*Bzzzz.*  

*Jingle jingle.*

“Welcome.”

As always, the sound of the convenience store's bell rang, followed by the clerk’s greeting.

I have a lot to buy today.  

Since I plan to focus on *Astra Online* for the time being, I needed to minimize trips out to buy groceries.

I headed straight to the instant noodle section and picked out some cup ramen, which I’d be relying on as my staple food for a while.

While scanning the instant noodle shelf, my eyes stopped at one particular item.

Not too spicy, and with a tasty broth—‘Jjin Ramen,’ mild flavor.

I didn’t dislike regular bagged noodles, but cup noodles, which didn’t require washing dishes, were much more convenient to eat and clean up afterward.

Alright, this will be my main meal for the time being.

Since my body became like this, my stomach must have shrunk as well. A cup of noodles and a triangle kimbap were enough for a day’s worth of food.

Of course, back when I was a hero, I had to eat more because I was more active.

Triangle kimbap had a short shelf life, so it wasn’t ideal for stocking up, but a single cup of noodles was sufficient for a day’s meal.

With a six-pack of cup noodles balanced on my lap and an additional triangle kimbap as a special treat for the day, I controlled my fully automated wheelchair and headed to the checkout counter.

"...?"

The male convenience store clerk at the register looked at me with a puzzled expression.

It wasn’t hard to guess what he was thinking.

Normally, I only bought one cup of noodles, maybe two at most.

But today, I came up with an entire box of them in my hands, which must’ve made him curious about my intentions.

However, I had no obligation to explain. As a customer, my job was to buy the products, and as the clerk, his job was to ring them up.

*Beep.*

As he scanned the barcodes of the items I placed on the counter, he suddenly spoke to me.

"Uh, today is my last shift, you know?"

Gasp.

I looked up at him, slightly surprised.

This was troublesome.

One of the biggest reasons I frequented this convenience store at this time was that this guy, who seemed to have no particular interest in me, worked here.

Excessive attention was burdensome.

A purely professional relationship—this was just right for me.

I could tolerate being pitied, but I really disliked it when people took an interest in me and started prying into my personal affairs.

It was unfortunate, but there was nothing I could do about it.  
Though it was farther away, I’d have to either start using another unmanned convenience store or hope that the next part-timer here would be someone like him.

"...Thank you for your hard work."

I said quietly, giving him a small bow.

I saw the clerk’s eyes widen.

"...I think this is the first time I've heard your voice, ma'am?"

"Is that so?"

“I mean, ah, never mind!”

I tilted my head, puzzled.

It’s not that I couldn’t talk—I just never had a reason to speak before.

His flustered reaction, waving his hands around, amused me, so I couldn’t help but chuckle.

*Chuckle.*

With the items paid for and the six-pack of cup noodles placed on my lap, I bowed my head again and made my way to the exit.

*Bzzzz.*

As I left the store, I heard the clerk’s voice behind me.

“It’s nice to see you smile! Keep smiling like that from now on!”

I almost frowned but held it back.

Ever since returning to Earth, I had been extremely averse to interacting with people, so I kept my social exchanges to a minimum.

Well, since this was the last time, I guess it’s fine.

I don’t know who the next part-timer will be, but hopefully, it’ll be a pretty girl.  
Someone who doesn’t get too close, doesn’t try to chat beyond the usual customer service, and keeps their distance—just the right amount of attention.

Is it that when someone finds something they can immerse themselves in, they start to express their emotions more?

Today might be the clerk’s last shift, but if it were the old me, I would’ve let him go without a word.

The fact that I had a brief conversation with him was probably due to my slight change in mindset.

And the factor that caused this small shift in me was probably—

[Welcome to *Astra Online*]

Well then, let's level up hard today. 

*Hop, hop.*

I bounced in place a few times on both legs.

My silver hair swayed and tickled the side of my face.

*Stretch, stretch.*

I stretched my body out long and swayed from side to side.

Even though I had the petite frame of a young girl, when I straightened my back, I could make myself look a little taller.

Hmm, good.  

My body is moving well here today, too.

"Hik!"

As I was doing my stretches, a few players passed by me.

I quickly shrank back and pulled the hood of my adventurer’s robe down low over my face.

Here, I sometimes felt like I could return to my lively self from the past, but whenever someone got close, I’d shrink right back again.

Dealing with people is still hard for me.

Calming my startled heart, I left the city.

---

*Clang, clang.*

While fending off three goblins that had charged at me, I blocked their attacks steadily.

Then, taking advantage of the delay between their strikes, I used a skill that followed up from blocking.

*Slash!*

"Kieeek!"

The HP of all three goblins was completely depleted, and they collapsed.

[Block]
- Blocks attacks from a 180-degree angle in front.

[Slash (Strong)]
- Performs a strong slash attack in a 180-degree angle in front.
- (Instant activation) After a successful block.

[Thrust (Strong)]
- Performs a strong thrust attack against a single target.
- (Instant activation) After a successful block.

I reviewed the skills I had acquired since changing to the swordsman class.

"Not bad."

The most basic skill for a swordsman, *Block*.

And the fundamental attack skills, *Slash* and *Thrust*.

However, there was a significant delay before I could perform the slash and thrust as skills.

The condition to activate them instantly was after successfully blocking an attack.

