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1-1. Koreans do a lot of grinding in games, too. (5)
Translated by Yonnee
“Sorry, I guess I’m still half-asleep. Here, there and ooover there, I’ll clean everything on my own, so you can just scoot over theeere.”
“Really? All of this? It’s too much for just one person to clean up. Aren’t you overdoing it?”
Emily asked in surprise as she looked at all the places I pointed at. But rather than a tedious work area, what I saw in my eyes was a bountiful field of EXP.
All that EXP’s mine!
I shooed away the worried Emily while appeasing her. Then, I gripped the weeding blade.
Let’s go ahead and level up first. I’m basically a level up hustler in games anyway. If I reach the highest level in this game, I might even be able to get out of here.
“How did Emily do it a while ago. Kind of like this…”
Pull on the weeds, chuck the weeding blade near the roots, then heave it up. My technique looked shabby compared to how Emily easily did it. Apart from the roots getting pulled out, a chunk of soil got scooped out as well, but hey, I got rid of the weeds.
I was proud to see the bar filling up again. The beauty of an RPG lies within the fruits of labor, and those fruits of labor being leveling up.
Alright, let’s just do it.
Rolling up my sleeves in earnest, I started pulling out those weeds that were waiting for me. My hands were slow at first, but I gradually picked up the pace—and piles upon piles of weeds stacked up next to me.
With how enthusiastic I was, Emily was worried and approached my side. The other servants who happened to pass by saw me and whispered amongst themselves.
「 Gained 1 EXP from removing weeds. 」
「 Gained 1 EXP from removing weeds. 」
「 Gained 1 EXP from removing weeds. 」
「 Gained 1 EXP from removing weeds. 」
「 Promoted to Level 2. (Title: Insignificant Worker) 」
「 Gained 1 EXP from removing weeds. 」
「 Gained 1 EXP from removing weeds. 」
As I pulled out more weeds like crazy, the notification window for EXP updates popped off. At the same time, my EXP bar rose faithfully as well. Good, if I continue doing this, it wouldn’t be long until I get a skill at level 5.
I curled down to the ground for more than half a day and tirelessly pulled out weeds, but I was surprisingly fine throughout it all. My mind was my own, but was it because the owner of this body was Hilda, who’s a servant and a manual laborer by nature?
My own physical and muscle strength in reality were nothing compared to hers. If I personally worked this hard, everything would hurt instantly.
While admiring this body of a natural hard worker, tears brimmed my eyes. I’m not going to just work like a horse here and go back, right? No, I mean, I am going back, right?
While thinking about this and that, I reached level 3. As with any game, the higher the level, the more EXP would be needed to reach the next level. If the EXP needed to reach level 2 was just 100, then the experience needed to get to level 3 was 200.
From the player’s perspective, an increase of 100 points wasn’t much, but with me being a mere servant right now, that very difference meant 100 more weeds to be pulled.
What about level 4? And level 5?
To get one skill, maybe even one week of weed whacking would be enough. I continued to pull out weeds mechanically, but the road ahead became bleak.
Was there any other way to get EXP other than with weeds? A daily, weekly, monthly quest or something, or some other type of achievement…
“Oh my goodness, Hilda! What did you pull out just now!”
Hearing the shocked voice beside me startled me back to my senses. What I’m pulling out, well it’s an ordinary bundle of weeds.
「 Gained 5 EXP from pulling out Count Pfalzgraf’s prized kalanchoe. 」
The very kind and detailed notification window made me gape at it.
Count Pfalzgraf’s… prized… kalanchoe…? No, but why was I given only 5 EXP for it? Wasn’t there a problem with the efficiency of this game’s quest system?
“Sorry, Miss Leticia! Hilda’s feeling very sick today, so…!”
She had already been frantically covering for me since this morning, but poor Emily rushed in and defended me again.
“What the hell kind of sickness is it. Is something wrong with your head? The Count looks at that kalanchoe every morning, how could you even touch that!” Leticia screeched.
“Fortunately Hilda pulled it from the roots, so it hasn’t wilted. We can just plant it again! Sp neatly that even the Count won’t notice!”
Emily tapped my hand in a hurry as she said that it could be planted again. I pretended to be very scared, placed the kalanchoe back on the ground and gathered the surrounding soil to plant it back in.
Nevertheless, the expensive-looking bright pink flower withered and drooped because its roots had been lifted to the fresh outside air.
Emily immediately made an excuse again, saying that water would definitely revive it. I was just nervously looking into the air, staring at nothing in particular for another reason.
It was planted back in, but that doesn’t mean my 5 EXP’s going to be taken back, right?
“It’s not just the kalanchoe! You pulled out so many other plants that aren’t weeds here!”
While searching through the mountains of weeds next to mee, Leticia shrieked once more. This time, Emily could only sigh deeply. It’s a lost cause now.
Well, there was no notification about retracting the EXP I gained.
The gamedev at least has a conscience. My small, precious 5 EXP…