—This is huge.
The moment I logged into Silmaria, a voice chat from Jin-gyu came through.
—What do you think it looks like?
—Some kind of talent?
Talent.
It was just a term for innate ability.
Even Sigmund, the ranker who'd drawn the world's attention from the start by smashing a scarecrow with a wooden sword in the training camp, could be called a talent holder.
Shattering a scarecrow at level 1 meant he'd instinctively distributed the optimal power and speed for swinging that wooden sword, and handled the 'mana' scattered throughout Silmaria the instant the game began.
Sigmund the ranker's talent was sometimes called the exalted title 'Blessing of Mana'.
A talent could be seen as a kind of unsystematized passive skill.
'As expected, I'm a talent bug!'
If possible, something cool and efficient like Sigmund's Blessing of Mana would have been nice, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.
With my innate affinity for animals, all that was left was to become a legendary Pokémon master.
If I made full use of this talent, I could probably job-change into a hidden class.
Even if not, classes like tamer, summoner, or spiritist wouldn't be bad at all.
'My future's looking bright.'
A smile crept across my lips.
—Can I upload the rabbit video to YouTube?
—Of course. And bugs in a god-game like Silmaria? Come on.
—Heh heh, I'm the safety-first type.
—View king. As if a guy like that would cause an accident.
—I became safety-first after the accident.
—Uh... fair enough.
After ending the voice chat with Jin-gyu, I logged out of Silmaria and immediately uploaded the edited video to YouTube.
"Gotta change the channel name too."
The channel name was Animal Friend.
Even outside Silmaria, animals were prime content.
Cute, massive, or badass animals were perfect for racking up views.
"Heh heh heh!"
I snorted through my nostrils, grinning like an idiot.
The thought of making money filled me with satisfaction.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I sought out Hans to pick up the linked quest.
I'd logged in feeling great, but seeing Hans's face brought back yesterday's mess, leaving a bad taste.
"Hahaha, where'd you get hit? You look like you bit into shit."
"..."
"Don't tell me you're sulking because I gave and then took back the bounty? But that was justified. Shake off the bad memories."
Guard Captain Hans said to me.
"...Haha, it's not that. Give me the mission."
I forced a relaxed expression.
"Right. Goblins in the Beast Forest near Talia Village—take out ten of them. Vicious monsters that prey on people whenever they can. Cut off their heads and bring 'em back in a sack."
"Yes, sir. Leave it to me."
[📜 NEW QUEST 📜]
Goblin Heads
📍 Location: Beast Forest
⏰ Time Limit: None
🎁 Reward: 1 Silver / 300 EXP
[Acquired Sack. Acquired Butchering Dagger.]
I strapped the Butchering Dagger to my waist and folded the sack small before tucking it into my bag.
"Oh benevolent and handsome chef. Got any leftover bread today?"
"Pfft, flattery will get you somewhere. Here."
Acquired 1 Hard Bread.
Chef Vincent, whose favor I'd built up with constant greetings, handed me his failed bake. This is why you befriend NPCs.
Munch—
Nom nom.
"Thanks."
I filled my satiety with the godawful bread.
Then I left the adventurers' guild.
'What to do.'
I had two options.
First, charge the goblin village and hunt with my spear.
Second, use Beast Taming to make a rabbit legion and dogpile the goblins.
'The latter's tempting.'
[▶ Title]
[▷ [Rabbit Rider] : You've bonded with over 100 rabbits.]
-You really like rabbits, huh?
[The following effects occur when bonding with rabbits.]
[—EXP gained on bonding +50%. —Loyalty duration +50%.]
This title I'd gotten yesterday.
Might as well use it at least once.
'Logically, better not to.'
But there were risks.
Unknown how many rabbits would heed my Beast Taming, and even with 50% longer loyalty, they might lose interest midway and bolt, wasting time.
Goblins weren't that tough anyway.
Plus, even setting that aside, bonding gave mass EXP... but I never wanted to do yesterday's thing again.
"Just go."
I didn't agonize long.
Rabbit horde ganking goblins would make great YouTube fodder, but now was time for fast growth.
I strode quickly out of the village toward the Beast Forest.
Forest was straight ahead from the village gate—no getting lost.
[Beast Forest — Normal]
Entering the forest entrance, the light dimmed and the air turned eerie.
With so many users around, it wasn't scary.
"Hyaap!"
Thwack—
"Kieek!"
One user smashed a goblin's head with a mace, dropping it.
Pretty fierce fight—user's arm and cheek were covered in wounds.
'Crazy.'
Silmaria let you feel pain based on VR sync rate.
Mine was 90% with spear equipped... so 90% real sensation.
Of course, heart-attack-level pain got auto-blocked, and you could lower sync manually, but that dulled senses and nerfed your skills.
I hated pain, but hated gimping myself more.
'Won't take a single hit.'
Rabbits were warmup. Now the real fight began.
Spear through enemy vitals, their claws and weapons maiming my flesh.
Not real damage since VR, but still hated it.
'...But too many people.'
Goblin village was huge, but users outnumbered it.
No scraps left—had to go deeper for quest.
I trudged along the forest path.