A swordsman's skills all had advantages when used after a successful block.

"Sword Blocker!"

I raised my practice steel sword high and shouted.

A swordsman is a blocking machine!

As I got the hang of the swordsman’s combat style and skills, I diligently hunted monsters in the field.

---

[Drizzle Rain]  
[Swordsman]  
[Level 9 (11.18%)]

How many hours had I been hunting? 

I began to feel that goblin hunting was no longer helping me grow much.

*Smack, smack!*

Nearby, a martial artist quickly took down a goblin and moved on to the next.

“Oh.”

Unlike me, who blocked every attack from the goblins, that martial artist absorbed the hits with his body and hunted at a much faster pace.

In the distance, a mage was casting fire and ice from a safe distance, also hunting goblins.

Indeed, both of them had a faster hunting speed than my swordsman class.

“Hmm…”

I fell into thought.

My attack power wasn’t as strong as other classes, but my ability to handle multiple enemies at once meant that my leveling speed wasn’t drastically slower.

Still, if I wanted to grow quickly, I needed to find a more efficient method.

I left the goblin zone.

The orc zone was a hunting ground for those level 10 and above.

At level 9, it wouldn’t be easy for me to hunt there.

But if I stayed in the goblin zone, my level progression would lag behind.

Alright, let’s give it a shot.

---

*Clang, clang, clang!*

"Ugh."

I boldly charged between two orcs, blocking their attacks, but I could feel the strong impact coming through.

My HP took a hit.

The orcs’ powerful attacks couldn’t be fully negated even with a swordsman’s block.

Still, by persistently blocking and throwing slashes between their strikes, I managed to take down both orcs.

“Haa…”

I let out a deep breath and slumped to the ground.

I had only fought two orcs, but it took a lot of time and drained half my HP.

Even though the world resembled the one in my memories, I didn’t regain the abilities I once had.

What was lost remained lost.

Right now, I had very little.

There was no sacred sword to boost my physical abilities, no infinite mana.

My sword didn’t unleash energy waves, and without using system-enforced skills, I could barely maintain proper swordsmanship.

All I had now were the stats that fit this small girl’s body.

At least it was a relief that I could freely move my legs.

If I increased my agility and strength stats, maybe I could mimic my old movements.

In the end, I had no choice but to adapt to the *system* of this world.

My memories of enjoying RPG games in a past life were proving helpful after all.

"Still, my HP recovery is too slow."

I wasn’t suffering from any status effects like bleeding, so if I waited long enough, my HP would eventually recover. But at this hunting pace, it would be hard to keep up with the frontrunners in leveling.

There were already quite a few players hunting in the orc zone. Like in the goblin zone, they were still enduring attacks with their bodies while hunting.

The damage they were taking must’ve been substantial, so how was that hunting method working here?

The answer quickly became apparent. All the players nearby were drinking something as they hunted.

"Potions!"

HP recovery potions.

If I used those, I could hunt for longer without taking extended breaks to recover.

I paused my hunting and headed back to the city.

“Hmm… Hmmm…”

“What’s with you? If you’re not buying anything, get out.”

“N-No! I’ll buy something!”

The middle-aged NPC shopkeeper spoke to me with a disinterested expression.

Startled, I quickly replied.

Talking to real players was still somewhat challenging for me, but interacting with virtual NPCs didn’t bother me as much.

I gave the unfriendly NPC a little glare, pouting.

Even though I knew he was just an NPC, he felt so real.  
AI technology really is impressive.

I shifted my focus back to rechecking the potion’s stats.

[HP Recovery Potion (Small)]  
[Cooldown: 30 seconds]  
[Restores 100 HP over 10 seconds.]

My current HP was 300, so it would restore about one-third of my HP over 10 seconds.

That was more than enough to offset the damage I took while blocking attacks from orcs.

With this level of recovery, it seemed possible to endure attacks while hunting, without much worry.

The bigger issue, however, was the price of the potions.

“Thirty copper per potion…”

After five hours of goblin hunting and completing monster-kill quests, I had earned about five silver.

Since 100 copper equals 1 silver, that was 500 copper in total.

The money I earned in five hours wasn’t even enough to buy 20 potions.

I closed my eyes tightly and reluctantly purchased five potions.

“This… this is a necessary expense.”

It seemed that most of the leading players were spending all the gold they earned on potions while hunting.

If quick growth was the goal, then it was probably considered an obvious investment.

Fortunately, since my class was a swordsman with blocking skills, I could minimize HP consumption while hunting. So I could save money compared to others.

As I left the general store, I decided to stop by the weapon shop as well.

[Vigilante’s Sword]  
[Attack Power: 20]  
[Price: 10 silver]

“Whoa.”

Expensive!

How could the next-tier weapon be this costly?

For the early stages of the game, where not much in-game currency had been circulated yet, it was an overwhelming amount.

There were players in the orc hunting ground using the vigilante's weapon.  
It was more likely they had purchased gold from other players for cash rather than earning 10 silver on their own.

For someone as broke as me, that was nothing but a distant dream.

But, but…

This weapon would definitely speed up my hunting, but store-bought weapons didn’t come with any special options, so was it really worth buying?

I could probably find a better weapon later in a dungeon or somewhere else.

Sighing with disappointment, I left the weapon shop, smacking my lips in regret.