"Mmm… s-stop petting me…"
Maple's face grew hotter by the second as Arthur calmly patted her head. It was embarrassing, way too embarrassing!
"Relax," Arthur said lightly.
He knew this timid girl wasn't good with too much closeness, so he didn't push it.
He withdrew his hand, catching the brief flicker of relief, and something like disappointment—cross her face, and barely suppressed a chuckle.
"I dumped all my points into STR, so my attack power's ridiculous. That's how I can beat monsters way above my level."
"Once your level catches up and your defense is solid, you'll tank for me. Then big bro will be counting on Maple to keep him safe."
"So for now, just stay behind me."
"I-I understand!"
Why is my face getting even hotter!?
"Oh, right."
Arthur suddenly noticed a flying monster drifting past, and an idea clicked into place.
He turned toward Maple, who was still covering her burning cheeks—with a strange gleam in his eyes.
"Maple, want to hear a shortcut to becoming a top-tier shielder?"
"Huh? A shortcut?" Her eyes lit up immediately. "What is it?"
Feeling completely useless until now, Maple was desperate to get stronger.
She took the bait instantly, completely missing the mischievous glint behind the 'reliable big brother' smile.
"It's simple."
Arthur casually snatched a ladybug-type monster out of the air with his bare hand.
"In this game, every monster is edible."
He popped it straight into his mouth and crunched down.
"Eat enough monsters and you can unlock special skills or passives."
Thanks to the game engine, monsters didn't taste bad, some even had strange but pleasant flavors.
This "Exploding Ladybug," for example, popped in his mouth like Pop Rocks candy.
Each spot tasted like a different fruit, almost addictive.
Watching him chew so casually, Maple hesitated… then timidly picked one up herself.
And—
"Wah! It's delicious!?"
Just like that, in the middle of a monster-infested forest, the two began an impromptu picnic.
[Skill Acquired: Gluttony]
[Title Acquired: Bomb Gourmet]
As expected.
Arthur skimmed Gluttony's description.
It allowed the user to devour a target and forcibly convert it into spare mana crystals.
A flashy skill, but with a glaring drawback.
"Ugh… this Gluttony thing feels kind of awkward…"
After reading the details, Maple's excitement dipped.
It only activated through literal eating, completely useless in the middle of combat.
Arthur laughed softly. "Don't underestimate it."
"Some rare equipment in this game has skill slots. If you embed Gluttony into a piece of gear, you can activate it through that gear's effects."
"R-Really!?"
Maple wasn't stupid, just inexperienced.
With Arthur, the obvious veteran, explaining things to her, she quickly grasped the idea.
She might not be good at attacking…
…but as a Great Shield Bearer...
…she could just let enemies hit her!
If Gluttony were embedded into her shield, then anything that struck it could be absorbed instead.
Maple imagined another player attacking her shield, only to scream in horror as both their attack—and themselves, vanished.
Her chest filled with excitement.
So shields can be this amazing!?
Thank goodness Brother Blank told me.
If I'd gone full defense alone from level one, it would've been miserable…
By the time Risa logs in, I'll be a super Great Shield Bearer!
Even Risa, the unbeatable-at-everything Risa—will be impressed!
Fufu~
Just imagining it made her giddy.
Arthur, of course, had no idea that Maple had already unlocked Gluttony and was riding a wave of excitement.
Girl… this is only the beginning of your cheat-luck journey.
Just wait until you sprout angel wings, pilot a Gundam, or command a night parade of a hundred demons.
Then you can panic.
However, Arthur also knew that he wouldn't be able to witness those scenes.
After all, those forms were only unlocked after several updates and expansion packs in the game.
And his mission would only last until the end of the first major event.
It was… a bit of a shame.
"Blank-kun is incredible!"
Maple hopped excitedly in place.
Her dark crimson armor and the pitch-black greatshield, faintly glowing with a sinister red hue, made her stand out vividly even in the dim surroundings.
"I actually managed to eat the Poison Dragon!"
"But it tasted kind of bad… like my least favorite green peppers."
"Though after adding the Poison Dragon's breath, the bitterness disappeared!"
"It wasn't exactly bad, but the texture was really weird…"
"And after I ate it, I got the title [Poison Dragon Devourer], and I can use all of the Poison Dragon's skills now!"
Arthur nodded calmly.
This girl was steadily turning into something closer to the final boss of the game.
Of course, he was the one guiding her down that path.
"Oh, right, Blank-kun!"
Maple proudly displayed her status screen to him, as if presenting a priceless treasure.
"I even got an attack skill!"
"Super amazing su—ah! I bit my tongue…"
Arthur smiled and gently patted her head.
If her current status panel were revealed to veteran players, it would undoubtedly cause an uproar.
Despite only being level 18, Maple had zero points in every other basic attribute.
But her Defense stat alone had reached a shocking 864.
What kind of nonsense was this?
Arthur clearly remembered that in the original game, an elite shield user, whose level was at least twice Maple's, barely had around 200 defense.
And all of this was thanks to a skill Maple had obtained: "Absolute Defense."
