As the game itself had just started, it's not like Miyabi's stamina management was perfect. However, it was still more than enough to support her actions—rushing around, cutting down goblins, and backing off repeatedly.
A basic hit and run tactic, ensuring that the enemy would never surround her even by mistake.
"Be careful, two more coming in from your six. Five towards your nine!"
With me helping by calling out incoming enemies she couldn't see, the danger she was facing at any one moment dropped considerably.
Still, even if we managed her stamina and health perfectly, there's one thing we couldn't help. Mental fatigue.
8!
7!
11!
"Kuh...!"
Slowly but surely, Miyabi was making more and more mistakes. Getting hit once or twice wasn't much of a problem. But if she got hit by multiple enemies at once, she'd quickly end up in the red.
At times like that, she quickly retreated to my side and we finished off the immobile goblins, earning enough experience to level up—restoring both health and stamina at once.
Of course, as our levels increased, leveling up became harder too. Not only did our base EXP requirement go up, the experience earned from hunting goblins decreased at the same time. Meaning our recovery windows were getting tighter with each push.
In fact, that was the last batch of immobile goblins we'd just cleared.
"As expected, we've reached the limit..."
I checked our levels and frowned.
Right now, both of us are at level 9. Just one level away from level 10, where we could finally choose our profession. And until we class changed, we couldn't gain any experience past level 10. Meaning...
"FleetingCloud!" I shouted. "Just one more level before we retreat! No need to go too deep!"
"Roger!"
Of course, Miyabi already knew the plan. I had talked her through it beforehand, after all.
Even the chat was following along—whether any of this became a strategy guide or not was up to those keyboard warriors, not us.
Honestly, Miyabi's RNG was something else, really. Even now, almost all her random stats were funneling straight into STR, pushing her damage to a level that was frankly absurd for a new player.
She could one-hit goblins without even landing a crit now.
"Level 10, so roughly 25 goblins, right?!" Miyabi shouted. "Then, I'll start!"
She didn't hesitate even for a second. She jumped forward to the edge of the flag's buff range and raised her voice.
"Come here, you dumb, ugly monsters!"
Of course, it wasn't a taunt skill—just a plain insult. But with the AI's frighteningly high intelligence, almost as if they were real, the goblins came rushing in with genuine fury.
"GRAAAH!"
"KIEEEK!"
They surged in like a tide, but Miyabi didn't flinch. She wore a smile instead, waiting calmly without attacking—letting them close the distance.
Then, when they were roughly a sword's length away—
"DOOOOU!!!"
She swung horizontally, cutting a clean 180-degree arc across everything in front of her.
103!
88!
95!
Every goblin caught in the swing took damage well above their maximum HP, collapsing to the side instantly. Seven of them dropped in a single stroke!
As the bodies faded, more rushed in, and Miyabi repeated the same motion—cutting down anything that came within reach.
"Hap!"
Of course, not all of them came from the front. Some were flanking from the sides and rear, going for a simple pincer. But that's where I came in.
I moved around the edges, letting go of the flag in short bursts, and pushed those goblins back—kicking or punching. I could kill them in three hits if I needed to, but that wasn't the priority.
Miyabi's safety was.
A minute later, we finally downed the last goblin required, earning just enough experience to tip us over. Level 10!
[Server Announcement: Congratulations to players WhiteGod and FleetingCloud for being the first to reach Level 10! They will receive SSR Class Selection Tickets as reward!]
Announced to the entire server, no less.
I wasn't particularly bothered by the attention. If we wanted to get strong fast, drawing eyes was unavoidable either way.
"Alright, let's retreat!"
With our target hit, it was time to pull back.
The plan from here was simple: select our classes, then return and wipe the entire "dungeon" clean.
At least, that was the plan.
"GROOOOOOWL!"
"...!"
A powerful growl rolled out from deep inside the cave. I'd never heard it before—but I'd been told exactly what it meant. There was no mistaking it.
"Shit..." I cursed. "The Goblin King spawned way too early!"
"Wait, you mean...?!"
