But after Max it read “Above Limit.” Was that a good thing? I’d never seen that before in a game. It had to be good. I assumed that I was rolling regular six-sided dice, but I rolled an M. That was the best roll, a perfect roll. Any other result would have spelled disaster. At the very least, I knew that luck was on my side.
So even if I leveled up, my luck wouldn’t go up anymore. Max stats came up pretty often in the light novels I read. And looking at my status, the geezer really did dump all the leftover skills on me. They were all trash, but two of them were new to me. Did I somehow earn them with my lucky roll? I took a look.
“Loner: Lives alone without companions. Cannot form a party. Wields Servitude.”
“Servitude: Shares experience.”
So nothing’s changed, huh? You didn’t need to make it my ability!
I came here alone and friendless to begin with. Somewhere deep down, my inner pervert had been praying that this was a harem universe. I stifled my inner pervert’s tears.
“Servitude” was an extra skill granted by “Loner.” I assumed it meant that I could at least collect some monsters who’d join me. Overcome with sadness and loneliness, tears of gratitude stained my cheeks. At least there will be some fluffy monsters to cheer me up.
I almost forgot about my bag! It was the Generic Villager A equipment set. I had no way of knowing how safe I was in this forest. I would feel way more secure if I had a stick in my hands.
I emptied the bag. These rags would be a hassle to wear but I was definitely grateful for the leather boots—wearing indoor shoes in the forest could be hazardous. The cloak was also better than nothing, and I could use it for defense if necessary. Since it was black, it would also hide me from monsters at night. Surprisingly, Generic Villager A’s gear wasn’t half-bad.
The leather gloves were nice, too. Digging deeper in the bag, I found a ring. Generic Villager A must have worn it, and it might have some effect, so I put it on. I was glad the bag had so much gear. Who knows what else I might find in here? Despite its light weight, it was full of useful stuff.
I looked around and didn’t see anyone. Not a trace…
Did my classmates get summoned to the same area? I couldn’t decide whether to bother looking for them. I was sure the rest of them were all together, and there is safety in numbers. Also, unlike me, they got all those ridiculous cheat skills. If I wanted to stay in one piece, catching up with them might be a good idea.
Except…my main worry wasn’t whether they were strong enough. The problem was that they were my classmates.
I was a Loner anyway, so I couldn’t join any party. Even if they were strong, they wouldn’t be able to help me. Plus, I knew I couldn’t rely on them. There were too many bad eggs.
So, going it alone as usual? Yeah. Tracking down my classmates would be a total chore, anyway.
The forest was too dense to see much. The dappled sunlight filled the undergrowth around me with ominous shadows. There might be monsters hiding in those shadows. My eyes struggled to focus. Did I need glasses? Wait a second! If I got everything, where are those expensive contact lenses? When I rummaged through my bag, I found a small container—and inside it, a glass bottle filled with some sort of fluid. My search turned up two other similar bottles. Maybe one of them?
It was my first time putting in contacts, and I was in the wilderness. These weren’t exactly sanitary conditions, but if I didn’t put them in, I might never escape this forest—and honestly, not being able to see was pretty scary. On the other hand, if I dropped the contacts, I would really be stranded. Okay, I could spread out a cloth first so I wouldn’t risk losing them. Why was I so anxious?
I put the contacts in. “Ugh…” I moaned. A headache suddenly bloomed behind my eyes. Was it the contacts’ fault? I didn’t have any friends who wore contacts in school, so I didn’t know what to expect. I just have to get used to it, I guess.
When I turned around, I could see everything around me in eerie detail. The scene instantly impressed itself onto my mind.
I could even see bugs on the leaves of distant trees. Having good sight is pretty gross, I thought. With eyes like this, it’d be easy to travel at night. I also had the Walk ability. Let me just clean this up—huh?!
Just when I went to put the contact solution away my fingers brushed against the two other bottles, and I saw the labels pop up—“Potion” and “Antidote.” So that’s what they were. I took another look at my status and saw a new skill.
“Appraisal Lv1.”
So, I had an appraisal ability? But why did it suddenly appear? That was strange… It must have been an added bonus from the contacts. Sadly, I couldn’t appraise my contacts while they were in my eyes, so I couldn’t confirm my theory.
Still, I needed whatever benefits I could get. Before the old geezer became totally incoherent, he told me I would be able to understand the language in this world once I got here. And now, with Appraisal, I felt ready for whatever the world threw at me. Well, if I’m not, game over.
I used Appraisal on my surroundings as I walked through the shadowy woods. It was almost fun, like a virtual botany textbook. I got a notification that some mushrooms nearby were edible. Appraisal really will come in handy!