique algorithm different from others.
A satisfying choice that fit my tastes perfectly.
'EXP gain isn't bad either.'
10 EXP was the same as killing it.
But skipping kills would stall my growth in Talia Village.
To reach level 10 smoothly, I needed Guard Captain Hans's follow-up quests.
And obviously, no first quest completion meant no next ones.
Guess I'd have to talk my way out.
'Worth a shot.'
Nothing to lose.
I turned back toward Talia Village.
"Kkwi."
Hop hop.
"Oh?"
The rabbit I'd bonded with followed me.
"Lucky you, kid."
I gave its plump butt one last stroke before heartlessly leaving the back mountain.
No need to take responsibility for its life just from bonding.
'Can't get sentimental.'
The road ahead was long.
The game had just begun.
I couldn't play animal protector here—that'd make enemies of the vast majority of adventurers hunting rabbits.
'...Something's off?'
Then, midway, I noticed something strange.
The rabbits' attitudes toward other adventurers seemed way different from toward me.
When adventurers approached, most rabbits ignored them or slowly backed away.
'Me only?'
If rabbits only showed affinity to me, that proved I had bonding talent!
'Let's confirm.'
I started closely observing how rabbits acted around other adventurers.
Continue reading up to 80+ chapter on NovelsHub.org