“Alvin, I’m sorry, but I want you to leave the party.”
We were by the seat near the wall of the tavern that seats two people.
When the party leader, a man of the sorcerer class, said those words to me, soberness kicked in me like a horse.
“I’ve already found a Swordsman to replace you, truth be told. You don’t need to show up anymore.”
I take a deep breath to suppress my agitation, trying to talk calmly all the way.
“Why so? I should be the one who has contributed the most to the party. I have the highest level out of anyone, and the number of skills I have is more than anyone else’s. Aren’t I your greatest asset?”
“The reason you 6th layer straddlers can even go deeper into the 20th layer is because I went out of my way and power leveled with every one of you! Despite all of that, WHY!?”
The Sorcerer suddenly shouted, then heaved a heavy sigh.
“Alvin… You should already have an inkling, right?”
“Do I need to spell it out? Open your status and have a long, hard look. Come on now, open it. Voila, there’s your answer!”
With a face of anguish, I wave the fingers of my left hand. The Sorcerer then points at the translucent status window that appeared out of thin air.
“Look at the skills section. Oh my, what’s that? At the very bottom of the powerful skills you were born with?”
Even without him telling me, my gaze already naturally moves towards there. A list of 7 skills were lined up. From “Swordsmanship” to “Strength Buff: Large” and “Agility Buff: Medium” so on and so forth… Most of them are useful for my class. A Swordsman.
But there’s just one thing.
At the bottom of the list was an accursed skill that could be called as the price you would pay for being blessed with an abundance of skills.
Drop Rate Reduction: Special Class
“No matter how many monsters you kill, almost no items drop.”
The man voices out his dissatisfaction as he fixes his glasses.
“There’s barely any profit diving deeper into the dungeon. It even ends up in a deficit.”
“Huh? If it weren’t for me, you guys wouldn’t even be able to dive into the deeper levels! And if we’re talking about deficits, it’s just proof of my burden increasing because of diving on a level that doesn’t match the average level of the party. I tried to stop you guys, but you weren’t having any of it…”
“You’re right. And so with that, we’ll be parting with you here. We’ll go to a level which suits us. Around the 15th level.”
“… Hah? The 15th layer, you say?”
“You people? The same ones who’ve been monkeying around in the lower levels until I came along? Don’t make me laugh.”
“Your abilities are just not cut out for it. If you dive into that layer without me, you’ll just meet a bitter end.”
“It’s the appropriate level range,”
“In terms of level range, sure. And so? Now that you’re powerful enough, you are firing the one who is to level you up, my minus skill having self, is that it?”
“… That’s the party’s consensus. Accept it.”
My strength leaves me so I lean back to the chair, exhausted. I don’t want to think about it anymore. The sorcerer placed a single gold coin on the table and stood up.
“Here’s the payment. You can keep the change. Call it a small parting gift from me, if you will.”
“… This recompense is a mistake.”
To my words, the sorcerer who has his back turned to me looks back.
“… To be honest, I never liked you. You’re rotten to the core and patronizing. While I am sympathetic to your circumstances, I’d fix your flaws if I were you. But I guess even if you change for the better, you’d be hard-pressed finding a party to accept you.”
I reflexively grabbed the gold coin and tried to throw it at his back… and stopped.
I click my tongue as I down my tepid drink.
… So this is how it comes down to again, huh
A party that would accept me? I know how hard it is to be better than anyone else.
After all, I’ve been adventuring with a huge drawback all this time.
Drop Rate Reduction: Special Class