[View Character Information]
Name: Lee Ha-je
Level: 2
Skill: Unfold
Quest: Unfold
Stat Information: Strength: 3 / Agility: 3 / Intelligence: 0 / Stamina: 2
Stat Points: 3
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‘Status window, status window. Couldn’t you let me know when I level up?’
I was placing the fish on what seemed to be the guardian spirit’s table (?)—a large rock—and heading back.
If I hadn’t accidentally pressed the person-shaped icon next to the quest window and seen the pop-up information, I would have noticed much later.
‘You could at least set up a blinking notification. Ah, I’m not blaming you. Don’t misunderstand. I just thought it would be nice to have a notification system, or to be able to see why I leveled up. Okay?’
Worried that the status window might be offended, I quickly added my thoughts and touched the Level: 2 item. I was hoping for more detailed information, but nothing changed.
Where did I get experience and level up?
Since there was no notification that I had leveled up, I couldn’t even guess when it happened.
The most likely condition for leveling up seems to be catching that unusual fish.
That fish was unbelievably big. Honestly, I thought it was monster-level.
Even the Elder said that a fish that size must have lived for at least 100 years and wondered if it was the guardian spirit living in the nearby river when he saw the fish we had prepared and brought.
If it had really lived that long, it would have been almost a mystical creature.
Anyway, it’s good that my level went up, not down, so I should consider allocating my stat points first.
‘Should I dump them all into stamina first?’
Even though my physical condition has definitely improved, I can’t let my guard down.
Judging from the situation of Lee Ha-je, the owner of this body I saw in a dream or whatever, surgery seemed absolutely necessary.
I didn’t think such a critical condition could be resolved with just a stamina stat of 2.
It would be great if I was completely healed, but if not, I might suddenly clutch my chest and collapse again, so I was wondering if I should raise my stamina first when I heard Kang Do-hee’s voice from right behind me.
“Ha-je. What are you looking at? Is there a problem?”
“Ah. No. I was just looking at my stat information, and my level went up to level 2. I have a total of three points, so I’m wondering what to do.”
I told Kang Do-hee about my current stat status.
I subtly asked for advice on what to raise, and Kang Do-hee answered without hesitation.
“If it were me, I’d put 1 into agility and 2 into stamina.”
“Hmm, agility sounds good too. What do you think about strength? There might be dangerous situations…”
“I recommend raising strength later.”
Kang Do-hee seemed so sure, so there must be a reason.
“Can I ask why?”
“Right now, it’s better for you to move your body quickly than to use strength, and it seems like increasing your stamina to improve your endurance is a priority.”
“Hmm…”
“If your stamina improves, your strength will naturally increase as well. Even if it’s not as much as raising it with stats, your body itself is improving, so I expect your strength to increase a little.”
“Is that so…”
Seeing that I was still hesitating to raise my stats, Kang Do-hee gave a more definite reason.
“And Ha-je. Think about it. Let’s say a tense situation arises. In that situation, is it better for you to beat them with strength, or to quickly run away with your siblings, thanks to your increased stamina and agility?”
“…Ah.”
I blinked, hearing about Ha-yul.
That’s right. Ha-yul hasn’t hunted any monsters yet, and probably hasn’t leveled up either. I’ll have to check the details later, but I don’t think he has leveled up.
While I was thinking about my sibling and agreeing with her, Kang Do-hee continued, thinking I was still hesitating.
“It might be different when we’re here, but after catching that bug or whatever, we have to move. When we’re outside, it’s best to avoid anything we can. Wasting energy is dangerous, and getting hurt is dangerous too.”
“Yes. I understand what you mean. Then, I’ll raise them as you said. Thanks for the advice.”
“No problem.”
I raised my stats as Kang Do-hee told me to.
[Stat Information: Strength: 3 / Agility: 4 / Intelligence: 0 / Stamina: 4]
If a dangerous situation arises, it might be better to run away with Ha-yul than to step forward and fight…
“Um, then. What level are you now, sis?”
“I’m 6.”
“……!! What, when did you level up so much?”
“I don’t know. I just checked because you mentioned it. I guess it’s not just from catching monsters.”
“If it’s not just monsters, ah…”
I couldn’t say more and closed my mouth.
That’s right. Kang Do-hee caught a lot of things here.
She caught pheasants, and people… She went for a walk alone and caught people again…
Looking at that, is my level-up standard the giant fish, as I guessed?
Perhaps when Kang Do-hee caught the thugs, the arrow I shot that hit their legs was counted as experience or party experience.
Of course, it’s all just speculation since I can’t check it in the system right now.
We shared our status window information as we followed Gamja back home. Kang Do-hee said she had invested her stats evenly in stamina, strength, and agility.
I asked if she had gained any skills, but she replied that nothing was visible in the skill window yet. I was in the same situation, but we weren’t more curious. We’ll find out when the time comes anyway.
