I'm like those annoying kids who'll protest against everything.
Then once you get them to start, they refuse to stop, making you wonder why they fuss in the first place.
When the system forced the tutorial, it was the same, but why does it have to end already?
The only thing left is to confirm the success with Tank. Then the reward Exp will propel the avatar to the fourth level. So many questions remained open.
The task said something about exploration too, so when will it get to that part? What are the best weapons to use? Which jobs should I take next?
Would it be better to do combat missions for more Exp, while risking death and a full reset?
They let me keep the items from the training, so are they any good?
This is a wooden sword, after all, the axe seemed like a decent weapon.
[The Starter Axe is a woodcutting tool. While you can use them in combat, tools perform worse than purpose-built weapons. The Starter Axe has a +4 median on trees, and it's halved against monsters, nullifying the Res value. Using weapons as tools will result in the same.]
Wait, hold on. An iron axe is a worse weapon than a wooden sword? Did the zombies win because of the wrong gear?
Each strike they landed caused four damage.
While the padded armor has one Res, they'd have to hit four times instead of three.
And if the axe's median was two against them, and they took three hits to kill, the wooden sword could do it in two.
The system stated this is the worst gear in the game, yet it's already a huge difference.
How much would it cost to get a proper sword and armor?
Poor Tank looks at me pondering at the edge of the training grounds, as usual, lost in thought.
The more the system tries to urge the main mission, the more I slow down to think it through.
Baldie said he finished it in six hours with crafting, even though that's low Exp.
Safe, sure, and it doesn't matter how much the monsters give if they win and the stats reset.
And it was almost impossible to land a hit on this guy so why the sudden confidence? How much time does the task have left?
Would these low-level fetching jobs get enough Exp?
[Government Issued Quest: Reach Level 10 within 3 days. Importance: Utmost. Difficulty: Average. Progress: 3/10, Exp to next level: 13/400. (46/72 hours left).]
Less than two days. The total experience points needed will be around fifty thousand.
Since the respawn these jobs gave two hundred and fifty, with one job paying double the reward from a bug.
This tutorial alone gives five hundred once the Trainer talks to me. It's nothing.
"Hey, Tank, do you think I should take on zombies? Or run combat missions, or is it safer to pick the delivery ones?"
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Entering the grounds, a flurry of questions burst out. It is the tutorial, after all, he should be able to tell. He lets out a hearty laugh.
"Looks like you succeeded, Noob. You look energetic too."
He greets me, taking a while to answer.
"It is a decision you must take, the way the world works, higher risks tend to pay higher rewards. Consider how much risk you're willing to take for your goals."
"Well, that is the question."
With eyes rolling, it's better to explain the situation.
If he's an NPC, he should keep this secret, or he might already know what's up.
"I'm in a rush, someone tasked me with, um, training myself up within three days."
It's hard to talk for some reason. Okay, let's keep it as immersive as possible.
With the NPCs acting all polite, confusing them would be a shame.
All the meta-information comes from the system messages instead.
Yet, those throw explanations at me, not an honest opinion.
If only they were to provide a proper advisor.
One who knows the ins and outs of the system and is willing to educate, and catch it if I'm about to do something stupid.
These messages explain stuff after the fact, and it waits until you ask about it.
Tank is a decent guy with a good head on his shoulders.
It's too bad, his programming prevented him from giving insightful advice.
Or the actor's job description, because the fact is, his behavior is way beyond uncanny.
They can't tell me, he is AI-driven, he's too good for that.
"Train yourself up in three days? Train up for what? And what's the rush?"
He asks, looking curious, and clueless as expected.
He adapts well to situations and spotted that I'm left-handed without mentioning it.
He isn't mimicking a veteran, he has the experience and good intuition.
It seems unlikely he'd give bad advice, though he might refuse to provide one. Well, it shouldn't hurt to ask.
So how do you keep this immersive while explaining it as best as possible?
Reach level ten fast, without dying.
"I-it was a bet. A friend dared me to reach the class certification in three days. One already passed, and no progress so far."
The classes should be common knowledge to the NPCs and Tank must know how you can reach them. He ponders about the question.
"So you need to prove yourself in less than two days?"
He sums it up, and if he offers to craft, my brain will melt trying to explain how Premium isn't an option.
"Hmm, doing small errands for the Adventurer's guild won't cut it. It could work if you had a week, not two days."
There goes that option then. It's tempting to believe him. I reached the same conclusion on the way back here.
So will he say ratting or combat missions?
Or to explore a dungeon?
He takes a while, let's hope he didn't break from this question.
"That is a tough one. Since I know you're left-handed, it changes things."
He isn't pretending to think about it, he lists the pros and cons.
"Before that, you seemed like the worst fighter who wanted to train. Your archery skills aren't half bad for a complete beginner either."
"Would a bow work against zombies? They're slow, so they must be easy to hit."
He has me pondering too.
That said, the fifty thousand Exp would be sixteen hundred kills, is there that many of them nearby?
It would mean to slay forty of them each hour, not counting sleep.
"Arrows are good at piercing, then bleed your enemies out."
He shakes his head, so it must be a no.
"That means they work best if your opponents have blood, that still flows. Zombies and other undead are not your ideal targets. They should be easy to kill in melee though."
"Ah, that's fair, but they already kicked this ass once, so sniping them from a distance would have been nice."
This makes him laugh, and now I'm embarrassed.
"So it's a bad idea to rush head-first to prove myself. And there might be no other option."
"There are two ways to look at it." He raises his finger.
"You either know how much risk you're comfortable with, then adjust your goals to match that. Or you can have an ambitious goal like yours, and find the least risky way of reaching it. Of course, you can give it up too."
"No, that's not my Jazz."
It sounds cooler to say this than there is no other option.
It's either leveling up in two days or jail, and the pressure is getting to me.