The gloomy woods felt alive, like the Beast Forest saw me as an intruder and wanted me gone.
Rustle.
Then, a presence from the bushes.
"...?!"
I whipped out my spear.
'Goblin ambushing!?'
Plop.
"Kkwi-u!"
"...Huh?"
Like a whack-a-mole, a rabbit poked its head from the brush.
Tension melted away.
Rabbits weren't just back-mountain exclusive, but this timing...
"You scared me, you little guy!"
Swoosh.
"Kkwi-u?"
I scooped up the rabbit and hugged it.
Pat pat.
Fondling its butt brought inner peace.
Chubby and plump.
Fun texture under my fingers.
"How'd you get all the way here? This place is dangerous... Huh?"
[⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙]
[This is an evolved rabbit.]
A message popped up.
"...Out of nowhere?"
Suddenly an evolved rabbit.
No explanation—just 'evolved rabbit' and done.
"Kkwi-u. Kkwi-u."
Rub rub.
It nuzzled my chest with its cheek.
Likes my pets, I guess.
[Bonded with rabbit. Gained 15 EXP.]
'Nice EXP.'
[Title effect kicked in for 15 EXP.]
"Let's see."
Looked normal as any rabbit, so I peered into its eyes to check the evolution.
"Kkwi?"
"..."
Cute.
Twitching nose—just cute.
Did the cuteness evolve?
"Rabbit. Got any special abilities?"
Shake shake.
No, it said.
"Hmm, then what is it."
"Kkwi-uung. Kkwi-u."
"Ahh, yeah. Good boy, you get me."
The rabbit thanked me.
Said unlike other adventurers, I don't kill its kin.
'Smart cookie.'
Game critter knows gratitude.
Impressive.
"...Wait."
I stopped grinning as realization hit.
I just understood what it said.
"Rabbit, say anything."
"Kkwi-u? Kkwi-uung."
Translation: What? Nice to meet you, human.
That vibe.
Couldn't put it in words, but clear communication.
...But what to do with this rabbit.
"Rabbit. You strong? Or super fast?"
Shake shake.
No.
"Any special powers?"
"Kkwi-u. Kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-u. Kkwi-uung!"
Translation: I evolved with survival instinct. Unlike my dumb kin who can't even flee!
"...Aha."
Amazing ability.
Probably the evolution.
Escaped the back-mountain rabbit massacre and hid in the forest.
'Anyway, key discovery.'
My innate talent went beyond bonding—let me communicate with animals.
Normal rabbits were too dumb; cries meant nothing.
But problem: survival instinct useless to me.
No body slam or million-volt finisher meant no combat help.
'Still wanna use it somehow.'
I set the rabbit down.
It looked up at me like I was its master now, awaiting orders.
Loyal minion pose.
"Kiruk?"
Then.
A goblin burst out, snuffling.
"Kkwi-uuk!"
The evolved survival-instinct rabbit freaked.
Knew that goblin was predator.
"Kieek!"
Goblin charged rabbit with tiny club.
And I stood before the rabbit.
'Chance!?'
Dumb goblin fixated on prey.
"Hyaap!"
One-shot it.
Or that club could shatter my knee.
Grip—
Thrust—!
Iron Spear shot forward.
Knee recoil, abs, shoulder, arm.
All spear muscles fired wildly.
"Focused Thrust!"
Whoosh—
Skill use added unseen power to the thrust.
Splurch!
"Kreeeek!"
Thud.
Eye-pierced goblin crumpled.
Clean one-shot.
"Ugh, weird feeling."
First monster kill since starting Silmaria.
Not used to killing lifeforms; stabbing sensation felt alien.
"Kkwi-u!"
Rabbit praised me.
"Heh heh."
I grinned sheepishly.
Hunting was better with two.
"Rabbit. Your name's Kkwi-kku from now on."
"Kkwi-u!"
Hop hop.
Kkwi-kku bounced in place, liking the name.
World's cutest sight.
[⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙]
[Data accumulated.]
[Configuring your algorithm.]
[Great Nature takes interest in you.]
Naming the rabbit accumulated data.
Specific actions build data, shaping a job that fits my style.
'Great Nature' interest probably job-change related.
Nuance suggests spiritist.
"Hm, hidden class would be nice."
Spiritist or tamer both good, but goal was animal-master hidden class.
Needed to utilize Kkwi-kku well.
Back-mountain too far for rabbits, but Kkwi-kku appearing here let me farm animal data.
"This is the way."
Time to sync with this guy.
Got an idea.
"You lure goblins, I ambush. That's our plan. Got it, soldier?"
I role-played commander to order the rabbit. Once dreamed of game streaming, so I spiced narration like this.
Plus, trained habits boosted future YouTube fun.
"...Kkwi-u?"
Translation: Didn't hear?
Kkwi-kku tilted head, playing dumb.
Survival instinct hated bait role.
No other way to use it, though.
"Don't play dumb."
I steeled myself, stern tone.
"Kkwi-u?"
Translation: Didn't hear?
"What you just heard is right."
"Kkwi?"
Translation: Dunno?
"...This punk?"
"Kkwi?"
Translation: Wuss?
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