The burly man, sputtered, pointing a finger at Klein's cheap gear. "This newcomer? Look at him, Mara! He's barely strong enough to lift that stick, let alone fight the things down there!"
Mara, however, looked Klein over with a desperate glimmer of hope, ignoring the man. "Fine. You want to earn some coin? And you can shut this loudmouth up in the process?" She grabbed a heavy iron ring from her apron and pointed toward a heavy wooden door tucked beside the bar counter. "The problem is the Dark Spiders in the cellar. They won't let my staff go down there to clean, and their buzzing keeps the whole inn awake."
She dismissed the man with a harsh gesture. "I'll deal with your deposit later, you louse." Then, turning fully to Klein, she yanked the cellar door open, revealing a short set of stone steps leading down into shadows.
"Follow me, boy. And stay close to the light."
Mara grabbed a sputtering fire torch from a hook on the wall, the flame casting orange light across her tired face. Klein followed her down the cold, damp stone steps. The air immediately grew heavy, smelling of mildew, spoiled earth, and something metallic, like old blood.
The basement was not entirely pitch black. A few narrow window wells high on the foundation allowed the faint evening light to filter in. It was enough for them to navigate, but Mara explained, "The spiders hate bright light, but this dimness is just enough for them to thrive."
As they reached the bottom step, the floor gave way to packed dirt and storage barrels. Mara held the torch high. In the shifting light, Klein saw movement: dozens of segmented shadows scuttling across the ceiling and the barrels. They were large for a spider, unnervingly still, and their tiny eyes reflected the torchlight.
A system window appeared, immediately giving him the necessary data on his foes:
[Dark Spider]
[LVL. 1, HP: 50]
[An aggressive evolution of common spiders. They ingested demonized plant matter following a localized corruption event, granting them enhanced size and a toxic bite. They are instinctively repelled by bright light sources.]
Klein's gaze shifted from the spiders to his own status screen, particularly the line that mattered most: MP: ∞. The spiders were level 1, identical to him, but unlike him, they did not possess infinite attack.
He gripped his wooden staff, as Mara held the torch steady, breathing heavily.
"You see them?" she whispered. "They come out as soon as the sun goes down. If you can clear out the nest beneath the barrels... I'll pay you well."
Klein nodded, a tense, cold focus settling over him. He was ready to test his new, limitless power. The first step of his journey, and his fight for survival, was about to begin.
...
Ding!
[You have Triggered the Side Quest: Clear the Cellar.]
[Loading Side Quest...]
[Side Quest loaded!]
[Quest: Clear the Cellar.]
[Kill the 100 Dark Spiders that inhabit Mrs. Mara's Cellar.]
[Reward: +40 Reputation, +20 EXP, 40 gold coins, Penny Pouch (LVL.1)]
"I will be waiting upstairs," Mara said. "Take all the time you need to kill those bastards."
As Mara left, she also took the torch with her. The flickering light retreated up the stone steps, replaced instantly by the dimness of the evening basement.
The sudden drop in illumination acted like a switch, as the Dark Spiders, which had been clinging to the ceilings and barrels, immediately began to move. Their dozens of needle-like legs scraped against the floor, creating faint, unsettling sounds of clicks.
Now unburdened by the bright light they feared, they began to scuttle down, their forms turning into fast-moving shadows that converged on the single source of warmth and life— Klein.
He gripped his wooden staff tighter, this was the moment, this will be his first combat experience in 'Another World.'
[Mana Bolt.]
The tip of his mage staff immediately shimmered with a faint yellow, as he pointed it towards the crawling shadows where the Dark Spiders were.
Mana bolt!
Immediately, yellow lightning was shot at the spiders, slowing them down, but not killing them instantaneously, as the HP of the [Dark Spiders] was 50.
-12!
[8 Mana Points Consumed!]
The mana consumption didn't matter to him, with his SSS-Ranked Talent [Infinite Mana,] he was capable of spamming that attack a million times.
Mana bolt! Mana bolt!
-12! -12!
Mana bolt! Mana bolt!
-12! -12!
[Killed Level 1 Dark Spider! Gained 1 experience point.]
'What?' Klein reacted to the blue screen that materialized at the edge of his vision. 'What a load of crap! Killing one spider equals a single EXP.'
That mechanics was purposefully designed to make leveling difficult, as a player needs to kill 100 Dark Spiders to enter [Level 2.]
But, Klein immediately brushed it off, as he had [Infinite Mana,] which allowed him to bypass that constraint easily. That's why it's an SSS-Ranked talent.
Again, again and again, Klein kept spamming, [Mana Bolt] at the Dark Spiders, taking them out one by one, the process slow but paying off.
Mana bolt!
Mana bolt!
...
Mana bolt!
-12! -12!
-12! -12!
...
-12! -12!
[Killed Level 1 Dark Spider! Gained 1 experience point.]
[Killed Level 1 Dark Spider! Gained 1 experience point.]
...
[Killed Level 1 Dark Spider! Gained 1 experience point.]
Klein kept spamming [Mana Bolt,] as he had a quick look at his status screen, his experience gauge having a quick pump.
---
...
EXP: (40/100)
---
40 Experience points gotten! That meant he had killed forty Dark Spiders already in such a short period. His Infinite Mana was truly a talent to be reckoned with.
Klein kept going, not relenting a single bit, as he kept spamming [Mana Bolt] at the crawling spiders.
Mana bolt!
...
Mana bolt!
