I opened my eyes just to see a red-colored wolf with a sword stuck in its head.

...

What happened? My head felt hazy. As my vision cleared, all I could see under me was bloodstained grass. Was this my own blood? I coughed. It was hard to breathe. I tried to stand up, but I had no strength left.

My HP was at 13 out of... 85? Wasn't it 75 before? Did I level up after defeating the wolf? As I tried to remember, my mind began to hurt.

When the pain withdrew, all the events last evening came back to me. I almost died fighting the red forest wolf. It was more powerful than the other monsters that I had faced. I opened my status panel.

---

Lily’s Status

Name: Lily – Level: 17 - Experience: 685/1370 - [D-]

Gender: Female – Occupation: None -

Class: [None, Obtain at a Church at Lv 25+]

HP: 13/85   MP: 35/170

STR: 120 (+20)  INT: 100   SPD: 150 (+20)

DEF: 95   DEX: 115   LUK: 100

STP: 20

[[SKILLS]]

[Stab] [VIII] [In: 4]

[Detection] [IV]

[Stealth] [II]

[Dismantling] [II]

[Night Vision] [II]

[Appraisal] [Slightly Detailed+] [In: 1]

[Throwing Knife Arts] [II] [In: 1]

[Throwing Arts] [III] [In: 1]

[Disgust Tolerance] [III]

[Evasion] [III]

[Advanced Walking] [I] [Stage 2/3]             

[Sword Arts] [I] [In: 1]

[[TITLES]]

[Rabbit Killer] [Rank 2/10] [239/300 Rabbits Killed] [STR +10 SPD +20] [slight increase in any damage done to any rabbit]

[Sadist] [Rank 1/3] [276/1000 Killed with No Regret] [Adds Kill Count in Status] [STR + 10]

[Kill Count: 239 Horned Rabbits, 21 Gray Forest Wolves, 1 Slime, 1 Ogre, 12 Goblins, 1 Goblin Archer, 1 Red Forest Wolf]

---

My [Evasion] and [Stab] skills both leveled up, and I also got a new skill, [Sword Arts] which I think I got from using that sword I stole from the goblin. I put 5 points into DEF so that all my stats would be 100 and above, then added 15 to SPD to improve my evasion and overall speed. I also noticed that the "total EXP" part was replaced with a [D-], which is probably something like my combat power or something, but anyway I don't care because the 'total EXP' thing was useless. The real problem is my combat power level. It sucks. It needs to be higher.

As I looked through my skills, I noticed that my [Self Appraisal], which is a integrated skill of appraisal, became [Self Appraisal+]. I can further appraise a target skill to see its details and integrated skills. I appraised [Stab], [Sword Arts], and [Throwing Arts].

---

[Skill: Stab] [VIII]

Rank: 8/10 - Stage: 1/2 - EXP: (756/1000)

[[Integrated Skills]]

[Active: Multi-Thrust+ (5/10/20 MP) (Double/Triple/Quadruple)]

Thrusts multiple times in quick succession. Max amount of thrusts depend on the rank of the main skill. Consume 1/5/10 MP to change the location of each thrust.

[Passive: Accuracy+ (close range, thrust)]

Increases accuracy of close range thrust attacks. Becomes more effective depending on the rank of the main skill.

[Passive: Damage++ (close range, thrust)]

Increases damage of close range thrust attacks. Becomes more effective depending on the rank of the main skill.

[Active: Powered Thrust (25-150 MP) (+1 ATK, +1 SPD / 1 MP)]

Temporarily infuse your equipped weapon with mana to increase the speed and damage of your next attack (must be a thrust-type attack). Effectiveness increases depending on the MP used.

--

[Skill: Sword Arts] [I]

Rank: 1/10 - Stage: 1/3 - EXP: (11/25)

[[Integrated Skills]]

[Active: Double Slash (5/10/15 MP) (100%/125%/150%)]

Slashes twice. You can change the direction of the slashes by using 5 extra MP. By consuming extra mana, you can increase the speed and damage of both slashes.

--

[Skill: Throwing Arts] [III]

Rank: 1/10 - Stage: 1/2 - EXP: (156/250)

[[Integrated Skills]]

[Passive: Accuracy (throwing)]

Slightly increases the accuracy of any throwing attack. Becomes more effective depending on the rank of the main skill.

---

After I finished using the rest of my strength to look my status, I began to feel tired. Well, I was tired the whole time anyway.I guess I'll try out my new skills later.

It's still morning, but I guess I'll go and sleep...

When I awoke, night had already fallen. Both my HP and MP had recovered back to max, which is pretty convenient. Although I still felt kinda weak, I could move well enough, so I decided to go around the forest to hunt for monsters. The area around the stream where I usually stayed had already been cleared out, but that's obviously not my fault. It's not like I killed everything I saw there.

The adventurer Lily had traveled diligently for several days. She arrived at the foot of the mountain that was towering over the forest. She looked rightwards. The cave. The dwelling of the foul creatures, the goblins. Lily activated her powerful skills as she stealthily entered the cave...!

"Multi-Thrust: Quadruple!"

I activated [Quadruple Thrust], striking down four goblins at once.

"Double Slash!"

I killed two more goblins.

I couldn't find anything that could get me enough EXP to level up in the forest, so I decided to go back to that cave that had an entrance at the foot of the mountain. Since goblins were easy to kill and find and even came in large numbers, they were better for grinding EXP. Gray forest wolves, although they gave more experience than goblins, usually traveled alone for some reason, which meant they were harder to find.

There were 3 goblins left, which I handled with a [Triple Thrust].

