A single shot with that bow costs what?! One full stamina? No wonder the character ran out of breath while shooting it, and needed the potion. So what exactly is this thing? The stat block says Recurve Bow +5 and grays out most of the info.

It's not hidden, like it doesn't need an appraisal, it's only unavailable below the tenth level. Everything in this fucking game, I hate it when it does that. When DragonSlayer gave it to me, I didn't even check, taking it for granted that the character could use it.

The first doubts only occurred to me at the camp, yet the only stats to look at were the median damage. That plus-five is still unparalleled. Using it with the plus three arrows the bandits drop, and Dragi gave me, it dishes out eight damage.

Only that marked bandit sword came close, though it's level-locked like most of their gear. It puts their bows to shame though, that gives no more than plus-three. And he said it was mid-level garbage that weighed him down, giving it away for free.

Okay, here it says requirements. Thirteen strength? Wait a second, the character has ten until the real attributes unlock, so how could he shoot the thing? Shouldn't that be a hard limit, like no weaker characters can use it? Or does it only give me a debuff?

Why isn't there a tooltip for this?!

Sigh, there is no helping it. Let's pack up the cheap bulky shit that clutters my hidden stash and sell it on the marketplace. Once inside the village, the built-in browser won't be as risky to open, and I can Boogle it. There must be a clear explanation somewhere.

In times like this, I regret not restarting the tutorial. After forgetting to talk with Tank many times and finding out about the system's search engine, I gave up on it. Still, ever since running into those players and the second bandit ambush, it feels like a bad idea to use it here.

All it takes is a second and someone could get the drop on me. Okay, fine. Saying it after lying in a bedroll in the middle of nowhere is hypocritical. Without stamina, they could have dropped on me either way though.

This is a sound plan regardless.

It's almost midnight in the game, meaning the rats will respawn on those quests. The tails stay here for now, they take up little space, but their price will keep increasing. Let's keep them out of sight until then, so that no gankers start following me around.

The ten bows collected in the two days weigh twenty kilos. Only keeping the plus-three arrows and a backup bow with the Recurve in the stash it's a pretty high stack. Once the bedroll and the rest of my gear are back in the inventory, it goes over forty kilos.

"Ugh, fine, let's keep the sleeping bag here then." The regular rats shouldn't tire me out, so carrying it to the village is unnecessary. The money stays too, and stash away a few potions for the bad days. If I ever needed this kind of backup, it means I'm already screwed but whatever.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

If the Jazz gets me, it doesn't matter if it's a good or a bad plan, you got to roll with it. Call it a hunch. The plan involves common rats that won't need it anyway, and a stash is to keep your backup here, right?

Except it's so cluttered now. How much will these all sell? Is it a good idea to take the bandit bows too? The players must be aware of them now that they ambushed others too. Are these expensive enough to grab the attention of the red-named players?

Would it be worth holding on to them and selling them in Taji once the character can travel? It will be my first time using the marketplace, so it might be better to leave them behind. Let's not worry about the profit for now anyway.

Leaving them would free up six kilos in my inventory, and if the gold and silver coins stay here, the copper can come. Stash away about half the potions, and spend that thousand or so coins to get more. And who knows, if this shit sells, I could boost it with the income from the loot.

It will be a long walk, so it's better to get going.

It takes a hundred meters to realize the oil lamp and the lock remain inside the chest, but there's no way to turn back now. Too lazy, don't care. If someone found the chest they could bash it open anyway. Though, this could be another thing to look up.

What was the other? Ah, right, the bow. Or rather, how the character could use it with less than the required strength? The minimap's counter starts beeping as the number goes up, but it's the villagers on the streets. It should be safe now to run the Boogle searches.

[Item requirements, and should you ignore them?]

This comes from the game's official website. They have a FAQ there too, and for once, the first Boogle result wasn't some AI-generated nonsense. At least they explain it themselves, though it should be in the game.

[Some items will tell you the recommended strength or other attributes needed to use them. Yet you come across something you're not gifted enough to use, and the system lets you equip them, so what's the deal? Here's what you can expect.]

Oh come on, it's one of those. Even DragonS didn't waste his breath on introductions for his comments. Why can't you start with the important part right off the bat? Scrolling down, this article is three pages long.

[If you are below one point of the requirements, you'll get a simple debuff. Two points double this debuff and three will quadruple it, yet it might still be worth using that item. Anything above that, and the player won't be able to equip it.]

This is halfway through the article, and thank God they highlighted it, so there was no need to read the rest. They also list the possible debuffs, coming in different flavors. One example is a bow that's even beefier than mine, but it's perfect for me.

[The Bow of the Damned requires STR 15. Using it with 14 Strength, your rate of fire will drop by 10% and the stamina cost will increase by 25%. A 13 Strength character would incur a 20% and 50% penalty, and a 12 Strength one 40% and 100%.]

That checks out. In my case, using a Recurve Bow with three less Strength than needed, my fire rate almost halved. And it's no wonder that thing tired me out so fast with a hundred percent penalty on stamina. Did DragonSlayer know?

He must've decided it's still my best shot at the bandits. If he gave me anything stronger, the low-level character couldn't use it. With a stamina potion, this was still a killer weapon. I bet the iron shields also come with a strength penalty.

What's up with the minimap's counter? It goes up to crazy heights, so it might be better to close the browser. Oh, it's the marketplace already, and it's busy as always. Okay, then let's figure out how it works.