Hacking the Game Didn't Go as Intended

CHAPTER 154: Golden Ratio & The Capital City

DING!

[Owlbear | Lvl 55 | General | HP: 4986/6084]

So this is the Owlbear I've heard so much about, Daisuke thought with a tad of indifference. It's as powerful as they say. "And yet—"

The world seemed to stretch as he suddenly took off from where he was standing, the Salamander's Claw tracing a blazing orange arc through the air. In a flash, he streaked past the fiend like a comet, slicing it cleanly in two. Then Zephyr went in for the overkill by engulfing the remains in a fiery inferno.

"You're still nothing but child's play compared to my stats," Daisuke murmured, flicking the crimson stain from his dagger.

DING!

[You have slain a «Owlbear»!]

[287 Experience Points have been acquired.]

[Owlbear Claw has been acquired.]

[Zephyr has acquired 229 Experience Points.]

A month had slipped by since Daisuke set out for Lunarel. A horse or carriage would have cut the journey down to mere days, but he deliberately chose a slower pace. The Eye of Verity was too valuable an asset to waste; every mile held the potential for discovering Unique Dungeons or encountering elusive Field Bosses—opportunities he refused to miss.

Yet, with the entire player base hunting him, discretion might have been the better choice. And now, with the princess entangled in his plans, absolute secrecy was no longer just a precaution—it was a necessity.

Whatever the case, he had achieved two levels throughout the course of his excursion—sure, he didn't invest too much time into hunting since time was of the essence, but he did mow down all the obstacles in his path... especially the monsters that seemed interesting, tough, or looked at him funny.

At some point, Daisuke had toggled on his EXP notifications to better analyze the points gained from hunting monsters several levels above his own. This field test had also served as a brutal reminder that slaying regular monsters—particularly those closer to his level—was an inefficient use of time and effort.

Given that he was splitting his EXP with Zephyr, targeting Field and Unique monsters, as well as delving into Irregular Dungeons, was a far more lucrative strategy. Not only did these ventures yield significantly higher EXP, but the rare drops they offered were infinitely more valuable than anything general-type monsters could provide.

There was, however, a silver lining.

During his month-long journey, he uncovered an important detail: champion and elite-tier monsters never appeared near starter villages. Moreover, these higher-tier foes granted significantly more EXP than their lesser counterparts. The gap between champion and elite monsters was so vast that the thought of encountering a giant-tier monster felt like discovering a treasure trove. Unfortunately, the higher the grade of the monster, the scarcer they seem to be, which would explain why he had yet to encounter a giant.

Still, depending on one's point of view, hunting general-type monsters wasn't entirely a lost cause. In the last MMORPG he'd played, monsters ten levels above one's character was the golden ratio to receive optimal experience points from each kill. To his surprise—and relief—the same logic applied in Sehreneti Online.

[Name: Haxks

Species: Human

Level: 45 | EXP: 8,457/316,406 (2.67%)