Miyabi didn't know what the Goblin King was capable of, or how frightening it was... So her eyes were already sparkling. "A boss fight~! First boss achievement, here I come~!"
Before she could bolt, I grabbed the back of her shirt. It caught her mid-step and choked her slightly—drawing out a sound remarkably similar to a frog getting run over. She stopped.
"W-What?! Aren't we hunting it either way?!" Miyabi grumbled.
I understood where she was coming from, but—
"At our current state, we'd get killed in seconds. We need our classes first, then level up to at least 15 before we can fight it properly!"
"Oh, right..."
She caught on immediately, sticking her tongue out like she'd just made a silly slip. I had no time to comment on how cute the gesture was—the chat was already doing that for me.
"Anyway, as discussed—you know what class you're going for, right?!"
I yanked the flag from the ground and turned toward the forest at a run.
"Of course!" Miyabi replied.
As we ran, both of us pulled out the SSR Class Selection Tickets we'd just received. They looked like rainbow-colored concert tickets with a tear-here mark near the top. To use one, you simply tore along the marked line.
The moment I did, a long list appeared before my eyes.
[
Select a Class:
Hero (UR)
Sage (UR)
Samurai (SSR)
Necromancer (SR)
Magic Swordsman (R)
Swordsman (N)
...
]
Hundreds, probably thousands of classes. Searching for a specific one by hand would take ages.
Thankfully, there was a filter. I set it to display only UR and above, then narrowed it further to classes I'd already partially met the requirements for.
The list of thousands collapsed into three.
[
Hero (UR)
Demon Lord (UR)
Android Meister (UR)
]
"Demon Lord?"
The hell? That's a class people could actually get?!
Not that I could select it right now—you needed 100 notoriety from killing players, and I currently only have one point. Hero, on the other hand, was within reach. A 30-point bump to STR, which I could cover with my current free points. Was the RNG God trying to tell me something...?
I pulled up my character panel, distributed my stats to hit the unlock threshold, and—
"I choose you, Android Meister (UR)!"
—selected the class I'd had my eye on from the start.
Not Hero. Even though it sounded impressive.
Because even a hero is ultimately alone.
To fight what was coming—the disaster, the approaching apocalypse—I needed more hands. I couldn't repeat what happened before, where I was the only one left standing at the end.
'This time, I'll clear the game perfectly!'
The moment I selected Android Meister, my first two skills unlocked. "Build" and "Summon."
Build was used to construct an Android—a summon that could fight alongside me indefinitely. Summon called out whichever Android I had stored. Basically a summoner, but with machines instead of monster pets.
It sounded like a cheat. Because it was.
The Android Meister from my last run was the only other player besides me who survived long enough. That alone said everything about the class's ceiling.
My old Berserker class? Rank R. A basic class almost anyone could stumble into. The only reason I'd lasted as long as I did back then was... probably just raw player skill.
Anyway. First things first—I needed to build my Android.
I opened the Build skill and activated it. A new popup appeared. I read through the interface carefully, figuring out how it worked, and then—
"Fuck! It costs real money to build?!"
First, an Android slot—$1,000 for the first one, doubling for every one after. Then a base model, a flat $10,000. And then customization, anywhere from $1,000 to $25,000 depending on how far you pushed it.
"What a money sink...!" I gasped.
I thought back to that scene I'd once watched from a distance—the Android Meister commanding over a hundred Androids at once—and felt my jaw tighten. "What the fuck was that guy, some kind of oil baron?!"
I had money right now, sure. But after accounting for living expenses, I could barely afford to build one.
"What do I do...?!"
For the first time, my confidence cracked.
This was a powerful class—but apparently only if you were already rich.
...Or so I thought.
A blinking light appeared in the menu, highlighting a single button I'd overlooked.
A "Random" creation option. One price: $10,000. It bought a slot, generated a fully customized Android, and handed it to you outright. Lottery logic, sure—pure gambling. But even if I only got a bare frame out of it, it'd still be worth it. Androids could always be upgraded later.
It was cheaper than building custom. But still...
In the end, finger trembling slightly, I tapped the button and prayed.
Please. Give me something worth more than what I'm spending!