-12!
...
-12!
[Killed Level 1 Dark Spider! Gained 1 experience point.]
...
[Killed Level 1 Dark Spider! Gained 1 experience point.]
The blue screen kept materializing at the edge of his vision, reading exactly the same thing until all the Dark Spiders had been killed.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 2!]
[Skill: Mana Bolt has reached Level 2!]
[Equipment: Wooden Staff has reached Level 2!]
[You have gained 5 attribute points!]
Ding!
[Side Quest — Clear the Cellar, Completed!]
[Rewards gained!]
Then, Klein decided to have another look at his status screen, his improvements clearly visible.
----
[PLAYER STATUS: MAGE - Lv. 2]
ID: BigD
EXP: (120/200)
Rank: Apprentice Mage
HP: 120
MP: ∞
STR: 5
AGI: 7
VIT: 6
INT: 18
WIS: 15
LCK: 5
Talent: [Arcane Sensitivity] – 5% reduction in MP cost for all spells.
U. Talent: [Infinite Mana (SSS)] - Grants the player an Infinite amount of mana.
Weapon Affinity: Staves, Grimoires
Skill: [Mana Bolt LVL.2]; Deals 24 points of damage to target, consumes a total of 16 Mana points and has zero cooldown.
[Attribute Points:] 5
[Equipment:] Wooden Staff (LVL. 2), Penny Pouch (LVL.1)
----
He was now a [Level 2] Mage.
He quickly decided not to allocate any attribute points yet, as he was going for the accumulation strategy. He noticed that his Stamina wasn't very high, which is why he was feeling exhausted from continuously, non-stop spamming Mana Bolts.
After accumulating a reasonable amount of attribute points, he would spend a decent amount on Stamina.
[Penny Pouch (LVL. 1)]
[A basic, magic leather pouch designed for bulk resource gathering. Due to its limited enchantment, the Penny Pouch can only store one unique type of item at a time (e.g., if you place copper coins inside, it will reject all monster parts until the pouch is completely emptied). Ideal for new players accumulating a single type of component or currency.]
The description was clear, the [Penny Pouch] is designed specifically for bulk storage, meaning it can only hold a single type of item at one time.
Once an item is placed inside (e.g., Dark Spider Fangs), the pouch will reject all other item types until it is emptied. Perfect for accumulating raw resources, crafting components, or a truly massive amount of copper coins.
After reading the description, Klein approached one of the corpses of the Dark Spiders and immediately saw an option to extract their [Dark Spider Fangs]. That was it—one of the ways to make money from 'Another World.' After extracting and storing items from slain monsters, it allows the players to bring them into the real world and trade with them per the game rules.
[Error! Inventory is full!]
That was the message Klein got when he tried to extract the [Dark Spider Fangs] from the Dark Spiders.
It could only mean one thing, the [Penny Pouch] was already holding an item type different from the [Dark Spider Fangs.]
[Inventory:
+ 40 gold coins]
It was the gold coins. The game had already stored the earned coins in his inventory, he was now left with an option: either drop the gold coins or harvest all the fangs of the Dark Spiders.
'I have to determine the value of each spider fang first,' Klein thought, realizing he needed to make a sound financial decision, not just an impulsive one. He needed to know which was the more profitable path.
He wiped the sweat from his avatar's brow and started toward the stairs to visit Mara.
....
"Well?" Mara demanded, as she faced Klein.
"The cellar is clear," Klein stated simply.
She let out a long, shuddering exhale. "Thank the Saints. Those things would have driven out every paying guest by dawn." She quickly reached under the counter and pulled out a small, heavy leather sack. "Here you are. Forty gold coins—exactly as promised."
Klein watched the system instantly absorb the gold, noting the confirmation on his inventory screen. He quickly brought up the new gear he had earned, the [Penny Pouch], which currently held the gold.
"A quick question, Mara," Klein said, adopting the serious tone of an experienced adventurer. "I've cleared the spiders, but I also have a large collection of Dark Spider Fangs. As a local, what's the going rate for those? Are they worth more than the forty gold coins I just earned?"
Mara eyed the closed cellar door, a shadow of disgust crossing her features. "Fangs? Ugh. Nobody wants the fangs, boy. They're common as muck. Every new fool who comes into town is always killing those basement spiders and selling the fangs for a pittance to the tanner, hoping to get rich." She waved her hand dismissively. "They're only worth a few copper coins apiece, maybe a silver if they're huge. You're better off keeping the gold. A steady coin is always better than chasing junk loot."
Her advice confirmed his growing suspicions about the game's resource economy: high quantity didn't equal high value. There's hundred fangs, but if each was worth only a couple of copper, they wouldn't equal the forty gold already in his pouch. The gold was the better, safer bet.
"Thank you for the information, Mara. I'll stick with the gold, then," Klein replied.
"You're efficient," Mara said, giving him a rare, tired smile. "If you're ever in town, the house drink is on me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go air out my entire basement."
Klein nodded and left the inn, immediately heading back out onto the main thoroughfare. He needed an exact number, not a vague assessment. Mara's disgust had made her judgment biased. He needed a merchant, someone that's transactional.
He walked past the central fountain and spotted a small, makeshift stall set up against a stone wall. The vendor was a grizzled man with a thick, leather apron, specializing in raw materials. Perfect.
Klein approached the stall,
"Excuse me, sir," Klein began. "I have a quantity of dark spiders fang for sale. Could you tell me the precise market value for them?"