IGTL Chapter 4

Full title: In-Game Transfer: I’m the Only One Who Can Log Out!? Rise in a World Where Game and Reality Are All Mixed Up!

Note: This chapter is sponsored by M. Mark (Saint tier)

Translator: Canon

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Chapter 4 - Beginner Dungeon “Sleeping Forest” (2)

“Hmmm? What was going on?”

As a test, I took down a vulture-themed monster, the Fang Vulture, with my Mob-Fenrir Bazooka. Once its HP was depleted, it dropped a Fang Vulture Feather and then vanished.

Fang Vulture Feathers were a material used to craft accessories.

I stowed the feather in my item storage and frowned in confusion.

The Mob-Utan that the other player had killed earlier still hadn’t disappeared.

Meanwhile, the Mob-Utan and Fang Vulture I that I had defeated had left drops and dissolved.

Frankly, it made no sense.

“Well, there’s no point thinking about it…”

I pulled a paid item, Rare-Drop Rate +500%, from storage and decided to continue exploring the forest.

Agonizing over it would achieve nothing. Better to press on.

With the map up as I moved, I noticed three Forest Wolves heading toward me.

Even so…

“Forest Wolves, huh… Good experience, but they don’t drop items.”

Forest Wolves were wolf-type monsters that hunted in packs. When cornered, they howled to summon nearby monsters, which made them troublesome.

I slipped into the brush, took aim, and fired the Mob-Fenrir Bazooka.

“Gya!?”

The wolf hit by the shell screamed and then melted away into black motes.

With Forest Wolves, the iron rule was to kill them before they howled.

I had once been surrounded and pummeled by a pack.

It was something else.

Even knowing it was a game, getting mobbed was terrifying.

Ever since, my policy with that type was to hide in the brush and one-shot them on sight.

Of course, that was only feasible because of my maxed level.

“Still… monsters felt weirdly real today.”

Almost lifelike.

Fang Vulture cries echoed from all directions, and something about the forest field felt more vivid than usual.

Maybe they had rolled out a new feature?

“Whatever… There were fewer players around today anyway. I should finish this run and head back.”

Muttering that, I set off on my own.

The forest dungeon Sleeping Forest was the Central Kingdom’s flagship beginner dungeon.

You might wonder why, if I was level-capped, I bothered with a beginner dungeon at all.

There was a reason: the monsters here dropped recovery items.

In this game, recovery items were generally scarce.

I was pretty sure I had said this before, but potions weren’t sold at the Yggdrasil Shop.

If you wanted them, you had to buy from player-run stalls or bring materials to a crafter. Otherwise, you farmed drops.

Reality was harsh.

Hardly anyone had taken the advanced class Alchemist, and player stalls were pricey…

DW allowed Real-Money Trade (RMT), so stalls kept jacking up the prices of rare recovery items.

For reference, the rate was 1 Col = 1 Yen.

Plenty of players lived off DW’s RMT economy.

As for me, I didn’t do it as I had signed with Amazing Corporation, worrying about appearances, but looking back, that had been a mistake.

DW time got squeezed, the pay was mediocre, and there was no overtime pay.

All that workplace did was pile on stress.

But for the coming year, so long as I live modestly, I’m free!

I would wake when I wanted, play DW when I wanted, and drink when I wanted.

Heard like that, it sounded like the life of a shut-in.

Which, to be fair, it was.

On the way, I cut down orangutan-type Mob-Utans, tucking Basic Recovery Potions into storage as I pushed for the third floor where the boss awaited.

—Second Floor.

Forest again, naturally.

But the monster lineup changed.

Following the map across the field, I picked up three targets.

“Al-Majiro. What a troublesome monster...”

Generally speaking, anyway.

Al-Majiro were armadillo-type monsters. They curled up like real armadillos and charged while rolling; a nuisance.

They did, however, have a glaring weakness.

When I stepped out of the brush, two Al-Majiro immediately rolled up and came barreling in.

I put my back to a wall, watched their charge, and slipped aside at the last instant.

Both slammed into the wall, toppled, and exposed their bellies.

I promptly raked them with the Mob-Fenrir Bazooka.

They dissolved into motes, leaving Intermediate Recovery Potions behind.

That was the trick: Al-Majiro’s weak point was its exposed belly after a spill.

Their defense was generally high. Depending on your level, normal attacks barely scratched them.

“All right, one left…”

I fired on the last Al-Majiro as it grazed in the grass.

Doo-kaan!

The wolf-shaped shell smashed into it.

It, too, faded out, leaving an Intermediate Recovery Potion behind.

In short, with overwhelmingly strong paid gear, you didn’t have to wait for Al-Majiro to show its weak point. You could delete it outright.

Why bother with theatrics, then?

Because there was value in following the established form.

It was the refined method the devs conceived and the pioneers perfected.

There was meaning in doing it the “right” way.

That said, out of laziness, I probably wouldn’t bother again today.

On the path to the third floor boss, I shelled every blip the map picked up, stashing the steady stream of drops and heading for the boss’s lair.

—Second-Floor Depths.

A magic circle waited there, leading to the boss floor.

If you stood on it and one member of the party channeled mana, the circle would transport you to Sleeping Forest’s boss floor.

It normally carried up to four people at once. I stood on it alone and activated it.

Why alone?

Because no one was free to play on a weekday.

When I arrived on the boss floor, the boss spotted me and sprang from a tree with a layout-perfect backflip, landing to block my path.

“Whoa. That looked more realistic than usual.”

Something about the boss’s movement felt more lifelike than before.

It was as if the rock-plated, bear-themed boss Rock Bear were the real thing.

“But I’m not losing to a chump like you.”

Even if the visuals had stepped up, this was still a beginner-tier boss.

Being scared of it would be absurd.

With a “Gwooooo!” of menace, the Rock Bear reared. I leveled the Mob-Fenrir Bazooka and put a round in its face.

“Gugyaaaaa!”

It let out a tremendous shriek and toppled onto its back.

“Nice. Opening!”

I knew all of Rock Bear's movement patterns.

After a set amount of damage, Rock Bear flipped over.

If I kept pounding it with the Mob-Fenrir Bazooka during that window…

I peppered the struggling boss. Dokaaan! Dokaaan! echoed again and again.

After a dozen-plus shots, the drops popped: fifteen Intermediate Recovery Potions and, as a rare drop, an Advanced Recovery Potion.

“Yesss.”

Things had felt oddly realistic today, but I got what I came for.

Truthfully, I had wanted to run with my usual DW group.

But they were at work. Ordinary corporate drones were not released until after five.

Unlike a free soul like me.

I sheathed my weapon, when a green effect suddenly washed over me.

“Huh? A level-up effect? How… never mind.”

My level was maxed.

There was no way I could level further.

I stored the boss’s rare potion drop and decided to head back to town.

Standing on the transfer circle that appeared after the kill returned me to the Transfer Gate "Yggdrasil."

“Whew. I hauled in a decent stash. They should be logging in soon, right?”

I opened the menu and checked the Friends bar.

No signs of anyone online.

“Seriously? Fine.”

My friends didn’t log in until after six, when work ended.

Killing time, I wandered the city, and noticed something.

“Huh? The Yggdrasil Shop is gone?”

The shops that had scattered all over the town were nowhere to be seen.

“Did they move locations?”

No one had said anything about that…

Well, whatever.

I figured the admins had their reasons.

Resigned, I went to the gate and logged out of DW.

“It was only 2:00 p.m…”

I had stocked up with ironclad determination not to leave the apartment, but if no one was online…

“Guess I’ll hit the Pachinko parlor…”

I headed out for no reason other than to kill time.

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