Let's assume the bandits remain nearby until someone takes them out.
Better yet, if they want to avenge their fallen comrade, they'll be following for a while.
It'd be best to forget those spawn points and ensure they can't find me.
So what better place to hide from them, than a random villager's basement?
It's a good thing Selena gave three contracts for the nearby area, hinting at a bunch more that might pop up.
Sure enough, the street is full of idling people and their straw hats.
"Better be grinding then."
Approaching the first one, he's part of an official F-rank errand and uses the same greetings as the other two.
The developers put crazy effort into making some characters come alive.
And then there are these, copy-pasted over and over.
"Ah, traveler, did the Guild send you?"
With only a nod, I walk past him, glancing back to see if the bandits show up.
The heart rate is faster than normal, so these boring missions should help calm down.
"These rats infested my basement..."
"Yes, let's get rid of them, alright?"
Don't you dare to talk about your non-existent dogs, get down to business and your basement.
The rodents wait like before, and the pulse slows already.
Grinding or not, there should be a more fun way to earn experience.
The Guild Assistant explained why magic or grenades aren't an option to make quick work of them.
Arrows would be a waste too.
While the basement is tight, the training stick or the shield seems the most sensible. What else is in the inventory?
The fallen bandit dropped some stuff and it should be in there.
These greedy hands grabbed and threw in everything without checking in that chaos.
Once the inventory opens, two items are behind a lock icon, one with a red and another with a yellow background.
The system is quiet, but focusing on the icon, an explanation appears written over both.
The red background means the item needs you to reach level ten or higher to use it, and the yellow stuff is Premium only.
So the game puts these behind a paywall too?
The yellow looks like a sword and the only stat visible is the plus-six damage, which is huge.
No wonder that would be a Premium item and the rest of the info remains hidden behind the lock.
The other is a pair of boots, which gives plus one dexterity.
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Since you won't unlock the attributes it boosts until level ten, it's only fair that the system won't let you use it.
What stats count as average? Is one a lot?
This bandit was full of loot, he dropped food and a potion too.
Money is the only thing missing, which makes sense. Why would you take coins with you to rob someone?
He had half a dozen arrows on him, plus three damage, what's the highest so far, and a dagger.
It's a proper, steel sidearm with a plus-four median damage.
It's better than the wooden sword even if only by a little, and it's made of metal, so it should be more durable.
The stats remain hidden, as some items need appraisal.
It isn't locked behind Premium or level requirements at least.
What if it's cursed? Well, what are the odds? There's no reason not to test it on the rats.
They look impatient, waiting for me to kill them instead of hiding or running away.
This peak realism is the worst part of CineMraft.
[You killed a Common Rat +5 Exp.]
This message keeps repeating until the villager peeks in to confirm it.
The job ends with the same sentence they always use.
Once he signs the paper, aim for the next house with a distressed NPC in front.
He's also one of Selena's clients, and patience is running low.
He can't even tell his usual greeting before the rats taste this new weapon.
It's great, both the stick and this thing killed them in a single hit, and it moves much faster, and easier to aim.
[You killed a Common Rat +5 Exp.]
The only way to improve this would be to have two, or something that damages more than one critter at once.
A rat tail remains on the ground so into the inventory it goes, whatever Selena pays for it.
She bought it for sure since the other one's no longer here.
"You did it, adventurer, you saved my home!"
Yes, staying awake while saving your basement was a great effort.
Sunrise waits outside; the visuals are amazing even if the day-night cycles happen so fast. The sky is orange and red like the real thing.
Except it happens twenty-four times faster in this world, and even worse on the fast server.
While only one mission remains, three more villagers stand on the street.
The one the minimap points at is further away, so let's see what happens with the other two first.
"Ah, traveler, did you help the neighbors?"
What's this, a different greeting? They can't assume the Guild's hand is in this after all.
"Can you do a task for me too? I was about to file a request since the rats invaded and destroyed all the food stocks, and could carry disease."
"I'm happy to help." This is a lie to get an invite, and the system sends a message after so long.
[Warning! This quest classifies as an E-class job, it's higher than what the Guild would give you. Completing it will reward you, but it won't count towards your promotion as an adventurer. There might be more and stronger enemies you're used to. Do you accept it anyway?]
Zombies are also at a higher level than they'd think appropriate and aren't a challenge.
Okay, sure, the first death on the first day was by their hands, though that was on me.
These can't be tougher than them if undead missions start at D-class.
"Show the way, man."
The villager rubs his hands together, and a new task appears in the journal.
There's no mention of class or the Guild, even if it's easy to see the rewards are higher.
It shouldn't matter how many rats appear as long as they act stupid like the previous ones.
[Quest: Rat Infested Home. Importance: Low. Difficulty: Easy. Progress: 0/36. Reward: 30 Copper and 300 Exp. Common Rats infested a villager's house. Kill the rats, and avoid damaging his property. The rats are in the basement, kitchen, and attic (6/6 hours left).]
They tripled the kill count and the reward, though the difficulty still says easy.
The same six hours are available to do it too. Let's see if it's possible to speedrun it.
A little challenge to keep myself awake, and test the speed of this new dagger. He heads to the kitchen.
It's the same setup, twelve rats with glowing red eyes, and only the scene changes.
It's like taking three lame jobs at once, and it won't become more interesting. The only benefit is to walk less to get the same rewards.
"Line up, guys, let's finish this quick."
[You killed a Common Rat +5 Exp.]
Yep, it's the same shit, wake me up when it's over.
The grind's real, but they might have made this new toy with them in mind.
It moves fast, and they still drop from the smallest of pokes.