"Is DragonSlayer that famous?" My question has Little Red laughing. Once the food poisoning effect runs out, the looted meal comes out of the inventory for the extra regen. The system has no issue with me eating, but I'm too worried to try the potions.

"Dragi? Yeah. You could say that, but he spends more time on Wroddit than in the game." She giggles as her amulet and ring glow up in the dark. The name rings a bell, but I can't remember why. The glow distracts me, and she catches me looking. "Oh, these? Experience boost artifacts."

"W-what are those?" The lights pulse in sync with the battle noises from inside the house. She won't head in? Exchanging a single word with her gives birth to dozens of questions, and I don't know which one to ask first. She keeps laughing at me though.

"You are a Noob after all, you wouldn't know, haha." She says, turning the book around. It's a stupid name, she doesn't have to keep reminding me. "This is the Book of Knowledge. And these are the low-grade ring and amulet for the same thing. Well, the hat is mid-grade."

"You put them on and they generate Exp or something?"

"No, haha. It gives a flat bonus on the experience from rats." She explains, holding up her silver ring. "This one gives five percent, the amulet too. The hat gives ten, and there is a belt I don't have, but you get a stacking penalty if you use them without the book."

"Wait, what?" This makes my head spin. She's going too fast, even though her party does all the fighting without her. And what's with these artifacts? Wroddit never mentioned them. "You can get more Exp from the mobs with these?"

"Yeah, they even sell them in the Origin Market. The ring cost sixty, the amulet was a hundred for some reason, and I got the hat as a gift from the Boss so I didn't ask the price. Since it's mid-grade it must be like a thousand, haha." Thousand, she says, a thousand what?

"You don't mean gold, right?" I gathered eight in three days and worried that the gankers would get me for it. Much of them are still in coppers, hidden in my stash. This triggers another laugh from Little Red, she's having a great time out in the dark.

"Of course it's gold. These aren't even that expensive. High grade goes for like a thousand platinum." What was the exchange rate between gold and platinum again? Another thing to look up later. "It's too bad it doesn't work with mission payouts though."

"So why aren't you in fighting with the others?"

"The bonuses apply for the entire party. Same as my Stone Skin. But I'd be useless inside while holding the book open." She explains with a sigh. "Without this, the five percent twice and the ten from the hat would only add up to fifteen or so, and thirty-three with it."

I can't understand her, but she finds it entertaining.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"The more items you have with the same bonuses, the worse their efficiency gets." The girl counts it on her fingers. "The book flips it around and gives a bonus, but it has to be always equipped, and open in my hand. So I can't use two-handed weapons, shields, or bows."

"Ah, that's a boomer." So she is a mere support character. She casts buffs and boosts the experience-gain for the whole party, from a safe distance. It's too bad. If used from the start, a thirty-three percent increase would have been enough to finish my main quest.

"You can still use the other two or three, the bonus will be much smaller though." She notes, looking around, then leaning in closer. "You better remember to unequip them before going to the market or the Guild. The gankers would have a field day with you if they saw them."

"Aren't you worried that I could mug you?" My question only triggers another giggle. Of course, she has stone skin and five buddies nearby and my character has one HP. No, he healed up from nibbling on the food, since how long have we been talking?

"You have a positive standing with the Pharmacy so you don't strike me as a bad guy. Besides, with that name, Noob. Haha, what got you to pick it?" There she goes again as if it didn't cause me trauma already. She never misses an opportunity to remind me of it.

"Noobslayer was already taken, and I kept erasing letters until the system accepted it." It's not a lie, though it happened by accident. "It's not like I can fix it now, but you can call me Arnim. Or should I use CrimsonMage Thirteen?"

"You missed the exes, haha. And what's wrong with my name? It's pretty cool." She puts her hands on her hips, which looks funny considering the large books in both. "Besides, I told you to call me Lilith too, and you didn't use it."

Her friends flood out of the building covered in dirt and blood. FootSoldier - Archie - pats my back, while the other four chats between themselves. Did they already finish? The first twelve took me way longer than the other sixty took them.

"Two minutes until midnight, then we go in again." He says, glancing at Little Red. Holy shit, it's that late already? And didn't she say only her friends called her Lilith? Why is she pissed that I didn't use it? "Will your mana recharge until then, or should we take a break?"

"I'm good, already at max." She claims with a smug grin, then nods towards me. "Talking to Arnim might have given me a recharge boost. You guys took your sweet time with that thirteen hundred Exp though. Did any of the tails drop?"

Thirteen hundred? Ah, of course. She has a boost of thirty-three percent, and they killed sixty rats. Since it's a party of six and the experience spread is even, they all got the same amount. That first twelve gave me twelve hundred struggling alone, and almost dying to them.

And they'll repeat it in a few minutes, this method seems quite efficient. And since she asked for the tails, should I tell her there are seventy-one of them in my backpack? No, the prices will keep increasing. This quest is theirs so it would be time to move on to the next.

"Only three, but it was pretty fun." One guy claims but fun wasn't what I had in mind fighting these beasts. Considering the low drop rate, they haven't figured out how to farm them. And if they are with the Pharmacy and don't know the trick, that's a business opportunity for me.

"Well, it was nice talking to you guys, but I have other quests to run." This is the first time Lilith stops smiling. Is she disappointed? Checking the journal, this mission is complete and I could rush to the Guild to claim it before midnight. It would be a dick move though.

"Yeah, sorry about taking this one." The tall elvish-looking guy nods. Let's not piss off the Pharmacy-people; they were nice to me. "Although if you had food poisoning, you should take a break first. Read up on the potion mechanics until then, so you avoid it next time."

That is a sound advice. How long has it been since I had my lunch in the real world?