When combined with several rare defensive skills, her base defense of 216 was amplified by a factor of four.
And this was at level 18.
At this stage of the game, it was practically impossible for any player to output damage exceeding 900.
In other words, Maple was already nearly invincible.
"…It's still not enough."
Seeing Maple's survivability skyrocket after obtaining that equipment, Arthur turned his attention back to his own plans.
He had no interest in the Poison Dragon's skills, nor did he feel like stealing opportunities from a child.
That was why, after helping Maple reach level 15, he deliberately guided her into challenging the Poison Dragon dungeon alone.
After all, the elite-grade equipment set she wore could only be obtained by being the first solo clear of that dungeon.
As for the [Poison Dragon Devourer] title?
It could only be obtained by literally eating the Poison Dragon.
But what sane player would ever think of eating a boss?
Only this naturally naïve girl, who chose a shield class with no damage output, entered a dungeon alone, and stubbornly tanked everything.
Through a series of coincidences, she was forced to use the only method she had to deal damage.
Gluttony.
In other words—
Eat it.
Poison Dragon… you really were unlucky.
"Maple, I'm heading to the high-level monster zone next. Want to come with me?"
"Eh!? Really? I want to—"
She suddenly paused, then looked apologetic.
"Ah… it's really late. I need to sleep. See you tomorrow, Blank-kun!"
With that, Maple logged out immediately.
Someone probably called her in the real world, after all, she was still just a normal high school student.
Unlike players, Reincarnators didn't have the concept of logging off.
With Maple gone, Arthur finally prepared to begin his own leveling journey in earnest.
He checked his status panel.
The familiar game-style interface stirred a faint sense of nostalgia.
Level: 20.
By the end of the day, Arthur had picked up quite a few skills through sheer combat experience.
[Sword Insight]
[Slash Enhancement]
[Pierce Enhancement]
[Chain Assault – Minor]
[Hand-to-Hand II]
[Presence Sense I]
[Meditation I]
Unfortunately, most of them were of little value to him; the boosts they provided were minimal at best.
Compared to these, the innate skill of the Sword Saint–type class, My Style Swordsmanship, left him completely satisfied.
[My Style Swordsmanship: Toggle-type buff. Consumes 1 MP per minute while active. All sword attacks ignore defense while active.]
Bluntly put, this skill was broken.
In a game with mechanics this straightforward: damage = attack − defense.
A skill that permanently bypassed defense and applied to every single sword strike was nothing short of cheating.
In front of this skill, even a final-boss-level existence like Maple would be as fragile as paper.
And that was precisely why Arthur had chosen to power-level by hunting monsters far above his own level.
"All right. First stop—the level 30 monster zone. Let's test the waters."
Arthur wasn't being reckless.
This VRMMO wasn't like Sword Art Online, death here didn't mean actual death... but avoiding unnecessary deaths was still common sense.
He knew exactly where his advantage lay: an Attack stat that had already surpassed 500.
He couldn't compare to the true goddess of luck, Maple, but his extremely specialized full-ATK build, the sliver of fortune he'd indirectly siphoned from her, and his knowledge from the original work made acquiring high-value offensive skills almost trivial.
With My Style Swordsmanship active, nearly every monster he encountered died in a single strike.
The drawback was obvious—his total MP pool was only 12, meaning the skill could only last twelve minutes.
Thankfully, the monsters dropped mana potions that could offset the drain.
And if those ever ran dry… he could always improvise.
Activate Gluttony and devour the monsters themselves to restore MP.
His low Agility and Dexterity did pose a problem against faster enemies.
But it never truly slowed him down.
If anything, Arthur used those encounters to refine his in-game movement.
Although My Style Swordsmanship was a single sword art, it embodied the lifetime combat experience of a true sword grandmaster.
And while that master had poured everything into the blade, he hadn't neglected battlefield movement.
"Footwork" wasn't quite the right term... combat instinct described it better.
The way Arthur slipped through attacks, dodged by instinct, and countered in the same breath felt almost unnatural.
One day later—
in the level 42 monster zone, the Crystal Cavern where the current top players were grinding.
The monsters here respawned quickly, hit relatively softly, and moved sluggishlytheir only threat was their absurdly high defense.
As a result, most players formed parties to farm the area.
The pace was slow, but safe.
Yet amidst this relaxed grinding atmosphere, one clear anomaly stood out.
As Arthur cut down yet another crystal scorpion with a single sweep of his sword, the long-awaited system notification rang out:
[Player Blank, congratulations! You have leveled up. Current level: 37.]
"So I've hit the cap again…"
The game granted bonus EXP for defeating monsters five or more levels above one's own.
At level 37, these level 42 scorpions no longer provided that bonus.
"Looks like it's time for a higher-level map."
Ignoring the curious gazes from nearby high-level players, Arthur sheathed his sword and walked toward the cavern's exit.
"…Maple should be logging in soon, too."
Arthur seemed to think of something amusing.
"Then let's bring her along."
Let this Demon King, disguised as an innocent, harmless girl—leave an even deeper impression on the players.
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To be honest I don't know why, but I didn't really like this chapter.