I kept [Stealth] on as I traveled deeper into the cave. I had [Night Vision], which allowed me to see in the dark. The walls of the cave were damp and cold, and once in a while I came across dried blood. By the way, my [Disgust Tolerance] had gone all the way up to rank 6, and I still felt that the cave was, well, disgusting.

I was just having a leisurely stroll 'till I noticed a group of 5 goblins standing in the way of my path through the cave, so I decided that had to kill them. There were 3 goblin archers behind two goblin swordsmen.

I dashed towards the 2 goblins at the front, slashed their heads off, and quickly jumped backwards. I threw a rabbit horn at the goblin at the right. The other 2 archers shot an arrow each, but I evaded both easily. I drew 2 horns from my pocket and threw them both, each piercing a goblin's heart. The goblin archers fell onto the floor, limp and lifeless, as the 2 other goblins lay on the ground, headless.

Oh. I leveled up. I guess that's good.

I kept walking, following the path of the cave. I went deeper as I got tortured by the sound of dripping water.

Little later, I found a couple of goblins lurking in a corner, so I killed them. A while later, I found another group of goblins, so I killed them too.

I reached a large clearing that was about as wide as 20 meters. There was a group of about 15 goblins and 2 larger ones who were further away. I listened from behind a sizeable rock as they talked with an ugly language.

"gllugrEgh."

"blugh."

I didn't understand what they were talking about anyway, so I moved closer to the group of smaller goblins. I threw all six of my rabbit horns, each at a different goblin. I hit the archer at the front, the three at the back, and the two other goblins behind the archers. I drew my sword and sliced a goblin in half as the others panicked.

"vjkfdu!"

"Multi-Thrust, Double!"

"Multi-Thrust, Quadruple!"

I used [Double Thrust] and [Quadruple Thrust] and wiped out six goblins. The one beside me tried to cut my arm off, but failed, so I offered it the point of my sword as a gift. Since my [Sword Arts] leveled up, I decided to use these goblins as test subjects.

"Circular Edge."

I spun around, slicing every goblin that was caught in the attack into two pieces. It really did make my head feel pretty edgy though...

I bolted towards the two large goblins. Just to be safe, I appraised them quickly.

---

Appraisal Results [Slightly Detailed+]

Hobgoblin [Lv. 17]

HP: 140/140 MP: 50/50

Hobgoblin [Lv. 15]

HP: 125/125 MP: 45/45

---

Well, they were both weaker than that red wolf I fought last time. It looks like their MP was really low, but in turn their HP was much higher. They were both probably as strong as the ogre, but my level was higher than theirs. Still, I think I should stay careful. There were 2 of them, but 1 of me.

They hobgoblins screeched as they noticed me coming towards them. They held their swords defensively as I closed the distance between myself and the one on the left. I opened with a [Triple Thrust], to which it could only block one of my attacks. The other two thrusts pierced its shoulder and and leg. The hobgoblin on the right tried to attack me, but I detected its attack before it could land and dodged. The one on the left, who I injured, grunted loudly and ran towards me. Since it was probably mad and was already dumb as heck, I stepped to the side and finished it with a [Double Slash].

The one on the right, seeing that his friend had been killed, of course, fell into some kind of blind rage and tried to kill me with strong, but clumsy attacks. They were easy to avoid, so I sliced it into three pieces like its friend as well.

[Killed Goblin Archer x4, Goblin x11, and Hobgoblin x2. Gained 2630 (340 + 770 + 1520) EXP]

[Leveled Up. All stats increased by [5]. Gained [10] Status Points]

Oh. I leveled up again. I guess I'll check what changed. Yeah, I better spend my status points first.

---

Lily’s Status

Name: Lily – Level: 19 - Experience: 1420/2000 – [D-]

Gender: Female – Occupation: None

Class: [None, Obtain at a Church at Lv 25+]

HP: 87/95   MP: 108/190

STR: 145 (+20)  INT: 110  SPD: 175 (+20)

DEF: 110   DEX: 130   LUK: 110

STP: 0

[[SKILLS]]

[Stab] [IX] [In: 4]

[Detection] [V]

[Stealth] [III]

[Dismantling] [II]

[Night Vision] [IV]

[Appraisal] [Slightly Detailed+] [In: 1]

[Throwing Knife Arts] [III] [In: 1]

[Throwing Arts] [IV] [In: 2]

[Disgust Tolerance] [VI]

[Evasion] [IV]

[Advanced Walking] [II] [Stage 2/3]             

[Sword Arts] [II] [In: 2]

[[TITLES]]

[Rabbit Killer] [Rank 2/10] [239/300 Rabbits Killed] [STR +10 SPD +20] [slight increase in any damage done to any rabbit]

[Sadist] [Rank 1/3] [298/1000 Killed with No Regret] [Adds Kill Count in Status] [STR + 10]

[Kill Count: 239 Horned Rabbits, 21 Gray Forest Wolves, 1 Slime, 1 Ogre, 34 Goblins, 8 Goblin Archers, 1 Red Forest Wolf, 2 Hobgoblins]

---

Oi. That's some real change. Its compressed now. I guess its the same for anything, you'll fall when you get heavy. A lot of my skills leveled up, but I'm too lazy to list them all, so just see for yourself.

...

I decided to leave the cave because I began choking on my own saliva after I started smelling the cave crap again.

I took a bite from a fruit and chewed as I thought about my future, but all I saw was blood. I wanted to at least even see another human. You know, although I had lived an actual lonely hikikomori life before, I could at least talk to people online. But here, there wasn't any way to do that, which makes me feel 100% isolated. The only entertainment I had was the repeating scenery and the brutal murder of rabbits and stuff, which was to be honest, kinda fun. Huh? Did I say something again?

I took another bite of the fruit as I realized things that I never had realized before, so I made sure to fall asleep before I could lose my mind.