Immediately after we split up, I went straight toward a vacant lot and wrestled with the system panel.
First of all, I returned Ram to storage—which apparently is required for her to "fully" recover, damaged parts included. No extra payment needed.
Though, of course, with a catch.
"So I can only summon her again after 1 hour..."
Depending on the degree of damage, the "cooldown" before resummoning changes. Since her damage was only a missing hand this time, it only added 30 minutes to the default duration, totaling one hour.
If, for example, her HP reached zero, her whole body damaged, then I couldn't summon her for 24 hours. Thankfully, I wouldn't lose an Android forever just because it "died."
Of course, I didn't miss the other details either.
Like how, at my current level, I can only summon two androids at most simultaneously, adding one more each time I class up. For efficiency, I should get another android now, but...
"...I'll hold off on that until I have a proper income source."
If I recall correctly, I do have a few part-time jobs at the moment. However, the earnings from those combined could never reach the amount needed to summon a new android—though it was more than enough to keep a bunch of bullies well-fed.
'I should politely quit those jobs tomorrow, then look for something more worthwhile.'
With that settled, I quickly stood up and began walking around.
Not aimlessly, though. My first target was a shop—any shop. I needed to convert all the junk items into gold before buying something more useful.
After offloading all the trash, I moved to the armor shop and picked up a solid set for level 15. It should hold me over until level 30, where the next tier of good armor becomes available.
The one I chose resembled a military uniform of sorts. Its base stats weren't anything to write home about, but the set bonus was quite good—a 5-meter extension for zone-type skills. The flag's zone falls under that category, so it should benefit from the range boost too!
While I was at it, I didn't forget to address the exclamation marks over the NPCs' heads, picking up every quest they had to offer.
Next, I visited the weapon shop.
What I wanted was a proper parry dagger.
The goblin dagger was usable, but its durability was too low—breaking after just around 20 exchanges with the Goblin King. Too brittle!
On top of that, I also bought a sword and shield pair for situations where I'm alone and all my androids are on cooldown. It's not like I'd be with Miyabi all the time, after all. She has her own life, and so do I.
After that, I made one last stop at the grocer. Food, water, essentials like rope, potions, and a whetstone set for weapon maintenance.
Running back to the village every time a weapon broke would be way too much of a hassle.
"Alright, that's all of it!" I nodded to myself.
Oddly enough, I hadn't crossed paths with Miyabi since we split up. I expected to run into her at the same shops, but it seemed like she was making her rounds in a different order.
Anyway, I started heading not toward the fountain, but in the opposite direction—deeper into the village.
At the far end, a single large home stood on its own.
"You are...?"
The old man there noticed me quickly and smiled.
He was small, probably under five feet tall, with a hunched back and eyes that were nearly closed. His hair was completely white—clearly well along in years.
"Are you the village chief?" I asked in a straightforward tone. "I heard from the weapon-shop owner, Sir Makita, that you've been troubled by a Shroom Bear. I'd like to offer my services."
Of course, that line was adlibbed. I hadn't actually spoken to the weapon-shop owner—I already knew the steps for this Unique Quest.
Heaven's Path wasn't too strict with flags, after all. As long as you hit the right keywords and the stage was already set, you could accept or advance a quest without going through every prior step properly.
"Hohee...?"
The old man stroked his long beard, as if deep in thought.
I didn't push him to decide quickly. I waited patiently.
This Unique Quest wasn't something I could afford to miss. It was essential to getting stronger faster in this game.
"Makita... Makita..." He repeated the name, as if trying hard to place it. "Ah! That brat who loves swinging hammers! I remember now, I remember..."
"Then...?"
"Oh, the Shroom Bear, right? The village has been troubled by them, so it'd be a great help if you could take care of it. Here's a map and a bell—they should come in handy on your journey."
The moment he finished speaking, two notification windows appeared.
One confirmed that I'd received two items: a map and a small bell.
The second was a quest notification.