We were walking while checking our status windows when the drizzling rain gradually turned into a heavy downpour. It was a heavy rain so thick that the raindrops hitting our scalps hurt.
We returned home soaked to the bone, nervously entering quietly, worried that the Elder would scold us again. Fortunately, the Elder was taking a nap in his room.
I let Kang Do-hee and Gamja use the bathroom first, then went up to the roof to wash in the pouring rain. This is refreshing too.
‘I definitely did a huge load of laundry, but it’s already piled up again.’
Living with Ha-yul, I’ve learned painfully that housework doesn’t show no matter how hard you work, and if you put it off even a little, it piles up like a mountain.
That’s the case now. Kang Do-jin volunteered to do the laundry with Ha-yul today, but I’m sorry for giving them more work.
I’m glad Gamja doesn’t wear clothes.
Still, if we leave here in the future, Gamja might be mistaken for a wild animal and attacked by someone, so should I make him wear a vest or something? Specially made.
‘Ah, no. We don’t even know if we’ll leave together.’
I stopped prematurely imagining the future alone.
The Elder wants us to take Ju Bi-young, Gamja, and Bamtol with us, but we don’t know if they want that.
Besides, even if they want to, I don’t know what our future will be like.
I need to ask Ju Bi-young, but based on what the Elder said, even if the Mountain Lord is weakening, it doesn’t seem like his power will disappear in a few days.
Then, wouldn’t it be better to leave Ha-yul and Kang Do-jin in this house and proceed with the quest with Kang Do-hee and me?
Ha-yul would strongly oppose it, but no matter how I think about it, this is bothering me.
[Penalty for Failure: Death]
‘Status window. Honestly, isn’t this too much from the start?’
If this were a game, wouldn’t this be a tutorial or something? An early stage like a practice mode?
Usually, in game-possession fantasy novels, you easily defeat the first boss, and get lucky encounters, right?
But we have death upon failure?
‘Even though life is a battlefield, there’s no mercy from the start.’
Anyway. Since we’ll die if that quest fails, let’s say we all work together to proceed with that quest. The problem is what comes next. Reward for Success: Supply Box (A) / Next Area Unlocked
Next area.
I was anxious because I didn’t know where to go after leaving here, or what journey awaited us. No matter how I think about it, the difficulty will only increase, not decrease.
If the penalty is so terrible from the beginning, I don’t even want to imagine the level of difficulty of what will happen when moving to later areas.
Of course, that’s if we survive…
Suddenly, I realized that I was more stressed about this problem than I thought.
Right. It would be weirder if I wasn’t uncomfortable after seeing the death penalty.
The problem is that not only I received this quest, but also Kang Do-hee, Kang Do-jin, and even Ha-yul. Yes. That part is probably the biggest stress factor.
Death upon failure.
The fact that this penalty probably doesn’t mean that only one person who fails the quest dies is constantly tormenting my mind.
‘I need to get that gold or whatever and do something quickly.’
Offer one more protein-filled food to receive a reward.
It’s a bit suspicious that it seems like only I received this quest, but who knows. Kang Do-hee or Kang Do-jin might have received it but didn’t say anything.
It’s not that I don’t trust those two, but it’s assuming that those two don’t trust me.
Even if we’re relying on each other now, it might be my one-sided reliance.
I was also considering the possibility that the two might not be sharing all the information with others.
I hope they’ll open up later if they’re hiding something, and if they hide it, I want to believe they have their own reasons.
Anyway, I plan to tell the group everything without hiding anything.
‘Originally, all misunderstandings start from deep thoughts that make you anxious, or from hiding something.’
In that sense, I’m already hiding something from Ha-yul, but I can’t help it.
I’ll love my sibling no matter what situation, no matter what Ha-yul I meet in the world… but from Ha-yul’s perspective, the existence of his brother has suddenly changed.
‘No. Not this thought again. Stop it. Thinking about it won’t solve anything right now, so why do you keep thinking about it? Get a grip, Lee Ha-je.’
Constantly worrying, thinking, and dwelling on problems that I can’t solve seems to be one of my stress factors. I’m figuring out another one like this.
My jaw hurts and I keep having headaches because I’ve been clenching my teeth while sleeping lately, so it would be good to identify stress factors and avoid them somehow.
If it’s not something I can solve right away, I should at least avoid it by thinking about it later. What’s the point of dwelling on it?
I gathered the laundry and chose the least embarrassing hoodie with a feline logo brand among the clothes Ju Bi-young gave me to wear freely.
Of course, if you look closely at the cat picture, the head looks like it’s permed, and the brand logo below is written in English as “Perm,” so it’s a bit embarrassing, but it doesn’t matter since I’m not going out wearing this.
I’m in no position to worry about the brand logo when I’m borrowing clothes. There’s a bigger problem right now.
‘My body is starting to feel bad again.’
It doesn’t seem to be from getting rained on, so it must be the aftereffects of raising my stats.
Are you saying I am going to be sick everytime I raise my stats?