To Jacob's surprise, he noticed that although the life bars of the snails were displayed as expected, his vision also showed the amount of health they had in numbers, which was not something he had access to before when he clicked on creatures' life bars. He was able to tell that each snail had an average of 50-60 life.
It wasn't exactly much, but they would need more than 5 hits if he was still in his previous life where he only had 8 Attack. Now with 48 Attack, even if he still couldn't use magic attacks, he would need at most 2 attacks, which would be gratifying to know.
Holding and crushing the snails didn't even cross his mind, as that would be even worse. It would cause him to be even more affected by the snails' venom and he would suffer poisoning several times. Not that he tried that strategy in his other life, however, he found out that someone died trying to finish the mission in that manner.
'Okay, I can't waste time. I need to finish this as soon as possible to avoid others seeing me,' Jacob muttered in his mind. Luckily it was very early and this was a less busy street at this time of day.
Jacob was wearing a hat. Although it didn't completely hide his face, it was better than not having one. Even though there were no people passing by now, and little chance of anyone showing up, just in case they did, he preferred to avoid being recognized. Ideally, he would wear a mask or something, however, it wasn't something he had in his possession at home and he didn't even have time to get one or else he would lose the chance to be the first to complete a main quest given by the system.
Just in case, Jacob looked in all directions. Not identifying anyone nearby, he moved!
His target was motionless in the middle of the road inside the hull. Giving a punch in which he swung his arm down, he hit the shell of the snail.
*Bang!*
[- 41]
Upon seeing the number appear and seeing the amount of damage he had managed to inflict, a smile blossomed on his lips.
"Faster!"
Upon realizing that the snail was wanting to come out of its shell, he threw another very fast punch.
*Bang!*
[- 38]
[Experience gained: 1]
[Bonus experience gained: 0.5]
"Oh?" This took him by surprise once again.
Opening the status and going to the title bar, he then cleared his doubts. 'Then that's it...'
He hadn't stopped to look before, but now that he saw it, he understood. The title he had received gave him 50% bonus experience while equipped.
[You are under the effect of poison]
[Life -10]
[Life -10]
[Life -10]
Jacob sighed. He thought he had managed to avoid it, but after looking at the back of his hand, he realized that there was a little bit of semi-transparent goo.
While waiting 10 seconds, he picked up the silver coin that dropped from the snail's carcass.
[- 43]
*Bang!*
[- 39]
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[Experience gained: 1]
[Bonus experience gained: 0.5]
[You are under the effect of poison]
[Life -10]
[Life -10]
[Life -10]
This time the negative effects came faster. Wasting no time, when the effect wore off, he went on to the next and the next...
[Experience gained: 1]
[Bonus Experience gained: 0.5]
[Experience gained: 1]
[Bonus Experience gained: 0.5]
[Experience gained: 1]
[Bonus Experience gained: 0.5]
[Experience gained:1]
[Bonus Experience gained: 0.5]
[Experience gained: 1]
[Bonus Bonus experience gained: 0.5]
[<
In big letters, brightly highlighted gold letters, the words stayed for two seconds, showing that his level had risen to level 2.
It only took 7 snails for him to level up.
"Let's continue…" Despite being happy, Jacob didn't want to waste too much time here.
Minutes later...
[<
[Obtained: 100 Experience, 10 Gold, 1 Labyrinth Key]
[<
It didn't take even two seconds for the notification to appear globally again.
[Congratulations to the player Achilles for being the first player to complete the 1st main quest. This achievement is engraved on the leaderboards for all eternity!]
There was so much new information that Jacob almost felt dizzy. Unintentionally, he had already made the news twice on the same day...
Of course, at first, people didn't understand so much, since everything was new and unknown, however, even after a short time, some had already started to move.
Despite being happy, he was scared at the same time. However, even afraid, knowing that if he was discovered he would be hunted, Jacob did not regret his actions. It did mean he would have to keep advancing to keep others from catching up. Without thinking twice, he grabbed the 20 silver coins that the snails dropped and ran away as quickly as possible.
__
Upon arriving home, Jacob's heart was racing, but there was also a smile on his face.
'I did it, I really did it!' Clenching his hands tightly, he wanted to scream, but he was afraid to attract attention. He lived near the road and had neighbors.
Taking a deep breath, calming his racing heart, Jacob went into his room.
Opening his status, he smiled again.
__
Name: Achilles
Title: First Player
Class: N/A
Level 4 – Exp (60/80)
__
Strength: 15
Intelligence: 16
Physical: 17
Attack: 60
Agility: 15
Magic: 64
Magic Resistance: 16
Life: 340
Defense: 17
__
'Hehe, level 4 in the first mission and a big jump in my stats.' Despite having the chance of skills dropping from killing monsters, he didn't feel sad when he didn't get any even after killing 20 level 1 snails. This was merely the beginning. Sometimes it was even necessary to kill more than 1,000 of the same monster to get a single skill.
'Now I have to plan my next steps. Going to the dungeon is out of the question, as the lowest level one I know of is level 10. So... The best thing is to enter the labyrinth!'
Not only that, he even had a lucky chest, although the chances of something useful coming along depended a lot on each person's luck.
Without hesitation, he took the lucky chest from his inventory. The thing was like one of those surprise boxes you find in any toy store, red and well-decorated.
Laying it on the bed, Jacob opened the box.
[Congratulations to the 1st player of Law of Return who obtained a grand prize from a lucky chest!]
__
Jacob had no idea what this Contract Space was about, however, the system put emphasis on highlighting it globally, despite not announcing what the item was. He was grateful it had done at least that much, as the name itself was too flashy and would bring even more unwanted attention to himself.
Opening the inventory, he saw a small miniature island. Clicking on the item, a new screen appeared:
[You may bind the artifact (Contract Space) with yourself. Do you want to do this now? Yes - No?]
Despite never having seen it before, or even hearing something about it, he still clicked yes.
[Congratulations, you have successfully linked Contract Space with you!]
Below, some information appeared:
[Contract Space: Increases 50% chance of being able to hire a pet – Pets that stay within the Contract Space gradually improve their bloodline and even have a chance to evolve. Currently, the contractor only has room for two pets]
'This is fantastic!' Jacob smiled and laughed.
He had imagined that it was something good, however, this was beyond his expectations!
'Should I try to hire a pet before entering the labyrinth?' It was a valid question, however, he soon dismissed it.
Although his chances of hiring a pet had increased, he didn't even have a pet ability. It would be difficult for him to capitalize on that effect without a pet tamer skill.
'I'll get a little stronger in the labyrinth first, then I'll try to hire a pet.'
Taking the labyrinth key from his inventory, Jacob held the blue crystal key and imagined an invisible door in front of himself and made a gesture to try to open it.
Edited by: Azurtha