[
Quest: The Mystery in the Howling Forest (Unique)
Requirements: Level 15, Title of Pioneer
Description:
The Howling Forest to the East of the Beginner Village hides something. You must search for the anomaly and stop it before it's too late.
Quest Targets:
- Kill 0/100 Shroom Rabbits
- Kill 0/100 Shroom Boars
- Kill 0/100 Shroom Wolves
- Kill 0/1 Shroom Bear
- ?
Quest Rewards:
- UR Class Advancement Scroll
- ?
]
This was it.
The quest I needed.
Being a Unique Quest, only one player could hold it at a time. So even if I brought Miyabi along, she wouldn't be able to accept it herself.
Not that I was leaving her out—I was just prioritizing my own strength first and foremost.
You can only help others if you have strength to spare, after all. And I needed to start building that "excess" strength right now.
After closing the conversation with the village chief, I started making my way toward the fountain, turning the quest details over in my mind as I walked.
'Those question marks... Kiki never mentioned those.'
She did tell me this was the easiest place to obtain a UR Class Advancement Scroll, but she never said anything about question marks on the quest itself.
I was still frowning over that when a chat bubble popped up.
[Anon00010101: Looks like your New Game+ came with some extra features, as expected~!]
"Huh?" I blinked, reading the useless goddess' chat. "What do you mean, Tee? Did the game change...?"
As expected, she ignored my question entirely.
Whether she simply couldn't answer or chose not to, I couldn't tell. But her analogy was already a clue in itself.
New Game+
When you restart a cleared game with your previous data intact. A way to cheese through it, or to grab missed achievements.
But most New Game+ modes come with extras. Higher difficulty, new monster patterns, or even unexpected twists.
'Was the Goblin King's strange trajectory adjustments part of that too?'
I couldn't help but rub my chin in thought.
Lost in that train of thought, I arrived at the fountain in the middle of the village plaza before I realized it.
"You're late!!!"
Miyabi was already there waiting, arms crossed and cheeks puffed cutely.
Her attire was still the boss drop armor from earlier—so it looked like she hadn't found anything better in the shops. Not surprising, given that we were basically at the front of the pack right now.
Meaning, I guess the mage staff I got as loot and sold earlier would come around and get in the hands of other players later...
"Sorry, got caught up shopping." I smiled, patting her head. "Anyway, you ready?"
Miyabi scrunched her neck, cheeks going pink as she accepted the head pat. Only when the chat started teasing her did she swat my hand away, clear her throat, and give a firm nod.
"I am! I already bought potions, food, and water! I can still go for two more hours!"
"Good. Then let's get going."
Since Miyabi wasn't new to games, I trusted she hadn't slipped up on anything.
Our priority right now was knocking out the dozen-odd normal quests we had gathered while chipping away at my quest on the side.
"Ah, right!" But before we could leave, Miyabi raised her hand. "Sorry, but can we stop by the Howling Forest at some point? I have a quest there!"
"Howling Forest...?"
I tilted my head.
Was there another quest that sent players there? I didn't think so... But then again, I hadn't memorized every corner of the game, and from what Tee said, things had changed a bit this time around. That had to be it.
"Sure." I nodded. "I have a quest there too, so let's head that way after we hit level 25 and clear the side quests first."
"Yes!"
And just like that, the two of us walked out of the village together.
Since I already had a solid idea of where the monsters were and how tough they'd be, I'd already mapped out a rough plan for our sweep of the beginner hunting grounds.
First, south—the Teru Plains.
Monsters there were ranging from level 15 to 20, just right for where we were now.
Then west, into the Mushi Forest, overrun with insect-type monsters from level 17 to 23.
After that, north to the Gura Mountains, home to elementals with a recommended level of 20 to 25.
Finally, east to the Howling Forest—recommended level 25 to 30.
In that order, we'd be able to clear our quests while leveling up at a solid pace.
"First stop, Teru Plains!"
"Let's go~!"
With a spring in our steps, the two of us made a dash for the south gate.
No point wasting time!